Scrim for seams and joins of papermaking fabric

Abstract

A papermachine fabric includes a base fabric and a strip of material covering a join or seam of the base fabric. The strip of material has an edge with a plurality of crenulations therein.

1 . A papermachine fabric, comprising: 
 a base fabric having one of a join and a seam; and    a strip of material covering said join or said seam, said strip of material having an edge with a plurality of crenulations.    
   
   
       2 . The papermachine fabric of  claim 1 , wherein said crenulations are at least one of regularly and irregularly spaced cutouts.  
   
   
       3 . The papermachine fabric of  claim 2 , wherein said crenulations are at least one of regularly and irregularly shaped cutouts.  
   
   
       4 . The papermachine fabric of  claim 3 , wherein each said crenulation has a peak and a valley, said peak and said valley being apart from each other by a distance of at least 0.1 inch.  
   
   
       5 . The papermachine fabric of  claim 4 , wherein said distance is at least 0.5 inch.  
   
   
       6 . The papermachine fabric of  claim 3 , wherein said strip material has a thickness of between approximately 0.003 inches and 0.010 inches.  
   
   
       7 . The papermachine fabric of  claim 3 , wherein said crenulations have a shape being at least one of semi-circular, sinusoidal, square, triangular and trapezoidal.  
   
   
       8 . The papermachine fabric of  claim 3 , wherein said strip material has a width of between approximately 1 inch and 24 inches.  
   
   
       9 . The papermachine fabric of  claim 8 , wherein said width is between approximately 2 inches and 16 inches.  
   
   
       10 . The papermachine fabric of  claim 3 , wherein said base fabric has a permeability and a combination of said base fabric and said strip of material have another permeability that is from approximately 3% to 15% less than said permeability.  
   
   
       11 . The papermachine fabric of  claim 4 , wherein said strip material has a width, said distance being from approximately 5% to 30% of said width.  
   
   
       12 . The papermachine fabric of  claim 3 , wherein said strip material has an other edge opposite of said edge, said other edge being one of crenulated and not crenulated.  
   
   
       13 . The papermachine fabric of  claim 12 , wherein said edge is generally parallel to said other edge.  
   
   
       14 . The papermachine fabric of  claim 12 , wherein said edge is generally not parallel to said other edge.  
   
   
       15 . A scrim for covering one of a join and a seam of a papermachine fabric, the scrim comprising a strip of material having an edge with a plurality of crenulations.  
   
   
       16 . The scrim of  claim 15 , wherein said crenulations are at least one of regularly and irregularly spaced cutouts.  
   
   
       17 . The scrim of  claim 16 , wherein said crenulations are at least one of regularly and irregularly shaped cutouts.  
   
   
       18 . The scrim of  claim 17 , wherein said crenulations have a shape being at least one of semi-circular, sinusoidal, square, triangular and trapezoidal.  
   
   
       19 . The scrim of  claim 17 , wherein said base fabric has a permeability and a combination of said base fabric and said strip of material have another permeability that is from approximately 3% to 15% less than said permeability.  
   
   
       20 . The scrim of  claim 17 , wherein said strip material has a width, said crenulations having a distance from a peak to a valley, said distance being from approximately 5% to 30% of said width.