# US 2014/0151934 A1 · Systems And Methods For Providing Micro-Aberrations On Film > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2014/0151934 A1 - Document ID: US20140151934A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 14/097,448 - Filed: 2013-12-05 - Published: 2014-06-05 - Earliest claimed: 2012-12-05 - Assignees: Tredegar Film Products Corporation - Applicants: Tredegar Film Products Corporation - Inventors: Paul Eugene Thomas; James Marion Myers - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140151934A1 ## CPC - B29C 59/06: using vacuum drums {(for thermoforming B29C51/225)} - A61F 13/15731: {Treating webs, e.g. for giving them a fibrelike appearance, e.g. by embossing} - A61F 13/51104: {the top sheet having a three-dimensional cross-section, e.g. corrugations, embossments, recesses or projections} - B26F 1/26: Perforating by non-mechanical means, e.g. by fluid jet - B29C 59/04: using rollers or endless belts - B29C: SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING (making preforms B29B11/00; making laminated products by combining previously unconnected layers which become one product whose layers will remain together B32B37/00 - B32B41/00) - A61F: FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRST-AID KITS (dental prosthetics A61C) - B26F: PERFORATING; PUNCHING; CUTTING-OUT; STAMPING-OUT; SEVERING BY MEANS OTHER THAN CUTTING (marking-out, perforating or making buttonholes A41H25/00; shoemaking A43D; surgery A61B; punching metal B21D; drilling metal B23B; cutting of metal by applying heat locally, e.g. flame cutting, B23K; cutting by abrasive fluid jets B24C5/02; details common to machines for severing B26D; drilling wood B27C; drilling stone B28D; working of plastics or substances in a plastic state B29; making boxes, cartons, envelopes or bags, of paper or similarly worked materials, e.g. metal foil, B31B; of glass C03B; of leather C14B; of textile materials D06H; for light guides G02B6/25; of tickets G07B) ## Abstract Systems and methods for forming a vacuum formed, apertured film with micro-aberrations may be disclosed. For example, a polymer web such as a molten polymer web may be received at an engagement point between a screen with a positive aberration and a roller comprising a surface with a negative depression. The roller may have a diameter of no more than about 5.5 inches. A micro-aberration may be expanded, for example, on a land of the polymer web at the engagement point by inserting the positive aberration on the screen into the negative depression on the surface of the roller at a pressure of about 1.5 to about 3.5 pounds per linear inch (PLI). Additionally, one or more apertures are formed in the polymer web adjacent to a micro-aberration on a land. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for forming a vacuum formed, apertured film with micro-aberrations, the method comprising: receiving a molten polymer web at an engagement point between a screen with a positive aberration and a roller comprising a surface with a negative depression; and expanding a micro-aberration on a land of the molten polymer web at the engagement point by inserting the positive aberration on the screen into the negative depression on the surface of the roller with the molten polymer web therebetween at a pressure no more than about 3.5 pounds per lineal inch (PLI). ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the negative depression is pre-formed in the surface of the roller. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the negative depression is pre-formed in the surface of the roller by laser engraving a cover of the roller, wherein the cover of the roller comprises at least one of the following: rubber or thermoset polymer. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the negative aberration is formed by repetitious mechanical pressure of a tool into a cover of the roller, wherein the cover of the roller comprises at least one of the following: fabric, stiff foam, or felts. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the micro-aberration comprises a fine scale mesh of at least about 5,500 aberrations per square centimeter and an average aberration height of about 30 μm or greater. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the roller comprises a diameter of no more than about 5.5 inches. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the roller is positioned at a leading edge of a vacuum slot and is engaged with the forming screen at no less than about 1.5 PLI. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein the screen comprises one or more openings adjacent to the positive aberration. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, further comprising forming one or more apertures through the molten polymer web by passing the molten polymer web with the micro-aberration beyond the leading edge of the vacuum slot such that the vacuum slot is configured to pull portions of the polymer web into the one or more openings in the screen via a pressure differential. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the micro-aberration is expanded on a land adjacent to the one or more apertures. ### Claim 11 A method for forming a vacuum formed, apertured film with micro-aberrations, the method comprising: receiving a molten polymer web at an engagement point between a screen with a positive aberration and a roller comprising a surface with a negative depression pre-formed therein, wherein the roller comprises a diameter of no more than about 5.5 inches; expanding a micro-aberration on a land of the molten polymer web at the engagement point by inserting the positive aberration on the screen into the negative aberration on the surface of the roller with the molten polymer web therebetween, wherein the positive aberration on the screen is inserted into the negative depression on the surface of the roller at a pressure of about 1.5 to about 3.5 pounds per linear inch (PLI). ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the micro-aberration comprises a fine scale mesh of at least about 5,500 aberrations per square centimeter with an average aberration height of about 30 μm or greater. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the roller is positioned at a leading edge of a vacuum slot and is engaged with the screen at no less than about 1.5 PLI. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, further comprising forming one or more apertures through the molten polymer web by passing the molten polymer web with the micro-aberration beyond the leading edge of the vacuum slot such that the vacuum slot is configured to pull portions of the polymer web into one or more openings in the screen via a pressure differential. ### Claim 15 The method of 11, wherein the surface of the roller further remains unaltered when the positive aberration is inserted into the negative depression pre-formed on the surface of the roller. ### Claim 16 A method for forming a vacuum formed, apertured film with micro-aberrations, the method comprising: receiving a molten polymer web at an engagement point between a screen with a positive aberration and a roller comprising a surface with a negative depression therein, wherein the roller comprises a diameter of no more than about 5.5 inches; expanding a micro-aberration on a land of the molten polymer web at the engagement point by inserting the positive aberration on the screen into the negative aberration on the surface of the roller with the molten polymer web therebetween, wherein the positive aberration on the screen is inserted into the negative depression on the surface of the roller at a pressure of about 1.5 to about 3.5 pounds per linear inch (PLI), and wherein the micro-aberration comprises a fine scale mesh of at least about 5,500 aberrations per square centimeter with an average aberration height of about 30 μm or greater. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16, wherein the negative depression is pre-formed in the surface of the roller by laser engraving a cover of the roller, wherein the cover of the roller comprises at least one of the following: rubber or thermoset polymer. ### Claim 18 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16, wherein the negative aberration is formed by repetitious mechanical pressure of a tool into a cover of the roller, wherein the cover of the roller comprises at least one of the following: fabric, stiff foam, or felts. ### Claim 19 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16, wherein the roller is positioned at a leading edge of a vacuum slot and is engaged with the screen at no less than about 1.5 PLI. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19, further comprising forming one or more apertures through the molten polymer web by passing the molten polymer web with the micro-aberration beyond the leading edge of the vacuum slot such that the vacuum slot is configured to pull portions of the polymer web into one or more openings in the screen via a pressure differential.