Patent ID: 8661673

Claim:
A method of installing a continuous mat within an exhaust gas aftertreatment or acoustic device having two adjacent cylindrical surfaces centered on a longitudinal axis, the method comprising the steps of: wrapping the mat around one of the two adjacent surfaces with its side edges each substantially planar for at least a complete wrap around the one of the two adjacent surfaces, the plane of each side edge being perpendicular to the longitudinal axis; subsequently wrapping the mat around the one of the two adjacent surfaces spirally such that the side edges of each successive wrap of the mat are offset a distance from the side edges of the underlying wrap; wrapping a final wrap of the mat wherein the mat is wrapped with the side edges of the final wrap each substantially planar and generally parallel to the planes of the side edges of the complete wrap of the first step; compressing the mat between the two adjacent surfaces of the device; wherein the compressing step includes aligning the side edges of the wraps of the mat each in planes perpendicular to the longitudinal axis as the offset wraps are translated axially relative to the two adjacent surfaces.