Patent ID: 7232535

Claim:
A process for producing non-blocking slats of amorphous propylene copolymer comprising the steps of: (a) providing near the surface of an extrusion die, near or above the ring and ball softening point, an amorphous propylene copolymer composition comprising no more than about 90 weight percent propylene and up to 70 weight percent of an alpha olefin comonomer having 2 to 8 carbon atoms wherein the composition has a needle penetration of greater than 70 to less than 100 dmm at 23° C. and a Brookfield Thermosel Viscosity below 1,000 cP at 190° C.; (b) forming a core covered with a sheath of low viscosity non-tacky polyolefin strand by coextruding said amorphous propylene copolymer composition with a low viscosity non-tacky polyolefin having a Brookfield Thermosel Viscosity of 100 to 50,000 cP at 150° C. and a needle penetration of less than 20 dmm at 23° C.; (c) contacting the core-and-sheath coextruded amorphous propylene copolymer and sheath of non-tacky polyolefin onto a surface having a temperature below the ring and ball softening point of the amorphous propylene copolymer; and (d) cutting the strand of step (c) into slats wherein the surface area exposed by the cut is less than 40 percent of the entire slat surface area.