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Abstract

Provided is a conjugate fiber for air-laid nonwoven fabric manufacture having a planar zig-zag crimp shape before a thermal treatment, such that a uniform web is obtained by air laying with high processability and productivity, and the conjugate fiber develops a spiral crimp when the web is subjected to a thermal treatment to thereby enable the web to shrink significantly, as a result of which a nonwoven fabric can be obtained in which fibers are amassed to a high density.The conjugate fiber for air-laid nonwoven fabric manufacture is a heat-fusible conjugate fiber in which a first component comprising an olefinic thermoplastic resin is conjugated with a second component comprising an olefinic thermoplastic resin having a melting point higher than that of the first component. The conjugate form is such that the centers of gravity of the conjugate components are mutually different in the fiber cross section, the fiber has a single-yarn fineness of 1 to 10 dtex, a fiber length of 3 to 20 mm, and a planar zig-zag crimp whose crimp shape index (actual length of short fiber/distance between both ends of short fiber) ranges from 1.05 to 1.60, and the web shrinkage upon thermal treatment at 145° C. of a web obtained by an air-laid method is not lower than 40%.

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