3m Innovative Properties Company

Robert C Coffin

Jacob H Ely

James D Brown

Brant Ulrick Kolb

Duane Douglas Fansler

Jimmie Rae Baran, Jr

Jeffrey O Emslander

Mahfuza B Ali

Derek J Dehn

Terry R Hobbs

Jeffrey L Hamer

Ravi Thomas

Matthew V Stonebraker, Jr

Jacob D Young

Kenneth F Teeters

Ning Zhou

Ying Lin

Bradley L Givot

Joshua M Fishman

Caitlin E Meree

Paul D Pennington

Aaron T Hedegaard

Feng Cai

Justin M Bolton

Jeff L Hamer

A push-in earplug is provided. The push-in earplug comprises an elongate core comprising a core material. The push-in earplug also comprises an outer layer comprising a foam material, the outer layer covering at least a portion of an outer surface of the elongate core. The push-in earplug also comprises a channel extending through the elongate core from a first end of the elongate core to the second end of the elongate core.

Push-in earplug and method of making the same using a mandrel

Foam compositions are provided including a polylactic acid polymer; second (e.g., polyvinyl acetate) polymer having a glass transition temperature (T) of at least 25&#xb0; C.; and plasticizer. Also described are articles comprising the foam compositions, such as a sheet or hearing protection article. Methods of making and using the foam compositions are further described herein.

Foam compositions comprising polylactic acid polymer, polyvinyl acetate polymer and plasticizer, articles, and methods of making and using same

An earplug comprises a core and a sound-attenuating body attached to the core, the sound-attenuating body comprising a tip cavity extending proximally from the tip of the sound-attenuating body and comprising a distal opening. The tip cavity side wall includes a plurality of protrusions extending inwardly toward the longitudinal axis of the core. The plurality of protrusions may include from 2 to 12 protrusions. A method of making an earplug includes covering at least a portion of a core with a material including unactivated foaming agent; inserting an end of the core and at least a portion of the material into a mold cavity; and activating the foaming agent to create a sound-attenuating body. The sound-attenuating body has a base, tip, and tip cavity with a plurality of protrusions. The mold cavity may include a boss with a cup and plurality of cut-outs on the cup for forming the protrusions.

Push-to-fit earplug with tip cavity

An earplug assembly and method of forming the same is described. The method includes uniaxially stretching a cord formed of copolymer including ethylene segments and vinyl acetate segments to form a cold-drawn cord. The cold drawn cord has an elongation to break of 250% or less. The method then includes fixing the cold drawn cord to an earplug.

Cold-drawn polyolefin copolymers cord for earplug

Hearing protector

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Plainfield, IN, United States of America

Robert C Coffin