Patent ID: 8828162

Claim:
A method of making a porous supported web, comprising: introducing discontinuous multicomponent polymeric fibers into a forming chamber; mixing the multicomponent fibers within the forming chamber; infilling the multicomponent fibers into at least some interior void spaces of a filamentary support web comprising a thickness, to form an infilled fibrous mat within at least some of the interior void spaces of the support web; and, exposing the multicomponent fibers to an elevated temperature to melt-bond at least some of the multicomponent fibers to each other so that the fibrous mat is self-bonded into a porous web that is embedded within at least some of the interior void spaces of the support web; wherein the infilled multicomponent fibers partially fill the thickness of the filamentary support web so that the entirety of the porous embedded web is located within the thickness of the filamentary support web so that first and second major surfaces of the porous embedded web are within the interior of the filamentary support web and so that at least some of the filaments of the filamentary support web extend outwardly from the porous embedded web beyond a major surface of the porous embedded web.