Patent Grant
7243687
This invention relates generally to woven fabrics, and relates more specifically to woven fabrics for papermakers.
In the conventional fourdrinier papermaking process, a water slurry, or suspension, of cellulosic fibers (known as the paper “stock”) is fed onto the top of the upper run of an endless belt of woven wire and/or synthetic material that travels between two or more rollers. The belt, often referred to as a “forming fabric”, provides a papermaking surface on the upper surface of its upper run which operates as a filter to separate the cellulosic fibers of the paper stock from the aqueous medium, thereby forming a wet paper web. The aqueous medium drains through mesh openings of the forming fabric, known as drainage holes, by gravity alone or with assistance from one or more suction boxes located on the lower surface (i.e., the “machine side”) of the upper run of the fabric.
After leaving the forming section, the paper web is transferred to a press section of the paper machine, in which it is passed through the nips of one or more pairs of pressure rollers covered with another fabric, typically referred to as a “press felt.” Pressure from the rollers removes additional moisture from the web; the moisture removal is often enhanced by the presence of a “batt” layer on the press felt. The paper is then conveyed to a drier section for further moisture removal. After drying, the paper is ready for secondary processing and packaging.
Typically, papermaker's fabrics are manufactured as endless belts by one of two basic weaving techniques. In the first of these techniques, fabrics are flat woven by a flat weaving process, with their ends being joined to form an endless belt by any one of a number of well-known joining methods, such as dismantling and reweaving the ends together (commonly known as splicing), or sewing a pin-seamable flap on each end or a special foldback, then reweaving these into pin-seamable loops. In a flat woven papermaker's fabric, typically the warp yarns extend in the machine direction and the filling yarns extend in the cross machine direction. In the second technique, fabrics are woven directly in the form of a continuous belt with an endless weaving process. In the endless weaving process, the warp yarns extend in the cross machine direction and the filling yarns extend in the machine direction. As used herein, the terms “machine direction” (MD) and “cross machine direction” (CMD) refer, respectively, to a direction aligned with the direction of travel of the papermaker's fabric on the papermaking machine, and a direction parallel to the fabric surface and traverse to the direction of travel. Both weaving methods described hereinabove are well known in the art, and the term “endless belt” as used herein refers to belts made by either method.
Effective sheet and fiber support and an absence of wire marking are typically important considerations in papermaking, especially for the forming section of the papermaking machine, where the wet web is initially formed. Wire marking is particularly problematic in the formation of fine paper grades, as it can affect a host of paper properties, such as sheet mark, porosity, “see through” and pin holing. Wire marking is typically the result of individual cellulosic fibers being oriented within the paper web such that their ends reside within gaps between the individual threads or yarns of the forming fabric. This problem is generally addressed by providing a permeable fabric structure with a coplanar surface that allows paper fibers to bridge adjacent yarns of the fabric rather than penetrate the gaps between yarns. As used herein, “coplanar” means that the upper extremities of the yarns defining the paper-forming surface are at substantially the same elevation, such that at that level there is presented a substantially “planar” surface. Accordingly, fine paper grades intended for use in quality printing, carbonizing, cigarettes, electrical condensers, and like grades of fine paper have typically heretofore been formed on very finely woven or fine wire mesh forming fabrics.
Typically, such finely woven fabrics include at least some relatively small diameter machine direction or cross machine direction yarns. Regrettably, however, such yarns tend to be delicate, leading to a short surface life for the fabric. Moreover, the use of smaller yarns can also adversely affect the mechanical stability of the fabric (especially the skew resistance, propensity for narrowing and stiffness), which may negatively impact both the service life and the performance of the fabric.
To combat these problems associated with fine weaves, multi-layer forming fabrics have been developed with fine-mesh yarns on the paper-forming surface to facilitate paper formation and coarser-mesh yarns on the machine contact side to provide strength and durability. For example, fabrics have been constructed which employ one set of machine direction yarns which interweave with two sets of cross machine direction yarns to form a fabric having a fine paper forming surface and a more durable machine side surface. These fabrics form part of a class of fabrics which are generally referred to as “double layer” fabrics. Similarly, fabrics have been constructed which include two sets of machine direction yarns and two sets of cross machine direction yarns that form a fine mesh paper side fabric layer and a separate, coarser machine side fabric layer. In these fabrics, which are part of a class of fabrics generally referred to as “triple layer” fabrics, the two fabric layers are typically bound together by separate stitching yarns. As double and triple layer fabrics include additional sets of yarns as compared to single layer fabrics, these fabrics typically have a higher “caliper” (i.e., they are thicker than) comparable single layer fabrics. An illustrative double layer fabric is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,755 to Thompson, and illustrative triple layer fabrics are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,303 to Osterberg, U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,326 to Vohringer, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,437,315 5,967,195, and 6,145,550 to Ward, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,244,306 to Troughton, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Although these fabrics have performed successfully in many applications, there is a trend toward finer yarns on the paper side of the fabric. However, because the tensile resistance of a yarn is proportional to the square of its diameter, as finer yarns are employed, the paper side layer of the fabric can become weaker. As such, it would be desirable to provide a fabric that has sufficient drainage, particularly on the paper side, and can still provide adequate fiber support for the production of many types of paper.
The present invention is directed to papermaker's fabrics that can address some of the drainage, wear, and abrasion issues noted above. In certain embodiments according to the present invention, a papermaker's fabric includes a set of top machine direction yarns, a set of top cross machine direction yarns interwoven with the top machine direction yarns to form a top fabric layer, a set of bottom machine direction yarns, and a set of bottom cross machine direction yarns interwoven with the bottom machine direction yarns to form a bottom fabric layer. The bottom fabric layer is stitched to the top fabric layer. The top machine direction yarns and the top cross machine direction yarns are interwoven in a series of repeat units and the bottom machine direction yarns and the bottom cross machine direction yarns are interwoven in a series of corresponding repeat units. Each repeat unit has twice the number of bottom machine direction yarns as the number of top machine direction yarns. In this configuration, the tensile strength and resistance in the machine direction can be provided by the additional bottom machine direction yarns.
In other embodiments according to the present invention, a papermaker's fabric includes top machine direction yarns, top cross machine direction yarns, bottom machine direction yarns, bottom cross machine direction yarns and stitching yarns. The fabric is formed in a plurality of repeating units, each of the repeating units including a set of eight top machine direction yarns, a set of top cross machine direction yarns interwoven with the set of top machine direction yarns to form a top fabric layer, a set of sixteen bottom machine direction yarns, a set of eight bottom cross machine direction yarns interwoven with the set of bottom machine direction yarns to form a bottom fabric layer, and sets of first and second stitching yarns interwoven with the top and bottom fabric layers.
In other embodiments of the present invention, embodiments of the papermaker's fabrics described above may be used to make paper. A paper stock may be applied to a papermaker's fabric as described above, and moisture may be removed from the paper stock to produce paper.
The present invention will now be described more particularly hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. The invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that the disclosure will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like components throughout. The dimensions and thicknesses for some elements and the spacing between elements may be exaggerated for clarity.
A twenty-four harness triple layer forming fabric, generally designated at 10, is illustrated in
Referring to
As can also be seen with respect to
As illustrated, the repeat unit of the fabric 10 is configured so that every other bottom MD yarn is positioned substantially directly below a corresponding top MD yarn, although weave patterns in which such is not the case are possible. For example, as illustrated in
As shown in
Referring to
As illustrated in
Corresponding pairs of stitching yarns in fabric 10 interweave with the top MD yarns and bottom MD yarns in the following pattern. Each of the stitching yarns of the repeat unit can be subdivided into two portions: a fiber support portion which interweaves with the top MD yarns, and a binding portion which interweaves a bottom MD yarn. These are separated at “transitional” top MD yarns, below which one stitching yarn of a pair crosses the other stitching yarn of the pair. The stitching yarns of each pair are interwoven relative to one another such that the fiber support portion of one yarn of the pair is positioned substantially above the binding portion of the other yarn of the pair. The fiber support portion of the stitching yarn of each pair interweaves in an alternating fashion with three top MD yarns in an “over 1/under 1/over 1” pattern as the other stitching yarn of the pair forms a binding knuckle with one bottom MD yarn.
For example, in
Thus, each set of stitching yarns is interwoven in a series of repeat units in which the stitching yarns pass below bottom machine direction yarns to form bottom stitching yarn knuckles. The bottom stitching yarn knuckles between a common pair of cross machine direction yarns are offset by eight bottom machine direction yarns. For example, as discussed above, stitching yarn 140A passes under bottom MD yarn 216 to form a bottom stitching yarn knuckle and stitching yarn 140B passes under bottom MD yarn 232 to form another bottom stitching yarn knuckle that is separated by the knuckle at bottom MD yarn 216 by seven bottom MD yarns.
Referring to
In assessing the tensile resistance provided by a forming fabric, one can assign a “warp resistance factor” (“WRF”) that provides a relative measurement of the resistance of the fabric based on its yarn construction. One can calculate a WRF as follows:
WRF=DT2NT+DB2NB
where DT is the diameter of the top MD yarns in mm, NT is the number of top MD yarns/cm, DB is the diameter of the bottom MD yarns in mm, and NB is the number of bottom MD yarns/cm. Using, for example, a typical triple layer fabric having 32 top MD yarns of 0.13 mm diameter per centimeter of width and 32 bottom MD yarns of 0.17 mm diameter per centimeter of width, the WRF can be calculated as 1.47. Fabrics according to embodiments of the present invention may have a WRF of between about 1.2 and about 3.0. Inasmuch as this fabric has proven to be successful in the field, a fabric with similar WRF or higher should have sufficient tensile resistance. It is noted that this calculation assumes that the yarns being compared are made from the same material or materials having similar tensile resistance.
Applying this calculation to the fabric 10 of
The warp coverage of the top and bottom layers can also be of concern because of the density of bottom MD yarns. The closed area can be calculated by multiplying the number of yarns per centimeter by the diameter of each yarn in centimeters. For the specific example set forth above for the fabric 10, the top closed area is 30 percent and the bottom closed area is 75 percent.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, although the illustrated fabric in
Although the fabric 300 is shown with respect to two exemplary views in
As shown in
As shown in
As a further example,
Although the fabric 400 is shown with respect to two exemplary views in
As shown in
As shown in
As another example,
It should be understood that the fabric 500 includes additional top and bottom CMD yarns and stitching yarns in a repeat unit similar to that shown with respect to fabric 10 in
As shown in
As shown in
As would be appreciated by those of skill in the art, various top fabric layer configurations and weave patterns may be substituted for the top layers and bottom layers discussed above. For example, in fabrics 10, 300, 400, and 500 when either of the bottom layers 200, 300B, 400B, and 500B are joined with the respective top layers 100, 300A, 400A, and 500A each of the bottom CMD yarns is positioned substantially directly below a corresponding top CMD yarn. There is no bottom CMD yarn positioned substantially directly below the stitching yarn, thereby providing a space in which the stitching yarns can stitch below a bottom CMD yarn. Of course, those skilled in this art will appreciate that the fabric may have differing numbers of top and bottom CMD yarns in a repeat unit; for example, there may be 1.5, two or three times as many top CMD yarns as bottom CMD yarns, or there may be a CMD yarn below each pair of stitching yarns. Also, the top layers 100, 300A, 400A, and 500A may vary from plain weave patterns illustrated herein; for example, the pattern of the top layer may be satin, twill, broken twill, or the like.
The illustrated fabrics employ a particular configuration of stitching yarns that are woven as “reversed picks”. The “reversed picks” configuration is described in detail in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,967,195 and 6,145,550 to Ward. To summarize for embodiments of the present invention, the presence of reversed picks in a double-pick-stitched triple layer fabric can be established by locating the transitional top MD yarns; these are the top MD yarns under which stitching yarns pass when transitioning from the top layer to the bottom layer or vice versa. Once the transitional top MD yarns for each stitching pair are located, the most predominant diagonal formed by the transitional top MD yarns is identified, i.e., the most predominant diagonal being the diagonal having the minimum number of steps between transitional top MD yarns. If the fiber support portions of successive stitch yarn pairs on one side of this diagonal are closer to each other in some cases and further apart in others, then the fabric can be said to have at least some “reversed picks” in the stitching yarn configuration. Although in some embodiments, all of the stitching yarn pairs may follow this pattern, it is also possible that only some portion of the stitching yarns may follow this pattern, i.e., 50, 40, 33, or 25% of the stitching yarn pairs can be “reversed”.
Those skilled in this art will appreciate that, although the above illustrated fabrics employ a particular configuration of “reversed pick” stitching yarn pairs, other stitching yarn configurations can be used, including other percentages of “reversed pick” stitching yarn pairs, “pseudo-stitching” yarn pairs, “self-stitched” patterns or single stitching yarn configurations.
In a pseudo-stitching yarn configuration, only one of the yarns in a stitching yarn pair forms a knuckle with the bottom MD yarns. Referring to
In a self-stitched pattern, the top layer and the bottom layer of the fabric are stitched together by selected ones of the top and/or bottom CMD yarns. Examples of self-stitched fabrics are illustrated in
Although the above illustrated embodiments employ plain weave pattern top layers, the fabrics of the present invention may also employ other top layer weave patterns; for example, satins, broken twills, and the like may also be employed. The stitching yarns may comprise an integral portion of the top surface weave or may not.
Various patterns of bottom layers may also be used. For example, an exemplary bottom layer 600 in
As further shown in
Alternative stitching patterns, in which some of the “stitching yarns” (or “pseudo-stitching yarns” do not form a stitching knuckle with the bottom layer, are illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9A–9P. As shown, the fabric 700 includes a top layer having eight top MD yarns 702, 704, 706, 708, 710, 712, 714, and 716 interwoven with eight top CMD yarns 750, 752, 754, 756, 758, 760, 762 and 764. The fabric also has a bottom layer including sixteen bottom MD yarns 718, 720, 722, 724, 726, 728, 730, 732, 734, 736, 738, 740, 742, 744, 746, and 748 interwoven with eight bottom CMD yarns 766, 768, 770, 772, 774, 776, 778, and 780. The bottom MD and CMD yarns are interwoven in an “over 1/under 7” pattern similar to the bottom layer 200 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3A–3B.
The top layer and the bottom layer of the fabric 700 are stitched together by stitching yarn pairs 784A, 784B, 788A, 788B, 792A, 792B, 796A, and 796B. The stitching yarn pairs 784A, 784B, 788A, 788B, 792A, 792B, 796A, and 796B each include fiber support portions that form a plain weave pattern with the top MD yarns 702, 704, 706, 708, 710, 712, 714, and 716 and the top CMD yarns 750, 752, 754, 756, 758, 760, 762 and 764. The stitching yarn pairs 784A, 784B, 788A, 788B, 792A, 792B 796A, and 796B also include a binding portion that interweaves with a bottom MD yarn to form a binding knuckle. Thus, stitching yarn pairs 784A, 784B, 788A, 788B, 792A, 792B 796A, and 796B form a pattern similar to the stitching yarn pairs shown in fabrics 10 and 600 shown in
However, the fabric 700 also includes additional pseudo “stitching yarns” 782A, 782B, 786A, 786B, 790A, 790B, 794A, and 794B. The pseudo-stitching yarns form a plain weave pattern with the top CMD yarns and do not include a binding knuckle. The pseudo stitching yarns 782A, 782B, 786A, 786B, 790A, 790B, 794A, and 794B can be positioned between alternating top CMD yarns and can also be the same diameter as the true stitching yarn pairs 784A, 784B, 788A, 788B, 792A, 792B, 796A, and 796B. As an example of the plain weave pattern, pseudo-stitching yarn 782A passes under top CMD yarn 702, over top CMD yarn 704 and so forth until it passes over top CMD yarn 716. Adjacent pseudo-stitching yarn 782B passes over top CMD yarn 702, under top CMD yarn 704 and so forth until it passes under top CMD yarn 716. The pseudo-stitching yarns 782A, 782B, 786A, 786B, 790A, 790B, 794A, and 794B may be described as top CMD yarns that have approximately the same diameter as a stitching yarn.
In this configuration additional yarns can be provided in the top fabric layer in the CMD direction. Accordingly, a finer weave pattern may be provided on the top layer. Moreover, this configuration maintains twice the number of bottom MD yarns as top MD yarns, which may provide increased drainage through the fabric.
Further embodiments of a twenty-four harness triple layer fabric having an alternative stitching arrangement are shown in
The top and bottom layers of the fabric 800 are stitched together by stitching yarn pairs 882A, 882B, 884A, 884B, 886A, 886B, 888A, 888B, 890A, 890B, 892A, 892B, 894A, 894B, 896A, and 896B. As shown in
One of the nearest neighboring stitching yarn pairs of a selected stitching yarn pair is offset by two bottom MD yarns. The stitching yarn pair on the other side of the selected stitching yarn pair repeats the pattern of the selected stitching yarn pair. As illustrated in
As shown in
An alternative stitching yarn pattern, in which “pseudo-stitching” yarns are employed, is shown in fabric 900 in
The top MD yarns 902, 904, 906, 908, 910, 912, 914, and 916 interweave with top CMD yarns 950, 952, 954, 956, 958, 960, 962, and 964 and with stitching yarn pairs 982A, 982B, 984A, 984B, 986A, 986B, 988A, 988B, 990A, 990B, 992A, 992B, 994A, 994B, 996A, and 996B to form a plain weave pattern. As illustrated, two nearest adjacent stitching yarn pairs form the same pattern and include a pseudo-stitching yarn, i.e., a stitching yarn that does not stitch to the bottom layer, followed by two adjacent stitching yarn pairs that form the same pattern and do not include a pseudo-stitching yarn. For example, stitching yarn 984B is an example of a pseudo-stitching yarn. Pseudo-stitching yarn 984B passes under top MD yarn 902, over top MD yarn 904, under top MD yarns 906, 908, and 910, over top MD yarn 912, and under top MD yarns 914 and 916. On the other hand, stitching yarn 984A forms two binding knuckles with bottom MD yarns 922 and 938 and a fiber support portion at top MD yarns 906 and 914. Stitching yarn pair 986A, 986B form the same pattern as stitching yarn pair 984A, 984B.
Stitching yarn pair 988A, 988B forms the same pattern as stitching yarn pair 990A, 990B, respectively, and both stitching yarn pairs 988A, 988B and 990A, 990B do not include pseudo-stitching yarns. For example, stitching yarns 988B and 990B pass over bottom MD yarns 940, 942, 944, 946 and 948, under bottom MD yarn 918 to form a bottom binding knuckle and over bottom MD yarns 920, 922, 924, and 926. Stitching yarns 988B and 990B form a top fiber support portion by passing over top MD yarn 908, under top MD yarn 910, and over top MD yarn 912. Stitching yarns 988A and 990A form a top fiber support portion by passing over top MD yarn 916, under top MD yarn 902, and over top MD yarn 904. Stitching yarns 988A and 990A each form a bottom binding knuckle with bottom MD yarn 934.
Stitching yarn pairs 992A, 992B, 994A, 994B, 996A, 996B, 982A, and 982B are offset from stitching yarn pairs 984A, 984B, 986A, 986B, 988A, 988B, 990A, and 990B, respectively, by four bottom MD yarns, with stitching yarns 992B and 994B providing a pseudo-stitching yarn pattern.
Self-stitching yarn patterns may also be used in which the CMD yarns stitch the fabric layers together. An example of a twenty-four harness, self-stitched fabric 1000 having a top layer 1100 and a bottom layer 1200 is shown in
As illustrated in FIGS. 13 and 14A–14P, the bottom layer 1200 of the fabric 1000 includes sixteen bottom MD yarns 1020, 1022, 1024, 1026, 1028, 1030, 1032, 1034, 1036, 1038, 1040, 1042, 1044, 1046, 1048, and 1050 that interweave with eight bottom CMD yarns 1084, 1086, 1088, 1090, 1092, 1094, 1096, and 1098 in an “under 3/over 1” pattern. For example, as illustrated in
As illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 14A–14P, the top layer 1100 of the fabric 1000 includes eight top MD yarns 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008, 1010, 1012, 1014, and 1016 that interweave with sixteen top CMD yarns 1052, 1054, 1056, 1058, 1060, 1062, 1064, 1066, 1068, 1070, 1072, 1074, 1076, 1078, 1080 and 1082 in an “over 3/under 1” pattern with some of the top CMD yarns passing under a bottom MD yarn to stitch the top layer 1100 to the bottom layer 1200. More specifically, top CMD yarns 1054 and 1070 pass under bottom MD yarns 1044 and 1028, respectively, to stitch the top layer 1100 to the bottom layer 1200 of the fabric. For example, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
As another example of a self-stitched fabric in which the bottom MD yarns are used to stitch the top and bottom layers is illustrated in
The bottom CMD yarn 1354 interweaves with the bottom MD yarns 1320, 1322, 1324, 1326, 1328, 1330, 1332, 1334, 1336, 1338, 1340, 1342, 1344, 1346, 1348, and 1350 in an “over 1/under 3” pattern and passes over top MD yarn 1306 to stitch the top layer 1300A and the bottom layer 1300B together. That is, bottom CMD yarn 1354 passes over bottom MD yarn 1320 (and underneath top MD yarn 1302), under bottom MD yarns 1322, 1324, and 1326, over top MD yarn 1306, under bottom MD yarns 1330, 1332 and 1334 and so forth. It should be understood that the pattern illustrated in
Another example of a self-stitched fabric is shown in the fabric 1400 of
The top MD yarns 1402, 1404, 1406, 1408, 1410, 1412, and 1416 interweave with exemplary top CMD yarns 1452 and 1456 in an “over 3/under 1” pattern. In addition, top CMD yarn 1456 stitches the top layer 1400A to the bottom layer 1400B. More specifically, top CMD yarn 1456 passes over top MD yarns 1402 and 1404, under top MD yarn 1406, over top MD yarns 1408, 1410 and 1412 and under bottom MD yarn 1444 and over top MD yarn 1416 to form the self-stitched pattern.
As illustrated in
It should be understood that various patterns of top and/or bottom layers can be used in a self-stitched pattern, including different weave patterns and different offsetting patterns. An example of a self-stitched fabric having a different bottom layer pattern is shown in the fabric 1500 of
The top MD yarns 1502, 1504, 1506, 1508, 1510, 1512, and 1516 interweave with exemplary top CMD yarns 1552 and 1556 in an “over 3/under 1” pattern. In addition, top CMD yarn 1556 passes over top MD yarns 1502 and 1504, under top MD yarn 1506, over top MD yarns 1508, 1510 and 1512 and under bottom MD yarn 1544 and over top MD yarn 1516 to form the self-stitched pattern.
As illustrated in
The fabrics described herein can have the various yarn densities and/or diameters. For example, the total density of the MD yarns (both top MD yarns and bottom MD yarns) can be between about 30 and about 200 yarns per centimeter and/or the total density of the CMD yarns (both top CMD yarns and bottom CMD yarns can be between about 50 and about 200 yarns per centimeter. The top and/or bottom MD yarns can have a diameter of between about 0.05 and about 0.30 mm. The top and/or bottom CMD yarns can have a diameter of between about 0.05 and about 0.50 mm.
Generally speaking, yarn sizes should also be selected according to the desired papermaking properties of the fabric. As an example beyond the dimensions already discussed above, generally top and bottom MD yarns have a diameter of between about 0.12 to 0.15 mm, top CMD yarns have a diameter of between about 0.10 mm and 0.15 mm, bottom CMD yarns have a diameter of between about 0.16 mm and 0.22 mm, and stitching yarns have a diameter of between about 0.12 mm and 0.15 mm. In some embodiments, the yarn density of the top MD yarns is between about 25 and 50 yarns per centimeter, and the yarn density of the top CMD yarns is between about 42 and 50 yarns per centimeter.
As a specific example, the yarn densities and diameters for fabrics according to embodiments of the present invention may be as follows:
The form of the yarns utilized in fabrics of the present invention can vary, depending upon the desired properties of the final papermaker's fabric. For example, the yarns may be multifilament yarns, monofilament yarns, twisted multifilament or monofilament yarns, spun yarns, or any combination thereof. Also, the materials comprising yarns employed in the fabric of the present invention may be those commonly used in papermaker's fabric. For example, the yarns may be formed of polypropylene, polyester, aramid, polyamide (nylon), or the like. The skilled artisan should select a yarn material according to the particular application of the final fabric. In particular, round monofilament yarns formed of polyester or polyamide are preferred.
Pursuant to another aspect of the present invention, methods of making paper are provided. Pursuant to these methods, one of the exemplary papermaker's forming fabrics described herein is provided, and paper is then made by applying paper stock to the forming fabric and by then removing moisture from the paper stock. As the details of how the paper stock is applied to the forming fabric and how moisture is removed from the paperstock is well understood by those of skill in the art, additional details regarding this aspect of the present invention need not be provided herein.
The foregoing embodiments are illustrative of the present invention, and are not to be construed as limiting thereof. The invention is defined by the following claims, with equivalents of the claims to be included therein.
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