Kimberly-Clark has been granted a patent for soft and durable tissue products made from non-wood fibers, specifically high yield hesperaloe pulp fibers. The tissue products contain at least 5% of these fibers and have modest tensile strengths, improved durability, and cross-machine direction properties. The products are not overly stiff and have a stiffness index of less than 10.0. The patented tissue product is a multi-layered through-air dried tissue web, with the second layer containing high yield hesperaloe pulp fibers and the first layer being free from these fibers. The tissue product contains 5-50% of high yield hesperaloe fibers and has a geometric mean tensile of 1,000-1,500 g/3″ and a cross-machine tensile energy absorption of 6.0-8.0 g·cm/cm2. GlobalData’s report on Kimberly-Clark gives a 360-degree view of the company including its patenting strategy. Buy the report here.
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According to GlobalData’s company profile on Kimberly-Clark, Incontinence monitoring sensors was a key innovation area identified from patents. Kimberly-Clark's grant share as of September 2023 was 52%. Grant share is based on the ratio of number of grants to total number of patents.
Patent granted for tissue product with high yield hesperaloe pulp fibers
A recently granted patent (Publication Number: US11773539B2) describes a tissue product that is made up of a multi-layered through-air dried tissue web. The tissue web consists of a first layer that does not contain high yield hesperaloe pulp fibers and a second layer that does contain these fibers. The tissue product contains between 5 to 50 percent of high yield hesperaloe fibers by weight and has specific mechanical properties.
The tissue product has a geometric mean tensile (GMT) ranging from 1,000 to 1,500 g/3", indicating its strength and durability. Additionally, it has a cross-machine tensile energy absorption (CD TEA) ranging from 6.0 to 8.0 g·cm/cm2, which measures its ability to absorb energy during stretching. The patent also claims that the tissue product has a geometric mean tensile energy absorption (GM TEA) greater than 9.0 g·cm/cm2, further highlighting its strength.
Other mechanical properties of the tissue product include a TEA Index ranging from 10.0 to 14.0, indicating its energy absorption capabilities, and a Stiffness Index ranging from 4.0 to 8.0, which measures its rigidity. The tissue product also has a cross-machine direction stretch (CD Stretch) ranging from 10.0 to 14.0 percent, indicating its ability to stretch in the cross-machine direction.
The patent also mentions a Tensile Ratio ranging from 1.5 to 2.5, which measures the ratio of the tissue product's strength in the machine direction to its strength in the cross-machine direction. The tissue product has a geometric mean slope (GM Slope) of less than 6.0 kg, indicating its softness.
In terms of physical characteristics, the tissue product has a basis weight ranging from 30 to 60 grams per square meter (gsm) and a sheet bulk greater than 10 cc/g, indicating its thickness and fluffiness. It also has a dry burst strength of 800 gf or greater, indicating its resistance to bursting, and a geometric mean tear (GM Tear) of 15.0 gf or greater, indicating its tear resistance. The tissue product has a Burst Index ranging from 8.0 to 12.0 and a TEA Index ranging from 10.0 to 14.0.
Lastly, the patent claims that the multi-layered through-air dried tissue web used in the tissue product is free from softwood kraft pulp fibers, suggesting that it may have different properties compared to traditional tissue products.
Overall, this patented tissue product offers a combination of strength, absorbency, softness, and other desirable mechanical and physical properties, making it potentially suitable for various applications in the tissue industry.
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GlobalData Patent Analytics tracks bibliographic data, legal events data, point in time patent ownerships, and backward and forward citations from global patenting offices. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.
