US2063176A - Process for treating textile materials - Google Patents

Description

F'IP8309 TIONOF TEXTILES iFBERS, 1936 on i} Patented Dec. 8,

UNITED STATES Jill t llvvnuu PATENT OFFICE PROCESS FOR TREATING TEXTILE MATERIALS notation of Ohio No Drawing.

Application November 20, 1934,

Serial No. 754,002

10 Claims.

In the treatment of textiles of various kinds for the market, various treatments are given to the materials that are developed into thread, yarn, and the like, as well as to the fabrics made from such thread, yarn, and the like, whereby to produce the various textile materials of commerce. In explaining the invention, it is proposed to explain the invention in detail, as applied to products made out of cotton. It is also proposed to supply in detail, one specific method and one specific composition of the matter that is utilized in practicing the invention. The nature of the invention is such that an explanation thereof in connection with cotton goods specifically and the use of the process and composition of matter that will be set forth herein, will make obvious to those skilled in the art, that the invention is not limited to textile materials of cotton origin, or the specific steps of the process or to the specific compositions of matter emplayed for explaining the invention.

In the making and treating of cotton products, for example, muslin, of commerce, the cotton fibers are first spun into thread. The thread is then woven into fabric. This fabric at this stage is the unbleached muslin of commerce today. The invention proper has to do with the treatment of unbleached muslins in one sense, although in another sense, the invention is properly applicable to the thread that is spun from the cotton fibers. The invention is preferably not used in connection with thread that is to be woven into fabric because it is preferable in connection with the Weaving process,'that the tensile strength of the cotton be maintained at its maximum and the processes ordinarily used in treatng so-called unbleached muslin for producing white cotton goods of commerce, impairs the tensile strength of the thread and therefore the processes involving scouring, bleaching and the like, are deferred until after the thread has been woven into cloth. From the foregoing it should be apparent, however, that the invention is applicable to thread that is not intended for weaving, for example, the ordinary white cotton thread that is used in connection with the sewing art, whether used for hand work or in connection with sewing machines.

The present practice is to take unbleached muslin and place it in a kier, also spelled keir. A kier may generally be referred to as a scouring vat. At the time the unbleached muslin is placed in the kier the cotton contains various foreign matter such as natural oils and gums. The invention will be explained in connection with the treatment of the fabric in the kier, although not limited to use in the kier.

In the practices common at this time and upon which the herein described invention improves, the fabric is subjected to agents that remove some of the yellow coloring matter from the fabric. Thereafter, the fabric is taken from the kier and is subjected to what is known as a bleach, which comprises a suitable bath containing chlorine. Thereafter, the fabric is subjected to a so-called antichlorine treatment. The fabric is then subjected to a so-called sour, or in other words, subjected to an acid treatment or bath for neutralizing the alkaline condition present in the fabric. From this point on, various steps will vary in view of the nature of the finished article to be produced.

The invention has direct effect upon the treatment of fabric through the various steps between the kier treatment and the sour treatment, also upon some subsequent treatments.

The invention effects a reduction of the amount of bleaching material required, reduces the time factor for treatment of the fabric, and inasmuch as the bleaching material weakens the tensile strength of the fabric, the product resultant from utilization of the invention provides a finished fabric that is stronger than the fabric that is produced by the process commonly used today and which has been previously described herein.

Briefly, the invention may be said to reside in the subjection of fabric tonascent hydrogen. The nascent hydrogen is produced in the kier and may be created in any one of numerous manners and by use of various substances that will react upon one another for providing the nascent hydrogen.

One satisfactory embodiment of the invention consists in adding to the customary kier boil solution of soap and alkali, of a quantity of aluminum powder. It is to be understood that the fabric to be treated has been properly placed in the kier in accordance with the prevailing practices, whereby the kier boil solution is caused to pass through the various layers of fabric that are built up in the kier. The practice is to produce pads or bats of fabric by folding succeeding lengths of the material back and forth, rather than to take the regular rolls or bolts of the material. The particular type of bat into which the fabric is developed, is however, not one of the essential features of the invention and this reference is made merely for illustrating in detail, a satisfactory and eificient method of practicing the invention.

The kier boil solution comprising soap, alkali, and the added aluminum powder, is subjected to heat and pressure. Thispboiling process is continued for such time as may be necessary in view of the materials worked upon, as well as the composition of the said kier boil solution. Very satisfactory results have been obtained in connection with cotton goods of the character indicated, that were subjected to kier boiling in the composition as indicated, and which kier boiling varied from four to eight hours. After the indicated treatment in the kier, the fabric is removed from the kier and is subjected to the usual chemic, sour, antichloride and washing treatments. As a result of the indicated treatment in the kier, it has been ascertained that it is possible to reduce the amount of time necessary for the kier boiling operation, that there is an improvement of whiteness of the material obtained, that there is attained a reduction in the amount of bleaching required, that there is an increased susceptibility of dyeing the product, that there is a reduction in tensile loss, that there is a reduction in warp shrinkage, that there is a reduction in filling shrinkage, that there is a reduction in loss of weight, and that there is a decided improvement in finish and texture of the product.

The kier is first loaded or charged with fabric to be treated. Then there is introduced into the kier the determined amount of aluminum powder or the like, that is to be used therein with the charges. Before closing the kier, the necessary amount of water, alkali and soap is run into the kier. The kier should then be closed and I merely to load the kier, and to make the calculations easier by having an even 100 yards of material undergoing treatment. The kier solution used comprised approximately 3% caustic, 3% soap, approximately 1% powdered aluminum of the weight of the load 30 lbs. of fabric, and approximately 186.48. lbs. of water. The 3% caustic approximated .91875 lb. or 416.745 grams; the 3% soap approximated the same weight given for the 3% caustic; and the 1% aluminum approximately .30625 lb. or 138.915 grams. The temperature of the solution was maintained at or slightly above boiling temperature for eight hours.

In work done in connection with this invention it has been found that all of the aluminum is not consumed, and also that very little change occurred in the kier solution after the fourth hour of the boiling step. It has been found that apparently it is more important to maintain an approximately constant boiling temperature, than to maintain a constant pressure condition. It has been found, however, that very satisfactory results are capable of being attained by maintaining a constant pressure condition and permitting the temperature to drop somewhat from the boiling point after an hour or two of treatment of the material in the kier solution at approximately boiling temperature. It has been ascertained that it is possible to obtain satisfactory results when using 0.25% of aluminum instead of 1% aluminum and by maintaining the temperature constant without regard to the pressure, and providing the kier solution is kept at a boiling temperature for a sufficiently long period of time, which apparently should approximate four hours. Boiling in excess of four hours apparently has no detrimental effect.

As a result of various tests made, and one of which is set forth in detail in the preceding parts hereof, it has been determined that the invention may be satisfactorily practiced by means of the following process or formula: To a charge of approximately 116 yards of unbleached cotton cloth, weighing approximately 30 lbs., use a kier boil solution of:

Sodium hydroxide weight of charge- 3% Soap (commercial soap flakes such as Werkrite flakes) do 3% Aluminum powder do 0.25 to 1% Soft water (186.48 pounds) 1iters 84 Kier boil time hrs 4 to 8 Maintaining kier solution boiling at "degrees F" 212 to 220 Pressure in kier lbs. plus 15 The aluminum and soap are preferably added to the kier first, and the alkali and water are run in jost before closing the kier. After the kier boiling is finished, there is followed the usual procedure of bleaching and finishing, as previously mentioned.

The practice of the herein described invention apparently causes the powdered metal to liberate the resultant nascent hydrogen, thereby assisting whitening or bleaching by a reducing rather than by an oxidizing reaction of bleaching.

In view of the foregoing disclosure, it will be ing with the beneficial results previously enumerated.

By way of illustration of substances other than cotton fabric or muslin that may be' treated by means of the invention, attention is directed to cotton thread which may be treated for uses as previously explained, linen, Woolen material, silks, et cetera. Examples of metals other than aluminum that may be used are zinc, tin, or metals of like character that will react with any one or more alkaline solutions to liberate nascent hydrogen.

In view of the disclosures made herein, it should be obvious that there can be added to soap the necessary desired amount of powdered aluminum or other metal so that upon subsequent introduction of the metal containing soap into the kier, the desired solution can be obtained by mere admixture therewith of the necessary amount of water and caustic. It will also be evident that the soap, and aluminum or other metal powder, may be compounded in suitable manners so that same will comprise a stable product that can be introduced into a kier, whereupon the admixture of the necessary amount of water and caustic will sme ma t DVEING; Fluid TREATMENT & CHEWHCAL some- F IEXHLES & FIBERS,

provide the desired solution. In connection with a product of the character last described, care must be taken to avoid moisture or water being added to the mixture before the time it is to be used in the kier because of the reaction that might otherwise result from the caustic and metal powder, with the result that the desired reaction in the kier would not be as efiicacious, should the hydrogen be converted prior to the creation of the kier boil solution in the vat.

The invention is not limited in its use to the treatment of textile materials in the process of initial production of textile materials for the market, but is adaptable to various other industrial and other applications for example, in laundry work. In laundry work, the washing solution would correspond with the kier boil solution and would be supplemented accordingly.

In some instances it may be found desirable to first subject the textile material to the ordinary kier boil operation as heretofore practiced and to then subject the textile material to nascent hydrogen. Under this order of treatment, there would be used a solution comprising a metal that would react to an alkaline or an acid agent for providing nascent hydrogen, for example, acetic acid and aluminum or caustic and aluminum. The treatment could be given in the kier by draining the kier boil solution and then introducing the hydrogen supplying bath into the kier, or such treatment could be given in a different vat or the like.

In some instances it might be found desirable to subject the textile material to the nascent hydrogen, in the sour or other treatments following the kier boil treatment. The invention is explained herein in connection with the kier boil operation because by so doing the time necessary for the kier boil operation is reduced, and because the invention readily fits into this phase of the processing of textile materials.

The soap used, and which is referred to herein as Werkrite flakes, is a 42 titer (titre) 92% neutral tallow soap. The soap serves primarily as a lubricant and the invention is to beunderstood as disclosing any soap that will function in like manner in the presence of the other substances enumerated in explaining the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. The process of treating material of textile fiber, comprising enclosing said material in a pressure chamber, maintaining pressure within said chamber and boiling the material in a bath comprising constituents for supplying nascent hydrogen to the material during the treating thereof.

2. The process of supplying nascent hydrogen to materials of textile fiber, while boiling said materials under a condition of pressure maintained by enclosing the boiling mass in a suitable pressure chamber.

3-. The process of subjecting textile material to pressure and nascent hydrogen during boiling of the textile material.

4. The process of treating textile material under pressure, in a pressure chamber, with a composition comprising water, a metal adapted to react for providing nascent hydrogen and a chemical agent for reaction with the metal for providing nascent hydrogen.

5. The process of treating cotton textile ma-. terial which comprises supplying nascent hydrogen to the material while boiling said material in a closed pressure chamber and under pressure.

6. The process of treating cotton textile material comprising boiling the cotton material for approximately four hours under pressure in a solution of water, sodium hydroxide, neutral ta1 low soap and aluminum powder, the sodium hydroxide comprising approximately 3% by weight of the charge of thread and/or fabric, the soap comprising approximately 3% of the charge of thread and/or fabric, and the aluminum powder comprising approximately 0.25% to 1% of the weight of the charge of thread and/or fabric.

7. The process of treating materials of the class of thread and fabrics comprising boiling same in a pressure chamber for approximately four hours in a solution of water, sodium hydroxide, soap and aluminum powder, the sodium hydroxide comprising approximately 3% by weight of the charge of thread and/or fabric, the soap comprising approximately 3% of the charge of thread and/or fabric, and the aluminum powder comprising approximately 0.25% to 1% of the weight of the charge of thread and/or fabric.

8. The process of scouring and whitening textile materials comprising enclosing the textile material in a pressure chamber and boiling the material in the pressure chamber in a solution of water, alkali, soap, and a metal adapted to react during boiling of the solution for producing nascent hydrogen in the solution.

9. The process of treating textile fabrics under pressure in a pressure chamber with a composition comprising water, acid, and a metal adapted to react for producing nascent hydrogen, and maintaining a temperature thereof at approximately boiling temperature for a period of approximately four hours.

10. The process of treating textile fabric in a closed atmosphere and under pressure, with nascent hydrogen, and controlling liberation of the nascent hydrogen by control of the heat and pressure employed in the process.

ROWLAND MAGIIL.