Patent ID: 8524144

Claim:
An open system melt extrusion method of making a nonwoven web, the method comprising: providing a plurality of polymer fibers from an extrusion device; subjecting the fibers to a pneumatic attenuation force with a drawing slot of an open system fiber draw unit (FDU) having an inlet and an outlet, the attenuation force imparting a velocity to the fibers; conveying the fibers through a diverging profile portion of the FDU drawing slot to spread the fibers in the machine direction within the FDU, wherein said diverging profile portion of said FDU drawing slot has a total inclusive divergence angle of up to about 5 degrees; reducing the velocity of the fibers in a diverging diffusion chamber spaced from the outlet of the FDU; subjecting the fibers to an applied electrostatic charge in either the diffusion chamber or the FDU; and thereafter collecting the fibers into a web on a moving forming surface.