Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 15
Claim 1
Independent Claim
108 words
A papermakers fabric having an upper surface and a lower surface, said fabric comprising: a plurality of hinge yarns, all of said hinge yarns extending in a common direction; a plurality of spiral coils disposed in a common plane in a side-by-side relationship, each of said coils extending in said common direction, adjacent coils of said spirals intermeshed and held together in intermeshing relationship by at least one of said hinge yarns, said spiral coils formed from yarns having a non-circular cross-section; each of said hinge yarns and each of said coil yarns having uniform cross sections throughout their respective lengths and being substantially free of surface discontinuities.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
108 words
A papermakers fabric having an upper surface and a lower surface, said fabric comprising: a plurality of hinge yarns, all of said hinge yarns extending in a common direction; a plurality of spiral coils disposed in a common plane in a side-by-side relationship, each of said coils extending in said common direction, adjacent coils of said spirals intermeshed and held together in intermeshing relationship by at least one of said hinge yarns, said spiral coils formed from yarns having a non-circular cross-section; each of said hinge yarns and each of said coil yarns having uniform cross sections throughout their respective lengths and being substantially free of surface discontinuities.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
22 words
The papermakers fabric of claim 1 wherein at least one of said coil yarns and said hinge yarns is a synthetic monofilament.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
22 words
The papermakers fabric of claim 2 wherein said synthetic material is chosen from the group consisting of polyester, polyamide, polyolefin and polyetheretherketone.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
40 words
The papermakers fabric of claim 1, wherein said hinge yarns are of non-circular cross section selected from the group consisting of a rectangular cross section, an elliptical cross section, a D-shaped cross section, and a dog bone shaped cross section.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
55 words
The papermakers fabric of claim 4, wherein each of said non-circular cross sections has a long axis and a short axis, said long axes of said hinge yarns being aligned substantially parallel to the plane of the fabric, and said short axes of said hinge yarns being substantially perpendicular to the plane of the fabric.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
26 words
The papermakers fabric of claim 5, wherein said short and long axes of each hinge yarn are in the ratio of about 1:1.1 to about 1:6.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
19 words
The papermakers fabric of claim 6, wherein said ratio is in the range of about 1:1.1 to about 1:2.5.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
22 words
The papermakers fabric of claim 1 wherein the width to thickness ratio of said yarns ranges from about 1:1.1 to about 1:6.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
22 words
The papermakers fabric of claim 8 wherein the width to thickness ratio of said yarns ranges from about 1:1.5 to about 1:2.0.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
65 words
The papermakers fabric of claim 1 wherein each of said coils is formed from a yarn having two pairs of opposed, substantially flat surfaces one pair of said surfaces having a length greater than that of said other pair of surfaces when viewed in cross section, the longer of said surfaces lying in planes substantially parallel to said upper and lower surfaces of said fabric.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
13 words
The papermakers fabric of claim 10 wherein said opposed surfaces are substantially parallel.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
58 words
The papermakers fabric of claim 1 wherein each of said coils is formed from a non-circular yarn having a long axis and a short axis, said long axes of said coil yarns oriented substantially parallel to the upper and lower surfaces of said fabric and said short axes of said coil yarns oriented substantially perpendicular to said surfaces.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
16 words
The papermakers fabric of claim 12 wherein said coil yarns are of generally elliptical cross section.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
19 words
The dryer fabric of claim 1 wherein said spiral coils are formed from yarns that act like a monofilament.