Albany International Corporation

David S Rougvie

John M Hawes

Jeffrey Scott Denton

Jeffrey Joseph Collegnon

John LaFond

Joseph Gerald O'Connor

James G Donovan

Manish Jain

Joseph P Botelho

Lynn Faye Kroll

Anders Nilsson

Louis Jay Jandris

Goran Nilsson

Hayward Bradford Arthur

Ademar Lippi Fernande

Ademar Lippi Fernandes

A laminated on-machine-seamable industrial fabric made from a flat woven full width base fabric layer wherein the base fabric layer is folded inwardly and flattened to produce a fabric with seaming loops disposed at the two widthwise edges.

Flat woven full width on-machine-seamable fabric

A papermaking fabric having a top layer and a bottom layer of interwoven machine direction (MD) yarns and cross-machine direction (CD) yarns bound together with warp binder yarns. At least some of the CD yarns are made of a material which generates a strong contractive force when returned to room temperature after heat-setting (annealing under MD tension). These CD yarns are positioned such that the strong contractive force offsets tension forces generated when the fabric is placed under load and which typically result in an edge curl. An exemplary material for these CD yarns is polybutylene terephthalate (PBT).

Monofilaments to offset curl in warp bound forming fabrics

A smoothed and durable industrial process fabric and method for producing such a fabric. The fabric may be used as a papermaker's fabric, other industrial process fabric and/or engineered fabric. In any case, the fabric is processed using a device comprising at least two smooth rolls which form a pressure nip, such as a calender, such that at least some of the fabric components are permanently deformed. Preferably, at least one of the rolls is heated to a pre-selected temperature.

Fabric characteristics by flat calendering

A papermaker's fabric, usable in the forming section of a paper machine, has three layers of cross-machine-direction (CD) wefts. The forming layer wefts are grouped into pairs. This twinning of the top-layer wefts results in non-equal spacing in the forming layer. This spacing imparts a desired non-uniformity in the web-supporting surface, thereby reducing the fabric diagonal problem. One of the top-layer wefts in each pair is vertically stacked with the middle and wear side layer wefts. The other top-layer wefts in each pair are unstacked. This alignment increases the drainage properties of the fabric. The middle layer wefts provide extra stability in the CD.

Fabric with three vertically stacked wefts with twinned forming wefts

A papermaker's fabric, usable in the forming section of a paper machine, has three layers of cross-machine-direction (CD) wefts. The forming layer wefts are grouped into pairs. This twinning of the top-layer wefts results in non-equal spacing in the forming (top) layer. This spacing imparts a desired non-uniformity in the web-supporting surface, thereby reducing diagonal fabric pattern. The forming layer wefts are vertically offset from the middle and wear side layer wefts, which are vertically stacked. This unstacked alignment reduces the caliper of the fabric and lowers the void volume. The middle layer wefts provide extra stability in the CD.

Forming fabric with twinned top wefts and an extra layer of middle wefts

A papermaker's fabric, designed for use as a base fabric for a TAD belt, but also usable on the forming, press and dryer sections of a paper machine, has a plurality of warp yarns interwoven with a plurality of weft yarns. The warp yarns are of two types. Those of the first type weave with the weft yarns in a plain weave, while those of the second type weave with the weft yarns in a 2&times;2 twill weave. The warp yarns of the first type alternate with those of the second type, which undulate between adjacent yarns of the first type to give the fabric a desired openness.

Through-air-drying base fabric

An industrial process fabric is embossed in a device, such as a continuously operating two-roll calender having a preselected embossing pattern. The roll(s) of the calender may alternatively themselves be engraved or etched to provide the embossing. Embossing takes place with controlled temperature, pressure, speed and gap (between the rolls) settings. The fabric may be a forming, press, dryer or TAD fabric used in paper and pulp production, pulp forming fabric or an engineered fabric used to produce nonwoven textile products by meltblowing, spunbonding, hydroentangling or air laid needle punching.

Growing community of inventors

Appleton, WI, United States of America

David S Rougvie