Apparatus to clamp at least one non-woven or paper sheet, methods implementing such apparatus, and article made by such methods

The invention relates to apparatus for clamping at least one non-woven or paper sheet and use thereof in converting the sheet into finished products once the sheet has been manufactured by a wet or dry process. The invention relates to apparatus clamping at least one paper or non-woven sheet and including two cylinders which run substantially tangent to one another. At least one of the cylinders has on its surface and in a zone that makes contact with the sheet a clamping band having first salient elements. The interaction of the two cylinders in the presence or absence of the sheet subtends an active surface during the rotation of the cylinders. In the invention, at least one of the cylinders has on its surface and in a zone (nip) that makes contact with the other cylinder by means or not of the sheet a load compensating band having second salient elements. This band is selected so that the variation of the consecutive instantaneous active surfaces of the clamping band and of the load compensating band is less than the variation of the consecutive instantaneous active surfaces of the clamping band alone. The invention applies in particular to converting paper or non-woven sheets in the manufacture of absorbent paper items, such as tissues or table napkins.