Composite sheet with embedded mesh layer
AssigneeInterface Performance Materials, Inc.
InventorsJeffrey A. Kane, Jeffery L. Barrall, Kevin L. Meyers
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A composite sheet includes a base sheet comprising a single ply of dried stock material that includes non-woven natural fibers or non-woven synthetic fibers or both, with the base sheet having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a base sheet thickness between the top surface and the bottom surface. The composite sheet also includes a scrim formed from a plurality of intersecting strands, with the thickness of the scrim, as defined at the intersections of the strands, being at least one third the base sheet thickness, and with at least a majority portion of the thickness of the mesh layer being embedded within the thickness of the base sheet to provide reinforcement for the base sheet.
Claims30
A composite sheet comprising:
- a base sheet comprising a single ply of dried stock material including at least one of non-woven natural fibers and non-woven synthetic fibers and having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a base sheet thickness between the top surface and the bottom surface;
- and
- a mesh layer formed from a plurality of intersecting strands to define a mesh layer thickness as measured at the intersections thereof, with at least a majority portion of the mesh layer thickness being embedded within the base sheet thickness,
- wherein the mesh layer thickness is at least about ⅓ the base sheet thickness.
A composite sheet comprising:
- a base sheet comprising a single ply of dried stock material including at least one of non-woven natural fibers and non-woven synthetic fibers and having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a base sheet thickness between the top surface and the bottom surface;
- and
- a scrim extending across a width and a length of the base sheet and formed from a plurality of intersecting strands of a multifilament fiberglass material to define a scrim thickness at the intersections thereof, the scrim being substantially embedded within an upper portion of the base sheet with the pattern of the embedded intersecting strands projecting upward through the dried stock material at the top surface of the base sheet.
A method of making a composite sheet, the method comprising:
- depositing aqueous stock material including at least one of non-woven natural fibers and non-woven synthetic fibers onto a translating wire run to form a wet base layer having a thickness and a top surface;
- prior to a wet line at which the aqueous stock material transitions into a consolidated material, setting a mesh layer having a mesh layer thickness into the wet base layer at least until a majority portion of the mesh layer thickness is embedded within the aqueous stock material below the top surface of the base layer;
- passing the consolidated base layer with the embedded mesh layer through a press section of rollers to define a damp composite sheet;
- and
- passing the damp composite sheet through a dryer section to form a composite sheet comprising the mesh layer and dried stock material having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a sheet thickness between the top surface and the bottom surface,
- wherein the mesh layer thickness is at least about ⅓ the sheet thickness, and at least a majority portion of the mesh layer thickness is embedded within the sheet thickness.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.