Simplified process for making thick fibrous structures

摘要

The invention relates to a process for making thick fibrous structures. More particularly, the invention relates to a simplified needle-felting process wherein loose fiber is accreted into a thick fibrous structure by repeatedly driving a multitude of felting needles into the loose fiber, the felting needles penetrating all the way through the fibrous material at the beginning of the process, and penetrating only part way through the fibrous material at the end of the process. The processes according to the invention eliminate one or more intermediate steps of forming coherent fibrous layers that were previously thought necessary in the prior art in order to form a thick fibrous structure.