International Paper Company

Duane A Parker

Herschel Sternlieb

J Michael Greenway

Jodie M Siegel

Timothy J Connolly

Arlene T Simon

An hydropatterning apparatus conveys a sheet of fabric through a patterning station along a machine direction on a conveyor, preferably a drum, having a support surface formed with a pattern of raised or solid areas and lowered or void areas, and has one or more manifolds of hydrojet nozzles disposed above the conveyor for directing a continuous curtain of fluid downwardly to impact on the fabric so that properties of the fabric become altered in correspondence to the pattern of the support surface. The hydropatterning technique is used to emboss the screen pattern into the nap of napped fabric in order to produce aesthetically pleasing surface textures and patterns in the napped fabric, such as a fur-like surface texture. The technique can also be used for displacement of yarn or fiber to obtain three-dimensional effects such as ribbing, wavy lines, checkering, geometric or floral designs, or lacework.

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Samers, CT, United States of America

Duane A Parker