Web conveying roller, and a process for manufacturing such a roller.

摘要

A roller (10) for conveying a web (12) is manufactured by applying a layer of nickel (18) to a steel roller (16) and blasting the surface of the nickel layer with steel shot to create on the surface a deep texture (20) with well rounded down features (22) and sharp up features with peaks. The blasted surface is finished with a grinding action for removing the peaks to produce plateaus (30) surrounded by interconnected channels (36). The interconnected channels of the surface allow air entrained between the roller surface and the web to be vented through the channels while the web is in contact with the roller.