Arnold E Wilkie, 777785 Ellis Rd, Melbourne, FL 32904

6471910, Oct 29, 2002

Mar 22, 2000

09/533883

Jeffrey S. Haggard - Cocoa FL
W. Scott Harris - Lighthouse Point FL
William H. Hills - Melbourne Village FL
Fumin Lu - Tamarac FL
Arnold E. Wilkie - Merritt Island FL

Hills, Inc. - West Melbourne FL

B32B 508

264555, 156167, 425 722, 26417217

Nonwoven fabric is formed from a spunbond process by extruding generally ribbon-shaped fibers through slot-shaped orifices of a spinneret. The ribbon-shaped fibers are rapidly quenched after extrusion to achieve a substantially uniform molecular orientation throughout a transverse cross section of the fibers, yielding stronger fibers. The rapid quenching results largely from the relatively high aspect ratio (thinness) of the fibers and the relatively large surface area of the fibers, which permits the fibers to quickly cool throughout the transverse cross section. The ribbon-shaped fibers are drawn longitudinally by an aspirator that exerts a generally downward force produced by an air stream that longitudinally stretches and transversely attenuates the ribbon-shaped fibers in such a manner that the transverse cross-sectional shape of the ribbon-shaped fibers enhances the interaction between the air stream and the ribbon-shaped fibers to maximize the downward force. The attenuated ribbon-shaped fibers are deposited onto a web forming surface , such as a moving wire screen belt to form a web. The web is then bonded to form the nonwoven fabric.

6551353, Apr 22, 2003

Apr 26, 2000

09/530183

William R. Baker - Indialantic FL
William H. Hills - Melbourne Village FL
Arnold E. Wilkie - Merritt Island FL

Hills, Inc. - West Melbounre FL

A61F 204

623 142, 425373, 623 2372

A synthetic fiber is formed with a plurality of longitudinally-extending cavities ( and ) which hold a medicament that is intended to be absorbed into tissue brought into contact with the fiber. The fiber can be formed by dissolving a soluble polymer component of an extruded plural-component fiber , leaving cavities that extend inward from the outer surface of the fiber in the locations of the dissolved polymer. After the fiber has been exposed to a solvent, the cavities left by the dissolved component are filled with a medicament. Specifically, the cavities are filled with a medicament that is mixed with a viscous carrier which solidifies within the cavities. The fibers can be used to make sutures, textile prostheses for insertion into the body, and epidermal pads and bandages. Fibers having internal cavities , i. e. , cavities not extending to the external surface of the fiber, can be formed by extruding a single-component fiber from a spinneret orifice having a number of T-shaped slots extending from a central hub.

6705069, Mar 16, 2004

Sep 5, 2000

09/655186

Arthur Talley - Melbourne FL
Arnold E. Wilkie - Merritt Island FL
Karl H. Buchanan - Arden NC

Honeywell International Inc. - Morristown NJ

D02G 302

57210, 57206, 57207, 57208, 57211, 57227, 57238, 57239, 57245

A self-set yarn made from bicomponent fibers forms helical crimps that lock in twist and form bulk.

6767498, Jul 27, 2004

Oct 9, 2001

09/821456

Arthur Talley, Jr. - Melbourne FL
Frank O. Harris - Rogersville TN
Jeffrey S. Dugan - Erwin TN
Arnold E. Wilkie - Merritt Island FL

Hills, Inc. - West Melbourne FL
Fiber Innovation Technology, Inc. - Johnson City TN

D01D 516

264474, 28271, 57287, 264103, 264147, 2641711, 2642102, 2642105, 2642108

Thermally divisible multicomponent fibers ( ) having at least a first component including an elastomeric polymer ( ) and at least a second component including a non-elastomeric polymer ( ). The multicomponent fibers are useful in the manufacture of nonwoven structures, and in particular nonwoven structures used as synthetic suede and filtration media.

6803102, Oct 12, 2004

Apr 17, 2002

09/959999

Arthur Talley - Melbourne FL
Arnold E. Wilkie - Merritt Island FL
Jeffrey S. Haggard - Cocoa FL

Hills, Inc. - West Melbourne FL

D01F 800

428373, 428374, 428370

A spinneret ( ) for extruding side-by-side bicomponent fibers includes a spinneret hole ( ) having a cross-sectional shape transverse to the direction of polymer flow that is asymmetric with respect to the arrangement of the side-by-side streams of polymer components therein. The lower viscosity component flows through a portion of the spinneret hole having a higher perimeter-to-area cross-sectional shape than the portion of the spinneret hole through which the higher viscosity component through which the lower viscosity component flows. The increased surface area (i. e. , cross-sectional perimeter) of the spinneret hole contacting the lower viscosity polymer flow compensates for the viscosity differential between the polymer components that would otherwise result in dogleg bending of the extrudate.

6838402, Jan 4, 2005

Sep 21, 1999

09/404245

Frank O. Harris - Rogersville TN, US
Jeffrey S. Dugan - Erwin TN, US
Arthur Talley, Jr. - Melbourne FL, US
Arnold Wilkie - Merritt Island FL, US

Fiber Innovation Technology, Inc. - Johnson City TN

D03D 300
D03D 1500
D02G 300
D04H 300

442347, 442199, 442311, 442328, 442340, 442361, 442362, 428373, 428374

Thermally divisible multicomponent fibers having at least a first component including an elastomeric polymer and at least a second component including a non-elastomeric polymer. The multicomponent fibers are useful in the manufacture of nonwoven structures, and in particular nonwoven structures used as synthetic suede and filtration media.

6861142, Mar 1, 2005

Jun 6, 2003

10/455813

Arnold E. Wilkie - Merritt Island FL, US
Ben F. Shuler - Indialantic FL, US
Tony Owen - Indialantic FL, US
Brian C. Johnston - Melbourne FL, US

Hills, Inc. - W. Melbourne FL

D01F008/00

428373, 428397, 428374

The dissolution of dissolvable components in plural component polymer fibers is achieved by providing a polymer fiber including at least two sections, where at least one fiber section includes a dissolvable component. The rate at which at least part of the fiber dissolves is controlled by at least one of a fiber section having a non-round cross-sectional geometry, and at least two fiber sections including two different dissolvable components. In an exemplary embodiment, island-in-the-sea fibers are formed with non-round and elongated cross-sectional geometries. In another embodiment, sheath-core fibers are formed in which the sheath and core include different dissolvable components.

7037097, May 2, 2006

May 20, 2004

10/849495

Arnold E. Wilkie - Merritt Island FL, US
James Brang - Cocoa FL, US
Angel Antonio De La Hoz - Melbourne FL, US

Hills, Inc. - Melbourne FL

D01D 5/092

425 722, 4253822, 425464

An apparatus for controlling airflow in a fiber extrusion process includes a fiber flow region between an inlet through which extruded fibers are received and an outlet through which the extruded fibers are discharged and at least one surface providing a boundary between the fiber flow region and another region, wherein the surface includes apertures permitting air to flow between the fiber flow region and the other region to control airflow at the outlet of the fiber flow region. The apparatus can include a housing which contains at least one chamber, with the surface forming a boundary between the fiber flow region and the chamber, such that the apertures permit air to flow between the fiber flow region and at the chamber. In a spunbond process, the airflow control device receives drawn filaments exiting an aspirator and deposits the filaments onto a web-forming surface with reduced air disturbance.