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Assignee3M Innovative Properties Company
InventorsAndrew R. Fox, John D. Stelter, Timothy J. Lindquist
Estimating the term…
A nonwoven fibrous web comprising a matrix of continuous meltspun fibers bonded to a coherent self-sustaining form, and separately prepared microfibers dispersed among the meltspun fibers. The microfibers may have median diameters less than one or two micrometers. A method for preparing such a nonwoven fibrous web comprises establishing a stream of continuous oriented meltspun fibers having a longitudinal axis, establishing a stream of meltblown microfibers that exit a meltblowing die at a point near the stream of meltspun fibers, the meltblown stream being aimed to merge with the meltspun stream and having a longitudinal axis that forms an angle of between 0 and 90 degrees to the longitudinal axis of the meltspun stream, capturing the meltblown fibers in the stream of meltspun fibers, and collecting the merged stream as a web on a collector spaced near the intersection point of the meltspun and meltblown streams.
A nonwoven fibrous web comprising a matrix of continuous meltspun monocomponent fibers autogenously bonded to a coherent self-sustaining form, and separately prepared microfibers dispersed among the meltspun fibers in an amount accounting for at least one weight-percent of the fibers of the web;
A nonwoven fibrous web comprising a matrix of continuous oriented meltspun monocomponent fibers autogenously bonded to a coherent self-sustaining form, and separately prepared meltblown microfibers having a median diameter of 10 micrometers or less dispersed among the meltspun fibers in an amount accounting for at least one weight-percent of the fibers of the web, wherein the microfibers have limited bonding to the meltspun fibers and remain as substantially unmelted discrete microfibers with their original fiber dimensions;
A nonwoven fibrous web comprising continuous oriented meltspun monocomponent fibers that form a coherent autogenously bonded web matrix, and a separately prepared batch of microfibers having a median diameter of about 2 micrometers or less dispersed within the matrix in an amount sufficient to provide at least 5 percent of the fibrous surface area of the web, wherein the microfibers have limited bonding to the meltspun fibers and remain as substantially unmelted discrete microfibers with their original fiber dimensions;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.