Support for abrasive

Abstract

The present invention relates to a support for an abrasive comprising a nonwoven fabric being a through-air thermally bonded nonwoven fabric comprising multicomponent binder fibers. The present invention relates also to a method of forming said support and to the use of said support in the manufacture of an abrasive article.

1 . A support for an abrasive, comprising:
 a through-air thermally bonded nonwoven fabric comprising multicomponent binder fibers.   
     
     
         2 . The support of  claim 1 , having an air permeability of the nonwoven fabrics, measured at 200 Pa, of more than 100 L/m 2 s and/or a density in the range from 0.05 to 0.5 g/cm 2 . 
     
     
         3 . The support of  claim 1 , having a maximum tensile force MD of more than 110 N/50 mm and/or a maximum tensile force CD of more than 50 N/50 mm and/or a ratio between tensile force MD and tensile force CD of at least 1.75:1. 
     
     
         4 . The support of  claim 1 , having a breaking extension of less than 35% elongation at break MD and/or of more than 30% elongation at break CD. 
     
     
         5 . The support of  claim 1 , having a tenacity of higher than 1.6 N/g (50 mm) MD and/or a tenacity higher than 0.8 N/g (50 mm) CD. 
     
     
         6 . The support according of  claim 1 , comprising no artificial embossing on its surface. 
     
     
         7 . The support of  claim 1 , wherein the multicomponent binder fibers comprise sheath-core binder fibers. 
     
     
         8 . The support of  claim 7 , wherein the sheath comprises polypropylene and the core comprises polyester. 
     
     
         9 . The support of  claim 7 , wherein the sheath-core binder fibers have a titer of from 3 to 50 μm and/or a length of 30 mm to 65 mm. 
     
     
         10 . The support of  claim 1 , having an average thickness in a range from 0.1 to 1.2 mm. 
     
     
         11 . The support of  claim 1 , comprising sheath-core fibers in an amount of at least 60%. 
     
     
         12 . A method of manufacturing an abrasive article, the method comprising:
 including the support of  claim 1  in the abrasive article.   
     
     
         13 . A method for manufacturing a support for an abrasive, the method comprising:
 (A) producing and/or providing a fibrous web and/or a prebonded nonwoven fabric comprising multicomponent binder fibers;   (B) through-air thermal bonding the fibrous web and/or the prebonded nonwoven fabric, optionally in an hot through-air oven, to activate and bond the multicomponent binder fibers to form a through-air thermally bonded nonwoven fabric suitable as a support for an abrasive.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 (C) adjusting a thickness of the through-air thermally bonded nonwoven fabric while the binding fibers are still active, by passing the through-air thermally bonded nonwoven fabric through a calibration unit.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , including no hot roll calandering step. 
     
     
         16 . The support of  claim 7 , wherein the sheath comprises a polyolefin, polybutylene terephthalate, polydicyclohexilene terephthalate, polyamide 6, or a mixture of two or more of any of these, and
 wherein the core comprises a polyolefin, polyethylene terephthalate, poly-lactic acid, polyamide 6.6, or a mixture of two or more of any of these   
     
     
         17 . The support of  claim 7 , wherein the sheath comprises a polyethylene, polypropylene, and/or a copolymer thereof, and
 wherein the core comprise a different polypropylene.   
     
     
         18 . The support of  claim 1 , having an air permeability of the nonwoven fabrics, measured at 200 Pa of more than 100 L/m 2 s, and
 having a density in a range from 0.05 to 0.5 g/cm 2 .   
     
     
         19 . The support of  claim 1 , having at least two of
 a maximum tensile force MD of more than 110 N/50 mm,   a maximum tensile force CD of more than 50 N/50 mm, and   a ratio between tensile force MD and tensile force CD of at least 1.75:1.   
     
     
         20 . The support of  claim 1 , having a breaking extension of less than 35% elongation at break MD, and
 having a breaking extension of more than 30% elongation at break CD.