Apparatus for forming non-woven web structures

Claim 1

IN AN ARRANGEMENT FOR COMBINING, IN AN ELASTIC FLUID ATMOSPHERE, A PLURALITY OF LATERALLY SPACED AND ALIGNED PARALLEL MOVING STREAMS OF AN ELASTIC FLUID HAVING A PLURALITY OF FIBROUS ELEMENTS FROM THE COMBINED STREAMS IN THE THE FIBROUS ELEMENTS FROM THE COMBINED STREAMS IN THE FORM OF A UNITARY COHERENT NON-WOVEN WEB STRUCTURE HAVING UNIFORM THICKNESS, DENSITY, AND DIRECTIONAL PROPERTIES, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING STREAM COMBINING AND CONTROLLING APPARATUS, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING MEANS FOR AERODYNAMICALLY RAPIDLY DIVERTING EACH STREAM IN AN OSCILLATING MANNER ALONG A GENERAL LATERAL LINE OF DIRECTION TRANSVERSE TO THE PATH OF STREAM MOVEMENT, SAID GENERAL LATERAL LINE SUBSTANTIALLY COINCIDING WITH THE PLANE DEFINED BY SAID PARALLEL MOVING STREAMS TO CAUSE THE DIVERTED STREAMS TO MERGE AND FORM A SINGLE COMBINED EVENLY BLENDED CONTINUOUS LATERALLY EXTENDING MOVING STREAM OF FLUID AND FIBROUS ELEMENTS SAID MEANS COMPRISING A SET OF MOVABLE MEMBERS POSITIONED IN OPPOSED POSITIONS ADJACENT EACH STREAM, SAID MEMBERS CONSTRUCTED AND ARRANGED WITH RESPECT TO EACH STREAM TO ALTERNATELY CHECK AT OPPOSED SIDES OF SAID STREAM THE FLOW OF THE ELASTIC FLUID ATMOSPHERE INDUCED BY SAID STREAM, EACH SET OF MOVABLE MEMBERS COMPRISING A PAIR OF DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED ELEMENTS EACH HAVING A CURVED SURFACE MOVABLE INTO POSITION CLOSELY ADJACENT SAID STREAM TO CHECK SAID INDUCED FLOW WHILE ITS DIAMETERICALLY OPPOSED ELEMENT IS FURTHER FROM SAID STREAM AND INOPERATIVE TO CHECK SAID INDUCED FLOW, SAID ELEMENTS OPERATED IN PREDETERMINED PHASE RELATIONSHIP SO THAT EACH IN TURN PRESENTS A CURVED SURFACE ADJACENT TO A SIDE OF THE FLUID STREAM WHEREBY SAID INDUCED FLOW IS SUBSTANTIALLY INSTANTANEOUSLY ALTERNATELY CHECKED BY EACH ELEMENT AT OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID STREAM TO RAPIDLY DIVERT SAID STREAM IN SAID OSCILLATING MANNER.