COMPOSITE SHORT FIBERS FOR ABSORBENT ARTICLE, PROCESS FOR PRODUCING SAME, THERMALLY BONDED NONWOVEN FABRIC FOR ABSORBENT ARTICLE, SURFACE SHEET FOR ABSORBENT ARTICLE, AND ABSORBENT ARTICLE

摘要

The present invention provides: composite short fibers for absorbent articles, the short fibers having the property of satisfactorily passing through carding machines and being suitable for obtaining thermally bonded nonwoven fabric for absorbent articles which feels smooth to the touch and has high opacifying properties; a process for producing the short fibers; thermally bonded nonwoven fabric for absorbent articles which includes the short fibers; a surface sheet for absorbent articles; and an absorbent article. The composite short fibers for absorbent articles are core-sheath composite short fibers of a concentric circle structure which comprise a core component and a sheath component, wherein the core component comprises 50 mass% or more polypropylene which, after spinning, has a ratio of mass-average molecular weight (Mw) to number-average molecular weight (Mn), Mw/Mn, of 3.0-8.0 and the sheath component comprises 60 mass% or more high-density polyethylene which has a melting point lower by at least 5°C than that of the polypropylene. The core component and the sheath component have been composited in a ratio of 52/48 to 73/27 in terms of the volume ratio of core component/sheath component. The composite short fibers contain an inorganic filler in an amount of 0.5-10 mass% relative to 100 mass% the composite short fibers, and have a fineness of 1.1-2.0 dtex.