Wet-formed absorbent composite
AssigneeKimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc.
InventorsRichard Allen Anderson, Richard John Schmidt
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Described is a wet-formed composite. The wet-formed composite is formed from a combination of fibers and absorbent material. Specifically, the wet-formed composite is formed from absorbent material and a fiber slurry wherein the absorbent material is swellable in the dispersion medium of the slurry. Also disclosed is a method of forming the wet-formed composite. The method involves forming a fiber slurry, combining an absorbent material with the fiber slurry prior to forming the composite and then forming and drying the composite. The absorbent material is swellable in the dispersion medium of the fiber slurry.
Claims10
A method for the manufacture of a wet-formed composite, said method comprising the following steps:
- forming a slurry of fibers and a dispersion medium from which slurry a wet-formed composite can be made;
- combining an absorbent material, swellable in said dispersion medium, with said slurry of fibers immediately prior to forming a wet-formed composite wherein said absorbent material is in the form of a dry particle;
- forming a wet-formed composite containing a combination of fiber and absorbent material;
- and drying said wet-formed composite.
A method for the manufacture of a wet-formed composite, said method comprising the following steps:
- forming a slurry of fibers and a dispersion medium from which slurry a wet-formed composite can be made;
- combining an absorbent material, swellable in said dispersion medium, with said slurry of fibers such that said absorbent material absorbs less than about 10 times its weight in said dispersion medium prior to forming said wet-formed composite wherein said absorbent material is in the form of a dry particle;
- forming a wet-formed composite containing a combination of fiber and absorbent material;
- and
- drying said wet-formed composite.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.