Patents Examined by Peter Y Choi
  • Patent number: 8603925
    Abstract: The invention provides a leather-like sheet material which is excellent in surface appearance, texture and physical properties and considerate of the environment; a process for the production thereof; and interior, clothing, and industrial materials made by using the same. A leather-like sheet material made from a nonwoven fabric which is constituted of ultra-fine fibers having a mean single-fiber fineness of 0.001 to 0.5 dtex and impregnated with a self-emulsifiable polyurethane, wherein the self-emulsifiable polyurethane and the ultra-fine fibers do substantially not adhere closely to each other, the moieties of the polyurethane have a nonporous structure, and the polyurethane has a structure crosslinked by siloxane bond in the molecular structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2013
    Assignee: Toray Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Gen Koide, Nobuhiro Maeda, Masaru Ueno, Yoshikazu Yakake
  • Patent number: 8586489
    Abstract: A woven fabric is provided that incorporates multiple systems of fibers into a unitary fabric and presents the fibers of only one of the warp systems on a first surface of the fabric. The fabric structure comprises first, second, and third warp systems that are interlaced with weft fibers such that, of the three warp systems, the first surface of the fabric comprises only the first warp system and thus “hides” the second and third warp systems, which are not interwoven with the fibers of the first warp system. In this way, the effect of the appearance of the second and third warp systems on the overall appearance of the fabric is reduced. The three warp systems may include fibers made of different materials to provide different characteristics to each layer of the fabric, or the warp systems may include fibers made of the same material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2013
    Assignee: J.B. Martin Company Inc.
    Inventor: Yaakov Shteiyer
  • Patent number: 8546279
    Abstract: A cloth material for marking including: a label cloth made of a white cloth formed of a fiber containing a component having affinity for a sublimation dye; an intermediate layer disposed on a rear surface of the label cloth, the intermediate layer including a synthetic resin which has affinity for the component of the label cloth and which has a melting point higher than a sublimation temperature of the sublimation dye; a transfer adhesive layer including a hot-melt thermoplastic synthetic resin and disposed on a surface of the intermediate layer; and a sheet of release paper disposed on a surface of the transfer adhesive layer. The intermediate layer is formed and closely fixed on the rear surface of the label cloth by laminating or coating. The transfer adhesive layer is also formed by laminating or coating.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2013
    Assignee: Houlaisha Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shigeji Higashiguchi, Shinichi Nagai
  • Patent number: 8546278
    Abstract: A composite board including: at least one glass fiber mat having an upper surface and a lower surface; a foam layer attached to the glass fiber mat; and a first binding composition applied to the upper surface of the at least one glass fiber mat and a second binding composition applied to the lower surface of the at least one glass fiber mat, the first and second binding compositions being the same or different compositions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2013
    Assignee: Johns Manville
    Inventors: Duane Paradis, Mandy B. Schweitzer
  • Patent number: 8541322
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to methods of functionalizing carbon nanotubes (CNTs), particularly single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), with organosilane species, wherein such functionalization enables fabrication of advanced polymer composites. The present invention is also directed toward the functionalized CNTs, advanced CNT-polymer composites made with such functionalized CNTs, and methods of making such advanced CNT-polymer composites.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2004
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2013
    Assignee: William Marsh Rice University
    Inventors: Enrique V. Barrera, Jiang Zhu, Lei Zhang, Valery N. Khabashesku, Jong Dae Kim, Mary Lou Margrave
  • Patent number: 8518841
    Abstract: To produce a nonwoven fabric comprising a conjugated fiber comprising a plurality of resins which are different in thermal shrinkage and form a phase separation structure. In the nonwoven fabric, the conjugated fibers are arranged in a direction approximately parallel to a surface direction of the nonwoven fabric and crimped. In addition, the conjugated fibers have an average curvature radius of fiber crimp of 20 to 200 ?m and the crimps are distributed approximately uniformly in a thickness direction of the nonwoven fabric. The nonwoven fabric is substantially free from an adhesive agent. In the nonwoven fabric, each fiber is substantially not melt-bonded to another. The conjugated fiber may comprise a polyalkylene arylate-series resin and a modified polyalkylene arylate-series resin and have a side-by-side or eccentric sheath-core form.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2013
    Assignee: Kuraray Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tomoaki Kimura, Yasuro Araida, Toru Ochiai, Sumito Kiyooka
  • Patent number: 8501643
    Abstract: Basalt filament is manufactured such that the fiber diameter can be controlled and the filament is not severed during winding. A network former and a glass modifier are formed and maintained with respect to basalt rock ore, and the crystallization and binding of basalt fiber are inhibited, the heat-resistance property of basalt fiber is greatly improved from the conventional 750° C. to 850 or 900° C., and significant cost reduction is achieved over conventional products. The method includes: grinding basalt rock as a material; washing a resultant ground rock; melting the ground rock that has been washed; transforming a molten product into fiber; and drawing the fiber in an aligned manner, and winding it. The temperature of the molten product in the melting step is 1400 to 1650° C., and log ? is 2.15 to 2.35 dPa·s and preferably 2.2 to 2.3 dPa·s, where ? is the viscosity of the molten product.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2013
    Assignees: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Nakagawa Sangyo Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Sumio Kamiya, Hironori Sasaki, Noriaki Nakagawa
  • Patent number: 8481157
    Abstract: Polymeric fibers along with methods and systems for extruding polymeric fibers are disclosed. The extrusion process preferably involves the delivery of a lubricant separately from a polymer melt stream to each orifice of an extrusion die such that the lubricant preferably encases the polymer melt stream as it passes through the die orifice.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2013
    Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company
    Inventors: Bruce B. Wilson, Roger J. Stumo, Stanley C. Erickson, William J. Kopecky, James C. Breister
  • Patent number: 8420557
    Abstract: The present invention concerns a nonwoven fabric the fibers of which have polyethylene on at least part of their surface, where the fibers are thermally bonded and the non-woven fabric exhibits an abrasion of less than 0.5 mg/cm2, in particular of less than 0.4 mg/cm2, and an embossed area fraction of less than 35%, in particular of less than 28%. Furthermore a device is made available for the manufacture of a non-woven fabric, using a polyethylene-containing polymer, with a take-down system underneath a spinning plate that causes the take-down of the polyethylene, where the spinning plate has an L/D ratio of between 4 and 9.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2013
    Assignee: Fiberweb Corovin GmbH
    Inventors: Markus Haberer, Henning Röttger
  • Patent number: 8410005
    Abstract: Stacks of pre-moistened wipes wherein the wipes comprise a composite of at least two layers of fibrous nonwoven webs, which in turn comprise fibers with an average fiber denier from about 2.5 to about 6.0. The stacks of pre-moistened wipes are from about 50 to about 300 millimeters in height and have a saturation gradient index from about 1.0 to about 1.5.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2013
    Assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company
    Inventors: Jonathan Paul Brennan, Holly Ann Balasubramanian
  • Patent number: 8383528
    Abstract: A method is described for reducing the afterflame of a flammable, meltable material. A textile composite is described comprising an outer textile comprising a flammable, meltable material, and a heat reactive material comprising a polymer resin-expandable graphite mixture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2013
    Assignee: W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.
    Inventor: Dattatreya Panse
  • Patent number: 8367570
    Abstract: The present invention is generally directed to a liquid entrapping device having the capacity to absorb liquids. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a liquid entrapping device comprising an absorbent component, hydrophilic elastomeric fibrous component in fluid communication therewith, and optionally an adhesive component. The present invention is also directed to a liquid entrapping device having the capacity to absorb liquids while maintaining a suitable degree of mechanical strength. Furthermore, the present invention is generally directed to methods for making and using the foregoing devices and materials.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2013
    Assignee: The University of Akron
    Inventors: Darrell H. Reneker, Daniel J. Smith
  • Patent number: 8318615
    Abstract: A launderable and reusable, leak-proof, breathable fabric and, more specifically, a composite fabric comprised of a liquid absorptive layer and a liquid impervious but vapor permeable layer. Such fabric is useful in drawing fluids, such as bodily fluids, away from a source, such as the body, and retaining them within the absorptive layer while evaporation thereof takes place though the vapor permeable layer. This material consists of two juxtaposed layers. The inner layer has the characteristic of being liquid permeable so as to allow the body fluids to flow into it and be absorbed. The outer layer has the characteristic of being liquid impermeable but air or vapor permeable, so that the liquid absorbed in the inner layer does not strike through the outer layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2012
    Assignee: Tri-Sis Inc.
    Inventors: Martin Filteau, Rene Nantel, Yun Shao
  • Patent number: 8298968
    Abstract: Electrical components are formed in a fabric during the weaving process by a series of crossing conductors in the warp and weft fibers of the fabric. Some of the crossing points provide permanent Separation of the crossing conductors, others permanent connection of the crossing conductors and others connection upon the application of pressure to the fabric. The structure provides the possibility of forming a greater range of components and more reliable component characteristics than heretofore possible.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2012
    Assignee: Intelligent Textiles Limited
    Inventors: Stanley Shigezo Swallow, Asha Peta-Thompson
  • Patent number: 8242035
    Abstract: A textile web material impregnated with a mixture that contains at least a prepolymer prepolymerized from a starting material of one or more bifunctional or polyfunctional organic cyanates and from a starting material of one or more bifunctional or polyfunctional aromatic alcohols, wherein the one or more bifunctional or polyfunctional organic cyanates and the one or more bifunctional or polyfunctional aromatic alcohols are present in weight ratios ensuring a molar ratio of the OCN groups to the OH groups between 95:5 and 70:30 prior to prepolymerization. The mixture further contains one or more fillers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2012
    Assignees: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V., Airbus Operations GmbH
    Inventors: Monika Bauer, Rajko Wurzel, Christoph Uhlig, Dietmar Völkle, Volker Müller, Karsten Hesse, Wilfried Michaelis
  • Patent number: 8236715
    Abstract: The present invention relates to an absorbent structure suitable in, or being an adult or infant diaper or feminine hygiene article, comprising a water-absorbing material comprising water-absorbing particles that comprise a film coating, comprising an elastic film-forming polymer and a coalescing agent. The invention also relates to an absorbent structure comprising a water absorbent material obtainable by a process of: a) spray-coating water-absorbing polymeric particles with an elastic film-forming polymer in a fluidized bed reactor at a temperature in the range from 0° C. to 150° C. and b) heat-treatment of the coated polymeric particles at a temperature above 50° C., wherein in step a) and/or b) a coalescing agent is added.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2012
    Assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company
    Inventors: Mattias Schmidt, Axel Meyer, Renae Dianna Fossum, Jean-Philippe Marie Autran, Ulrich Riegel, Thomas Daniel, Stefan Bruhns, Mark Elliott, Karl Haeberle
  • Patent number: 8211815
    Abstract: An absorbent structure having a longitudinal axis, a lateral axis, a z-direction axis normal to the longitudinal and lateral axes, longitudinally opposite ends and laterally opposite side edges. An upper surface of the absorbent structure has a three-dimensional topography relative to the longitudinal and lateral axes and defines a plurality of peaks and valleys of the upper surface relative to the z-direction. A lower surface of the absorbent structure has a three-dimensional topography relative to the longitudinal and lateral axes and defines a plurality of the peaks and valleys of the lower surface relative to the z-direction. The absorbent structure has a projected area as determined by a Topography Analysis Method, and the upper surface of the absorbent structure has a vertical area as determined by the Topography Analysis Method of at least about 0.1 cm2 per 1.0 cm2 projected area of the absorbent structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2003
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2012
    Assignee: Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc.
    Inventors: Andrew Thomas Baker, Theresa Michelle McCoy, Stephen Avedis Baratian, Charles Wilson Colman
  • Patent number: 8207070
    Abstract: Polyolefin woven and nonwoven fibers, filaments and fabrics made therefrom which comprise a melt blend which comprises (a) a polyolefin; and (b) at least one compound of the formula (I) R1—(hydrophilic oligomer)??(I) wherein R1 is a straight or branched chain alkyl of 22 to 40 carbon atoms and the hydrophilic oligomer is a homo- or co-oligomer consisting of monomer units derived from monomers selected from the group consisting of ethylene oxide, propylene oxide, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, epichlorhydrin, acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, ethylene imine, caprolactone, vinyl alcohol and vinyl acetate; and wherein the hydrophilic oligomer consists of between 2 and 10 monomer units, exhibit excellent durable wettability. The fabrics are useful in disposable diapers, training pants, feminine napkins, tampons, incontinence care products, wet and dry wipes, wound dressings, surgical capes, filter medial, battery separators and the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2012
    Assignee: Techmer PM, LLC
    Inventors: Sheng-Shing Li, Andrew J. Leggio, George H. Menzie, David Devore, John J. McNamara, TaHau Yu, Douglas W. Horsey
  • Patent number: 8187984
    Abstract: A textile fabric includes a smooth surface with one or more regions having coating material exhibiting thermal expansion or contraction in response to change in temperature, adjusting insulation performance of the textile fabric in response to ambient conditions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2012
    Assignee: Malden Mills Industries, Inc.
    Inventor: Moshe Rock
  • Patent number: 8158539
    Abstract: The following disclosure provides a structural mat for manufacturing a moldable structural hardboard body. The structural mat has a nucleated/coupled binder and a fibrous material. The nucleated/coupled binder material has a first binder material combined with a nucleating agent; and a second binder material combined with a coupling agent. The first binder material is combined with the nucleating agent to make a discrete nucleated/binder material. The second binder material is combined with the coupling agent to make a discrete coupled/binder material. The discrete nucleated/binder material and the discrete coupled/binder material are blended together. The fibrous material is blended with the discrete nucleated/binder material and the discrete coupled/binder material to form the structural mat.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2012
    Assignee: FlexForm Technologies, LLc
    Inventor: Garry E. Balthes