Hills, Inc.

Basf Corporation

Other

Hills Research & Development, Inc.

Monsanto Company

William H Hills

Arnold E Wilkie

Jeffrey S Haggard

Fumin Lu

W Scott Harris

Frank Edward Winner

Shirley M Hills

William R Baker

Woodrow Raleigh Bowden

A filtration assembly for filtering polymer fluids at varying flow rates includes at least two filter housing assemblies releasably attached to a filter support or main block. Polymer fluid is delivered to the filter housing assemblies via an inlet passage in the main block, and filtered polymer fluid is transported from the filter housing assemblies to an outlet passage in the main block. One end of each filter housing assembly is attached to the main block and includes an inlet port for receiving polymer fluid from the inlet passage and an outlet port for delivering filtered polymer fluid to the outlet passage. A single valve disposed on the main block selectively alternates fluid flow between the main block and each filter housing assembly.

Filtration system utilizing a single valve to direct fluid streams between filter assemblies and corresponding methods

A synthetic fiber is formed with a plurality of longitudinally-extending cavities ( and ) which hold a medicament that is intended to be absorbed into tissue brought into contact with the fiber. The fiber can be formed by dissolving a soluble polymer component of an extruded plural-component fiber , leaving cavities that extend inward from the outer surface of the fiber in the locations of the dissolved polymer. After the fiber has been exposed to a solvent, the cavities left by the dissolved component are filled with a medicament . Specifically, the cavities are filled with a medicament that is mixed with a viscous carrier which solidifies within the cavities. The fibers can be used to make sutures, textile prostheses for insertion into the body, and epidermal pads and bandages. Fibers having internal cavities , i.e., cavities not extending to the external surface of the fiber, can be formed by extruding a single-component fiber from a spinneret orifice having a number of T-shaped slots extending from a central hub. A medicament is introduced into the internal cavities by soaking the fiber in a liquid containing the medicament. The internal-cavity fiber is therefore formed of polymer having some capability for liquid transport, e.g., nylon.

Synthetic fibers for medical use and method of making the same

Nonwoven fabric is formed from a spunbond process by extruding generally ribbon-shaped fibers through slot-shaped orifices of a spinneret . The ribbon-shaped fibers are rapidly quenched after extrusion to achieve a substantially uniform molecular orientation throughout a transverse cross section of the fibers, yielding stronger fibers. The rapid quenching results largely from the relatively high aspect ratio (thinness) of the fibers and the relatively large surface area of the fibers, which permits the fibers to quickly cool throughout the transverse cross section. The ribbon-shaped fibers are drawn longitudinally by an aspirator that exerts a generally downward force produced by an air stream that longitudinally stretches and transversely attenuates the ribbon-shaped fibers in such a manner that the transverse cross-sectional shape of the ribbon-shaped fibers enhances the interaction between the air stream and the ribbon-shaped fibers to maximize the downward force. The attenuated ribbon-shaped fibers are deposited onto a web forming surface , such as a moving wire screen belt to form a web. The web is then bonded to form the nonwoven fabric.

Nonwoven fabrics formed from ribbon-shaped fibers and method and apparatus for making the same

A spunbond web formation apparatus includes a spinneret ( ) of a spin pack ( ) that extrudes an array of fibers ( ) that are drawn into an aspirator (6). The attenuated fibers ( ) discharged from aspirator ( ) are deflected sideways by a Coanda device ( ) that entrains the exiting air stream along with the fibers. The fibers are deposited on a vertically moving belt ( ) and subsequently bonded by calender rolls ( ) to form a non-woven spunbond web. The spinning distance L is adjusted by vertically moving the aspirator ( ), while the laydown distance M is adjusted by horizontally moving the belt ( ) or aspirator ( ) or by adjusting the size of the Coanda device ( ). Deflection of the fibers exiting the aspirator permits the spinning distance L to be adjusted independently of the laydown distance M, without having to move the spin beam or adjust the height of the web-forming belt.

Spunbond web formation

A distribution plate for use in a fiber-forming spin pack assembly has a thickness of from about 0.004 inches to about 0.060 inches. One or more flow channels are formed in at least one surface of the distribution plate. The flow channels are in the form of slots having a depth less than about 0.016 inches, not exceeding about 75% of the thickness of the distribution plate. There are also apertures through the thickness of the plate which connect to said slots.

Distribution plate for spin pack assembly

An apparatus for extruding a wide variety of plural-component and mixed monocomponent fiber configurations in a spin pack which utilizes one or more disposable distributor plates in which distribution flow paths are formed on one or both sides to distribute the polymer components to appropriate spinneret inlet hole locations. The etching process, itself inexpensive as compared to drilling, milling, reaming, etc., permits very thin metal plates to be employed, rendering the fabrication expense for the plates small, relative to the remainder of the spin pack, as to justify discarding or disposing of the plates rather than periodically cleaning them. The etching process also permits the etched distribution paths to be small and densely packed, whereby the spinneret orifices can be more densely packed in the spinneret and staggered as between rows and columns so as to increase the fiber yield per given spinneret surface area. The etching process also permits the distribution paths to be sufficiently small to facilitate issuing multiple discrete polymer component streams axially into each spinneret orifice inlet hole, whereby the resulting extruded fiber can be made up of at least one hundred side-by-side sub-fibers. If the adjacent sub-fibers are weakly bonded, they can be readily separated by agitation or dissolution to significantly increase the effective yield from the spin pack and provide very fine and uniform fibers. Importantly, these product advantages are achieved because of the etched disposable distribution plate which reduces initial and maintenance costs and is selectively replaceable to permit differently configured fibers to be fabricated from the same spin pack assembly.

Profiled multi-component fiber flow plate method

Process of making multiple mono-component fiber

An improved continuous large area polymer filter employs a single valve to control molten polymer flow into and out from at least two but preferably three or more filter assemblies. In a neutral position the valve apportions flow equally to each of the filter assemblies. When filters in any one of the assemblies becomes clogged and requires cleaning or replacement, the valve is repositioned to prevent flow into and out from the clogged assembly while continuing to apportion flow among the remaining assemblies. A small amount of polymer is bled from the selected assembly to effect depressurization and the assembly is removed, restored to function and replaced. The valve is repositioned to allow a slow bleeding of polymer into the restored assembly and the bleed valve is opened to allow air and air entrapped polymer to be removed from the assembly before returning it to service. When the bleed valve flow has stabilized the valve is once again repositioned to allow full flow into and out from the serviced assembly and to apportion flow to each assembly. The valve has mechanical stops to prevent flow from being blocked to all of the assemblies simultaneously and a shield is attached to the valve to prevent access to operating assemblies. The shape of the filter cavities is tapered toward the output end to reduce the volume of molten polymer entrapped stagnantly between the cavity and the filter therein.

Apparatus for continuous polymer filtration

An apparatus for extruding a wide variety of plural-component and mixed monocomponent fiber configurations in a spin pack utilizes one or more disposable distributor plates in which distribution flow paths are formed on one or both sides to distribute the polymer components to appropriate spinneret inlet hole locations. The distributor plates are inexpensive compared to drilled, milled, reamed, etc., plates and may be very thin, rendering the fabrication expense for the plates small, relative to the remainder of the spin pack, as to justify discarding or disposing of the plates rather than periodically cleaning them. The distribution paths may be small and densely packed, whereby the spinneret orifices can be more densely packed in the spinneret and staggered as between rows and columns so as to increase the fiber yield per given spinneret surface area. The distribution paths may be sufficiently small to facilitate issuing multiple discrete polymer component streams axially into each spinneret orifice inlet hole, whereby the resulting extruded fiber can be made up of at least one hundred side-by-side sub-fibers.

Apparatus for making profiled multi-component yarns

A method for extruding a wide variety of plural-component fiber configurations in a spin pack utilizes one or more disposable distributor plates in which distributor flow paths are etched on one or both sides to distribute the polymer components to appropriate spinneret inlet hole locations. The etching process permits the distribution paths to be sufficiently small to facilitate issuing multiple discrete polymer component streams axially into each spinneret orifice inlet hole, whereby the resulting extruded fiber can be made up of at least one hundred side-by-side sub-fibers. If the adjacent sub-fibers are weakly bonded, they can be readily separated by agitation to significantly increase the effective yield from the spin pack and provide very fine and uniform fibers.

Method of making plural component fibers

An improved continuous polymer filter of the screen belt type employs a valve arrangement to selectively apportion the extruder output flow through at least two filter paths. In the neutral valve position both filter paths receive polymer at equal flow rates creating a pressure across the screen belts that is too high to permit the screen belts to be advanced when a clogged belt section requires replacement with a clean section. To effect screen belt advancement, the valve is actuated to reduce the flow rate in the filter path requiring the replacement while increasing the flow rate to the same degree in the other filter path so that the net flow rate remains substantially constant. The screen belt receiving the reduced flow experiences a sufficiently reduced pressure drop thereacross to permit it to be advanced in a conventional manner, after which the valve is returned to its neutral state. The screen belts in both paths are advanced alternately while maintaining a constant net flow and assuring sufficient flow through the reduced flow path to avoid entry of air into the filter path. Valve actuation and screen belt advancement may be effected automatically and in synchronization in response to a pre-set timer, to detected pressure conditions in the flowing polymer, or other parameters.

Continuous polymer filter

Sheath-core bi-component fibers are formed by an improvement of the method and apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,936,482 whereby molten sheath polymer is issued in ribbons into a recessed portion of the top surface of the spinneret from locations between rows of raised spinneret channel inlets. Ribbon flow of the sheath polymer is achieved in slot-like channels which are inter-leaved with rows of core polymer flow passages to optimize space utilization and spinneret channel density. Filtering of the core and sheath polymer is achieved in separate manifolds leading to the core flow passages and sheath slot-like flow channels which are kept to minimal length to minimize polymer residence time downstream of the filters.

Spin pack and method for producing conjugate fibers

In an open-end spinning process wherein staple fibers are continuously fed to an air vortex and wherein a yarn tail extends into the vortex whereby the fibers affix themselves to and lengthen the tail, the yarn tail is driven at a faster revolution rate than the tail would be driven by the vortex alone by means of a rotary driven member.

Open end spinning

A fishing lure which comprises an elongated generally cylindrical body including opposite ends, one of which is hemispherical and the other of which is provided with intersecting sloped surfaces which intersect along a line forming one extremity of the lure. Hooks are connected to the body as, for example, centrally of the same and at one end thereof. The body is provided with a concealed weight which, due to the hemispherical form of the body is enabled to extend substantially to one extremity of the body. The sloped surfaces perform two functions, namely, that of improving aerodynamical design and of improving the performance of the lure when retrieved along the surface of the body of water.

Fishing lure

Formation and liquid-filling of plastic bags is performed in a continuous high speed and low cost process. Plastic film is extruded in tubular form and inflated with air or another gas. The tube is transported along a path of work stations at which the tube is successively: sealed to define a series of inflated sections; filled with liquid, while inflated, by a large size hypodermic-type needle configured to puncture and displace entrapped gas with fill liquid, the displaced gas escaping around the needle; seamed to seal off the needle-hole from the liquid-filled portion of the bag; and cut to separate the individual bags, if desired.

Growing community of inventors

Melbourne Village, FL, United States of America

William H Hills