METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DEPOSITING MOISTURE-ABSORBENT MATERIAL IN A SUBSTRATE

摘要

A method and apparatus for forming a non-woven pad (32) consisting of fibrous material (30) in which highly moisture-absorbent particles (39) are intermixed with the fibrous material (30) throughout a predetermined portion of the thickness of the non-woven pad (32). The non-woven pad (32) is formed atop a conveyor (18) moving through a chamber (12) which has a duct (20) connected to a source of vacuum operable to draw fibrous material (30) injected into the chamber (12) onto the conveyor (18). A spray gun (46) or an extension (50) thereof is positioned within the chamber (12) relative to the fibrous material (30) atop the conveyor (18), and is operated to discharge moisture-absorbent material (39) at a predetermined velocity, such that the moisture-absorbent material (39) is intermixed with the fibrous material (30) throughout preferably a center layer (57) of the thickness of the non-woven pad (32) while forming boundary layers (59, 63) on either side of the center layer (57) which are substantially free of moisture-absorbent material (39). The spray gun (46) preferably operates intermittently to form spaced, sharply defined areas along the length and width of the non-woven pad (32) wherein each area has moisture-absorbent material (39) interspersed throughout a portion of the thickness thereof.