초록 ▼

A resilient plastic web exhibiting a fiber-like appearance and tactile impression and method and apparatus for its manufacture. In a preferred embodiment, the web exhibits a three-dimensional microstructure comprising a regulated continuum of debossed areas of non-uniform cross-section along their l

A resilient plastic web exhibiting a fiber-like appearance and tactile impression and method and apparatus for its manufacture. In a preferred embodiment, the web exhibits a three-dimensional microstructure comprising a regulated continuum of debossed areas of non-uniform cross-section along their length. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the debossed areas comprise capillary networks interconnecting the first and second surfaces of the web, said networks being of decreasing size in the direction of said second surface to promote fluid transport from the first surface of the web to the second surface and inhibit the flow of fluid in the reverse direction. Forming surfaces utilized to produce said webs are constructed by laminating a multiplicity of thin plates having patterns of apertures therein to form an integral structure exhibiting properties and characteristics unachievable by prior art machining and weaving techniques. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the individual lamina from which the laminate forming structure is comprised are produced utilizing photoetching techniques, thus making it feasible to produce nearly any desired level of intricacy in the resultant laminate structure. Preferred means for interconnecting said laminate structures with one another without disrupting the three-dimensional pattern in the area of joinder are also disclosed.

대표청구항 ▼

A method for constructing a three-dimensional tubular member for continuously imparting a three-dimensional appearance and tactile impression to a plastic web brought in contact with its peripheral surface, said method comprising: (a) forming patterns of apertures in a multiplicity of planar sheets;

A method for constructing a three-dimensional tubular member for continuously imparting a three-dimensional appearance and tactile impression to a plastic web brought in contact with its peripheral surface, said method comprising: (a) forming patterns of apertures in a multiplicity of planar sheets; (b) superposing said sheets containing said aperture patterns on one another to form a stack exhibiting a three-dimensional continuum of capillary networks from the uppermost surface to the lowermost surface thereof; (c) bonding said superposed stack of sheets to one another at contact points to form an integral laminate structure without destroying said continuum of capillary networks; (d) causing the uppermost surface of said laminate structure to assume a radius of curvature greater than that of said lowermost surface of said laminate structure without causing delamination thereof, thereby causing said laminate structure to assume a substantially tubular shape; and (e) securing the opposing free edges of said tubular shaped laminate structure to one another while maintaining substantial continuity of said three-dimensional continuum of capillary networks about the entire periphery of the tubular member thus formed.