PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 16019785
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-06
Publication Date: 2019-01
Patent Classification: ["264", "555000"]

Abstract:
A method for making nonwoven fabric. The nonwoven fabric can include three-dimensional features that define a microzone comprising a first region and a second region. The first and second regions can have a difference in values for an intensive property. The nonwoven further has a plurality of apertures, wherein at least a portion of the aperture abuts at least one of the first region and the second region of the microzone.

Claim (Index 17):
A method for making an apertured nonwoven fabric, the method comprising the steps of:\n a. providing a fiber laydown surface in the form of a first side of a continuous belt, the continuous belt comprising a reinforcing member and a pattern of three-dimensional raised elements extending outwardly from the reinforcing member on the first side of the continuous belt, the continuous belt further comprising a plurality of openings, each opening allowing fluid communication between the first side of the continuous belt and a second side of the continuous belt; b. providing a fiber melt spinning apparatus above the first side of the continuous belt and a vacuum source below the second side of the continuous belt, wherein the continuous belt can be moved in a machine direction between the fiber spinning apparatus and the vacuum source; c. providing a compaction nip between a first pair of rolls, at least one of the rolls of the first pair of rolls being heated; d. providing a bonding operation comprising a calendar nip; e. melt spinning fibers from the melt spinning apparatus onto the fiber laydown surface as the continuous belt moves in the machine direction over the vacuum source to collect the melt spun fibers onto the fiber laydown surface, the collected melt spun fibers forming a nonwoven web having three-dimensional features, each three-dimensional feature defining a microzone comprising a first region and a second region, the first and second regions having a difference in values for an intensive property, wherein the intensive property is one or more of thickness, basis weight, and volumetric density; wherein in each microzone, the second region comprises a portion of the nonwoven web that is formed over the three-dimensional raised element of the continuous belt, and the first region comprises the remainder of the nonwoven web within the particular microzone; f. moving the continuous belt in the machine direction through the compaction nip to create a compacted nonwoven web, the compaction nip being sized such that the second region of the microzone is compressed and heated to at least partially melt bond at least a portion of the fibers of the second region into frangible bond areas; g. moving the compacted nonwoven web in the machine direction through the calendaring nip to create a compacted and calendared nonwoven web, the calendaring nip being sized to contact the compacted nonwoven web and impart infrangible thermal bonds to at least some of the fibers therein; h. rolling the compacted and calendared nonwoven web into a rolled form; i. providing an aperturing nip between a second pair of rolls; and j. unrolling and moving the compacted and calendared nonwoven web through the aperturing nip, the aperturing nip forming an aperture at, or directly adjacent to, at least one of the frangible bond areas.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 11.0
- Percentile: 94.0
- Lexical Diversity: 1.76744
- Patent Class: 264.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: open
- Component Type: 1
- Foreign Priority: False
- Related Applications: ['15879474', '15221625', '14844603', '14933036', '14844457']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.7923748624376791
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.5299015072615657
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.7661275269200677
- Mean Citation Score: 262.20374400000003
- Max Citation Score: 367.79233
- Similarity Product: 271.68489578468024

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 1
- Claim Label 103: 1
- Claim Label 112: 0
- Combined Label: 1
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test