UNDULATED FILTER MEDIA
Filter media comprising non-woven fiber webs and having one or more advantageous structural properties are generally described. In some embodiments, a filter media and/or non-woven fiber web described herein has one or more properties that are both beneficial and easily obtainable by undulating the non-woven fiber web, such as by performing a creping procedure. This property may be characteristic of the procedure employed to form the undulations (e.g., creping and/or microcreping), or may be attainable via one or more methods of undulation.
1 . A filter media, comprising:
a non-woven fiber web comprising fibers,
wherein a ratio of an average fiber diameter of the fibers in the non-woven fiber web to a mean flow pore size of the non-woven fiber web is greater than or equal to 0.8.
2 . A filter media as in claim 1 , wherein the non-woven fiber web comprises a first plurality of undulations.
3 . A filter media as in claim 2 , wherein the non-woven fiber web comprises a second plurality of undulations positioned within at least a portion of the first plurality of undulations.
4 . (canceled)
5 . A filter media as in claim 3 , wherein the first and second pluralities of undulations are irregular.
6 . A filter media, comprising:
a non-woven fiber web comprising fibers, wherein:
the non-woven fiber web has an apparent density of less than or equal to 170 gsm/mm,
the non-woven fiber web has a dust holding capacity and a beta 200 micron rating, and
a ratio of the dust holding capacity to the beta 200 micron is greater than or equal to 10 gsm/micron.
7 - 10 . (canceled)
11 . A filter media, comprising:
a non-woven fiber web comprising fibers, wherein:
the non-woven fiber web comprises a first plurality of undulations;
the non-woven fiber web comprises a second plurality of undulations positioned within at least a portion of the first plurality of undulations;
the second plurality of undulations comprises at least one undulation; and
the first and second pluralities of undulations are irregular.
12 - 18 . (canceled)
19 . A filter media as in claim 1 , wherein the non-woven fiber web comprises a synthetic, unfibrillated fibers.
20 . (canceled)
21 . A filter media as in claim 19 , wherein the synthetic, unfibrillated fibers have an average fiber diameter of greater than or equal to 0.01 micron and less than or equal to 3 microns.
22 - 25 . (canceled)
26 . A filter media as in claim 1 , wherein the non-woven fiber web comprises two types of synthetic, unfibrillated fibers.
27 . (canceled)
28 . A filter media as in claim 19 , wherein the synthetic, unfibrillated fibers have an average fiber diameter of greater than or equal to 3 microns and less than or equal to 50 microns.
29 - 33 . (canceled)
34 . A filter media as in claim 1 , wherein the non-woven fiber web comprises natural, fibrillated fibers.
35 - 49 . (canceled)
50 . A filter media as in claim 1 , wherein the non-woven fiber web comprises multicomponent fibers.
51 - 59 . (canceled)
60 . A filter media as in claim 1 , wherein the non-woven fiber web comprises glass fibers.
61 - 67 . (canceled)
68 . A filter media as in claim 1 , wherein the non-woven fiber web is a wet laid layer.
69 . A filter media as in claim 1 , wherein the non-woven fiber web has an air permeability of greater than or equal to 0.5 CFM and less than or equal to 800 CFM.
70 . A filter media as in claim 1 , wherein the non-woven fiber web has a mean flow pore size of greater than or equal to 0.3 microns and less than or equal to 100 microns.
71 . A filter media as in claim 1 , wherein the ratio of the mean flow pore size to the square root of the air permeability is greater than or equal to 0.3 microns/(CFM) 0.5 and less than or equal to 6 microns/(CFM) 0.5
72 - 77 . (canceled)
78 . A filter media as in claim 1 , wherein the filter media has an apparent density of greater than or equal to 5 gsm/mm and less than or equal to 170 gsm/mm.
79 . A filter media as in claim 1 , wherein the filter media has a beta 200 of greater than or equal to 3 microns and less than or equal to 40 microns.
80 . A filter media as in claim 1 , wherein the filter media has a dust holding capacity of greater than or equal to 20 gsm and less than or equal to 450 gsm.
81 - 107 . (canceled)