CA1189271A - Macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic web exhibiting non-glossy visible surface and cloth- like tactile impression - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT

A macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic web exhibiting a non-glossy visible surface, and, if desired, a cloth-like or fiber-like tactile impression. The visible surface of a macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic web of the present invention is preferably provided with a regularly spaced, microscopic pattern of surface aberrations which is too fine to be discernible by the naked eye when the perpendicular distance between the viewer's eye and the plane of said web is about 12 inches or greater, but which pattern is effective in substan-tially eliminating specular reflection of incicent light. Said webs may be produced by means of a one-sided forming process wherein said surface aberrations are transmitted through the thickness of said web during processing or by means of a two-sided forming process wherein said surface aberrations are imposed directly onto the visible surface of said web. Macro-scopically expanded three-dimensional plastic webs of the present invention may be effectively employed as alternatives for cloth and fibrous structures which contact the wearer's skin, as well as for new and existing product applications where a non plastic visual and tactile impression are desired.

Description

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PLASTIC WEB EXHIBITING NON-GLOSSY VISIBLE
SURFACE AND CLOTH-LIICE TACTILE IMPRESSION

NICHOLAS ALBERT AHR
PAUL RAYMOND LOUIS
WILLIAM IRVIN MULLANE, JR~
WILLIAM ROBERT OU~LLETTE

TECHNICAL FIELD
_ _ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ The present invention ha.s relation to resil.ient plastic webs exhibiking many of the three-dimensional, cloth-like properties and characteristics previ.ously obtainable only in fibrous w~bs~
The present invention has further relation to re.s.ilient plastic webs which exhibit a combination ox desirable, but previous:l~ incompatible attriblIt:es ox prior axt fibrous webs and pxior art plastic wets in a single structure without de.leterious side ef~ec~, The present invention has further relation Jo macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic webs having at least one substantially non-~7Ossy visible surface, The present invention his further relation to macroscopically expanded tllree-dimensional plastic web ~xhibitin~ non-glossy surface and a clot~-like or fiber-l.i.ke tactile impressionO
The present invention has further relation to the provision of method and apparatus for forming plas~i~ wets exhibiting the aforelllentione~ at~rib~es~

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BACKGROUND ART
It has long been known in the disposable absorbent bandage art thaw it is extxemely desirabl Jo cons rue absorptive devices, such as disposable diapers, sanitary napkins, incontinent devices, absorbent wound dressings, and the like, presenking a dry surface feel to the user to improve wearing comfort and to minimize the development of undesirable skin conditions due to prolonged exposure to moisture 10- absorbed within the banda~e~ One viable prior art solution to the aforementioned problem is disclosed in U.S. Patent 4,041l951 issued to Sanf4rd on August 16, 19773 The Sanfo.rd patent discloses a preferred disposable diaper structure comprisir.g a substantially planar moisture absorbent layer disposed hetween a soft topsheet and a moisture-resistant caking sheet ha nonwoven fibrous topsheet preferably comprise an integral skructure containing a multiplicity of depressed areas which intimately contack thy upperW
most surface of a ~ubstantiw:Lly planar, moisture absorbent layer. l'he n~ndepressed areas of the topsheek contact the wearers skin in-use. In a particularly preferred embod.imenty the nonwoven fibrous topsheet is comprised of a substantially hydrophobi.c material exhibiting wet resilience such that the topsheet tenas to resume its substantially three-dimensional character upon removal of pressure applied against the topsheet by the body movements 3Q of the wearexO The nondepressed areas ox the topsheet~
which are of subskank:iall~ the sane density as the depressed areas, tend to isolate the wearers skin from moisture contained within the moisture absorbent layer, tllereb~ providing surface dryness ana resistance to rewett:i.n~ whell the structure is temporarily subjected ko pressure xesulting rom the wearer's Cody movernents.

j, U.S. Patent 3,814~101 issued to Kozak on June 4, 1974, attacks the problem of a wet ~opsheet in a manner sliyhtly different from the use of hydrophobic nonwo~en materialsO Kozak suggests a ~opshee~ of a nonfibrous, hydrophobic film which is provided with a plu~-ali~ of valvular slits which restrict the reverse flow of liquid fxom the absorbent element ox the device.
U.S. Patent 3,9~9,135 issued to Thompson on December 30, 1975, 10- suggests a macroscopically expanded three~dimens.ional topsheet comprised ox liquid-imper-meabl~ material but provided wi-th tapered capillaries, said capillaries having a base opening in the plane of the topsheet and an apex opening xemot~ from the plane of the topsheet, said apex opening heing in intimate con-tact with the absorbent pad utilized in the dispose able absorbent bandage s utilized hèrein, the term "macroscopically expanded", when used to describe three-dimensional plastic webs, ribbons and films, x~fers to webs, ribbons and Eilms which have been caused Jo confoxm to the surface of a three-dimensional forming structure so that both surfaces thereo exhibit the three-dimensional pattern of said forming structur-e, said pattern being readily visible to the naked eye when the perpenai~ular distance between the viewers eye and the plane of the web ls about 12 inches. Such macroscopically expanded webs, ribbons and films are typically caused to con~oxm to the surface of said forming structures by embossing, i.e., when the forming structure exhibits a patterll comprise primarily of male projectionsy hy debossing, iOe., when the fonnin~ structure exhibits a pattern comprised primarily of female capillary new-works, or by extrusion ox a res.inous melt directly onto the surface Gf a forming structure of either typeO By '7~

way ox contrast, the term "planar", when utilized here-in to describe plastic webs, ribbons and filmsD refers to the overall condition of the web, ribbon or film when viewed by the naked eye on a macroscopic scaleO
In this context "planar" webs, ribbons and films may include webs, ribbons and fiLms having wine scale surface aberrations on one or both sides, said surface aberrations not being readily visible to the naked eye when the perpendicular distance between 10 _ the viewerls eye and the plane of the web i5 about 12 inches or greater. Planar plastic webs of th2 alone mentioned type are known in the art.
The topsheet disclosed in the aforementioned Thompson patent allows the tree transfer of :~luids lS from the body into the absorbent e:Lement of the device while inhibiting the reverse flow of these fluids.
This provides a relatively much drier surface .in con kact with the user than had been previously ob~a.irlc~ble.
Ilowever, experience has demonstrated thak de~spiks-~ khe hi~hl~ effective flllia transfer and fluid iso:Lation ~haracter.istics exhibited k~ plastic ~opshee~s ox the type generally disclosed in the Thompson patent and ~hei.x proven compatibility with the wearer skin many users wind it psychologically undesirable to employ a materiel which is perceivably plastic in con-tact with their skin. It is believed that this user reaction is due partly to the highly regulated tapered capillary pattern on the wearer-contacting surface ox the topsheet and partly to the glossy appearance of Commonly assigned U.S. Patent No. 4,3~?,314 of Clifford J. Radel and Hugh I. Thompson, issued August 3, 1982, said patent entitled RESILIENT PLASTIC
WEB EXHIBITING FIBER-LIKE PROPERTIES AND METHOD AND

APPARATUS FOR ITS MANUFACTUREi discloses an improved macroscopically expanded three-dimension~l plastic web which eliminates the regulated pattern of tapered capillaries, as disclosed in the Thompson patent while preserving the desirable fluid transport properkies of the structure.
The macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic web disclosed in the abo~ementioned U.S. patent of Radel et al.
preferably exhibits a fine scale three-dimensional microstructure comprising a xegulated continuum of capillary networks, preferably of steadily decreasing size, originating in and extending from one surÉace o said web and preferably terminating in the orm of apertures in the opposite surface thereof to promo-te rapid liquid transport in the direction of decreasing capillary size. The web's fiber-like appearance it comprised of a continuum of fiber-like elements, each end o said ~iber-like elements being interconnected to at least one other ox said fiber-like elemerlts. In ~0 a particularly preferred embodiment, the interconnected fiber-like elements are subs-tantially non-ali~ned with respect to one another.
A typi.cal capillaxy network in the Radel it al. st.ructure comprises an uppexmost capillary open-~5 ing formed by a multiplicity ox primary fiber-like elements interconnected to one another in the uppennos t plane of the web. The opening may i desired, be further subdivided into smaller capillary openings by secondary and tertiary fiber-like elements a-t 30 planes located below the weaxer-contacting surfa~P
of the web.
Each of the primary fiber-like elements exhibits a substantially uniform U-shaped cross-sec~ion along its length. Its cross-seetion comprises a base portion located in the wearer contacting plane and a

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primary sidewall portion joined to each edge of said primary base portion and extending generally in the direction ox the absorbent pad-contactinc3 surface of the web. The secondary and ter~iaxy fiber-like elements, when employed, are generally similar, but originate in planes below the wearer-contacting surface of the webO
Beca~lse the plastic web of Radel et al. is comprised of a multiplicity oE interconnected fiber-like elements rather than a continuous, regulated pattern of tapered capillaries, us disclosed in the Thompson patent its appearance and tactile impression are generally per-ceived as more iber-likeO
In a particularly preferred embodiment of the Radel et al. inventionl the web's visible surface [i.e that surface which is generally observable Exom a per-spective which is substantially perpendicular to the plane of the web) is also provided with a fin scale texture compxising a multiplicity of genera par~llc~
V-shaped grooves to create a non-planar surface appear ance in the web. The aforementioned Radel et al. IJ~S.
patent (U.S. Patent 4,342,31~) suygests that the ridges and valleys formed in the plastic web by the V-shaped grooves in the forming structure tend to reduce the web's gloss.
Commonly assigned U.S. Patent No. 4,327,730 of Eugene R. Sorensen entitled DISPOSABLE DIAPER HAVING
A TEXTURED THERMOPLASTIC FILM TOPSHEET, said paten-t having Jan issue date of May 4, 1982, likewise recognizes the perceived drawbacks associated with a glossy-appearing macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic web to be utilized in contact with the skin. Accordingly, the Sorensen patent discloses a macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic film provided with a surface texturing treatment. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the film

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is employed as a diaper topsheet. the texturing treatment preferably provides a multiplicity ox "nubbles" integrally formed on at least one surface to "improve the tactile impression of the thermoplastic film and to reduce its gloss". The nubbles, which impart an irregular and unsmooth texture to the wearer-contacting surface ox the topsheet, are small protuberances which project outwardly from the wearer-contacting surface of the topsheet. The number, size, and spacing of the nubbles may be varied within a critical range to give di~fexing degrees of irregularity Jo the wearer contacting surface. The nubbles are preferably spherical or spheroidal in cross-sectioll~ althoLIgh it is suggested that othex cross-sectional shapes may be used.
A preferred methocl for manufacturincJ such a topsheet is disclosed in commonly assignecl U.S. Patent No. 4, 259,286 of Paul R. Louis, Euyene R. Sorenc;en allcl Thomas R. Ballard entitled METHOD AND ~PP~R~'.['~S ~'~R
TEXTURING A THERMOPLASTIC FILM, issuecl on March 3L, 1981, and U.S. Patent No. 4,364,723 of Louis en al, issued December 21, 1982, the latter patent being a cl:iv:isional of U.S. Patent No. 4,259,286.

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Briefly, Louis it alO employs a perforate kubular fonning member having a multiplicity of particles a~ixed to its outermost or web-contacting surface. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the tubular member is coated with a mixture of said par-ticles and epoxy, which epoxy may be electrostatically sprayed onto said tubular member and tllereafter cured.
As should ye apparent from ~11e foregoing description, the variability in size and spacing of the partlcles which form tlle nubbles in the plastic film processed ox said tubular forming member is completely random and will depend upon such factors as the uni~ormi~y in . --`

size and shape of the particles employed, the ratio ofparticles to epoxy, and the unifonmity of the spraying techniques .
While the striation treatment disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. patent of Radel et alO and the random particle treabment disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. patents of Louis et alp and Sorenson have in certain instances been employed to produce macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic webs exhibiting reduced gloss when compared to untreated prior art plastic webs it is nonetheless an object of the present invention to accurately define the relevant criteria which must be satisfied to ensure that macroscopically expanded three-dimen-sional plastic webs which satisEy said cri-teria will exhibit a substantially non-c31Ossy visible surface when the perpendicular distance between the viewer's eye and the plane of the web is about twelve inches or greater.
It is another object ox the present in~entio to accurately define the relevant cri~er.ia which must be s~ti.sfied to ensure that macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic webs which sa-tisy sa.id criteria will exhibit a substantially non-glossy visible ~5 surface and an improved cloth-like or fiber-like tactile impression.
It is another.object of the presen-t invention to provide macroscopically expanded, three-dimensional plastic webs which do in fact satisfy the aforementioned criteria.
It i5 still another object of the present invention to provide method and apparatus or producing plastic wets exhibi.ting the desirable characteristics described herein.

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DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
The present invention pertains, in a par-ticularly preferred embodiment, to the provision of a ! macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic web having at least one substantially non-glossy visible surface. The substantially non-ylossy visible surface exhibits a xegularly spaced, microscopic pat-tern of ;;j surface aberrations which are not discernible when the ; perpendicular distance between the viewer's eye and -the ! lo plane ox the we is about 12 inches or greater. Each of the sur~a~e aberrations in said pattern are tree o planar areas which are large enough to inscribe a four mil to 0.004 inch) diameter circle and are so spaced xelative to all adjacen-t surface aberrations that the maximum cliameter of any circle which can be inscribed on any planar surface intermediate said surface abcrra-tion and said adjacent surface aberrations :is ler)s than about four mils. Light incident upon -thy ~lon-~llo~-.y visible surface ox the web is substant:ic~ diffused into a multiplicity of directions hy the a;foxementioned surface aberrations~xather than being specularly ¦ reflected. wince khe microscop:ic pattern of sur~ac~
I`! aberrations responsible for causing the diffuse re1ection is not visually perceived by the observer under normal conditions, i.eO, when the perpendicular distance between the viewers eye and the plane of the I web is about 12 inches or greater, macroscopically ; expanded three dimensional plastic webs of the present invention are visually perceived as more clo-th-like i 30 or fiberlike The surface aberrations employed in ' the practice of the present invention may comprise ;, protuberances projecting ~enerall~ outwardly from the surface o said web or depressions proiecting generally inwardly from the surface of said we~O
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Macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic webs of the pxesent invention may also be made to exhibit a-more cloth-like or fiber-like tactile impression by employing surface aberrations havîng an average amplitude of at least about 0.2 miss (iDe., -2 inches), as measured from the top of said protuberance or the bottom of said depression, as the case may be, to the plane in which said aberration originates 10- Preferred methods and apparatus for forming said macrosoopically expanded three-dimensional plastic webs are also provided.

BRIEE' DESCl~IPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the present invention, it is believecl the pxesent invention will be better understood frorn the following description in which:
figure 1 is a plan view photograph of a macroscopically expanded, plain surfaced thre~dimen-sional plastic web of the type generally disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. patent of Radel et al, (U.S.
Patent 4,342,314), said web being shown approximately two times actual size;
Figure 2 is a photograph generally similar to that of Yigure 1, said web being shown approxi-mately 18 times actual size;
Figure 3 is a photograph of the web shown in Figures and 2 taken at an angle of approximately 55~ with respect to the plane of said web, said web being shown approximately two times actual size;
Figure 4 is a photograph generally similar to that of figure 3, said web being shown approxi~
mately 18 times actual size;

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Figure 5 is a plan view photograph of a macroscopically expanded three-dimensional pl.astic web of the type generally disclosed in Figures 1-4~
but incorporating a pattern of irregularly sized and irregularly spaced nubbles of the type disclosed in the aforementioned U-S- Patent No. 4,327,730 of Sorenson on its visible surface said web being shown.approximately two times actual size;
, figure 6 is a photograph generally 10- similar to~that of Figure 5, said web being shown approximately 18 times actual siæ~;
Figure 7 is a photograph of the web generally shown in Figures 5 and 6 taken at an anyle of approximately 55 with respect to the plane of said web, said web being shown approxi-matel,y two times actual size;
Figure 8 is a photograph generally sim.ilar to that of Figure 7, said web being shown appr~x:;~
meet 18 times actual sixe;
Figure 9 is a plan view photograph ox preferred embodiment of a macroscopically expanc'led ~hree.-d.imens.ional web oE the present invention, said web being shown approximately two times actual size;
, Figure 10 is a photograph generally similar to tha,k of Figure 9, said web being sown approximateLy 18 times actual size;
' Figure 11 is a photograph of the web gene`rally shown in Figures 9 and 10 taken at an angle of approximately 55 with respect to the plane of said web, said web being shown approximately two times actual size;
Fi.gure 12 is a photogxaph generally similar Jo that of Figure 11, said web being shown approximately l times actual size,o . . . .
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i ., - Figure 13 is a plan view photograph of - another preferred embodiment of a macroscopically - expanded three-dimensional plastic web of the present invention, said web being shown approximately two times actual size, Pigure 14 is a photograph generally - similar to that ox Figure 13, said web being shown approximately 18 times actual size;
;~ Figure lS is a photograph ox the web 10- generally shown in Figures 13 and 14 taken at an ... . .
angle of approximately 55 with respect to the plane of said web, said web being shown approximately ^two times actual size;
F.igure 16 is a phofograph generally similar to that illus-trated in Figure lS, said web being shown approximately 18 times actual size;
Figure 17 is a simpli~iecl sch~mal:lc thus trakion of a preEerred method and appax.ltll~ nsecl to prodtlce a macroscopically expanded r tilree~di s.ional plastic web ox the present inverltioM, Figure 18 is an enlarged end view ox the debossi~g and perforating cylinder ShOWII in Fit~ure ~7;
Figuxe 19 is an enlarged perspective view i`5 ox the de~ossing and perforating cylinder shown in Figures 17 and 18, Figure 20 is an enlarged, par-tially exploded segment of preferred laminate firm forming structure o the present invention (shown prior to rolling and seaming), said structure being par-ticularly suitable for use in conjunction with one-sided forming pro cesses of the type generally clisclosed herein;
Figure 21 is a simplified schenlatic thus tration o a prefelred two-sided film ~ormin~ process of the present invention;

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Figure 22.is a simplifies schematic illus-tration of a preferred one-sided film forming process of the present invention wherein a resinous melt is extruded directly onto the surface'of a deboss.ing and perfoxating cylinder haviny a microscopic pattern of surface aberrations thereon; and Figure 23 is a si~nplified schematic illus-tration of a preferred two-sided film forming process of the present invention wherein a resinous melt is 10 ' extruded directly onto the surface of a debossing and perforating cylinder and the opposite surface of said melt is thexeafter contacted by a suction roll to impart a microscopic pattern of surface aberrations ' thereto.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
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It is generally known in the art that the appearance attributes of any object are related to thy ways in which the object mod.ifies the light tha-t strikes it. The light can be modified spatially resulting in diffusP and specular reflection and~or diffuse and specular transmission. The lic3ht can also be modified spectrally (in color3. As is pointed out beg.innin~ a page 26, of a prior art reference entitlea "The Measurements of Appearance" by Richard F.
punter, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1975~
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four major things can happen to light when it encounters an object: (1) specular reflection at the ' skin ox the object (associated with gloss); ~2) scatteriny within the material (associated with diffuse reflection and sometimes with diffuse transmission); (3) absorption within the material .
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- (largely responsible for color); and (4~ specular transmission directly through the object, if it is more or less transparent (associated with olax;ty).
The present invention is concerned primarily with the first two phenomena, particularly the aspects of specuIar reflection and diffuse reflection.
As utilized herein, specular reflection is con sidered to occur when a beam of liyht is reflected from a surface such that the angle of 10-~ reflection is equal to the angle of incidence and the component of its airection which is parallel to the plane of said surface remains unchanged. Diffuse reflection, on the other hand, comprises any reflec-tion which is non-specular~ An example of a surface 15 exhibiting only specular reflection would be a perfect ¦ mirror It will therefore be appreciated that nearly any real surface will exhibit both specular and diffuse reflection. The aforementioned reerence o Hunter points out, beginniny a page 26~ tha-t it :is l 20 specular reflection which is responsible or -the visible glossy appearance of a surface. With normal nonmetallic materials, the specularly reflected light I! is not changed in colorO Accordinyly, the highlicJhts of the object being observed appear whiteO the color of the light source.
Conversely, if the surface of the object in - question exhibits primarily difuse reflection with xespect to an incident beam of light, the surface tends to appear more mat. In general, the more dif-I ; 30 fuse the reflection prom an opaque surface the more mat will bQ the appearance. However, it has been ;j observed that there does not appear to be any clearly refined point at which a surface ceases being percelved as glossy and suddenly appears to be mat In fact ..1' .

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there se2ms to be a gradual transition in perception from glossy to mat with various stages in between typically being described with words live "satinyn.
lt is also generally known in the art that the amount of light reflected or transmitted by an object can vary as the direction of view is changed . curves showing change of amount of refl2ctance or transmittance with change of angle of view are normally ealled goniophotometric curves Such curves identify 10- the properties of speci.mens responsible for gloss7 haze, luster, and other geometrie attributes. Basically, a goniophotometric curve is produced by fixiny the light source at a specific angle and measuring the light reflected at different angles of viewO A goniophoto-metric curve is typically plot-ted on a two-dimensional X-Y coordinate system by designating the reflectance factor as the Y-axis and the angle of reflection ~5 the X-axisO The reflectance factor sol :is -t~7pi.Gally plotted logarithmically If, for examp:i.e, SllCh 1 curvy showing the amount of light re:Elec-t~d in varîous directions with the spec.imen i.l:Luminated a-t an angle ox 45 is plottedJ a surface which is h.i.gh in specular ,~ re1ection will exhibit a very high peak value at an angle o -45 to the point at which the angle ox i ~5 ineidence with the web and the angle of reflection from the web are equal) and a minimal area under the curve thus fo.rmed, white a surface which is very mat will generally exhibit little e~7idence of a peak and a xather large area under the curve It will of course be recognized by those skilled in the art that if the r2flectance factor scale were plotted linearly rather than logarithmically then the total area under each cilrve would be similar. For example a logarithmical-ly plotted goniophotometric curve for a perfect mirror .

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- would he a substantially vertical spike at -45 7 - while -the curve for a perfectly mat surface would be a substantially horizontal line extencling generally parallel to the X-axis at a lesser amplitude than 5 said vertical spike.
. According to the teachings of Hunter a variety of established methods of gloss measurement have been developed over the years due to the necessity of measuring different aspects of reflectlon in order y 10_ to duplicate, as far as possibler the different visual .- gloss grazing procedures which are possible with the . .
~~ human eye. more complete descr.iption of these generally accepted methods may be found in the aEore-men-tioned reference of Hunter, beginning at pacJe 71.
Hunter expressly recognizes the relatively limi-ted abilities of instruments -typically employed when compared to the human eye He sugc3es~s, cut p~JC
76, that the human eye has a higher r~solv:in~3 vower than do most reflectance measuriIlg inskrumen~.
20 ~ccordincJ -to ~-Iunte.r, the normal ~um~n v carl sec two lines us beinc3 separate when they are only ~Ø1. apart, while photometr:ic measurements of reElectance art t~picall~ limited to recepto.r field ankles a~oll-t 100 time as large. Furthermore, he requirement for flat 25 jest suxfaces for narrow-angle measurements of high gloss is very importan-t when dealing with qllantita-tive instrument measurements because an instrument cannot dife~entiate between a low reElectance rating due -Jo poor image-reflecting quality of the specimen and a 30 low reflectance rating caused by surface curvature that has directed the specularly reflec-ted light team ? improperly. the eye howeverj can readily distinguish between these e~fectsr since specimen n~n~latness dis-torts, but does not. destroy the visual images 35 reflected in i-ts surface.

Accordingly, attempts to quantify gloss utilizing prior art measuring techniques and to meaningfully correlate such quantitative measurements with a human observer's visual perception have not been completely successful This is believed due to the fact that such prior art techniques take into consideration only one of the criteria which must be met to provide a surface which is perceivea by the human eye as substantially non-glossy.
l It has, in reducing the present invention to practice, been confirmed that the ability of a surface to exhibit primarily diffuse reflection is a necPssary condition to minimize visually perceived gloss.
However, the ability of a surface to exhibit diffuse reflection is not, in and of itself, a sufficient criteria to create the visual perception of a mat surface. A second criteria which must also be met is that the diffusing pattern must be sufficiently fine that it is nondiscernible to the naked eye of the obsexver under normal circumstances. If the pattern is discernible by the naked eye, then the surface will be visually perceived as a basically glossy surface with disruptions on it experience with macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic webs ox the type disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. patents of Radel et al. and ~orsnson has demonstrated that gloss is visually perceived either: (a when there is no pattern of surface aberrations to diffuselv reflect thy incident light; or ~b) when the pattern of surface aberrations is discernible to the naked eye. Con-versel~, experience in reducing the present invention to practice has demonstrated that when the pattern of surface abexrations causes the surface to exhibit primarily diffuse rather than specular reflection and 7~

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the pattern of surface aberrations is of a scale fin enough thaw it is not discernible to the naked eye under normal use conditions, then the surface i5 visually perceived as being mat Exemplary embodiments ox macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic webs of the type disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. patents of Radel et al. and Sorenson are disclosed in Figures 1-4 and 5-8, respectively, while exemplary embodiments 10_ of macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic webs of the present invention axe disclosed in Figures 9 through 16.
igures 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 10, 13 and 14 are all plan view photographs taken with the incident light forming an angle of approximately 20 with the plane of the webs. Thus, or the plan view photographs described above the angle fnrmed between the camera lens and the incident light is approximately 70. As poin-ted out ear].ier herein, maximum specular reflection would ~0 normally occur when the angle oE light reflectance is equal to the angle of light incidence. Accordingly, Figures 3, 4, 7, 8, 11, 12, 15 and 16 are photographs taken when the sample has been repositioned to make the ca~exa coincide with the angle of reflectance ox the incident light to illustrate the condition existing at the point o maximum specular reflection The incident light angle for these photographs was 55 with respect to the plane of the web and the angle of reflectance, i.e., the angle at which the camera was positioned was 55 with respect to the plane of the web.
The webs disclosed in Figures 1-16 all exhibit a similar macroscopically expended three-dimensional patternO The forming structure utilized was generally similar to that disclosed in Figure .~ ,, ,, my. . .

20 and was comprised of a stack of identical photo-etched la~inae, each having a multiplicity of.
irregularly shaped pentagonal apertures therein, The maximum dimension of said pentagonally shaped apertures S - was approximately 35 mils (i.e., 0.035 inches. Each lamina exhibited a thickness of approximately 10 mils (i.e., 0.010 inches). Five such lamLnae were super-posed wikh their pentagonally shaped apertures in vertical alignment to provide a forming structure 10- exhibiting a multiplicity of pentagonally shaped capillary networks having sidewalls oriented sub-stantially perpendicular to the plane of plastic webs processed thereon. The laminae were secured to one another to form an integral structure generally in accordance with the teachings of the aforementioned U.S. patent of Radel et al (U.S. Patent No. 4,342,314).
The uppermost lamina of the forming structure utilized to produce khe macroscopically expancled three-dimensional plastic web 10 disclosed in Figures 1 was ~0 left untreated, i.e., no patkern o:E surface aberrations was provided on it5 uppermost surface.
The web 10 is shown about two times actual size in Figures 1 and 3 to lend some perspective to the fineness of the three-dimensional pattern, and about 1 times actual size in Figures 2 and 4 Jo clarify the .. . . . . . .
gloss phenomenon. Due to the limitations inherent in photographic techniques, the gloss phenomenon per-ceived by the human eye when examining the actual samples is not readily apparent from an examination o the photographs taken at the lower scale magnification.
While the highly enlarged plan view photograph of Fi~yure 2 shows only isolated gloss highlights 12 on the web's visible surface 11~ the photograph o Figure TV
which coincides with the angle o reflectance for the incident light exhibits a substantially continuous gloss highlight on the web's visible surfacec on this regard , .

~8~271 - it should be noted that only those portions of Figure 4 located intermediate view lines 16-16 and 17-17 are in proper focus due to the angular orientation of the web 10 with respect to the camera. It is this specularly reflected light which is visually perceived as gloss by the observer when the web 10 is subjected to normal use.
he forming structure utilized to produce the macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic 10- web 20 disclosed in Figures 5-8 was treated with an epoxy grit mixture generally in accordance with the teachings of the aforementioned U.S. Patents of Sorensen and Louis et al (U.S.Patents 4,327,730, 4,259,286 and 4,364,723).
In particular, a mixture comprised of 70 percent No. 400 Grit and 30 percent No.
325 Grit was mixed with a powdered epoxy in a ratio of approximately 3:2 (grit:epoxy) and sprayed as a powder ; onto the uppermost surface of the electrostatically charged worming structure. Once deposited on the surface of the forming structure the mixture o grit and epoxy were baked generally in accordance with the teachings of the aforementioned U.S. patents of Louis et al. to secure the grit permanently ln place As can be seen in Figure 6, the visible surface 21 ox web 20 is provided with a multiplicity of irregu-~5 larly sized and irregularly spaced nubbles, e.g.,nubbles 23, 24, 25. As with the web 10, shown in Figures 1-4, the plan view photograph of Figure 6 shows only isolated gloss highlights 22 on the web's visible surface 21, while the photograph of Figure 8, which coincides with the angle of reflectance of the incident Lightl exhibits much more extensive gloss high;ights on the web's visible surface. Nonetheless, there is generally less visually perceived gloss under normal use conditions with webs of the type disclosed in Fig-ures 5-8 than with webs of the type disclosed in Fig-ures 1-4 due to the presence of the nubbles, e.g~, 27~

nubbles 23, 24, 25. As with Figure 4, only those portions of Figure 8 located intermediate view lines 26-26 and 27-27 are in proper focus due to the angular orie~ta~io~ of the web 20 with respect to S the camera.
The web 30 shown in figures 9-12 is preferred embodiment of the pr2sent invention produced utilizing a one-sided forming process o the type generally disclosed in Pigur~ 17. The uppermost l~nina 10_ ox the forming structure utilized to produce the macro-scopically expanded three-dimensional plastic web 30 disclosed in Figures 9-12 was provided with micro-scopic pattern of regulaxly spaced surface aberrations generally similar to surface aberrations 160 disclosed .in ~igu.~e 20. The aberrations which comprised pro-tuberances projecting generally outwardly from the surface ox the web, were circular in cxoss-section, as measuxed in a plane oriented perpendicular to their amplitude, to a plane pa.rallel Jo the sur.face of said web. They hacl an ovexall cross-sectiona:L
diameker of approximately four mils (i.e., OoO0~1 inches) and were arranyed in a hexagonally close packed pattern with a follr mll to 0.00~ inch3 center~to-center spacing between adjacent surface aberra~ion~. The average amplitude of the surface aberrations was approximately 0.3 mils to 0.0003 inches). The surface aberrations were provided in the uppermost lamina of the forming structure after the pentagonally shaped apertures had been proYided thereirl by a secondary photoetching treatment of the type generally disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Patent No. 4,324,314 of Radel et al.

:' '''I`'`

2~:~
, The amplitude of the surface aberrations referred to throughout the present specification and claims is preferably measured using a high powered n~icroscope which enables the operator Jo measure distance perpendicular to the plane of the sample as a function of focus. In particular, this method employs a top lighted metallurgical mieroscope w;th a calibrated focusing wheel. While Lhe degree of magnification is typically adjustable on these units, a magnification of 400x has been found to provide a good compromise between depth of focus and viewing areaO
Samples of the web to be measured are preferably prepared by cwtting a rectangular section approxîmately l/2 ineh by l-1/2 inches from the web.
These samples are then mounted on individual microscope slides using double-sided tape with their visible surface upwardly oriented. The visible surface of each sample is p~eferabl~ darkened with a black Ee:lt ~:lp marlcer. Si.nce webs oE the present lnv~ntion may ye completely transparent, completely opaque, or an~here between these two extremes, the -.ink appl;ed by the elt tip marker permits accurate amplitude m2asurement regardless of the degree ox transparency or opacity of the particular web being measured. Darkening in the aforementîoned manner with a felt tip marker provides improved contrast between the uppermost surface of the aberration and the plane of origination adj acent the aberration to be measured . Due to the 30 tendency o the ink to run :from the uppermost surface of the aberration, the uppermost surface will normally appear somewhat lighter under the microscope9 while the plane of origination, which is generally pereeived as a Halley, will appear generally darker in cvlor.
~5 "Sanford Shaxp;e Jo. 3000 black :Ee:Lt tip marker9 such as is available from Sanford Corporatlon of Bellwood, Illinois, may be employed for the aforez~tiOned purpose.

* Trade rk nce the Job sample has been prepared, the following procedure is preferably carried out.
1. Place the prepared sample on the micro-scope with the visible surface of the sample oriented toward the lens.
2. Focus on the top of a particular surface aberration and then on the plane of origination I, adjacent said aberration to identify distinguishing features to be used in determining focus. As mentioned earlier herein, the uppermost surface of the aberration will normally appear somewhat lighter in color, while the plane of origination adjacent the aberration will appear generally darker in color.
3. AdJust the focus of the microscope until it is above the plane of the uppermost surface oE the particular surface aberration to be measured.

4. Turn the locus wheel :~n one dir~cki.on only until the uppermost surface of the particulclr surface aberration just comes into Eocns. Stop tU~Ili.llg at this point and record tlle reading from the Eocus wheel.
S. Continue turning in the same dirPction Al until the plan of` or.igination adjacent said aberratlon just comes into focus. Stop turning the Eocus whey and again record toe xeading prom the locus wheel.
¦ 6. The difference between these two readings on the focus wheel represents the amplitude oE the particular surEace aberration from its plane of orig-inatioll. Since the focus wheel is calibratPd the distallce o travel can readily be converted into mils.
The a.Eorementioned procedure can also be used in situations wherein the surface aberration comprises a depression rather than a protuberance9 the readings preferably being taken first in the plane of origination and then at the point of maximum amplitude.
When using the aforementioned measurement method, it is preferred what the focusing be accomp-lished by turning the focus wheel in one direction only. This eliminates any end play in the focus wheel mechanism which could be significant hen compared to the values being measured. It should also be noted that the leading edge of the focus yield is preferably used wren the measurements described above are recorded in order to minimize the effect of a inite, i,e., greater than zero, depth ox field. This is accomplished by stopping and recording the reading on the focus wheel when the surface in ques tion JUSt coxes into focus, rather than at the point correspond-ing to the middle o the focus field or the point at which the trailing image is about to go out of focus Zen this is done for both the Lirst and the secon(l readings, the effect ox a inite depth of fieLd I
substantially eliminated from the amplitude measurP-ment.
While nearly any microscope with top light capability, magnification power ox 400x or greater) and a calibrated focusing wheel may be utilized Jo perform the above measurements, particularly good results haze been obtained utilizing an ausJena Neophot 21"metallurgical microscope set at 400x. This particular equipment is manufactured in Jena, vast Germany and is distributed in the U.S.A. by the Leco Corporation of Warrendale, Pennsylvania. If desired, the unit may also be equipped with a television camera and video monitor for easier viewing.
To ensure that the amplitude determination made utilizing the foregoing techrlique is represPn~a-tive for the entire sur:Eace of the web sample, each Trademark ~,~, , ..

2'~

. ! . .. .. .. .. -of the 1/2 inch by l-1/2 inch web samples is prefera-- bly measured in at least 16 individual locations selected at random. The average amplitude for any given sample is co~.~puted by calculating the arith-S metic average o all measurements taken from a given web sample. Thus, the average amplitudes reported throughout the present specification and claims represent the arithmetic average for the sample, as determined by the foregoing technique.
As can be seen in Figure 12, the vlsible '- surface 31 of the web 30 formed on the structure described earlier herein is provided wit'h a multi-plicity ox regularly sized and spaced surface aberra-tions 33 corresponding to the surface aberrations on lS the forming structure. As with the webs lO and 20 shown in Figures 1-4 and 5-8, respectively, the plan iew photograph ox Figure 10 shows a number ox iso-lated gloss highlights 32 on the webls visible surface 31. However, unlike the photographs o I'igures and 8 the photograph of Figure 12, which coillcicles wi.t:l the angle of re:Electance of the inc;denk l.i.gl~
exhibits only sl~ghkly more extensi-ve gloss highlights on the webs visib3e surface than the plan v:i~w photo-graph of Figure 10. Accorcling'ly, when the web is subjected to norma'L use, the microscopic pattern of ' ' surface abe.rxations serves to diffusely reflect a substantial portion of the light incident upon the web's visible surface. Furthermore, because the pattern of surface aberrations causing diffuse reflect tion of the incident light cannot be discerned when the perpendicular distance betl~7een the observer's eye and the plane of the web is about 12 inches or grocer the web is perceived as substantially non-giossy.
Finally, because the average amplitude of the surface aberrations 33 is about 0.3 mi'ls (i.e. 5 0.0003 inches, the tactile impression exhibited by the web is gener-ally perceived to be more cloth-like or fiber-like than for webs ox the type illustrated in Figures 1-8.

., ' or:
.!

.
,, .

' ,--, The macroscopically expanded three-dimensional . plas-tic web 40 generally disclosed in Figu,res 13-16 is another prefexred embodiment of the present invention : produced utilizing a two-sided forming process of the type generally shown in Figure 21. The web 40 was processed by subjecting its visible surface l to suction while the web was supported at an elevated temperature on a woven wire mesh forming structure The wire mesh was woven from filaments having a 10 _ diameter of about 1.6 mils (i.e., 0.0016 inches) in a .~ square weave pattern and exhibited a mesh mount oE
approximately 245 fi].aments per lineal inch hy 245 filaments per lineal inchO The web was thereafter macroscopically expanded on a plain-surfaced three-d.imensional Eorming structure. As a result, the : visible surface of the web 40 exhibits a m.icroscopic pattern o regularly spaced surface aberrat.ions ~3 '. which, .in this cast compr.ise depressi.on~3 corr~sporlcl.i.rl~J
to the knuckles of the aforementionecl woven wire mesh ~0 formiIIcJ structure us can be seen :in the greatly enlarged plan v.iew photoyraph ox Fiyure 14, onl~v isolated loss hi~hliyhts ~2 ore obse.rvable on the web7s visible Jsurface 41.
The reduction in gloss is even more apparent from the photograph of Figure 16, which coincides with the angle of reflectance of the incident lightO Figure 16 exhi.bits only a limited number of very small gloss highliyhts 42 due to the fine scale pattern of surface aberrations ~3 which serve to diffusely reflect the inci.dent lig~ltO When the web 40 is subjected to normal use, the mi.cxoscopic pattern of regularly spaced surface - aberrati,ons ~t3 is not discernible when the perpendicular distance between the observer's eye and the plane of the web is about 12 inches ox^ greater This lack of visual ..

-27~

discernibility can readily be verified from an inspec-tion of figures 13 and 15 which are shown approxi-it mately two times actual size.
Because the average c~mpli~ude of the S surface abexrations 43 on we 40 is about 0O3 mils(i.e., 0.0003 inches), the web 40 exhlbits a tac-tile impression generally similar to that of the web 30 disclosed i.n Figures 9-12.
',IL'I From the foxe~oing it is apparent hat the . lO present inven-tion has identified two key criteria which . must be simultaneously satisfied for a surface which is normally glossy, eOgO, an opaque plastic web to appear mat under normal use circumstances. First the surface must diffusely re~l.ect rather than specularly reflect a subs-tantial portion ox the light incident upon i-t, and second, the regularly spaced, microscopic pattern of ,~ surface abexxations u-tilized to diffuse the light, which j must be present throughout the visible surface o:E the !' weh, must not be discernible to the naked eye when the web or the object embodying the web is subjec-ted to I normal use.
j' Apply.illg the.se criteria to substantial:ly opaque macroscopi~ally expanded three-dimensional l plast.ic welts which may be employed as alternatives ' 25 or cloth and fibrous structures which contact the I wearer's skin, as well as for new proauct applica-¦ tions, it has been observed that unless a person I holdiny an object in his or her hands is attempting i to examine the nature of the object in detail, the 1 30 hands are normally maintained a distance of at least ¦ about twelve inches or more away from the eyes.
-"I . Based upon this observation, it has been determined that a macroscopically expanded three-dimensivnal plastic weh can he pxovided with a s~lbstantially non-glossy visible surface when the visible surface of l .
, 2~

.
.

.
. the web is made to exhibit a regularly spaced, micro-scopic pattern of surface aberrations which are not discernible to the normal naked eye when the perpen-dicular distance between the observer's eye and the

5 plane of the web is about 12 inches or greaterO
The regularity of pattern and spacing, which is not embodied in the macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic web 20 disclosed in Figures - 5- By is necessary to ensure that all portions of the q 10 web's visible surface exhibit the desired characteris--. tics. If substantially less than the entire visible suxEace ox the web exhibits the desired characteris~ics~
gloss will be perceived in those areas which fail to comply, and the desired cloth-like or fiber like 15 impression may be lost with respect to the ent.iAre weh.
It has furtller been cletermined ill r~dllc.in~J
the present: inventi.on to pract.ice that .i.n order to provicle prlmari1.y ~i.fEuse rather thin specu:l.ar r~:Elec tion, each of the aforementioned surface aberrations 20 mus-~ ho substantia:l.ly free o:E plana.r arecls which are large enougll to inscr.ibe a our mil to 0~00~ inch diameter circle 9 and must be so spaced relative to all adjacent surface aberrations that the maximum diam*~r of any circle which can be inscribed on any planar surface intermedlate said surface aberration and said adjacent surface aberrations is less than about four mils (i.e., 0O004 inches)O These criteria are nut satisLied by either of the web embodiments disclosed iII E'igores 1-4 or 5-8.

.. .
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I A check for the presence of planar areas j which are large enough to inscribe a four mll diameter ¦ circle on the surface of a particular web sample may be made by orienting the surface or portion thereof to be examined substantially perpendicular to the viewing angle of a top lighted metallurglcal micro-scope of the type ~escr;bed earller herein in connec-Zion with measuring the amplitude of the surface aberrations, Samples oE the web to be measured are LO prepared in a manner similar to that described in connection wlth the aforementioned ampli~ucle measure-¦ - ments. The visible surface of each sample is prefer-¦ ably darkened with a black felt tip marker Jo permit accurate measurement rcgardless of the degree ox transparency or opacity of the webO
Using a high magniicatiorl, preferably lOOOx, a plane may be defined as any area which , appears sirnul-taneously in focus. The previously ,' described four mil diameter circle can c :i.nscr to -I 20 in the particular p:lanar area being e~amlne.(l iE tie ! bo~mdary of the our mil cliameter circle wind all oE
¦ the area contairled thereiIl appear to be s:imu:L~aneously in ocusO this examinatio7;l is most eas:i.ly :facilita~:ed by coup:Ling a television camera and ~ifleo monitor with 25 a correspondingly enlarged our mil diameter circle overlaid on the scxeen of the video monitor Jo the . n~icroscopeO Because the depth of fieLd or hocusing is shal.low with a magnification of lOOOx, it can ye seen that movement of + 0.0~ mils (I OOOOZ inches from a focused positi.on is more than sufficient -Jo render total obscurity of all details being examined due to blurring. Since naturally occuring surface ! imperfections on smoo~.h web samples which do not exhibit surface aberrations of the type herein dis-35 closed generally all within the foregoing range this level of accuracy is considered adequa~ for de~err.linlng whether or not a four mil cliame~er circle may be inscribed in the area being examined.

':~

7~

. .
.. . . .

.

It has been further learned in practicing the present invention to advantage that the afore-mentioned surface aberra-tions may comprise protuber-ances projecting generally outwardly from the surface of the web or depressions projecting generaLly inwardly fxom the surface of the web -- Unexpectedly J it has also been learned that a more cloth--like or fiber-like tactile impression can be obtained in macroscopically expanded three-dimen-sional webs of the present invention when the surface aberrations described earlier herein have an average amplitude of at least about 0.2 mils (i.e., 0.0002 inches), most preferably at least about 0.3 oils to 9 0.0003 inches), as measured perpendicularly fro~l the top of the protuberance or the bottom ox the ~lepr~s-sionj as the case may be, Jo the plane in which slat surface aberration originat~sO
or persons having norma:l. visi(~rlJ ;.l: l~a5 been determined tha-t:.in orde.r t:o nla.int:a;itl l~oncliscerni~
bility of the pattern of su.rcce aberra-tiorls when the perpendicular dis-tance between the v:ieweris eye and the plane o the web .i9 about 12 inches; the maximum dimensioII of any o said surface aberrations shou:Ld be less than about 6 mils to 0.006 inchesj, as measured in a plane substantially perpendieuLar the amplitude of said surface aberration, i.eO~ a plane - substantially parallel to the surface oE said web.
The macroscopically expanded three-dimen-sional plastic webs disclosed in figures 9-12 and 13-16, whlch are preferred embodiments of the presentinvention~ satisfy the aforementioned cri-teria -Eor a substantially non-~lossy visible surface as well as the afQrementioJled criteria for a more c~ol.h~like or fiber-like tactile impression.

,~

'7~L

A particularly preferred continuous worming process which may be employed in practicing the present invention on webs comprised of plastic film and having a substantially uniform planar thickness ox about two mils or less, as measured prior to any macroscopic expansion thereof, i5 schematically illustrated in - Figure 17. This process it generally described in commonly assigned U.S. Patent 4,lSl,240 issued to Malcolm B. Lucas and Robert H. Van Coney on April 24, 1979 .
The particularly pxeferred apparatus 540 shown in Figure 21 includes constant tension film supply means 541, debossing and perforating means 5~3, and constant tension film forwarding and winding means 5~5~ The Erame, bearings, supports and the like which must necessarily be provided with respect to the func-tional members ox apparatus 540 are no shown ox described in detail in order to simpli.fy and more clearly depict and d.isclose the present in~en~.ion, it being understood that such details would be obvious to persons of ordinary s]c:ill in the art ox designing plastic f.ilm converting machinery Briefly, apparatus 5409 Figure 17~ comprises means for continuously converting a planar ribbon of thermoplastic film 550 into a macroscopically expanded three-dimensional film 551 by directing ho air jets against one surface of the film while applying vacuum adjacent the opposite surface of the film, and while maintaining sufficient control o the film to substan-tiall~ obviate wrinkling and/~r macroscopically distending the film. Thus, as will be more sully described hereinafter, the apparatus 540 comprises means or main-taining constant machine direction tension in the film both upstream and downstream of a zone where the temp-3S erature is greater than the thermoplastic temperature :

.

l 3~
_ ,_ I of the film, but in which zone there is substantially zexo machine di.rection and cross-machine direction ten-¦' sion tending to macroscopically distend the film. The aforementioned upstream and downstream tension is required to control and smooth the runniny ribbon of I thermoplastic film The zero tension zone results I from the il.m in the zone being at a sufficiently high ;ii temperature to enable debossing and, if desired, per-forating or aperturing it through the use of heat and .;¦ 10- vacuum. The perforations shown in Figure 17 are greatly enlarged to enable visually perceiving the nature of the difference between the imperforate planar film 550 and the resulting macroscopically expanded I three~dimensional film 551, as more fully described i 15 hereinafter.
I As can be seen in Figure 17, the debossing ¦ and perforating means 543 includes a rotatably mounted debossing/perforating cylinder 555 llav:ing closed ends 580, a nonrotating tri.p:Lex v~lcuurll 1 20 manifold assembly 556 and hot air jet molts 559.
! The triplex vacuum manifold assembly 5S6 comprises three manifolds des.i.gnated 561, 562 ancl 563~ Also shown in E'igure 17.is a freely ro-ta~able lead-on idler roll 565, a power mated lead-off/chill roll 566, and a sot-faced (eOg., low density neoprene xoll S67 which is driven with the chill rollO
Briefly, by providing means (not shown for independently control.ling the degree of vacuum in the three vacuum manifolds, a thermoplastic ribbon of film running ci.rcumferentially about a portion of debossing/
. perforating cylinder 555 is sequentially subjected to a first level of vacuum by manifold 561~ a second . level o vacuum by manifold 562~ and a third level of vacuum by manifold 563. As will be described more fully hereinafter, vacuum applied to the film ., \ .
.~., by manifold 561 enables maintaining upstream tension in the film, vacuum applied by manifold 562 enables three-dimensionally debossing and perforating the film when hot air is directed radially inwardly S against the film, and vacuum applied by manifold 563 cools the film to below its thermoplastic temperature and enables establishing downstream tension therein.
If desired, the film contacting surface of the debossing/perforating cylinder 555 may be preheated prior to reaching vacuum manifold 562 by means well known in the art (and therefore not shown) to facilitate better conformance of plastic films comprised of flow-resistant polymers to the forming structure during the debossing and perforating operation. The nip 570 intermediate chill roll 566 and the soft-faced roll 567 is only nominally loaded to avoid ironing out the three-dimensional debossm~nts which are ormed in the film in the afor~mentionecl manner. HoweverO even nominal pressure ln nip 570 helps the vacuum applied by manifold S63 to isola-te downstream tension (i.eO, roll winding tension Erom the debossing/perforatiny portion of the debossincJJ
peror~ting cylinder S55, aIld enables the nip 570 ko 'I peel the khree-dimensionally debossed and perfora-teA
film prom the debossing/perforating cylinder 555.
Moreover, while ambient air passing through the film as it is drawn by vacuum into manifold 563 will nor~all~ cool the film to below its thermoplastic temperature, the passage of coolant through the chill roll as indicated by arrows 573, 574 in Figùre 17 will enable the apparatus to handle thicker films or to be operated at higher speeds.
To summarize, the first vacuum maniEold 5~1, and the third vacuum manifold 563 located wi~hi~
the debossin~perEorating cylinder 555 enable maintaining substantially constant upstream and . .

downstream tension, respectively, in a running ribbon of film while the intermediate portion of -the film adjacent the second vacuum manifold 562 within the debossing/perforating cylinder 555 is subjected to tension vitiating heat and vacuum to effect three-dimensional debossing and perforating of the film.
Referring again to figure 17, the constant tension film supply means 541 and the constant tension 10 - film forwarding and winding means 545 may, if desired, be substantially identical to and function substan-tially identically to the corresponding portions of the apparatus shown and described in commonly assigned US Patent 3,67~,221 issued to Reimersma on July 4, lg72 .
The debossing and perforatiny means 543 comprises the rotatably mounted debossing/per~orating cylinder 555, means snot shown) or ro-tati.n~ the cylinder 555 at a controlled peripheral velocity, thy ~0 non-rotating triplex vacuum manifold assembly 556 .inside the debossing/perforating cylinder 555, means (not shown) for applying controlled levels ox vacuum inside the three vacuum manifolds 561, 562, and 563 comprising the triplex manifold assembly 556, and ~5 hot air jet means 559.
The debossing/perforating cylinder 555 may be constructed by generally following the t achings of the aforementioned commonly assigned U.S. Patent of Malcolm B. Lucas and Robert H. Van Coney (U.S. Patent 4,151,240). slow-ever, the film-contacting surface of the tubular forming s-tructure is provided with a fine scale pattern of surface aberrations corresponding Jo the pattern of surface aberrations desired in the visible surface of the resultant macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic film.

- .
The debossing/perforating cylinder 555 shown in Figure 17 is illustrated in greater detail in Figures l and 19. The cylinder 555 comprises a cage 120, a support ring 121 and a relatively thin walled film-contacting tubular member 122. The cage 120 comprises a multiplicity of circumferentially spaced, longitudinally extending bars 123 which are tapered to relatively small, radially outwardly facing lands 1240 The spaced bars 123 have vacuum communicating passageways 125 providecl therebetween.
; The bars 123 also have radially inwardly facing lands 128 which corporately provide a cylindrical vacuum sealing surface against which the vacuum seals associated with the triplex vacuum manifold 556 are biased Thus, as the d~bossing/perfora-ting cylinder 555 rotates, i-ts vacuum sealing surface slides over the seals (not shown) of the non-xotak~
ing triplex vacuum manifold assembly 5';6.
The end 130, Fic3ure 1.9, oE l-.h~ de~ossil-lg/
perforating cylinder 555 disposed r~mot~ly from .i.ts driven end is open in order to p.ro~.icle eclS~ insertion/
removal of the triplex vacuum man:ifold assembly 55~
Therefore, in order to xotatably support the open Pnd ~;~, 130 ox cylinder 555, it is pxovided w.ith a beariny-~5 race support rink 121~ as shown in Figures 18 anZ 19, which rides on bearings (not shown) which are appro-priately secured to the apparatus fral~le (not shown).
Tubular member 122 is fluid pervious and may comprise a relatively thin laminate structure such as 240, a partially explodecl, enlarged planar segment of which is shown in Figure ~0, in contacting .1 relation with the small lancls 124 of the longitudinally ` extending support bars 123 of cage 120c The tubular .
. ,.

member 122 is configured to deboss and perforate an extremely fine three-dimensional, apertured pattern into a relatively thin thermoplastic film such as low density polyethylene film, as will be described in greater detail hereinafter On7y the outermost surface 464 of the tubular forming member 122 contacts the plastic webs - rough in contact therewith The innermost ~ur~ace 465 of the tubular member contacts the lands 124 ox support members 123 during the debossing/perforating operation.
The tubular member 122 shown in Figures 18 and 19 may be constructed generally in accordance with the teachings of the aforementioned commonly assigned, U.S. Patent No. 4,342,314 Clifford Radel and Hugh A. Thompson entitled RESILIENT PLASTIC WEB EX~IBITI~G FXBER--LIKE PROPERTIES
AND `THOD AND APPARATUS FOR ITS MANUFACTlJ~E, sald pa-tent having issued on August 3, 1982.
. the tubular member 122 may be constructed utiliæing a stack of copper platecl, photo-etched metallic laminae exhibiting concentrical.ly aligned patterns of apertures, said laminae heing bonded to one another at contact points while ~5 subjected to heat and pressure. The resultant lamin-.
ate structure is thereafter rolled into a tubular shape and its free edges are bonded to one another to orm a continuous tubu7ax forming s-tructure generally in accordance with the teachings ox the aforementioned U.S. patent of Radel and Thompson (U.S. Patent 4,342,314).
Figure 20 is a simplified embodiment of a particular laminate structure 240 which could, it desired, be utilized to provide a ~ur~ace suitable for debossing and perforating an initially imper-forate, substantially planar plastic web to produce ,.f', a fluid-pervious macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic web exhibiting a fine scale pattern of pentagonally shaped capillary networks, each of said networks having a substantially constant cross section along its length. The laminate structure 240 (shown prior to rolling and seaming3 is comprised of a stacks of identically apertured laminae. With the exception of the pattern o surface aberrations 160 present on uppermost lamina 151, laminae 150 and 151 are identical to one another. Each lamina has a pattern of irregular pentagonally shaped openings or apertures, e.g., aper-tures 141, 1~2, 143, therein. In the illustrated embodiment, laminae 150 and 151 are so stackel that the pentagonally shaped apertures in each successive lamina coincide with one another.
Lam.inae 150 are preferably formed from planar metallic sheets by photoetching techniques well known in the art, as described in the aEoremen-tioned U.S. patent ox Radel and Thompson.
The uppermost surface of lamina lSl, which coincides with the visible surface of plastic webs CQntactinc3 tubular member 122, is also preferably photoetched by techniques well known in the art to provide a regularly spaced, micxoscopic pattern o protuberances, herein-aster generally referred to as surface aberrations 160.This is preferably accomplished by applying a resist coating which corresponds to the desired microscopic pattern of surface aberrations to the top side of a planar photoetched lamina 150, and thereafter initiat-ing a second photoetching process. The second photo-etching process produces a lamina 151 having a microscopic pattern of surface aberrations 160 on the interconnected fiber-like elements defining t}le pentagonally shaped apertures, e.g~, apertures 141 14~ 3.

.r-;.

39~7~. "

.. . ..

. . , --. In order to construct a forming structure suitable for producing substan-tially non-glossy macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic webs of the present invention, it is necessary that S the microscopic pattern of surface aberrations 160 be sufficiently small that said pattern, when imparted to an opaque plastic web, is non-discernible when the perpendicular distance between the viewer's eye and the plane of said web is.about 12 inches or greater 10 _ that each of said surface aberrations 160 be free o !'. ,. ' :
an planar areas wh.ich are large enough that when imparted to an opaque plastic web, the resultant surface aberration in said web will be Eree of any planar areas which are larye enough Jo inscribe a four mi.l (i.e., 0.004 inch) diameter circle, and that each of said surface aberrations 160 be so spaced r~la tive to all adjacent surface aberrati.ons .1.~0 that, when imparted to an opaque plastic wek, thy maxi.mum diameter ox any clrcle which can be inscri.bed on any planar surface intermediate said surface aberra-tion or. said web and said adjacent surface aberrations on sail web is less than about four mils c 0.00 inches). Because the thickness of said web will influence the size and spacing of the surface aberra-tions on the forming structure 7 it should be notedthat forming structures utilized to produce substan-tiall.y non-ylossy macroscopically expanded three-dimensional webs of the present invention will no necessarily satisfy the criteria which must be met by the resultant websO Furthermore, even if the size : and spacing criteria are met by the forming structure said forming structures are typically comprised of metals or other non-plastic materials having vastly different reflectance characteristics than the opaque plastic webs processed thereon AccordinylY r , ' ' .

visual discernibility of the pattern of surface aberrations or the visual perception of gloss on ¦ the forming structure does not necessarily mean that plastic webs processed thereon will also 5 exhibit glossO
As util.ized herein an "adjacent" surface aberration shall be defined as any surface aberration . which can be included within a pair ox unobstructed straight, radially extending lines originating at the ¦ 10- geometric center of the aberration under consicleration and making tangential contact with the aberra-tion being I tested for adjacency.
¦ In those situations where a more cloth-like or -fiber-liXe tactile impression in the resultant 15 macroscop.ically expanded three-dimensional plastic web j is also desired, it has been found that the protuber-. ances comprising surface abexrations 160 on lamina 1$1 should preferably exhibit an amplitude i..e., the per pend:icular distance from the top of sai.d surface aber~
~0 ration to the plane .in which saic1 aberratîon oric3in-ates, that is su:~f;ciellt to produce an avercl~e amplî-Jude of at least about 0.~ mils (i.e., 0.0002 inches3 .~ on the resultant plastic web, and most pr~Eerably Al:
least about 0.3 mils (i.e., 0.0003 inches. In general, 25 the greater the amplitude of the surface aberra-tions in the resultant plastic web, the more fiber-like said : web will feel In this regard it should also be noted that while the amplitude of said surface aber-rations may vary considerably over the entire expanse 30 ox the resultant web, to optimize the fiber-like tactile impression of the web it is preferable that the t amplitude of any particular surface aberration should ¦ not vary from the average value of the amplitude for all adjacent surface aberrations by more than about 20 percent, and most preferably not more than f ....~
.. .

about 10 percent.
When the aforementioned criteria are met by the forming structure, the visible surface of webs which are macroscopically expanded so as to assume the three-dimensional pattern ox said forming struc-ture will appear non glossy when the perpendicular distance between the viewer's eye and the plane of the web is about 12 inches or greaterO If desired, the pattern ,.~
of surface aberrations 160 on lamina 151 can be 10- designed so that both the lamina-contactinc3 and the non-lamina-contacting surfaces of the web coinclding ~~
with uppermost lamina 151 will appear non glossy.
This is due to the fact that substantially all of the light inci.dent upon the visible surface o:E the web will be diffused in-~o a multiplicity of clirections by said surface aberrations, ye-t the pattern causing said diffusion is non-discernible to the nakec~ eye under normal use conditions Because the sidewalls o the capil.l.~ry networks formed by the coinciding apertures7 apertures 141, 142, 143, do not exhibi-t any surface aberrations, these surfaces would appear glossy it they wormed a portion ox the woks visible surface us viewed from tlle non lc~nina contacting side of the macro-2S scopically expanded three dimensional plastic web.However, since the sidewall surfaces are oriented sub-st.antially perpendicular to the web's visible surface in the disclosed embodiment, light emanating from the non-lamina contacting side of the web and incident upon the sidewalls will not, under most condi-tions, be specularly reflected at a viewer observing the non-lamina contacting surface of -the web. Accordingly .
the entire non-lamina contactiny surface o the result-ant web will exhibit a substantially non-glossy 3S appearance.

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, -41-i Conversely, light emanating from the lamina-t contacting side of the web and incident upon the side-walls will be specularly reflected at a viewer cbserv-ing the lamina contacting surface of the web Accord-5 ingly, the viewer will generally perceive the lamina ¦ contacting surface of the web as being glossy, despite the fact that the portion of the web coincicli.n3 with lamina 151 might exhibit a non-glossy appearance From the forec30ing, i* is cleax -tha-t in order I 10 to irnpaxt a non-glossy appearance to macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic webs of the present invention, it is necessary that substantially all por-! tions of a web's visible surface, i.e.; those pc>rtions of the web which are visible when viewed substantially 15 perpendiculaxly to the plane of the web from the side of .interest, must exhibit a pattern of surface aberra-, tions which satisfy the criterla set forth earlier ' herein. Thus, for forminy structures exh.ihi.tincl I straight sidewalls which are oriented substant:ially 20 perpendicular to the plane of the web/ only those sur ! races vis.ible from an overhead p.Lan view of the form-I ing structure (when sa:icd structure is in a planar con-`~ dition) need be provided with said pattern ox sur.face `, aberrations. However, when said forming structures exhibit sidewalls which are not oriented substantially perpendicular to the plane of the web, those portions of -the sidewalls which correspond to -the visible surface of the web are preferably provided with said pattexn oE surface abexrations. The importance of ? 30 such si.dewall preparation will, of course, incxease ' as the dec3ree of sidewall taper increases since i increasecl sidewall taper generally means a greater degree of sidewall visibility and hence a grea-ter po-tentia]. for specular reflection.

, ., As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, forming structures exhibiting tapered side-walls, whether of integral or laminate construction, may have their entire visibly surfaces subjected Jo a photoetching process to impart the desired pattern of surface aberrations thereto. Where laminar structures of the type generally illustrated in figure 20 employ tapered sidewalls, the uppermost surface of all exposed laminae ma be provided with the desired pattern of surface aberrations prior to assembly to ensure that those portions of the skructure correspond-ing to the webls visible surface exhibit the desired pattern. Alternatively or additionally, the edges of the apertures may be scalloped to impart the desired surface aberrations to the tapered sidewalls of the resultant macroscopically expanded three-climensional plastic webs.
While tlle preferred one~sided process dis-closed in Figure 17 simultaneously :imposes the pat-~0 tern of surface aberrations and the macroscopicthree-dimensional patterll oE the forming structure on the web, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art thaw these operations could be performed sequentially from the same side of the web. That is, the web could be caused to conform to a first forming structure exhibitiny the desired pattern of surface aberxations, removed Erom saicl firs-t forming structure and thereater macroscopically expanded on a second three-dimensional forming structure. on the latter situation, said first orming structure could comprise a woven wire mesh screen exhibiting a knuckle pattern which satisfies the loss minimization criteria herein set forthO

..~..

-4~-; As was pointed out earlier herein one-sided processes of the type generally illustrated in Figure 17 will work most effectively on films having a sub-s-tantially uniform planar thickness of about two mils S (i.e., 0.002 inches) or less. The basic opera-tional steps generally disclosed in the automated process of Figure 17 are substantially the same as the non-automat-ed steps utilized Jo produce the webs disclosed in Fig-ures 1-4, 5-8 and 9-12 from a substantially planar rib-10- bon of one mil (ire., 0.001 inch) thick opaque polyethy-lene film. On films having a substantially uniform plan-ar thickness greater than about two mils it becomes difXicult to transmit fine scale patterns of surface aberrations, which typically comprise protuberances 9 completely through the film's thickness with su:Efi-cient detail to yield the desired improvements in gloss reduction and tactile impression ~ccord.iny~.tl a two-sided process o:E the type genexa:l.l.y cliscloc;ed in Fi.yure 21 is usually preferred when clealing w.ith relatively thiclc films. The basic operational steps generally described in the automated process of Figure 21 are substantially the same as the non auton~ated steps utilized to p.roduce the web disclosed in Figures 13-16 from a substantially planar ribbon of one mil thick opaque polye-thylene ~ilm~
It must, ox course, be recognized that in most instances the surface aberrations produced in webs formed by such a two-sided process comprise depressions rather than protuberances Nonetheless . .
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, the same basic criteria must be met by the resultant J web to provide gloss minimization. tamely, the regu-j larly spaced, microscopic pattern of surface aberra~
f ti.ons must be sufficiently small that the pattern is 5 not d.iscernible to the naked eye when -the perpen-dicular distance between the viewer 9 S eye and the j plane of.the web is about 12 inches or g.reater, each .~ of said surface aberrations must be free of any . planar areas which are large enouyh to inscribe a 10 four mil (i.e., 0.004 inch) diameter circle, and each of said surface aberrations must be so spaced relative to all adjacent surface aberrations that the .- maximum diameter of any circle which can be inscribed ¦ on any planar surface intermediate said surface aber-15 xation and said adjacent surface aberrations is less I than about :Eour mils to 0.004 inches.
j . In those situations where a more cloth~like ! or iber-like tactile impression ln the resu].tant macroscopically expandecl three-dimensional plastic web 20 is also desired, it has been found that thy surface aberrations in said web shou.ld prcferably exhibit an .1 average amplitude, ire., the perpendicular distance from the bottom ox sald depression to the plane in I which said depression originates, of at least about i 25 0.2 mils tog 0.000~ inches), and most pr~fera~ly at least about 0.3 mils (i.e., 0.0003 inches).
I Experience has demonstrated that a more cloth-like or fiber-like tactile impression is per-ceived in macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic webs which meet the aforementioned amplitude .~ criteria whether the surface aberrations comprise protuberances or depressionsO This is believed to be due to the fact that in either case the surface of the web is divided into at least two distinc-t planes separated from one another by a distance of at least 0.2 mils (i=e., 0~0002 inches). In the case of protuberances, it is the tops of the aberrations which contact the observer's skin, while in the case of depressions it is the planar surface in which said aberrations originate which contacts the observer's skinu Because said division is carried . out in a fine microscop.ic pattern, it is believed that only the reduced area of contact with the upper-most surface of the web and not existence of the pattern is tactilely perceived. This seems consis-tent with the observation that t.he more cloth-like or fiber-like impression described herein is most readily perceived when macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic webs of the present invention are : 15 superposed on a substantially deformable substrate such as airfelt, sponge, cellulosic fibers,~or any other material having generally similar deformation charac-teristics. It is believecl that the deforlllabl~ nature of the substrate prevents an observex touchincJ l:he surface of the web from exerting a force sulicient to significantly deEorm or otherwise alter the surface characteristics of thy web, whereby prc.serving the . reduced area of contact w:ith tlle observer's skin The two-sided process schematically illus-trated in Figure 21 is identical to that pictorially illustrated .in Figure 17 with three basic exceptiorlso j irstr freely rotatable lead-on idler roli 565 has been eliminated, and a suction roll 665 which is driven in conjunction with debossing/perfora-~ing cylinder 555 has been installed in its place; second the web contacting surface of debossing/perforating cylinder 555 need not be provided with a fine scale pattern of sur:Eace aberrations 160; and third; a hot ~192~7~L

. . .

air jet means 659 generally similar to hot air jet means 559 has been installed adjacent the surface of suction roll 665. Suction roll 665 is provided with a porous web contacting surface which9 in a par-ticularl~ preferred embodiment comprises a fine mesh wire screen7 A stationary suction chamber snot shown3 located interiorly of suction roll 665 permits suction to be applied to the roll contacting surface of the 10 - imperforate substantially planar plastic web 550 sub-stantially throughout the area of contact therebetween.~
The imperforate substantially planar plastic web 550 is preferably heated to its softening t~Gmperature by hot air jet. means 659, so that the suction applied by roll lS 665 and the mechanical pressure which may, if desired, be applied in the nip between suction roll 665 and debossing/perforating cylinder 555 ha imparted thy knuckle pat-tern exhibited by suction ro:Ll. 665 t;o the suction roll contacting surface of the substantially planar web 550 by the time the web passes out of the nip.
By making certain that the pat-tern of surface aberrations thus impaxted to the entire surface of the substantially planar plastic web 550 meets the criteria ~5 rec~uired or gloss elimination and improved tactile impression, as set forth earlier herein, the substan-tially planar web 550 may thereafter be processed, with minor exceptions, generally in accordance with the teachings o the aforementioned patent to Lucas et al. to provide a macroscopically expanded three-dimen-y sional plastic web exhibiting a substantially non-glossy visible surface and a more cloth-li]ce or Eiber-like -tacti].e impressioJl.

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The exceptions Jo the teachings of the Lucas et al. patent (U.S. Patent 4,151,240) relate generally to a reduction in temperature of the plastic web 550 during the three-dimensional debossing and, if desired, aperturing opexation. To avoid substantially washing out the pattern of surace aberrations imparted to the suction roll contacting surface of web 550 by suction cylinder 665, the temperature of the web is preferably no elevated substantiall,y beyond its softening temperature during the subsequent debossing and perforating opera-tions. Accordingly, somewhat higher suction levels may be required in the debossing and perforat,ing portion ox cylinder 555 to achieve the desired macro-scopic expansion of the web than is the case for a lS higher temperature one-sided process of the type generally illustxated in Figure 17.
hil.e any porous three-dimensional sure which satis:Eies the requirements or gloss elimirlatior described eaxlier herein ma be used as a web contact .ing surface on suction roll 6GS, the knuckle patterns o fine mesh wire screens have been found particu.larly suitable Xn particular, for filament diameters between about one and about two mils (idea, between about 0.001 and about 0~002 inches), screens having ~5 mesh counts ranging from about 160 ilaments per lineal inch by 160 filaments per lineal inch to about 400 filaments per lineal inch by 400 filaments per lineal inch have been found operable, with screens having about 250 filaments per lineal inch by ~50 filaments per lineal inch being optimal The larger filament diameters are generally operable with mesh counts at the lower end ox the range, while the smaller filament diameters are generally operable with mesh counts at the upper end of the range. The weave pattern : '' .

-~8-of the screen may be varied as desired, so long as the resultant pattern of surface aberxations produced in the web satisfies the gloss reduction and tactile impression criteria described earlier herein As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, when the web contacting surface of suction roll 665 is a wire screen the screen may be perman-ently securPd to the periphery of the roll or fed in the form of a continuous belt across the web contact-10- ing su.rface of suction roll 665. In the latter embodi-; ment, the screen may, if desired, serve as a carrier belt and remain in contact with d~bossing/perforating cylinder 555 through at least a portion of the web's trajectory. Both alternatives are schematically illus-lS . trated in Figures 3 and 4, xespectively, ox U.S. Patent 2,776,~51 issued to Chavannes on January 8, 1~57~

It will also be appreciatecl by -thoc;e skillet in the art that the order in which the steps ox the ~wo~sided process gene.rally disclosed in Figure 21 are carries out could be revexs~d~ i.e., the web could by macroscopically expanded to its thr~e-dimen-tonal profile and thereafter brought in contact with a forming structure exhibiting the desired pattern of surface aberrations while said web is still being supported on said thrPe-dimensional forming structure The latter arrangement may find particular utility where the macroscopically expanded three-dimensional webs exhibit capillary networks having sidewalls oriented substantially perpendicular to the plane o said web.
As will be further appreciated by those skilled in the art, while the one-sided process generally described in connection with Figure 17 and I , .

_~9_ , the two-sided process generally described in conjunc-tion with Figure 21 have dealt with converting sub-stantially planar plastic webs into rnacroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic webs, the present ; S invention may be practiced with equal facility where resinous melts are involved.
A one-sided process of this type is sch~mat-ically disclosed in Figure 22, wherein a resinous melt I"' 550' is extruded by means of extruder 700 direc-tly 10- onto the surface of a debossing/perforating cylinder 555 exhibiting a microscopic pattern of surace aberra-~
tions about its periphery Depending upon the proxim-it of the extruder 700 to the point of debossing and i perforating and the temperature of the resinous mel-t 550' at said point, hot air jet means 559 may prove ; unnecessary An exemplary two-sidecl process emp:loying I resinous melt is schematically disclosed in Fig-lre 23 ¦ The pxocess of Fiyure 23 is ~eneral:ly simi:Lar to the ¦ 20 one-sidea process of Figure 2~, buy suction roll 665 has been added to impart the desired pattern of sur-face aberrations to the suc~kion roll contacting 5ur-race of the resultant plastic web. Accordingly it is not necessary to provide a microscopic pattern of surface aberrations about the periphery of debossing~
perforating cylinder 555. It will, of course, be recognized by those skilled in the art that the ! extruder 700 could with equal facility be positicned j to apply resinous melt 550' directly onto the surf i 30 face of suc-tion roll 665 for subsequent transfer to e surface of debossing/perforating cylinder 555O
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While particular embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made without depar-t-S ing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For .. example, the manufacturing processes generally dis-closed in Figures 17 and 21-23 might be carried out by means of mechanical compression either solely or in combination with fluid pressure differen-tials, the 10- one-sided and two-sided processes might be carriecl . out in conjunction with one another to produce super-posed patterns of surface aberrations, protuberances and depressions might be combined with one another in a single regularly spaced, microscopic pattern of surface aberrati.ons, etc. It is intencled to cover in the appencled claims all such modifications -tha-t are within the scope of this inventionO
What is claimecl is:

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Claims (35)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic web having at least one visible surface which appears substantially non-glossy when exposed to light, substantially all of said visible surface exhibiting a regularly spaced, microscopic pattern of discrete surface aberrations, each of said surface aberrations having its amplitude oriented perpendicular to the surface in which said surface aberration originates, each of said surface aberrations having a maximum dimension of less than about 6 mils, as measured in a plane oriented substantially perpendicular to its amplitude, whereby said surface aberrations are not discernible to the normal naked eye when the perpendicular distance between the viewer's eye and the plane of said web is at least about 12 inches, each of said surface aberrations also being free of planar areas which are large enough to inscribe a 4 mil diameter circle and so spaced relative to all adjacent surface aberrations that the maximum diameter of any circle which can be inscribed on any planar surface intermediate said surface aberration and said adjacent surface aberrations on any portion of said visible surface is less than about 4 mils, whereby any light incident upon any portion of said visible surface is diffusely reflected into a multiplicity of directions by said surface aberrations so that said visible surface appears substantially non-glossy.

2. The web of Claim 1, wherein at least a portion of said surface aberrations comprise protuber-ances projecting generally outwardly from the surface of said web.

3. The web of Claim 1, wherein at least a portion of said surface aberrations comprise depressions projecting generally inwardly from the surface of said web.

4. The web of Claim 3, wherein said surface aberrations correspond to the knuckles of a woven mesh support structure which directly contacts the visible surface of said plastic web during production thereof.

5. The web of Claim 4, wherein said woven mesh support structure which directly contacts the visible surface of said web is comprised of filaments having a diameter between about one and about two mils and a mesh count bewteen about 160 filaments per lineal inch by 160 filaments per lineal inch and about 400 filaments per lineal inch by 400 filaments per lineal inch.

6. The web of Claim 2 or Claim 3, wherein said surface aberrations have an average amplitude of at least about 0.2 mils.

7. The web of Claim 2 or Claim 3, wherein said surface aberrations have an average amplitude of at least about 0.3 mils.

8. The web of claim 2 or claim 3, wherein said surface aberrations have an average amplitude of at least about 0.2 mils and wherein the amplitude of each of said surface aberrations, as measured perpendicular to the surface in which said surface aberration originates, is within the range of about + 20 percent of the average value of the amplitude for all adjacent surface aberrations.

9. The web of claim 2 of claim 3, wherein said surface aberrations have an average amplitude of at least about 0.2 mils and wherein the amplitude of each of said surface aberrations, as measured perpendicular to the surface in which said surface aberration originates, is within the range of about + 10 percent of the average value of the amplitude for all adjacent surface aberrations.

10. A method of forming a macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic web having at least one substantially non-glossy visible surface, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) bringing a substantially planar plastic web in contacting relation with a forming structure exhibiting a three-dimensional regulated continuum of capillary networks originating in and extending continuously from the web contacting surface to the non-web contacting surface thereof, the portions of said forming structure coinciding with the visible surface of said web further exhibiting a regularly spaced, microscopic pattern of surface aberrations which, when imparted to said plastic web, are not discernible to the normal naked eye when the per-pendicular distance between the viewer's eye and the plane of said web is at least about 12 inches, each of said surface aberrations on said forming structure being free of planar areas which are large enough that when imparted to said web the resultant surface aberration in said web will be free of any planar areas which are large enough to inscribe a 4 mil diameter circle, each of said surface aberrations on said forming struc-ture being so spaced relative to all adjacent surface aberrations on said forming structure that when imparted to said plastic web the maximum diameter of any circle which can be inscribed on any planar surface intermediate said surface aberration on said web and said adjacent surface aberrations on said web is less than about 4 mils; and (b) causing said plastic web to conform to the image of said forming structure.

11. The method of Claim 10, wherein said plastic web is caused to conform to the image of said forming structure by applying mechanical pressure to said web while in contact with said forming structure.

12. The method of Claim 11,wherein said mechanical pressure is applied to said web by passing said web between a nip formed between said tubular-shaped forming structure and a resilient back-up roll.

13. A method of forming a macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic web having at least one substantially non-glossy visible surface, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) bringing a substantially planar plastic web in contacting relation with a perforate forming structure exhibiting a three-dimensional regulated continuum of capillary networks originating in and extending continuously from the web contacting surface to the non-web contacting surface thereof, the portions of said forming structure coinciding with the visible surface of said web further exhibiting a regularly spaced, microscopic pattern of surface aberrations which, when imparted to said plastic web, are not discernible to the normal naked eye when the per-pendicular distance between the viewer's eye and the plane of said web is at least about 12 inches, each of said surface aberrations on said forming structure being free of planar areas which are large enough that when imparted to said web the resultant surface aberration in said web will be free of any planar areas which are large enough to inscribe a 4 mil diameter circle, each of said surface aberrations on said forming struc-ture being so spaced relative to all adjacent surface aberrations on said forming structure that when imparted to said plastic web the maximum diameter of any circle which can be inscribed on any planar surface intermediate said surface aberration on said web and said adjacent surface aberrations on said web is less than about 4 mils;
(b) heating a portion of said web in contact with said forming structure above its softening temperature;
(c) applying a sufficiently great fluid differential pressure to said heated plastic web to cause said web to conform to the image of said perforate forming structure; and (d) cooling the macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic web thus formed below its softening temperature before removing said web from said forming structure.

14. The method of Claim 13, wherein said fluid differential pressure is pneumatically applied to said web.

15. The method of Claim 13, wherein said fluid differential pressure applied to said heated plastic web is sufficient to cause said web to be perforated in the image of said perforate forming structure.

16. The method of Claim 13, wherein said perforate forming structure is preheated prior to bringing said web in contacting relation therewith to facilitate better conformance of said web to said forming structure.

17. A method of continuously forming a macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic web having at least one substantially non-glossy visible surface, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) establishing and maintaining control of a substantially planar plastic web by establishing and maintaining constant tension therein;
(b) isolating a portion of said web from said constant tension while it is in contacting relation with a tubular-shaped perforate forming structure exhibiting a three-dimensional regulated continuum of capillary networks originating in and extending continuously from the web contacting surface to the non-web contacting surface thereof, the portions of said forming structure coinciding with the visible surface of said web further exhibiting a regularly spaced, microscopic pattern of surface aberrations which, when imparted to said plastic web, are not discernible to the normal naked eye when the perpendicular distance between the viewer's eye and the plane of said web is at least about 12 inches, each of said surface aberrations on said forming struc-ture being free of planar areas which are large enough that when imparted to said web the resultant surface aberration in said web will be free of any planar areas which are large enough to inscribe a 4 mil diameter circle, each of said surface aberrations on said forming struc-ture being so spaced relative to all adjacent surface aberrations on said forming structure that when imparted to said plastic web the maximum diameter of any circle which can be inscribed on any planar surface intermediate said surface aberration on said web and said adjacent surface aberrations on said web is less than about 4 mils;
(c) heating the tension isolated portion of said web above its softening temperature;
(d) applying a sufficiently great pneumatic differential pressure to said heated, tension isolated portion of said plastic web to cause said web to conform to the image of said forming structure; and (e) cooling the macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic web thus formed below its softening temperature before subjecting said web to downstream tension.

18. A method of continuously forming a macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic web having at least one substantially non-glossy visible surface, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) continuously extruding a melt of plastic resin onto the periphery of a tubular-shaped perforate forming structure exhibiting a three-dimensional regulated continuum of capillary networks originating in and extending continuously from the resin contacting surface to the non-resin contacting surface thereof, the portions of said forming structure coinciding with the visible surface of said web further exhibiting a regularly spaced, microscopic pattern of surface aberrations which, when imparted to said plastic web, are not discernible to the normal naked eye when the perpendicular distance between the viewer's eye and the plane of said web is at least about 12 inches, each of said surface aberrations on said forming structure being free of planar areas which are large enough that when imparted to said web the resultant surface aberration in said web will be free of any planar areas which are large enough to inscribe a 4 mil diameter circle, each of said surface aberrations on said forming structure being so spaced relative to all adjacent surface aberrations on said forming structure that when imparted to said plastic web the maximum diameter of any circle which can be inscribed on any planar surface inter-mediate said surface aberration on said web and said adjacent surface aberrations on said web is less than about 4 mils;
(b) applying a sufficiently great pneumatic differential pressure to said heated plastic resin to cause said resin to conform to the image of said perforate forming structure; and (c) cooling the macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic web thus formed below its softening temperature before removing said web from said forming structure.

19. The method of Claim 18, wherein the pneumatic differential pressure applied to said heated plastic resin is sufficient to provide perforations corresponding to those in said perforate forming structure in the resultant web.

20. The method of Claim 18, wherein said tubular-shaped perforate forming structure is preheated prior to bringing said resin in contacting relation therewith to facilitate better conformance of said resin to said forming structure.

21. A method of forming a macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic web having at least one substantially non-glossy visible surface, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) bringing the visible surface of a substantially planar plastic web in contacting relation with a first forming structure exhibit-ing a regularly-spaced microscopic pattern of surface aberrations which, when imparted to said plastic web, are not discernible to the normal naked eye when the perpendicular distance between the viewer's eye and the plane of said web is at least about 12 inches, each of said surface aberrations being free of planar areas which are large enough that when imparted to said web the resultant surface aberration in said web will be free of any planar areas which are large enough to inscribe a 4 mil diameter circle, each of said surface aberrations on said first forming structure being so spaced relative to all adja-cent surface aberrations on said first forming structure that when imparted to said plastic web the maximum diameter of any circle which can be inscribed on any planar surface intermediate said surface aberration on said web and said adjacent surface aberrations on said web is less than about 4 mils;

(b) causing the visible surface of said web to conform to the image of said first forming structure, thereby imparting the image of said first forming structure to the visible surface of said web;
(c) bringing the surface of said web opposite said visible surface in contacting relation with a second perforate forming structure exhibiting a three-dimensional regulated continuum of capillary networks originating in and extending continuously from the web contacting surface to the non-web contacting surface thereof; and (d) causing said web to conform to the three-dimensional image of said second forming structure without removing the image of said first forming structure from the visible surface of said web.

22. The method of Claim 21, wherein said visible surface of said web is caused to conform to said first forming structure by applying mechanical com-pression to said web while in contact with said first forming structure.

23. The method of Claim 21, wherein said visible surface of said web is caused to conform to said first forming structure by heating said web to a temperature above its softening temperature and applying a fluid pressure differential thereto.

24. The method of Claim 21, wherein said web is caused to conform to the three-dimensional image of said second forming structure by applying mechanical pressure to said web while in contact with said second forming structure.

25. The method of Claim 21, wherein said web is caused to conform to the three-dimensional image of said second forming structure by heating said web to a temperature above its softening temperature and applying a fluid pressure differential thereto.

26. The method of Claim 21, wherein said first forming structure comprises a woven mesh support struc-ture comprised of filaments having a diameter between about one and about two mils and a mesh count between about 160 filaments per lineal inch by 160 filaments per lineal inch and about 400 filaments per lineal inch by 400 filaments per lineal inch.

27. The method of Claim 21, wherein said surface aberrations imparted to the visible surface of said web by said first forming structure exhibit an average amplitude of at least about 0.2 mils.

28. The method of Claim 21,wherein said first forming structure is heated prior to brining said web in contacting relation therewith to facilitate better conformance of the visible surface of said web to said first forming structure.

29. The method of Claim 21, wherein said second perforate forming structure is heated prior to bringing said web in contacting relation therewith to facilitate better conformance of said web to said second perforate forming structure.

30. A method of forming a macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic web having at least one substantially non glossy visible surface, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) continuously extruding a melt of plastic resin so that its non-visible surface is brought into contacting relation with the periphery of a first tubular-shaped forming structure exhibiting a three-dimensional regulated continuum of capillary networks originating in and extending continuously from the resin contacting surface to the non-resin contacting surface thereof;
(b) bringing the visible surface of said plastic resin in contacting relation with a second forming structure exhibiting a regularly-spaced microscopic pattern of surface aberra-tions which, when imparted to said plastic web, are not discernible to the normal naked eye when the perpendicular distance between the viewer's eye and the plane of said web is at least about 12 inches, each of said surface aberrations on said second forming structure being free of planar areas which are large enough that when imparted to said web the resultant surface aberration in said web will be free of any planar areas which are large enough to inscribe a 4 mil diameter circle each of said surface aberrations on said second forming structure being so spaced relative to all adjacent surface aberrations on said second forming structure that when imparted to said plastic web the maximum diameter of any circle which can be inscribed on any planar surface intermediate said surface aberration on said web and said adjacent surface aberrations on said web is less than about 4 mils;
(c) causing the visible surface of said plastic resin to conform to the image of said second forming structure, thereby imparting the image of said second forming structure to the visible surface of said plastic resin; and (d) causing said plastic resin to conform to the three-dimensional image of said first forming structure without removing the image of said second forming structure from the visible surface of the resultant macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic web.

31. A method of forming a macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic web having at least one substantially non-glossy visible surface, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) continuously extruding a melt of plastic resin so that its visible surface is brought into contacting relation with the periphery of a first tubular-shaped forming structure exhibiting a regularly-spaced micro-scopic pattern of surface aberrations which, when imparted to said plastic web, are not discernible to the normal naked eye when the perpendicular distance between the viewer's eye and the plane of said web is at least about 12 inches, each of said surface aberra-tions on said first forming structure being free of planar areas which are large enough that when imparted to said web the resultant surface aberration in said web will be free of any planar areas which are large enough to inscribe a 4 mil diameter circle, each of said surface aberrations on said first forming struc-ture being so spaced relative to all adjacent surface aberrations on said first forming struc-ture that when imparted to said plastic web the maximum diameter of any circle which can be inscribed on any planar surface intermediate said surface aberration on said web and said adjacent surface aberrations on said web is less than about 4 mils;
(b) causing the visible surface of said plastic resin to conform to the image of said first forming structure, thereby imparting the image of said first forming structure to the visible surface of said plastic resin;
(c) bringing the non-visible surface of said plastic resin in contacting relation with a second forming structure exhibiting a three-dimensional regulated continuum of capillary networks originating in and extending continu-ously from the resin contacting surface to the non-resin contacting surface thereof; and (d) causing said plastic resin to conform to the three-dimensional image of said second forming structure without removing the image of said first forming structure from the visible surface of the resultant macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic web.

32. A method of forming a macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic web having at least one substantially non-glossy visible surface, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) bringing a substantially planar plastic web in contacting relation with a first forming structure, the portions of said first forming structure coinciding with the visible surface of said web further exhibiting a regularly spaced, microscopic pattern of surface aberrations which, when imparted to said plastic web, are not discernible to the normal naked eye when the perpendicular dis-tance between the viewer's eye and the plane of said web is at least about 12 inches, each of said surface aberrations on said forming structure being free of planar areas which are large enough that when imparted to said web the resultant surface aberration in said web will be free of any planar areas which are large enough to inscribe a 4 mil diameter circle, each of said surface aberrations on said forming struc-ture being so spaced relative to all adjacent surface aberrations on said forming structure that when imparted to said plastic web the maxi-mum diameter of any circle which can be inscribed on any planar surface intermediate said surface aberration on said web and said adjacent surface aberrations on said web is less than about 4 mils;
(b) causing said plastic web to conform to the image of said first forming structure;
(c) removing said plastic web from said first forming structure;
(d) bringing the surface of said plastic web which contacted said first forming struc-ture in contacting relation with a second forming structure exhibiting a three-dimensional regulated continuum of capillary networks originating in and extending continuously from the web contacting surface to the non-web contacting surface thereof; and (e) causing said plastic web to conform to the three-dimensional image of said second forming structure.

33. A method of continuously forming a macroscopically expanded three dimensional plastic web having at least one substantially non-glossy visible surface, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) continuously extruding a melt of plastic resin in contacting relation with a first forming structure exhibiting a regularly spaced, microscopic pattern of surface aberra-tions which, when imparted to said plastic web, are not discernible to the normal naked eye when the perpendicular distance between the viewer's eye and the plane of said web is at least about 12 inches, each of said surface aberrations on said forming structure being free of planar areas which are large enough that when imparted to said web the resultant surface aberration in said web will be free of any planar areas which are large enough to inscribe a 4 mil diameter circle, each of said surface aberrations on said forming struc-ture being so spaced relative to all adjacent surface aberrations on said forming structure that when imparted on said plastic web the maximum diameter of any circle which can by inscribed on any planar surface intermediate said surface aberration on said web and said adjacent surface aberrations on said web is less than about 4 mils;
(b) causing the surface of said plastic resin to conform to the image of said first forming structure;
(c) cooling said plastic resin while supported on said first forming structure to form a plastic web;
(d) removing said plastic web from said first forming structure;

(e) bringing the surface of said plastic web which contacted said first forming struc-ture in contacting relation with a second forming structure exhibiting a three-dimensional regu-lated continuum of capillary networks originating in and extending continuously from the resin contacting surface to the non-resin contacting surface thereof; and (f) causing said plastic web to conform to the three-dimensional image of said second forming structure.

34. A method of forming a macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic web having at least one substantially non-glossy visible surface, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) bringing the non-visible surface of a substantially planar plastic web opposite said visible surface in contacting relation with a first forming structure exhibiting a three-dimensional regulated continuum of capillary networks originating in and extending con-tinuously from the web contacting surface to the non-web contacting surface thereof;
b) causing said web to conform to the three-dimensional image of said first forming structure;
(c) bringing the visible surface of said web in contacting relation with a second forming structure while said web is supported on said first forming structure, said second forming structure exhibiting a regularly-spaced microscopic pattern of surface aberrations which, when imparted to said plastic web, are not discernible to the normal naked eye when the perpendicular distance between the viewer's eye and the plane of said web is at least about 12 inches, each of said surface aberrations being free of planar areas which are large enough that when imparted to said web the resultant surface aberration in said web will be free of any planar areas which are large enough to inscribe a 4 mil diameter circle, each of said surface aberrations on said second forming structure being so spaced relative to all adjacent surface aberrations on said second forming structure that when imparted to said plastic web the maximum diameter of any circle which can be inscribed on any planar surface intermediate said surface aberration on said web and said adjacent surface aberra-tions on said web is less than about 4 mils; and (d) causing the visible surface of said web to conform to the image of said second forming structure.

35. A method of forming a macroscopically expanded three-dimensional plastic web having at least one substantially non-glossy visible surface said method comprising the steps of:
(a) continuously extruding a melt of plastic resin so that its non-visible surface is brought into contacting relation with a first forming structure exhibiting a three-dimensional regulated continuum of capillary networks originating in and extending continu-ously from the web contacting surface to the non-web contacting surface thereof;

(b) causing said plastic resin to conform to the three-dimensional image of said first forming structure, thereby forming a macro-scopically expanded plastic web;
(c) bringing the visible surface of said web into contacting relation with a second forming structure while said web is supported on said first forming structure, said second forming structure exhibiting a regularly-spaced, microscopic pattern of surface aberrations which, when imparted to said plastic web, are not discernible to the normal naked eye when the perpendicular distance between the viewer's eye and the plane of said web is at least about 12 inches, each of said surface aberrations being free of planar areas which are large enough that when imparted to said web the resultant surface aberration in said web will be free of any planar areas which are large enough to inscribe a 4 mil diameter circle, each of said surface aberrations on said second forming struc-ture being so spaced relative to all adjacent surface aberrations on said second forming structure that when imparted to said plastic web the maximum diameter of any circle which can be inscribed on any planar surface intermediate said surface aberration on said web and said adjacent surface aberrations on said web is less than about 4 mils; and (d) causing the visible surface of said web to conform to the image of said second forming structure.