Filing Information

Inventor(s)	Dennis L. Krueger · James F. Dyrud ·
Assignee(s)	3M Innovative Properties Company ·  View assignee updates
Attorney/Agent(s)	Roger R Tamte ·
Primary Examiner	William Krynski ·
Assistant Examiner	Gray; J. M. ·
Application Number	US7135067
Filing date	12/18/1987
Issue date	05/02/2000
Predicted expiration date	10/11/2003
U.S. Classifications	442/400  · 428/373  ·
International Classifications	D03D 300  ·
Kind Code	A
International Classifications	428373;374;229;224;280 ·
Related U.S. Application Data	This is a division of allowed application Ser. No. 911,394, filed Sep. 25, 1986, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,871, which itself was a continuation of application Ser. No. 704,537, filed Feb. 22, 1985, and application Ser. No. 540,543, filed Oct. 11, 1983, both now abandoned.

Abstract

Independent Claims | See all claims (12)

1. 1. A fibrous web comprising a coherent entangled mass of melt-blown fibers which individually comprise a first polymeric material extending longitudinally along the fiber through a first portion of the cross-sectional area of the fiber and a second polymeric material adhered to the first polymeric material and extending longitudinally along the fiber through a second portion of the cross-sectional area of the fiber, said fibers being prepared by extruding a layered molten mass of said first and second polymeric materials through a row of side-by-side orifices into a high-velocity gaseous stream, where the extruded streams are attenuated and drawn into a mass of entangled fibers having an essentially infinite aspect ratio, and the fibers are then collected as a web that coheres through the entangled nature of the fibers.
2. 12.12. A fibrous web comprising a coherent mass of melt-blown fibers which average less than 10 micrometers in diameter and individually comprise a first polymeric material extending longitudinally along the fiber through a first portion of the cross-sectional area of the fiber and a second polymeric material different from the first polymeric material adhered to the first polymeric material and extending longitudinally along the fiber through a second portion of the cross-sectional area of the fiber, said fibers being prepared by extruding a layered molten mass of said first and second polymeric materials through a row of side-by-side orifices into a high-velocity gaseous stream, where the extruded streams are attenuated into fibers, carried to a collector, and collected as a mass of fibers that have an essentially infinite aspect ratio and are sufficiently entangled that it is impossible to remove one complete fiber from the mass and the mass is coherent without further treatment.