Method of corona treating a hydrophobic sheet material

• Main Author: MYERS; DAVID LEWIS
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 18.11.1997
• Edition: 6
• Subjects: AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; LAUNDERING; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDEDFOR; SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; TEXTILES; TRANSPORTING; TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; TREATMENT, NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE IN CLASS D06, OF FIBRES, THREADS, YARNS,FABRICS, FEATHERS, OR FIBROUS GOODS MADE FROM SUCH MATERIALS; WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE, IN GENERAL

A method of preventing localized arcing to ground during treatment of a sheet material in a corona discharge field generated by a corona discharge apparatus having at least two electrodes, which method involves passing the sheet material to be treated through the corona discharge field, in which the sheet material to be treated is electrically isolated from the electrodes. When the corona discharge apparatus has a bare metal electrode and a dielectric-covered electrode, the sheet material to be treated is passed through the corona discharge field as a layer of a multilayered composite having at least three layers, in which at least one of the layers is a nonconductive sheet material situated between the sheet material to be treated and the bare metal electrode. The method may be employed to treat a hydrophobic sheet material having a porosity, in which case the hydrophobic sheet material is passed through a corona discharge field generated by a corona discharge apparatus having a bare metal electrode and a dielectric covered electrode under conditions adapted to render the porous sheet wettable. The hydrophobic sheet material is a layer of a multilayered composite having at least three layers, in which at least one layer is a nonconductive sheet material situated between the sheet material to be treated and the bare metal electrode and one of the at least three layers is a nonconductive, nonporous sheet material.