Non-woven material and method of making such material

Abstract

A non-woven material and method of formation thereof is provided to form a substantially flat or planar self supporting core of an inorganic base fiber and an organic binding fiber preferably using an air-laid forming head. In certain preferred embodiments, the non-woven material has a basis weight of about 3,000 gsm or greater. Preferably, the organic binding fiber has a binding component and a structural component within unitary fiber filaments. In one aspect, the structural component of the organic binding fiber has a composition effective to provide a strength thereof so that the non-woven material can be manually cut with minimal effort. In such form, the non-woven material is suitable to function as an acoustic ceiling tile.

1 . A non-woven material comprising:
 an inorganic fiber and a multi-component bonding fiber;   the multi-component bonding fiber having a low melting point component and a high melting point component formed in unitary fiber filaments;   a low melting point component melting point that is sufficiently less than a high melting point component melting point; and   a basis weight of about 3,000 gsm or greater.   
     
     
         2 . The non-woven material of  claim 1  wherein:
 the inorganic fiber is selected from the group consisting of rock wool, slag wool, and mixtures thereof;   the inorganic fiber has a shot content up to about 60 percent; and   the non-woven material has a noise reduction coefficient of at least about 0.55, a flame spread index of about 25 or less, and a smoke development index of about 50 or less.   
     
     
         3 . A ceiling tile comprising the non-woven material of  claim 1 , the ceiling tile further comprising a facer material on one side. 
     
     
         4 . The ceiling tile of  claim 3  wherein the ceiling tile is formed using an air-laid process. 
     
     
         5 . The non-woven material of  claim 1 , wherein the high-melting point component comprises a resin and a filler. 
     
     
         6 . The non-woven material of  claim 5 , wherein the filler accounts for about 5 to about 50 percent by weight of the high-melting point component. 
     
     
         7 . A method of forming the non-woven material of  claim 1 , the method comprising:
 providing the inorganic fiber and the multi-component bonding fiber;   forming the inorganic fiber and the multi-component bonding fiber into a non-woven web; and   heating the non-woven web to bind at least a portion of the inorganic fiber to at least a portion of the multi-component bonding fiber to form a substantially planar and self-supporting structure.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  wherein:
 the non-woven material comprises about 5 to about 50 weight percent of a filler blended in a resin; and   the filler is selected from the group consisting of calcium carbonate, clay, talc, silica, feldspar, nepheline, mica, wallastonite, perlite, glass, silicates, titanium dioxide, calcium sulfate, and mixtures thereof.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  further comprising:
 providing a porous facer material that substantially retains the inorganic fiber and the multi-component bonding fibers thereon during binding.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein:
 the porous facer material has an air flow resistance of about 2000 Pa-s/m or less, a tensile strength of at least about 10 psi, a Gurley stiffness of at least about 500 units, and a basis weight of about 50 to about 200 gsm.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10  further comprising:
 attaching the porous facer material to the substantially planar and self-supporting structure.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the inorganic fiber and the multi-component bonding fiber are formed into the non-woven web using at least one air-laid forming head.