Production of batting

Claim 1

Apparatus for the manufacture of cross-lapped structures comprising means for continuously supplying a longitudinally moving wide fine web of substantially parallel filaments at a predetermined linear speed, a support, means for traversing said web by alternately moving the web in opposite direction across said support to deposit the web in folded condition on said support, said traversing means including an oscillating chute for receiving the moving web and discharging said web onto said support, said chute comprising opposed wide panels with inner walls having smooth surfaces separated by a distance substantially greater than the thickness of said web, said panels converging toward an exit, means for oscillating said chute at a predetermined rate to provide a predetermined linear speed of traverse of said exit substantially lower than the linear speed of said web, said exit being spaced from said support sufficiently for said web, in travelling from said exit to said support, to billow outward substantially beyond the limits of the traverse of said exit, and Baffle means associated with said chute to regulate and direct the currents of air generated by the oscillation of said chute to control the billowing effect.