Abstract: A method of making a cellulosic web includes: forming a nascent web from a papermaking furnish, the nascent web having a generally random distribution of papermaking fiber; b) transferring the web having a generally random distribution of papermaking fiber to a translating transfer surface moving at a first speed; drying the web to a consistency of from about 30 to about 60 percent including compactively dewatering the web prior to or concurrently with transfer to the transfer surface; fabric-creping the web from the transfer surface at a consistency of from about 30 to about 60 percent utilizing a creping fabric with a patterned creping surface, the fabric creping step occurring under pressure in a fabric creping nip defined between the transfer surface and the creping fabric wherein the fabric is traveling at a second speed slower than the speed of said transfer surface, the fabric pattern, nip parameters, velocity delta and web consistency being selected such that the web is creped from the transfer surfac

Abstract: A continuous method and apparatus for making biodiesel fuel from glycerides such as vegetable oil employs a two-stage reactor provided with recycle. Yields of 95% and greater are readily achieved in a continuous mode of operation.

Abstract: A low-compaction method of making an absorbent cellulosic web includes: forming a nascent web from a papermaking furnish; dewatering the nascent web to a consistency of from about 10 to about 30 percent on a foraminous forming support traveling at a first speed; rush-transferring the web at a consistency of from 10 to about 30 percent to an open texture fabric traveling at a second speed slower than the first speed of the forming support; further dewatering the web on the impression fabric to a consistency of from about 30 to about 60 percent by way of (i) combining the open texture fabric bearing said web with a fluid distribution membrane and an anti-rewet felt as the three pass through a nip into a pressure chamber defined in part by a plurality of nip rolls, the fluid distribution membrane bearing against the side of the open texture fabric away from the web, with the anti-rewet felt bearing against the web, and (ii) applying a pneumatic pressure gradient from the distributor membrane through the web ther

Abstract: A method for curing polymerizable compositions by irradiating the compositions with a pulsed light that is emitted from an LED. The method of the present invention is especially suitable for curing dental compositions.

Abstract: A process for making absorbent cellulosic paper products such as sheet for towel, tissue and the like, includes compactively dewatering a nascent web followed by wet belt creping the web at an intermediate consistency of anywhere from about 30 to about 60 percent under conditions operative to redistribute the fiber on the belt, which is preferably a fabric. In preferred embodiments, the web is thereafter adhesively applied to a Yankee dryer using a creping adhesive operative to enable high speed transfer of the web of intermediate consistency such as a poly(vinyl alcohol)/polyamide adhesive. An absorbent sheet so prepared from a papermaking furnish exhibits an absorbency of at least about 5 g/g, a CD stretch of at least about 4 percent, and an MD/CD tensile ratio of less than about 1.1, and also exhibits a maximum CD modulus at a CD strain of less than 1 percent and sustains a CD modulus of at least 50 percent of its maximum CD modulus to a CD strain of at least about 4 percent.

Abstract: A method of providing papermaking fibers with durable curl comprising: a) introducing papermaking fiber into a rotatable drum adapted for operation at elevated pressure; b) rotating the drum containing the papermaking fiber while maintaining: i) the fiber in aqueous dispersion having a consistency of from about 5 to about 45 percent; ii) a temperature of above about 100° C.; the drum being configured such that the aqueous fiber dispersion contacts the rotating wall of the drum during rotation thereof and the mechanical action of the drum on the dispersion provides a durable curl to the papermaking fiber; removing the curled fiber from the rotatable drum wherein the temperature, time, consistency and energy input to the fiber are controlled such that fibers treated exhibit a curl elevation of at least 50 percent at 1 hour storage time.

Abstract: A salt sensitive polymeric binder for use in fibrous webs, where the binder contains a copolymer of carboxylic acid monomer units, acrylate monomer units, and N-alkyl acrylamide units. The copolymer is neutralized at least to the point where it is water soluble. The binders are particularly suitable for strengthening non-woven fibrous webs in disposable articles such as wet-wipes, personal care products, diapers, and the like.

Abstract: A method for curing polymerizable compositions by irradiating the compositions with light that is emitted from an LED. The method of the present invention is especially preferred for curing dental compositions.

Abstract: A salt sensitive polymeric binder for use in fibrous webs, where the binder contains a copolymer incorporating the residue of vinyl acetate, a carboxylic acid, and a vinyl ester of a saturated aliphatic monocarboxylic acid having between 6 and 18 carbon atoms in the carboxylic acid moiety. The copolymer is neutralized at least to the extent that it is water soluble. The binders are particularly suitable for strengthening non-woven fibrous webs in disposable articles such as wet-wipes, personal care products, diapers, and the like.

Abstract: There is provided a synthetic resin emulsion comprising polymer particles having a core/shell structure, wherein the shell comprises a copolymer of an unsaturated carboxylic acid and a hydrophilic comonomer, the core comprises a copolymer of a monomer mixture comprising a radically polymerizable main monomer and a radically polymerizable functional monomer, and the monomers constituting the monomer mixture are selected so that the glass transition point (Tg) of the copolymer produced by polymerization is ?20° C. or below, and the synthetic resin emulsion has been produced by adding the monomer mixture for core formation and a pH adjustor to an aqueous copolymer solution, which has not been neutralized, produced by polymerizing the unsaturated carboxylic acid and the hydrophilic comonomer in an aqueous medium, and allowing a polymerization reaction to proceed.

Abstract: An absorbent paper sheet is treated with an aqueous wax dispersion such that the sheet includes a fused wax and emulsifier residue in an amount of from about 1 to about 20 weight percent of the sheet based on the combined weight of the fiber, wax residue and an emulsifier residue in the sheet. The fused wax emulsion operates to make at least one surface of the sheet laterally hydrophobic, exhibiting a moisture penetration delay of at least about 2 seconds and less than about 40 seconds as well as a typical contact angle with water at one minute of at least about 50 degrees. There is thus provided absorbent products which exhibit both absorbency and resistance to moisture penetration. The treated sheet further exhibits microbial barrier properties, impeding transfer of bacteria, for example, through the sheet. There are produced tissue products which resist moisture penetration from propelled liquids as well as sequester sorbed liquids in the interior of the tissue.

Abstract: A method of embossing an absorbent web with a machine direction undulatory structure is described. The web has a plurality of ridges extending in its machine direction occurring at a frequency, F, across the web and the method includes providing the web to an embossing station where the web is embossed between a first and second embossing roll, each of which rolls may be provided with a plurality of embossing elements configured to define a plurality of embossing nips. At least a portion of the embossing nips are substantially oriented in a cross-machine direction with respect to the web and have a cross direction length, L. The product F×L is from about 0.1 to about 5.

Abstract: A hybrid method for processing papermaking fibers to remove high density stickies typically includes utilizing a multistage array of forward cleaners coupled with a flotation cell which increases overall efficiency of the system. In a preferred embodiment, a first rejects aqueous stream from a first stage bank of centrifugal cleaners is treated in a flotation cell before being fed to a second stage bank of centrifugal cleaners. With the improved technique, the accepts from the first stage bank of centrifugal cleaners may be combined with the accepts from the second stage bank of centrifugal cleaners and fed forward to a thickening device, for example. The technique is also suitably employed for removing stickies from material which has already been screened with a fine screen.

Abstract: A process for bleaching high bulk cellulosic fiber and producing a durable elevated curl index includes: (a) concurrently bleaching, heat treating and convolving cellulosic fiber pulp at elevated temperature and pressure at high consistency generally under conditions selected so as to preclude substantial fibrillation and attendant paper strength and fiber bonding development; and (b) recovering the pulp wherein the length weighted curl index of the treated fiber is at least about 20% higher than the length weighted curl index of the fiber prior to the heat treatment and convolving thereof. Preferably, the curl imparted to the fiber persists upon treatment for 30 minutes in a laboratory disintegrator at 3000 rpm at 1% consistency at a temperature of 125° F. Moreover, the curl may be imparted to the fiber in a disk refiner at very short residence times, on the order of several seconds or less.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a heat-sealable film which consists essentially of a cycloolefin copolymer (COC), the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the COC being within the range from 30 to 55° C. The film or sheet has excellent low temperature heat-sealing properties and processing characteristics. The film may be free standing or laminated to other thermoplastic polymer film or films at low temperatures. Alternatively, a COC polymer with Tg in the range 30 to 55° C. may be coextruded with other thermoplastic polymer or polymer films in a coextrusion process to form a heat sealable film. The film of the invention is suitable for packing foods or other consumable items.

Abstract: Apparatus and methodology for the low coupling of optical fibers in high power applications. An end of a single mode optical fiber, or a polarization maintaining fiber, is cut and spliced to a relatively short segment of an index matched multi-mode fiber or an optical fiber without cladding (air cladded) having approximately similar diameter as the single mode fiber which in turn is coupled to the external device. The free end of the multi-mode fiber may be cleaved, polished and have an anti-reflection applied to it. The beam emitted by the small core of the single mode optical fiber expands into the larger core of the multi-mode fiber providing low loss high power coupling of the optical fiber to the external device.

Abstract: A melt-blended polyethylene/COP composition suitable for making optically clear films with low coefficients of friction includes from about 70 to about 98 weight percent of a polyethylene resin and from about 2 to about 25 weight percent of a first COP resin component, the first COP resin component having a weight average molecular weight of from about 0.5 kg/mol to about 50 kg/mol and being present in an amount effective to increase the relative slip value of films made from the composition as compared with a like film made from the polyethylene resin alone.

Abstract: A molding composition exhibiting bleach resistance includes a polyoxymethylene matrix polymer, from about 0.5 to about 10 weight percent of a bleach stabilizer selected from alkali metal or alkaline earth element carbonates or phosphates and mixtures thereof dispersed in the matrix resin. A bleach co-stabilizer is selected from the group consisting of: (a) a poly(alkoxy) stabilizer; (b) a zinc oxide stabilizer; (c) a color stabilizer consisting of a mixture of calcium citrate and calcium propionate, wherein the calcium citrate is the predominant component of the color stabilizer mixture; or (d) mixtures of two or more of (a), (b) and (c). The compositions exhibit a bleach resistance index of at least 2.0.

Abstract: A color toner composition for developing latent electrostatic images includes nanopowder-coated toner particles, the powder-coated toner particles being characterized in that each comprises a core toner particle having a volume average diameter, Dp, and the core toner particles have affixed to their surfaces a plurality of discrete colorant powder particles having a volume average diameter, dp, wherein the ratio of Dp/dp is at least about 5 and the weight fraction of colorant powder particles is at least about 0.01 based on the combined weight of core toner particles and colorant powder particles. Preferably, the weight fraction of colorant powder particles is from about 0.3 to about 3 times the product, (?p/?r) (d/r) (1+d/r)2, where ?p is the density of the colorant powder particles, ?r the density of the core resin particles, d, the volumetric mean diameter of the colorant powder particles and r the volumetric mean radius of the toner core resin particles.

Abstract: This invention relates to aqueous emulsions comprising a water-dispersible copolymer which is non-dispersible in aqueous solutions containing 0.5% or more of an inorganic salt, comprising acidic ethylenically unsaturated monomers and ethylenically unsaturated monomers. The acidic ethylenically unsaturated monomers and the ethylenically unsaturated monomers are defined herein. The present invention also pertains to emulsion polymerization methods for making the aqueous emulsions with or without a surfactant.