Blanket clamping arrangement for shoe press of papermaking machine

A shoe press for a papermaking machine comprising:

• a rotatably mounted backing roll, an elongate concave shoe, the shoe being urged toward the backing roll to define an extended nip therebetween for the passage therethrough of a paper web;
• a blanket defining an endless loop, wherein the blanket extends through the nip such that the web is disposed between the blanket and the backing roll, the blanket having a first lateral edge and a second lateral edge spaced in the cross machine direction from the first lateral edge;
• and a blanket clamping arrangement comprising:
• at least one head mounted for rotation about an axis with respect to the shoe;
• a plurality of wedge segments arranged radially outwards of the head and each having an inclined surface facing the head, the head also being provided with a frustoconical wedge surface in engagement with the respective inclined surfaces of the wedge segments;
• and
• clamping means mounted onto the head solely from the end thereof remote from the blanket and being axially displaceable relative to the head so as to cause axial and radial displacement of the wedge segments relative to the head, in which respect a lateral edge margin of the blanket extends between the wedge segments and an opposing surface of the clamping means and is clampable therebetween upon radial displacement of the wedge segments;
• whereby axial displacement of the clamping means relative to the head causes the blanket selectively to be clamped between the wedge segments and the clamping means, or to be released and removable therefrom.