A structured tissue belt assembly including a supporting layer, a non-woven web contacting layer, and one or more laser welds that attach the bottom surface of the web contacting layer to the top surface of the supporting layer. The structured tissue belt assembly allows for air flow in x, y and z directions. In exemplary embodiments, the structured tissue belt assembly has an embedment distance between the supporting layer and the web contacting layer of 0.05 mm to 0.60 mm and a peel force between the web contacting layer and the supporting layer of at least 650 gf/inch.

The invention relates to ultrasonic welding of industrial fabrics. Specifically, the invention relates to methods for ultrasonically welding the seam area of industrial fabrics using a textured horn and/or anvil. The fabric edges are overlapped as woven or one or both edges can have some warp or weft yarns raveled out. The method involves ultrasonically bonding the overlapped fabric edges, reducing the caliper of the two stacked edges to match the body caliper of the fabric itself. The bonded area can then be perforated using laser or other mechanical means to produce a seam having the same woven texture and permeability (air and/or water) as the body of the fabric.

An industrial textile for use in a fibrous web forming and/or processing machine has a transversal edge section which can be joined together to render the textile endless. MD-yarns are interwoven with CD-yarns. At least two adjacent MD-yarns form a group, the MD-yarns of each MD-yarn group weaving side-by-side the same weave path with the CD-yarns. Each of the MD-yarn groups has adjacent first and second MD-yarns. The first MD-yarn of a MD-yarn group is non-adjacent the first MD-yarn of an adjacent MD-yarn group and the second MD-yarn of said MD-yarn group is non-adjacent the second MD-yarn of the adjacent MD-yarn group. At each transversal edge section the first MD-yarn of a first MD-yarn group forms a first loop and weaves back into the weave path of the first MD-yarn of a second MD-yarn group. The second MD-yarn group is adjacent the first MD-yarn group.

A seaming element for seaming industrial textiles for filtration or other uses, an industrial textile with seaming elements, and a method of seaming such textiles. The seaming element is secured to a first seamable end or edge of the fabric, and includes at least one extension member, which can be a channelled protrusion, and which is engageable with a corresponding at least one extension member of a corresponding seaming element secured to the second seamable end or edge. The seaming elements are configured and dimensioned so that when the extensions or protrusions of the two seaming elements are aligned together and engaged, in some embodiments being secured by a pintle, they have a thickness which is compatible with the caliper of the finished fabric, to form a secure seam while avoiding or minimizing any discontinuity or irregularity in the finished fabric.

A method of making a fabric for a press felt for a papermaking machine includes: (a) forming a base fabric comprising a plurality of repeat units, each of the repeat units comprising a plurality of cross machine direction (CMD) yarns and a plurality of machine direction (MD) yarns interwoven with the CMD yarns, wherein the machine direction yarns comprise a first set of MD yarns and a second set of MD yarns, comprising a plurality of repeat units, each of the repeat units comprising a plurality of cabled cross machine direction (CMD) yarns and a plurality of machine direction (MD) yarns interwoven with the CMD yarns, wherein the machine direction yarns comprise a first set of MD yarns and a second set of MD yarns, wherein the first set of MD yarns include seam loops at their ends that capture a first pintle, and wherein the second set of MD yarns include loops at their ends that capture a second pintle that is positioned above the first pintle; and (b) removing the second pintle from the ends of the second set of MD yarns; and (c) tensioning the fabric so that each of the ends of the second set of MD yarns forms a gap with a respective end of first set of MD yarns that approaches the seam from the opposite direction, and wherein the gap is no more than about 0.3 mm.

A fabric for a machine to produce a fiber web, especially a paper-, board-, tissue- or pulp web, is formed of a flat woven base material having a top side and a bottom side, two terminal ends separated in a machine direction, folds formed in the flat woven base material being separated in the machine direction by the folding defining an inside between the two folded layers and an outside. The two terminal ends are located under the bottom side surface, wherein the two terminal ends one of are adjacent to each other or overlap each other, seam loops located at the folds characterized in that the fabric further has one, two or more sheet-like plies. Also a method to produce a fiber web, especially a paper-, board-, tissue- or pulp web is carried out with a machine that is provided with at least one such novel fabric.

A seam for joining together the ends of woven fabric to form an endless belt is particularly suitable for joining the ends of woven synthetic dryer fabrics as used in the dryer section of paper making machines and is particularly applicable to joining the ends of those dryer fabrics in at least the machine direction of the fabric. A papermaking fabric comprising a woven fabric body having opposing ends, said fabric body having a system of MD-yarns interwoven with a system of CD yarns. The MD-yarns include first pairs of MD-yarns, second pairs of MD-yarns and third pairs of MD-yarns and the first and the second pairs of MD-yarns form two seam loops, while the third MD-yarns forms the binder. The loops are at identical length to each other over the whole fabric width. Such seam construction reduces marking and increases the seam strength and seam abrasion resistance.

A method of forming a fibrous web on a papermaking machine including the steps of depositing a dilute fiber slurry out of a headbox to a forming area comprising a forming surface made up of a structured fabric, wherein the structured fabric is supported by a breast roll and a forming roll, and the forming area is devoid of any additional fabrics or belts other than the structured fabric, draining the dilute fiber slurry through the structured fabric, and drying the fiber slurry.

Web material structuring belts that impart texture to a web material during a web material structuring operation/process and/or during a structured web material operation/process wherein the web material structuring belts include one or more seams (seam-containing web material structuring belts), method for making same and methods for using same to make structured web materials, such as structured sanitary tissue products such as structured toilet tissue, structured paper towels, structured facial tissue, structured wipes and/or structured components of absorbent products, such as structured top sheets for diapers and/or feminine hygiene products and/or adult incontinence products are provided.

A papermaking dryer fabric has a system of MD yarns interwoven with a system of CMD yarns in a single layer weave. The MD yarns have groups each formed of a plurality of adjacent MD yarns weaving in the group side-by-side the same weave path with the CMD yarns. The dryer fabric is flat woven with seaming loops at the widthwise edges of the fabric to make it endless. At least some of the seaming loops are formed by at least some MD yarns of the groups of MD yarns. The MD yarns forming the groups of MD yarns have a circular cross section and the CMD yarns are ungrouped CMD yarns and at least some of said CMD yarns have a non-circular cross section with a width to height ratio of more than 1. The dryer fabric has an air permeability between 25 cfm and 200 cfm.