Apparatus for the continuous treatment of sheet material

Claim 1

Apparatus for supporting and continuously transporting a sheet material which comprises: a plurality of rotatably mounted cylindrical rolls aligned sequentially on parallel axes of rotation, each roll containing in alignment along each of its outer edges a circumferential groove of approximately rectangular cross-section; two pairs of flat belts, each of which is arranged to ride in the aligned grooves while partially encircling each successive roll in opposite directions of rotation, the individual belts of each pair being placed in parallel facing contact one above the other on each groove to hold the sheet material being transported therebetween and only one of said individual belts being received within each of said aligned grooves such that the mutually contacting faces of the individual belts are substantially level with the circumferential sheet carrying surfaces of the rolls to firmly hold said sheet material transversely between said two pairs of belts in tightly clamped contact against said circumferential surfaces of the cylindrical rolls; means to guide each individual belt in a continuous loop from the last of the partially encircled rolls to the first roll, said guide means including at least one tensioning roller to maintain the individual belts of each pair in tightly clamped relationship.