Nathalie Moinard, Sainte Luce sur Loire, France; and Thierry Marche, La Chapelle Basse Mer, France.
Assigned to Aplix, Le Cellier, France.

Filed: 1/15/16
Issued: 3/14/23

A nonwoven sheet extending in a longitudinal direction and a lateral direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction, said sheet comprising: a first zone of reinforcement in which fibers and/or filaments constituting the sheet are bonded together, in an adhesive-free manner, in a reinforcing pattern comprising a plurality of geometric shapes, the first zone of reinforcement extending over the entire length of the sheet measured in the longitudinal direction, and over a first width strictly less than the width of the sheet measured in the lateral direction, wherein the reinforcing pattern of the first zone of reinforcement is formed on exactly one sheet having an exposed top surface and an exposed bottom surface included in the first zone of reinforcement, the geometric shapes of the reinforcing pattern in the first zone of reinforcement being arranged in such a manner that any straight line extending in the lateral direction of the sheet intersects at least one of said shapes; and a first non-reinforced zone, wherein a first lateral side of the first non-reinforced zone is laterally adjacent to the first zone of reinforcement, the first non-reinforced zone having a second width measured in the lateral direction that is larger than the first width; the elongation of the first reinforced zone under the effect of a given force exerted in the longitudinal direction being less than the elongation of the first non-reinforced zone under the effect of the same force.
A method of processing a nonwoven sheet, said sheet extending in a longitudinal direction and in a lateral direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction, the method comprising at least one reinforcing step during which, over at least one zone of reinforcement of the sheet extending over the entire length of the sheet as measured in the longitudinal direction and over a width that is strictly less than the width of the sheet as measured in its lateral direction, fibers and/or filaments constituting the sheet are bonded together using a reinforcing pattern comprising a plurality of geometric shapes in such a manner that the elongation of the reinforced zone under the effect of a given force exerted in the longitudinal direction is less than the elongation of a non-reinforced zone of the sheet under the effect of the same force, wherein the processing method forms the nonwoven sheet according to claim 1.