US 12,297,599 B2
Process and system for reorienting fibers in a foam forming process
Peter Wallace, Penzance (GB); Joseph K. Baker, Cumming, GA (US); and Charles W. Colman, Marietta, GA (US)
Assigned to Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc., Neenah, WI (US)
Appl. No. 18/560,690
Filed by Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc., Neenah, WI (US); Peter Wallace, Penzance (GB); Joseph K. Baker, Cumming, GA (US); and Charles W. Colman, Marietta, GA (US)
PCT Filed Jun. 27, 2022, PCT No. PCT/US2022/035052
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Nov. 14, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/272159, PCT Pub. Date Dec. 29, 2022.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/215,494, filed on Jun. 27, 2021.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/215,128, filed on Jun. 25, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2024/0254695 A1, Aug. 1, 2024
Int. Cl. D21H 21/56 (2006.01); D21F 1/02 (2006.01); D21F 11/00 (2006.01)
CPC D21H 21/56 (2013.01) [D21F 1/026 (2013.01); D21F 11/002 (2013.01)] 22 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A process for producing a web comprising:
depositing a foamed suspension of fibers into a mixing chamber, the mixing chamber including a top, a bottom, and at least one sidewall, the mixing chamber having a height and a width, the mixing chamber further comprising a front slice wall that terminates a distance from the bottom of the mixing chamber forming a narrow constriction;
flowing the foamed suspension of fibers from the mixing chamber through the narrow constriction and into a forming zone, the foamed suspension being conveyed on a moving forming surface, the foamed suspension of fibers having a fluid flow rate and the narrow constriction having a size such that the foamed suspension of fibers undergoes fiber mixing within the forming zone;
draining fluids from the foamed suspension of fibers through the forming surface within the forming zone to form an embryonic web; and
drying the embryonic web.