Nonwoven material

Abstract

A nonwoven material which is formed of a blend of fibers diagonally needled together into an integral web for subsequent molded component parts.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A nonwoven formed from a plurality of fibers needled into an integral web having an x-axis, an y-axis, and an z-axis, wherein said fibers are needled at an angle from the z axis in the x-z plane, and wherein the fibers forming said nonwoven include low melt semi-crystalline polyester sheath fibers and higher melt polyester fibers.  
     
     
         2 . The nonwoven according to  claim 1 , wherein the angle that the fibers are needled is from about 30 to about 60° from the z-axis.  
     
     
         3 . The nonwoven according to  claim 1 , wherein the angle that the fibers are needled is about 45° from the z-axis.  
     
     
         4 . The nonwoven according to  claim 1 , wherein the fibers forming said nonwoven comprise synthetic polymeric fibers.  
     
     
         5 . The nonwoven according to  claim 6 , wherein the sheath of the low melt semi-crystalline polyester sheath fibers has a melting point of from a bout 130° C. to about 165° C.  
     
     
         6 . The nonwoven according to  claim 1 , wherein the fibers forming the nonwoven comprise fibers having a denier per filament of from about 1 to about 20.  
     
     
         7 . The nonwoven according to  claim 1 , wherein the fibers forming the nonwoven comprise fibers having a denier per filament of from about 3 to about 18.  
     
     
         8 . The nonwoven according to  claim 1 , wherein the fibers forming the nonwoven comprise fibers having a staple length of from about 1 inches to about 4 inches.  
     
     
         9 . The nonwoven according to  claim 1 , wherein the fibers forming the nonwoven comprise fibers having a staple length of from about 1.5 inches to about 3.0 inches.  
     
     
         10 . The nonwoven according to  claim 1 , wherein the fibers forming the nonwoven are also needled parallel to the z axis.  
     
     
         11 . A method of forming a nonwoven comprising the steps of: 
 blending a plurality of core/sheath fibers with a plurality of matrix fibers;    layering a web of the blended fibers into a planar shape having an x-axis, an y-axis, and an z-axis;    needling the web of fibers at an angle to the z-axis in the x-z plane such that an integral mat is formed.    
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein the step of needling the web of fibers at an angle includes the angle being from about 30° to about 60° from the z-axis in the x-z plane.  
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein the step of needling the web of fibers at an angle includes the angle being about 45° from the z-axis in the x-z plane.  
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein the step of needling the web of fibers includes also needling the fibers substantially parallel to the z axis of the web.  
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein the sheath of the core/sheath fibers comprise a low melt semi-crystalline polyester.  
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 15 , further including the step of molding the needled web of fibers into a molded component part with the application of heat and pressure.