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US 2026/0055550 A1Published application
On-line inspection of cellulose acetate tow
AssigneeAcetate International LLC
InventorsPhilip Caenen, Christophe Loix, Sander Vandenbon
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed are improved methods for inspecting tow for contamination, defects, and/or imperfections, for example cellulose acetate tow. The present disclosure can also relate to processes for producing cellulose acetate tow that involve detecting and analyzing contamination, defects, and/or imperfections in the tow. The methods can result in cellulose acetate that has fewer contamination, defects, and/or imperfections than has been previously achieved.
Claims20
A method for inspecting tow, the method comprising:
- a) providing a tow band;
- b) illuminating the tow band with a light;
- c) capturing an image of the light illuminating the tow band;
- and
- d) analyzing the image for defects in the tow band.
2 more elements
A process for making a cellulose acetate tow comprising the steps of:
- spinning a dope comprising a solution of cellulose acetate and a solvent to produce as-spun cellulose acetate filaments;
- taking-up the as-spun cellulose acetate filaments;
- forming a tow from the cellulose acetate filaments;
- plasticizing the tow;
- crimping the plasticized tow;
- drying the crimped tow;
- illuminating the dried tow band with a light at an angle to the dried tow band;
- capturing an image of the light illuminating the dried tow band;
- analyzing the image for defects in the dried tow band;
- and
- baling the dried crimped tow.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.