U.S. patent application number 11/544113 was filed with the patent office on 2008-04-10 for high tensile modulus nonwoven fabric for cleaning printer machines.
Invention is credited to Thomas Edward Benim, Jose-Maria Rodriguez, Jaime Marco Vara Salamero.
Application Number | 20080085649 11/544113 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 39271121 |
Filed Date | 2008-04-10 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080085649 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Salamero; Jaime Marco Vara ;
et al. |
April 10, 2008 |
High tensile modulus nonwoven fabric for cleaning printer
machines
Abstract
A nonwoven fabric having high tensile modulus suitable for
cleaning printer cylinders is formed by hydroentangling a fibrous
nonwoven web formed from higher-melting polyester fibers,
lower-melting binder fibers and woodpulp fibers and then thermally
bonding the fabric.
Inventors: |
Salamero; Jaime Marco Vara;
(Asturias, ES) ; Benim; Thomas Edward;
(Goodlettsville, TN) ; Rodriguez; Jose-Maria;
(Oviedo (Asturias), ES) |
Correspondence
Address: |
E I DU PONT DE NEMOURS AND COMPANY;LEGAL PATENT RECORDS CENTER
BARLEY MILL PLAZA 25/1122B, 4417 LANCASTER PIKE
WILMINGTON
DE
19805
US
|
Family ID: |
39271121 |
Appl. No.: |
11/544113 |
Filed: |
October 6, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
442/327 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y10T 442/60 20150401;
D04H 1/49 20130101; D04H 1/54 20130101; B41F 35/006 20130101; D04H
1/485 20130101; B41F 35/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
442/327 |
International
Class: |
D04H 13/00 20060101
D04H013/00 |
Claims
1. A high strength nonwoven fabric for cleaning cylinders
comprising a spunlaced nonwoven fabric comprising between about 5
and 40 weight percent of binder fibers comprising a lower-melting
component, up to about 55 weight percent of higher-melting
polyester fibers wherein the lower-melting component comprises a
polyester copolymer having a lower melting point than the melting
point of the higher-melting polyester fibers and between about 40
and 60 weight percent of woodpulp fibers, and wherein the spunlaced
fabric is thermally bonded by at least partially softening or
melting the sheath component of the binder fibers to provide a
thermally bonded spunlaced nonwoven fabric.
2. The nonwoven fabric according to claim 1, having a tensile
modulus value measured on dry fabric in the machine direction of
greater than 25 MPa at 5 to 25% elongation.
3. The nonwoven fabric according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the
binder fibers are bicomponent sheath-core fibers wherein the sheath
comprises the lower-melting polyester copolymer component and the
core comprises poly(ethylene terephthalate).
4. The nonwoven fabric according to claim 3, wherein the
lower-melting polyester copolymer component is an isophthalate
copolymer of poly(ethylene terephthalate).
5. The nonwoven fabric according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the
thermally bonded spunlaced fabric is calendered after thermal
bonding.
6. The nonwoven fabric according to claim 5, wherein the
calendering is conducted at about 25.degree. C.
7. The nonwoven fabric according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the
thermally bonded spunlaced fabric is apertured.
8. A method for cleaning a cylinder having an outer surface
comprising the steps of providing the fabric of claim 1 and
contacting the outer surface of the cylinder with the fabric.
9. A method for cleaning a cylinder having an outer surface
comprising the steps of providing the fabric of claim 2 and
contacting the outer surface of the cylinder with the fabric.
10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the cylinder is a
component of a printing machine.
11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the cylinder is an
impression cylinder.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to nonwoven fabrics for
cleaning cylinders of machinery, such as printing machine
cylinders.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] It is known in the art to use nonwoven fabrics to clean the
cylinders of printing machines. U.S. Pat. No. 5,974,976 to
Gasparrini et al. describes nonwoven cleaning fabrics having
reduced air content and the use of such fabrics to clean the
cylinders of a printing press. U.S. Patent Application Publication
No. 2002/0187307 to Tanaka et al. describes wet-laid sheets for
cleaning printer cylinders. The wet-laid sheets contain between
about 5 and 50 weight percent binder fibers and are hydroentangled
and creped, followed by heating to fuse the binder fibers after
creping. Examples of wet-laid sheets include sheets containing at
least 50 percent pulp.
[0005] In an effort to reduce costs and to reduce the impact
printed materials have on the environment; recycled paper is used
as a raw material for printing. However, recycled paper produces
more lint than new (i.e., non-recycled) paper. The increased amount
of paper lint fibers mixes with ink, solvent, and water creating a
semi-solid residue on the blanket and impression cylinders of
printing machines. Additionally, unacceptable deformation, or
necking, due to elongation of the cleaning fabric can occur as the
cloth advances during a wash program. The cleaning fabric would
also need to have high paper lint pick up and retention, no surface
streaking on the cylinders and high solvent desorption for
increasing the cleaning rate.
[0006] It would be desirable to provide an improved cleaning fabric
for cleaning machine cylinders that has high tensile modulus to
avoid fabric elongation while having high paper lint pick up and
retention, no surface streaking on the cylinders and high solvent
desorption for increasing the cleaning rate at a reasonable
cost.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] In one embodiment this invention is directed to a high
strength nonwoven fabric for cleaning cylinders comprising a
spunlaced nonwoven fabric comprising between about 5 and 40 weight
percent of binder fibers comprising a lower-melting component,
between about 25 and 65 weight percent of higher-melting polyester
fibers wherein the lower-melting component comprises a polyester
copolymer having a lower melting point than the melting point of
the higher-melting polyester fibers and between about 35 and 55
weight percent of wood pulp fibers, and wherein the spunlaced
fabric is thermally bonded by at least partially softening or
melting the sheath component of the binder fibers to provide a
thermally bonded spunlaced nonwoven fabric.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The terms "nonwoven fabric" and "nonwoven web" as used
herein refer to a sheet structure of individual fibers that are
positioned in a random manner to form a planar material without an
identifiable pattern, as opposed to a knitted or woven fabric.
[0009] The term "spunlaced nonwoven fabric" as used herein refers
to a nonwoven fabric that is produced by entangling fibers in a
fibrous nonwoven web using fluid jets. For example, a spunlaced
nonwoven fabric can be prepared by supporting a fibrous web on a
porous support such as a mesh screen and hydroentangling the web by
passing the supported web underneath water jets, such as in a
hydraulic needling process.
[0010] The term "machine direction" (abbreviated as MD) is used
herein to refer to the direction in which a nonwoven web is
produced (e.g. the direction of travel of the supporting surface
upon which the fibers are laid down during formation of the
nonwoven web). The term "cross direction" (abbreviated as XD)
refers to the direction generally perpendicular to the machine
direction in the plane of the web.
[0011] The term "polyester" as used herein is intended to embrace
polymers wherein at least 85% of the recurring units are
condensation products of dicarboxylic acids and dihydroxy alcohols
with linkages created by formation of ester units. This includes
aromatic, aliphatic, saturated, and unsaturated di-acids and
di-alcohols. A common example of a polyester is poly(ethylene
terephthalate) (PET) that is a condensation product of ethylene
glycol and terephthalic acid.
[0012] The term "binder fiber" is used herein to refer to fibers
that are thermally bondable (i.e. meltable or partially meltable)
at a temperature below that of the degradation or melting point of
higher melting base fibers that are combined with the binder fibers
in a nonwoven web. Binder fibers can be homogeneous or can comprise
multiple component fibers. The term "multiple component fiber" as
used herein refers to a fiber that is composed of at least two
distinct polymeric components that have been spun together to form
a single fiber. The at least two polymeric components are arranged
in distinct substantially constantly positioned zones across the
cross-section of the multiple component fibers, the zones extending
substantially continuously along the length of the fibers. Multiple
component fibers that are suitable for use as binder fibers include
a lower melting polymeric component on at least a portion of the
peripheral surface thereof. The lower melting polymeric component
has a melting point that is lower than the melting point of higher
melting base fibers in the web. The term "bicomponent fiber" is
used herein to refer to a multiple component fiber that is made
from two distinct polymer components.
[0013] The term "staple fibers" means natural fibers or cut lengths
from filaments. Typically staple fibers have a length of between
about 0.25 and 5.0 inches (0.6 and 15.2 cm).
[0014] The present invention relates to thermally bonded spunlaced
nonwoven fabrics that are suitable for cleaning cylinders in
printing machines or other equipment. The nonwoven fabrics that
contain binder fibers are useful in decreasing fabric
elongation.
[0015] Fibrous webs suitable for preparing spunlaced nonwoven
fabrics for use in some embodiments of the present invention
comprise between about 5 and 40 weight percent binder fibers that
comprise a lower-melting polyester copolymer component, between
about 5 and 55 weight percent of higher-melting polyester base
fibers and between about 40 and 60 weight percent of woodpulp
fibers.
[0016] The low-melting polyester copolymer component preferably has
a melting point that is at least about 100.degree. C. to
140.degree. C. less than the melting point of the higher-melting
polyester base fiber component. A binder fiber suitable for use in
the present invention is a bicomponent fiber comprising a
poly(ethylene terephthalate)copolymer sheath and a poly(ethylene
terephthalate)core. An example of a suitable poly(ethylene
terephthalate)copolymer comprises an isophthalate copolymer of
poly(ethylene terephthalate).
[0017] Base fibers suitable for use include poly(ethylene
terephthalate) fibers. In one embodiment, the nonwoven fabric can
be made from a blend of polyester-based binder fibers and base
fibers. It should be understood that the range of polyester used
can be adjusted by varying the relative amounts of base fiber and
binder fiber. For example, if the amount of base fiber were about
5%, the amount of binder fiber could be present at the higher end
of its range. The base fibers can comprise microfibers (fiber
denier less than 1 denier) or hydrophilic polyester fibers for
their increased absorbency. For example, between about 5 and 10
weight percent of the fibers in the web can comprise microfibers
and/or hydrophilic polyester fibers. Examples of hydrophilic
polyester fibers include those that are treated with a hydrophilic
finish. One example is Hydrofix.RTM. hydrophilic polyester fibers,
available from ADVANSA in Germany. Examples of microfibers suitable
for use in the present invention include split fibers. Splittable
fibers are made by co-spinning two or more distinct polymeric
components into multiple component fibers such that the polymeric
components form non-interlocking separable segments across the
cross-section of the fibers that extend along the length of the
fibers. Splittable fiber cross-sections include "chrysanthemum"
cross-sections in which alternating polymeric components are
petal-shaped and partially overlapped by adjacent segments,
side-by-side, segmented pie (wedge-shaped segments), hollow
segmented pie, segmented cross, tipped trilobal, and other
cross-sections known in the art. Splittable fibers can be
incorporated into the fibrous web and split in the hydroentangling
step described below.
[0018] The nonwoven fabrics of the present invention can be
prepared from precursor fibrous webs that are formed using dry-lay
techniques, such as one or more carded fibrous layers, one or more
air-laid fibrous layers, or a combination thereof. Methods for
preparing air-laid webs and carded webs are well known in the art.
For example, air-laid webs can be made according to U.S. Pat. No.
3,797,074 to Zafiroglu or by using a Rando Webber manufactured by
the Rando Machine Corporation and disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.
2,451,915; 2,700,188; 2,703,441; and 2,890,497, the entire contents
of which are incorporated herein by reference. Staple fibers having
a fiber length between about 30 and 75 mm and fiber denier between
about 1 and 15 are generally preferred for preparing carded
nonwoven webs. Staple fibers having a fiber length between about
12.7 mm and 25.4 mm and fiber denier between about 0.9 and 4 are
generally preferred for preparing air-laid nonwoven webs. The
deniers of the binder and base fibers are preferably closely
matched for better processability. The base fibers and binder
fibers can be admixed in the web during formation in carding, and
the like, or by conventional textile blending techniques followed
by carding the blended fibers. Alternately, a blend of fibers may
be dispersed in an air stream and collected on a foraminous means
in an air-laying process. Alternately, individual webs comprising
binder fibers and/or base fibers can be layered followed by
hydroentangling the combined layers to form a spunlaced nonwoven
fabric that has one side richer in the binder fiber than the other
side. For example, a web consisting of binder fibers can be layered
with a web consisting of base fibers and then hydroentangled.
Alternately, one or more of the layers can comprise a blend of
binder and base fibers, wherein one of the outer layers has a
higher weight percent of binder fibers than the other outer layer.
In another embodiment, a sandwiched 3-layer structure can be formed
by laying down webs in the configuration binder fiber web/base
fiber web/binder fiber web, wherein the binder fiber webs can
include binder fibers or a blend of binder and base fibers and the
base fiber web can include of base fibers or a blend of binder and
base fibers wherein one or both of the binder fiber layers has a
higher weight percent of binder fibers than the base fiber layer.
The web can then be hydroentanged to form a spunlaced nonwoven
fabric that has one or two binder-fiber rich sides. It should be
understood that at least one layer of wood pulp fibers is included
in the embodiments described above. Fibrous nonwoven webs having a
basis weight between about 50 and 120 g/m.sup.2, preferably between
about 60 and 110 g/m.sup.2 are suitable for use; however the basis
weight can be varied to the extent necessary to develop the desired
properties.
[0019] Carded webs generally have fibers oriented substantially in
the machine direction whereas the fibers in air-laid webs are
substantially randomly oriented. Carded webs can be cross-lapped to
improve the balance of machine direction and cross direction
properties. It is often preferred that the machine and cross
direction properties of a nonwoven fabric be balanced, however in
one embodiment of the present invention, the nonwoven fabric is
prepared from a carded web in which the fibers are substantially
oriented in the machine direction.
[0020] After forming a fibrous web comprising base fibers and
binder fibers, the web is hydroentangled. The hydroentangling (or
hydraulic needling) process for producing spunlaced nonwoven
fabrics is well known in the art. In the hydroentangling process,
the fibrous web is positioned on a screen or other type of
apertured support and subjected to a series of high-pressure water
jets that cause entangling of the fibers to form a spunlaced
nonwoven fabric. Conventional hydraulic needling processes are
described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,485,706, to Evans and U.S. Pat. No.
4,891,262 to Nakamae et al., the entire contents of which are
incorporated herein by reference. The support member can be porous,
such as a metal or plastic belt or screen that is woven from round
or other shaped strands, monofilaments or yarns, or a perforated
plate. The hydroentangled fabric can be apertured or non-apertured,
depending on selection of the support member, as is known in the
art. When apertured, the range of aperture size can be from about
13 to 24 mesh. Further, the fabric can be patterned or
unpatterned.
[0021] After the fibrous web has been hydroentangled, the resulting
spunlaced nonwoven fabric is thermally bonded. Thermal bonding
conditions are selected such that the lower-melting binder fiber
component (e.g. sheath for sheath-core binder fibers) softens or
melts but the higher-melting base fiber and the core component of
the binder fiber do not melt and retain their fibrous structure.
The bonding conditions should be selected such that the final
fabric has the desired strength properties. The spunlaced nonwoven
fabric can be wound up and thermally bonded at a later time in a
separate process. Alternately, thermal bonding can be conducted
in-line immediately after hydroentanglement, such as in a heated
air dryer. In such a process, excess water can be removed from the
spunlaced nonwoven fabric, such as by a vacuum dewatering system or
squeeze rolls, prior to passing the fabric through the dryer. In
one embodiment, the spunlaced nonwoven fabric is thermally bonded
in a through-air dryer in which a heated gas, generally air, is
passed through the fabric. The gas is heated to a temperature
sufficient to soften or melt the low-melting component of the
binder fibers without softening or melting the base fibers to bond
the binder and matrix fibers at their crossover points. Through-air
bonding generally results in substantially uniform bonding across
the width and through the thickness of the fabric, as opposed to
surface bonding only. Through-air bonders generally include a
perforated drum, which receives the fabric, and a hood surrounding
the perforated drum. The heated gas is directed from the hood,
through the spunlaced nonwoven fabric, and into the perforated
drum. The residence time in the through-air bonder and the
temperature of the heated gas is selected to both dry the fabric,
if it is wet, and to provide the desired degree of thermal bonding.
One or more through-air dryers can be used in series to achieve the
desired degree of bonding. It has been found that when the base
fibers are poly(ethylene terephthalate) fibers having a melting
point of about 250-260.degree. C. and the binder fibers are
sheath/core fibers comprising a sheath of low-melting isophthalate
copolymer of poly(ethylene terephthalate) having a melting point of
about 100-120.degree. C. and a poly(ethylene terephthalate) core,
that a bonding air temperature of about 180.degree. C. (fabric
temperature of about 130-150.degree. C.) and a residence time
between about 8 and 12 seconds in the dryer provides a suitable
fabric. The fabric can be thermally bonded in-line immediately
after it has been hydroentangled or thermally bonded at later
time.
[0022] The thermally bonded nonwoven fabric can optionally be
calendered. Room temperature calendering can be used to reduce the
thickness of the fabric. This allows a longer fabric length to be
wound on a core to provide a desired roll thickness when used as a
printer cleaning fabric, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,974,976 to
Gasparrini et al., which is hereby incorporated by reference. It
has been found that calendering with unheated rolls at about
25.degree. C. and at a nip pressure of 32-300.times.10.sup.-1 N/cm
is suitable for room temperature calendering. Fabric thicknesses up
to about 0.70 mm (measured according to EDANA 30.5-99) are suitable
for use in the present invention. Although higher thicknesses can
be used, it is not desirable from an economic standpoint and also
results in less linear meters of fabric for a given cartridge size.
Fabric thicknesses between about 0.35 mm and 0.60 mm are generally
preferred for the present invention and calendering may be used in
order to achieve these thicknesses. Lower thicknesses are preferred
in order to get more linear meters of fabric in a cartridge roll so
that the cartridge requires changing less often. But if the
thickness is too low, ink may seep from one side of the cloth to
the other, thereby plugging the water spray bar holes. Higher
thicknesses will have the added benefit of additional paper lint
fiber retention, but at the expense of less linear meters of fabric
in a cartridge and slower solvent release capacity. Alternately,
the fabric can be calendered using one or more heated rolls if
additional thermal bonding is desired. However, the calendering
conditions should be chosen such that the fabric remains
sufficiently absorbent to remove ink residue, solvents, or other
materials from the surface of the cylinders that are being cleaned.
Calendering temperatures in the range of 90-100.degree. C. are
generally suitable, with nip pressures in the range of 150 to
250.times.10.sup.-1 N/cm.
[0023] The cleaning fabric of the present invention can be employed
with conventional printer cylinder cleaning systems, specifically
common impression and blanket cylinders of newspaper and commercial
web presses. The cleaning fabric is generally wound on a core, such
as a hollow cylindrical core, which can be mounted on an unwind
position of a printer cylinder cleaning system. A cylinder cleaning
system can also include a take-up roll onto which the used portion
of the cleaning fabric is wound after it has been used to clean the
printer cylinder. Generally a means is provided for positioning the
cleaning fabric adjacent a printer cylinder. For example, the
cleaning fabric can be placed in contact with a printer cylinder as
it is fed past the cylinder.
[0024] Generally, a cleaning solvent or solution such as an
aliphatic hydrocarbon solvent is applied to the cleaning fabric.
The cleaning solution can be applied to the fabric before or after
a roll of the cleaning fabric is mounted on the printer cylinder
cleaning system. The cleaning fabric can be pre-impregnated with a
cleaning solution and packaged for later use, as described in U.S.
Pat. No. 5,368,157 to Gasparrini et al. Alternately, the cleaning
composition can be applied to the cleaning fabric after mounting on
a printer cleaning system such as by using pumps, spray bars,
manifold lines, etc. known in the art. The cleaning composition can
also be applied with a manual sprayer or other suitable
apparatus.
[0025] The cleaning fabric is used to remove ink residues, cleaning
solvent, lint, and other solid or paste-like matter from the
printer cylinders, such as blanket and common impression cylinders.
Generally, a pressure pad presses the cleaning fabric into contact
with the cylinder during the cleaning process. In addition to
dimensional stability and high strength at low elongations, the
cleaning fabric must have sufficient absorbency (as provided to a
large extent by the wood pulp fibers) to absorb residual solvent,
etc. as it is removed from the cylinder surface while under
pressure.
[0026] Preferred fabrics also demonstrate a high ratio of lubed
(wet with surfactant) breaking strength to dry breaking strength as
well as high stiffness dry and wet, which indicates less distortion
of the fabric under load or dimensional stability when wet with the
cleaning solvent. Less distortion leads to fewer tendencies to
dislodge the fibers of the fabric.
Test Methods
[0027] In the non-limiting examples that follow, the following test
methods were employed to determine various reported characteristics
and properties. ASTM refers to the American Society of Testing
Materials. EDANA refers to the European Disposables and Nonwovens
Association for Europe, Middle East and Africa.
[0028] Basis Weight is a measure of the mass per unit area of a
fabric or sheet and was determined by EDANA 40.3-90 or ASTM D-3776,
which is hereby incorporated by reference, and is reported in
g/m.sup.2 (gsm).
[0029] Thickness of nonwoven fabrics was measured according to
EDANA 30.5-99 or ASTM D1777 and is reported in mm.
[0030] Tensile Properties (Grab Breaking Strength and Grab Modulus)
were measured on dry samples, according to ASTM D5034-95 that is
hereby incorporated by reference. Breaking Strength was reported in
units of kg. Modulus was reported herein in units of kN/m.
EXAMPLES
Comparative Example A
[0031] Comparative Example A was a wood pulp/polyester spunlaced
nonwoven fabric that is currently used for cleaning printer machine
cylinders and available from E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
(Wilmington, Del.). The fabric was found to generate an
unacceptable amount of XD necking when used to clean printing
cylinders.
Example 1
[0032] In this example, a blend of polyester bicomponent
sheath/core fibers and polyester monocomponent fibers was formed
into a spunlaced thermally bonded fabric.
[0033] The bicomponent fibers constituted 1.7 dtex 38 mm cut length
15% co-PET/85% PET supplied by ADVANSA, Germany. The bicomponent
fibers comprised a sheath formed from a low-melting isophthalate
copolymer of poly(ethylene terephthalate) having a melting point of
about 11 0C and a core formed from poly(ethylene terephthalate)
having a melting point of about 256.degree. C. The polyester
monocomponent fibers (1.7 dtex, 38 mm cut length 100% PET, supplied
by ADVANSA, Germany) were formed from poly(ethylene terephthalate)
and had a melting point of about 256.degree. C. and were blended
with the bicomponent fibers to form a fiber blend comprising 15
weight percent of the bicomponent fibers and 85 weight percent of
the monocomponent fibers. The total amount of binder fiber as a
percentage of the total fabric weight was about 3.6%. The amounts
of polyester base fibers and wood pulp are provided in Table 1. The
fibers were processed through two high-speed Thibeau cards, one
card having the blend of bicomponent and monocomponent fibers and
the other card having only monocomponent fibers, to form a carded
web, which was then hydraulically needled according to the general
process of Evans U.S. Pat. No. 3,485,706. The hydraulically needled
sheet was then squeeze rolled with a uniform pressure of 3.0 bars
and through-air dried with 2 Fleissner driers at a temperature of
180.degree. C. with a residence time of about 5-6 seconds in each
dryer. Fabric properties are reported in Table 1 below.
[0034] Properties of the thermally bonded spunlaced nonwoven
fabrics are reported below in Table 1. All property measurements
were made on 8 (or 10?) samples and averaged.
Example 2
[0035] This example was prepared the same way as for Example 1,
except that about 7.9% of binder fiber was used and each card
processed a blend of bicomponent and monocomponent fibers. The
amounts of polyester base fibers and wood pulp are provided in
Table 1
Example 3
[0036] This example was prepared the same way as for Example 1,
except that about 13.1% binder fiber was used in that the
bicomponent fibers comprised 1.7 dtex 38 mm cut length 26%
co-PET/74% PET, supplied by ADVANSA, Germany. Each card processed a
blend of bicomponent and monocomponent fibers. The amounts of
polyester base fibers and wood pulp are provided in Table 1.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Nonwoven Fabric Properties Property Comp Ex
A Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Basis Weight of Fabric 70.90 70.91
71.87 72.03 (g/m.sup.2) % Woodpulp 50.60 48.62 47.40 49.47 % PET
49.40 47.78 44.71 37.39 % Binder Fiber 0 3.60 7.89 13.14 Thickness
(mm) 0.40 0.41 0.40 0.40 MD Grab Breaking 181 197 188 191 Strength
(N) MD Grab Modulus 16 27 28 36 (MPa) MD Grab Load at 5% 50 77 78
92 elongation (N) MD Grab Load at 10% 85 123 117 133 elongation (N)
MD Grab Load at 15% 121 166 156 174 elongation (N) XD Grab Breaking
90 93 89 92 Strength (N) XD Grab Modulus 2.0 2.2 1.9 2.7 (MPa) XD
Grab Load at 5% 10 11 14 19 elongation (N) XD Grab Load at 10% 13
15 18 25 elongation (N) XD Grab Load at 15% 16 20 23 31 elongation
(N) Fabric Necking Left 10 5 6 1 3 0 1 Side (mm) Fabric Necking
Right 12 15 8 9 5 1 3 Side (mm)
[0037] The presence of the binder fibers in the cleaning fabric
provide an increase in MD grab modulus and a decrease in XD
necking. All the strength data provided is for dry samples. Lubed
samples show similar results.
* * * * *