Patent ID: 7195040

Claim:
A papermaking fabric, comprising a series of repeat units, each of the repeat units including: a first set of top machine direction (MD) yarns; a second set of top MD yarns; a set of top cross machine direction (CMD) yarns interwoven with the first and second sets of top MD yarns; a set of bottom CMD yarns; and a set of pairs of MD stitching yarns interwoven with the top and bottom CMD yarns, each pair of MD stitching yarns sandwiching a respective immediately adjacent top MD yarn of the second set; wherein the first and second sets of top MD yarns interweave only with the top CMD yarns; and wherein the top MD yarns of the first set interweave in a first sequence with the top CMD yarns in which the top MD yarns of the first set form a plurality of top side MD knuckles over the top CMD yarns, and wherein the top MD yarns of the second set interweave with the top CMD yarns in a second sequence that differs from the first sequence in that the top MD yarns of the second set form two fewer knuckles than are present in the first sequence; and wherein each of the stitching yarns forms a knuckle over a top CMD yarn.