Method of fabrication of a dryer fabric and a dryer fabric with backside venting for improved sheet stability

Abstract

A method of manufacturing and a papermaker's or industrial fabric, such as a dryer fabric for the dryer section of a paper machine, includes the application of a polymeric resin material onto preselected locations on the backside of a base substrate using a piezojet array which deposits the polymeric resin material in droplets having an average diameter of 10μ (10 microns) or more to build up discrete, discontinuous deposits of the polymeric resin material having a height of about 0.5 mm at the preselected locations. The preselected locations may be the knuckles formed by the interweaving of the yarns making up the fabric. The purpose of the deposits is to separate the backside of the dryer fabric from a surface, such as that of a dryer cylinder or turning roll, to enable air trapped between the dryer fabric and the surface to escape in lengthwise and crosswise directions parallel to the surface, instead of being forced through the fabric, possibly causing “drop off”. The polymeric resin material is set by means appropriate to its composition, and, optionally, and, if necessary, may be abraded to provide the deposits with a uniform height above the surface plane of the base substrate.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.