Apparatus and process for making apertured non-woven fabrics

Claim 1

A CONTINUOUS PROCESS FOR PRODUCING APERTURED NONWOVEN FABRIC FROM A FIBROUS WEB OF INDETERMINATE LENGTH, BY DISPLACING THE FIBERS OF SAID WEB INTO AN ARRAY OF INTERSECTING AND COALESCING YARN-LIKE BUNDLES DEFINING A PATTERN OF APERTURES, COMPRISING ENGAGING SAID WEB WITH THE ENDS OF A PLURALITY OF PROJECTIONS SUPPORTED IN A PREDETERMINED PATTERN ON A SUPPORT WITH INTERCONNECTED VALLEYS THEREBETWEEN, THE HEIGHT OF SAID PROJECTIONS BEING SUBSTANTIALLY GREATER THAN THE THICKNESS OF SAID WEB AND THE TRANSVERSE DIMENSIONS AND SPACING BEING SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN THE LENGTH OF AT LEAST A SUBSTANTIAL PROPORTION OF THE FIBERS OF THE WEB. SUCCESSIVELY FORCING SAID WEB INTO SAID VALLEYS BY APPLYING FLUID STREAMS TO THE SURFACE OF SAID WEB TO PENETRATE SAID WEB BY SAID PROJECTIONS AND DIVERT INDIVIDUAL FIBERS OF SAID WEB INTO A ZIG-ZAG CONFORMATION AROUND SAID PROJECTIONS INTO SAID VALLEYS AND THEREAFTER CONTINUOUSLY REMOVING SAID WEB FROM SAID PROJECTIONS TO FORM A NON-WOVEN FABRIC HAVING APERTURES IN A PREDETERMINED PATTERN CORRESPONDING TO THE PATTERN OF SAID PROJECTIONS.