Evaporative cooler pad and method of forming same

An evaporative cooler pad having opposing faces and comprising a substantially noncompressible batt of substantially uniformly distributed natural cellulosic lightweight elongate segments, oriented in generally horizontal planes extending substantially parallel to the opposing faces of the pad with the elongate segments in each plane extending in various directions with respect to each other and forming interconnecting interstices and passageways throughout the pad such that air directed toward the pad may flow generally freely therethrough from one face to the other of the pad,

• said pad also comprising a preformed hydrophilic foam directly coating substantially all the surfaces of the individual elongate segments, said hydrophilic foam coating having a thickness substantially less than the thickness of the elongate segments and no greater than about 1 to 2 mils in thickness so as to increase the cross-section of the segments without interconnecting the segments to each other and without bridging between the segments so that the interstices and passageways throughout the batt remain substantially intact and unobstructed, said hydrophilic foam coating and its surface having a minute cellular structure which serves for producing a capillary type effect when contacted by water to wick the water throughout the pad along the surfaces of the elongate segments so as to increase the evaporative efficiency of the pad at least about 50% over the pad prior to the coating thereof, and
• an open mesh net fabric intimately engaging said batt in surrounding relation to facilitate handling of the foam coated pad formed therefrom.

A method of substantially increasing the evaporative efficiency of an evaporative cooler pad formed from a noncompressible batt of substantially uniformly distributed natural cellulosic lightweight elongate segments, which are oriented in generally horizontal planes extending substantially parallel to the opposing faces of the pad with the elongate segments in each plane extending in various directions with respect to each other and forming interconnecting interstices and passageway throughout the pad and comprising the steps of

• applying a preformed hydrophilic foam directly onto a face of the batt while directing the batt through a pair of nip rolls to cause the applied foam to completely penetrate the batt thickness and to also squeeze and remove excess foam therefrom and so that the foam directly coats substantially the entire surface of each individual elongate segment and provides a coating thickness of substantially less than the thickness of the elongate segments to increase the cross-section of the segments without interconnecting the segments to each other and without bridging between the segments so that the interstices and passageways throughout the batt remain substantially intact and unobstructed, and heating and curing the foam coated batt and thereby forming an evaporative cooler pad which when contacted by water serves to wick the water throughout the pad along the surfaces of the elongate segments and which retains porosity to permit generally free air circulation therethrough.