Appeal No. 2000-1653
Application No. 08/906,586
describes the results as follows:
The polymer forced through the mesh forms fine
filaments or threads which are also pulled by the
flowing solvent. Because of the number of
perforations and size of the mesh, thousands of fine
threads of polymer enter the flowing solvent. The
solvent passes through inner pipe 42 at a sufficient
flow rate that the threads of polymer are wrapped
around each other or woven so that the mixture of
polymer and solvent leaving apparatus 40 is a woven
matrix of fine polymer threads in the solvent.
In the first stage of the process as described,
there may not be totally efficient formation of fine
polymer threads. Thus, a small portion of the
polymer may not form a thread as it passes through
the fine wire mesh, either because it is not
sufficiently wetted by the solvent or is not pulled
by the solvent flow or because of other problems in
the flow mechanism. These portions of polymer which
do not thread will form small sized balls of
polymer. The second stage of the process which is
carried out in the shear strain
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