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US 12,053,733 B2Granted
Pleated air filter with reinforcing filaments comprising locally-thinned bending zones
Assignee3M Innovative Properties Company
InventorsJonathan M. Lise, Glen O. Gregerson, Dennis M. Glass, Brenda K. Balderas
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A pleated air filter media with a plurality of continuous-contact reinforcing filaments on at least one face of the pleated air filter. The filaments have locally-thinned bending zones each of which is registered with pleat tip or pleat valley of the pleated air filter media.
Claims19
A pleated air filter comprising a pleated air filter media comprising:
- a fibrous air-filtration web with a first side with a first face and second, oppositely-facing side with a second face and wherein the fibrous air-filtration web comprises a plurality of oppositely-facing pleats with a pleat direction and with a plurality of first-side pleat tips and first-side pleat valleys and second-side pleat tips and second-side pleat valleys,
- wherein the fibrous air-filtration web comprises a plurality of continuous-contact reinforcing filaments that are melt-bonded to the first face of the first side of the fibrous air-filtration web,
- wherein at least some of the continuous-contact reinforcing filaments each comprise a plurality of locally-thinned bending zones spaced along a folding direction of the fibrous air-filtration web, each locally-thinned bending zone being registered with a first-side pleat tip or a first-side pleat valley of the first side of the fibrous air-filtration web,
- wherein a collective stiffness of the continuous-contact reinforcing filaments is higher than a stiffness of the fibrous air-filtration web, and a stiffness of the locally-thinned bending zones of the continuous-contact reinforcing filaments is lower than a stiffness of portions of the continuous-contact reinforcing filaments that are not locally thinned, so that the locally-thinned bending zones of the continuous-contact reinforcing filaments cause the continuous-contact reinforcing filaments to be preferentially folded at the locally-thinned bending zones thus causing the fibrous air-filtration web to be preferentially folded at the first-side pleat tips and the first-side pleat valleys so that the fibrous air-filtration web is a pleated web,
- and wherein a perimeter support frame is mounted to four major edges of the pleated air filter media so that the pleated air filter is a framed air filter that is rectangular and that exhibits an overall major plane.
2 more elements
A method of making a framed pleated air filter, the method comprising:
- forming a plurality of molten streams of organic polymeric material and partially solidifying the molten streams into a plurality of parallel, spaced-apart, elongate, partially-solidified filaments;
- bringing the partially-solidified filaments into contact with a first face of a moving, flat, fibrous air-filtration web so that the partially-solidified filaments are in continuous contact with the first face of the fibrous air-filtration web;
- applying a force at selected locations along the elongate lengths of each of the partially-solidified filaments to locally deform the partially-solidified filaments at the selected locations to form locally-thinned zones that are spaced along the elongate lengths of the partially-solidified filaments;
- then,
- allowing the partially-solidified filaments to solidify into continuous-contact reinforcing filaments that are bonded to the first face of the moving, flat, fibrous air-filtration web;
- wherein a collective stiffness of the continuous-contact reinforcing filaments is higher than a stiffness of the moving, flat, fibrous air-filtration web, and a stiffness of the locally-thinned bending zones of the continuous-contact reinforcing filaments is lower than a stiffness of portions of the continuous-contact reinforcing filaments that are not locally thinned, so that the locally-thinned bending zones of the continuous-contact reinforcing filaments collectively provide preferential folding lines of the continuous-contact reinforcing filaments which cause the fibrous air-filtration web to exhibit preferential folding lines that are aligned with the preferential folding lines of the continuous-contact reinforcing filaments,
- then,
- gathering the moving, flat, fibrous air-filtration web so that the fibrous air-filtration web is folded along the preferential folding lines collectively established by the locally-thinned zones of the reinforcing filaments, to form a pleated air filter,
- then,
- mounting a perimeter frame on four major edges of the pleated air filter to form a framed pleated air filter that is rectangular and that exhibits an overall major plane.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.