Dual fabric apparatus for paper web formation

Claim 1

In a papermaking machine, the combination of walls defining a chamber having an inlet for admitting a suspension of papermaking fibers and an outlet orifice for discharging the suspension, with an exit passageway within said chamber leading to said orifice and formed by a pair of said walls, said pair of walls having respective facing surfaces which are substantially impervious and which are substantially parallel to each other over a substantial distance and spaced a predetermined distance apart up to and including said orifice; a pair of endless fabrics, at least one of which is a foraminous forming carrier; means for supporting said endless fabrics for movement over respective paths into said chamber, through said passageway over respective ones of said surfaces, and out of said orifice; means for moving said fabrics over said paths at substantially the same speed; and means downstream from said orifice for removing fluid from the suspension through said forming fabric to form a web of papermaking fibers thereon, said pair of walls being shaped to cause the entire flow of suspension to move from the orifice uniformly at the speed of said fabrics prior to any substantial formation of the web so that the fluid may be removed from the suspension without exerting substantial shear forces upon the forming web.