Spinneret assembly for multicomponent fibers

Claim 1

A spinneret assembly for producing multicomponent fibers with intimate contact along their length, and comprising three plates disposed in contiguous, coextensive alignment, the first plate defining on its upstream surface at least two feed inlets for receiving, respectively, a separate spinnable medium and defining on its downstream surface at least two annular grooves, each groove being in communication through the first plate with one of the feed inlets; the second plate defining on its upstream surface at least two annular grooves, each groove mating with a corresponding groove in the first plate and therewith defining an annular channel, each annular channel defining in its wall surface a plurality of openings spaced around the annular channel; the second plate defining on its downstream surface a plurality of counterbore recesses, each counterbore recess being in communication through the second plate with each annular channel; and the third plate defining in its upstream surface a plurality of counterbore recesses, each counterbore recess cooperating with one of the counterbore recesses in the second plate to form a mating counterbore set, the third plate defining on its downstream surface a plurality of orifices through each of which the separate spinnable mediums exit together as a multicomponent fiber from the spinneret assembly, each orifice being in communication through the third plate with one of the mating counterbore sets.