Nordson Corporation

Rodney L Ward

Douglas C Mulder

Douglas A Schneider

David E O'Ryan

Thomas A Kaiser

Robert Lehky

A method and apparatus for forming a non-woven pad consisting of fibrous material in which highly moisture-absorbent particles are intermixed with the fibrous material throughout a predetermined portion of the thickness of the non-woven pad. The non-woven pad is formed atop a conveyor moving through a chamber which has a duct connected to a source of vacuum operable to draw fibrous material injected into the chamber onto the conveyor. A spray gun or an extension thereof is positioned within the chamber relative to the fibrous material atop the conveyor, and is operated to discharge moisture-absorbent material at a predetermined velocity, such that the moisture-absorbent material is intermixed with the fibrous material throughout preferably a center layer of the thickness of the non-woven pad while forming boundary layers on either side of the center layer which are substantially free of moisture-absorbent material. The spray gun preferably operates intermittently to form spaced, sharply defined areas along the length and width of the non-woven pad wherein each area has moisture-absorbent material interspersed throughout a portion of the thickness thereof.

Method for depositing particulate material into a pad of fibrous

A powder spray gun comrpises a tubular housing having ambient air flow passages located in the side wall thereof medially of the opposite ends. A pair of air flow amplifiers are mounted in the housing on opposite sides of the ambient air flow passages and are so oriented that compressed air supplied to the upstream one of these amplifiers, the so called suspension amplifier, is operable to draw ambient air into the outlet end of the suspension amplifier, and compressed air supplied to the downstream amplifier, the so called pattern amplifier, is operable to draw ambient air into the inlet end of the pattern amplifier. The amplifiers are secured within the housing by end caps which are sealingly secured onto the ends of the housing by bayonet pin and slot connectors.

Powder spray gun

An apparatus for forming a non-woven pad consisting of fibrous material in which highly moisture-absorbent particles are intermixed with the fibrous material throughout a predetermined portion of the thickness of the non-woven pad. The non-woven pad is formed atop a conveyor moving through a chamber which has a duct connected to a source of vacuum operable to draw fibrous material injected into the chamber onto the conveyor. A spray gun or an extension thereof is positioned within the chamber relative to the fibrous material atop the conveyor, and is operated to discharge moisture-absorbent material at a predetermined velocity, such that the moisture-absorbent material is intermixed with the fibrous material throughout preferably a center layer of the thickness of the non-woven pad while forming boundary layers on either side of the center layer which are substantially free of moisture-absorbent material. The spray gun preferably operated intermittently to form spaced, sharply defined areas along the length and width of the non-woven pad wherein each area has moisture-absorbent material interspersed throughout a portion of the thickness thereof.

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Wellington, OH, United States of America

Rodney L Ward