Methods of making a belt-creped absorbent cellulosic sheet prepared with a perforated polymeric belt

摘要

A method of making a belt-creped absorbent cellulosic sheet that has an upper surface and a lower surface. A papermaking furnish is compactively dewatered to form a dewatered web having an apparently random distribution of papermaking fiber orientation. The dewatered web is applied to a translating transfer surface. The web is belt creped from the transfer surface at a consistency of from about 30% to about 60% utilizing a generally planar polymeric creping belt having a plurality of perforations. The belt-creping step occurs under pressure in a belt creping nip defined between the transfer surface and the creping belt. The belt is traveling at a belt speed that is slower than the speed of the transfer surface, and the web is creped from the transfer surface and redistributed on the creping belt to form a web.

主权项

1. A method of making a belt-creped absorbent cellulosic sheet that has an upper surface and a lower surface, the method comprising:
(a) compactively dewatering a papermaking furnish to form a dewatered web having an apparently random distribution of papermaking fiber orientation; (b) applying the dewatered web having the apparently random distribution of papermaking fiber orientation to a translating transfer surface that is moving at a transfer surface speed; (c) belt-creping the web from the transfer surface at a consistency of from about 30% to about 60% utilizing a generally planar polymeric creping belt provided with a plurality of tapered perforations through the creping belt, the belt-creping step occurring under pressure in a belt creping nip defined between the transfer surface and the creping belt, wherein the creping belt is traveling at a belt speed that is slower than the transfer surface speed, and the web is creped from the transfer surface and redistributed on the creping belt to form a web comprising:
(i) a plurality of fiber-enriched hollow domed regions protruding from the upper surface of the sheet, the hollow domed regions having sidewalls of a local basis weight that is higher than a mean basis weight of the sheet and being formed along at least a leading edge thereof;(ii) connecting regions forming a network interconnecting the fiber-enriched hollow domed regions of the sheet; and(iii) transition areas comprising consolidated groupings of fibers that extend upwardly from the connecting regions into the sidewalls of the fiber-enriched hollow domed regions formed along at least the leading edge thereof; and (d) drying the web to produce the belt-creped absorbent cellulosic sheet.