Recent Patented Developments in Melt Blowing Technology, 1993 Nonwovens Conference Proceedings

W. John G. McCulloch, Robert L. Graham

Despite the fact that the melt blowing process was first studied academically in 1951 by the Naval Research Laboratories, and first in the mid 1960’s by Exxon Chemical Company, a large number of innovative melt blowing inventions are still being made and patented. Although some of the early important patents have expired, or are about to expire, many additional important inventions have recently been patented that could impact on companies utilizing or planning to utilize the melt blowing process. The patents discussed in this presentation are not in any manner intended to be a complete list, rather are representative of some of the innovative inventions that we are aware of that could impact a practitioner of the melt blowing process. Suffice it to say, that even this incomplete outline reinforces the principle that the best place to start a research project is not in the laboratory but in the library. Similarly, any company that is planning commercial practice of the melt blown process needs to be fully aware of the numerous patents that may limit to some extent their freedom of operation.