Hesperaloe Tissue Fiber Blends for Softness, Strength, and Bulk
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge in tissue product manufacturing is to balance softness and durability while maintaining bulk, as conventional wood fibers like Northern Softwood Kraft (NSWK) are under economic and environmental pressure, and alternatives such as Southern Softwood Kraft (SSWK) result in stiffer, harsher products.
Innovation Solution
The use of hesperaloe fibers, processed through high yield pulping, replaces at least 50% of NSWK fibers, maintaining or improving strength, stiffness, and bulk, and when blended with NSWK or SSWK fibers, enhances softness and durability in a multi-layered tissue structure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If conventional wood fibers like NSWK are used to achieve softness, then surface softness is improved, but economic cost increases and environmental sustainability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent substitutes expensive, environmentally pressured NSWK fibers with more economical alternative fibers that can be used in tissue product manufacturing, achieving cost reduction while maintaining acceptable performance through fiber blending and processing optimizations
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates composite fiber blends combining alternative fibers with conventional fibers or other fiber types to achieve the desired balance of softness, strength, and cost-effectiveness, replacing pure NSWK compositions with multi-component systems
2Ease of manufacture
If SSWK fibers are used as alternative to NSWK, then availability and cost are improved, but product softness deteriorates resulting in stiffer and harsher feeling products
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by using SSWK fibers in specific applications or blending ratios where their coarseness is acceptable, while combining them with softer fibers in other proportions to achieve the desired softness in critical product areas
Solution Approach 2:
The patent modifies the physical and chemical parameters of SSWK fibers through processing treatments or selects specific SSWK fiber specifications to reduce their inherent coarseness and stiffness, making them more suitable for soft tissue applications
3Shape
If fiber length is reduced to improve softness, then surface softness is improved, but durability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates composite fiber systems combining short soft fibers with longer strength-providing fibers, where the short fibers contribute to surface softness while the longer fibers maintain durability and tensile strength in the tissue product
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Hesperaloe fibers achieve tissue products with properties comparable to or better than those using conventional wood fibers, specifically providing increased softness and durability without negatively affecting bulk, and reducing production costs.
Implementation Method 1
processed through high yield pulping
Implementation Method 2
this behavior is due to the higher number of hydrogen bonds required to produce a product of a given tensile strength
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides soft, durable and bulky tissue products comprising non-wood fibers and more particularly hesperaloe fiber. The inventors have discovered that high yield hesperaloe pulp fiber, when incorporated in amounts of at least about 5 percent by weight of the tissue product, produces products having a GMT less than about 1000 g/3″ and a GM Slope less than about 7.0 kg. At the foregoing tensile strengths and modulus the tissue products of the present invention are also generally soft, such as having a Stiffness Index less than about 10.0, and more preferably less than about 9.0, such as from about 7.0 to about 9.0.