Hydrophobic fiber structure with interconnected non-fibrous hydrophilic network

Claim 1

A HIGHLY POROUS, FLEXIBLE, SPONGE-LIKE ARTICLE COMPRISING A NON-FIBROUS INTERCONNECTED HYDROPHILIC NETWORK AND A REINFORCING BONDED FIBER ASSEMBLY INTEGRALLY EXTENDING THERETHROUGH, SAID BONDED FIBER ASSEMBLY BEING PREDOMINANTLY HYDROPHOBIC AND BEING COMPOSED OF SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLELIZED, CRIMPED, SYNTHETIC ORGANIC, POLYMERIC FIBERS SELECTED FROM THE GROU CONSISTING OF POLYAMIDES, POLYETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE, AND POLYACRYLONITRILE WHICH ARE ATTACHED BY A HYDROPHOBIC BINDER COMPOSITION AT A PLURALITY OF CONTACT POINTS THROUGHOUT THE THREE DIMENSIONS OF SAID ARTICLE, SAID HYDROPHILIC NETWORK COMPRISING A WATER INSOLUBLE POLYMERIC MATERIAL SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF CELLULOSE XANTHATE, CYANOETHYL CELLULOSE, ALKALI SOLUBLE CELLULOSE, METHOXYMETHYL CELLULOSE, HYDROXYETHYL CELLULOSE, AND CARBOXYMETHYL CELLULOSE COAGULATED IN THE FORM OF OPEN CELL-LIKE IRREGULAR SHAPED FILM-LIKE AND FIBRIL-LIKE PARTICLES DISTRIBUTED ABOUT AND BETWEEN PORTIONS OF SAID FIBERS IN SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORM FASHION THROUGHOUT THE THREE DIMENSION S OF SAID ARTICLE, THE FIBER DENSITY OF SAID ARTICLE BEING LESS THAN ABOUT 8 LBS./FT.3, AND THE DENSITY OF THE HYDROPHILIC NETWORK MATERIAL BEING BETWEEN 0.2 AND 5LBS./FT.3 IN SAID ARTICLE AND EXCEEDING THE DENSITY OF BINDER COMPOSITION THEREIN.