Patent ID: 8563114

Claim:
A nonwoven industrial fabric for a conveyor in an industrial process, the fabric comprising: at least a first layer and a second layer of polymeric film, each layer having (i) an upper surface and a lower surface; (ii) a plurality of apertures extending from the upper surface through to the lower surface wherein edges of adjacent pairs of the apertures define land areas therebetween, and selected ones of the land areas comprise protrusions extending from at least one of the upper surface and the lower surface of the layer to form a profile to the respective surface, and wherein each protrusion being constructed and arranged to define and at least partly extend over one of the apertures and to provide a flow path from at least one adjacent land area to and through the aperture, wherein (a) the lower surface of the first layer comprises a first set of the protrusions; (b) the upper surface of the second layer comprises a second set of the protrusions; (c) selected ones of the land areas between pairs of the protrusions of each set comprise planar areas; (d) each protrusion of the first set is received between an adjacent pair of protrusions of the second set, and each protrusion of the second set is received between an adjacent pair of protrusions of the first set; and (e) at least some of the protrusions of the second set are secured to planar areas of the first layer, and at least some of the protrusions of the first set are secured to planar areas of the second layer.