US3094149A

US3094149A - Paper makers felt

Info

Publication number: US3094149A
Application number: US68997A
Authority: US
Inventors: Vincent C Keily
Original assignee: Orr Felt and Blanket Co
Current assignee: Orr Felt and Blanket Co
Priority date: 1960-11-14
Filing date: 1960-11-14
Publication date: 1963-06-18
Anticipated expiration: 1980-06-18

Description

June 18, 1963 I V. C. KElLY PAPER MAKERS FELT 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 14, 1960 June 18, 1963' v. c. KElLY PAPER MAKERS FELT 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed NOV. 14. 1960 INVENTOR.

June 18, 1963 v. c. KEILY 3,094,149

PAPER MAKERS FELT Filed Nov. 14, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. VINCE/V7 C. lfE/L) "TA/7M1 June 18, 1963 v. c. KEILY PAPER MAKERS FELT 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Nov. 14, 1960 Afr/9 INVENTOR. w/vcnvr 6. XE/L) June 18, 1963 v. c. KEILY PAPER MAKERS FELT 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov. 14, 1960 INVENTOR.

M E H T N i a W United States Patent 3,094,149 PAPER MAKERS FELT Vincent C. Kelly, Piqua, Ohio, assignor to The Orr Felt & Blanket Company, Piqua, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Nov. 14, 1960, Ser. No. 68,997 2 Claims. (Cl. 139-383) This invention relates to felts for paper making machines, such as Fourdrinier or cylinder machines or the like, and particularly to felts for the wet end of such a machine.

Paper makers felts of the nature referred to are extremely important articles of manufacture because they control the quality of paper being made and the speed at which it can be made. Such felts must exhibit uniform drainage characteristics so that the liquor will drain properly from the slurry or furnish that is flowed onto or picked up by the felt as the paper web is formed thereon.

The felts must also be quite strong and resistant to abrasion in order to obtain a reasonable length of life thereof. Still further, such felts must exhibit uniform surface characteristics from end to end in order to assure the production of a uniform product.

Heretofore, paper makers felts have usual-1y been constructed of natural fibers such as wool because these fibers have a natural felting tendency which provides for a product that is dimensionally stable and reasonably strong.

Natural fibers, however, are lacking in being sufficiently resistant to chemical attack to provide for the best possible paper makers felt. For example, synthetic fibers are superior to natural fibers in resisting chemical and bacterial attack and are, furthermore, highly resistant to abrasion and exhibit great strength.

Accordingly, synthetic fibers have certain characteristics that :are ideal for the manufacture of paper makers felts but the fibers are inferior with respect to producing a dimensionally stable fabric because the synthetic fibers are smooth and slippery and thus do not tend to felt together as is the case with natural fibers, such as wool, which have serrated or irregular edge portions.

Synthetic fibers have been employed, however, successfully in the manufacture of paper makers felts by blending them with sufficient wool to obtain a felting action necessary for stabilizing the fabric. In other cases, it has been found that felts can be made entirely of synthetic fibers by interlocking the fibers by a needling process by means of which the fibers become interlocked together and thus provide for a dimensionally stable felt.

Another method of producing a paper makers felt utilizing either synthetic or natural fibers involves the weaving of a backing and the application to at least one face thereof of a bat of fibers to form a composite felt or fabric of the desired characteristics.

Such bats, when bats are applied to a base fabric, as referred to above, are laid across the woven base fabric in strips and the fabric is thereafter needled in a needle loom to bring about tight interlocking of the fibers of the bat to the base fabric. A process of this nature produces a felt which has desirable characteristics but, it has been found that this manner of applying the bat to the base,

fabric does not produce an absolutely uniform distribution of the bat material so that the characteristics of the resulting end product are not absolutely uniform as is most desirable with felts of this nature.

Furthermore, the fibers of a bat applied in this manner are not all tightly attached to the base fabric so that there is a tendency for there to be a continuous loss of fibers from the felt which, of course, detracts from the quality of the product produced and from the useful life of the felt.

Having the foregoing in mind, a primary object of the present invention is the provision of a method of manu- "ice" 2, facturing a paper makers felt' in which a bat is uniformlydistributed over the entire felt.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a method of supplying a bat to a base fabric to make a paper makers felt in which substantially any desired surface characteristics on either side of the felt can be obtained.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of an improved paper makers felt consisting of :a strong, dimensionally stable fabric and a bat uniformly distributed over the felt and needled thereto.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become more apparent upon reference to the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a loom producing a paper makers felt according to this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic representation of a needle loom in which the felt is needled;

FIGURE 3 is an elevational view showing the appearance of a fabric woven according to the present invention prior to needling thereof;

FIGURES 4, 5 and 6 are sectional views indicated by lines 4-4, 55, and 66, respectively, on FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 6A is a sectional view indicated by line 6A--6A on FIGURE 3 showing the manner in which the rovings or slivers rest on top of the fill threads of the base fabric after the fabric is beaten up in the loom;

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view showing another type of weave by which a felt can be made according to this invention;

FIGURE 8 is a plan view of the felt of FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 9 is a view of the felt of FIGURE 7 looking up from the bottom;

FIGURE 10 is a plan view of the felt of FIGURE 7 looking up from the bottom;

FIGURES 11 and 12 are sectional views indicated by lines 1111, 1212, respectively, on FIGURE 8;

FIGURE 12A is a sectional view indicated by line 12A-12A on FIGURE 8 showing the rovings or slivers as they are actually disposed on top of the adjacent fill threads.

FIGURE 13 is a perspective view looking at the top of another type of weave;

FIGURE 14 is a perspective view looking up from the bottom of the fabric of FIGURE 13;

FIGURES 15 and 16 are top and bottom plan views, respectively, of the fabric of FIGURE 13;

FIGURES 17 and 18 are sectional views indicated by lines 17-17 and 18--18, respectively, on FIGURE 15;

FIGURE 18A is a sectional view indicated by line 18A--18A on FIGURE 15 showing the rovings or slivers as they are actually disposed on top of the adjacent fill threads;

FIGURES 19 and 20 are perspective views looking at the top and bottom, respectively, of still another fabric woven according to the present invention;

FIGURES 21 and 22 are top plan and bottom plan views, respectively, of the fabric of FIGURE 19;

FIGURES 23 and 24 are sectional views indicated by lines 2323 and 24-24, respectively, on FIGURE 21;

FIGURE 24A is a sectional view indicated by line 24A-24A on FIGURE 21 showing the rovings or slivers as they are actually disposed on top of the adjacent fill threads;

FIGURES 25 and 26 are top and bottom perspective views, respectively, of still another fabric woven according to this invention;

FIGURES 27 and 28 are top and bottom plan views, respectively, of the fabric of FIGURE 25;

FIGURES 29 and 30 are sectional views indicated by 3 lines 2929 and 30-30, respectively, on FIGURE 27; and

FIGURE 30A is a view indicated by line 30A30A on FIGURE 27.

General Description The present invention accomplishes the several objectives referred to by providing for absolute uniform distribution of bat material in a base fabric so that irregularities in the resulting felt on account of joints of overlaps between adjacent strips of bat material are eliminated. According to the present invention, this is accomplished by weaving the bat material into the base fabric in the form of a sliver of fibers which is put into the fabric in the same way as the fill or weft threads.

In this manner, the distribution of the bat material is uniform throughout the length of the felt, and from side to side thereof, and the bat material can be inserted into the body of the felt in any desired quantity and according to any desired distribution.

For example, there could be one pick of sliver for each pick of fill thread, or there could be more or fewer picks of sliver according to the requirements of the particular felt being woven.

Similarly, depending on the requirement of the felt being woven, the slivers being inserted with the fill threads could be placed therein so as to be uniformly disposed on opposite sides of the felt or so as to have more exposure on one side than the other. Still further, differ ent sets of slivers could be placed in the fabric with one being mostly disposed in the upper surface and the other being mostly disposed in the lower surface where a two sided felt was the objective.

In any case, it will be apparent that the resulting product has a strong body or base fabric formed by interwoven warp and fill threads and uniformly distributed in this base fabric are the fibers which impart to the woven felt its surface characteristics and, in part, its drainage characteristics in the form of untwisted, or only slightly twisted, roving or slivers woven into the base fabric according to a uniform preselected pattern. The weaving-in of the slivers of fibers completely avoids the objections which usually characterize paper makers felt in which the fibers referred to are applied to the base fabric in the form of a bat.

Still further, a felt according to the present invention is found to have the woven-in fibers more firmly anchored in the base fabric than is the case with a felt in which the fibers are applied to the base fabric in the form of a bat. It is found that many of the fibers, when they are applied to the base fabric in the form of a bat, are loosely joined thereto and easily pull out, whereas with a felt according to the present invention, it is found that a much higher percentage, in fact, substantially all of the woven-in fibers are firmly anchored in the base fabric.

After the felt has been woven, it is treated according to known practices which include washing, processing the fabric through a needle loom, and shearing the nap, and other conventional steps, such as fulling.

In connection with the needling of the fabric, this can be done by passing the fabric a plurality of times through a needle loom having barbed needles which penetrate the fabric a plurality of times for each unit area, say, from 100 to 1000 or more per square inch. The fibers in the base fabric and the woven-in fibers are thus forcibly entangled and displaced into interlocking relation With each other. Broadly, this corresponds to what occurs in the felting of natural fibers when the natural fibers creep together as the fabric is worked, on account of their natural serrated edge portions.

Synthetic fibers, lacking such serrated edge portions, will only interlock tightly when they are forcibly mechanically displaced into interlocking relation. Still further, with synthetic fibers that are either shrinkable or which can be heat set, this interlocking can be made permanent so that high strength and high stability of 4 the felt results when the felt is either shrunk or heat treated following the needling operation.

When heat shrinking is to be accomplished, the synthetic fibers employed are shrinkable Dacron or any similar synthetic filament capable of shrinking when subjected to heat.

By a heat settable fiber is meant one which can be softened by the application of heat so that after the fabric is needled and is then heat treated, the entangled interlocked filament will become permanently set whether or not any actual shrinkage occurs. Ordinarily, even with fibers that are referred to as heat settable" some shrinkage of say, about one-half percent to three percent will occur, whereas with the shrinkable fibers, shrinkages of from five to fifteen percent can occur.

Detailed Description FIGURES 3 through 6A show, somewhat diagrammatically, one manner in which a paper makers felt can be woven according to the present invention.

In FIGURES 3 through 6 the warp threads are indicated at 10 and the conventional fill threads are indicated at 12. Warp 10 and fill 12 make up the base fabric and these threads can be of synthetic or all wool or any blend thereof.

The woven-in rovings or slivers are indicated at 14 and these are woven-in according to a different pattern from the fill threads 12. It will be understood that the beating up of the felt as it is being woven will tend to crowd the fill threads and the slivers adjacent thereto together so that the product as it comes from loom 16 will appear somewhat differently than it does in the drawings. For the purpose of clarification, however, the fill threads and the woven-in slivers are shown in FIGURES 3 through 6 in side by side relation.

The felt according to FIGURES 3 through 6 would be two sided because as much of the sliver material is exposed on the bottom of the fabric as is exposed on the top.

As mentioned before, in beating up the fabric in the loom, the rovings or slivers are pushed over into position to cover the adjacent fill threads and when the fabric is finished, the fill threads are normally always visible on the face of the fabric by pushing the rovings or slivers to one side. This comes about because the rovings or slivers are relatively loose and fluffy and on the sides of the fabric where there are Woven over three warp threads and then under one, they are pushed over the tops of the adjacent fill threads in the beating up of the fabric so as to conceal the fill threads and also so as to expose on that side of the fabric a substantially continuous surface of the roving or sliver material.

This is illustrated in FIGURE 6A which is a sectional view indicated on FIGURE 3 but which, it will be understood, is a view that is representative of the fabric after 1t has been woven and as it comes directly from the loom.

In FIGURES 7 through 12 there is shown a somewhat different weave in which the warp threads are indicated at 18, the fill threads at 20 and the woven-in sliver at 22. An inspection of these figures would show that the sliver is exposed more on top of the felt than on the bottom because it is woven over three warp threads then under one. The regular fill threads 20, on the other hand, are uniformly distributed in the top and bottom because they are woven over two warp threads and then under two.

With the felt of FIGURES 7 through 12, there would be strongly one sided characteristics because most of the sliver material is on one side of the felt and the nap would upstand from the said one side.

The back of the felt would consist mostly of the exposed warp and fill

threads

18 and 20 and would sustain the abrasion to which the felt would be subjected in use,

FIGURE 12A, which is similar to FIGURE 6A, shows the fabric of FIGURES 7 through 12 more nearly as it appears when it emerges from the loom and illustrates the manner in which the roving or sliver material is disposed on top of the adjacent fill threads.

FIGURES 13 through 18 show a felt substantially identical with the felt of FIGURES 7 through 12 except that the staggering of the points of interweaving of the sliver material with the warp threads is somewhat differently arranged. The reference numerals in FIGURES 13 through 18 are the same as those employed in FIG- URES 7 through 12 with the addition of a subscript a.

FIGURE 18A is a view similar to FIGURES 6A and 12A and also shows the fabric of FIGURES 7 through 12 more nearly as it appears when it emerges from the loom and illustrates the manner in which the roving or sliver material is disposed on top of the adjacent fill threads.

FIGURES 19 through 24 show still another felt woven according to this invention and in this case the amount of sliver material is increased by putting in two picks of sliver for each pick of fill thread. In these views, the warp threads are indiacted at 24, the fill threads at 26, and the woven-in slivers at 28.

It will be noted that the felt of FIGURES 19 through 24 is also strongly one sided because each sliver is exposed mostly to the top of the felt by being woven over three warp threads and under one. The points of interweave of the sliver material with the base fabric will, of course, stagger to provide for great strength and uniformity.

FIGURE 24A is a view similar to FIGURES 6A, 12A and 18A and pertains to the fabric of FIGURES 19 through 24 and shows the fabric more nearly as it appears when it emerges from the loom and illustrates the manner in which the roving or sliver material is disposed on top of the adjacent fill threads.

In FIGURES 25 through 30 still another type of felt is illustrated which is somewhat similar to the felt of FIG- URES 19 through 24 in that there are two slivers for each fill thread but wherein the slivers are so woven that the felt is two sided. In these figures, the warp threads are indicated at 30, the fill threads at 32 and the slivers at 34. It will be noted that one group of slivers as at 34a, are interwoven with the warp threads, three over and one under, so as to lie mostly in the top of the fabric whereas the other group of slivers at 34b are interwoven with the warp threads, one over and three under, so as to lie mostly in the back face of the felt. Felt of this nature can be made completely two sided so that it can be run with either face out, and so that it can be turned out, if

necessary.

FIGURE 30A is a view similar to 6A, 12A, 18A and 24A and pertains to the fabric of FIGURES 25 through 30 and shows the fabric more nearly as it appears when it emerges from the loom and illustrates the manner in which the roving or sliver material is disposed on top of the adjacent fill threads.

The warp and fill threads making up the body of the fabric are interwoven the same as in connection with the two previously described modifications.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that many other weave patterns could be employed while practicing the present invention. The important characteristic in any case is the weaving into the base fabric of the fibers that are to determine the surface characteristics of the completed product in the form of untwisted or slightly twisted rovings or slivers according to a predetermined fixed weaving pattern.

As mentioned before, it has been found that the resulting felt is far superior with respect to uniformity of surface and drainage characteristics than felts with a needledin bat and that the felt according to this invention has great strength and dimensional stability.

In the foregoing specification and in the appended claims, rovings and slivers is intended to mean substantially untwisted or slightly twisted bundles of fibers somewhat like a yarn having only sufiicient twist thereto to retain the fibers in the form of a bundle that can be handled by the loom equipment. This would mean that sometimes the roving or sliver would be completely untwisted and in some cases there would be a slight twist in the roving or sliver.

The weaving-in of the slivers is accomplished by using a shuttle in the same manner as the regular fill threads are woven into the fabric. It will be understood that the slivers, where necessary, will have sufficient twist to retain them in the form of a bundle and to bind them together so that they would not be pulled apart when the shuttle passes from one side of the loom to the other.

It will also be understood that the conventional tensioning devices that are placed in the shuttle in order to maintain a predetermined tension on the fill threads would be adjusted to a minimum tension position, or preferably removed entirely, so that the minimum amount of the load would be placed on the slivers during the weaving process. In this manner, it is possible to weavein the slivers without breakage, even though the slivers are completely untwisted or only slightly twisted.

It is understood that the appended claims are intended to cover both twisted and slightly twisted fiber bundles.

It will be understood that this invention is susceptible to modification in order to adapt it to different usages and conditions; and, accordingly, it is desired to comprehend such modifications within this invention as may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A paper makers felt comprising a base fabric comsisting of interwoven warp and fill threads, said base fabric comprising slivers of fibrous material interwoven with the fabric parallel with the fill threads and uniformly distributed in the fabric, said warp and fill threads and slivers of fibrous material being tightly interlocked, said fill threads being woven over two warp threads and then under two warp threads, and said slivers consisting of two groups, the members of which alternate with each other, the members of one group being disposed mostly in one face of the fabric and the members of the other group being disposed mostly in the other face of the fabric, said slivers being woven into the base fabric in pairs with a fill thread being disposed on the opposite sides of each pair of slivers.

2. A paper makers felt comprising a base fabric consisting of interwoven warp and fill threads, said base fabric comprising slivers of fibrous material interwoven with the fabric parallel with the fill threads and uniformly distributed in the fabric, said warp and fill threads and slivers of fibrous material being tightly interlocked, said fill threads being woven over two warp threads and then under two warp threads, and said slivers consisting of two groups, the members of which alternate with each other, the members of one group being disposed mostly in one face of the fabric and the members of the other group being disposed mostly in the other face of the fabric, said slivers being woven into the base fabric in pairs with a fill thread being disposed on the opposite sides of each pair of slivers, and said felt having a raised nap on one side thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 21,890 Walsh et al. Aug. 26, 1941 630,573 Smith Aug. 8, 1899 1,807,785 Gillies June 2, 1931 2,303,534 Foster Dec. 1, 1942 2,390,386 Radford Dec. 4, 1945 2,792,851 Moeckel May 21, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 908,657 France Oct. 11, 1945 641,671 Germany Feb. 10, 1937 801,439 Great Britain Sept. 17, 1958

Claims

1. A PAPER MARKERS FELT COMPRISING A BASE FABRIC CONSISTING OF INTERWOVEN WARP AND FILL THREADS, SAID BASE FABRIC COMPRISING SLIVERS OF FIBROUS MATERIAL INTERWOVEN WITH THE FABRIC PARALLEL WITH THE FILL THREADS AND UNIFORMLY DISTRIBUTED IN THE FABRIC, SAID WARP AND FILL THREADS AND SILVERS OF FIBROUS MATERIAL BEING TIGHTLY INTERLOCKED, SAID FILL THREADS BEING WOVEN OVER TWO WARP THREADS AND THEN UNDER TWO WARP THREADS, AND SAID SLIVERS CONSISTING OF TWO GROUPS, THE MEMBERS OF WHICH ALTERNATE WITH EACH OTHER, THE MEMBERS OF ONE GROUP BEING DISPOSED MOSTLY IN ONE FACE OF THE FABRIC AND THE MEMBERS OF THE OTHER GROUP BEING DISPOSED MOSTLY IN THE OTHER FACE OF THE FABRIC, SAID SLIVERS BEING WOVEN INTO THE BASE FABRIC IN PAIRS WITH A FILL THREAD BEING DISPOSED ON THE OPPOSITE SIDES OF EACH PAIR OF SLIVERS.