# Patent

## Title
Shoe press belt

## Abstract

Nip press belt of a wet press or a calender with elongated nip, in particular for a paper, cardboard or tissue machine, with a flexible elastomer layer that is impermeable to liquids and with a textile reinforcing layer, wherein the elastomer layer comprises soft rubber with a hardness in the range between 5 and 100 P+J.

## Background
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 371 from PCT Application No. PCT/EP02/03129, filed on Mar. 20, 2002, which claims the benefit of European Application Serial No. 01 109 618.7 filed on Apr. 18, 2001, the disclosures and contents of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.
DESCRIPTION
The invention relates to a nip press belt according to the precharacterizing clause of claim 1.
A nip press belt of this kind, in German also called Preβmantel (translatable as “press jacket”), is used in paper, cardboard or tissue machines to remove most of the water from the product concerned (wet press) or to finish the surface (calender). Such presses or calenders have an elongated gap (“nip”) for passage of the product and are therefore also called “nip presses”.
Within the nip the press belt makes sliding contact, by way of its back (lower) surface, with the actual pressing element; therefore this back surface must have excellent sliding properties. On its front (upper) surface the press belt makes contact either with a pulp felt (by way of which it indirectly contacts the product concerned) or—in the case of a calender—directly with the product, against which it is pressed by a rotating roller.
In addition to the above-mentioned sliding properties of the back surface, another important factor is the impermeability of the belt to liquid, because water should not pass from the product or pulp felt to the pressing element, nor may lubricant from the latter enter the product or the felt. Furthermore, certain elasticity and flexibility characteristics are required.
Nip press belts of various designs are known in the state of the art.
For example, the patent EP 0 420 372 B1 describes a nip press belt of this generic kind with a basic web in the form of an endless loop covered on its inner and outer surfaces with a smooth polymer-resin coating, which makes the web impermeable to liquids and endows it with a uniform thickness. The polymer resin that forms the elastomer is here specified as polyurethane.
The patent DE 40 28 085 C1 discloses another band for use in paper machines, in particular wet presses with elongated nip (nip presses). The band has on its back surface a smooth, flexible band layer that is impermeable to liquids, and on the front surface there is a carrier tread with a fiber layer attached thereto.
The patent DE 42 02 731 A1 also discloses a belt, here termed “jacket”, of this generic kind for a nip press, which comprises an elastomeric jacket material and two layers of reinforcing threads. As specification of the jacket material, reference is made here on one hand to material capable of swelling, and on the other hand to polyurethane.
In WO 95/16820 a paper-machine web—specifically a nip press belt—is described in which a carrier web with a polymer coating is provided, which comprises a thixotropic material (for example, aramid or silica glass). The base material specified here, again, is polyurethane.
Finally, the patent DE 44 38 354 A1 discloses another press jacket made of elastomeric material, in which is embedded substantially parallel to the surface a woven layer of an extremely stable material, for example aramid fibers.
The objective of the invention is to provide a nip press belt, the working characteristics of which are improved in comparison to these known solutions, in particular with respect to optimized elasticity properties and advantageous multidimensional bending behavior, so as to obtain quiet running of the machinery combined with low driving power and a high total running time.
This objective is achieved by a nip press belt with the characteristics given in claims 1 and 12. As a result of the invention an improved wet press or an improved calender for the manufacture of paper, cardboard and tissue is also provided.
The invention includes the fundamental idea of constructing the nip press belt with an elastomer layer made of an extremely soft elastomer that conforms readily to other surfaces (and in addition is sufficiently economical), as a result of which the belt as a whole can be endowed with an unusually low bending moment and a low overall modulus of elasticity. Achievement of the above-mentioned working characteristics, improved in several respects, results from the combination of these advantageously adjusted parameters.
In one advantageous embodiment the soft-rubber elastomer layer of the belt comprises a rubber compound that is highly abrasion-resistant, being made of several rubber or silicone-rubber composites. In particular, these composites are homogeneously mixed with one another in the compound.
The choice of an appropriate combination or combinations of materials allows the hardness of the soft-rubber layer to be adjusted according to the requirements of the particular application, i.e. to suit the customer's desires. The hardness is preferably in the range between 20 and 50 P+J, and is about 35 P+J in an embodiment currently regarded as the standard variant.
In order to adjust the breaking strength of the belt to severe demands, a fiber reinforcement or an interlocking material is incorporated into the elastomer layer. This textile reinforcing component, according to the information currently available, preferably takes the form of strands oriented in the circumferential and/or longitudinal direction of the belt. It also seems reasonable to construct it as a nonwoven fabric of staple (short) fibers, either as an independent reinforcing layer or in combination with another type of reinforcement, such as the above-mentioned strands. The employment of a woven fabric as reinforcing layer is also possible.
As reinforcing material, in particular modified glass or carbon fibers can be used, or especially the highly stable plastic fibers. In the last case polyester and polyamide copolymers or aramid are the primary candidates. Depending on the customer's requirements, combinations or mixtures of these materials can usefully be employed.
The reinforcing layer is preferably incorporated near the back surface of the elastomer-textile composite, first in order not to impair the elastic properties of the front surface of the belt, and also to ensure a minimal bending moment at the curved part of the pressing element and at the ends of the belt, and thus to achieve the intended overall optimization of the multidimensional curvature behavior.
Toward this end, the total thickness of the belt (chosen in accordance with the elasticity and stability properties of the individual materials) will in particular be in the range between 5 and 10 mm, the standard being ca. 7.5 mm.
The front surface of the belt can be made smooth, which will be particularly appropriate for use in a calender. However, specifically for use in a wet press, it can also have a well-defined structure. The structure that seems preferable at present consists of recesses in the form of pocket holes. These can in particular be approximately cylindrical in shape and isolated from one another. However, structures in which recesses are connected to one another, grooved structures and the like can also be useful.
Depending on the specific conditions of use, the open cross-sectional area of the structured front side (i.e., the total area occupied by the recesses) advantageously amounts to 10–50% of the total area of the front surface of the belt. For conventional wet-press applications, it seems appropriate for the openings to have an area equal to about 20% of the total. In particular, the recesses have lateral dimensions in the range between 0.5 and 5 mm, in particular between 1 and 3 mm. Their depth is advantageously in the same range.
According to a further essential aspect of the invention, the nip press belt has a stiffness or—converted to take account of cross section—bending stress distinctly below that of conventional belts. Thus the force required to achieve a deflection of 15 mm in a three-point bending test of a specimen 30 mm wide and 5 mm thick, set on supports 100 mm apart, is preferably 17 N or less, in particular 13 N or less, and the bending stress is below 110 N/cm2 and in particular below 90 N/cm2. In an embodiment of the belt in accordance with the invention that is preferred for practical purposes, a force of 11 N and a bending stress of 70 N/cm2 was measured.
With such elasticity it contributes substantially to a saving of driving power and to quiet running of the associated wet press or calender, and this benefit is not offset by substantial restrictions with respect to the service life of the belt. On the contrary, the reduction of deformation-dependent strain in the material actually has a positive effect on the working or service life of the belt.



Other advantages and useful aspects of the invention will be apparent from the subordinate claims, as well as from the following description in outline of an exemplary embodiment with reference to the figures, wherein
FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of the wet-press section of a paper machine in longitudinal section, and
FIG. 2 is a simplified cross-sectional drawing of an embodiment of the nip press belt of such a wet press, constructed in accordance with the invention.



FIG. 1 shows part of the nip of a wet press 1 (nip press) of a paper machine with elongated nip. Opposite a pressing element 3 is disposed a press-roller 5, and in the gap between these two, namely the nip 7, water is removed from a paper web 13 enclosed between the surface of the press-roller 5 and a nip press belt 9 that slides along the presssing element 3, with a pulp felt 11.
The nip press belt 9 must on one hand have elasticity and flexibility such that it conforms as well as possible to the curved surface of the pressing element 3 and exerts an elastic pressure uniformly upon the paper web 13 (by way of the pulp felt 11). On the other hand, it must be sufficiently stable to withstand the high, long-term stress (tension, pressure and vibration) in the nip 7 for a service time that is economically acceptable. The hardness of the soft rubber in the standard design is 35 P+J, but it can be varied within broad limits, as desired by the customer, by appropriate variation and mixing of rubber composites. The soft rubber can be used in the long term at temperatures above 100° C., and can tolerate temperature peaks of up to ca. 130° C.
A nip press belt 9 suitable to meet these demands is shown (schematically) in cross section in FIG. 2. This nip press belt 9 has as its base a band of soft rubber 9a, provided near its back surface with a textile reinforcement layer 9b consisting of carbon fibers or modified glass fibers or aramid fibers. The overall thickness of the belt is 7.5 mm; in the region of the lateral lips 9c it is ca. 5 mm. In the front surface of the belt are formed pocket holes 9d with a diameter of 2.5 mm and a depth of 2 mm. The total area of the openings amounts to 20% of the area of the front surface of the belt.
The embodiment of the invention is not restricted to this example, but is also possible in many modifications, with respect both to the materials of which the individual components are made and to the geometric dimensions.
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS


    1 Wet press
    3 Pressing element
    5 Press-roller
    7 Nip
    9 Nip press belt
    9a Band of soft rubber
    9b Textile reinforcing layer
    9c Lip
    9d Pocket hole
    11 Pulp felt
    13 Paper web

## Claims

1. Nip press belt of a wet press or a calendar with elongated nip, in particular for a paper, cardboard or tissue machine, with a flexible elastomer layer that is impermeable to liquids and with a textile reinforcing layer,
characterized in that the elastomer layer comprises soft rubber with a hardness in the range between 5 and 100 P+J; and
further characterized in that in a three-point bending test of a specimen of the nip press belt 30 mm wide and 5 mm thick, set onto two supports 100 mm apart, the force that must be exerted to produce a deflection of 15 mm is 17 N or less and the associated bending stress is 110 N/cm2 or less.

2. Nip press belt according to claim 1, characterized in that the elastomer layer comprises a highly abrasion-resistant rubber compound of a plurality of rubber and/or silicone-rubber composites.

3. Nip press belt according to claim 1, characterized in that the hardness of the elastomer layer is in the range between 20 and 50 P+J.

4. Nip press belt according to claim 1, characterized in that the textile reinforcing layer is incorporated into the elastomer layer near the surface of the latter that faces a pressing element during use, in such a way that no substantial change is produced in the rubber-elastic properties of the elastomer layer at its front surface.

5. Nip press belt according to claim 1, characterized in that the textile reinforcing layer comprises modified glass fibers, carbon fibers and/or highly stable plastic fibers.

6. Nip press belt according to claim 1, characterized in that the textile reinforcing layer comprises threads oriented in the circumferential direction of the nip press belt.

7. Nip press belt according to claim 1, characterized in that the textile reinforcing layer comprises a nonwoven fabric of stable (short) fibers.

8. Nip press belt according to claim 1, characterized in that the textile reinforcing layer comprises a nonwoven fabric of staple (short) fibers.

9. Nip press belt according to claim 1, characterized by a structured front surface with recesses.

10. Nip press belt according to claim 9, characterized in that the recesses have lateral dimensions and a depth in the range between 0.5 and 5 mm.

11. Nip press belt according to claim 9, characterized in that the an open cross-sectional area of the structured front surface accounts for a proportion of between 10 and 50% of the total area of the front surface.

12. Nip press belt according to claim 1, characterized in that in the three-point test a force of 11 N is to be exerted and the associated bending stress is 70 N/cm2.

13. Wet press with elongated nip of a paper, cardboard or tissue machine, with a nip press belt according to claim 1.

14. Calender with elongated nip of a paper, cardboard or tissue machine, with a nip press belt according to claim 1.