Process of making cellulosic fibrous structures having discrete regions with radially oriented fibers therein

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The invention comprises a single lamina cellulosic fibrous structure having at least two regions disposed in a nonrandom, repeating pattern.
The first region is of relatively high basis weight and comprises an essentially continuous network.
The second region comprises a plurality of mutually discrete regions of relatively low basis weight and which are circumscribed by the high basis weight first region.
The low basis weight regions are comprised of a plurality of substantially radially oriented fibers.
In another aspect, the invention comprises a process of producing a single lamina cellulosic fibrous structure having two regions disposed in a nonrandom, repeating pattern.
The process comprises the steps of providing a plurality of cellulosic fibers suspended in a liquid carrier, a fiber retentive forming element having liquid pervious zones, and a means for depositing the cellulosic fibers onto the forming element.
The cellulosic fibers are deposited onto the forming element and the liquid carrier drained therethrough in two simultaneous stages, a high flow rate stage and a low flow rate stage.
The high and low flow rate stages have mutually different initial mass flow rates, whereby the fibers in the low flow rate stage drain in a substantially radially oriented pattern towards a centroid, and thereby form a plurality of discrete regions having relatively lower basis weights than the region formed by the high flow rate stage and radially oriented fibers within the discrete low basis weight regions.
Certain fibers are simultaneously orientationally influenced by both flow areas.
This results in a radially oriented bridging of the impervious portion.
The low flow area provides this orientational influence without excessive accumulation of fibers over said area.
In yet another aspect, the invention comprises an apparatus for forming a cellulosic fibrous structure having at least two mutually different basis weights disposed in a nonrandom, repeating pattern.
The apparatus comprises a liquid pervious fiber retentive forming element having zones through which a liquid carrying the cellulosic fibers may drain, and a means for retaining the cellulosic fibers on the forming element in a nonrandom, repeating pattern of two regions having mutually different basis weights