A method for making a fiber reinforcement with variations in transverse cross section is disclosed. The method includes forming a fiber comprising polymeric material and exposing the fiber to a heat treatment, such that at least a portion of the polymeric material at or near said surface of said fiber is at or above the melting point temperature and substantially all of the polymeric material at or near the core is below the melting point temperature. The method further includes cooling the fiber to a temperature below the melting point temperature.

The present invention relates to a fiber obtainable or being obtained by a method comprising: spinning a melt comprising an aliphatic polyester, an aliphatic-aromatic polyester, and a polyhydroxyalkanoate through a hollow fiber spinning nozzle to obtain a precursor fiber; and cooling the precursor fiber under a temperature gradient, thereby obtaining the fiber.

The invention also relates to yarns and clothings made from such fiber and to methods of preparing such fiber.

The present invention relates to a fiber obtainable or being obtained by a method comprising: spinning a melt comprising an aliphatic polyester, an aliphatic-aromatic polyester, and a polyhydroxyalkanoate through a hollow fiber spinning nozzle to obtain a precursor fiber; and cooling the precursor fiber under a temperature gradient, thereby obtaining the fiber.

The invention also relates to yarns and clothings made from such fiber and to methods of preparing such fiber.

Provided is a cell culture support using a water-soluble polymer, which is a support to which cells are attached to culture the cells, and which includes: a fibrous web having a plurality of pores in which fibers containing a water-soluble polymer and a synthetic polymer obtained by electrospinning are accumulated, and into which a culture solution is penetrated, and the water-soluble polymer of the fibers gradually dissolves in the culture solution so that the cells can be grown and eluted from the fibrous web, thereby gradually reducing the diameters of the fibers.

Embodiments provide thermochromic articles of apparel and methods of production. The article of apparel may comprise a textile layer and a thermochromic portion that includes at least one set of thermochromic molecules that affixed to the textile layer. A heat protective layer may be positioned on a first surface of the thermochromic portion.

A 3D thermoplastic pultrusion system and method based upon a 3D variable die system and including one or more sets of 3D thermoplastic forming machines to continuously produce thermoplastic composite pultrusions with at least one of varying cross-section geometry and constant surface contours, varying cross-section geometry and varying surface contours, and constant cross-section geometry and varying surface contours.

A method for providing a multifilament bundle of melt spun polymer filaments that includes providing a spinning device including at least M extruders for melting M polymers, M groups of spinning stations, each group comprising N spinning stations, each spinning station comprising a spin pack coupled to a spin pump which receives molten polymer from one of the M extruders and spins a strand of filaments by pushing said polymer through the coupled spin pack, and N transformation stations for bundling M strands of filaments. The method further includes spinning N*M strands of filaments from the spinning stations at a given spin pump output and bundling the strands into N multifilament bundles via the N transformation stations whereby the spin pump outputs are varied over time.

Nonwoven fabrics suitable for a wide variety of applications (e.g., healthcare, filtration, industrial, packaging, etc.) are provided. In one aspect, the nonwoven fabric includes a plurality of segmented fibers. Each of the plurality of segmented fibers may comprise a fiber axis and a plurality of alternating larger diameter and smaller diameter segments along the fiber axis. The plurality of segmented fibers may be substantially aligned in a first direction.

A process for producing a tapered multifilament yarn comprising feeding a drawable filament to a drawing apparatus and changing the take-over speed relative to the feed speed of the filament in order to change the thickness of the filament in a longitudinal direction, characterized by making the take-over speed slower than the feed speed under heating in a part of the filament in the longitudinal direction and thereby shrinking and thickening the part of the filament. According to the process, the ratio of the thickness of the thickest part of the tapered multifilament yarn to the thickness of the thinnest part thereof can be easily increased.

A process for producing a tapered multifilament yarn comprising feeding a drawable filament to a drawing apparatus and changing the take-over speed relative to the feed speed of the filament in order to change the thickness of the filament in a longitudinal direction, characterized by making the take-over speed slower than the feed speed under heating in a part of the filament in the longitudinal direction and thereby shrinking and thickening the part of the filament. According to the process, the ratio of the thickness of the thickest part of the tapered multifilament yarn to the thickness of the thinnest part thereof can be easily increased.