EP1171661B1 - Device and method for making textile products from fibres and/or filaments - Google Patents

Abstract

A device for making textile products from fibers and/or filaments moving in the form of a web is essentially formed by the cross-over movement of a set of identical spaced apart looper discs located on a common transverse axis with a set of identical looper fingers. The looper discs have spaced apart teeth along their perimeter.

Description

Subject of the invention

The present invention relates to a improved device for manufacturing textile products directly from fibers and / or filaments.

The invention also relates to a method of implementation of the device.

Summary of the state of the art.

The present invention relates essentially to the realization of products obtained by the technique called "verticalization technique" and setting point by the Applicant.

This technique is described in the patent European EP-A-0 479 880, and allows direct from fibers and / or filaments flowing in the form of a veil, the production of textile products and more specifically carpet and / or wall coverings.

The Applicant also proposed in the document EP-A-0783608 to adapt this technique for the production of mesh products.

The verticalization technique described consists in subjecting the fibers and / or filaments to a "transverse looping" accompanied by a "stretching" and obtain an accumulation of fibers and / or filaments under form of a "pseudo-yarn" in which the fibers and / or filaments are parallelized.

In these documents, it is described that the closure transverse accompanied by stretching is carried out for each individual fiber or filament using looping elements rotary or discs, spaced apart and arranged on an axis transverse to the web advance and between which are arranged with looping fingers. Of this way, each fiber or filament is in principle involved in at least one loop so as to constitute a twist-free pseudo-yarn obtained by the accumulation of various elementary fibers and / or filaments well parallelized. This twist-free pseudo-wire made up of parallel fibers and / or filaments can either be handled by needles of the tufting needles type and be leads to a substrate in order to make carpets as described in detail in publication EP-A-0479880, either be trained by gill needles in order to make mesh products as described in detail in the publication EP-A-0783608, or still be used for the production of coated-glued type products as described in detail in publication EP-A-0960227.

• d'une part, la majorité des éléments constitutifs du voile, c'est-à-dire les fibres et/ou filaments individuels, devaient présenter un angle d'orientation par rapport à la direction d'avance du voile qui était compris entre 5 et 45 degrés, et plus précisément entre 15 et 25 degrés;
• d'autre part, le voile de fibres et/ou filaments au départ devait présenter un poids faible par unité de surface, et de préférence compris entre 10 et 50 g / m².

The conditions that had been established when filing patent application EP-A-0479880 seemed to be twofold:

• on the one hand, the majority of the constituent elements of the veil, that is to say the individual fibers and / or filaments, had to present an angle of orientation relative to the direction of advance of the veil which was between 5 and 45 degrees, and more precisely between 15 and 25 degrees;
• on the other hand, the veil of fibers and / or filaments at the start should have a low weight per unit of area, and preferably between 10 and 50 g / m ² .

The condition on the orientation that must present the fibers and / or filaments with respect to the advance direction is a minimum requirement of profitability with regard to the bottom corner. In effect, below a certain angle, the fibers and / or filaments may no longer be properly parallelized during the creation of the pseudo-wire, which harms product performance. However, for what concerns the maximum angle, this is an angle which is a compromise between theory and practice, that is to say that in the case where fibers and / or filaments have an angle greater than this limit of 45 degrees, it is believed that in theory the process could still be realized, but we observe that the fibers and / or filaments would generate efforts that increase in a way exponential with the orientation angle of the fibers for the device constituted by the interpenetration of discs curlers with curler fingers, which would require oversizing of the parts, and in particular of the shaft supporting the looping discs.

During the production of the prototype implementing the process described in this patent, the Applicant had therefore proposed to satisfy the first of conditions ensuring fiber orientation by relation to the direction of advance by a "pre-stretching transversal "which was essentially achieved by the interpenetration of two sets of discs arranged in upstream of the looping discs / looping fingers device.

• la difficulté à contrôler l'expansion latérale du voile à grande vitesse (formation de plis, ...) dans les conditions de productivité satisfaisantes,
• la difficulté à orienter convenablement certains types de fibres et en particulier les fibres présentant une longueur supérieure à 250 mm ou les filaments continus.

However, when developing a 4 m wide machine, for example, such a technical solution proved difficult to implement for the following reasons:

• the difficulty in controlling the lateral expansion of the veil at high speed (formation of folds, etc.) under satisfactory productivity conditions,
• the difficulty in properly orienting certain types of fibers and in particular fibers having a length greater than 250 mm or continuous filaments.

The Applicant had proposed in the publication WO97 / 05315 a process called the DUO process where the processing of the fibers and / or filaments is split into performing a step prior to the looping step which is called the ripple step. The looping step is conventionally carried out using a device constituted by the interpenetration of a first set of discs curlers with a first set of curler fingers while that the prior undulation step is also carried out at using a device made up of interpenetration of a second set of discs called inverter discs with a second set of fingers called undulating fingers. The process described in publication WO97 / 05315 was characterized in that the corrugation device arranged upstream of the looping device with respect to the lead direction presented a gauge which was a multiple of the looping device gauge. This configuration particularly advantageous to reduce the stresses undergone by the fibers during their treatment and make a product without breakage of fibers while limiting the sizing of machine parts.

Although this solution has been tested at the industrial scale successfully, it presents a number of drawbacks. In particular, the execution of such a process requires the presence of machines arranged upstream of this device and constituted a long fiber card 2.5 m wide and its loader, a conventional lapper lapping in 4 m width as well as a longitudinal stretcher. This kind of line intended to supply a 4 m device allows produce / process up to 800 kilos per hour.

The system made up of the whole inverter and the loopback assembly carrying out the duo device provided a beat speed of 1000 strokes per minute according to the limits of current technology, this which allows to produce / process between 200 and 250 kilos per hour while a classic nonwoven line remains 3 to 4 times more productive than a duo type device such as described above.

This results in a mismatch between upstream production (carder / lapper / stretcher) and device downstream (duo device) which in practice results in too large investments and by a level poor profitability.

In addition, offering a number large number of upstream devices or machines tricky to manage. A critical point is the stops caused by machine faults, in particular downstream devices (duo device). Indeed, the inertia of the card requires recycling the veil and then reintroduce into the duo machine.

Another drawback occurs at the quality of the covering, i.e. the overlap sails at the folds. Poor recovery occurs will necessarily result in the appearance of a line darker or lighter cross section in products finished.

Finally, the relative complexity of the devices duo, which are difficult to adjust, can cause for some fibers from fouling areas.

In particular, the presence of detachers or scrubbers at the pre-loop device request a precise adjustment of their arrangement, which will vary according to the nature of the fiber used. These detaching elements or strikers are also relatively difficult to reposition after disassembly following a jam for example.

Aims of the invention

The present invention aims to resolve these different problems while allowing the use of inexpensive and better adapted upstream equipment, and particular, the use of cotton card type cards which are short fiber cards with possibly removing the lapper and replacing it with a stretcher transverse.

The present invention also aims to get rid of the presence of detachers, and therefore of simplify the realization of the verticalization.

Finally, the present invention aims, in reducing efforts, being able to reduce sizing of the different organs and in particular of the organs rotating in the verticalization devices.

Main characteristic features of the invention

The present invention relates to a device for manufacturing textile products from fibers and / or filaments flowing in the form of a veil, essentially constituted by the interpenetration of a game of identical spaced looper discs located on an axis transverse joint with a set of looping fingers identical, characterized in that the looping discs have teeth on their perimeter relatively spaced.

"Relatively spaced" means that the distance between two successive teeth on the perimeter of a looper disc is at least 3 times the width of a individual tooth.

Preferably, the number of teeth on the perimeter of a looper disc is between 8 and 16.

Preferably, the distance between two teeth successive around the perimeter of a looper disc is between 20 and 60 mm.

Preferably, the height of the teeth is between 1 and 5 mm.

Advantageously, the slope of the teeth facing the arrival of the veil is between 20 and 40 degrees.

Advantageously, the distance between two teeth successive on the perimeter of a looper disc does not exceed pitch 1.5 times the average length of the fibers and / or filaments veil.

Following each looper finger is arranged a transfer member, preferably a picking plate or needle. These organs of transfer, and preferably the needles, carry out a sinusoidal rectilinear movement obtained from a connecting rod / eccentric system.

In addition, the rotational movement of looper discs located on a common transverse axis is uniform.

Advantageously, the movement of the turntables transfer or needles and the rotational movement of looper discs is obtained using a single arm main control supporting eccentrics and exhibiting a reduction which is defined by the number of teeth.

• on fait subir aux fibres et/ou filaments un bouclage transversal accompagné d'un étirage à l'aide d'un ensemble constitué par l'interpénétration d'un jeu de disques boucleurs identiques espacés et situés sur un axe commun transversal avec un jeu de doigts boucleurs identiques, les disques boucleurs présentant sur leur périmètre des dents relativement espacées,
• on accumule les fibres et/ou filaments sous la forme d'au moins un pseudo-fil ondulé d'une certaine longueur dans lequel les fibres et/ou filaments sont parallélisés, cette accumulation desdits fibres et/ou filaments s'effectuant contre la pente d'une dent face à l'arrivée du voile,
• on transfère le pseudo-fil ondulé vers des platines de cueillage ou le jeu d'aiguilles de manière simultanée sur toute la longueur du pseudo-fil.

The present invention also relates to a process for manufacturing textile products from fibers and / or filaments flowing in the form of a veil in which:

• the fibers and / or filaments are subjected to transverse looping accompanied by stretching using an assembly formed by the interpenetration of a set of identical spaced-apart looping discs located on a common transverse axis with a set of identical looping fingers, the looping discs having relatively spaced teeth on their perimeter,
• the fibers and / or filaments are accumulated in the form of at least one wavy pseudo-wire of a certain length in which the fibers and / or filaments are parallelized, this accumulation of said fibers and / or filaments taking place against the slope a tooth facing the arrival of the veil,
• the corrugated pseudo-wire is transferred to picking plates or the set of needles simultaneously over the entire length of the pseudo-wire.

Preferably, the veil of fibers and / or filaments has at the entrance a weight of between 10 and 30 g / m ² .

Advantageously, the average orientation of the fibers and / or filaments in the veil when entering the device is between 10 and 25 degrees from the direction of advance of the veil.

Advantageously, the entry veil is made up of fibers and / or filaments of a length included between 20 and 70 mm.

Preferably, a stretching is carried out transverse on the veil before the first stage consisting in subjecting the fibers and / or filaments to a transverse looping accompanied by stretching.

Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of the device intended for implementing the method according to the present invention.

Figure 2 shows a sectional view of the device shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 shows a sectional view of the device for driving the main organs of the device according to the invention, which are the needles and the looping discs.

Figures 4a to 4e show the different phases of wire formation according to the process of the present invention and its transfer to the needles.

Description of a preferred embodiment of the invention

The devices described in Figures 1 and 2 are devices according to the present invention and which use the so-called verticalization technique which has has been described in great detail in publications EP-A-0479880, WO96 / 10667 and WO97 / 05315.

In practice, to obtain a pseudo-thread, we performs cross looping with stretching for each individual fiber and / or filament by the interpenetration of metal parts so as to give a wavy shape to each fiber and / or filament. The curly elementary fibers and / or filaments are then accumulated by compression in the direction of advance in order to constitute a transverse row of loops. This accumulation provides very good fiber parallelization. At this stage, we therefore have made up, to the nearest twist, of a pseudo-wire presenting itself in the wavy form of a desired size (or title).

In addition, all the preparation of the veil in in order to obtain a pseudo-thread, that is to say the working, the carding, lapping and prior orientation of the fibers, can be carried out according to the methods described in the document EP-A-0479880. Optionally, we can bring it the improvements described in the parallel application based on priority EP-99870152.8 which describes a process for orienting and drawing the fibers and / or filaments of a sail.

By implementing the method described in the parallel request mentioned above, we observe that there are besides a relation between the value of the stretch and the angle minimal orientation. For a veil made of fibers short 60 mm and stretched transversely by a factor 2, these fibers will have an average angle of about 20 degrees with a standard deviation of 5 degrees. Using a veil of fibers and / or filaments as proposed in this application patent, we observe that very little effort will be generated during treatment with the device according to this invention due to the correct orientation of the fibers constituting said veil.

Figures 1 and 2 show the device for the implementation of the method according to the present invention. The system essentially consists of the interpenetration of a set of "looping" discs 10 identical, spaced and located on a common transverse axis 0, with a set of identical “looper” fingers 20 also. The looper discs 10 are driven at a preferably constant and uniform speed of rotation and set so that the peripheral speed of the discs looper is equal to the speed of entry of the veil consisting of fibers and / or filaments.

As already mentioned, between two discs successive curlers is arranged a curler finger. The interpenetration of the different looping discs with the curly fingers causes curling accompanied by a transverse drawing of the fiber and / or filament so individual as described in detail in the previous publications EP-A-0479880, WO96 / 10667 and WO97 / 05315.

According to the present invention, these discs looper 10 are provided with teeth 101, 102, 103 relatively spaced. By "relatively spaced" is meant that the distance between two successive teeth 101 and 102 by example according to the perimeter of the disk is worth at least 3 times the width of an individual tooth.

The distance between two consecutive teeth is defined by the fiber accumulation value and / or veil filaments to create the title pseudo-thread wish.

Preferably, the number of teeth present on the perimeter of a looper disc is between 8 and 16. The number of teeth depends on the diameter of the discs but also the ratio between the weight of the product desired weight of the incoming sail.

The teeth on these discs could be basically sized the same so that the continuous teeth on the discs of the state of the art with regard to the function veil training. However the other functions require a very specific shape. Function wire drive to the eye of the needle requires sufficient height, preferably at least equal to 3 mm. The thread clearing function out of the tooth at the time of descent of the needles will require a precise, slightly curved profile of the active part of the tooth

Preferably, the slope of the tooth which makes facing the advance of the veil is between 20 and 40 degrees, which allows it a good penetration in the veil while allowing easy release of the loop carried out constituting the pseudo-wire towards the organs of collection and transfer.

Indeed, in the extension of each looper finger 20 is provided a transfer member which can be a picking plate or, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, a needle 30. All of the organs of transfer, and more specifically needles 30 allows collect and transfer the pseudo-thread obtained by accumulation of fibers and / or filaments.

These needles 30 are integral with a overhang 35 and simultaneously carry out a movement of back and forth which can be especially a movement sinusoidal rectilinear generated by a system rod / cam.

These needles 30 are intended to transfer the pseudo-wire by perforating a support which is arranged on a series of anvils 40 on which it moves. This support not shown is intended to make the coating of soil.

These anvils 40 serve as elements of reaction to the penetration of the needles 30 into the support. Furthermore, conventionally, hooks 50 are provided. which used in conjunction with knives not represented allow the realization of a coating of ground in the form of cut tuft or velvet.

The movement of the hands 30 and the movement of rotation of the looper discs 10 is obtained using of a single main control shaft 100 supporting eccentrics 110 connected to a connecting rod 120 -cissor assembly classic 130 fitted with transmission 140, 142 up to looper shaft 0 with a reduction equal to number of teeth 101, 102 present at the periphery of a disc 10 as shown in detail in Figure 3.

As described in more detail in the figures 4, it is observed that a fiber whose head is pinched by a tooth will be able to be driven to the needles without never be stretched to the point of being blocked along with a finger. This fiber will then be able to cause the other fibers of the veil without necessarily having a real contact with the teeth.

The low level of effort generated during this treatment (looping step) provides an effect of mass where the positive drive of some fibers allows training the entire veil. We also observe that this mass effect takes place as long as the distance between two consecutive teeth on the same disc hardly exceed the average length of fibers in the veil.

Other advantages can be observed in using the method according to the present invention.

In particular, the visibility of the work will be increased. Indeed, the present invention frees itself from the presence of detachers, who masked the sight of the needles and prevented the operator from anticipating problems such as jams.

In particular, the fact of not having to use additional organs such as detachers allows for a device that is more easy to make and maintain. Indeed, these organs additional such as the detachers were particularly difficult to place properly within of the verticalization device.

In addition, the defects are eliminated or reduced accumulation of fibers and / or filaments in the eye of needles using the method according to this invention. Indeed, this accumulation which was not really positive according to the state of the art could be the cause of faults which were directly reflected on the finished product with holes or gaps.

We also observe using the process and the device according to the present invention a reduction important at the general level of tolerances. Indeed, a slight veiling of a disc, for example which reduces the play between needle and disc, will have little or at least less influence using the process such as described previously. Indeed, the spaced teeth present on the second set of discs will have the capacity to push the loops behind the needles.

Particularly advantageously, we also observes that the looping forces are reduced compared to the solutions described according to the state of the technique using the method and the device according to the present invention. Indeed, the discs with the teeth continuous are particularly difficult to polish in tooth background. Note that polishing is essential so that the fibers can loop and get move transversely to the discs. This has in reality as a consequence of increasing friction fibers / metal. Using the spaced teeth as previously described for the second set of discs, we observe that the fibers move in the smooth parts between two consecutive teeth, parts which are easily accessible during polishing. Reducing the efforts that this goes hand in hand with the reduction of friction and therefore makes it possible to achieve higher operating speeds high.

Finally, it should be noted that the needles intended for the production of tufted products or mesh products are greatly simplified. Indeed, the reduction of the forces and therefore of the torque on the shaft a discs allows a smaller disc diameter and therefore a reduction of the needle overhang. Likewise, the removing detachers also reduces the needle height. The needles present by therefore a more compact design and are more rigid, and are therefore less expensive to produce.

Figures 4a to 4e describe more particularly the different phases of formation of a yarn according to the process of the present invention and its transfer to needles. We agree for a better understanding of the figures that the needles are animated of a sinusoidal rectilinear movement and that their position is identified as a function of the angle expressed in degrees of the control shaft, the top dead center corresponding to 0 degree. During a complete needle cycle, i.e. 360 degrees, the disc which is driven in a circular motion uniform, rotates 360 / n degrees where n is the number of teeth.

Figure 4a (60 degree needle position)

The veil was introduced and began its progression to needles. The mass effect previously described allows a homogeneous distribution of fibers during the looping step except at the location itself teeth where the fibers are slightly repelled due to the "point" effect of the top of the teeth which enters the veil at the time of its engagement. If this peak effect did not occur, some fibers would loop more than the desired value (corresponding to the depth of the tooth), which would harm performance. The depth of the tooth and its shape general must take this into account.

Figure 4b (position 60 degrees of the needle on the cycle next)

The discs continue to drag the veil wavy (during this time the needle has completed a cycle complete) which will thus meet the barrel of the needle. This obstacle is enough to block the progression of fibers which will accumulate one behind the other in the form of elementary loops until constituting the pseudo-thread of desired title.

Figure 4c (300 degree position)

The next tooth "combs" the fibers accumulated against the needle, exerting a pressure which allows the fibers to regroup in the form of a "strand" tight which constitutes the pseudo-wire (analogous to twisting close to a wire) and then pass this pseudo-wire apart on the other side of the needle. Indeed, the fibers formed in pseudo-thread no longer have the ability to loop on the tooth.

Figure 4d (position 0 degrees)

The thread has advanced slightly while the needle has reached its top dead center. The distance between the base of the tooth where the fibers are accumulated and the bottom eye exactly matches the loopback value (distance between the end of the finger and the smooth part of the discs) which determines the height of the loop. The wire is is thus stretched in the bottom of the eye, which will ensure its gripping by the needle. It should be noted that this grip here is completely "positive" and does not depend on nothing about the nature of the fiber or its resilience.

Figure 4 (30 degree position)

The needle started to go down. the profile of the tooth is studied so that the wire is not retained, what is achieved on the horizontal distance between the bottom eye and tooth, taking into account relative movements needle / disc, is constant. The fibers that were located behind the tooth began to build up against the needle to constitute the thread which will be grasped during the next cycle.

Example 1: Line for product in 2 meters

This example describes a product line in two meters to a car destination, for example.

Or to produce a product of 400 g / m ² in 1/10 inch (2.54 mm) gauge with a stroke advance of 2 mm from a 6.7 dtex fiber cut 60 mm.

A "short fiber" card generates a veil of 40 g / m ² in 1 meter of useful width.

This veil is collected by the expander which brings it up to 2 meters while orienting the fibers around the average value of 20 ° (relative to the machine direction). The weight of the veil has increased to 20 g / m ² .

The device according to the present invention is fitted with a set of identical 150 mm diameter discs with 12 teeth (about 40 mm between the teeth). In this case, 40mm of machine-direction haze will be condensed to form a thread, which will be tufted all the 2 mm. The weight of the product produced is good 400 = 40 x 20/2.

If you want to vary the weight of the product, the only possibility is to vary the weight veil. A card veil that cannot be weighed down indefinitely, it may be wise to add to the card a rotary capacitor device, common equipment in the area of nonwovens which will increase the weight of the veil straight out of the card. The maximum production of this type of card is of the order of 120 kg / h, which corresponds exactly to the capacity of a device according to the present invention (device for verticalization) beating at 1000 cps / min. Productions between upstream and downstream machines are harmonized perfectly. The investment ratio between machines upstream and downstream machines is around 1. The line achieves maximum profitability there.

Example 2: Line for product in 4 meters

The conduct of the line is identical to that of Example 1. Two cards of 1 meter will be used, the sails of which will be superimposed to obtain, after 4 meters transverse stretching, a veil of 20 g / m ² entering the device according to the present invention.

In this second example also, there are an optimal match between investment and production.

Claims (15)

1. A device for manufacturing textile products from fibres and/or filaments travelling in the form of a web, consisting essentially in the interpenetration of a set of identical spaced-apart looping discs (10), which are provided with teeth (101, 102) on their perimeter and which are located on a common transverse axis (0) with a set of identical looping fingers (20), characterised in that the distance between two successive teeth (101, 102) on the perimeter of the looping disc (10) is at least three times the width of an individual tooth.
2. The device according to claim 1, characterised in that the number of teeth on the perimeter of a looping disc (10) is between 8 and 16.
3. The device according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the distance between two successive teeth (101, 102) on the perimeter of a looping disc (10) is between 20 and 60 mm.
4. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the height of the teeth (101, 103) is between 1 and 5 mm.
5. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the slope of the teeth facing the arrival of the web is between 20 and 40 degrees.
6. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the distance between two successive teeth (101, 102) on the perimeter of a looping disc (10) does not exceed 1.5 times the average length of the fibres and/or filaments of the web.
7. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that a transfer member, preferably a holding down sinker or a needle (30), is arranged in the extension of each looping finger (20).
8. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the transfer members, and preferably the needles (30), carry out a sinusoidal rectilinear movement obtained using a rod/cam system.
9. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the rotational movement of the looping discs (10) located on a common transverse axis (0) is uniform.
10. The device according to claim 8 or 9, characterised in that the movement of the transfer sinkers or needles (30) and the rotational movement of the looping discs (10) is obtained by means of a single main drive shaft (100) supporting cams (110) and having a reduction which is defined by the number of teeth.
11. A method for manufacturing textile products from fibres and/or filaments travelling in the form of a web, in which:

    the fibres and/or filaments are subjected to a transverse looping accompanied by a drawing using an assembly consisting in the interpenetration of a set of identical spaced-apart looping discs (10), which are provided with teeth (101, 102,...) on their perimeter and which are located on a common transverse axis (0) with a set of identical looping fingers (20), the distance between two successive teeth (101, 102) on the perimeter of the looping disc (10) being at least three times the width of an individual tooth,

    the fibres and/or filaments are accumulated in the form of at least one wavy pseudo-yarn of a certain length in which the fibres and/or filaments are paralleled, this accumulation of said fibres and/or filaments being carried out against the slope of a tooth facing the arrival of the web,

    the wavy pseudo-yarn is transferred to holding down sinkers or a set of needles (30) simultaneously over the entire length of the pseudo-yarn.
12. The method according to claim 11, characterised in that the web of fibres and/or filaments has on entry a weight of between 10 and 30 g/m².
13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, characterised in that the average orientation of the fibres and/or filaments in the web on entering the device is between 10 and 25 degrees relative to the feed direction of the web.
14. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, characterised in that the entry web consists of fibres and/or filaments between 20 and 70 mm in length.
15. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 14, characterised in that a transverse drawing is carried out on the web prior to the first step which consists in subjecting the fibres and/or filaments to a transverse looping accompanied by a drawing.

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