Patent ID: 7662462

Claim:
A nonwoven fabric of overlapping fibers bonded in a three-dimensional structure, said non-woven fabric comprising on a first surface thereof: a plurality of groove portions longitudinally extending in a first direction; and a plurality of raised ridge portions longitudinally extending in the first direction, said groove portions and raised ridge portions being alternately arranged adjacent to each other in a second direction transverse to the first direction; wherein said fabric comprises first oriented fibers oriented in the first direction; and second oriented fibers oriented in the second direction; each of the raised ridge portions has side portions opposite one another in the second direction, and a central portion between said side portions; the central portion has a height between 0.3 mm and 15 mm in a thickness direction of the fabric, and said height of the central portion is greater than that of said side portions; the side portions include the first oriented fibers which have been moved from adjacent groove portions to said side portions by a fluid directly blown upon the groove portions during manufacture of the fabric, and the side portions have a content percentage of the first oriented fibers greater than that of the central portion; a content percentage of the second oriented fibers in the groove portions is greater than those in the side portions and in the central portions; a content percentage of the first oriented fibers in the groove portions is lower than that in the central portions; a fiber density at a bottom portion of each of the groove portions is between 0.002 to 0.18 g/cm 3 ; a fiber density in each of the central portions of the raised ridge portions is between 0.005 to 0.20 g/cm 3 ; and a fiber density in each of the side portions of the raised ridge portions is between 0.007 to 0.25 g/cm 3 .