Molded nonwoven fabric articles

Claim 1

A PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING A NONWOVEN POROUS SEAMLESS SHAPED FABRIC WEARING APPAREL ARTICLE OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED WHICH COMPRISES THE STEPS OF: (1) FORMING A CARRDED FIBROUS WEB OF A MIXTURE OF STAPLE HAVING A LENGHT OF ONE TO TWO INCHES AND CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF UNPLASTICIZED DRAWN POLYESTER FIBERS UNPLASTICZED UNDRAWN AMORPHOUS POLYESTER FIBERS SERVING AS THERMOPLASTIC BINDER FIBERS, AND CELLULOSE FIBERS THE UNDRAWN POLYESTER FIBERS BEING IN THE PROPORTION OF 30 TO 50% AND THE DRAWN POLYESTER FIBERS BEING IN THE PROPORTION OF 10 TO 30% BY WEIGHT OF THE FIBER MIXTURE; (2) SHAPING A FLUFFY DRY SHEET OF SAID CARDED FIBROUS WEB OVER A HEATED MALE MOLD MAINTAINED AT A TEMPERATURE IN THE RANGE OF ABOUT 250 TO 400*F.; (3) PROMPTLY SUBJECTING THE DRY SHEET TO UNIFORM SOFT-PRESSING AGAINST THE HEATED MOLD TO COMPACT AND UNIFY IT INTO A STABLE MOLDED SHAPED PRECISELY CONFORMING TO THE MOLD, THE UNDRAWN POLYESTER FIBERS BECOMING FUSED TOGETHER AT THEIR MUTUAL CROSSING POINTS AND BEING THEN RENDERED CRYSTALLINE AND NONADHERENT TO THE MOLD TO PROVIDE A FIBER-UNIFYING AND SHAPE-RETAINING NETWORK; (4) PROMPTLY REMOVING THE MOLDED FIBROUS SHEET FROM THE HEATED MOLD WITHOUT IMPAIRING ITS SHAPE; (5) IMPREGNATING THE MOLDED FIBROUS SHEET WITHOUT IMPAIRING ITS SHAPE WITH AN AQUEOUS SIZING DISPERSION OF A CARBOXYLIC ACRYLATE LATEX INCLUDING A CURING AGENT, SO AS TO COAT AND INTERBOND ALL THE FIBERS WITH A LATEX BINDER IN A DRYWEIGHT PROPORTION OF 25 TO 50% OF THE COMBINED WEIGHT; (6) HEATING THE IMPREGNATED ARTICLE WITH HOT AIR TO DRY IT AND TO CURE THE POLYMER FIBER COATING; SO AS TO OBTAIN A MOLDED ARTICLE THAT IS HIGHLY POROUS, STRONG AND TOUGH, SHAPE-RETAINING BUT FLEXIBLE, NONIRRITATING TO THE SKIN, AND CAPABLE OF REPEATED LAUNDERING.