US3905765A

US3905765A - Steam treatment of fabrics

Info

Publication number: US3905765A
Application number: US290669A
Authority: US
Inventors: Ian Stockwell Bissitt
Original assignee: Wira and Mather and Platt Ltd
Current assignee: Wira and Mather and Platt Ltd
Priority date: 1971-09-22
Filing date: 1972-09-20
Publication date: 1975-09-16
Anticipated expiration: 1992-09-16
Also published as: SU640673A3; JPS4856988A; JPS5514191B2; FR2154244A5; GB1409531A; IN137885B; DE2246710A1; NL7212813A; PL79456B1; IT967740B

Abstract

A process and apparatus for treating textile material in which the textile material is subjected to a continuous compressive load characterised in that at at least one location this compressive load is increased. It is preferred that the textile material be subjected to this treatment in an atmosphere of saturated steam at a temperature greater than 100*C.

Description

" United States Patent Bissitt Sept. 16, 1975 [54] STEAM TREATMENT OF FABRICS 2,899,264 8/1959 Griffiths et a1 .568/5 D X 3,046,771 7 1962 Bail 68 5 E [75] Invent: Smckwe Bissitt Bradford 3 357 111 1211967 Fieiszler et a1..... 34/ 115 England 3,440,736 4/1969 Fleissner et a1 68/D1G. 5 [73] Assignee: Wire and Mather & Platt, Ltd., 322:2: g Mancheser England 3,563,065 2 1971 Fleissner... 68/DIG. 5 22 Filed; S 20 1972 3,595,035 7/1971 Stringer 68/5 D [211 App]' 290669 Primary Examiner Edward L. Roberts Assistant ExaminerPhilip R. Coe [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Attorney, Agent, or Firm--Sughrue, Rothwell, Mion,

Sept. 22, 1971 United Kingdom 44119 71 Zirm & Macpeak [52] US. Cl. 8/l49.3; 26/51.4; 68/5 D [57] ABSTRACT [51] Int. Cl. D0613 3/18 Field of Search H 49.3 6 5 A rocess and apparatus for treating textile material in 68/158 DIG 5 44 99 34/155 162 l 144 18 which the textile material is sub ected to a contmuous compressive load characterised in that at at least one location this compressive, load is increased. It is pre- [56] References Cited ferred that the textile material be subjected to this UNITED STATES PATENTS treatment in an atmosphere of saturated steam at a 1,315,698 9/1919 Bailey 68/44 X temperature greater than 100C. 2,431,372 11/1947 Cook et al. 68/5 D X 2,724,254 11/1955 Zanger 68/158 x 5 091m, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEH sE 1 I915 SHEET 2 [IF 2 STEAM TREATNIENT OF FABRICS This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for the continuous treatment of textile materials to effect a permanent compression efiect thereon. It is preto the surface of the fabric in a direction having a com-' ponent normal to the surface, and includes the effect known as lustre.

While any textile material may be treated by the method and apparatus of the present invention, the treatment is especially advantageous when applied to textile fabrics containing a substantial proportion of keratin fibre.

It is known that'if a textile fabric containing a substantial proportion of keratin fibre, such as wool, is subjected to compression in saturated steam at a temperature above 100C the fabric will retain its compressed form for a long durationwhen removed from that environment, despite subsequent treatments in the presence of moisture at temperatures up to 100C. This effect is commonly known as permanent set.

On the other hand, compression effects imparted in the presence of moisture at temperatures below 100C may be removed by a subsequent wet treatment at 100C. This is known as temporary set.

It is an object of the invention to impart to a fabric a durable compressive effect while imparting at most a low degree of compressive effect that is of a temporary nature.

The invention procedes from a realization that whereas a light load will effect only a small compression of a fabric, a heavy load is applied to a fabric for a short period, the total recovery of the fabric from its large compression on removal of the heavy load can be prevented by the imposition of the same light load, and the final compression under the light load is then greater than the compression resulting from the light load alone. While this is true in normal conditions, i.e. conditions at atmospheric pressure, it is particularly pronounced in a saturated steam atmosphere at a temperature greater than 100C.

According to the present invention there is provided a method of imparting a durable compression effect to textile material, comprising the steps of moving the textile material into and out of a treatment zone, maintaina ing the material under a substantiallycontinuous compresssive load during its movement along a predetermined path within said zone, and increasing the load at at least one location along said path.

Preferably, the treatment zone is a steaming zone maintained at a temperature greater than 100C. The steaming zone preferably contains saturated steam.

Preferably, the material is removed from the steaming zone with an applied load less than the continuous compressive load.

Also according tothe present invention there is provided apparatus for use in impartinga durable compression effect totextile material, comprising a vessel for providing a treatment zone for the textile material, means for constraining the material to follow a predetermined path through said zone,means for applying a substantially'continuous compressive load to the material as it is moved along said path, and means for further increasing the compressive load at at least one location along said path.

Preferably, the constraining means is a pair of endless belts between which the fabric is sandwiched, the fabtic/belt sandwich being constrained to follow a curved path.

Preferably also, the compressive load applying means comprises means for tensioning the belts and rollers around which the tensioned belts are moved in a curved path.

The means for further increasing the compressive load is preferably one or more pressure nips.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic elevation of a preferred form of apparatus;

FIG. 2 is an alternative form of the apparatus;

FIG. 3 shows an alternative roller detail of the apparatus of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 illustrates diagrammatically the tension in a belt or blanket passing over a curved surface; and,

FIG. 5 illustrates graphically the result on material thickness of applying and removing a series of compressive loads.

Referring to FIG. 1, the apparatus comprises a pressure vessel or autoclave 10 provided with fluid inlet and outlet means. Within this vessel 10 there is disposed three pressure rollers 11 spaced equiangularly around a nip roller 12 lying along the vessel axis. A motor 13 external of the vessel 10 drives a gearwheel l4 coaxial "with the nip roller 12. The gearwheel 14 is not drivingly fast with the nip roller 12 which is freely rotatable. The gearwheel 14 meshes with a gearwheel 15 fast with the shaft 16 of each pressure roller 11 so that these pressure rollers 11 are driven from a common source, i.e. the motor 13 and gearwheel 14.

These gearwheels l4 and 15 are internal of the pressure'ves sel 10, the roller shaft 16 of gearwheel 14 passing through appropriate seals in the vessel wall as will be manifest to anyone skilled in the art.

At each end, each pressure roller shaft 16 is carried in a block 17 on which acts a pressure-applying device which, in this instance, is a diaphragm unit 18 such that application of air pressure to one side of the diaphragm 19 causes a pressure to be applied to the blocks 17 via, for example, a rod 20 and consequently to the pressure rollers l 1 thus increasing the pressure at their nips with the nip roller 12. Such diaphragm units are well known to those skilled in the art and will not be described further. It will be manifest that other convenient pressureapplying means may alternatively be employed.

These diaphragms units 18 are internal of the pressure vessel 10.

The pressure vessel 10 has a top inlet and outlet extending along a substantial part of its length and appropriate seals 21 are disposed at the inlet and outlet so as to allow passage of material therethrough without loss of pressure from the vessel 10. A convenient form of seal 21 is disclosed in British Pat. No. 1,001,508 in the name of Mather and Platt Limited.

A freely rotatable guide roller 22 is disposed between adjacent nips, and a freely rotatable guide roller 23 is disposed adjacent the vessel inlet and the vessel outlet.

A conveying arrangement is provided for carrying, for example, fabric in open width through this vessel l0. This arrangement consists of two endless belts or blankets formed of any convenient material which will withstand the treatment conditions within the'vessel 110 without interfering with the treatment of the fabr'ic..rAn example of such a material is a high temperature nylon. Thetwo belts form a sandwich with the fabric as the central layer.

The inner endless belt 24 passes around (from the top left hand comer of FIG. 1) a tension control roller 25, a double swivel roller guide unit 26, a take-up roller 27,

guide rollers

28 and 29, a first curved plate 30, a guide roller 31, a second curved plate 32, into the pressure vessel where it follows a path between the guide roller 23 and top pressure roller 11 around guide roller 22 and then between the latter and the right-hand pressure roller 11, between the three nips constituted by the pressure rollers 11 and nip roller 12, between the left-hand pressure roller and its guide roller 22, around the latter, between the top pressure roller 11, and guide roller 23 and then out of the pressure vessel 10, along a third curved plate 33, over a guide roller 34 and back to the tension control roller 25;, Y

The various rollers and plates external of the .vessel 10 are eitherconveniently supported on the frame of the apparatus or associated framework or are mounted indirectly on the vessel 10.

The. tension-control roller 25 and take-up roller 27 are movably mounted on the frame 35 so that they can be adjusted by any convenient means known in the art for belt tensioning and take-up purposes. -The plates 30, 32 and 33 are preferably formed of I stainless steel.

' The outer endless belt 36 passes around a pair of pull rollers 37, 38, a tension control roller 39, a take-up roller 40, a guide roller 41, another take-up roller 42,-a

' guide roller 43, under the pressure vessel 10, around a mounted on the machine frame 35 which is slotted at 47 and 48 m allow removal of the

rollers

38 and 41 respectively during fitting of the belt 36 or indirectly on the vessel 10, the roller 39 being freely supported in a loop of the belt.

The take-up rollers 40, 42 are adjustably mounted for take-up purposes.

The path of the fabric F is from a supply (not shown) over a guide roller 49, through swivel tension tubes 50,

through a conventional weft-straightening device 51, over a rubber-covered fabric pull roll 52, under a compensator roll 53 and then it follows the path of the outer belt from roller 46, it being sandwiched between the belts at roller 29. At roller 34 the fabric F isled away in any desired direction. The compensator roll 53 "automatically operates a control 53A of a DC geared motor (not shown) which drives the fabric pull roll 52.

The abovedescribed apparatus can be used to effect "a permanent lustre or other compression effect on a C-Etextile fabric with saturated steam at a temperature greater than 100C.

I The fabric to be treated may be one containing a substantial proportion of keratin fibre suchas wool.

FIG. 4 illustrates diagrammatically that the tension in a belt passing over a curved surface exerts a radial press Reference is now made to a tensioning roller 69.

sure on the surfa'ceandthus 'on any material between itself and said surface. v I

. Since,iri the abovedescribed apparatus, the fabric is carried, as .aforesaid, th rough the pressure vessel 10 by the

belts

24 and 36 and due to the fact that the belts are; tensioned andjfollow a non-linear path internally of the vessel 10, a substantially continuous compressive force is applied to the fabric by the beltsl'This compressive-forceis increased at the nips within the pressure vessel 10. 1 i

FIG. 5 indicates graphically the result on fabric thickness of applying and removing a series of compressive loads in an environment of saturated steam at a temperature greater than 100C.

At time intervaLAB a small load s isapplied resulting in a fabric thickness, originally t, reducing to t,. On removal of the load at B, the thickness t is gradually recovered. Application of a great load g at C reduces the thickness to t, where, of course, vt,, t,. Again, on removal of the load the fabric reverts gradually to its original thickness r. If a combined load s gis applied as at D the resultant thickness t, t However, the important observation is that on removal of load g but retainingi load s as at point E, the thickness recovery proceeds only as far as t, where t t,. If the heavy load is applied briefly a second time (point F) and removed (point G) there is still greater residual compression 1 i.e. z z r,. t g v I, Thus, in the present invention a continuous small or light load exerted by the belts is supplemented at one or more locations (nips 11, 12) by a greater load, and the resultant compression achieved is intermediate that caused by the small or light load and the greater load. Since the compression takes place in an environment of saturated steam at a temperature greater than 100C the compressive effect after removal from the pressure vessel 10 is durable.. I I

When the fabric F leaves the vicinity of the curved .plate 33 and guide roller 34 the

belts

24 and 36 separate andthe fabric is no longer subjected to a compressive force. V A g the modified apparatus of FIG. 2, which has a pressure vessel or autoclave with an inlet 61 and outlet 62having seals as aforesaid'a'n d through which a fabric 63 in open passes sandwiched between

endless belts

64 and 65. Externally of the vessel 60, the belt 64 passes over idler rollers' 66 and a displaceable tensioning roller 67. I l

The belt similarly passes over idler rollers 68 and In the vessel 60, the fabric/belt sandwiched is guided in a curved path (shown, for clarity, in dotted lines) defined by guide rollers 70 to 73, a rotatable hollow cylinder 74 and fixed curved plates 75. Guide roller 70 is of small diameter so that the distance of the fabric/belt sandwiched from its last contact with roller 70 to the outlet 62 is small. The cylinder 74 preferably driven by any convenient 'means so as to move the belts 64'and 65 and the fabric 63 sandwiched between them in the direction indicatedby'the" arrows."

.Pressurerollers 76 are arranged aroundthat portion of the cylinder 74, covered by the fabric/belt sandwich and are urged against: the cylinder by conventional means '(not shown) 1 Outside the vessel'60 the fabric is fed to the inner belt 65 over a roller 77'and 'aft'er'withdrawal is led' away from the belts by a roller 78. f t I In FIG. 3, there is shown an alternative to the pressure rollers 76, namely a curved plate 79 urged by a fluid pressure cylinder 80 against the cylinder 74.

This apparatus operates in the same way as the apparatus of FIG. 1.

On leaving the guide roller 70, the path of the belts is substantially straight and the only substantial compressive force exerted on the fabric 63 is that caused by its passage through the outlet 62 which may, as aforesaid, be a conventional pressure seal. Outside the vessel 60, where the temperature falls to below 100C, thecompressive force which leads, under these conditions, to a temporary effect is thus reduced to a minimum.

Modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the invention as claimed. Thus, the curve surfaces defining the path of the fabric may be composed solely of rotatable rollers or of fixed plates or of both rollers and plates in other configurations or combinations. The pressure rollers may be replaced by pressure plates which may be convex or concave or linear with respect to the cloth/belts sandwich.

The degree of compression exerted can be varied by varying the temperature in the vessel, the tension of the belts, the number and pressure of the pressure rollers or the like, the speed of movement of the fabric or pressure of the seals, and the invention includes controlling these parameters.

In using the apparatus of FIG. 1 to carry out the method of the present invention, ie the application of permanent compressive effects to fabric it will be manifest that the weft straightener 51 may not be required and can therefore be bypassed by the fabric.

The conditions within the pressure vessel can be adapted to suit requirements. For example, a treatment may require the use of superheated steam, vacuum conditions, or pressure above and below atmospheric pressure. In other words, the apparatus can be used in any application where it is advantageous to compress the fabric.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for use in imparting a durable compression effect to textile material, comprising: (a) a pressurized vessel for providing a treatment zone for the textile material, (b) a pair of endless tensioned belts between which the textile material is sandwiched for applying a substantially continuous compressive load to the textile material and for constraining the textile material to follow a curved path through said pressurized vessel, (c) means for tensioning the endless belts, (d) a single nip roller centrally located within said pressurized vessel, and (c) three pressure rollers equidistantly spaced about and adjacent to the periphery of said nip roller having their rotating axes parallel to said single nip roller within said pressurized vessel to increase the compressive load on said textile material as it passes between said nip roller and said pressure rollers.

2. A method of imparting a durable compression effect to textile material comprising the steps of:

a. placing said textile material between a pair of endless tensioned belts,

b. moving the pair of belts and the textile material along a curved path within a pressurized vessel, to exert a substantially continuous compressive load on the textile material,

c. increasing the compressive load at at least one location along said path, by passing said textile material between at least one nip roller and at least one pressure roller located within said pressurized vessel, and

d. steaming the textile material at a temperature greater than C during at least a portion of its travel through the pressurized vessel.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of steaming the textile material is accomplished by using saturated steam at a temperature greater than 100C.

4. The method of claim 2 in which the textile material is a fabric containing a substantial proportion of keratin fiber.

5. The method of claim 2, in which the material is a synthetic or blended textile.

Claims

1. Apparatus for use in imparting a durable compression effect to textile material, comprising: (a) a pressurized vessel for providing a treatment zone for the textile material, (b) a pair of endless tensioned belts between which the textile material is sandwiched for applying a substantially continuous compressive load to the textile material and for constraining the textile material to follow a curved path through said pressurized vessel, (c) means for tensioning the endless belts, (d) a single nip roller centrally located within said pressurized vessel, and (e) three pressure rollers equidistantly spaced about and adjacent to the periphery of said nip roller having their rotating axes parallel to said single nip roller within said pressurized vessel to increase the compressive load on said textile material as it passes between said nip roller and said pressure rollers.

2. A METHOD OF IMPARTING A DURABLE COMPRESSION EFFECT TO TEXTILE MATERIAL COMPRISING THE STEPS OF: A. PLACING SAID TEXTILE MATERIAL BETWEEN A PAIR OF ENDLESS TENSIONED BELTS, B. MOVING THE PAIR OF BELTS AND THE TEXTILE MATERIAL ALONG A CURVED PATH WITHIN A PRESSURIZED VESSEL, TO EXERT A SUBSTANTIALLY CONTINOUS COMPRESSIVE LOAD ON THE TEXTILE MATERIAL, C. INCREASING THE COMPRESSIVE LOAD AT AT LEAST ONE LOCATION ALONG SAID PATH, BY PASSING SAID TEXTILE MATERIAL BETWEEN AT LEAST ONE NIP ROLLER AND AT LEAST ONE PRESSURE ROLLER LOCATED WITHIN SAID PRESSURIZED VESSEL, AND

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of steaming the textile material is accomplished by using saturated steam at a temperature greater than 100*C.