Patent ID: 6753082
Filing Date: 2004-06-22
Classification: A61F,D01D,Y10T

Abstract:
A fiber having improved liquid absorption capacity comprising: a plurality of filaments having one or more capillary channels, each capillary channel formed by capillary channel walls and a channel opening dimension, each said filament satisfying the following equations0.1&lE;Af/AfP&lE;0.8 0.1&lE;&PSgr;&lE;1 1&lE;d&lE;80 1.75&PSgr;âˆ’0.83 Af/AfPâˆ’0.017 d+1.48&gE;0 whereinAf is the cross-sectional area occupied by the material comprising said filament; AfP is the footprint area of said filament cross-section; d is the denier of said filament; &PSgr; is the ratio of the square root of the sum of the cross-sectional areas of the channels in a filament to the sum of the channel opening dimensions as expressed by following equation; Î¨=&Sum;i=1N&it;â€ƒ&it;Ac&it;â€ƒ&it;(i)&Sum;i=1N&it;â€ƒ&it;L&it;â€ƒ&it;(i)â€ƒwherein Ac(i) is the cross-sectional area of the ith channel; L(i) is the dimension of the opening of the ith channel; N is the number of channels; and wherein said fiber has a liquid absorption capacity of at least about two volumes of liquid per volume of fiber.