Described herein is a flexible but resilient material comprising a soft outside shell and an internal flexible but resilient support core, as well as a method for constructing such a flexible but resilient material that can have multiple applications, including being used to manufacture an improved shoelace to help young children, individuals who are physically challenged, and/or who have a limiting physical disability.

Metal nanowires with uniform noble metal coatings are described. Two methods, galvanic exchange and direct deposition, are disclosed for the successful formation of the uniform noble metal coatings. Both the galvanic exchange reaction and the direct deposition method benefit from the inclusion of appropriately strong binding ligands to control or mediate the coating process to provide for the formation of a uniform coating. The noble metal coated nanowires are effective for the production of stable transparent conductive films, which may comprise a fused metal nanostructured network.

A reinforced multilayer material includes a mesh material covered on at least one side, and possibly both, by a layer of a resinous film material. The mesh material includes filaments that intersect one another, at least some of the filaments being composite filaments having a carrier portion of a relatively high melting point and a bonding portion of a relatively low melting point, the bonding portion of each composite filament being thermally bonded to other filaments at least some points of intersection. The multilayer material has a mass per unit area of less than 9.0 oz/yd.sup.2 and at least one of a) a bursting strength to mass per unit area ratio of at least 9.0 lbs./(oz/yd.sup.2), where bursting strength is measured in accordance with ASTM-D37 86 and b) a breaking elongation of at least 5% in the warp direction when breaking elongation is measured in accordance with ASTM-5034. A bag is provided that is made at least in part from a multilayer material having at least some of the characteristics described above.

The present invention relates to a heat shield for shielding of hot areas, such as hot areas of a combustion engine as well as a part that is shielded with such a heat shield. The heat shield for shielding of hot areas, e. g. of a combustion engine, with at least one metal sheet layer, characterized in that the insulating layer comprises a metallic grid, which is embedded into a fiber mat.

A plastic fabric using a different-melting point core-sheath structure fiber comprises a top layer fabric, a support layer, and a bottom layer fabric. The top layer fabric is fabricated with a different-melting point fiber, which comprises a core-sheath structure including a core and a sheath wrapping the core. The core has a melting point higher than that of the sheath. The bottom layer fabric is disposed on one side of the top layer fabric. The support layer is disposed between the top layer fabric and the bottom layer fabric. As the core has a melting point higher than that of the sheath, the different-melting point fiber has superior dimensional stability and permanent shape memory after heat treatment for plastic shaping.

The present invention relates to multi-layer fiber products and a method of manufacturing these kinds of products. The present product comprises a first layer consists mainly of natural fibers and a second, heat-sealing layer located on top of the first layer. The heat-sealing layer consists mainly of synthetic thermoplastic fibers or particles. According to the present method, the heat-sealing layer is brought onto the first layer already during the web forming process, the first and the second layers being formed and joined together in a foam forming process. With the present invention, it is possible to decrease the amount of plastic materials in packaging materials having heat-sealing properties.

A repulpable insulated container assembly having a container formed of paper such as corrugated cardboard or varying paper materials and defining an interior; and a repulpable insert placed within the interior of the container and formed of a first paper layer; and a paper fiber pad coupled to the first paper layer.

Provided is a hook-and-loop fastener female member including an engaging layer adopting a non-woven fabric, the hook-and-loop fastener female member being excellent in engaging force with a hook-and-loop fastener male member. The hook-and-loop fastener female member of the present invention includes an engaging layer engageable with a male member, in which the engaging layer includes a non-woven fabric of fiber, in which the non-woven fabric in the engaging layer has a density of from 5 kg/m.sup.3 to 110 kg/m.sup.3, and in which the fiber has a diameter of from 15 μm to 60 μm.

The present invention relates to the installation of floorcovering articles on chemically abated flooring surfaces and the composite article resulting therefrom. More specifically, the invention relates to a process for chemical removal of mastic, putty and/or paste material from a flooring surface. The process includes applying abatement chemical to the mastic material on the flooring surface to soften the mastic material and cause it to physically separate and release from the flooring surface, removal of the mastic material and abatement chemical, and the subsequent application of a barrier coating to the flooring surface. The barrier coating reduces and/or eliminates the migration of residual abatement chemicals into floorcovering articles thereinafter installed on the chemically abated flooring surface. The resulting composite article is comprised of a chemically abated flooring surface containing pores, at least one abatement chemical in said pores, a polymer-containing barrier material, and a floorcovering article.

A nonwoven composite that exhibits latent elastic properties is provided. The composite is formed from a multi-layered, elastic film laminated to a nonwoven web facing. Latent elasticity is imparted to the composite through the use of at least one base layer that contains a thermoplastic elastomer and at least one skin layer that contains a propylene/α-olefin copolymer. During formation, the film is stretched in one or more directions to orient the elastomer chains. Without intending to be limited by theory, the present inventors believe that the oriented state of the chains may be held in place by the relatively stiff semi-crystalline domains of the propylene/α-olefin copolymer. The stretched elastic film may subsequently be relaxed and bonded to a nonwoven web facing to form the composite. The composite may be later activated (e.g., heated at or above the softening point of the copolymer) to soften the crystalline domains and allow the chains to return to their unoriented state. This causes the film to retract, which forms buckles in the nonwoven facing. In this manner, the resulting composite becomes elastic in that it has the ability to stretch and recover due to the “latent” buckle formation in the nonwoven facing.