Reticulated netting materials are used in a wide variety of applications where breathability and softness or conformability are desirable. For example, nettings are used as reinforcement structures for various types of fibrous webs, in agricultural uses such as food packaging and a wide variety of other uses. In order to provide various combinations of properties and manufacturing attributes a wide variety of methods have been proposed in order to produce reticulated netting materials, generally by direct extrusion or by modifications to preformed film materials. An early patent, U. S. Pat. No. 2, 919, 467 directly extruded plastic netting in the first commercially acceptable manner by extrusion of polymer through two abutting die plates. Each abutting die plate had a series of orifices or grooves, which were open on the abutting faces of the die plates. The polymer would flow through these grooves. The abutting faces of the die plates also slidingly engaged with one another in either a rotating or reciprocating manner. As the die plates moved, whenever two orifices on the opposing abutting die plates came into a superimposed relationship, as the melt exited the orifices, a bond site was created. Otherwise, when the orifices were offset from one another, separate distinct filaments were extruded. The result was a wide variety of plastic nettings depending on the nature of the orifices provided and the type of sliding engagement between the die plates.

Various modifications and improvements to the above process are discussed in the background of U. S. Pat. No. 4, 190, 692. This patent proposes a modification of a different approach where discrete transverse filaments are formed by continuously extruded longitudinal filaments and periodically moving one die plate away from an opposing die member, one of which is extruding the longitudinal filaments. During the die plate separation transverse filaments are formed in the gap created by the separation. The patent proposes compressing a web formed by this method (to increase bond strength) followed by stretching to open up holes.

A variation on the above direct extrusion methods is described in U. S. Pat. No.

3, 683, 059 which instead of having two die plates moving with respect to each other has a series of pistons which move up and down within a single slot die orifice, the pistons are alternatively offset on a cam shaft. Separate polymer streams are formed between the pistons. The adjacent streams are directed in divergent directions by the shape of the lowermost pistons. With alternating strokes adjacent pistons trade places causing the divergent separate streams of polymer to flow in a first direction, then in a second opposite direction. When a polymer melt stream changes direction it intersect with an adjacent polymer melt stream, which is changing direction in the opposite direction, to form a bond site. This process would be extremely dynamic and complicated resulting in a difficult to control process window. All the above direct extrusion methods are similar in that they are relatively complicated and require moving parts in the die orifice (s), which is inherently problematic.

U. S. Pat. No. 3, 365, 352 describes a method for directly extruding a netting by laying fibers down in a much more controlled manner by separately extruding polymer streams into preformed grooves on opposing rolls. The individual circular polymer dies are made to match with mating grooves in the rollers by actuating cams, moving the dies in a preset pattern. A more straightforward way of forming a netting directly within grooves on a roll is disclosed in U. S. Pat. No. 3, 515, 778, where a slot extruder directly extrudes molten resin into a network of intersecting grooves formed on a roll. To assist polymer flow and penetration into the grooves the slot extruder outlet is wedged shaped as it contacts the engraved roll. This directly forms a netting material. Again, this process eliminates moving parts within the die, however, the engraved roll would be susceptible to becoming filled with solidified polymer.

An alternative approach in the art relies on forming a netting from preformed films. Various method of doing this are discussed in U. S. Pat. No. 4, 636, 419 such as lamination of fibrillated films at angles relative to one another, slit splitting and stretching of preformed films, or embossing preformed films at elevating temperatures to create weakened areas followed by stretching, the stretching opens up the portions of the film which are thinned by the embossment. This patent describes a method for providing improved performance webs created by the embossment technique. In order to improve the strength of webs of this type, a higher melting point resin stream is coextruded as

filaments within a matrix of a lower melting point film material. The resulting film has longitudinally extending parallel filaments of a strengthening material. The resulting film is then embossed, by a series of transverse ridges, along the width of the film, which direction is transverse to the reinforcing filaments. When then stretched in the longitudinal direction, the relative weak areas between the reinforcing filaments open up to form holes which material can then be stretched in the transverse direction. Various examples of the film embossing technique are also described in U. S. Pat. No. Nos.

4, 207, 375, 4, 059, 713, 3, 632, 269, and 4, 075, 379.

The present invention is directed at a novel method of forming a reticulated web having a wide variety of potential properties which is provided by a direct extrusion method, however without any moving parts within the die orifice. It is a further objective to provide a process which is relatively fast, reliable, and not subject to polymer contamination of the various equipment pieces used in the process.

Brief Description of the Drawings Fig. 1 is a schematic view of the invention process in cross section.

Fig. 2 is end view of a portion of a die tip used in this invention Fig. 3 is a side cross sectional view of the embossing rolls used to form the reticulated web of this invention.

Fig. 4 is a tooth gear embossing roll useful in the present invention.

Fig. 5 is an embossing roll suitable for use with a smooth roll for forming an alternative embodiment of the invention reticulated web.

Fig. 6 is a further roll such as shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view of a reticulated web formed by the invention process using a geared tooth embossing roll such as shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view of a reticulated web such as might be produced using a sleeve as shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic view of a reticulated web in accordance with the invention which might be produced using an embossing sleeve as shown in Fig. 6.

Description of the Preferred Embodiments

Fig. 1 depicts an overview of the invention process 1, which relies on conventional extrusion equipment. A thermoplastic polymer 3 is supplied by a hopper 2 or other conventional means into a heated extruder 4 equipped with a suitable screw 5 driven by a drive unit 6. The molten polymer melt stream 7 from the extruder is fed to any conventional strand or filament die equipped with die orifices 11 to extrude a series of filaments 17 in side-by-side relation. The die orifices 11, in die 10 such as shown in Fig. 2 are suitably spaced and sized to produce the desired reticulated web structure. The extruded filaments 17 are then fed into a nip 16 formed between two counter-rotating embossing rolls 12 and 13. At least one of the rolls 13 has a suitable raised ridge embossing pattern 18. The raised ridge embossing surfaces cause filaments 17 to widen in the direction of an adjacent filament 17. This widening is due to compression with associated polymer flow. The widened segments 19 of the adjacent filaments 17 preferably flow together to form bond sites. These bond sites are between at least two filaments. There are multiple bond sites created between all the adjacent filaments. In the web cross direction for any given bond site between two adjacent filaments there are preferably bond sites (between a filament forming the given bond site and the next adjacent filament) either directly adjacent to the given bond site or closely adjacent to the given bond site. These adjacent bond sites extend across the entire web to unify the filaments.

Preferably the bond sites extend in a continuous bond line across the entire series of filaments connecting all the filaments into a single structure. This bond line can be straight or curved. Multiple series of adjacent bond sites or bond lines in the longitudinal direction create a continuously unified reticulated web.

In Figs. 1 and 3 multiple bond lines are created by adjacent ridge structures 18 resulting in a continuous reticulated web being formed directly upon exiting the nip 16.

Alternatively, further webs 14 and 15 could be fed into the nip to simultaneously directly form a laminate structure with a reticulated web. These further webs would preferably be joined to the filaments by the nip pressure of the embossing rolls, however adhesives, binders or other methods could also be employed.

The embossing step as shown in the Fig. 1 embodiment is performed directly on a series of extruded filaments following extrusion, but prior to the filaments solidifying.

However, it is possible to pre-form filaments and feed these filaments by a comb, or the like, into a nip as described above. Preformed filaments would need heat to be softened

prior to feeding into the nip, such as by hot air and/or in the nip, by heating either of both nip rolls 12 and 13. The roll 12, 13 temperatures are controlled by suitable means such as steam, hot water, induction heating or the like.

The nip shown in Figs. 1 and 3 is created by a smooth backing roll 12 and a structured roll 13 having a series of raised ridges 18. This type of structured roll 13 is shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The ridges 18 are formed directly on the roll surface and have land areas 20 separated by valleys 21. The ridges and their land areas extend continuously across the roll 13 in the roll shown in Fig. 4. It is also possible for the ridges 18 to have intermittent land areas 20 spanning two or more filaments, as long as the land areas on other adjacent or nearby ridges bridge the gaps formed by the intermittent land area of a given ridge. The ridges 18 as shown in Fig. 3 are orthogonal to the rotation direction of the roll and the feed direction of the filaments, however, is possible to have the ridges 18 extend at angles to the roll and/or filament direction, such as from 5 to 85 degrees.

Alternatively, secondary ridge structures can extend at angles to the primary ridge structures. If the ridge structures intersect, larger land areas are formed at the intersections. The land areas on the ridges can also have secondary structures such as microridges to encourage polymer flow in a given direction. The backing roll can also have a microridge structure. These secondary structures are generally 5 to 100 microns, more preferably 5 to 50 microns, continuous or intermittent and can be in the shape of parallel lines, point structures or the like.

An alternative way of providing ridges with land areas is shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

In these embodiments the ridges are directly milled into a roll or could be provided by roll sleeves, which can be interchangeably fitted onto a suitable smooth roll. In this case, the sleeve must have a continuous network of intersecting ridges 38 or 48 that create a solid sleeve structure. The intersecting ridges form holes between the ridge intersections 32 or 42. The ridge intersections 32 or 42 are larger than adjacent non-intersecting portions of the ridges 33 and 43.

Apertured films or reticulated webs such as would be formed using the nip structures provided by embossing rolls of Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are shown in Figs. 7, 8, and 9 respectively. The filaments 57, 67, and 77 are still visible but have been connected in the connecting land areas or bond sites 56, 66, and 76. These connecting land areas 56, 66, and 76 have been compressed so that they are thinner than the uncompressed filaments

57, 67, and 77, Generally, the connected land areas 56, 66 and 76 correspond to the land portions on the ridge structures of the embossing rolls. The thickness in the connected land areas 56, 66, and 76 generally correspond to the gap between the embossing rolls forming the nip, but polymer die swell and post extrusion orientation of the web can change the thickness of the web in the land areas. The overall thickness in the land areas is preferably 0. 25 mils to 30 mils, most preferably 0. 5 to 15 mils. The thickness or diameter of the filaments is generally 5 to 60 mils, preferably 10 to 30 mils. There are transition zones between the filaments and the connected land areas.

Optionally, the formed reticulated webs described above can be oriented, but preferably only in the direction of the filaments. If a web is oriented transverse to the filaments, the bond sites are weakened and more easily separated. However this may be desirable where an easily separable or splitable web is desired.

The embodiments of Figs. 1 and 3 show one nip surface provided with ridge structures. If desired, the opposing nip surface can also be provided with ridge structures provided that the opposing ridges intersect along a longitudinally extended portion. The longitudinally extending intersecting portions must extend sufficiently to create series of multiple bond sites between filaments, which bond sites extend either continuously or discontinuously over the width of the web formed as described above.

The die orifices are generally separated by 5 to 120 mils, preferably 10 to 60 mils to ensure that the filaments can connect at the bond sites but not so close that the filaments connect continuously along their length due to polymer die swell alone as they exit the orifices. The spacing of the filaments also depends on the polymer rheology and filament diameters. Larger diameter filaments and less viscous filaments are able to be more widely spaced. The filament diameter and spacing selected also depends on the desired reticulated web properties. The die trough which the extruder extrudes the elastic thermoplastic material can have an easily changeable die plate in which are formed the desired spaced openings for extruding the thermoplastic material..

The web formed by the above described process is an interconnected series of mutually parallel filaments with longitudinally extending thick portions with the thin portions connecting the thick portions in a direction generally at a transverse angle to the longitudinal direction of the thick portions. The thick portions are preferably mutually

parallel and separated by holes or openings. Generally, the thin portions are 1 to 90 percent of the thickness of the thick portions, preferably 10 to 80 percent.

The resulting reticulated web can have a wide range of basis weights depending on the selected filament diameter (s) and frequency, but generally ranges from 10 to 500 grams/meter2, preferably 20 to 250 grams/meter2. Varying the filament diameters and/or frequency can also be used to the basis weight across the width of the web. If desired, profiled filaments could also be extruded such as rectangular, multilobal or any other known filament profile. The filaments could also have two or more distinct components such as sheath/core, multilayered, island in the sea, or the like, as are known in the staple fiber art.

The individual filaments are generally equally spaced to provide a web with consistent properties, however, the filament spacing can regularly or randomly vary as may be required. For example, if it is desirable to provide a web which easily splits at a given point or points, wider filament spacing could be provided at these points to create a splittable web with predetermined split lines. The web would tend to split longitudinally at the location of the more equally spaced filaments. Generally the filaments in the web vary from 2 to 50 filaments/cm, preferably 3 to 30.

The reticulated web generally is stronger in the direction of the filaments but can have a CD to MD break tensile strength ratio of from 0. 25 to 1. 0, and a CD to MD load ratio (F50) of 0. 25 to 1. 0. The Elmendorf tear strength in the MD direction is generally 50 to 300 grams with the CD/MD Elmendorf tear strength ratio of from 0. 25 to 3. 0. The continuous bond lines when provided can also create tear propagation paths. This allows the webs to be easily torn in the cross direction, which is a highly desirable property for certain continuous web structures dispensed from a roll (e. g. pressure sensitive adhesive tapes or medical wraps).

Generally, the reticulated webs of the invention can be made with any thermoplastic material. Thermoplastic materials are those that flow when heated. The thermoplastic materials of the present invention may be semi-crystalline or amorphous.

The amorphous materials of the present invention may be thermoplastic elastomers or elastomers. Thermoplastic elastomers are thermoplastic materials that are amorphous above their glass transition temperature and have physical crosslinking. Elastomers are

thermoplastic materials that are amorphous above their glass transition temperature and have substantially no physical crosslinking.

Suitable thermoplastic materials for forming the filaments include amorphous polymers such as polycarbonates, polyacrylics, polymethacrylics, polybutadiene, polyisoprene, polychloroprene, random and block copolymers of styrene and dienes (e. g., styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR)), butyl rubber, ethylene-propylene-diene monomer rubber, natural rubber, ethylene-propylene rubber, and mixtures thereof. Other examples of suitable polymers include, e. g., polystyrene-polyethylene copolymers, polyvinylcyclohexane, polyacrylonitrile, polyvinylchloride, thermoplastic polyurethanes, aromatic epoxies, amorphous polyesters, amorphous polyamides, acrylonitrile-butadiene- styrene (ABS) copolymers, polyphenylene oxide alloys, high impact polystyrene copolymers, fluorinated elastomers, polydimethyl siloxanes, polyetherimides, methacrylic acid-polyethylene copolymers, impact-modified polyolefins, amorphous fluoropolymers, amorphous polyolefins, polyphenylene oxide, polyphenylene oxide-polystyrene alloys, and mixtures thereof.

Amorphous thermoplastic elastomers may be preferred materials if the web requires elastic properties. Suitable thermoplastic elastomers include, e. g., styrene- isoprene block copolymers, styrene-ethylene/butylene-styrene block copolymers (SEBS), styrene-ethylene-propylene-styrene block copolymers, styrene-isoprene-styrene block copolymers (SIS), styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) block copolymers, ethylene-propylene copolymers, styrene-ethylene copolymers, polyetheresters, and poly-a-olefin based thermoplastic elastomeric materials such as those represented by the formula- (CH2CHR) x where R is an alkyl group containing 2 to 10 carbon atoms and poly-a-olefin based on metallocene catalysts, and mixtures thereof.

Suitable semi-crystalline polymers include semi-crystalline polyesters, such as polyethylene terephthalate, semi-crystalline polyamides, polyamides such as Nylon 6 and Nylon 66, polyolefins such as polyethylene and polypropylene, polymethylpentene, polyisobutylene, polyolefin copolymers, polyester copolymers, fluoropolymers, poly vinyl acetate, poly vinyl alcohol, polyethylene oxide, functionalized polyolefins, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers, metal neutralized polyolefin ionomers available under the trade designation SURLYN from E. I. DuPont de Nemours, Wilmington, Delaware, polyvinylidene fluoride, and polytetrafluoroethylene.

Example 1 A web similar to the web 19 illustrated in FIG. 3 or the web of Fig. 6 was made using equipment similar to that illustrated in FIG. 1. A thermoplastic ethylene-propylene impact copolymer commercially available under the designation 7C50 from the Union Carbide Corporation of Danbury, Connecticut was placed in a 51mm single screw extruder to form the filaments. About 9. 4 filaments per centimeter of the 7C50 copolymer were extruded through 0. 53mm orifices at 100 RPM (Revolutions Per Minute) into a nip formed by a patterned roll and a smooth metal chill roll. The patterned roll was machined to have 4 axially parallel ridges per centimeter located completely around the periphery of the roll with a groove between each ridge. Each ridge was machined to have a flat top-surface having a width of about 0. 7 mm. The patterned roll was at about 66° C and the chill roll was maintained between about 10° C and 16° C. The line speed was about 12 meters per minute, and the melt temperature in the extruder was about 264° C. The nip pressure was adjusted to 100 PLI (pounds per lineal inch). This pressure is distributed along the raised ridges of the patterned roll where they contact the extruded filaments and smooth chill roll.

In the regions between the ridges of the patterned roll there is generally no pressure because there is no contact with the chill roll. The nip pressure forces the individual molten filaments to expand laterally at the point of contact between the ridge and the chill roll such that the expanded region of a filament flows toward, makes contact with, and bonds to the expanded region of an adjacent filament. In the regions between the ridges where there is generally little or no pressure, the molten filaments generally maintain their original shape and spacing with respect to the adjacent filaments. The resulting web had a reticulated structure with a basis weight of 120 grams per square meter.

Example 2 A web was prepared similar to the web in Example 1 except Engage 8200 ultra low density polyethylene (available from DuPont Dow Elastomers of Wilmington, DE) was used to form the filaments. The filament count was 11. 8 filaments per centimeter and the orifices were 0. 48mm in diameter. The patterned roll was at about 66° C. The line speed was about 6 meters per minute, and the melt temperature in the extruder was about 233° C.

A screw speed of 40 RPM was used for the extruder supplying the molten polymer. The nip pressure was adjusted to 400 PLI. The patterned roll was machined to have 3 axially parallel ridges per centimeter located on the periphery of the roll with a groove between each ridge. Each ridge was machined to have a flat top-surface having a width of about 1. 0 mm. The resulting web had a reticulated structure having elastic properties with a basis weight of 156 grams per square meter.

Example 3 A web was prepared, similar to the web in Example 3 except the line speed was about 21 meters per minute, and the melt temperature in the extruder was about 233° C. A screw speed of 40 RPM was used for the extruder supplying the molten polymer. The nip pressure was adjusted to 400 pli. A lighter, lower strength reticulated web having elastic properties was produced having a basis weight of 44 grams per square meter.

Example 4 A web was prepared similar to the web in Example 2 except Escorene 3445 polypropylene (available from Exxon Chemical Co. of Houston, TX) was used to form the filaments. The patterned roll was at about 66° C. The line speed was about 15 meters per minute, and the melt temperature in the extruder was about 230° C. A screw speed of 80 RPM was used for the extruder supplying the molten polymer. The nip pressure was adjusted to 400 pli. The resulting web had a reticulated structure with a basis weight of 94 grams per square meter.

Example 5 A web was prepared similar to the web in Example 4 except the line speed was about 24 meters per minute, and the melt temperature in the extruder was about 231° C. A screw speed of 80 RPM was used for the extruder supplying the molten polymer. The nip pressure was adjusted to 400 pli. A polypropylene spunbond nonwoven web (17 grams/sq. meter available from PGI Nonwovens of Dayton, NJ, formerly Polybond of Waynesboro, VA) was extrusion laminated to the web in the nip between the patterned roll and the chill

roll to produce a reticulated web/nonwoven composite having a basis weight of 60 grams per square meter.

Example 6 A web was prepared similar to the web in Example 5 except the filaments were extruded at a basis weight of 94 grams per square meter. The patterned roll was at about 66° C. The line speed was about 15 meters per minute, and the melt temperature in the extruder was about 231° C. A screw speed of 80 RPM was used for the extruder supplying the molten polymer. The nip pressure was adjusted to 400 pli. A nylon nonwoven web (10 grams/sq. meter available from Cerex Advanced Fabrics of Pensacola, FL) was extrusion laminated to the web in the nip between the patterned roll and the chill roll to produce a reticulated web/nonwoven composite having a basis weight of 94 grams per square meter.

Example 7 To demonstrate the use of coextruded filaments, a web was prepared similar to the web in Example 2 except the filaments were coextruded in a sheath/core configuration using a core consisting of a blend of 85% by weight Vector 4211 block copolymer (available from Dexco Polymers of Houston, TX) and 15% by weight Gl 8 polystyrene (available from Amoco Chemicals of Chicago, IL) and a sheath consisting of 7C50 impact copolymer. A 51 mm extruder at 35 RPM and a melt temperature of 232° C was used for the core material and a 38mm extruder at 3 RPM and a melt temperature of 232° C was used for the sheath material. The two extruders were used to feed a coextrusion filament die having a filament count of about 4. 7 per centimeter and filament orifice diameter of 0. 76mm. The patterned roll was at about 93° C. The line speed was about 5 meters per minute, and the melt temperature in the extruder was about 232° C. The nip pressure was adjusted to 50 pli. The resulting web had a reticulated structure having elastic properties with a basis weight of 210 grams per square meter.

Example 8 To demonstrate another elastic embodiment of the invention, a web was prepared similar to the web in Example 7 except the patterned roll was at about 149° C. The line

speed was about 9 meters per minute, and the melt temperature in the extruder was about 234° C. A screw speed of 50 RPM was used for the extruder supplying the molten polymer. The nip pressure was adjusted to 150 pli. The composition of the extruded filaments was a blend of 85% by weight Vector 4211 block copolymer and 15% by weight G18 polystyrene. The resulting web had a reticulated structure with a basis weight of 158 grams per square meter with very good elastic properties as shown by the low % Permanent Set in Table 3 below.

Example 9 To demonstrate the use of other patterned rolls, a web was prepared similar to the web in Example 2 except a filament count of about 9. 4 filaments per centimeter and 0. 53mm orifices were used. The patterned roll was machined such that the entire periphery of the roll was covered with circular depressions having a diameter of about 4 mm. The circles had a center to center spacing of about 4. 6 mm. The flat land area in between the circular depressions contacts the extruded filaments and smooth chill roll in the nip. The patterned roll was at about 149° C. The line speed was about 6 meters per minute, and the melt temperature in the extruder was about 232° C. A screw speed of 40 RPM was used for the extruder supplying the molten polymer. The nip pressure was adjusted to 50 pli.

The resulting web had a reticulated structure having elastic properties with a basis weight of 168 grams per square meter.

Example 10 To demonstrate the use of other patterned rolls, a web was prepared similar to the web in Example 10 except 7C50 impact copolymer was used for the filament material.

The same patterned roll was used as in Example 10. The patterned roll was at about 149° C. The line speed was about 6 meters per minute, and the melt temperature in the extruder was about 238° C. The nip pressure was adjusted to 100 pli. The resulting web had a reticulated structure with a basis weight of 180 grams per square meter.

Test Methods Tensile Strength To evaluate the strength of the webs of this invention, tensile testing was performed using a modified version of ASTM D882 with an Instron Model 5500R constant rate of extension tensile machine. A sample was cut from the web, 2. 54 cm wide by 7. 62 cm long, the long direction being in the desired test direction. The web was tested in both the machine and cross directions. The sample was mounted in the jaws of the test machine with an initial jaw separation of 2. 54 cm. The jaws were then separated at a rate of 25. 4 cm/min until the break point of the sample was reached. The load at the break point was recorded. Three replicates were tested and averaged and reported in kg/cm.

Tear Strength One end of a specimen approximately 75 mm long and exactly 63 mm wide was positioned in a vertical plane with the long dimension extending horizontally. The ends of the specimen were gripped between a pair of fixed clamps horizontally spaced 2. 5 mm from a pair of movable clamps which grip the other end of the test specimen. A 20 mm slit was made in the lower edge of the test specimen between the two pairs of clamps. The sample was cut and mounted such that the slit was parallel to the desired test direction. A 1600 gram pendulum, carrying a circumferential graduated scale, was then allowed to fall freely, tearing the pre-cut test specimen along a continuation of the slit. A frictionally mounted pointer on the scale indicates the resistance in grams of the specimen to tearing. The test is commonly referred to as the Elmendorf Tear Test (ASTM D1922). The test was run in both the Machine (MD) and Cross (CD) directions and values are reported in grams.

F50 Load and Permanent Set To evaluate elastic properties of the webs of this invention a sample was cut from the web, 2. 54 cm wide by 7. 62 cm long, the long direction being in the desired test direction. The web was tested in both the machine (MD) and cross (CD) directions. The sample was mounted in the jaws of an Instron Model 5500R constant rate of extension tensile machine with an initial jaw separation of 2. 54 cm. The jaws were then separated at a rate of 25. 4 cm/min until the sample reached 50% elongation based on the original gauge

length of 2. 54 cm. The load at this point was recorded as the F50 Load. The sample was held for 5 seconds after which the crosshead returned to its original position. After 60 seconds the sample was elongated again to 50% of its original elongation. The amount of permanent deformation in the sample is the distance that the crosshead travels on the second pull before a load is recorded by the load cell. This distance divided by the original gauge length of 2. 54 cm and multiplied by 100 is the Permanent Set and is reported as a percent in Table 3. Three replicates were tested and averaged. A Permanent Set below 10% is an indication of good elasticity at 50% elongation.

Table 1 below shows the composition and construction parameters of Examples 1- 10."Linear/cm"refers to the number of linear ridges on the patterned embossing roll.

TABLE 1 Example Composition Patterned Filament Basis Weight Roll Count (grams/sq. meter) 1 7C50 polypropylene 4 linear/cm 9. 4/cm 120 2 Engage 8200 polyethylene 3 linear/cm 11. 8/cm 156 3 Engage 8200 polyethylene 3 linear/cm 11. 8/cm 44 4 Escorene 3445 polypropylene 3 linear/cm 11. 8/cm 94 5 Escorene 3445 polypropylene + 3 linear/cm 11. 8/cm 60 17 GSM polypropylene nonwoven 6 Escorene 3445 polypropylene + 3 linear/cm 11. 8/cm 94 10 GSM nylon nonwoven 7 Vector 4211 elastomer (85%) + 3 linear/cm 4. 7/cm 210 G18 polystyrene (15%) 8 Vector 4211 elastomer (85%) + 3 linear/cm 11. 8/cm 158 G18 polystyrene (15%) 9 Engage 8200 polyethylene 4 mm dia. 9. 4/cm 168 Circles 10 7C50 polypropylene 4 mm dia. 9. 4/cm 180 Circles

Materials 7C50 polypropylene-polyethylene impact copolymer 8. 0 MFI available from Union Carbide of Danbury, CT.

Engage 8200 ultra low density polyethylene-octene copolymer 5. 0 MFR, 0. 87 density available from Dupont/Dow Elastomers of Wilmington, DE.

Escorene 3445 polypropylene homopolymer 35 MFI available from Exxon Chemical of Houston, TX.

Vector 4211 styrene-isoprene-styrene tri-block copolymer, containing 30% polystyrene, available from DexCo Polymers of Houston, Texas.

G18 polystyrene homopolymer, 18 MFI, available from Amoco Chemical Co. of Chicago, Illinois.

Table 2 below shows the mechanical properties of Examples 1, 4, 5, 6, & 10.

TABLE 2 Example Elmendorf Tear Break Tensile Strength (grams) Strength (kg/cm) MD CD MD CD 1 64 24 1. 89 1. 77 4 64 29 1. 0. 73 5 72 72 1. 73--- 6 216 392 2. 53--- 10 168 112 3. 04 2. 07 Table 3 below shows the elastic properties of Examples 2, 3, 7, 8, & 9.

TABLE 3 Example F50 Load Permanent Set (kg/cm) (%) MD CD MD CD 2 0.52 0.43 6.6 6.1 3 0. 16 0. 07 6. 2 6. 5 7 0. 55 5. 8 8 0. 20 0. 16 3. 4 4. 5 9 0. 16 0. 18 7. 6 8. 7

* sample broke before reaching 50% elongation