Dryer felt having a soft, bulky surface
AssigneeScapa Dryers, Inc.
InventorWilliam T. Westhead
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A dryer felt having a soft, bulky top surface and comprising at least a top surface, which is defined by a plurality of machine direction yarns and a plurality of cross machine direction yarns interwoven according to a desired weave pattern. A preselected number of the yarns of the top surface are encapsulated yarns, the number being chosen to ensure that a major portion of the top surface is soft and bulky. Each of the encapsulated yarns comprises a straight, twistless monofilament core and a close-fitting encapsulating sheath surrounding the full length of the core.
Claims31
A dryer felt comprising:
- a top surface;
- a plurality of machine direction yarns and a plurality of cross machine direction yarns interwoven according to a desired weave pattern to produce said top surface;
- and a preselected number of said yarns of said top surface being encapsulated yarns, said number being chosen to ensure that a major portion of said top surface is soft and bulky, each of said encapsulated yarns comprising a straight, twistless monofilament core that has no turns about its axis per unit of length, and a sheath completely surrounding and covering the full length of said core, said monofilament core comprising a bundle of filaments treated with a heat resistant resin to make the bundle act like a monofilament.
A method of making a dryer felt having a soft, bulky surface, the method comprising the steps of weaving a fabric having a top surface, defining said top surface by a plurality of machine direction yarns and a plurality of cross machine direction yarns, creating a soft, bulky surface on a major portion of said top surface by having encapsulated yarns constitute a preselected number of said yarns of said top surface, and selecting encapsulated yarns, each of which comprises a straight, twistless monofilament core that has no turns about its axis per unit of length and a sheath completely surrounding and covering the full length of said core, said monofilament core comprising a bundle of filaments treated with a heat resistant resin to make the bundle act like a monofilament.
A multiple plane dryer felt for processing a paper web, said dryer felt comprising:
- machine direction and cross machine direction yarns interwoven in a binding relationship according to a predetermined weave pattern to provide a multiple plane fabric including at least a top plane having a paper-contacting surface and a base plane having a machine roll contacting surface, said base plane being defined entirely by a first plurality of said cross machine direction yarns, and said top plane being defined entirely by a second plurality of said cross machine direction yarns, all of said yarns of said first plurality being selected from the group consisting essentially of synthetic monofilaments, multifilaments, and spun staple fibers, and all of said yarns of said second plurality being encapsulated yarns, each of said encapsulated yarns comprising a monofilament core and an encapsulating sheath completely surrounding and covering the full length of said core, said sheath defining a soft, bulky outer surface which, when woven into said fabric, acts to prevent yarn migration of said encapsulated yarns in said fabric and wherein said encapsulated yarns reduce undue marking of said paper web while contributing to fabric stability, said machine direction yarns being interwoven with said first plurality of cross machine direction yarns to define said machine roll contacting surface on said base plane and interwoven with said second plurality of cross machine direction yarns to define said paper-contacting surface on said top plane.
A method of making a multiple plane dryer felt for processing a paper web, said dryer felt having a soft, bulky surface, the method comprising the steps of weaving a plurality of machine direction and cross machine direction yarns according to a preselected weave pattern to form a fabric having a top plane defining a paper-contacting surface and a base plane defining a machine roll contacting surface, said weave pattern chosen so that said base plane is defined entirely by a first plurality of said cross machine direction yarns, and said top plane is defined entirely by a second plurality of said cross machine direction yarns, said weave pattern also chosen so that said machine direction yarns are interwoven with said first plurality of cross machine direction yarns to define said machine roll contacting surface on said base plane and interwoven with said second plurality of cross machine direction yarns to define said paper-contacting surface on said top plane, all of said yarns of said first plurality being selected from the group consisting essentially of synthetic monofilaments, multifilaments and spun staple fibers, and all of said yarns of said second plurality being encapsulated yarns, each of said encapsulated yarns comprising a monofilament core and an encapsulating sheath completely surrounding and covering the full length of said core, said sheath defining a soft, bulky outer surface which, when woven into said fabric, acts to prevent yarn migration of said encapsulated yarns in said fabric and wherein said encapsulated yarns reduce undue marking of said paper web said encapsulated yarns comprising a monofilament core and an encapsulating sheath completely surrounding and covering the full length of said core, said sheath defining a soft, bulky outer surface which, when woven into said fabric, acts to prevent yarn migration of said encapsulated yarns in said fabric, and wherein said encapsulated yarns reduce undue marking of said paper web while contributing to fabric stability.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.