Cylinder dryer for paper machines

Claim 1

A cylinder dryer for drying a wet paper sheet and adapted to be incorporated in the first part of the dryer section of a paper machine, comprising: a plurality of heated cylinders that are arranged at at least one upper and one lower level for receiving a travelling wet sheet thereon, the wet sheet during the drying process travelling in loops up and down around the cylinders of the upper and lower levels with portions of the wet sheet travelling between the cylinders being unsupported; a source of blown hot air; hoods provided for at least some of said heated cylinders, said hoods covering part of the curved surfaces of their respective heated cylinders, each of said hoods being coupled to said hot air source and having first orifice means arranged for blowing hot air at least substantially perpendicularly on to the sheet travelling from one cylinder to another; the improvement wherein: at least the hoods for the upper level heated cylinders have extended wing members whose surfaces facing the wet sheet extend along at least a substantial portion of said wet sheet that travels unsupported by, and between, alternate heated cylinders, said wing members projecting substantially parallel and in close proximity to said unsupported portions of said wet sheet; and said surfaces of said extended wing members have second orifices arranged for blowing streams of hot air substantially parallel to said unsupported portions of said wet sheet in both the same direction as its direction of travel and opposite to its direction of travel for stabilizing the said sheet.