Importance

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Abstract

An apparatus and method are disclosed for forming a nonwoven fabric web, such as a spunbond web. The apparatus comprises a spinneret for downwardly extruding a curtain of filaments, and an underlying air drawing unit for drawing and attenuating the filaments as they move downwardly therethrough. A conveyor belt receives the drawn filaments and forms the filaments into a nonwoven fabric web. In the drawing unit, the filaments pass downwardly through a slot, and a pair of air nozzles are positioned in the slot, with one nozzle being positioned adjacent each side wall of the slot. The nozzle outlets are oriented so as to introduce each of the air streams into the slot in a direction which is parallel to the side walls of the slot, and the introduced air streams act to draw additional air into the open upper end of the slot. The drawn-in air and the air introduced by the two nozzles collectively form a substantially non-turbulent flow at their juncture and along the remainder of the vertical length of the slot, and this smooth air flow serves to draw the filaments without imparting turbulence to the filaments, which in turn produces filaments which are uniformly drawn and thus of uniform denier.

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First Claim