Abstract: A method of preparing a laminate having increased peel strength and solvent resistance which involves (A) applying an adhesive composition to a surface of a first sheet; (B) exposing the adhesive composition on the surface of the first sheet to incoherent, pulsed ultraviolet radiation from a dielectric barrier discharge excimer lamp; (C) bringing a surface of a second sheet in contact with the adhesive composition-bearing surface of the first article; and (D) allowing the adhesive composition to cure. The incoherent, pulsed ultraviolet radiation has a single narrow wavelength band within the range of from about 260 to about 360 nanometers. The adhesive composition includes from about 94 to about 60 percent by weight of a cycloaliphatic diepoxide, from about 1 to about 10 percent by weight of a cationic photoinitiator, and from about 5 to about 30 percent by weight of a vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate-vinyl alcohol terpolymer, all based on the weight of adhesive composition.

Abstract: A method of reducing the adsorption of protein by a polymeric fabric; e.g., a polyolefin fabric, which involves providing a polymeric fabric having a surface, applying to the surface of the polymeric fabric a composition including water and a surfactant adapted to reduce the adsorption of protein by the polymeric fabric, and treating the fabric to which a surfactant has been applied by air corona discharge at a corona energy density of from about 10 to about 280 kilojoules per square meter. The surfactant is present on the fabric in an amount sufficient to reduce the adsorption of protein by the fabric. The coated fabric is especially suited for incorporation in such disposable absorbent articles as diapers; feminine care products, such as sanitary napkins and tampons; incontinent care products; training pants; and wipes.

Abstract: A porous, nonwoven liquid-activated barrier which includes a fibrous nonwoven web in which at least about 50 percent by weight of the fibers constituting the fibrous nonwoven web are prepared from a liquid-swellable polymer which is not significantly soluble in the liquid. In addition, the fibers of the fibrous nonwoven web have diameters in a range of from about 0.1 to about 100 micrometers. The pores of the fibrous nonwoven web have a longest dimension in a range of from about 0.3 to about 300 micrometers. In the presence of liquid, the fibers swell to an extent sufficient to substantially block the passage of liquid through the fibrous nonwoven web. In many instances, the liquid will be water.

Abstract: A method of preparing a nonwoven web of poly(vinyl alcohol) fibers which involves the steps of (1) preparing an aqueous polymer solution of a defined poly(vinyl alcohol); (2) extruding the resulting polymer solution under defined conditions through a die having a plurality of orifices to form a plurality of threadlines; (3) attenuating the resulting threadlines with a defined primary gaseous source to form fibers under conditions of controlled macro scale turbulence and under conditions sufficient to permit the viscosity of each threadline, as it leaves a die orifice and for a distance of no more than about 8 cm, to incrementally increase with increasing distance from the die, while substantially maintaining uniformity of viscosity in the radial direction, at a rate which is sufficient to provide fibers having the desired attenuation and mean fiber diameter without significant fiber breakage; (4) drying the attenuated threadlines with a defined secondary gaseous source; and (5) depositing the resulting fibers

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a repellent-treated, barrier coated nonwoven web. Nonwoven webs with small fiber and pore sizes can often be surface coated with a barrier coating such as latex to form a nonwoven which will act as a barrier to liquids. Surface coating of nonwovens having larger pores and fibers is more difficult as the coating often sinks into the thickness of the nonwoven web. The material of the present invention is a larger fiber/pore nonwoven web which will permit surface coating to form a material which has a good hand and cloth-like feel while also acting as a barrier to liquids. Such a material has a wide variety of applications including, but not limited to, personal care products, surgical drapes and gowns and other applications requiring barrier properties.

Abstract: A melt-extrudable thermoplastic composition is provided which includes a thermoplastic polyolefin and an additive system made up of a first component and a second component, in which (A) the first component is a defined polysiloxane polyether having a molecular weight of from about 350 to about 18,000 and which is present in an amount of from about 0.1 to about 3 percent by weight, based on the amount of thermoplastic polyolefin; and (B) the second component is a hydrophobic fumed silica, in which the weight ratio of the first component to the second component is in the range of from about 20 to about 300. Such composition yields, upon melt-extrusion, either nonwoven webs having significantly increased tensile strengths when compared to nonwoven webs prepared from the thermoplastic polyolefin alone, or wettable webs requiring an amount of first component which is significantly less than that required in the absence of the second component.

Abstract: A compound of the formula: ##STR1## in which: (a) each of A and B independently is phenyl which may be unsubstituted or substituted;(b) each of R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 independently is hydrogen or C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl;(c) m represents an integer of from 0 to about 18; and(d) Z is poly(alkyleneoxy) which may be uncapped or capped with a C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl group.The compound can be grafted to polyolefin nonwoven webs by electron beam radiation without significant homopolymerization. The grafted webs are wettable (hydrophilic) and capable of withstanding multiple rewets without substantial removal of grafted compound. The grafted webs are especially well-suited for use in disposable absorbent products.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a repellent-treated, barrier coated nonwoven web. Nonwoven webs with small fiber and pore sizes can often be surface coated with a barrier coating such as latex to form a nonwoven which will act as a barrier to liquids. Surface coating of nonwovens having larger pores and fibers is more difficult as the coating often sinks into the thickness of the nonwoven web. The material of the present invention is a larger fiber/pore nonwoven web which will permit surface coating to form a material which has a good hand and cloth-like feel while also acting as a barrier to liquids. Such a material has a wide variety of applications including, but not limited to, personal care products, surgical drapes and gowns and other applications requiring barrier properties.

Abstract: A method of forming a nonwoven web having delayed antimicrobial activity, in that the web does not exhibit antimicrobial activity upon its formation but develops such activity within from about three hours to about 30 days thereafter without any post-formation treatment, which method involves the steps of (1) melting a mixture consisting of a thermoplastic polyolefin, an additive, and a retardant coadditive; (2) forming fibers by extruding the resulting melt through under defined conditions of shear and throughput; (3) drawing the fibers; and (4) collecting the fibers on a moving foraminous surface as a web of entangled fibers. The additive is a defined siloxane quaternary ammonium salt having a weight average molecular weight of from about 800 to about 2,000 and a polydispersity of up to about 3.0. The additive is present in an amount of from about 0.5 to about 2.0 percent by weight, based on the amount of thermoplastic polyolefin.

Abstract: A method of forming a nonwoven web having delayed wettability, in that the web is not wettable by water upon its formation but becomes wettable within from about three hours to about 30 days thereafter without any post-formation treatment, which method involves the steps of (1) melting a mixture consisting of a thermoplastic polyolefin, and additive, and a retardant coadditive; (2) forming fibers by extruding the resulting melt through under defined conditions of shear and throughput; (3) drawing the fibers; and (4) collecting the fibers on a moving foraminous surface as a web of entangled fibers. The additive is a defined polysiloxane polyether having a molecular weight of from about 700 to about 1,300 and a polydispersity of from about 1.3 to about 3.0. The additive is present in an amount of from about 1.8 to about 3.0 percent by weight, based on the amount of thermoplastic polyolefin.

Abstract: An image-receptive heat transfer paper which includes: (a) a flexible cellulosic nonwoven web base sheet having top and bottom surfaces; and (b) an image-receptive melt-transfer film layer overlaying the top surface of the base sheet, which image-receptive melt-transfer film layer is composed of a thermoplastic polymer which melts in the range of from about 65 to about 180 degrees Celsius. Alternatively, the image-receptive melt-transfer film layer is replaced with a melt-transfer film layer overlaying the top surface of the nonwoven web and composed of a first thermoplastic polymer which melts in the range of from about 65 to about 180 degrees Celsius, and an image-receptive film layer overlaying the melt-transfer film layer and composed of a second thermoplastic polymer which melts in the range of from about 65 to about 180 degrees Celsius.

Abstract: A method for bonding, cutting and printing sheets of polymeric material is provided which comprises the steps of: (a) forming first, second and third patterns of an infrared-absorbing material on one of the sheets, the first pattern corresponding to the locations at which the sheets are to be bonded together, the second pattern corresponding to the locations at which the sheets are to be cut, and the third pattern corresponding to the locations at which the sheets are to be printed; (b) contacting the sheets with one another; (c) exposing the contacted sheets to infrared energy; (d) applying pressure to the sheets; and (e) cooling the sheets. The amount of infrared energy to which the sheets are exposed and the distribution of the infrared-absorbing material are chosen so that 1) the sheets bond to one another in the areas of the first pattern, 2) the sheets are cut in the areas of the second pattern, and 3) the sheets are neither bonded nor cut in the areas of the third pattern.

Abstract: A method of forming substantially continuous filaments which involves the steps of (1) extending a molten thermoplastic polymer through a die having a plurality of orifices to give a plurality of substantially continuous filaments; (2) quenching the filaments by contacting them with a quenching fluid having a temperature less than that of the filaments and a zero to high imposed velocity which, if other than zero, has a component which is in a direction other than parallel with the movement of filaments; (3) entraining and drawing the filaments in a nozzle with an attenuating liquid having a linear speed of at least about 400 feet/minute; and (4) collecting the drawn filaments. The filaments have an average diameter in the range of from about 5 to about 75 micrometers and a high variability of filament diameter from filament to filament and along the length of any given filament. In addition, at least some of such filaments are present as filament bundles.

Abstract: A nonwoven composite structure is provided which has three melt-extruded nonwoven layers, each of which includes at least a portion of a nonwoven web. The first nonwoven web is adjacent to one surface of the second nonwoven web and the third nonwoven web is adjacent to the other surface of the second nonwoven web. The first and third nonwoven webs consist of continuous and randomly deposited filaments having an average filament diameter in excess of about 7 micrometers. The second nonwoven web consists of substantially continuous and randomly deposited microfibers having an average diameter of from about 0.1 to about 10 micrometers. The microfibers of the second nonwoven web are prepared from a mixture of an additive and a second thermoplastic polymer, which additive imparts alcohol repellency to the surfaces of the microfibers. The three nonwoven layers can be prepared independently from polyolefins, polyesters, polyetheresters, and polyamides.

Abstract: A nonwoven laminiferous structure is provided which has three melt-extruded nonwoven layers, each of which includes at least a portion of a nonwoven web. The first nonwoven web is adjacent to one surface of the second nonwoven web and the third nonwoven web is adjacent to the other surface of the second nonwoven web. The first and third nonwoven webs consist of continuous and randomly deposited filaments having an average filament diameter in excess of about 7 micrometers. The second nonwoven web consists of substantially continuous and randomly deposited microfibers having an average diameter of from about 0.1 to about 10 micrometers. The microfibers of the second nonwoven web are prepared from a mixture of an additive and a second thermoplastic polymer, which additive imparts alcohol repellency to the surfaces of the microfibers. The three nonwoven layers can be prepared independently from polyolefins, polyesters, polyetheresters, and polyamides.

Abstract: A nonwoven laminiferous structure is provided which has at least two melt-extruded nonwoven layers:(A) a first layer which includes at least a portion of a first nonwoven web; and(B) a second layer adjacent to said first layer which includes at least a portion of a second nonwoven web; in which,(1) the boundary between any two adjacent melt-extruded nonwoven layers is distinct in that fibers at or near the surfaces of such adjacent layer are not significantly intermingled;(2) the fibers of at least one of such first and second layers are prepared by melt extrusion through a die at a shear rate of from about 50 to about 30,000 sec.sup.-1 and a throughput of no more than about 5.4 kg/cm/hour of a mixture of an additive and a thermoplastic polymer, which additive (a) is present at a level of from about 0.

Abstract: A nonwoven composite structure is provided which has at least two melt-extruded nonwoven layers:(A) a first layer which includes at least a portion of a first nonwoven web; and(B) a second layer which includes at least a portion of a second nonwovfen web;in which,(1) the boundary between any two adjacent melt-extruded nonwoven layers is indistinct in that fibers at or near the surfaces of such adjacent layers are significantly intermingled;(2) the fibers of at least one of such first and second layers are prepared by melt extrusion through a die at a shear rate of from about 50 to about 30,000 sec.sup.-1 and a throughput of no more than about 5.

Abstract: A surface-segregatable, melt-extrudable thermoplastic composition suitable for processing by melt extrusion to form a fiber or film having a differential, increasing concentration of an additive from the center of the fiber or film to the surface thereof, which differential, increasing concentration imparts to the surface of the fiber or film at least one desired characteristic which otherwise would not be present, which composition includes at least one thermoplastic polymer and at least one defined additive. During formation of the fiber or film, the additive rapidly segregates in a controllable manner toward the newly-formed surface of the fiber or film, thereby resulting in a controllable differential concentration of the polymeric material, which concentration increases with increasing distance from the center of the fiber or film to its surface. The weight ratio of the polymer to the additive is in the range of from about 1 to about 1,000.

Abstract: A method comprising melting a mixture of at least one thermoplastic polyolefin and at least one additive having the general formula, ##STR1## and extruding the resulting melt through a die at a shear rate of from about 50 to about 30,000 sec.sup.-1 and a throughput of no more than about 5.4 kg/cm/hour, in which:(A) R.sub.1 -R.sub.7 are independently selected monovalent C.sub.1 -C.sub.3 alkyl groups;(B) R.sub.8 is hydrogen or a monovalent C.sub.1 -C.sub.3 alkyl group;(C) m represents an integer of from 0 to about 5(D) n represents an integer of from 3 to about 8;(E) the additive has a molecular weight of from about 350 to about 700;(F) the additive has a polydispersity of from about 1.0 to about 1.3; and(G) the additive is present in an amount of from about 0.5 to about 1.

Abstract: An ultrasonic rotary horn intended to be excited at a frequency of from about 18 to about 60 kHz, which horn is a shaped, solid metal object having a rotational axis and a radial surface terminated by a first end and a second end. The horn is radially symmetrical. The thickness of the horn at the rotational axis is greater than the width of the horn at the radial surface.