The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 06, 2000
Filed:
Dec. 31, 1997
James H Wang, Appleton, WI (US);
David M Schertz, Roswell, GA (US);
Wilfred Eugene Riddell, Neenah, WI (US);
Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc., Neenah, WI (US);
Abstract
The present invention is a method for producing a nonwoven fabric from a water modifiable polyolefin-containing film. In order to produce the fabric where polyethylene is the minority constituent, a polymer blend is formed with the polyethylene as the dispersed phase and polyethylene oxide as the continuous phase. In another embodiment wherein the polyethylene is the majority constituent and the polyethylene oxide is the minority constituent of the film, a reactive blend created during processing exhibits an inverse phase morphology so that the polyethylene oxide becomes the continuous phase and the polyethylene becomes the dispersed phase. In either embodiment, the film is then treated with an aqueous solvent to remove the polyethylene oxide to produce the nonwoven, porous fabric. The resulting nonwoven, porous fabric has a silk-like hand and shine ideal for disposable personal hygiene articles, and is flushable through waste water disposal systems.