Threading belt and threading system

摘要

A threading system for threading a lead end of a web along a processing path in a papermaking machine includes an endless looped belt having a fabric base and a soft elastomeric outer surface with a transversely extending gripping slot in the surface. The slot has a round at the base and the sides of the slot are pinched together when the carrier belt extends along a straightline and with the sides separating when the carrier belt is wrapped over a roll so that the lead end of a web can be gripped in the slot for threading a web and automatically released when the sides of the slot are separated as the belt is wrapped over a roll.