Patent ID: 7270723

Claim:
A method for forming an elastic, breathable film/nonwoven layer laminate comprising the steps of: a) filling a semi-crystalline, predominantly linear polymer with a filler to form a filled polymer such that said filled polymer contains at least 60 percent by weight filler, wherein said semi-crystalline polymer forms a shell around said filler particles; b) dry-blending a thermoplastic elastomer with the filled polymer to form a blended elastomeric composition, such that said blended elastomeric composition includes between about 25 and 70 percent filler by weight, between about 5 and 30 percent semi-crystalline polymer by weight, and between about 15 and 60 percent by weight elastomer, c) extruding the blended elastomeric composition into a film, wherein said filled polymer is not fully compounded throughout said blended elastomeric composition; d) stretching said film in a machine direction so that the film has a length that is from about 2 to about 5 times its original length, such that said film produced has a basis weight of between about 10 and 60 gsm and demonstrates a breathability greater than 100 g/m 2 /24 hours and a load loss value of less than 50 percent, at 50 percent elongation, when stretched to 70 percent elongation, a) bonding the produced film to a nonwoven layer to produce a film/nonwoven layer laminate.