Patent ID: 7645359
Filing Date: 2010-01-12
Classification: D21F,D21H,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A method for making a unitary fibrous structure, comprising the steps of: providing a first aqueous slurry comprising a plurality of synthetic fibers; providing a second aqueous slurry comprising a plurality of cellulosic fibers; depositing the first and second aqueous slurries onto a fluid-permeable forming member having fluid-permeable areas and fluid-impermeable areas and having a pattern of channels; partially dewatering the deposited first and second slurries to form a fibrous web comprising a plurality of cellulosic fibers randomly distributed throughout at least a portion of the fibrous web and a plurality of synthetic fibers non-randomly distributed in the channels; applying a fluid pressure differential to the fibrous web disposed on the forming member, thereby molding the fibrous web according to the pattern of channels, wherein the fibrous web disposed on the forming member comprises a first plurality of micro-regions corresponding to a plurality of fluid-permeable areas of the forming member and a second plurality of micro-regions corresponding to a plurality of fluid-impermeable areas of the forming member; and redistributing at least some of the synthetic fibers to form a unitary fibrous structure in which at least some of the plurality of synthetic fibers are disposed in a predetermined pattern different from the pattern formed by the pattern of channels and the plurality of cellulosic fibers remain generally randomly distributed throughout at least a portion of the fibrous structure.