Machines for the continuous manufacture of cloth by superposing several layers of a textile web

Claim 1

Machine for the continuous manufacture of cloth by superposing several layers of textile web, comprising a feed device for introducing the web into the machine, a moving receiving surface having longitudinal edges and a central portion situated in a substantially horizontal plane and movable in a direction situated in said horizontal plane, means arranged between the feed device and said receiving surface to deposit the web on the receiving surface by alternate lateral swinging movements and thus to form the cloth on said surface, said means being constituted by a relatively pressure-tight enclosure which comprises: above the receiving surface, an elongated opening for the introduction of the web and having a vertical plane of symmetry; inside the enclosure, two elongated flaps defining, by their respective upper edges, the longer parallel sides of said elongated opening and adapted to oscillate along said upper edges so that one flap and then the other flap alternately occupies a substantially vertical position, in which its free or lower edge is at a slight distance from said receiving surface, whilst the other flap occupies a retracted position in which its free edge is spaced both from said receiving surface and from said vertical plane of symmetry; an entry opening in a first outer wall of the enclosure for the entry of the receiving surface alone; an exit opening in an outer wall of the enclosure opposite said first outer wall for the exit of said receiving surface lined with the cloth; means for creating a pressure-drop between the webintroduction opening and the inside of the enclosure; and drive means to actuate the flaps in their oscillating movement and to move the receiving surface from the entry opening to the exit opening; the receiving surface being permeable to air at its longitudinal edges but impermeable in its central region, auxiliary openings being arranged on each side of the elongated web-introduction opening at the side remote from said vertical plane of the corresponding flap so as to be freed or obturated by said corresponding flap according as the latter occupies its substantially vertical position or its retracted position.