Fiberball batting and articles comprising the same

Abstract

The invention provides batting that includes a nonwoven web comprising a specified fiber mixture, the non-woven web having 50 to 95 wt % of a plurality of fiberballs having an average diameter of 3.0 to 8.0 mm; and 5 to 50 wt % of a plurality of portions of the nonwoven web that are adjacent to one or more fiberballs but that do not themselves comprise one or more fiberballs or any portion thereof. The batting has a density of 2 to 12 kg/m3. Also provided are articles comprising the batting and methods of making the batting.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims priority to U.S. provisional application No. 62 / 093,293, filed on Dec. 17, 2014, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention generally relates to fiberball batting comprising synthetic fibers and binder fibers, the batting being useful as, for example, insulation. The invention also relates to articles comprising the batting, and to methods of making the batting.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Fiberballs have been known for some time. While fiberballs have often been seen as undesirable manufacturing defects in, e.g., the carding of various continuous non-woven materials, in other applications, such as for blowable applications, fiberballs have proven useful.[0004]U.S. Pat. No. 4,618,531 describes one such blowable fiberball invention. Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 4,618,531 discloses polyester fiberfill having spiral crimp that is random...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010]Briefly, the present invention satisfies the need for improved fill materials. The present invention may address one or more of the problems and deficiencies of the art discussed above. However, it is contemplated that the invention may prove useful in addressing other problems and deficiencies in a number of technical areas. Therefore, the claimed invention should not necessarily be construed as limited to addressing any of the particular problems or deficiencies discussed herein.

Problems solved by technology

While fiberballs have often been seen as undesirable manufacturing defects in, e.g., the carding of various continuous non-woven materials, in other applications, such as for blowable applications, fiberballs have proven useful.

However, they are seldom used as the only filling material in these end-uses, e.g., in furnishing seat cushions, where the common practice is to use the fiberfill batts as a “rapping” for a foam core, likely because, to obtain the desired resilience and performance in 100% fiberfill cushions, it would be necessary to provide such relatively high density as would be unfeasible or too cost-prohibitive, and may not provide for desirable performance.

Images