Kimberly-clark Worldwide, Inc.

James Richard Neely

Ty Jackson Stokes

John Herbert Conrad

Kurtis Lee Brown

Darryl Franklin Clark

Edward Jason White

Richard Wallace Hoefer

Lee Kirby Jameson

James Russell Fitts, Jr

David Grant Midkiff

Paul Windsor Estey

Chad Michael Freese

Robert John Schwartz

Rebecca Willey Griffin

Diane Leilani Kilpatrick

A lofty, nonwoven material having a nonwoven web having a plurality of substantially continuous fibers oriented in a z-direction of the nonwoven web and a method for producing the lofty, nonwoven material from as-formed z-direction fibers. The method is fast, having no mechanical manipulation of the fibers to slow it down, easily adjustable and allows for in-line processing. The material can be varied from preponderantly open to preponderantly closed in its web structure.

Controlled loft and density nonwoven webs and method for producing same

Controlled loft and density nonwoven webs and method for producing

The present invention provides continuously crimped propylene polymer nonwoven fabrics as well as processes for forming crimped multicomponent propylene polymer fibers by melt-attenuating extruded multicomponent fibers with heated or unheated air wherein the fibers spontaneously crimp without the need for additional heating and/or stretching steps.

Process of making a crimped multicomponent fiber web

A method for stretching nonwoven sheet material in the cross-machine direction includes coursing a nonwoven sheet material through a deformable nip, the nip being formed between two rotating stretch surfaces having intermeshing peaks and troughs, the surfaces of the peaks and troughs being covered with a deformable material, and contemporaneously pressing the stretch surfaces together while rotating them, such that as the nonwoven material travels through the nip, the nip deforms from an initial flat formation into a convoluted formation.

Apparatus and method for cross-directional stretching of polymeric film and other nonwoven sheet material and materials produced therefrom

A filter medium having high stiffness is provided. The filter is a nonwoven web of conjugate fibers which has a Frazier permeability above 200 CFM, an NaCl efficiency above 75 percent, a Gurley Stiffness above 700 mg, and a SEP value of above 80. The conjugate fibers may be polyolefin, more particularly polypropylene and polyethylene in a side-by-side configuration. The medium may be made into a filter by conventional means such as pleating. Such filters are useful in HVAC systems and transportation cabin air filtration.

High stiffness nonwoven filter medium

Growing community of inventors

Alpharetta, GA, United States of America

James Richard Neely