Process of manufacturing a polyolefin fiber-containing non-woven fabric

Claim 1

A PROCESS COMPRISING THE STEPS OF: (A) FORMING A NON-WOVEN WEB THE FIBER CONTENT OF WHICH CONSISTS OF AT LEAST 25 WEIGHT PERCENT OF A THERMOPLASTIC POLYMER FIBER UNIFORMLY DISTRIBUTED THERETHROUGH; (B) HEATING ONE SURFACE OF SAID WEB, SMOOTHING, COMPACTING AND DENSIFYING THE FIBER CONTENT THEREOF AND FUSING THE THERMOPLASTIC FIBERS, AT SAID SURFACE INTO A LOOSE POROUS FIBER MATRIX, WHILE LEAVING THE BALANCE OF THE FIBERS IN THE WEB IN A RELATIVELY EXPANDED, INTERLOCKED BUT UNBONDED STATE; (C) DISTRIBUTING A THERMO-RESPONSIVE RESIN BINDER WITHIN THE INTERSTICES OF SAID WEB, SAID RESIN BINDER HAVING A MELTING POINT BELOW THE MELTING POINT OF SAID THERMOPLASTIC POLYMER FIBER; (D) HEATING SAID WEB TO A TEMPERATURE SUFFICIENT TO MELT SAID RESIN BINDER BUT BELOW THAT TEMPERATURE AT WHICH SAID THERMOPLASTIC POLYMER FIBER MELTS; AND (E) COMPACTING SAID WEB TO IMPRESS THE FIBERS THEREOF INTO SAID RESIN BINDER WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY COOLING SAID WEB TIO SOLIDIFY SAID RESIN BINDER.