Methods for making and processing high bulk tissue webs

Abstract

A method for processing high bulk tissue webs is disclosed for forming a wet web, drying the web, winding the dried web to form a plurality of parent rolls, unwinding the parent rolls by transmitting torque through the roll center and/or ends, moving the partially unwound roll to effect splicing with a subsequent parent roll, and rewinding the thus united web. In particular embodiments, the torque transmitting means comprise side clamping mechanisms that engage only the end surfaces of the parent rolls. In other embodiments, an automated off-line method for splicing tissue webs from different parent rolls utilizes a finishing unit that substantially continuously impacts each web during unwinding to splice the webs together. In one aspect, a method of making and processing high bulk tissue webs is disclosed for the production of a soft, high bulk uncreped throughdried tissue web by depositing an aqueous suspension of paper-making fibers onto an endless forming fabric to form a web and drying the web by throughdrying to final dryness without any significant differential compression to form a dried web having a bulk value of about 15 to 25 cubic centimeters per gram or greater, an MD Stiffness Factor of 50 to 100 kilograms, a machine direction stretch of 15 to 25 percent, and a substantially uniform density.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.