Extruded article and method of making the same

Claim 2

An article comprising a plurality of straight continuous spaced parallel extruded elements, each of said extruded elements comprising a plurality of filaments, said extruded elements being separated by a regularly folded undulated extruded element having an aspect ratio of at least 2 with undulations having opposed apexes on either side thereof, with apexes on one side of said undulated element being bonded to said filaments of said straight continuous parallel extruded elements and apexes on the other side of said undulated element being bonded to another set of filaments comprising said straight continuous parallel extruded element.

Claim 3

The article of claim 1 wherein said elements are formed of a filament forming, extrudable thermoplastic material.

Claim 4

The article of claim 1 wherein said elements are formed of a synthetic plastic material.

Claim 5

The article of claim 1 wherein said straight spaced parallel extruded elements are ribbons.

Claim 6

The article of claim 1 including a plurality of undulated extruded elements aligned in the same plane with undulations aligned in the same direction.

Claim 7

The article of claim 1 wherein said undulated extruded element has a rectangular cross-section.

Claim 8

The article of claim 1 wherein said undulated extruded element has a hollow core.

Claim 9

The article of claim 1 wherein said extruded undulated element has a core of a composition which is different from the composition of its exterior.

Claim 10

The article of claim 1 wherein said straight spaced parallel extruded elements are strips which are connected together on their ends by sidewalls and wide enough so that the side edges of the undulated extruded element does not contact the side walls connecting said strips so that the side walls and the strips form a complete enclosure around each undulated extruded element.

Claim 11

The article of claim 1 including an embossed pattern thereon.

Claim 12

The article of claim 1 wherein said elements are formed of a ceramic material.

Claim 13

The article of claim 1 coated with a bonding resin.

Claim 14

The article of claim 1 bonded to a preformed film or layer.

Claim 15

The article of claim 1 having a coating of very short, fine, textured fibers adhered to its surface with binder resin.

Claim 16

The article of claim 1 having a coating of abrasive material adhered to its surface by binder resin.

Claim 17

The article of claim 12 wherein said elements are formed of a ceramic material.

Claim 18

An article prepared by a method comprising: (1) extruding at a first rate a first filament-forming, extrudable plastic means to form a plurality of spaced, straight continuous parallel elements; (2) extruding simultaneously, at a second rate faster than said first extrusion rate and between adjacent spaced, continuous parallel elements, a second filament-forming extrudable plastic mass to form an undulatable element which is thinner than it is wide to provide a cross-section with an aspect ratio of at least two, with the undulatable element being positioned with each opposite face of its wide dimension facing one of said continuous straight parallel elements, the surfaces of said plastic masses having a tacky first physical state which permits said surfaces to bond to one another at points of mutual contact and a second physical state in which subsequent bonding will no longer occur and in which latter state said elements have sufficient structural integrity to maintain their extruded bonded shape; (3) while the surfaces of said elements are sufficiently tacky to simultaneously cause bonding therebetween at points of contact, causing said undulatable element to undulate in its thin dimension by permitting contact between a parallel element on one side of said undulatable element to form an apex while maintaining the other adjacent parallel element in sufficiently close proximity to permit subsequent contact between it and the undulating undulatable element to form an opposed apex and to permit repetition of such undulation and subsequent contact to form a plurality of apexes, thereby providing an article having an undulated element with apexes aligned on opposed sides wherein the apexes on one side of the undulated element are bonded to one of said parallel elements and the apexes on the other side of said undulated element are bonded to the other adjacent parallel element; and (4) changing or permitting the change of said plastic masses to said second physical state.

Claim 19

An article prepared by a method comprising: (1) extruding at a first rate a first filament-forming, extrudable plastic means to form a plurality of spaced, straight continuous parallel elements; (2) extruding simultaneously, at a second rate faster than said first extrusion rate and between adjacent spaced, continuous parallel elements, a second filament-forming extrudable plastic mass to form an undulatable element which is thinner than it is wide to provide a cross-section with an aspect ratio of at least two, with the undulatable element being positioned with each opposite face of its wide dimension facing one of said continuous straight parallel elements, the surfaces of said plastic masses having a tacky first physical state which permits said surfaces to bond to one another at points of mutual contact and a second physical state in which subsequent bonding will no longer occur and in which latter state said elements have sufficient structural integrity to maintain their extruded bonded shape; (3) while the surfaces of said elements are sufficiently tacky to simultaneously cause bonding therebetween at points of contact, causing said undulatable element to undulate in its thin dimension by permitting contact between a parallel element on one side of said undulatable element to form an apex while maintaining the other adjacent parallel element in sufficiently close proximity to permit subsequent contact between it and the undulating undulatable element to form an opposed apex and to permit repetition of such undulation and subsequent contact to form a plurality of apexes, thereby providing an article having an undulated element with apexes aligned on opposed sides wherein the apexes on one side of the undulated element are bonded to one of said parallel elements and the apexes on the other side of said undulated element are bonded to the other adjacent parallel element; and (4) changing or permitting the change of said plastic masses to said second physical state.

Claim 20

The article of claim 17 wherein said first and said second filament-forming extrudable plastic masses have the same composition.

Claim 21

The article of claim 17 wherein said undulatable element comprises a plurality of merged extruded filaments.

Claim 22

The article of claim 17 including a plurality of undulated elements wherein sad parallel elements and said undulated elements are in the same plane with undulations aligned in the same direction.

Claim 23

The article of claim 17 including a plurality of undulated elements wherein said parallel elements and undulated elements are formed into a circular shape.

Claim 24

The article of claim 17 wherein said undulatable element has a rectangular cross-section.

Claim 25

The article of claim 17 wherein said undulatable element has a hollow core.

Claim 26

The article of claim 17 wherein said undulatable element has a core of a composition which is different from the composition of its exterior.

Claim 27

The article of claim 17 wherein said straight spaced parallel elements are ribbons which are connected together on their ends by side walls and wide enough so that the side edges of the undulatable element does not contact the side walls connecting said ribbons so that the side walls and ribbons form a complete enclosure around each undulatable element.

Claim 28

The article of claim 17 wherein said straight spaced parallel elements are ribbons which are connected together on one end by side walls wide enough so that the side edges of the undulatable element does not contact the side walls connecting said ribbons so that the side walls form a solid layer with said ribbons as walls projecting therefrom with undulated elements between said ribbons.

Claim 29

The article of claim 17 wherein said elements are formed of a filament forming, extrudable thermoplastic material.

Claim 30

The article of claim 17 wherein said elements are formed of a synthetic plastic material.

Claim 31

The article of claim 17 wherein said straight spaced parallel extruded elements are ribbons.

Claim 32

The article of claim 17 including a plurality of undulated extruded elements aligned in the same plane with undulations aligned in the same direction.

Claim 33

The article of claim 17 including an embossed pattern thereon.