Wet press felt for papermaking machine

Claim 1

In a wet press felt for use in a papermaking machine, which comprises an outer textile face layer for receiving and supporting a wet paper sheet during its passage through the nip of a wet press in the papermaking machine; a lower backside layer for supporting the felt on the papermaking machine; and an intermediate textile fabric layer between the outer textile face layer and the lower backside layer, the improvement, which comprises; said outer textile face layer being a sheet of spun-bonded, formed fabric comprising a substantially uniform layer of non-woven, synethetic organic filaments, said filaments being substantially round in cross-section and randomly distributed throughout the layer and so disposed as to be substantially separate and independent of each other except at filament cross-over points, where the filaments are bonded together, said layer presenting a smooth, substantially unbroken surface which is porous, permitting only particles of less than about 35 microns in diameter to pass through, said face layer being secured to the intermediate layer by an adhesive disposed in disperse locations between the face layer and the intermediate layer so that porosity of the felt is not impaired.