Multicomponent fibers having elastomeric components and bonded structures formed therefrom
OwnerJian Xiang, Bennett Ward +2inventors
InventorsJian Xiang, Bennett Ward, Andreas Schneekloth, Jackie Payne
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Elastomeric multicomponent fibers and bonded fiber structures formed from elastomeric multicomponent fibers are disclosed. The elastomeric multicomponent fibers may comprise a thermoplastic polymer core material and an elastomeric polymer sheath material surrounding the core material. The bonded fiber structure may comprise a plurality of fibers bonded to each other at spaced apart points of contact, at least a portion of the fibers being multicomponent fibers having at least one elastomeric fiber component.
Claims35
A multicomponent fiber comprising:
- a thermoplastic polymer core material;
- and
- an elastomeric polymer sheath material surrounding the core material.
A melt-blown multicomponent fiber, comprising:
- a first component comprising a thermoplastic polymer material;
- and
- a second component comprising an elastomeric polymer material.
A bonded fiber structure comprising:
- a plurality of fibers bonded to each other at spaced apart points of contact, at least a portion of the fibers being multicomponent fibers having at least one elastomeric fiber component.
A bonded fiber structure comprising:
- a plurality of polymeric fibers bonded to each other at spaced apart points of contact to form a self-sustaining, three dimensional, fluid transmissive body, the fibers collectively defining tortuous fluid flow paths through the fluid transmissive body,
- wherein the self-sustaining, three dimensional, fluid transmissive body has at least one dimension along which the structure can be elongated at least 200% while retaining its structural integrity.
A bonded fiber structure according to claim 31 wherein at least a portion of the thermoplastic fibers are sheath-core multicomponent fibers having an elastomeric polymer sheath material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.