Felt for forming fiber cement articles and related methods

Abstract

A fiber cement felt includes: a base fabric layer including MD and CMD yarns interwoven with each other, wherein the CMD yarns comprise twisted monofilaments; and at least one batt layer overlying the base fabric layer.

1 . A fiber cement felt comprising:
 a base fabric layer including MD and CMD yarns interwoven with each other, wherein the CMD yarns comprise twisted monofilaments; and   at least one batt layer overlying the base fabric layer.   
     
     
         2 . The fiber cement felt defined in  claim 1 , wherein the MD yarns comprise spunbond-multifilament hybrid yarns. 
     
     
         3 . The fiber cement felt defined in  claim 1 , wherein the twisted monofilament yarns are substantially free of spunbond material. 
     
     
         4 . The fiber cement felt defined in  claim 1 , wherein the MD yarns and CMD yarns are interwoven in a plain weave pattern. 
     
     
         5 . The fiber cement felt defined in  claim 1 , wherein the twisted monofilaments have a structure selected from the group consisting of: 0.3×2×3; 0.3×2×4; 0.3×3×3; 0.2×3×4; and 0.2×3×5. 
     
     
         6 . The fiber cement felt defined in  claim 1 , wherein the CMD yarns have a size of between about 200 and 800 tex. 
     
     
         7 . A method of forming a fiber cement article, comprising the steps of:
 (a) providing a fiber cement felt, the fiber cement felt comprising:
 a base fabric layer including MD and CMD yarns interwoven with each other, wherein the CMD yarns comprise twisted monofilaments; and 
 at least one batt layer overlying the base fabric layer; 
   (b) positioning the fiber cement felt on a series of support rolls of a fiber cement forming machine;   (c) depositing a fiber cement slurry on the fiber cement felt; and   (d) removing moisture from the slurry to form a fiber cement web.   
     
     
         8 . The fiber cement felt defined in  claim 7 , wherein the MD yarns comprise spunbond-multifilament hybrid yarns. 
     
     
         9 . The fiber cement felt defined in  claim 7 , wherein the twisted monofilament yarns are substantially free of spunbond material. 
     
     
         10 . The fiber cement felt defined in  claim 7 , wherein the MD yarns and CMD yarns are interwoven in a plain weave pattern. 
     
     
         11 . The fiber cement felt defined in  claim 7 , wherein the twisted monofilaments have a structure selected from the group consisting of: 0.3×2×3; 0.3×2×4; 0.3×3×3; 0.2×3×4; and 0.2×3×5. 
     
     
         12 . The fiber cement felt defined in  claim 7 , wherein the CMD yarns have a size of between about 200 and 800 tex. 
     
     
         13 . A fiber cement felt comprising:
 a base fabric layer including MD and CMD yarns interwoven with each other, wherein the CMD yarns comprise twisted monofilaments having a size of between about 200 and 800 tex, and wherein the MD yarns have a size of between about 1000 and 5000 tex; and   at least one batt layer overlying the base fabric layer.