1. A method of making a sheet-form loop product, the method comprising
placing a layer of staple fibers on a first side of a substrate;
needling fibers of the layer through the substrate by penetrating the substrate with needles that drag portions of the fibers through the substrate during needling, leaving exposed loops of the fibers extending from a second side of the substrate;
passing the substrate and the fibers through a nip defined between a roll and a hot can such that the fibers on the first side of the substrate are fused together to anchor the exposed loops, while substantially preventing fusion of the fibers extending from the second side of the substrate, wherein the roll has a compliant rubber surface, and the complaint rubber surface and the hot can cooperate to apply a uniform pressure across the first side of the substrate; and
cooling the compliant rubber surface of the roll by circulating liquid coolant through a core about which the rubber surface is positioned and directing air onto the rubber surface,
wherein the loop product has an overall weight of less than about 2 ounces per square yard.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising, prior to fusing, heating the fibers from the first side of the substrate.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the fibers include bicomponent fibers having a core of one material and a sheath of another material, and wherein anchoring the exposed loops comprises melting material of the sheaths of the bicomponent fibers to bind the fibers together.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the fibers include first fibers having a relatively high melting temperature and second fibers having a relatively lower melting temperature, the melting temperature of the second fibers being selected to allow the second fibers to fuse and anchor the loops.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the fibers are loose and unconnected to the substrate and each other until needled.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein, after passing the substrate and the fibers through the nip, the fibers and filaments of the substrate on the first side of the substrate are fused together by a network of discrete bond points.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein the bond points are in a random distribution.
8. The method of claim 6 wherein the fibers comprise drawn staple fibers, and the fused fibers maintain a longitudinal molecular orientation throughout the bond points.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein the needling of the fibers of the layer through the substrate and the fusing together to anchor the exposed loops forms loops sized and constructed to be releasably engageable by a field of hooks for hook-and-loop fastening.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein the substrate comprises a nonwoven web.
11. The method of claim 10 wherein the nonwoven web comprises a spunbond web.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein, prior to needling, the spunbond web comprises a non-random pattern of fused, spaced apart regions, each fused region surrounded by unfused regions.
13. The method of claim 10 wherein the nonwoven web comprises filaments formed of a polymer selected from the group consisting of polyesters, polyamides, polyolefins, and blends and copolymer thereof.
14. The method of claim 10 wherein the nonwoven web comprises filaments having a specific gravity of less than about 1.5 gcm3.
15. The method of claim 10 wherein the nonwoven web has a linear filament layer density of at least about 25 filamentslayer.
16. The method of claim 15 wherein the nonwoven web has an overall basis weight of less than about 0.75 osy.
17. The method of claim 1 wherein the staple fibers are disposed on the first side of the substrate in a layer of a total fiber weight of less than about 2 ounces per square yard (67 grams per square meter).
18. The method of claim 11 wherein the staple fibers are disposed on the substrate in a layer of a total fiber weight of no more than about one ounce per square yard (34 grams per square meter).
19. The method of claim 1 wherein the staple fibers are disposed on the substrate in a carded, unbonded state.
20. The method of claim 1 further comprising, prior to disposing the fibers on the substrate, carding and cross-lapping the fibers.
21. The method of claim 11 wherein the staple fibers and filaments of the nonwoven web are of substantially the same denier.
22. The method of claim 1 wherein pressure in the nip is from about 5 to about 40 psi.
23. The method of claim 1 further comprising selecting roll compliance, nip pressure and line speed so that nip dwell time is from about 25 to 200 msec.
24. The method of claim 1 further comprising preheating the substrate from the first side prior to passing the substrate through the nip.
25. The method of claim 24 wherein preheating comprises training the substrate about the hot can that carries the substrate into the nip.
26. The method of claim 25 further comprising applying tension to the substrate to maintain a contact pressure against the hot can prior to passing the substrate through the nip.
27. The method of claim 24 wherein preheating comprises heating the substrate, using infrared heating, to a temperature sufficient to soften but not melt surfaces of at least some of the fibers on the first side.
28. The method of claim 1 wherein the substrate comprises a polymer film.
29. The method of claim 1 wherein the substrate comprises a scrim.
30. The method of claim 1 wherein the substrate comprises paper.
31. The method of claim 1 wherein the needling comprises elliptical needling.
32. The method of claim 1 further comprising embossing the loop product after passing the substrate and fibers through the nip.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A heat-sensitive recording material comprising a heat-sensitive recording layer, an intermediate layer, and a protective layer, which are sequentially formed in this order on a support, wherein the heat-sensitive recording layer contains a leuco dye and a developer; the intermediate layer contains an aqueous adhesive; and the protective layer is a cured form obtained by irradiation of an ultraviolet- or electron-beam-curable resin composition with ultraviolet light or an electron beam;
the heat-sensitive recording material further comprising, on the protective layer, an uppermost layer containing an aqueous adhesive and a pigment having a mean particle diameter of not more than 100 nm,
wherein the uppermost layer-side surface of the heat-sensitive recording material has a gloss at 75\xb0 of not less than 90% and a gloss at 20\xb0 of not less than 35% in accordance with JIS P 8142-1993.
2. The heat-sensitive recording material according to claim 1, wherein the uppermost layer contains an aqueous adhesive comprising a polyurethane ionomer.
3. The heat-sensitive recording material according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the pigment comprises one member selected from the group consisting of layered silicate compounds and colloidal silica, and the content of one member selected from the group consisting of layered silicate compounds and colloidal silica is 20 to 70 mass %, based on the total solids content of the uppermost layer.
4. The heat-sensitive recording material according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the uppermost layer contains a resin obtained from the aqueous adhesive, which is a polymer latex having a heterogeneous particle structure containing a urethane resin component in at least one phase.
5. The heat-sensitive recording material according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the uppermost layer has an average thickness of 0.02 to 0.4 \u03bcm, and the average thickness is not less than a mean particle diameter of the pigment.
6. The heat-sensitive recording material according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the protective layer contains a filler having a 50% mean volume particle diameter (D50) of less than 2.0 \u03bcm as determined from the cumulative volume distribution, and a ratio of the 90% mean volume particle diameter (D90) to the 50% mean volume particle diameter (D50) (D90D50) of not more than 3.0, and the protective layer has an average thickness of 0.5 to 5 \u03bcm, and the average thickness is not less than a mean particle diameter of the filler.
7. The heat-sensitive recording material according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the protective layer contains at least one filler selected from the group consisting of synthetic zeolite and spherical silica.
8. The heat-sensitive recording material according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the protective layer surface has a gloss at 75\xb0 of not less than 90% in accordance with JIS P 8142-1993 and a wetting tension of not less than 50 mNm.
9. The heat-sensitive recording material according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the uppermost layer is formed by using an uppermost layer coating composition containing
an alkyl phosphate;
an alkali metal pyrophosphate; and
at least one thickener selected from the group consisting of acrylic alkali thickeners, polyethylene oxide, xanthan gum, and sodium polyacrylate; and wherein
the alkyl phosphate content is 0.5 to 10 mass %, based on the total solids content of the uppermost layer,
and the alkali metal pyrophosphate content is 3 to 20 mass %, based on the pigment.
10. The heat-sensitive recording material according to claim 9, wherein the acrylic alkali thickener content is 0.1 to 3 mass %, based on the total solids content of the uppermost layer.
11. The heat-sensitive recording material according to claim 9, wherein the content of at least one member selected from the group consisting of polyethylene oxide, xanthan gum, and sodium polyacrylate is 0.05 to 0.5 mass %, based on the total solids content of the uppermost layer.
12. A method for producing a heat-sensitive recording material according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the heat-sensitive recording material comprising a heat-sensitive recording layer, an intermediate layer, and a protective layer, which are sequentially formed in this order on a support, the heat-sensitive recording layer containing a leuco dye and a developer, the intermediate layer containing an aqueous adhesive, and the protective layer being cured by irradiation of an ultraviolet- or electron-beam-curable resin composition with ultraviolet light or an electron beam,
applying to the protective layer an uppermost layer coating composition containing an aqueous adhesive and a pigment with a mean particle diameter of not more than 100 nm and drying the composition to form an uppermost layer,
wherein the uppermost layer-side surface has a gloss at 75\xb0 of not less than 90% and a gloss at 20\xb0 of not less than 35% in accordance with JIS P 8142-1993.