US1928568A - Method for forming wadding and bats, and product - Google Patents

Description

R. L. LOOMIS ,METHOD FOR FORMING WADDING AND BATS, AND PRODUCT Spt. 26, 1933.

FiledApril 19, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet l m NN,

AroRNEY Sept. 26, 1933.

Filed`Apri1-l9, 1933 ZSheets-Sheet 2 l N VEN TOR.'

ATTORNEY atcnted Sept. 26, .1933

METHUD FOR FG VVDDING` 4 BATS, AND PRODUCT ph nimma, Bedford, Mass. application april 19.1983. seriaiNo. esmas 1s Claims. (o1. :a1-7o) This is acontinuation in part of my prior application, Ser. No. 638,978 filed October 21, 1932 for the same invention asto all claims now standing in said prior application.

'The invention has for an object to effect improvements in the methods and apparatus for forming sheets of cotton wadding or other waddings having a skin-like or glazed surface portion formed by applying size to connect the fibers, and particularly to improve the product for the uses to which such material is applied, to lower its cost, and to enable its production with simpler apparatus and with lower expenditure for power, 'heatlabor and material.

The invention relates particularly to the application of size to a cotton lap sheet of'loosely laid fibers, and the drying thereof in a way to produce an article of good appearance and uniform quality and texture on both sides.

It is also an aim to enable the production of such a bat by simultaneous sizing on both sides of the web, and by simultaneous drying thereof on both sides, which has not been before successfully attained. v

In certain kinds of wadding or batting as heretofore produced, both sides of the lap have been sized and dried in such manner that a very thin layer of fibers are united at the surface. But it has not been practicaland in fact, it has been impossible-by prior methods to produce a wadding web in which uniform even surfaces were formed on both sides. And the body of the bat has also been of uneven density at different parts.

For instance, one side of the bat has been in variably cockled, and this has made it impracticable to secure a rsatisfactory wadding for many uses where a uniform density and surface continuity is essential to satisfactory results.

It is also an' important aim to produce a wadding with faces of the same length on both sides, and which will at the same time have a fine quality of natural fiber in its body portion between the two sized surfaces, or a fiber which has not been affected by the application of size, or by the drying of the size on the faces.

In addition to the fact that the old product is less satisfactory than the new, more space is required for the apparatus, more conveyor structure and power expenditure, as well as more heat for a given quantity production, and special handling of the finished product, the time occupied by a given quantity of product in transit through the apparatus 'is greater, there is greater waste material, and there is a greater cost in several other particulars, all of which taken tomaterial.

gether are quite material, as compared to the results lin practice of my invention. The time element is in fact very important, because with a given working force tending machines, anda given factory investment and overhead charge, a small increase in speed of a machine may readily mark the difference between loss and profit. There is no appreciable increase of labor required when such a machine is operated at a higher speed, and the increased power expenditure is negligible. My invention has enabled me to obtain speeds in such manufacture which have never been obtainable before, and has enabled the doubling of production as compared to prior machines for making similar products of less desirable quality. In addition, shutdowns have been materially reduced, especially where a very thin wadding has been produced. Adherence of wadding to rolls', with resultant wind up is of frequent occurrence under prior practice, producing breaks in the sheet and causing loss of The bat with such a break must be sold at a sacrifice. These losses are practically eliminated by my invention. It is therefore possible to sell such Wadding so much cheaper than has heretofore been possible thatthe use of dotton in wadding form will be materially increased in uses Where it has been limited heretofore, and also extended into applications where it has been too expensive or unsatisfactory.

While my invention is especially important in effecting simultaneous sizing of a wad withvextremely thin coats, it is nevertheless also important and highly advantageous in the production of these wads in which thicker coats are applied or where immersion in the size is practiced. In such cases the method results in the same benefits in enabling rapid production and formation of r`a smooth surface finish yon both sides of the wad, without wrinkling by contraction of either surface of the product.

In the prior art in producing skin faces -on both sides of simple cotton lap wadding, it has been customary to size wadding by wetting and drying it on an upper side, then passing the lower side over a sizing roll, then under and upward against and around a dry roll to return in the drier on a conveyor, so that the second side, now wet and uppermost, may be dried. In this operation, the first side 8 having been dried and set to its form and surface, is rendered resistant to 'stretching but the remaining side 9 is not, and as it passes around the dry roll, this wet, undried side is stretched. This wetted stretched surface now resists return to initial form, by reason of the adhesion of the fibers; and by reason of the readiness with which this surface may bend, upon leaving the roll it is caused to cockle and pucker, producing a very unsatisfactoy surface, which is made permanent in the final drying. It has not been found possible to overcome this difficulty by any prior practice.

It is therefore a purpose of my invention to present a method wherein this effect in the processes and defect in the product is obviated.

Additional objects, advantages and features of invention will appear from the manner of movl.

ing, supporting and treating the lap, and in the construction, arrangement and combination of parts involved in carrying out the invention, as may be understood from the following description and accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a machine as ,constructed and utilized in carrying out my invention.

Figure 2 is a similar view of another form of machine also utilized for producing my new product and involving my inventive process.

Figure 3 is a similar view of a machine of the prior art.

Figure 4 is a detail fragmentary longitudin section of a wad sheet produced by my invention.

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4, showing the wedding of the prior art.

Figure 8 is a cross section of a portion of wadding produced by my process of Figure 2, greatly enlarged.

Figure 'I is a similar view of a wadding of the lfirst method (Fig. 1).

Figure 8 is a detail of a modied apparatus and method.

Figure 9 is a detail of one form of conveyor in the last named modification.

In the practice of my process invention the size may be applied by immersion, by passing the lap between two rolls bearing on the lap and having their lower parts set in a size bath, or the size may be sprayed on.

In another method of practicing my invention I size only one side at first, holding the lap in such manner in its subsequent movement that the sized surface is not shortened, but rather stretched if anything, laying the lap with this wetted side down on a water-repellent planiform support and moving the support through a drier; then wetting the other side of the lap and repeating the first operations, including the preliminary shaping of the lap with one sized side so that no shortening of the second side sized will occur as compared to the form of the matted fibers at the ,mentioned and this additional feature consists in this:

In the production of waddng by applying size with a sizing roll and pressure and then drying it wet side up, at the instant of application and over a small area at the time of contact with the sizingI roll, the lap surface is substantially planiform and very smooth, but owing to the resilience of the fiber thereunder and a certain inequality of density, the recovery from compression at the sizing roll will be unequal throughout the sheet so that while a smooth surface may be produced there will be slight undulations due to certain surface parts or areas being raised more than others by the recovery Aof subjacent fibers. By laying the wet sized face of the lap upon a planiform support the face fibers will all tend to lie against the support, andthe drying of the size will set it in a true plane, or more nearly so, with the effect that the resultant wadding will have a correspondingly more uniform surface and thickness.

There is illustrated formally in Figure 3 a method and machine as heretofore known and used. In this the lap from gins is supplied to a series of cards 10 by which a lap or sheet l1 of loosely laid fibers is built up on the endless horlzontal conveyor 12. From this the lap sheet is carried over a wet roll 13 set with its lower part in a size tank 14, and is pressed on the wet roll by a dry roll 15 of larger diameter located thereover. The sheet 11 passes upwardly around this dry roll so that it is inverted and its direction reversed, bringing the wet side uppermost, and it is then drawn into a drier 16 upon the upper side of a horizontal endless belt conveyor 17 on which the dry uncoated side of the sheet rests. At the delivery end of the conveyor 17 the sheet, now sized on the upper side and dried, passes between a'second wet roll and tank at 18 and a superpcsed dry roll 19, all arranged similarly in 'relation to the sheet as in the case of the first sizing device 13-14-15. Here the second side of the sheet is sized. The sheet in this second instance also then passes outward, upward and inwardly around the dry roll 19, to a second drier 20, like the first, wherein the conveyor 2l receives the dry sized face of the sheet which has been again inverted. From the second drier the sheet passes to a folding winding, or baling apparatus at 22. The conveyors 17 and 21 have generally been open work woven wire belting. v

At the second wetting roll the dry sized face at the upper side coming against the dry roll is held fiat thereagainst, and the wetted side must stretch slightly to compensate for the difference in radius between the dry and wet sides. Upon leaving the roll 19 and passing to the second drier the sheet is returned to planiform shape substantially. The first sized surface being dry and the fibers therein united and having considerable tensile strength longitudinally of the sheet, resists stretching, and the upper side, still wet and non-rigid with its greater linear surface, is forced to adjust itself within the limits of the lesser linear surface at the lower side. The adhesion between the wetted fibers prevents them from slipping back to the same relation or lay which they had when leaving the first drier or when pressed at 18. but the wet surface being readily flexible, the differences are accommodated by the wet surface becoming puckered or wrinkled, with transverse indentations and prominences in close-y spaced order, resembling a crepe finish, and the sheet is dried with this form permanently fixed therein. This is highly undesirable for many uses, and especially in very fine thin skinned wadding, where the sizing coat is very thin and where the material is desired to make a good contact with planiform, or cylindrical, or other fairly even surface.

When passing between the rolls 13 and 15, the sheet will occasionally be penetrated by the size. and this size coming into Contact with the roll 15, the sheet iscaused to adhere to the roll; the

sheet is broken between this roll and drier, and winds on the roll 15, ruining the continuity of the sheet, and necessitating shutting down of the machine while the wind up" is cut away and discarded. Notwithstanding that there is a high loss of time as well as material in such waste, a greater waste is only avoided by special watch fulness of operatives and their constant readiness to stop the machine quickly in order to lessen the loss. This necessity for close attention to the rolls involves an exceptional expense for operatives, since the sustained attention to this detail limits the usefulness of the operatives in other directions.

In Figure 1 there is shown a machine in which `the cards 10 and first conveyor 12 may be the same as in prior practice, such devices, being well understood in the art, not being shown in detail but are formally indicated, the details thereof comprising no novel part of the invention. More cards are used, due to faster production.

From the conveyor 12 the lap 23 is elevated on an inclined conveyor 24 or other arrangement provided, so as to pass upwardly between two size tanks 25 and two wet rolls 26 and 27 between which the lap sheet 23 is pressed and coated with a suitable size 28. These rolls are preferably of a substantial diameter, and I customarily use a wet roll 26 of a diameter more than twice that of the ordinary wet roll, although this may not be found essential. The purpose is to avoid disturbance of the lay of the ilbers in the pressed lap when' the sheet is straightened, after leaving the roll 26, as will appear. The lap passes upward and then to one side over one of the rolls, in the present instance over the roll 26, and is drawn into a drier 29 by a simple horizontal endless belt conveyor 30, which is similar to the conveyor 17. At the inner or distant end` of this conveyor the lap is lifted by the receiving end of a second similar horizontal conveyor 31 closely over the one 3.0 and operating in a reverse direction, the lap being thus inverted thereon so that the side of the sheet uppermost on the iirst drier conveyor is now presented downwardly on the second conveyor in the drier. From the conveyor 30 the lap is delivered as a completed wadding having a skin 32 of size-connected flbers on both sides, to any final apparatus for winding or otherwise packing the goods, a folding or bailing device 33 being indicated.

In the last described apparatus an immersion bath may be substituted for the wet roll means.

Air, preheated, if desired, may be introduced and drawn from the drier at the flue connections 57. It is circulated in -such manner as to not be required to pass through the lap sheet with such force as to disturb the size thereon, and may be caused to circulate around the lap and pass across its surfaces more than through them.

The conveyor 30 may be operated at a slightly greater surface speed than the surface speed of the roll 26, so that a slight stretching 'of the lap is effected at the lower side as'the lap leaves the roll v26. This has the eiect of preventing crinkling of the upper face when flattened on leaving the roll 26. Or, as in Figure 8, the rolls 26 and 27 are located a little below the level of .the receiving end of the conveyor 30 and the two- .out again, and becomes further set in smooth form during the completion of the drying operation. It will be seen that the sheet is moved through the drier without stretching any part of the web, due to the fact that after sizng and before the sizing becomes set, especially, while moving to and through the drier, the external face of the bent portion is of the same length as the same portion `unbent.

In this apparatus the conveyor belts 31 and 30 are usually made of woven wine fabric. I may make them of woven fiber also. The conveyors are saturated or impregnated or coated witha wax such as bees-wax or other wax material of similar water-repellent quality at the drier temperature so as to make the conveyor surfaces repellent to water, and at the receiving end of each of these conveyors there is located on the under side a waxing roll 35 by which the surfaces of the conveyors are 'constantly waxed. The rolls 35 may have means for supplying wax. This may consist of a trough 36 in which a feed roller 37 may be mounted wth or without an interrupter, or other means to limit the amount of wax applied. The amount of wax required is extremely small, it not being necessary to saturate the conveyor, but merely to maintain the surface portions waxed properly. In the arrangement shown, the waxing roll squeezes oi excess material from the roll 37, which excess may run back to the trough.

It is signflcant to consider that in the operation of the machine the temperatures maintained in the drier are sufficient to melt many waxes, and it is contemplated therefore that the wax on the'conveyors is not necessarily a substantial body forming a cont'nuous surface on the conveyor when the latter is of woven fabric but is simply a coating of the fibers or wires of the conveyor. The function of thewaxing rolls is to simply maintain this surface coating, which may be extremely tenuous. The conveyors may be made of any customary material suitable for such purposes, reticulated, or witha continuous surface, and of metal, fiber, or other material with or without a varnish, enamel, or coating of pyroxyln, synthetic gum or the like, but in the latter cases it should be noted that the varnishes, pyroxylin, or synthetic gum materials are not sufciently water repellent tov serve the purpose desired, and require to be waxed, as indicated. Merely enameling .or forming a high polish on the surfaces of the conveyor does not serve, as such materials as far as observed, without waxing as indicated, will have suiicient adhesive effect to cause a spotty gathering of the size, preventing a dependable uniform distribution of the size and uniform continuity of the skin faces formed on the wadding or causing tearing of the surface.

By a modification of the process, for which one product is obtained with some possible advantage over the form last described. .There is shown the same system of cards 10, and conveyor 12 by lfiO vform of apparatus is represented in Figure 2, a.I

which a very uniform lap 40 is built up on the conveyor. At the delivery end of this conveyor and a short distance thereabove, a size tank is located, a wet roll 42 being set in the sizetherein, and above this there is a pressure roll 43. `On a level with the roll 42 and extending from the tank 41 over the conveyor 12 there is a drier 44 with a;Y horizontal endless conveyor 45 therein which may be reticulated or of a continuous surface, and in the latter case in some instances may be formed with a polished surface of a heat resistant material.

Outwardly of the discharge end of the conveyor 45 a guide roll 46 is located beneath which the sheet may pass, while above and slightly inward of this roll there is located a second wet roll 47 with a size tank 48, a presser roll 49 being located over the roll 47. The sheet 40 passes upwardly at the outer side of the roll 47 being held spaced therefrom and guided in a curve by a fender 50 so as to pass between the rolls 47 and 49 in a horizontal plane. A drier 51 is located to receive the sheet from the last two rolls, having the' conveyor 52 therein delivering to the baling device 53 beyond the drier. Waxing rolls 54 and 55 are located at the receiving ends of the drier conveyors so as to apply wax to the lower reaches thereof just before receiving the wet stock.

The lap 40 is passed upwardly beside the roll 42 and under theroll 43 from the roll 42, passing horizontally into the drier, on to the conveyor 45- and it will be noted that the wet side is down, contrary to all prior practice. The -lap passes onto the conveyor with such contact that it is supported with the lower wet face of the lap in contact with the conveyor throughout the surface of the latter, and becomes dried in this fashion, so that the skin on the wadding is formed strictly true to the plane of the face of the conveyor, the weight of the stock pressing al1 the wetted parts continuously down on the conveyor.

The lap; sized and dried on the under side, is now conducted from the drier under the guide roll 46 and upwardly, then inwardly over the wet roll 47 and under the pressure roll 49 to the conveyor 52 in the upper drier 51 (or this may be the upper part of the drier 44). The opposite or unsized side of the sheet is thereby turned downward, wetted, and laid on the conveyor 52. Here, again, the wetted surface of the sheet is caused to rest evenly on the-conveyor, contacting therewith throughout and assuring a closer approximation of an exactly planiform and continuous surface than would be the case if allowed to lie at the upper side of the sheet and be dried in theV ordinary way, in addition to avoiding the cockling that wouldoccur if the lap had been passed over the roller 47 before inversion, and then inverted by usual practice to bring the wet side uppermost. The weight of the wetted fibers is sufiicient to cause all parts to lie on the belt, whereas small areas lie low and others high when the wetted surface is at the upper side of the lap while drying. With the sized face laid on the conveyor prominences are pressed in and parts which would recede at the top side fall into contact with the belt. A greater amount of material is thus caused to lie exactly in the ideal surface plane. Being dried with this form it retains it after leaving the conveyor.

The product as produced by the first form of my process is distinguished from the prior wadding 'in having continuous even surfaces that are similar and of the same length on both sides,

characterized by an absence of cockles, puckers. and vcrinkles in the form of transverse ridges and recesses even yin the thinnest skins as formed by the sizing of the matted surface of the sheet. Also, at the lower side, and on each side in the second method, the sheet of wadding is further distinguished inthat the sized face has not only an even surface, but the surface more nearly approximates a plane when laid flat, and is in addition more nearly a perfect continuous surface in that plane as to extremely small areas which in the old products have tended to lie below or above the mean plane of the smoothest side of the sheet. The lower side of the product of Figure 1 and both sides of the sheet 40 of Figure 2 are characterized by having greater density of fibers immediately at the surface and more of the size retained exactly at the surface.

By the Weight of the lap body resting on the conveyor in the drier after the application of the size as described the lower fibers of the sheet are pressed upwardly by the face of the conveyor, and other flbers which would not project to the surface are caused to move into the matted layer immediately at the surface, producing a greater density of matted or interlaid fibers at the surface, producing a greater density of matted or interlaid fibers at the surface, in addition to causing the whole surface to have a more nearly continuous planiform surface.

But should a wadding including heavier and stiffer fibers be used such as wool or vegetable fibers notably stiffer than cotton, and a substantially continuous surface belt be employed, the fibers which tend to project outwardly from the mean or desired surface (and which would so project in the prior methods with similar conveyors and materials) are pressed upwardly by the face of the conveyor and held in the face of the sheet until secured by the setting of the size.

By using smoothly finished belts in the conveyors, as indicated, the goods may be produced with a very high smooth finish, and by the use of suitable materials in the size a polished surface may be'formed on the sheet. For instance, by including a small percentage of chalk and silicate of soda, a highly polished surface may be produced which is highly attractive for fancy packages. and fancy toilet preparations and appliances. There may thus be formed a combination pad sheet and ornamental lining for fancy goods, obviating the need for fancy paper facings to a certain extent. The use of color in the size to enhance such values may be practiced also.

If desired, the guide 50 may be omitted, owing to the fact that the unwetted fibers passing against the roll 47 are easily compacted without liability of stretching the firm, dried outer sized side, and after wetting, they are caused to become readjusted it being possible to assure this by having the speed of the conveyor 52 approximately'the same as that of the lower one 45 and also in this case, the outer side having been sized and dried, will not have been stretched, and will not tend to crinkle on that account, and for the further reason that any tendency of the newly wetted surface to resist readjustment back to its original length as it approaches the roll 47 and so cause the dried skin to cockle or crinkle will be opposed by the latter skin itself, which has now become set in its form and also braced by being united firmly with fibers extending Within the sheet so that the newly wetted surface is caused to become readjusted to original form.

It should be noted that in the arrangement of Figure 2 the size becomes set and dried while moving over one reach of a horizontal conveyor.

In the use of the structure of Figure 1 the size may become partly dried on the first conveyor, but this will be sufficient to set the size so that it will have substantial strength and will not stretch under the stresses involved in the drier.

A heating means comprising steam coils 56 is formally illustrated, and air circulation in the drier may be provided for in accordance with usual practices in such apparatus.

Surfaces coated with ordinary oils and lubricants are not regarded as water repellent in the sense involved in my process. That is to say, if oil such as used for lubricating motor vehicles or ordinary lubricant grease or material corresponding to an unguent is used, it is not strictly water repellent, since it will become diffused or spread or dispersed over the surface of the size, especially at the temperatures in the driers, and in addition it has been observed that the sized surfaces of the lap will adhere to the surfaces of metal and other non-fibrous conveyors while the ,size is moist, and cannot be readily separated therefrom until the size is completely dried, and the support surface vis polished and flat. With such treatment tearing of the wadding occurs if the support is a wire mesh belt conveyor.

In the claims water repellent is intended to designate a surface material with which water will not coalesce, and upon which water will not spread but will be prevented by the properties of the surface material from attaching thereto or becoming attached with a force greater than the cohesion of water. In other words, the material must manifest capillary repulsion to water at the temperatures in the drier and preferably if fluid at such temperatures, should then have such viscosity comparable with that of bees-wax at the same temperatures, although it may have higher viscosity. The most satisfactory material so far discovered is bees-wax, which has worked particularly well on wire mesh belt conveyors, such as ordinarily used in the prior art.

It may be noted that the reason the sized lap does not adhere to the rolls 26 or 27 in the manner explained in reference to Figure 3, at l5, when a bubble of the size is pressed through the lap, is because in the new process the whole face of the lap is sized where it leaves the wet rolls, and there is sufficient adhesion mutually betw'een the fibers throughout the advanced face of the sheet to hold the face of the lap intact. At l5, on the contrary, a single spot of wetted fiber adheres to the roll without being connected by cohering size to adjacent dry parts of the web already beyond the roll, and adhesion to the roll 15 reinforced by the action of gravity on the heavier wet sp`ot, together with the loose connection between the wet spot and the surrounding dry fibers permit and cause the wet spot to move away from the fiber stock in advance, carrying with it the stock following. In Figure 2, at

r43, the liability of pushing through of a bubble of size is obviated by the fact that the lap moves some distance on the wet roll before it encounters the pressure roll 43, and that affords time for the size from a bubble to become distributed sufficiently to prevent it from pushing through. Also, the smaller diameter of the roll 43 and the fact that it has only a line contact with the lap in conjunction with the action of gravity further minimize the liability of a windup even should a wet spot push through the lap. Gravity is an aid at 43, and a detriment at 15.

l. The method of forming a fiber wadding comprising forming a lap sheet of loosely laid fibers, wetting both sides of this lap sheet with size simultaneously, and conducting the lap sheet into and through a drier with bothT sides in a continuous even and smooth shape without cockles or wrinkles, therebykpreventing adjustment of surface bers into cockles or the like until the size is set, by laying the wet sheet on a planiform water-repellent surface in the drier, and removing the sheet when dried.

2. The method of claim l in which there is provided in the drier an endless flexible travelling lap supporting surface, and including the step of applying a water repellent material to the said surface after each operation on said surface.

3. The method of claim 1 in which the sheet is laid on one water-repellent surface support in the drier until one side is dried, and then laying the other side similarly on another support until the second side is dried. l l

4. In the method of forming a fiber wadding the steps comprisingl forming a lap sheet of loosely laid bers, coating a roll continuously with size, drawing the sheet horizontally over said roll and tangentially therefrom onto a waterrepellent surface in a plane with the tangent, and drying the sheet while lying with the wet side on said surface until the size is set.

5. The method of forming a skin on fiber wadding, comprising forming a lap sheet, wetting the face of this sheet with a size, laying the sized face upon a water-repellent support and drying the same While lying on the Waterrepellent surface. y

6. The method of claim 4 including sizing both sides of the sheet, partly drying the sheet on one water-repellent surface, then inverting it on to another water repellent surface and drying completely.

'7. The method of producing fiber wadding comprising forming a continuous lap sheet of loosely laid fibers, moving this lap sheet in a planiform shape and in the plane of the sheet, operating a roll in contact with the sheet while in said planiform shape andwhile movingv in said plane, constantly applying wetsize to said roll, and moving the sheet through a drier while continued in said planiform shape and said plane until the size is set. v

8. The method of forming a skin face on a Wad sheet or the like, comprising forming a lap sheet of highly flexible fibers so looselylaid together that material in the body of the sheet and at the face may become relatively adjusted by gravity, applying size to the face of the sheet, positioning the sheet upon a water repellent support in a horizontal plane with the sized bers at the lower side and simultaneously pressing the fibers at the lower side of the sheet inwardly into a plane including other fibers within the sheet which are held by action of gravity on the face ofthe sheet, maintaining the upper side of the sheet free of pressure, and holding the lower fibers so pressed until the size is set, applying heat and circulating air against the pressed fibers to dry the size until set while so pressed.

9. In a process of the character described, the steps comprising'laying the wet sized face of the sheet on one water-repellent planiform support while moving the sheet continuously longitudinally in a drier, then moving the sheet longitudinally in a curved path, bending the sheet so that its external surface lies within an arc which does not exceed the length of the included part of the sheet when planiform before said bending, continuing this curvilinear movement until the sheet is inverted, laying the sheet then on a second planiform support and continuing its longitudinal movement in the drier.

10. 'In a process of the character described, the steps comprising wetting with size a sheet of loosely interlaid bers while in planiform shape and moving the sheet then in a tortuous path for drying, said path including extended planiform portions, the sheet while wet and before setting of the size being moved from the initial and to succeeding planiform portions by movement longitudinally in a curved form, the external tace of the bent portion being of the same length as the same portion of the sheet unbent.

11. The method of claim 5 in which there is provided in the drier a support in the form of an endless belt having an extensive horizontal upper reach positioned to receive the lap sheet thereon, and including the step of continuously working a water-repellent material on the face of said belt.

12. The article produced by the method of claim 8.

13. A wadding glazed on both sides produced by the method of claim 7.

RALPH L. LOOMIS.

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