CA1093879A

CA1093879A - Forming absorbent tissue paper products with fine mesh fabrics

Info

Publication number: CA1093879A
Application number: CA312,958A
Authority: CA
Inventors: William D. Lloyd; Richard W. Evers
Original assignee: Kimberly Clark Corp
Current assignee: Kimberly Clark Worldwide Inc
Priority date: 1977-10-11
Filing date: 1978-10-10
Publication date: 1981-01-20
Also published as: GB2006296A; GB2006296B; MX149350A; AU4056278A; JPS607760B2; AU517579B2; JPS5459417A

Abstract

ABSTRACT
A wet-laid, dry creped, bulky, absorbent tissue paper web of desirable softness and smoothness characteristics is produced utilizing a very fine mesh transfer and imprinting fabric. The wet-laid web is formed and through-dried in the absence of significant pressure to a consistency of from about 40% to 90% and then carried on a fabric of greater than about 4900 openings per square inch to about 8100 openings per square inch to a creping cylinder. The fine pattern of the fabric is impressed into the web and the sheet is dried on the cylinder to a consistency of about 95%. The tissue web at a suitable weight as toweling, or as facial. tissue or as bathroom tissue, has been found to be of excellent smoothness and softness while retaining other desired characteristics for the intended uses, particularly bulk and absorbency, at high crepe frequency.

Description

33~

F I E LD OF THE :[ NV ~NT I ON
This inventioll relates to improvements i.n wet-laid, dry creped tissue webs for use as facial tissue, toilet tissue, toweling and the like, having as a single ply a basis weight of between about 5 and 25 pounds per 2880 sq. ft. The invention al50 relates to methods for producing these improved webs and multiply sheets. The sheets of the present invention are designed to have characteristics suiting them for their stated purposes and, in addition, to be of more acceptable softness and smoothness than is generally present in these products.
These characteristics are obtained by employing a through-drying process to minimize interfiber bonding of the wet-laid web to attain a fiber consistency ln the ranye of 40%
to about 90~. Then a very fine mesh transfer and imprinting fabric, having at least about 4900 openings per square inch and up to about 8100 openings per square inch, is used to :~
knuckle the through-dried web to a cxeping cylinder, on which cylinder further drying may take place before sub-jection o~ the web to the creping blade of the cylinder.
It is considered to be totally unexpected, in view of the prior art in this specific area, that a light weight paper web suitable for use in facial tissue applications, for example, may be imprinted with such a very fine mesh fabric to provide a high bulk, absorbent and soft product.
The relatively fine mesh fabric commonly would be expected, in view of the art, to produce a smoothed out and overall :
compacted web similar to that attained by overall pressing of the web with a papermaker's felt. But contrary to expectations of this order, the web produced has significant densified areas formed under the knuckles of the fine mesh transfer and printing fab.ric with bulked areas lying between ,~; 't~ , sbj~

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to give the web desirable bu]k, softness and absorbency characteristics.
BACKGROUND OF TI~E INVENTIO~
Creped tissue paper products for sanitary purposes such as toweling and ~acial and toilet tissues are conven-tionally produced by wet laying processes. These involve basically flowiny an aqueous slurry of wood pulp fibers onto a wire, such as a Fourdrinier wire, of the papermaking machine, removing water from the slurry to an extent which permits removing the formed web from the wire, and further drying the web by pressing and including passing it to a heated Yankee dryer from which the substantially dry web is cre~ed. The drying action causes the development of quite -~
strong interfiber hydrogen bonds which impart strength to the web and also tend to increase its density and stiffness while correspondingly decreasing its softness. The creping action tends to disrupt some of the formed hydrogen bonds, releasiny the ~ibers to an extent, that is, opening the web, and occ~sioning the development of absorbency, softness and bulk in the dried product.
The art has long recognized that the tissue webs, creped or uncreped, may be produced with enhanced absorbency, bulk and softness characteristics by limiting the extent to which fiber contact and hydrogen bonding occurs in manu-facture.
In the most usual method of production it lS customary to drain water from the aqueous slurry on the papermaking wire with the aid of suction boxes~ table rolls and the like. The slurry, which initially may be 0.3% fiber by weight and 99.7%
water, is increased in consistency by such actions to a point where ~he web may be mechanically pressed. This mechanical action, while useful to remove large quantities of water and to thus increase the web consistency, tends to pack the fibers sb/~

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more closely ~ogether, thereby increasing the hydroyen bonding of the fibers and web dellsity as already mentioned.
To avoid this compaction of the web and to attain a soft, absorbent product with a high strength, it has been suggested by Niles U.S. patent 2,666,369 to carry out the dewatering and drying as by suction boxes and radiant heating entirely in the absence of pressure to the poin-t where a final application of heat and pressure will not operate -to mat down and compress the fibers of the paperO
Also, Tompkins U S. patent 1,843,656 describes a method for the production of a creped web in which water removal from the newly forming web is effected by suction boxes and an air blast so that the web is presented to the cxeping drum on a felt in a moist but substantially uncom-pacted condition such tha~ it may be marked by a roll having raised surfaces posltioned at the inlet to the crep.ing drum.
Also, Tompkins U.S. patent 1,868,617 disclosed the manufacture of paper without pressing ahead of the dryer and accomplished this by drawing heated air through the web, radiant heat being directed to one side of the web and suction being applied to the other side to draw the heated ai.r through.
More recently, other processes provide for forming a thick, substantially uncompacted web with minimum natural .
bondin~, as by utilizing chemical debonders added to the ;.
stock slurry or by using unbeaten stock, accompanied by air dr~ing with heat, and then the initial fiber formation is pattern bonded (using either pressure or adhesive) to achieve stren~th. Such webs may be creped to further increase their effective thickness as disclosed, for example, in the following patents:

Sanford et al U.S. patent 3,301,746 - 3 - ..
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Salvucci et al U.S. paten-t 3,812,000 Gentle et al U.S. paten~ 3,879~257 Shaw U.S. patent 3,821,068 Ayers U.S. patent 3,905,863 Forrest U.S. patent 3,629,056 The Sanford et al U.S. paten-t 3,301,746 teaches the through-drying of a web to a fiber consisting of about 30~
to about 80% on a relatively open transfer/imprinting fabric of about 20 to about 60 meshes per inch, that is, up to about ~ :
1200 openings per square inch, followed by knuckling of the web to a dryer with the same fabric for completion of the drying. The patent further teaches it to be critical that ;
the relat.ionship of the moist web to the imprinting fabric be maintained, once established.
The Ayers U.S. patent 3,905,863 refers to the same open fabric mesh range as reported in the 3,391,746 patent but employs the reverse side of the semi-twill fabric in supporting the paper web.
The Shaw U.S. patent 3,821,068 teaches the through- ~ .
drying of a web to a fiber consistency of about 806 to about 96% on a through~drying fabric and the patent stresses that th.e most important feature is the avoidance of signi~icant mechanical pressure being applied -to the web until the web is too dry to form signlficant additional papermaking bonds u~on being compressed~ In this approach the web .is carried by the through-drying fabric to a creping drum for any final moisture removal and creping. The web is adhered to the drum by an adhesive for carrying out the creping action and the sb/.~

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web product is of uniform density rather than imprinted with knuckled zones corresponding to the openness of the carrying fabric.
According to the present invention, there is provided a soft, smooth, absorbent creped tissue paper web having a basis weight in the range of between 5 and 25 pounds per 2880 sq. ft. and a knuckle pattern occupying between 20 and 25% of the web surface area, the knuckle pattern being that of an imprinted fabric having greater than 4900 openings per square inch and less than about 8100 openings per square inch.
According to the method of the present invention which is for producing a smooth tissue having a basis weight u~creped of bet~een 5 and 25 pounds per 2880 sy. ft. and good bulk, softness and absorbency ~haracteristics, there is carried out the steps of wet forming a paper web of wood pulp fibers in the substantial absence o,~ pressure to minimize interfiber bonding and throuyh-drying the formed unpressed web to a fiber consistency in the range of about 40~ to 90%. The through-dried web is carried on an imprin-ting and transfer fabric having between 4900 to 8100 openings per square inch and the knuckle pattern is imprinted on the fabric into the ~eb to provide bonded zones and bulked unbonded zones between the bonded zones ~Jhile continuing the drying of the web. The bonded web is creped to provide a web of at least abou~ 70 crepes per inch and having a high degree of smoothness.
More specifically, the present inven-tion is based upon the finding that a very fine mesh fabric will impar-t to a tissue weight ~Jeb of a fiber consistency in the range of about 40% to 90~ a significan-t imprint to cause fiber bonding which, in the overall, gives satisfactory strenyth so that sb/`, the product is useful in commercial tissue applications.
Simultaneously, the tissue conforms sufficiently to the mesh openings to create bulked zones to provide an improved tactile response. The creped webs produced are characterized by a very fine crepe structure and, importantly for tissue .
applications, a smooth surface, absorbency and a high degree OL limpness for the strength level of the web.
The extent to which the web is through-dried, .
that is, subjected to drying without significant mechani.cal pressure before application to the creping drum, is dependent to some degree upon the characteristics desired in the final -~
product. Roll products of high bulk such as bathroom tissue are preferably dried to the upper leve]. of the 40~ to 90 consistency range before being applied to the creping cylinder.
Products such as facial tissue where surface smoothness and strength are usually considered to be the dominating characteristics may suitably be through-dried to the lower or middle level of the consistency range and they ~ill give a finer degree of crepe and smoothness. Kitchen towels may similarly be provided to emphasize the characteristic of smoothness in preference to bulk, and this will determine the degree to sb/
.

which the web is through-dried.
The moist web, that is, at 40% to 90% fiber con-sistency, is adhered to the dr~er using a polyester fabric of about 70 or more meshes per inch and suitably o~ a four~
shed twill weave fabric. Such a fabric has a filament or thread pattern in which the warp passes through the shute strands in a three-under and one-over pattern providing long shute knuckles which lie against the web. Other weaves, however, may be employed.
The web product of this invention may be producPd in a basis weîght useful as a single ply but a sheet product of two webs is more usual.
It is a particular object of this invention to provide a novel process for the formation of a tissue paper web.
. . ~ .
It is an important object of the invention to provide a tissue web of enhanced softness while yet providing a web of good bulk and absorbency characteristics.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will be more fully understood by reference to the following detailed description and accompan~ing drawings wherein:
Fig. 1 is a schema-tic illustration of a papermaking machine useful in the production of creped tissue webs in accordance with the invention;
Fig. 2a is an enlarged and schematic i].lustration of an uncreped product formed on the papermaking machine of Fi~. 1 employing a fabric of about 5616 openings per square inch ~78x72 mesh) as the printing and impression fabric;
3Q Fig. 2b is a view similar to that of Fig. 2a but of a creped product;

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10 ~ ~ ~J9 Fig. 2c is a view of a prin-ting and impression fabric of about 5616 openings per square inch (78x72 mesh) employed to produce the product of Fig. 2b;
Fig. 2d is a view similar to that of Fig. 2c but of a printing and impression fabric of about 775 openings per square inch (31x25 mesh);
Fig. 2e is a view similar to that of Fig. 2b but with the fabric of Fig. 2d;
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a two-ply tissue ` ,`
product employing the tissues of Fig. 2a but each with a sine wave arrangement;
Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a two-ply tissue product employing the tissues of Fig. 2a but each embossed with a peg-on-peg arrangement;
Fig. 5 is a schematic illustration of another arrangement of a papermaking machine useful in accordance with the invention and adapted to provide a multilayer web;
Fig. 6 is an enlarged and schematic illustration of a two-ply product in which each ply is formed on a papermaking machine having a divided inlet as shown in Fig. 5 and with a printing and impression fabric of about 5616 openings per square inch (78x72 mesh) as in Fig. 2a;
Fig. 7 is an enlarged and schematic illustration of a two-ply product similar to that of the prior art and formed with a printing and impression fabric of about 1200 openings per square inch (40x30 mesh).
DETAI~ED DESCRIPTION OF T~E DRAWINGS
Referring initially to Fig. 1, the papermaking machine is generally known except for the nature of the fabric in the transfer section and its relation to the through--drying and creping roll sections.

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The papermaking machine in the forming section comprises a loop of a forming fabric or wire 1 which is trained about a plurality of rolls 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.
The fabric 1 is a conventional paper web drainage wire or abric used in Fourdrinier machines and the strands may be of either metal or synthetic fiber material. The roll 8 is somewhat larger in diameter than the other mentioned rolls and serves as a slice roll. The roll 7 which has its center in vertical alignment with the roll 8 serves as a breast roll and the rolls 7,8 define a forming zone 9 into which stock is discharged for sheet formation. The rolls 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are turning rolls. Roll 5 also functions as a guide roll having one end fixed and the other movable and any suitable apparatus (not shown) may be connected with the movable end of the roll so that the roll func-tions to cause the fabric 1 to track. Roll 1 may be suitably equipped to be movable to provide for maintaining adequate tension in ~-the formin~ fabric. One or more of the rolls such as slice roll 7 or couch roll 2 may be driven for the purpose of driving the fabric l. Any suitable doctors and water showers `~
may be used in connection with the forming fabric in its travel to maintain the fabric clean as is well known in the art.
The dewatering section of the machine includes a drainage fabric 10 disposed about a plurali-ty of rolls identi-fied at 11, 12, ;13 and 14. Also, the fabric 10 passes around roll 8 and, with the fabric 1, constitutes the forming zone 9, the fabric 1 lying outside the fabric 10. ~`
The roll 12 is a conventional stretch roll having both ends simultaneously adjustably movable by mechanism (not shown) for maintaining the loop of fabric 10 tensioned about the plurality of rolls supporting the fabric. Roll 13 is Sb/~ ~,J

a conventional guide roll for maintaining fabric lO in a predetermined path.
Roll 14 is somewhat larger than the remaining rolls ll and is positioned closely between suction or vacuum box 15 and a plurality of vacuum boxes 16 which immediately precede the zone of formed web transfer. The plurality of rolls ll serve as supporting and turning rolls.
A headbox indicated at 17 provides for directing the usual aqueous pulp furnish to the forming zone 9 between the fabrics.
The numeral 18 designates a vacuum pickup shoe bearing the inside of a through-drying fabric l9. The fabric l9 is suitably a relatively open polyester fabric which passes over a plurality of small supporting rolls 20 as indicated and over a first open honeycomb through-drying roll 21, a large guide roll 22 and a second open honeycomb through-drying roll 23. The through-drying section is itself designated generally by the numeral 24 and includes hoods 25,26 over the through-drying rolls 21,23 respectively.
In this arrangement heated air supplied by the hoods is directed through the through-drying fabric on the rolls 21,23 and is exhausted through outlets 21a,23a.
The throu~h-drying section 24 is followed by a txansfer section. This section includes a carrying and imprinting transfer fabric 27 of relatively fine mesh. The fabric is suitably of single filament structure having a mesh in the range of about 70 to about 96 meshes per inch.
The fine mesh fabric 27 is supported by a plurality of carrying rolls 28, vacuum pickup roll 29, vacuum couch roll 30 and press roll 31. The transfer section also includes fabric 32 supported by a plurality of turning rolls 33 and having an upper run 34 which lies along the lower run 35 of S~

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fabric Z7. At lcast one of the turni.ng rolls 33 is adapted as a take-up roll in conve~ti.ona:l fashion.
Another roll 33 is preferably equipped to aid tracking of the fabric and one of the rolls 33 suitably is a drive roll.
The roll 31 presses the combination of the fabric 27 and any web carried thereon to the creping drum or Yankee dryer 36. This drum 36 is steam heated and serves to dry a web passing over it as the web approaches the creping blade 37. Adherence of a web to the dryer is attained usually with the aid of an adhesive which may be appli~d either to the web as it passes to drum 36, or it may be applied to the drum itself by a spray head shown ¦ at 38, The dryer section is followed by the reel section 40 which includes rolls 41,42, the reeled material being deslgnated at 39.
In the operation of the apparatus of Fig~ 1, a ¦ web 44 formed in the zone 9 is dewatered as indicated by movement of withdrawn water to receiver 45O The web has a fiber consistency of about 8-10% as it leaves roll 8 and parts from the fabric 1. Dewatering further occurs at rolls 11 as web 44 is carried by the fabric 10 on its :
und~rside. Further dewatering, without significant pressure but with some minor fiber bonding due to web shrinkage upon water withdrawal, occurs at vacuum boxes 15 and 16.
The web at a consistency of about 30-35% is transferred to throu~h-drying web 19 which carries it over rolls 21, 22 and 23, drying the web to a consistency in the range of 40-90%. The relatively fine mesh fabric 27 accepts the through~dried web at roll 29 and the web is transported `
between fabrics 27 and 32 to the inlet to the Yankee dryer sb/~

at press roll 31.
Adhesive is usually applied to ~he dryer throuyh spray head 38 -to control the degree of adherence of the web to the dryer. The application of the adhesive may be to the web itself or -to both the web and dryer but, commonly, application to the dryer is preferred. The control of the creping action by controlling the sheet adhesion to the dryer is a well-known art. In some cases the web applied to the dryer may itself have sufficient tack that no adhesive is necessary and, in some cases, a release agent is employed to decrease adhesion and to aid maintaining the dryer surface clean of fiber, resin and the like. Adhesives which serve the purpose of control of the web adherence include animal glue, water soluble polymeric materials, water dispersible resins such as polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl acetate and vinyl acetate ethylene copolymers, vinyl resins in organic solvents, starches, plastisols and the like.
A product of the machine operation of Fig. 1 is illustrated in Fig. 2a. The web 44 has a series of compressed zones 44a corresponding to the knuckles of the fine mesh fabric 27 and bulky zones 44b bordering the compre~ssed zones. The fine crepe structure of the product is indicated at 44c in Fig. 2b. The fabric itself is indicated at 27 in Fig~ 2c. The illustration in Fig. 2d is of a fabric 46 of the prior art having a mesh of about 31x25 t775 openings per square inch) and Fig. 2e illustrates a product 47 formed with the fabric of Fig. 2d.
Fig. 3 illustrates a two~ply product formed by bringing together two plies of the tissue webs 44 of Fig. 2 in accordance with U.S. patent 3,868,205, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference. In Flg. 3 sb/~

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the sheet generally designated by the numeral 48 is embossed in each web and crossing peaks 49,50 of the embossments are secured together by an adhesive 51 applied to one of -the embossed webs.
Fig. 4 illustrates a two-ply product ormed by bringing together two plies of ~he tissue webs 44 of Fig. 2 in a peg-on-peg type embossment in a manner known to the art.
In this arrangement each embossed web has protuberances 53 and bordering zones 54 with the webs mating on the protuberances and held together by adhesive 55. The fine crepe structure of each web is designated at 56.
A multi-layer web may be produced utilizing the papermaking machine of Fig. 5. In this instance the general nature of the equipment and its moun~ing are similar to that described in connection ~ith Fig. 1 except that a divided inlet is employed and the same fa~ric carries the formed web throu~h the through-dryer to the Yankee for web imprinting, and the machine operates at a somewhat lower speed. As ;~
illustrated, lnlet 60 has a divider 61 so arranged as to permit the supplying of one furnish through chamber 62 and another through 63 so that layering of the furnishes is accomplished as the s-tocks flow to the forming fabric 64.
A dewatering vacuum box 65 is associated with the forming fabric ~hich is supported by a plurality of large rolls 66 and a plurality of smaller rolls 67. A fine mesh fabric 68 kiss contacts the forming fabric 64 and accepts, with th~
aid of Yacuum pickup box 69, a formed web carrying i~ as indicated ~y ~he arrows past vacuum dewatering box 70 and through the through-dryer 71. The through-dryer is "
schematically illustrated and may be of the type in which an open circumference roll is supplied with heated air from a hood in such manner that the heated air passes through the Sb~uuJ

web to the interior of -the roll, or may be so arranyed that the heated air is supplied internally of ~he roll to pass through the surface of the hood. The fine mesh through-drying and imprinting fabric is suitably supported by a plurality of rolls 72 of small diameter and a plurality of somewhat larger rolls 73 arranged to cause tracking movement of the fabric in known manner.
One roll 73 is the press roll for urging the fabric 68 and a web 74 thereon to the surface of the Yankee dryer 75. A nozzle 76 provides for a spray of adhesive and a creping blade 77 is arranged to crepe the relatively dry web from the dryer. The creped web is tensioned by roll 78 and reeled at 79.
A web may be produced with the equipment of Fig. 5 to provide a double layer web or removal of the divider 61 permits a singla layer web to be formed.
Fig. 6 illustrates a two~ply sheet 80 formed of webs 81,82 each of which is produced in a machine as illus-trated in Fi~. 5 having a fine mesh fabric 68 and which sheet has been edge crimped as at 83 to securely retain the plies.
Fig. 7 illustrates a two-ply sheet 85 made of webs 86 of a single furnish in equipment similar to that of Fig.
5 ~ut in which the fabric 68 is a relatively coarse mesh fabric having a count o~ 40 by 48 with 1920 openings per square inch.
The following Examples 1 to 4 inclusive illustrate the effect of using a relatively fine mesh impression and transfer fabric as compared to a relatively coarse mesh impression fabric in producing a kitchen towel product form from a through-dried base web. Through-dried toweling base web material was manufactured from a single furnish. In sb~

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one instance a coarse transfer and impression fabric 31x25 mesh with 775 openings per square inch and in a second case a relatively flne transfer and impreSSioll fabric oE
about 78x72 mesh with about 5616 openings per square inch were used to produce the base webs. All machine conditions other than the fabric mesh were held as constant as possible.
The use of the coarse mesh fabric simulates a prior art procedure for the manufacture of base webs while the use of the fine mesh fabric demonstrates the advantages of the present invention. In this comparison through-drying took place on one fabric in each instance and the web was then transferred to the test fabrics for transport to the dryer ~ig. 1).
The two through-dried toweling base sheets produced were then each converted to finished rolls of towels by two different processes and consumer use tested in a paired comparison against a leading commercial towel obtained at retail.
Example A
A continuous web of paper was manufactured (Fig. 1) at a speed of about 2500 fpm from a furnish consisting by weight on an air dry basis of 62.5% northern softwood lcraft, 20.8% northern hardwood kraft, and 16.7% machine broke of the softwood and hardwood. Approximately 0.9~ Parez NC631, pur-chased from American Cyanamide, a resin which provides both wet and dry strength, and 0.6~ Kymene 557 of Hercules Chemical Company, a commercial wet strength resin, was added to the furnish in the pulper for wet and dry strength control, and the pulps and white water system were adjusted to 6.5 pH with muriatic acid. The mixed furnish was lightly refined and supplied to a tissue machine equipped with a - Trade Mark sb/,~

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forming section as iII Fig. 1. The dewatering section and pre-Yankee -through-drying section, the transfer and impression sec-tion and Yankee dryer were also as in Fig~ 1.
The tissue web 44 (Fig. 2) was formed between the two fabrics 1 and 10 at a targe-t dryer basis weight of 12.0 lbs/2880 ft in the forming section at 9 (Fig. 1). The fabrics 1 and 10 were conventional commercial Eabrics. The formed sheet was further dewatered while on the inner fabric using vacuum boxes 15,16 and transferred to through-drying fabric 19 by means of a vacuum pickup shoe 18 operating at 8" Hy vacuum. The consistency immediately after the transfer was 27.7~. The moist web 44 was predried on the throuyh-dr~ing fabric by pulling heated air through the web and through-dryer supporting fabric 19 to a fiber consistency of 80~. The partially dried web was -then transferred to polyester fabric 27, carried between the fabric runs 34,35 to the Yankee dryer pressure roll 31, and pressed against i and transerred to the Yankee dryer at a pressure of 200 ~li by a 40 P&J hardness rubber covered roll 31 acting through the fa~ric 34 and moist web 44 to the Yankee dryer 36. A minimum amount of creping adhesive consisting of an aqueous solution of polyvinyl alcohol and a small amount of tetrasodium pyrophospate was sprayed onto the Yankee dryer immediately ahead of the pressure roll nip at roll 31 to control adhesion of the moist web to the Yankee dryer.
The impression and transfer fabric 27 is a four-shed t~ill weave polyester fabric having 78 meshes/inch in the machine direction and 72 meshes/inch in the cross machine direction (5616 openings per square inch). The warp and shute wires were 0.0079" in diameter and the fabric was li~htly surfaced by sanding on the impression side. The impression fabric knuckles were estimated to compact about sb/.l~t,~

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20~ of the web surface.
The moist web 44 adherin~ to the Yankee d~yer 36 was then dried -to a final dryness of about 95%, creped from the surface of the Yankee dryer by blade 37 and wound lnto rolls on the reel at 40. The creping blade 37 was ground with a 10 bevel and was held against the dryer 36 to main- ;
tain a creping pocket of about 80. The ratio of Yankee dryer speed to the reel speed was main-tained at about 1.30 resulting in a finished base web having about 30% residual stretch.
The through dried base web having a basis of about 12 lbs/2880 sq. ft. and having the physical properties shown in Table I was then converted into finished kitchen -towel product forms using two different embossing patterns and employing converting processes as follows:
Example 1 A sheet 48 (Fig. 3) was produced by first separately embossing two webs of the base sheet described above with continuous sine wave patterns in accordance with `~U.S. patent 3,868,205, by passing each web individually through the nips formed by patterned steel and rubber covered rolls. Printing adhesive w~s disposed in discrete areas on the raised embossed inner surface of one of the webs, then the two webs were brought together to promote ply attachment in the adhesive printed areas. The two-ply, embossed, glued ~`
towel was then perforated at 11" intervals and wound into a finished towel roll containing 100 sheets.
The continuous embossed sine wave patterns were at opposite directed 45 angles to the direction of the web travel and the adhesive used was an a~ueous dispersion of polyvinyl acetate. The finished towel rolls containing 100 sheets were cut to 11" width. Physical properties of the sb/~

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finished towels are shown in Table II.
Example 2 The same base webs utilized in Exam;ple 1 were converted to a finisiled towel product form using a dlfferent towel con~erting process and embossing pattern.
This converting process is termed frequently a peg-on~peg structure and is an embossment employed commercially. Two webs are separately embossed with a raised pattern of discrete embossed protuberances by passing them indi~idually through nips formed by steel embossing rolls and rubber covered embossing rolls. The embossed pattern on each of the webs was identical. An aqueous dispersion of polyvinyl acetate adhesive was then printed on the raised, embossed inner surface of one o the webs and the two webs remaining in arcuate contact on the identical patterned embossing rolls were brought into contact in the nip formed by the two steel embossing rolls so that the distal surfaces of the embossed protuberances were indexed and adhesively bonded. The two-ply, embossed glued towel was then perforated at 11"
2Q intervals and wound into rolls containing 100 sh~ets, these rolls were cut into 11ll widths and tested with the results also as shown .in Table II.
Example B
Another base web was produced similar to that of Example A except that the transfer and impression fabric 27 was a surfaced semi~twill weave fabric identified as of 31x25 mesh (775 openings per square inch).
Furnish additives and operating cond.itions were maintained as closely as possible to the conditions used in the production of the base sheet for Examples 1 & 2 except for the use of the coarser fabric. The machine was operated at 2500 fpm and the target dryer hasis weight of 12.0 sb/~,~J ~, ~3~ 3 lbs/2880 ft2. The fiber consistency en~ering the through dryer was at 25.1% and at 87.0% leavlng the through-dryer section; -the partially dried web was then pressed against the Yankee dryer surface at a pressure roll 31 loading 200 pli with the pressure being applied through the polyester transfer and impression fabric 27 so that the web was imprinted with the back side of the fabric~ The web was dried, creped and wound into a roll in the same manner as . :~
shown in Examples 1 and 2. Physical characteristics of the base web are shown in Table I.
Example 3 ' The base web of Example B was converted to finished `100 sheet count two-ply web towel rolls ln a manner ldentical to that of Example 1. The physical properties of the towels are sho~n in Table II.
Example 4 The base web of Example B was converted to finished 100 sheet count two-ply web towel rolls in a manner identical ~ :
to that of Example 2. The physical properties of these towels are also shown in Table II.
Table' 1 TENSILE STRENGTE~ (1 PLY) ABSORBENCY
Finished 20 PLY BULK
Basis Weigh~ Grams/3" Strip Wet Rate CAP , ~, ~bs/2880 ~t MD Stretch CD CD Sec. Gm/Gm Inches ,E~ine Mesh 15.8 1375 29.8 1135 240 2.4 7.5 0.156 Base Sheet Example A
Coarse Mesh 15.9 1270 30.7 1090 245 2.2 7.7 0.181 Base Sheet Example B

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The calculated bulk density of the base web of Example A is 2.2 grams per inch cube at a loading of 220 grams per square inch while the c.repes per :inch are about 83 at an adjusted basis of 20% stretch; this i5 in contrast to a bulk density value of 1.93 for the coarse prior ar-t material of Example B which exhibits about 37 crepes per inch at 20% stretch on the same adjusted basis. Crepes per inch are related to the residual stretch characteristic of the web and, therefore, the data are stated on the basis of crepes per inch at a standard stretch of 20%. The 20%
level is chosen because most commercial tissue is marketed at a 20% stretch level. : .
Table 1 .
Physical Properties of Towels Examples Commercially Made 1 2_ 3 4 Throu~hdried Towel Base Webs Ex.A Ex.A Ex.B Ex.B

Basis Weight Lbs/2880 29.1 29.8 29.5 30.5 30.9 Tensile Strength -2130 2585 2400 251S 2380 20Gms/3"-MD-Dry Tensile Strength ~1710 20451710 2150 1970 Gms/3"-CD-Dry Tensile Strength -425 495 415 475 560 Gms/3"-CD-Wet ~ Stretch - MD 19.8 22.8 17.5 21.9 23.1 Absorbent Capacity 6.1 8.2 7.2 8.1 9.1 Gms H O/~m Fiber Absorbent Rate -Seconds 3.0 2.4 2.6 2.2 3.7 30Handle-O-Meter-~D 3.0 4.2 3.0 3.9 5.4 Handle-O-Meter-CD 7.0 10.2 7.2 13.8 g.0 The acceptability to consumers of each of the four experimentally produced towels, Examples, 1, 2~ 3 and 4, was tested in a hlind panel comparison use test against a leading sb/~.r.~

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commercially produced -two-ply, glued, through-dried towel as a control towel and obtained from the retail shelf. In this test panelists each received two rolls of unbranded towels of the same sheet count and, basically, the same diameter and roll firmness (one roll of the example towels, and one roll of the control towel). The pa:nelists were instructed to use each type of towel for a one~week perlod.
After the second one-week use period, callbacks obtained overall product preference and preference on other key attributes. ':
The overall consumer preference as to a product resulting from this test is shown in Table III with the preference re~ardin~ key towel attri.butes shown in Table IV~
In every case the towels made with fine mesh fabric ~Examples 1 and 2~. were preferred by the consumer to those experimental to~els made with the coarse fabric (Examples 3 and 4).
Table III
~Overall Preference Ex. 1 Ex.. 2 Ex. 3 Ex. 4 Base Weh Ex A Ex. A Ex. B Ex. B
__ Towel Preferred ~xample Towel 37% 46% 15% 36%

Control Towel 49 42 71 48 No Preference 14 12 13 16 Respondents 92 92 91 88 sb~tU~

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Table IV
Towel Considered To Be Softer, Stronger, More :~
Reusua~le, ~lore Absorbent, To Have More Bulk and _ Better Appearance By Test Cell Ex. 1 Ex. 2 Ex. 3 Ex. 4 Base ~eb Ex. A Ex. A Ex. B Ex. B
Preference Number of Respondents 92 92 91 88 :.
Softness Through-Dried Ex. 54% 60% 31% 43~
Control 37 26 50 42 ~;
No Preference 9 14 19 15 Strength Through~Dried Ex. 28% 29% 12~ 26% :
Control 53 47 67 44 .
No Preference 19 24 21 30 ~eusahility Through-Dried Ex. 31% 32% 12~ 31%
Control 4S 45 66 47 No Preference 24 25 22 23 ~bsorbency Through-Dried Ex. 28% 41% 15% 36%
Control 46 36 66 44 No Preference 26 23 19 19 Bulk/Thickne-ss .. ..
Through-Dried Ex. 27% 42~ 17% 28%
Control 52 44 70 43 No Preference 21 14 13 28 hppearance :.
Through-Dried Ex. 28% 23% 11% 15%
Control 17 13 28 10 No Preference 54 64 62 75 sb/,hl~

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The above results are qulte surprising as they hold true in the overall preferences as well as in all key aktributes and are not dependent on tlle converting process.
An analysis of the measured physical properties (Table II) of the towels would normally not have predicted the over-whelming preference for the towels manufactured with the fine mesh fabric. The towels manufactured with the fine mesh fabric had a noticeably smoother surface and this is reflected in the consumer preference.
~he following Examples 5 and 6 illustrate the effect of using a finè mesh, through-drying, transfer and impression fabric 68 to produce a through-dried facial tissue product orm and compare ik to a through-dried acial tissue produced using a plain weave coarse fabric of the prior art a~ a through-dr~ing and impression fabric. The comparison is not a strict one as a high quality virgin furnish was used to produce the facial tissue made by the simulated prior art ~rocess while the f;ne mesh fabric example was made with about 50% secondary fiber in the furnish and was a layered product.
`Example~5 A two-layer web was formed using an inlet equipped with a flexible divider that kept ~he two different stock supplies separated until they were formed as shown in Fig.
5. The web was formed at a total dryer basis weight of 7.0 lbs/2880 square feet at about 75 fpm. The basis weight ;;
of the layer which lay adjacent to the Yankee dryer surface and creping blade 77 had a dryer basis weight of 4.0 lbs/2880 square feet. This layer was made up of a furnish consîsting of 75~ northern softwood kraft and 25~ northern hardwood kr~ft which had been lightly refined and contained 0.5% of a conventional wet strength resin, Kymene 557, a sb/~u~

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product of Hercules Chemical Company. The opposite fiber layer consisted of 100% pre-processed secondary fiber and had a dryer basis weight of 3.0 lbs/2880 ft .
The formed two-layer web was dewatered to about 20 consistency on the forming fabric 64 wi-th vacuum boxes and transferred to fabric 68 through the aid of vacuum shoe 69.
Fabric 68 was a polyester fabric, monofilament, of 78x72 mesh as in Example A. Hot air at about 160F. was then blown through the web supported by the through-drying fabric 68 until the web reached a consistency of 75 to 80%. The moist web was then pressed against steam heated dryer 75 by a solid rubber covered pressure roll 73 pressing aya~nst the fabric and web at 180 pli and thereby transferring the web to the dryer. A small amount of a solution consisting of polyvinyl alcohol, Crepetrol l90 and phosphate were sprayed on the dryer surface through spray head 76 to assist in the transfer and give enough web adhesion for good creping. The web was then dried to about 5~ moisture, creped off of the dryer surface and wound into a roll. The dryer speed was 76 fpm and the angle of the creping poc~et was about 90.
The through-dried base sheet 81 was then plied together with a similar web 82 with the dryer sides turned outward and calendered at 30Q fpm at 75 pli in a rubber-steel nip and -1~0 pli in a steel to steel nip~ The calendered two-ply -;
product was then edge crimped, slit, interfolded, compressed and boxed into 200 sheet count white unlabelled facial tissue boxes. The physical properties of the facial tissue were tested with the results shown in Table V and consumer use tested against commercially available tissues in a blind monadic test with the results shown in Table VI.

Example 6 A paper web was formed using the same experimental sb/.7~

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equipment as that of Example 5 except that the web was formed from a single layer of virgin Eurnish chemical pulp and a re]atively coarse through-drying and impression fabrlc of a mesh of 40x48 was used rather than the fabric.
The furnish consisted of 75% northern softwood kraft and 25~ northern hardwood kraft. The mixed furnish was lightly refined and had 0.3% wet strength resin added to it. The web was formed at a dryer basis weight of 7.0 lbs/2880 ft2 and dewatered with vacuum boxes on the forming section to about 20% consistency. It was then transferred by means of vacuum to the 40x48 through-drying and impression fabric ~here it was further dried to 75~ to 80% consistency by passing hot air at 160-170F. through the web and fabric.
The moist web 86 was then pressed against a steam heated dryer by a solid rubber covered pressure roll pressing against the fabric and web at 180 pli and transferring the ;-web to the dryer. ~ small amount of a solution consisting o~ 0~2% polyvinyl acetate, 0.5% Crepetrol 190 and ~.1%
sodium ~hosphate was sprayed on the dryer surface to assist in the transfer and given enough sheet adhesion for good -creping. The web 86 was then dried to about 5% moisture, creped off of the dryer surface and wound into a roll. The dryer speed was 70 fpm and the angle of the creping pocket ~as 80 to 90.
The through-dried base sheet 85 was then plied to~ether with the dryer sides turned outward and calendered at 300 fpm at 30 pli in a rubber-steel nip and 60 pli in a steel-to-steel nip. The calendered two-ply product was then edge crimped, slit, C-folded and boxed into 200 sheet count white unlabelled facial tissue boxes. The physical properties of the facial tissue were listed with the results shown in Table V and consumer use tested in a blind monadic *
Trade l~ark S~/fl,,,~

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test with the results shown in Table VI. The blind monadic test is one in which a box of faci.al -tissue, the box being unmarked, is provided to a panelist and the panelist is asked to compare -this sample tissue with the tissue normally used by the panelist. The majori-ty of respondents in this instance were normally users of the Code O and Code U tissues which were al.so provided in unmarked boxes.

Table V
Physical Properties Commercial Tissues Ex. 5 Ex. 6Code OCode U ;

Basis Weight lbs/2880 ~t2 16.5 16.4 18.4 19.9 Tensile Strength gms-machine direction 1155 1715 1455 1390 cross directi.on-Dry 555500 370 595 cross direction-Wet 115140 95 180 % stretch 9 6 14 20 Subjective Softness 6.0-6.5 5.5-6.05.0 5.0-6.0 Subjec-tive Smooth-ness 5.0~6.0 5.0-6.04.5 6.5 Table VI
Consumer Acceptance Commercial Tissues Ex. 5 Ex. 6 Code O Code U
% Definitely Would Buy 40 40 25 Z8 % Probably Would Buy 50 43 44 48 % Total Positive Purchase Intent 90 83 69 76 Softer Than Usual Brand 40% 52% 24% 36% ~ :.

Stronger Than Usual Brand 52% 45% 33% 46 More Absorbent Than Usual Brand 35% 34% 21% 27%
Nothing Disliked78% 69% 60% 67%

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The consumer response data in the above table indicates a sliqht preference of the consumer for the facial tissue sample produced with the flne mesh through-drying and impression fabric over that made with the coarse fabric despite the fact that the preferred tissue contained over 40% by weight of a secondary fiber. It is surprising that the tissue made with this lower quality fiber would have a stron~er consumer acceptance than the tissue made with all vir~in chemical pulp. The two through~dried tissue ;
samples were both perceived as being better than the two commercially produced samples which were selected as being representative of two of the major facial tissue brands sold in the United States.
Consumer response data with respect to softness has been ~ound by Consumer Reports 42: No. 8: August 1977, pages 466-468, to provide a more useful indication than machine tes-ts since softness is a subjective sensation.
The data for both softness and smoothness on the subjec-tive bases as here presented are considered more reliable than other modes of measurement.
Example 7 Another comparison made is that of a through-dried two-ply bathroom tissue produced with webs of the fine mesh 78x72 fabric and virgin furnish and consumer use tested a~ainst a leading commercially produced two-ply bathroom ` `
tissue.
A continuous web of paper was manufactured at a s~eed of 2300 fpm from a furnish consisting of 50% northern softwood kraft, 33.3% northern hardwood kraft and 16.7%
machine broke, 0.1% optical whitener and 0.1% sodium phosphate was added to the pulper and the furnish was lightly refined. A web was formed at a dryer basis weight of 7.3 lbs/2880 ft2 on a tissue machine as in Fig. 1~ The sb/~
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outer ~orming fabric 1 and the inner or dewatering fabric 10 were conventional polyester forming fabrics. The formed web carried on the underside of the dewatering fabric 10 was then vacuum dewatered and transferred to a through-drying unit 24. The -transfer was made with the aid of a pickup shoe 18 operating at about 3.8" Hg vacuum to a coarse commercially available through-drying fabric 19 of a mesh of 31x25 (775 openings per s~uare inch). The fiber consistency after transfer was about 25%. The web on the through-drying fabric 19 was then further thermally dried by pulling hot air through the web and supporting fabric and transferred with the aid o~ a vacuum roll 29 to a lightly surfaced fine mesh transfer and impression fabric of a 78x72 mesh (5616 openings per square inch). The consistency immediately before the transfer was 85.2~. The moist web carried by the flne transfer fabric was then impressed on the surface by a Yankee dryer by a rubber J
covered 40 P&J hardness rubber covered roll at pressure of about 200 pli. A minor amount of creping adhesive consisting o~ Crepetrol 190, Cynol and tetrasodium pyrophosphate was sprayed onto the Yankee dryer surface immediately ahead of the pressure roll nip in order to control adhesion for creping. The web was then dried to 3.6% dryness, creped ~ ~`
from the surface of the Yankee dryer and wound into rolls on the reel. The creping blade was ground with a 10 bevel and ~as held against the dryer so as to maintain a creping pocket of about 80. The crepe ratio was 1.17, that is, about 17% stretch.
The through-dried bathroom tissue was then plied togekher with the dryer sides turned outward, calendered at 10 pli in a rubber-steel nip and 10 pli in a steel-to-steel nip, and wound into a roll. The two-ply roll was then - ~8 -sb/~

-converted into 380 sheet count two--ply bathroom tissue scented with a li~h-t fragrance and consumer use tested in a paired unbranded comparison against a leading two-ply through-dried bathroom tissue obtained from a retail shelf.
Two hundred female heads-of-household participated in the sequentially monadic test design use test. The ~,, respondents were contacted on a random basis using a shopping center mall intercept technique. Qualified respondents received two rolls of eacll produc~ and were instructed to use one product for the first week ~ollowed by a one-week usage of the second product. I'he product usage was rotated to minimize position bias. Af~er the use period, telephone callbacks were made utilizing product attribute preference questions. Physical properties of the two bathroom tissues are shown in Table VII with the consumer use test highlights shown in Table VIII.

Table VII
Physical Properties Commercially Example 7 Produced Product Roll Weight O.D. (gms~137.2 140.9 , , Roll Diameter (inches~4.64 4.64 Dry Tensile-MD 1115 1070 (gm~3 inch)-CD 620 645 ~ MD Stretch 14 17.5 Bulk (in/20 ply) .086 .096 -~ -Absorbent Rate ~sec.) 1 2.6 Finished Basis Weight (lb/2880 ft2~ 17.3 17.5 Subjectiye Softness 6.5 6.8 , Subjecti~e Smoothness4.5 3.8 Sb/f~t.~

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Table VIII
Consumer Response Prefer Prefer Commercially No Ex. 7 Produced Product Preference _ _ _ _ Overall P,reference % 58 36 6 Softness Preference ~ 42 31 27 Strength Preference % 34 26 40 Appearance Prefer~nce 24 10 66 10 Fragrance % 42 29 29 Nothing Disliked % 60 55 The produce formed in accordance with Example 7 and made with the fine mesh fabric was significantly preferred to the commercially produced product made with a 36x30 ~,1080 openings per s~uare inch) plain weave polyester fabric in overall preference and the specific attributes of ap~earance and fragrance. It was preferred, but not at a significant level in softness and strength.
Example- 8 A base web suitable for two-ply bathroom tissue was made by a process very similar to that of Example 7 except that a ~iner mesh transfer and impression fabric was used.
A tiSsue machine as in Fig. 1 was used to produce a continuous web of creped tissue at a Yankee dryer speed of 2300 fpm. A
lightl~ refined furnish consisting of 62.5% northern softwood kraft, 20.B~ southern hardwood kraft, and 16.7~ machine bxoke was employed. The web was formed at a dryer basis weight of 7.1 lbs/2880 ft on a tissue machine as shown in ~ig. 1. The outer forming fabric 1 and the inner or dewatering fabric 10 were conventional polyester forming fabrics. The formed web carried on the underside of the dewatering fabric 10 was then vacuum dewatered and transferred to through-drying uni~ 24 wlth the aid of a pickup shoe 18 operating sb/~ "

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at about 4.5" Hg. vacuum. The transfer was made to a coarse commercially available -through-drying fabric 19 of a mesh of 31x25, that is, 775 openings per square inch.
The fiber consistency after transfer was about 22.5~. The web on the througll-drying fabric 19 was then further thermally dried by pulling hot air through the web and supporting fabric, Then transfer was made with the aid of a vacuum roll 29 to a fine mesh transfer and impression fabric having 6340 openings per square inch, that is, of a 92x70 mesh and with filament diameters of about 0.Q06 inch. The consistency immediately after the transfer was about 89.0%. 1'he moist web carried by the transfer fabric was then impressed on the surface of a Yankee dryer and dried and creped in the manner described in Example 7. The creping blade in this case was ground with a 5 bevel and was held against the ~; , dryer to maintain a creping pocket of about 85. Despite the finer fabric mesh, the bulk at comparable strength and basis weight was about the same as a similar product made with a fabric having 5616 openings per square inch as shown below.
Openings per S~uare Inch MD CD Finished Dryer Impression Tensile Tensile Basis Basis 20 Ply Fabrlc 2 Ply % Stretch 2 Ply Weight Weight Bulk 6340 1152 21.6 428 9.2 7.1 .138 5616 1244 26.9 532 9.1 7.1 .142 The following tests were employed in securing the data set out hereinbefore.
The tissue softness determination is a subjective procedure in which experienced operators grade samples against a standard and involves the effect of limpness and surface texture. Grading is on the basis of a scale of 1 to 7 with sb/~4 ., .
,, , ~ . :

the number 7 representing the softes-t.
The tissue smoothness is also determined on a subjective basis by e~perienced operators against a s-tandard and involves moving the hand over the sheet both with and aga:inst the crepe and further includes finger tip evaluation under very light pressure of the surface. Grading i5 on a number scale in which the higher numbers indicate the smoother sheet, the numeral 8 being assigned to the most smooth condition.
The absorbent rate is determined by stapling 40 plies of the sample web or sheet together at each corner and dropping the composite flat on the water with points of the staples in the down position and timed from the time of contact with the water until lt is completely wetted out.
Absorbent rate is reported as the sink time or time to completely wet out measured in seconds to the nearest tenth second.
The absorbent capacity is measured essentially by immersing a weighted 4"x4" sample in water for three minutes, removing the sample and allowing free water to drip off for one mInute and then weighing the wetted sample. The capacity is the difference in weight between the wetted and dry sample diy,ided b~ the dry weight and expressed in grams of water per ~ram of fiber.
The 20 ply bulk factor is obtained by placing 2a plies of the tissue, either as 20 individual plies or as ten 2 ply sheets on a platform. A three inch diameter cylinder loaded at 220 gms/sq. inch is lowered onto the 20 plies and their thickness in thousandths of an inch is recorded.
In the practice of the invention, square weave or diagonal weave fabrics may be employed and the fabric may be sb/~,~, .

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, of mono or multi~ilament structure and twilled or semi-twilled, for e~ample.
The product employing a printing and impression fabric of at least 4900 openings per square inch has a~proximately 70 crepes per inch and a pressed knuckled area of about 20-25~ of the tissue surface. The absorbency of such sheets is greater than that of conventionally pressed tissues ànd approximates that of through-dr:Led tissues of the art while yet having the greater crepes per inch which contributes to smoothness and softness, and also having a bulk density comparable to that of through-dried tissue.
For example, at about 90 crepes per inch the web absorbency has a rating of about 6 to 8 in contrast to a rating of about 8 for a much more coarsely creped web having approximately 60 crepes per inch and the bulk densities of the two webs are very nearly the same. Apparently such characteristics present a tactile response to a consumer which favors the finer crepe product.
As many apparently widely different embodiments of thi$ invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the specific embodiments thereof except as de~ined in the appended claims.

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Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A process for the production of a smooth tissue having a basis weight uncreped of between about 5 and 25 pounds per 2880 sq. ft. and good bulk, softness and absorbency characteristics which comprises the steps of wet forming a paper web of wood pulp fibers in the substantial absence of pressure to minimize interfiber bonding, through-drying the formed unpressed web to a fiber consistency in the range of about 40% to about 90%, carrying the so through-dried web on an imprinting and transfer fabric having between about 4900 to 8100 openings per square inch and imprinting the knuckle pattern of the fabric into the web to provide bonded zones and bulked unbonded zones between the bonded zones while continuing drying of the web, and creping the bonded web to provide a web of at least about 70 crepes per inch and having a high degree of smoothness.

2. A process as claimed in claim 1 and in which the wet web is through-dried on one fabric and then trans-ferred to the imprinting and transfer fabric at a fiber consistency in the range of about 40-90% for imprinting of the knuckle pattern of the fabric and creping.

3. A soft, smooth, absorbent creped tissue paper web haying a basis weight in the range of between about 5 and 25 pounds per 2880 sq. ft. and a knuckle pattern occupying between about 20 and 25% of the web surface area, said knuckle pattern being that of an imprinting fabric having greater than 4900 openings per square inch and less than about 8100 openings per square inch.

4. A tissue paper web as claimed in claim 3 in which the knuckle pattern is that of an imprinting fabric having a mesh of 78x72.

5. A tissue paper web as claimed in claim 3 in which the knuckle pattern is that of an imprinting fabric haying a mesh of 92x70.