Patent ID: 8758568

Claim:
A system for drying a wet paper web, comprising: at least one through-air dryer including a cylinder defined by a shell configured so as to allow air to pass therethrough, the cylinder being further configured to rotate in a machine direction; and an endless drying fabric formed only from a woven material so as to have a single, substantially consistent, permeability, the drying fabric defining a machine direction, having opposed lateral edges, and being wrapped about at least a portion of the cylinder, the drying fabric further including a pair of laterally spaced apart strip portions extending along the drying fabric in the machine direction, each strip portion being substantially and consistently impermeable and having a substantially and consistently smooth surface adapted to not retain water, the strip portions defining a web-carrying portion of the drying fabric therebetween, the web-carrying portion being configured such that the wet paper web supported thereby, on a web-side surface thereof, extends over an entire width thereof, whereby the web-carrying portion is configured to allow air directed thereat by the at least one through-air dryer to flow therethrough, exclusively of the strip portions, such that the wet paper web supported only by the web-carrying portion is dried, the width of the web-carrying portion between the strip portions thereby defining a width of the wet paper web being dried by the at least one through-air dryer.