Radial contact extrusion die

1 . An apparatus for producing a patterned material comprising:

an external land die for extruding a material;

a patterned roller in close proximity to said external land die.

2 . An apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said patterned roller is mounted on the gimbals.

3 . An apparatus as in claim 2 wherein said patterned roller is constrained to allow rotation on two axes with respect to said external land die.

4 . An apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said patterned roller is mounted for rotation.

5 . An apparatus as in claim 1 wherein a distance between said external land die and said patterned roller is adjustable.

6 . An apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said patterned roller is heated.

7 . An apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said external land die comprises:

a first external land surface; and

a second external land surface.

8 . An apparatus as in claim 7 wherein said first external land surface and said second external land surface form a trapezoid with respect to a surface of said patterned roller.

9 . An apparatus as in claim 7 wherein:

said first external land surface creates a diverging region with respect to a direction of rotation of said patterned roller; and

said second external land surface creates a converging region with respect to said direction of rotation of said patterned roller.

10 . An apparatus as in claim 9 wherein a first hydrodynamic pressure created in said diverging region is less than a second hydrodynamic pressure created in said converging region.

11 . An apparatus as in claim 10 wherein said second hydrodynamic pressure is in excess of 1.0×10 6 Pa to compress entrapped air in said material.

12 . An apparatus as in claim 9 wherein the rate of pressure change in the converging region is at least 1.5×10 7 Pa/s.

13 . An apparatus as in claim 7 wherein:

a first heater heats said first external land surface; and

a second heater heats said second external land surface.

14 . An apparatus as in claim 13 wherein said first heater operates at a different temperature then said second heater.

15 . An apparatus as in claim 1 comprising:

a first end seal at a first end of said external land die;

a second end seal at a second end of said external land die; and

wherein said first end seal and said second end seal prevent said material from leaking past said first and second end of said external land die.

16 . An apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said patterned roller is vented.

17 . An apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said extruded material is molten.

18 . An apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said material is comprised of at least two separate materials for coextruding at least two separate layers.

19 . An apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said material is a polymer.

20 . An apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said material is a low curtain strength material.

21 . An apparatus for producing a patterned material comprising:

an external land die for extruding a material;

a patterned roller in close proximity to said external land die;

wherein said patterned roller is mounted on gimbals;

wherein said patterned roller is mounted for rotation; and

wherein a distance between said external land die and said patterned roller is adjustable.

22 . An apparatus as in claim 21 wherein said patterned roller is heated.

23 . An apparatus as in claim 21 wherein said external land die comprises:

a first external land surface; and

a second external land surface.

24 . An apparatus as in claim 23 wherein said first external land surface and said second external land surface form a trapezoid with respect to a surface of said patterned roller.

25 . An apparatus as in claim 23 wherein:

said first external land surface creates a diverging region with respect to a direction of rotation of said patterned roller; and

said second external land surface creates a converging region with respect to said direction of rotation of said patterned roller.

26 . An apparatus as in claim 25 wherein a first hydrodynamic pressure created in said diverging region is less than a second hydrodynamic pressure created in said converging region.

27 . An apparatus as in claim 26 wherein said second hydrodynamic pressure is in excess of 1.01×10 6 Pa to compress entrapped air in said material.

28 . An apparatus as in claim 23 wherein:

a first heater heats said first external land surface; and

a second heater heats said second external land surface.

29 . An apparatus as in claim 21 wherein said pattern roller has a depth of at least 6 microns.

30 . An apparatus as in claim 28 wherein said first heater operates at a different temperature then said second heater.

31 . An apparatus as in claim 21 comprising:

a first end seal at a first end of said external land die;

a second end seal at a second end of said external land die; and

wherein said first end seal and said second end seal prevent said material from leaking past said first and second end of said external land die.

32 . An external land die for extruding a material comprising:

a first external land surface;

a second external land surface; and

wherein said first external land surface and said second external land surface form a trapezoid with respect to a surface of a patterned roller.

33 . An apparatus as in claim 32 wherein:

said first external land surface creates a diverging region with respect to a direction of rotation of said patterned roller; and

said second external land surface creates a converging region with respect to said direction of rotation of said patterned roller.

34 . An apparatus as in claim 33 wherein a first hydrodynamic pressure created in said diverging region is less than a second hydrodynamic pressure created in said converging region.

35 . An apparatus as in claim 34 wherein said second hydrodynamic pressure is in excess of 10 atmospheres to compress entrapped air in said material.

36 . An apparatus as in claim 33 wherein:

a first heater heats said first external land surface; and

a second heater heats said second external land surface.

37 . An apparatus as in claim 36 wherein said first heater operates at a different temperature then said second heater.

38 . A method for producing a patterned web comprising the steps of:

heating a material which comprises said web;

pumping said material into a cavity at a controlled rate;

distributing said material over a length of a slot;

forcing said material into a cavity formed by a first external land surface, a second external land surface and a surface of a patterned roller; and

partially solidifying said material under high-pressure.

39 . A method as in claim 38 further comprising:

continuing solidification of said material on said patterned roller after it exits said cavity.

40 . A method as in claim 38 wherein said web is stripped from said patterned roller.

41 . An apparatus for producing an extruded material comprising:

an external land die for extruding said material;

a roller in close proximity to said external land die;

wherein said roller is mounted on gimbals;

wherein said roller is mounted for rotation; and

wherein a distance between said external land die and said roller is adjustable.