A package for pile fabrics in which individual turns of the fabric when coiled into a roll are separated and spaced apart by spacing means associated with a supporting strip releasably secured to one edge of the pile fabric. The turns of the supporting strip are bonded together to form a unified end structure.
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 624,242 filed Oct. 20, 1975, now abandoned.
Priority Data
Oct 30, 1974 [GB] 47013/74 Jan 17, 1975 [GB] 2812/75 Jun 18, 1975 [GB] 26017/75
A belt for supporting strips of deformable material includes a flexible central band. One or more strips are placed onto the band. Variable-configuration air chambers are arranged along edges of the band. The air chambers, when inflated, may have upper and lower surfaces that are substantially flat and substantially parallel to the band. An apparatus for using the belt includes a storage coil, a take-up winding, and first, second, and third devices. A first part of the belt is wound onto a reel of the storage coil with a first tension. A second part of the belt is wound onto a beam of the take-up winding with a second tension greater than the first tension. The first devices vary the first and second tension, the second devices keep the air chambers in the first part of the belt inflated, and the third devices rotate the reel and beam.
