Apparatus with an impermeable transfer belt in a papermaking machine, and associated methods

1. An apparatus for transferring a wet tissue paper web from a press nip defined between two press members in a press section to a drying section of a papermaking machine, and for structuring the web, comprising:

an impermeable transfer belt arranged in a loop such that the transfer belt passes through the press nip and the wet paper web passes through the press nip enclosed between a press felt and the transfer belt, said transfer belt having a surface in contact with the wet paper, and

a permeable final fabric in form of a structuring fabric for transfer of the web onto a drying cylinder of said drying section, the structuring fabric having a structured surface and being arranged in a loop within which a suction transfer device is disposed, said suction transfer device having a suction zone in which suction is exerted through the structuring fabric, wherein:

the surface of the transfer belt that contacts the wet paper web has a non-uniform distribution of microscopic-scale depressions, and

the suction zone includes a transfer point spaced a distance D from the press nip in a machine direction along which the transfer belt runs, the transfer belt being arranged to bring the paper web into contact with the structuring fabric in the suction zone for a length L in the machine direction, such that suction is exerted on the paper web to transfer the paper web from the transfer belt onto the structuring fabric at the transfer point.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the structuring fabric runs at a linear speed that is from about 3% higher to about 10% lower than a linear speed of the transfer belt.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the linear speed of the structuring fabric is lower than the linear speed of the transfer belt such that a rush transfer of the web onto the structuring fabric is effected.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus comprises an adjustable guide roll (R) for the transfer belt disposed upstream of the suction transfer device, the adjustable guide roll (R) being adjustable in position with respect to the suction transfer device for adjusting the length L between a first value and a second value.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the surface of the transfer belt that contacts the wet paper web has an arithmetic average surface roughness Ra of about 2 to 10 μm.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the surface of the transfer belt that contacts the wet paper web is formed by a coating of a polymeric resin having inorganic particles dispersed therein.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the transfer belt runs at speed of 1000 m/min or greater, the distance D is at least 2 m, and the length L is at least 10 mm.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the distance D is in a range of at least 2.5 m to 4 m.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the transfer belt runs at a speed of at least 1500 m/min.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the suction transfer device has a curved outer surface about which the structuring fabric is partially wrapped, and the transfer belt partially wraps the outer surface of the suction transfer device for the length L, measured as an arc length, of about 20 mm to about 200 mm with the structuring fabric disposed between the suction transfer device and the transfer belt having the web thereon, the transfer belt diverging from the structuring fabric at a point P located at an outgoing end of the arc length L.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the suction zone is longer than the arc length L and extends downstream of the point P, the arc length L being about 20 mm to about 50 mm.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the point P is located intermediate between upstream and downstream ends of the suction zone in the machine direction.