Kimberly-clark Worldwide, Inc.

Kimberly-clark Corporation

Other

Michael David Powers

Hue Scott Snowden

Cheryl A Perkins

Phillip A Schorr

David Charles Potts

Steven Wayne Fitting

Ali Yahiaoui

Roger Bradshaw Quincy, Iii

Lee Kirby Jameson

Richard John Schmidt

Tamara Lee Mace

Debra Jean McDowall

Arthur Edward Garavaglia

Jaime Braverman

Samuel Edward Marmon

Michael Charles Cook

Michael Allen Daley

Michael P Mathis

Varunesh Sharma

Nancy Donaldson Kollin

Jon Edward Tinsley

Gregory A Zelazoski

Mark Bruce Majors

Jerald T Jascomb

Daniel Kenneth Schiffer

Leonard E Duello

William G Reeves

David Wayne Primm

Dana Elizabeth Stano

Clayton James Logan

Anthony Jobe

William J Piton

The present invention provides a method of treating a substrate to improve the alcohol repellency of the substrate while minimizing the effect on the hydrostatic head value of the substrate that includes contacting a substrate with a treatment solution that includes an ionic fluoropolymer, a monovalent salt, and essentially no antistatic agent or less than 0.05 weight percent by weight of an antistatic agent.

Method of treating substrates with ionic fluoropolymers

The present invention provides a method of treating a nonwoven fabric to improve alcohol repellency that includes contacting a nonwoven fabric with an aqueous treatment solution that includes a non-ionic fluoropolymer and essentially no antistatic agent or less than 0.05 weight percent by weight of an antistatic agent. The present invention also provides a nonwoven fabric with improved alcohol repellency.

Method of treating nonwoven fabrics with non-ionic fluoropolymers

Disclosed herein are extruded articles such as, for example, fibers and films, containing thermoplastic polymeric compositions having a copolymeric major component and a melt processable additive treatment, wherein the melt processable additives have enhanced segregation to or expression at the surface of the article, thereby improving the effect of the desired characteristic of the additive treatment. Also disclosed are multicomponent extruded thermoplastic articles having two or more distinct components arranged in a specific geometric arrangement, wherein the thermoplastic polymeric composition of at least one geometric component includes a copolymeric major component and a melt processable additive treatment. Also disclosed are web materials including the extruded articles. Such extruded articles and multicomponent extruded thermoplastic articles are useful in a wide range of limited use and disposable products such as, for example, personal care products, mortuary and veterinary products, protective wear garments, and medical care garments and products.

Extruded thermoplastic articles with enhanced surface segregation of internal melt additive

A nonwoven acoustic insulating material which also provides repellency to water and low surface tension fluids. Also disclosed is a method for attenuating transmitted sound and repelling fluids which includes providing a nonwoven acoustic insulating material, the nonwoven acoustic insulating material including at least one nonwoven web having a low surface tension fluids repellency treatment, and interposing the treated nonwoven acoustic insulating material between a sound generation area and a sound receiving area.

Acoustic material with liquid repellency

The present invention provides an efficient method for topically treating and drying fibrous web materials such as nonwoven web materials and nonwoven laminate materials without unduly damaging the materials due to excessive heating during drying.

Method for treating fibrous web materials

The present invention relates to protective outerwear or workwear for covering a body portion. The protective outerwear has an inner surface and an outer surface, with the outer surface including thereupon a low surface tension liquid blocking material in a continuous unbroken band for blocking the wicking of at least low surface tension liquid that is contained on the outer surface of the outerwear.

Anti-wicking protective workwear and methods of making and using same

Described is an improved two-step process for treating lightweight nonwovens to impart single-sided anti-static and alcohol repellency properties while maintaining good barrier characteristics as measured by hydrostatic head values. The resulting nonwovens find particular uses as infection control product medical fabrics for sterilization wrap and surgical gowns, for example.

Treated nonwoven fabrics

Nonwoven webs with good barrier properties are disclosed. The nonwoven webs can be, for instance, meltspun webs such as meltblown webs and spunbonded webs. In accordance with the present invention, a hydrophobic agent is incorporated into the polymer that is used to produce the web for improving the barrier properties of the web. Hydrophobic agents that may be used in accordance with the present invention include polydimethyl siloxanes and guerbet esters.

Water repellant meltblown webs and laminates

A method of preparing a sterilized nonwoven web, which method includes providing a nonwoven web; coating the nonwoven web with from about 0.005 to about 3 percent by weight, based on the weight of the web, of an antistatic agent; and exposing the coated nonwoven web to an oxidizing gas plasma. The antistatic agent is adapted to be free of a malodor after exposure of the coated nonwoven web to the oxidizing gas plasma. The antistatic agent may be further adapted to provide a sterilized nonwoven web having a hydrohead value as measured by Method 5514 of Federal Test Method Standard No. 191A which is at least 50 percent of the hydrohead value of the coated nonwoven web before exposure to the oxidizing gas plasma. The antistatic agent also may be adapted to provide a sterilized nonwoven web having a surface resistivity in ohms which is lower than the surface resistivity in ohms of the coated nonwoven web before exposure of the coated nonwoven web to the oxidizing gas plasma. The antistatic agent may be an alkali metal or ammonium salt of either a mono- or di-C -alkyl phosphate in which the C -alkyl moiety is an alkyl group containing three carbon atoms optionally substituted with hydroxy groups or a &bgr;-carbon substituted alkyl phosphate, a di(&bgr;-carbon substituted alkyl) phosphate, or a mixture of two or more of the foregoing. The invention also provides a fibrous sheet-like material, such as a barrier fabric, a sterilization wrap, a surgical garment, and medical procedure packs.

Sterilization wrap, applications therefor, and method of sterilizing

A film cover for use in absorbent materials such as feminine care products, surgical drapes, fenestration reinforcement, absorbent pads and the like including a polymeric film having a top planar surface and a bottom planar surface and forming a plurality of apertures, at least a portion of which have an aperture region having a higher wettability than a portion of the top planar surface of the polymeric film.

Apertured film covers with localized wettability and method for making the same

The present disclosure is directed to a method of forming a treated fiber. A molten polymer is delivered to a fiber spinning assembly adapted to form and distribute polymer streams. At least one treatment is applied in a liquid state to at least one region on the surface of at least one molten polymer stream within the fiber spinning assembly. A substantial portion of the treatment remains on the surface of the resulting fiber within the treated region. One or more regions on the surface of the molten polymer may be treated with one or multiple treatments. The degree of coverage may vary from little coverage to complete coverage of the fiber surface. The treated regions may be in contact with one another or may be separate and distinct. A nonwoven web may be produced with selectively treated fiber regions by designing one or more fiber spinning assemblies to treat selected fibers or to apply multiple treatments. The regions of the nonwoven web may vary in treatment type, amount, or degree of coverage.

Method of forming a treated fiber and a treated fiber formed therefrom

Improved method of treating nonwovens with a neat or nearly neat treating composition at least 90% by weight active ingredients by subjecting the nonwoven to a uniform concentration of said composition in an atomized form within a treating station. Drying and its potentially adverse effects are substantially eliminated.

Conductive meltblown fabrics are disclosed which have improved strength and hand over conventional conductive meltblown fabrics. Also disclosed is a process for spraying a solution containing a conductive agent into a molten stream of meltblown fibers before they are deposited onto a forming wire. By applying the solution onto the fibers before they are deposited onto the forming wire, the heat of the molten stream vaporizes the solvent carrying the conductive agent and thereby eliminates the need to subsequently dry the formed material. By eliminating the drying step, degradation of the strength and hardening of the hand of the material normally resulting from the wetting and drying of meltblown fabrics are avoided. There is also disclosed a conductive SMS laminate having a conductive meltblown layer sandwiched between two untreated and nonconductive spunbond layers.

Conductive fabric and method of producing same

There is provided a protective laminate having barrier properties which has a first outer layer having liquid repellency through the use of an internal, low surface tension liquid repellency additive and a bulky second outer layer having liquid absorbency through the use of an internal wetting agent, where the layers are bonded to form a laminate. When the laminate is used as part of a garment, the absorbent layer goes against the wearer.

Nonwoven protective laminate

There is disclosed a porous non-woven absorbent structure formed from fibers. The porous structure has a basis weight within the range of at least about 0.25 osy to about 10.0 osy a density of at least about 0.01 g/cc to about 0.15 g/cc. The porous structure is adapted such that upon the application of at least 2 ml of fluid Bovine blood-oxalate to a surface thereof, substantially all of said fluid enters the bulk of the porous structure within about 45 seconds. The porous structure may be single layered or include multiple layers. The single layered structure is formed from spunbonded thermoplastic fibers which include a hydrophilic internal additive. The multiple layered structure is formed by laminating a spunbonded web to a second layer. The second may be formed from natural or synthetic fibers. When formed from synthetic fibers, the second layer is generally formed from meltblown fibers which may also include a hydrophobic internal additive. The fibers forming either the spunbond or the meltblown layers may be mono-component or bi-component. In some applications, a liquid impervious film may be secured to a surface of the second layer.

Growing community of inventors

Canton, GA, United States of America

Michael David Powers