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US 7,858,055 B2Granted
Moisture sensitive auxetic material
AssigneeKimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc.
InventorsWanDuk Lee, SangSoo Lee, CholWoh Koh, Jin Heo
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An auxetic fiber and corresponding material that not only responds to an external force, but also responds to moisture. The auxetic fiber is made in part from a moisture activated shrinking filament. Even if no external force is applied to the fiber, a pseudo tensile force is created by wetting the auxetic fiber.
Claims16
A method of controlling pore size in a porous material comprising the steps of:
- providing a material comprising a plurality of interconnected moisture-sensitive auxetic fibers;
- and
- applying an aqueous solution to the material so as to create pores in the material in order to produce a desired effect.
An auxetic fiber comprising:
- a first component comprising a moisture sensitive shrinkable filament;
- a second component having comprising an elastomeric material, wherein the first component is wrapped about the second component in a helical configuration, and wherein the first component comprises polyvinyl alcohol.
An array of auxetic fibers comprising:
- a first and a second auxetic fiber each comprising a first component comprising a moisture activated shrinkable filament, and an elastomeric second component, wherein the first component is wrapped about the second component in a helical configuration, and wherein the second component comprises polyvinyl alcohol.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.