US2588228A - Industrial and papermakers' felt and method of producing the same - Google Patents

Description

March 4, 1952 P.T.GATES INDUSTRIAL AND PAPERMAKERS' FELT AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME Filed Jan. 16, 1948 INVENTOR FERENALT EIATEEI BY fl WW ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 4, 1952 INDUSTRIAL AND 'PAPERMAKERS' FELT AND V METHODOF-PRODUCIN, G'THE SAME Percivahfl. Gates,: Suffield, C onn assignor-ltom Drycor FeltCompan y Belleville, N. J.,la corpo-vl ration .of NewJersel'a.

Application Januaryl16, 1948, SeriaLNo. 2,714 I Y 14t,Claims... 01.. 281-722.)

.Ihe; presentimventionzrelates tozindustrial and paper makers; felts and methodof producing; the: same and is;.direc:ted particularly to an improved;

machine rduc s =.as--; u pa er; zra e a dr asbestos cement,prod-natal;. millboardl gaskets boardi, ,sbestos t-papens andI :the alike. Such felts produced. in; endlesstbelt; form :orproducedas a fla; fabricswhioh-ssisathereafter "joined together at;;its.:ends.-ttoriiorm anr, endless rbelt, the belt being mountedin the paper? makingmachine :upon SllitablQarOHSw Its-.wprincipal functions; are :to partzafinishlrttorzthe sheet of paper orothertmaa terialcarried.lonrthes; felt-,- and to ,remove water; from it": by drainage of the water through. the;

feltalv this. ywaterr; removal z. being accomplished through theacooperation-lf press-trolls, suction boxeslandithe like, The paper makers felt thus constitutes amechanical;p rt oft-the papernmae chine, in-l-such ,msel .lis subjected Vito friction,

abrasion chemical deterioration, and deterioraa t,

tion'..du toabacterial. molds, mildews, .fu'nguses,

eta:L ,structural Nandgfunctional character-a istics..- are therefore peculiarly related tomtherequirementslof its .tusewinl .paper machines, as dis tinguished fromiabricsvdesignedifor other uses,

slichilas'clothing, carpets. blankets,; and"the like.

'I'hjeinvention is concerned with paper makersf;

felts.jof theilsowalled needle'd type, asdistzlosed fort-finstancaaing the .Reissue Patent No; 213390; reissued August .26, 1941i ZtogPatrick' Walsh and Percival TJGa'te'S' for Industrialand Papers makersi Felts. Needled paper makers .felt' 'Jconteaze'led to l1 produce ea .rnapped :surface.

thes

invention is toaemDlQy incorporaterisuch-kfieeces. inthejfel'tibl an inter locking=1rofthe*fibers-"- brought about" by ""the needlin'g processg-ms distin'guished -from certain 65 produced byj flee'cesof. fibre material; needled into uthe'ibase g'fabric; as distinguishedfromhthey typg'gof jeltfialso used in-"paper"manufacture;- conSisting ofa" woven *fabric;usually wool; which bj'ected tota -fullin'gprocess toshrink and compact) the fabridand l is then- :brushed or natural fibers such as wool,

2 known felts hin-whiphuthe; synthetic fibers; are combined with Y wool and spunlinto yarns, which;

in turn-are woveninto aielt fabric. v

The, synthetic fiber materialy best: suited to 1 carrying; out the inventiomhasa smooth-land;

slippery surface; so-that dirt and othertforeign; substancesapassingg through; the felt :With ethe drainage; wateimdo not adhereto-the fibers, ,as they do in the case of certainanaturali-fibersg such as 1 wool; which have a scaly; surface and make the felt susceptibleto filling ;up 1= after a relatiyely short use -.in the lpaper:machine,with consequent deterioration in tthe uniform l qualityof.v the products produced on-the felt. Another; desired characteristic .of the a synthetic-fibers is that it should not have any appreciable fullingiz quality, as distinguished lfromwcertains natural fibers, such astwool which ,continue to; fulli while in use on thehpapermachinel-withwthe result that: the felts .become progressively; more dense, and. in doing tend to fill upuwith J dirt, and other foreign materials. Aw-furthenrdesired characteristiciis that the synthetic fiberwmaterial behighly resistantto frictionandabrasion, and to chemical deterioration and deterioration due. to bacterial molds,- mildews, funguses, etc.

A suitable synthetic-fiber material having, the. desired characteristics for carrying out the in: vention is the polyamidv known asnylon. A Other. suitable. materials are. synthetics such. as rayon.- fiber, milk products like casein fiber, and glass; fiber. It islproposed,faccordingwto the invention; to. use synthetic j fiberm material, for instance nylon, either alone, or in any desired percentages combination with Iothernsynthetic Lfiber,,, or with cotton, ramie, hemp. asbestos;..etc.. Withthe above and other objects inQVieWL-an. embodiment jof' the invention isshown innthe accompanying, drawing, and this embodiment will be hereinafter more fully describedwitlifrefrr erence thereto vand'thelinvention willbefinally; pointed out in the claims.

In thedrawings': Fig; 1 isja plan. view .of, a'paperlmakersfifelt. in the form ofan endlessbelt,.'according toflth. invention, a portion of Ethel woven. abase "being" shown without fibers attached thereto. Fig. 2is a transverse sectionaLview along the; line 2--2 of Figil; Fig.3 is an enlarged transverse sectional view? showing a portion'of the feltgthe pronouncelyz; heavy "lines; showing? the characteristic" inter-"1 locked position uncertain 'of theisynthetic fibers; Rc eferringtov the drawings, the paper;makersi" feltfi according to the illustrated exemplaryem vmaterial into and through the woven base.

out the additionof'fibrous material.

bodiment of the invention, is in the form of an endless belt comprising a woven base consisting of warp threads or cords l and weft threads or cords l l and having a relatively open mesh. The woven base merely forms a support for the fibrous material needled into it and does not have its own fibers brushed into a nap, so that it is not subject to the abrasive action the surface of the felt is called upon to resist. It may be so designed, and constructed of such material as to give it maximum longitudinal and lateral tensile strength without having to build into it any abrasive resistance. This makes possible the use of relatively fine yarns of cotton or other suitable material, which impart a minimum of felt marking to the material being made on the felt.

The fibrous material 12 which makes up the front and back surfaces of the felt is secured thereto by needling, as will be hereinafter more fully pointed out, the needling process fundamentally consisting in applying one or more bats,

layers, or pile fleeces of fibrous material to the front and back of the woven base and progressively needling it into and through the base, the

material being gradually moved beneath vertical- 1y reciprocating needles which force the fibrous In practice one or more layers or fleeces are needled at each side of the felt.

According to the invention the fiber material of at least one of the fleeces consists wholl or in part of synthetic fibers, as for instance nylon. The needling process is such that when such synthetic fibers are provided in at least one of the fleeces, parts of these fibers will be carried -into the fleeces at both sides of the felt, and will therefore cooperate in the structure to bring about the functional and structural advantages characteristic of the needled synthetic fibers.

Also, any or all of the fleeces may consist wholly or in part of synthetic fibers. The synthetic fibers may be blended or mixed in any suitable percentage with natural fibers such as wool, cotton, ramie, hemp, asbestos, or the like, and may also be mixed or blended with other synthetic fibres. Thus the entire front and back of the felt may be needled with fleeces consisting of 100 per cent synthetic fibers, for instance nylon, the front and back may be needled wth fleeces consisting of a blend of synthetic fibers andnatural fibers, as for instance nylon and wool, and the felt may have the front fleece formed of natural fibers and the back fleece formed wholly or in part of synthetic fibers. The synthetic fibers may be provided in any desired lengths and thicknesses, and may be either straight, crimped, or curled, and because of the controlled manner in which such synthetic fibers are produced these characteristics may be accurately predetermined. The fleeces are first needled into the base fabric in the regular manner, that is, one or more layers or fleeces are needled at each side of the felt until the desired amount of fibrous material is attached to the base fabric. Thereupon the felt is subjected to a further needling operation with- This consists in needling the felt from the opposite side from the side last fleece-needled, producing an interlocking tuck-in of the fibers from one side, and thereupon needling the felt from the same side as the last fleece-needled side, so that the fibers at this side are also given an interlocking tuck-in. Thepronounced lines in Fig. 3 show the characteristic interlocked arrangement of certain of the synthetic fibers resulting from this I method. This gives an interlocking effect which it is not possible to accomplish through the needling in of the fleece alone, and results in cerstain of the fibers extending back and forth one advantages are obtained where the synthetic fibers are blended with wool or other natural fibers. The individual nylon fibers are for instance much stronger than wool fibers and have a smooth and slippery surface, so that it is possible to interlace these fibers through the felt several times without breaking to thus interlock the nylon fibers in place and also hold-the wool fibers in place. It is also found that with this interlocking method there is a great reduction in the amount of nap or loose hairs in the surface of the felt thus reducing objectionable shedding.

Since the fleeces are interlocked through the base fabric by the needling process in a position perpendicular to the base fabric, the fibers of the synthetic and natural materials are in the optimum position to cushion the base fabric and offer resistance to abrasion. It has been found that synthetic fibers, such as nylon, when blended with natural fibers, such as wool, contribute the following important qualities to the pile fleeces of the felt.

First, the felthaving synthetic fibers, such as nylon, incorporated therein is highly resistant to abrasion. The nylon fibers are much stronger and resist abrasion much longer than wool fibers, with the result that as the wool fibers wear off and break off the nylon fibers come more and more to the surface taking more of the wear and thus tending to cover and protect the remaining wool fibers.

Second, the synthetic fibers, for instance nylon, are highly resistant to acid or alkaline conditions and to bacterial mold or mildew deterioration, so that they remain intact much longer than the natural fibers and tend to develop a protective covering over the natural fibers thus prolonging to a considerable extent the life of the felt as a whole.

Third, due to the fact that the nylon and other synthetic fibers have a smooth and slippery surface, dirt or foreign substances, passing through the felt with the drainage water, do not adhere to them as is the case with the scaly wool fiber. Thus, the use of synthetic fibers produces a felt which is less susceptible to filling up" and therefore the useful life of the felt is increased as well as the uniform quality of the product produced on the felt. When a felt begins to fill up it begins to lose its draining and water removal properties, it causes a depreciation in the quality of the product being produced on it, and it becomes subject to more and more severe abrasive action. As the filling up continues, these three factors become progressively worse until the felt either will not take out enough water to operate successfully, or the productis not within saleable standards, or the'felt rapidly wears out. By staying clean longer, a felt will produce a more uniform product and produqm mace-a ar;

sreateremzoouctiombecaus hiewemrshutrdom" foracleanina and changin .l

:grfull while .usewnQ-the aperl.

maintaining the uniformity of the product being manufactured on the felti'ez I Fifth?" due" to' -the use of- "synthetic fibers-, for instance nylon, in the fleeces of the felt it is possible to materially increase the amount of water removed, and the speed with which this water is removed, from the productbeing produced on the felt. This is due to the smoothness of the synthetic fibers and their ability to keep the. fleeces open. This is a highly important quality in the felt, leading to increased speed of production of the paper or other material being produced, and a reduction in the cost of the drying of the product, since water not removed from the product by the felt has to be removed by some other means, usually heat.

What is claimed is:

1. A paper makers felt for supporting and draining, paper making material, comprising a non-fulled woven base in which the warp and weft strands have an open weave to provide drainage passages from the front "side to the back side, and nap producing layers of fiber material respectively at the front and back sides of said woven base attached thereto by fibers of said layers needled into and through said base from one to the other of said layers, at least one of said layers being composed at least in part of non-fulling pliable synthetic fiber material, the individual fibers of which are disposed partially at the respective sides of said woven base and partially in the drainage passages in a direction substantially perpendicular to said woven base to direct drainage water therethrough.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1, further characterized in that said synthetic fiber material is nylon.

3. A paper makers felt for supporting and draining paper making material, comprising a non-fulled woven base in which the warp and weft strands have an open weave to provide drainage passages from the front side to the back side, and nap producing layers of fiber material respectively at the front and back sides of said woven base attached thereto by fibers of said layers needled into and through said base from one to the other of said layers, at least one of said layers being composed in part of natural fiber material and in part of nonfulling pliable synthetic fiber material, the individual fibers of which are disposed partially at the respective sides of said woven base and partially in the drainage passages in a direction substantially perpendicular to said woven base to direct drainage water therethrough.

withiitherresult hatuthel-if ltsl. time 4.=: 3I'li'er invention; asezidefiznecl 1 claim themcharacterized insthatma, i materials wool;

5.:Thezirrinventiontdeflnedeimicla m characterizedsinrthatasaidiV a. ural fib' m; isl'woolland-,saidisynthetic:fibemnateria agemassagesrfromcthe;frontiside and nap producing layers of fiben spectivelmtatrthe;frdnt randkiback-s-sideszzof ,sai woven: baseattached; theretdbyv-fibers oft.

' lair tron-sub. tantla pc I pendicularito said awovembaseitoed rectg ra naee water ithfirfithfll l he rt 7. The invention as defined in claim 6, further characterized in that said synthetic fiber material is nylon.

8. A paper makers felt for supporting and draining paper making material, comprising a non-fulled woven base in which the warp and weft strands have an open weave to provide drainage passages from the front side to the back side, and nap producing layers of fiber material respectively at the front and back sides of said woven base attached thereto by fibers of said layers needled into and through said base from one to the other of said layers, all of said layers being composed at least in part of non-fulling pliable synthetic fiber material, the individual fibers of which are disposed partially at the respective sides of said woven base and partially in the drainage passages in a direction substantially perpendicular to said woven base to direct drainage water therethrough.

9. The invention as defined in claim 8, further characterized in that said synthetic fiber material is nylon.

10. A paper makers felt for supporting and draining paper making material, comprising a non-fulled woven base in which the warp and weft strands have an open weave to provide drainage passages from the front side to the back side, and nap producing layers of fiber material respectively at the front and back sides of said woven base attached thereto by fibers of said layers needled into and through said base from one to the other of said layers, all of said layers being composed wholly of non-fulling pliable synthetic fiber material, the individual fibers of which are disposed partially at the respective sides of said woven base and partially in the drainage passages in a direction substantially perpendicular to said woven base to direct drainage water therethrough.

11. The invention as defined in claim 10, further characterized in that said synthetic fiber material is nylon.

12. A paper makers felt for supporting and draining paper making material, comprising a non-fulled woven base in which the warp and weft strands have an open weave to provide drainage passages from the front side to the back side, and nap producing layers of fiber material respectively at the front and back sides of said woven base attached thereto by fibers thereof needled into and through said base from one to the other of said layers, at least one of said layers being composed at least in part of non-fulling pliable pendicular to said woven base to direct drainage watentherethrough, at least some of said synthetic fibers being directed back and forth through said vwoven base and having their ends directed inwardly toward said woven base.

13. The invention as defined in claim 12, further' characterized in that said synthetic fiber woven fabric base in which the Warp and weft strands have an open weave to provide drainage passages from the upper to the lower side, needling nap producing layers of fiber material respectively at the front and back sides of 'saidwoven base to cause fibers of said layers to be; needled into and through said base from one to p the other of said layers, and further needling without the addition of fiber material at each side of said felt to cause certain of said fibers previously needled in one direction to be carried through the felt in the opposite direction, and to cause loose ends of certain of said fibers to be inserted into the nap at each side of said felt.

PERCIVAL T. GATES.

' REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 7 Number Name Date Re.21,890 Walsh et al. Aug. 26, 1941 1,442,327 DeLong Jan. 16, 1923 2,331,321 Heaton Oct. 12, 1943 2,423,828 Chagnon July 15, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 869,766 France Feb. 16, 1942

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