Nonwoven sanitary tissue products comprising a woven surface pattern

Abstract

Nonwoven sanitary tissue products having a woven surface pattern that provides the nonwoven sanitary tissue product with a woven appearance and a method for making such sanitary tissue products are provided.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A sanitary tissue product comprising a surface pattern having a repeating design element, wherein the repeating design element contains two opposing open termini and two opposing closed termini and wherein two or more of the repeating design elements are connected to one another through respective opposing open termini. 
     
     
         2 . The sanitary tissue product according to  claim 1  wherein the connected respective opposing open termini form a channel. 
     
     
         3 . The sanitary tissue product according to  claim 2  wherein two or more of the repeating design elements are oriented such that their respective opposing closed termini sandwich the channel formed by the connected respective opposing open termini. 
     
     
         4 . The sanitary tissue product according to  claim 2  wherein the channel is oriented at an angle with respect to the machine direction of the sanitary tissue product of from about 10° to about 80°. 
     
     
         5 . The sanitary tissue product according to  claim 1  wherein the surface pattern further comprises a background design element. 
     
     
         6 . The sanitary tissue product according to  claim 5  wherein the background design element comprises line elements. 
     
     
         7 . The sanitary tissue product according to  claim 5  wherein the background design element comprises dot elements. 
     
     
         8 . The sanitary tissue product according to  claim 5  wherein the background design element is embossed. 
     
     
         9 . The sanitary issue product according to  claim 1  wherein the repeating design element comprises line elements. 
     
     
         10 . The sanitary tissue product according to  claim 9  wherein the repeating design element further comprises dot elements. 
     
     
         11 . The sanitary tissue product according to  claim 1  wherein the surface pattern is wet-formed. 
     
     
         12 . The sanitary tissue product according to  claim 1  wherein the surface pattern is dry-formed. 
     
     
         13 . The sanitary tissue product according to  claim 1  wherein the surface pattern is embossed. 
     
     
         14 . The sanitary tissue product according to  claim 1  wherein the sanitary tissue product comprises filaments. 
     
     
         15 . The sanitary tissue product according to  claim 1  wherein the sanitary tissue product comprises fibers. 
     
     
         16 . The sanitary tissue product according to  claim 15  wherein the fibers comprise pulp fibers. 
     
     
         17 . The sanitary tissue product according to  claim 16  wherein the pulp fibers comprise wood pulp fibers. 
     
     
         18 . The sanitary tissue product according to  claim 16  wherein the pulp fibers comprise trichomes. 
     
     
         19 . A method for making a sanitary tissue product according to  claim 1 , the method comprising the steps of:
 a. providing at least one ply of a fibrous structure; and   b. imparting a surface pattern to the fibrous structure to produce the sanitary tissue product, wherein the surface pattern has a repeating design element, wherein the repeating design element exhibits two opposing open termini and two opposing closed termini and wherein two or more of the repeating design elements are connected to one another through respective opposing open termini.   
     
     
         20 . A method for making a sanitary tissue product according to  claim 1 , the method comprising the steps of:
 a. depositing fibrous elements onto a patterned belt to form a fibrous structure comprising a surface pattern having a repeating design element, wherein the repeating design element exhibits two opposing open termini and two opposing closed termini and wherein two or more of the repeating design elements are connected to one another through respective opposing open termini; and   b. removing the fibrous structure from the patterned belt to produce the sanitary tissue product.