Hydroxyl Polymer Fiber Fibrous Structures and Processes for Making Same

Abstract

Hydroxyl polymer fiber fibrous structures and processes for making same are provided. More particularly, hydroxyl polymer fiber fibrous structures comprising a non-naturally occurring hydroxyl polymer fiber wherein the fibrous structure exhibits a total pore volume of pores in the range of greater than 20 μm to 500 μm of greater than 3.75 mm 3 /mg of dry fibrous structure mass, and/or fibrous structures comprising a hydroxyl polymer fiber and a solid additive are provided.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A fibrous structure comprising a plurality of monocomponent, non-naturally occurring polysaccharide fibers and a plurality of solid additives. 
     
     
         2 . The fibrous structure according to  claim 1  wherein the fibrous structure exhibits a total pore volume of pores in the range of greater than 20 μm to 500 μm of greater than 3.75 mm 3 /mg of dry fibrous structure mass. 
     
     
         3 . The fibrous structure according to  claim 1  wherein the solid additives are present on at least one surface of the fibrous structure. 
     
     
         4 . The fibrous structure according to  claim 3  wherein the solid additives cover less than the entire surface area of the surface of the fibrous structure. 
     
     
         5 . The fibrous structure according to  claim 3  wherein the solid additives are present on the surface of the fibrous structure in a random pattern. 
     
     
         6 . The fibrous structure according to  claim 3  wherein the solid additives are present on the surface of the fibrous structure in a non-random repeating pattern. 
     
     
         7 . The fibrous structure according to  claim 1  wherein the solid additives are uniformly distributed throughout the fibrous structure 
     
     
         8 . The fibrous structure according to  claim 1  wherein the solid additives are non-uniformly distributed throughout the fibrous structure. 
     
     
         9 . The fibrous structure according to  claim 1  wherein at least one of the solid additives exhibits a critical surface tension of greater than about 30 dynes/cm. 
     
     
         10 . The fibrous structure according to  claim 1  wherein the solid additives are selected from the group consisting of: hydrophilic inorganic particles, hydrophilic organic particles, hydrophobic inorganic particles, hydrophobic organic particles, naturally occurring fibers, non-naturally occurring particles, other non-naturally occurring fibers and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         11 . The fibrous structure according to  claim 10  wherein the naturally occurring fibers comprise a wood pulp fiber. 
     
     
         12 . The fibrous structure according to  claim 10  wherein the naturally occurring fibers comprise a cotton linter. 
     
     
         13 . The fibrous structure according to  claim 10  wherein the naturally occurring fibers comprise protein. 
     
     
         14 . The fibrous structure according to  claim 10  wherein the other non-naturally occurring fibers are selected from the group consisting of: polyolefin fibers, polyamide fibers and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         15 . The fibrous structure according to  claim 10  wherein the hydrophilic inorganic particles are selected from the group consisting of: clay, calcium carbonate, titanium dioxide, talc, aluminum silicate, calcium silicate, alumina trihydrate, activated carbon, calcium sulfate, glass microspheres, diatomaceous earth and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         16 . The fibrous structure according to  claim 1  wherein the fibrous structure comprises at least one layer comprising a majority of non-naturally occurring polysaccharide fibers and at least one layer comprising a majority of solid additives. 
     
     
         17 . The fibrous structure according to  claim 1  wherein the non-naturally occurring polysaccharide fiber comprises a polysaccharide selected from the group consisting of: starch, starch derivatives, starch copolymers, chitosan, chitosan derivatives, chitosan copolymers, cellulose, cellulose derivatives, cellulose copolymers, gums, arabinans, galactans, and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         18 . The fibrous structure according to  claim 17  wherein the non-naturally occurring polysaccharide fiber further comprises a hydroxyl polymer selected from the group consisting of: polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl alcohol derivatives, polyvinyl alcohol copolymers, proteins, and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         19 . The fibrous structure according to  claim 1  wherein at least one of the solid additives exhibits a particle size of less than 6 mm in the maximum dimension. 
     
     
         20 . The fibrous structure according to  claim 1  wherein the fibrous structure comprises less than 50% by bone dry weight of the solid additives. 
     
     
         21 . A single- or multi-ply sanitary tissue product comprising a fibrous structure according to  claim 1 . 
     
     
         22 . A fibrous structure comprising monocomponent, non-naturally occurring hydroxyl polymer fibers and solid additives, wherein the non-naturally occurring hydroxyl polymer fibers are present at a greater bone dry weight than the solid additives. 
     
     
         23 . A fibrous structure comprising a plurality of monocomponent, non-naturally occurring hydroxyl polymer fibers and a pore volume enhancing system that increases the total pore volume of pores in the range of greater than 20 μm to 500 μm of the fibrous structure compared to the same fibrous structure without the pore volume enhancing system. 
     
     
         24 . A fibrous structure comprising a monocomponent, non-naturally occurring hydroxyl polymer fiber wherein the fibrous structure exhibits a total pore volume of pores in the range of greater than 20 μm to 500 μm of greater than 3.75 mm 3 /mg of dry fibrous structure mass.