CA1116882A - Carpet face fiber washer with air jet - Google Patents
Carpet face fiber washer with air jetInfo
- Publication number
- CA1116882A CA1116882A CA000315288A CA315288A CA1116882A CA 1116882 A CA1116882 A CA 1116882A CA 000315288 A CA000315288 A CA 000315288A CA 315288 A CA315288 A CA 315288A CA 1116882 A CA1116882 A CA 1116882A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- fabric
- liquid
- front surface
- carpet
- moving
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
Classifications
-
- D—TEXTILES; PAPER
- D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- D06B—TREATING TEXTILE MATERIALS USING LIQUIDS, GASES OR VAPOURS
- D06B15/00—Removing liquids, gases or vapours from textile materials in association with treatment of the materials by liquids, gases or vapours
- D06B15/04—Removing liquids, gases or vapours from textile materials in association with treatment of the materials by liquids, gases or vapours by suction
-
- D—TEXTILES; PAPER
- D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- D06B—TREATING TEXTILE MATERIALS USING LIQUIDS, GASES OR VAPOURS
- D06B15/00—Removing liquids, gases or vapours from textile materials in association with treatment of the materials by liquids, gases or vapours
- D06B15/09—Removing liquids, gases or vapours from textile materials in association with treatment of the materials by liquids, gases or vapours by jets of gases
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Textile Engineering (AREA)
- Treatment Of Fiber Materials (AREA)
Abstract
CARPET FACE FIBER WASHER WITH AIR JET
Abstract of the Disclosure A method for the liquid treatment of one side of a fabric, preferably a carpet, having a front surface to be liquid treated and a back surface which is not to be wetted by the liquid. The front surface of the fabric is sprayed with liquid without wetting the back surface of the fabric. An air knife and vacuum extraction are used to remove the bulk of. the liquid from the fabric, thus reducing the extent of oven drying needed to dry the fabric.
Abstract of the Disclosure A method for the liquid treatment of one side of a fabric, preferably a carpet, having a front surface to be liquid treated and a back surface which is not to be wetted by the liquid. The front surface of the fabric is sprayed with liquid without wetting the back surface of the fabric. An air knife and vacuum extraction are used to remove the bulk of. the liquid from the fabric, thus reducing the extent of oven drying needed to dry the fabric.
Description
~ o~
. ~e J ~ _.~
: ck~round of the In~ention Field of the Invention The invention is directed to a method of liquid treating a fabric and, more particularly, to a method for-face fiber only washing of a carpet.
, Description of the Prior Art The existing state o~ the art ln the carpet industry to wash and clean dyed and printed carpet is to totally immerse the carpet in a number of ~ash baths using various washin3 components, such as in-bath ~ agitators, spray manifolds and showers, counterflow techniques, squeeze rolls, and vacuum extraction. In all present washing systems, the carpet,-either backed, foam backed, unitary backed, or secondary backed, 'i~ .
., becomes comple-tely saturated with wash water. Eventually this wash water must be removed after final washing, usually by a combination of high pressure squeeze rolls which cause pile crush, multiple vacuum slots, and primarily lengthy drying ovens.
U. S. Patent 3,922,738 discloses a fabric-treating apparatus composed of modular washing sections wherein the forward section serves as a scouring chamber while the aft section serves as a drying chamber.
The patent discloses the use of spray nozzles in the scouring chamber to spray solvent on the web as it is carried underneath. As the fabric leaves the scouring chamber, it passes over a suction box 82 which removes the solvent from the web.
U. S. Patent 3,938,356 discloses a web finishing machine comprising a flow drum mounted in the casing wherein spray nozzle devices are arranged so as to direct moisture to only one side of a moving web.
The patent al50 discloses an adjustable suction channel located below the drum for ventilating the drum.
U. S. Patent 3,503,370 discloses a coating apparatus for applying a composite to one side of a web which continuously moves around a back-up roll. The structure of the patent discloses the use of an adjustable slot 4, but this slot does not serve as a vacuum slot.
The "face fiber only'! washing concept was conceived to provide the same or improved washing of all carpet, particularly the face yarn, as now done while minimizing or eliminating the wetting or saturation by water of the back side of the carpet. This, in turn, minimizes the need for lengthy drying ovens. All of the washing components for the face yarn would be utilized on the "face side" or the yarn side of the pro-cessed carpet. Removal of the water from the face yarns is expedited through the use of an air knife and a vacuum slot and particularly a combination thereof.
S ary of the Invention The invention is directed to a method for the liquid treatment of one side of a f`abric having a front surface to be liquid treated and a back surface which is not to be wetted with the liquid. The liquid is sprayed on the front side of the fabric to wet the front surface of the fabric without wetting the back surface thereof. A vacuurn extraction means removes substantially all of the liquid from the fabric. A spraying step is carried out while the fabric is rnoving around a roller with the face surface of the fabric facing outwardly from the roller so that the fabric is curved and its face is opened up to receive the liquid.
Washing is carried out through the use of two spray assemblies. Adjacent one spray assembly, an air knife is used to remove excess water from the carpet structure. Adjacent the second spray assembly, there is utilized at least one vacuum slot and an air knife together to assist in the removal of the water from the fabric, particularly carpet face yarns.
The invention is particularly adaptable for use in washing carpet wherein a liquid is sprayed on the carpet face fibers to wet and wash only the carpet face fibers and not wet the scrim or backing of the carpet.
The advantage of the method herein is not only the conservation of water usage but provides a tremendous energy saving in that there is a great reduction in energy needed to dry carpets which are washed by the above invention as compared with carpets which are washed in the normal manner. Carpets which are washed in the normal manner contain a substantial am~unt of water in their backing which must be removed from the carpet. The technique herein never places water in the backing or, at least, minimizes the amount of water in the backing so there is no need to use a large amount of energy to extract water from the bacl of the carpet. In addi-tion, the vacuum extraction means and air knife combination is an efficient water-removing device.
Brief Description of the Drawing Figure 1 is a showing of a conventional fabric treating process;
Figure 2 is a schematic showing of the improved fabric treating process containing the inventive washing and drying invention herein;
and Figure 3 is a schematic showing of the apparatus for carrying i out the washing and liquid extraction invention herein.
; 10Description of the Preferred Embodiment Normally, carpet would be printed by a printing means 2. The carpet would then move into a steaming means 4 which sets the dye in the carpet. The carpet then moves through a series of wash baths 6 which wash out the excess unfixed dye and other residual material in the carpet. The carpet would then move on to an oven 8 where it would be dried. Obviously, the wash baths completely saturate the carpet ana, particularly with a foam backed carpet, a substantial volume of water is contained in the carpet backing. Therefore, a large energy use exists in a conventional drying oven which simply maintains a heated environment to vaporize the water to drive it off from the carpet. It is not unusual for a conventional drying oven for carpeting to be 120 feet long and to pass the carpet through the oven with a path of travel of 120 or 240 feet at a temperature of 300F. in order to dry the carpet.
The invention herein is capable of use for many different liquid-treatment operations on a fabric. One may simply be interested in using the method to carry out the washing of one side of a fabric.
The invention could also be utilized for treatment of a fabrIc to provide it with certain characteristics. For example, fabric could be treated with a ]iquid which would tend to make it waterproof or soil resistant.
Further, the inventive method could be utilized to dye or color the fabric.
The fabric being treated normally is a material of some thick-ness which need not be wetted or which would not be normally wet com-pletely through when passed through a spray chamber. The invention is not particularly applicable to fabrics such as used for clothing.
However, it could be utilized for heavy upholstery fabric, carpeting, and like material. It is particularly useful with carpeting which has a face fiber varying from 1/16" to 2" in length. Face fiber is normally used in conjunction with a backing, which would be simply ~ute or some synthetic non-woven or woven material, or could ex-tend to a combination backing, which is a combination of jute and a layer of foam which i5 upward to 1/2" in thickness. The invention herein is particularly useful with carpeting which has a foam backing.
The invention herein was specifically designed for the washing of the face fibers of a carpet structure without the wetting of the foam on the back of the carpet. With conventional techniques utilizing wash tanks, the foam becomes saturated with a liquid. Heavy squeezing must be utilized to get a large amount of the wash water out of the carpet.
The carpet then must be subjected to extensive drying to dry the water not only from the face fiber of the carpet but the heavy foam backing.
Utilizing the inventive method described below and comparing it relative to the conventional foam backed carpet product, there can be secured a 4% savings in fuel usage under some circumstances when one is attempting to dry a carpet to an acceptable dry level of 2~-30 of moisture based upon dry weight. A carpet which has been washed in a dip tank will have appoximately 200~-400% moisture content. Squeezing or other liquid l~ .Z
removal steps, other than oven heating, wou~d lower the moisture content to 35~. A carpet which is washed by the face fiber washer herein and subJected to the vacuum-air knife extraction step herein would have a moisture content for the carpet of approximately 12~. Consequently, the conventional oven structure is only needed to lower the moisture content from 12% to approximately 2%-3~ of the fabric dry weight. If one would take the above-mentioned carpet which had a moisture content of 35%
because it had not been washed by the face fiber washer and then subjected to vacuum extraction, the conventional oven would have to move the moisture content of the carpet from 35% to 2%-3%. Obviously, a substan-tial amount of energy would be needed as compared to the energy needed in the inventive face fiber washing and vacuum-air knife extraction invention herein.
The inventive method herein is directed to a technique for the liquid treatment of one side of a fabric having a front surface which is to be liquid treated and a back surface which is not to be wetted, or at least saturated, with a liquid. The invention is particularly adaptable to a carpet wherein the front surface of the fabric is the face yarns of the carpet and the back surface of the fabric is the carpet backing.
There usually will be a substantially impermeable barrier in the carpet structure. The liquid is applied to the front surface of the fabric through the use of conventional spray nozzles which normally operate under low pressure (60-150 psi), low volume circumstances. he liquid will wet the front surface of the carpet without any substantial wetting f the back surface of the carpet. Particularly, with a foam carpet or a secondary backing on the carpet, an impermeable barrier will usually be between these backings and the face yarns. Air knives and vacuum extraction means are then utilized to remove excess liquid from the face .. ~
of the fabric. Normally, the spraying and liquid removal means are carried out in two liquid-treatment steps to ensure, with carpet partic ularly, a good washing of the carpet. Also, the carpet is normally, but not necessarily, passed around the surface of a roll with the face side of the carpet extending outward. When the carpet is in this configlration it is treated with the liquid-spray treatment and also some liquid ~ extraction. The roll provides the advantage of opening up the face 1 . yarns to permit good penetration of the wash liquid into the face fibers of the carpet face yarns and extraction therefrom.
Referring now to Figure 2 of the drawing, there is shown the carpet-treatment process utilizing the inventive system herein. Again, a conventional printer 2 is used in con~unction with a conventional steamer 4 to provide the carpet with some type of coloring in the form of a design and to fix the dye in the steamer. The carpet then passes through the inventive face fiber washer and vacuum air knife extraction system which is sho~n in Figure 3 in detail and will be explained below. The carpet then passes on to a conventional drying oven 8.
Referring ~ow to Figure 3 of the drawing, there is shown schematically one version of the inventive process herein. The fabric or carpeting is passed around rolls 12 and 14. The carpet is moving in generally a counterclockwise direction. Spraying nozzle 16 is positioned ad~acent the carpet and directs a low pressure, low volume washing liquid against the face of the fabric 1. The nozzle may be a conven-tional .~odel 3715 Broughton nozzle. This nozzle directs the wash liquid at the face of the fabric and dispenses liquid at about 70 pounds per square inch with a flow rate of 1.5 gallons per minute of liquid per - nozzle. Actually, it is obvious that, depending upon the width of the carpet being treated, a plurality of nozzles would be used to cover the ', ~ 7~7~'~ ., width of the carpet. It is also obvious that the thickness of the material being treated or the thickness of the material to be washed must control the amount of liquid deposited and the pressure that the liquid is applied. The guiding principle is that one must deposit 5 sufficient liquid to carry out the desired treatment at a pressure sufficient to penetrate that area that is to be treated. The liquid must be so directed against the fabric that one does not saturate the back of the fabric with liquid and thus require the extraction of this excess liquid from the back of the fabric. Further down the processing line from nozzle 16 there is positioned an air knife 18 which directs against the face of the carpet a stream of air slightly directed against the direction of travel of the carpet. This air knife blows excess liquid from the face of the carpet.
Further downstream in the processing direction of the carpet 15 there is positioned a second shower nozzle 20 which would also direct liquid against the face of the fabric. This nozzle may be the same as nozzle 16 or could be a Model 29 Broughton Fixed Orifice Oscillating nozzle or similar nozzle which delivers approximately the same amount of liquid at the same pressure as the aforesaid nozzle 8. At this point the carpet is approaching roll 14 and will pass around roll 14 so that the face yarns of the carpet will be opened up to permit ease of extrac-tion of the treating liquid from the carpet. The carpet then passes by a vacuum extraction means 22 which will have a vacuum extracting slot 24 and then a combination vacuum slot 26 and air knife 28. The vacuum slots could be two separate vacuum means, one alone and one in conjunc-tion with an air knife, or they could be as shown, which is really a dual vacuum slot with a single air knife. The vacuum means 24 operates with a vacuum in the range of 15~7 of mercury, and the slot of the vacuum l~lr~
means is positioned adjacent the fabric. The slot of the vacuum means 24 could be positioned just prior to the time the fabric moves around the roll 1~ or it could be in position to be adjaeent the fabric while the fabric is eurved around roll 14. The combination air knife 28 and S vacuum slot 26 is also adjacent the carpet, but it is normally placed adjacent the carpet when its face has been opened up as the carpet is passing around the periphery of roll 14. The air knife 28 is positioned downstream from the slot 26 of the vacuum means so as to force loose liquids from the fiber of the carpet and push them into a position where they may be more readily extracted by the vacuum action of the vacuum slot 26. The vacuum of the slot 26 is in the range of 15" of mercury.
The air knife works in conjunction wi-th the vacuum slot to make the vaeuum slot more effieient in the removal of the water from the earpet.
; Substantial air flow is generated through the earpet faee due to the combination of the blowing of air by the air knife and the drawing of air away from the earpet by the vaeuum means. This aeeelerated path of movement of the air, whieh would be greater than if vaeuum alone would be utilized, helps remove substantial amo~unts of water from the faee .~ fibers of the earpet.
Using the strueture above described against a earpet produet having a foam backing of .18" with a face fiber acrylic yarn of .28" and a face fiber weight of 35 oz. per yard, a carpet was satisfaetorily washed and it left the above-described treatment apparatus with a 12%
moisture in the carpet. Comparing this with the most advanced wash tank 25 system now being utilized, the same type of carpet would have a 35~
moisture after washing. It is obvious that there has been a substantial reduetion in water eontent in the washed earpet, and therefore, sub-stantially less energy will be needed to take the earpet to an acceptable dry state of 2%-3% moisture.
_ 9 _ 1~
With carpeting, which has a construction consisting of a face fiber yarn, an intermediate carpet scrim, a latex coating, and a foam back, the impervious nature of the latex coating by the scrim will prevent penetration of the liquid into the porous foam backing. Should the impervious barrier not exist, the spray would primarly saturate the face of the carpet and provide very little liquid to the back of the carpet.
Comparing a carpet washed by the above face fiber washing technique with the most advanced wash tank system now being used, the same type of carpet would have a larger moisture content after tank washing since the whole carpet is wet. Conventional carpet squeezing, etc. only lower the completely wetted carpet after tank washing to about a 35% moisture content. The vacuum extraction-air knife technique will lower the moisture content of the face fiber washed carpet to 12%.
Therefore, substantially less energy will be needed to take the carpet to an acceptable dry state of 2%-3% moisture.
., .
. ~e J ~ _.~
: ck~round of the In~ention Field of the Invention The invention is directed to a method of liquid treating a fabric and, more particularly, to a method for-face fiber only washing of a carpet.
, Description of the Prior Art The existing state o~ the art ln the carpet industry to wash and clean dyed and printed carpet is to totally immerse the carpet in a number of ~ash baths using various washin3 components, such as in-bath ~ agitators, spray manifolds and showers, counterflow techniques, squeeze rolls, and vacuum extraction. In all present washing systems, the carpet,-either backed, foam backed, unitary backed, or secondary backed, 'i~ .
., becomes comple-tely saturated with wash water. Eventually this wash water must be removed after final washing, usually by a combination of high pressure squeeze rolls which cause pile crush, multiple vacuum slots, and primarily lengthy drying ovens.
U. S. Patent 3,922,738 discloses a fabric-treating apparatus composed of modular washing sections wherein the forward section serves as a scouring chamber while the aft section serves as a drying chamber.
The patent discloses the use of spray nozzles in the scouring chamber to spray solvent on the web as it is carried underneath. As the fabric leaves the scouring chamber, it passes over a suction box 82 which removes the solvent from the web.
U. S. Patent 3,938,356 discloses a web finishing machine comprising a flow drum mounted in the casing wherein spray nozzle devices are arranged so as to direct moisture to only one side of a moving web.
The patent al50 discloses an adjustable suction channel located below the drum for ventilating the drum.
U. S. Patent 3,503,370 discloses a coating apparatus for applying a composite to one side of a web which continuously moves around a back-up roll. The structure of the patent discloses the use of an adjustable slot 4, but this slot does not serve as a vacuum slot.
The "face fiber only'! washing concept was conceived to provide the same or improved washing of all carpet, particularly the face yarn, as now done while minimizing or eliminating the wetting or saturation by water of the back side of the carpet. This, in turn, minimizes the need for lengthy drying ovens. All of the washing components for the face yarn would be utilized on the "face side" or the yarn side of the pro-cessed carpet. Removal of the water from the face yarns is expedited through the use of an air knife and a vacuum slot and particularly a combination thereof.
S ary of the Invention The invention is directed to a method for the liquid treatment of one side of a f`abric having a front surface to be liquid treated and a back surface which is not to be wetted with the liquid. The liquid is sprayed on the front side of the fabric to wet the front surface of the fabric without wetting the back surface thereof. A vacuurn extraction means removes substantially all of the liquid from the fabric. A spraying step is carried out while the fabric is rnoving around a roller with the face surface of the fabric facing outwardly from the roller so that the fabric is curved and its face is opened up to receive the liquid.
Washing is carried out through the use of two spray assemblies. Adjacent one spray assembly, an air knife is used to remove excess water from the carpet structure. Adjacent the second spray assembly, there is utilized at least one vacuum slot and an air knife together to assist in the removal of the water from the fabric, particularly carpet face yarns.
The invention is particularly adaptable for use in washing carpet wherein a liquid is sprayed on the carpet face fibers to wet and wash only the carpet face fibers and not wet the scrim or backing of the carpet.
The advantage of the method herein is not only the conservation of water usage but provides a tremendous energy saving in that there is a great reduction in energy needed to dry carpets which are washed by the above invention as compared with carpets which are washed in the normal manner. Carpets which are washed in the normal manner contain a substantial am~unt of water in their backing which must be removed from the carpet. The technique herein never places water in the backing or, at least, minimizes the amount of water in the backing so there is no need to use a large amount of energy to extract water from the bacl of the carpet. In addi-tion, the vacuum extraction means and air knife combination is an efficient water-removing device.
Brief Description of the Drawing Figure 1 is a showing of a conventional fabric treating process;
Figure 2 is a schematic showing of the improved fabric treating process containing the inventive washing and drying invention herein;
and Figure 3 is a schematic showing of the apparatus for carrying i out the washing and liquid extraction invention herein.
; 10Description of the Preferred Embodiment Normally, carpet would be printed by a printing means 2. The carpet would then move into a steaming means 4 which sets the dye in the carpet. The carpet then moves through a series of wash baths 6 which wash out the excess unfixed dye and other residual material in the carpet. The carpet would then move on to an oven 8 where it would be dried. Obviously, the wash baths completely saturate the carpet ana, particularly with a foam backed carpet, a substantial volume of water is contained in the carpet backing. Therefore, a large energy use exists in a conventional drying oven which simply maintains a heated environment to vaporize the water to drive it off from the carpet. It is not unusual for a conventional drying oven for carpeting to be 120 feet long and to pass the carpet through the oven with a path of travel of 120 or 240 feet at a temperature of 300F. in order to dry the carpet.
The invention herein is capable of use for many different liquid-treatment operations on a fabric. One may simply be interested in using the method to carry out the washing of one side of a fabric.
The invention could also be utilized for treatment of a fabrIc to provide it with certain characteristics. For example, fabric could be treated with a ]iquid which would tend to make it waterproof or soil resistant.
Further, the inventive method could be utilized to dye or color the fabric.
The fabric being treated normally is a material of some thick-ness which need not be wetted or which would not be normally wet com-pletely through when passed through a spray chamber. The invention is not particularly applicable to fabrics such as used for clothing.
However, it could be utilized for heavy upholstery fabric, carpeting, and like material. It is particularly useful with carpeting which has a face fiber varying from 1/16" to 2" in length. Face fiber is normally used in conjunction with a backing, which would be simply ~ute or some synthetic non-woven or woven material, or could ex-tend to a combination backing, which is a combination of jute and a layer of foam which i5 upward to 1/2" in thickness. The invention herein is particularly useful with carpeting which has a foam backing.
The invention herein was specifically designed for the washing of the face fibers of a carpet structure without the wetting of the foam on the back of the carpet. With conventional techniques utilizing wash tanks, the foam becomes saturated with a liquid. Heavy squeezing must be utilized to get a large amount of the wash water out of the carpet.
The carpet then must be subjected to extensive drying to dry the water not only from the face fiber of the carpet but the heavy foam backing.
Utilizing the inventive method described below and comparing it relative to the conventional foam backed carpet product, there can be secured a 4% savings in fuel usage under some circumstances when one is attempting to dry a carpet to an acceptable dry level of 2~-30 of moisture based upon dry weight. A carpet which has been washed in a dip tank will have appoximately 200~-400% moisture content. Squeezing or other liquid l~ .Z
removal steps, other than oven heating, wou~d lower the moisture content to 35~. A carpet which is washed by the face fiber washer herein and subJected to the vacuum-air knife extraction step herein would have a moisture content for the carpet of approximately 12~. Consequently, the conventional oven structure is only needed to lower the moisture content from 12% to approximately 2%-3~ of the fabric dry weight. If one would take the above-mentioned carpet which had a moisture content of 35%
because it had not been washed by the face fiber washer and then subjected to vacuum extraction, the conventional oven would have to move the moisture content of the carpet from 35% to 2%-3%. Obviously, a substan-tial amount of energy would be needed as compared to the energy needed in the inventive face fiber washing and vacuum-air knife extraction invention herein.
The inventive method herein is directed to a technique for the liquid treatment of one side of a fabric having a front surface which is to be liquid treated and a back surface which is not to be wetted, or at least saturated, with a liquid. The invention is particularly adaptable to a carpet wherein the front surface of the fabric is the face yarns of the carpet and the back surface of the fabric is the carpet backing.
There usually will be a substantially impermeable barrier in the carpet structure. The liquid is applied to the front surface of the fabric through the use of conventional spray nozzles which normally operate under low pressure (60-150 psi), low volume circumstances. he liquid will wet the front surface of the carpet without any substantial wetting f the back surface of the carpet. Particularly, with a foam carpet or a secondary backing on the carpet, an impermeable barrier will usually be between these backings and the face yarns. Air knives and vacuum extraction means are then utilized to remove excess liquid from the face .. ~
of the fabric. Normally, the spraying and liquid removal means are carried out in two liquid-treatment steps to ensure, with carpet partic ularly, a good washing of the carpet. Also, the carpet is normally, but not necessarily, passed around the surface of a roll with the face side of the carpet extending outward. When the carpet is in this configlration it is treated with the liquid-spray treatment and also some liquid ~ extraction. The roll provides the advantage of opening up the face 1 . yarns to permit good penetration of the wash liquid into the face fibers of the carpet face yarns and extraction therefrom.
Referring now to Figure 2 of the drawing, there is shown the carpet-treatment process utilizing the inventive system herein. Again, a conventional printer 2 is used in con~unction with a conventional steamer 4 to provide the carpet with some type of coloring in the form of a design and to fix the dye in the steamer. The carpet then passes through the inventive face fiber washer and vacuum air knife extraction system which is sho~n in Figure 3 in detail and will be explained below. The carpet then passes on to a conventional drying oven 8.
Referring ~ow to Figure 3 of the drawing, there is shown schematically one version of the inventive process herein. The fabric or carpeting is passed around rolls 12 and 14. The carpet is moving in generally a counterclockwise direction. Spraying nozzle 16 is positioned ad~acent the carpet and directs a low pressure, low volume washing liquid against the face of the fabric 1. The nozzle may be a conven-tional .~odel 3715 Broughton nozzle. This nozzle directs the wash liquid at the face of the fabric and dispenses liquid at about 70 pounds per square inch with a flow rate of 1.5 gallons per minute of liquid per - nozzle. Actually, it is obvious that, depending upon the width of the carpet being treated, a plurality of nozzles would be used to cover the ', ~ 7~7~'~ ., width of the carpet. It is also obvious that the thickness of the material being treated or the thickness of the material to be washed must control the amount of liquid deposited and the pressure that the liquid is applied. The guiding principle is that one must deposit 5 sufficient liquid to carry out the desired treatment at a pressure sufficient to penetrate that area that is to be treated. The liquid must be so directed against the fabric that one does not saturate the back of the fabric with liquid and thus require the extraction of this excess liquid from the back of the fabric. Further down the processing line from nozzle 16 there is positioned an air knife 18 which directs against the face of the carpet a stream of air slightly directed against the direction of travel of the carpet. This air knife blows excess liquid from the face of the carpet.
Further downstream in the processing direction of the carpet 15 there is positioned a second shower nozzle 20 which would also direct liquid against the face of the fabric. This nozzle may be the same as nozzle 16 or could be a Model 29 Broughton Fixed Orifice Oscillating nozzle or similar nozzle which delivers approximately the same amount of liquid at the same pressure as the aforesaid nozzle 8. At this point the carpet is approaching roll 14 and will pass around roll 14 so that the face yarns of the carpet will be opened up to permit ease of extrac-tion of the treating liquid from the carpet. The carpet then passes by a vacuum extraction means 22 which will have a vacuum extracting slot 24 and then a combination vacuum slot 26 and air knife 28. The vacuum slots could be two separate vacuum means, one alone and one in conjunc-tion with an air knife, or they could be as shown, which is really a dual vacuum slot with a single air knife. The vacuum means 24 operates with a vacuum in the range of 15~7 of mercury, and the slot of the vacuum l~lr~
means is positioned adjacent the fabric. The slot of the vacuum means 24 could be positioned just prior to the time the fabric moves around the roll 1~ or it could be in position to be adjaeent the fabric while the fabric is eurved around roll 14. The combination air knife 28 and S vacuum slot 26 is also adjacent the carpet, but it is normally placed adjacent the carpet when its face has been opened up as the carpet is passing around the periphery of roll 14. The air knife 28 is positioned downstream from the slot 26 of the vacuum means so as to force loose liquids from the fiber of the carpet and push them into a position where they may be more readily extracted by the vacuum action of the vacuum slot 26. The vacuum of the slot 26 is in the range of 15" of mercury.
The air knife works in conjunction wi-th the vacuum slot to make the vaeuum slot more effieient in the removal of the water from the earpet.
; Substantial air flow is generated through the earpet faee due to the combination of the blowing of air by the air knife and the drawing of air away from the earpet by the vaeuum means. This aeeelerated path of movement of the air, whieh would be greater than if vaeuum alone would be utilized, helps remove substantial amo~unts of water from the faee .~ fibers of the earpet.
Using the strueture above described against a earpet produet having a foam backing of .18" with a face fiber acrylic yarn of .28" and a face fiber weight of 35 oz. per yard, a carpet was satisfaetorily washed and it left the above-described treatment apparatus with a 12%
moisture in the carpet. Comparing this with the most advanced wash tank 25 system now being utilized, the same type of carpet would have a 35~
moisture after washing. It is obvious that there has been a substantial reduetion in water eontent in the washed earpet, and therefore, sub-stantially less energy will be needed to take the earpet to an acceptable dry state of 2%-3% moisture.
_ 9 _ 1~
With carpeting, which has a construction consisting of a face fiber yarn, an intermediate carpet scrim, a latex coating, and a foam back, the impervious nature of the latex coating by the scrim will prevent penetration of the liquid into the porous foam backing. Should the impervious barrier not exist, the spray would primarly saturate the face of the carpet and provide very little liquid to the back of the carpet.
Comparing a carpet washed by the above face fiber washing technique with the most advanced wash tank system now being used, the same type of carpet would have a larger moisture content after tank washing since the whole carpet is wet. Conventional carpet squeezing, etc. only lower the completely wetted carpet after tank washing to about a 35% moisture content. The vacuum extraction-air knife technique will lower the moisture content of the face fiber washed carpet to 12%.
Therefore, substantially less energy will be needed to take the carpet to an acceptable dry state of 2%-3% moisture.
., .
Claims (10)
1. In a method for the liquid treatment of one side of a moving fabric having a front surface to be liquid treated and a back surface which is not to be substantially wetted with liquid consisting of the steps of:
(a) moving a fabric for liquid treatment and drying;
(b) treating the front surface of the moving fabric with the liquid to wet at least the front surface thereof;
(c) drying the fabric to substantially remove all the liquid from the fabric; and (d) the improvement comprising:
(1) the above-said treating step comprising spraying from the front surface of the moving fabric that front surface of the moving fabric with a liquid to wet the front surface of the fabric without substantially wetting the back surface thereof;
(2) directing a stream of air slightly inclined against the front surface of the fabric to drive the liquid off the front surface and not through the fabric after it has been sprayed but before it has been subjected to the above-mentioned drying step; and (3) extracting at least a portion of the liquid from the moving fabric by a fixedly positioned vacuum extraction means after the above-mentioned directing of a stream of air against the fabric and prior to the above-mentioned drying step.
(a) moving a fabric for liquid treatment and drying;
(b) treating the front surface of the moving fabric with the liquid to wet at least the front surface thereof;
(c) drying the fabric to substantially remove all the liquid from the fabric; and (d) the improvement comprising:
(1) the above-said treating step comprising spraying from the front surface of the moving fabric that front surface of the moving fabric with a liquid to wet the front surface of the fabric without substantially wetting the back surface thereof;
(2) directing a stream of air slightly inclined against the front surface of the fabric to drive the liquid off the front surface and not through the fabric after it has been sprayed but before it has been subjected to the above-mentioned drying step; and (3) extracting at least a portion of the liquid from the moving fabric by a fixedly positioned vacuum extraction means after the above-mentioned directing of a stream of air against the fabric and prior to the above-mentioned drying step.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein a stream of air is used in conjunction with the vacuum extraction means to assist the vacuum ex-traction means in the removal of liquid from the front surface of the fabric.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the spraying and extracting steps are repeated to cause two liquid-treatment steps to be carried out, the first liquid-treatment step being followed by simply a stream of air treatment to remove water and the second liquid-treatment step being followed by a combination vacuum extraction-air stream treatment to remove liquid from the front surface of the fabric.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the spraying step can be carried out with the fabric carried face surface outward on the surface of a roll to open up the face surface of the fabric during the spraying step.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the extraction step is carried out with the fabric carried face surface outward on the surface of the roll to open up the face surface of the fabric during the ex-traction step.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the fabric is a carpet and the front surface of the fabric is the face yarns of the carpet and the back surface of the fabric is the carpet backing, and the spraying step is carried out to wet out completely only the face yarns of the carpet.
7. An apparatus for the liquid treatment of one side of a moving fabric having a front surface to be liquid treated and a back surface which is not to be substantially wetted with liquid, said apparatus comprising:
(a) means for moving a fabric for liquid treatment and drying;
(b) liquid-applying means adjacent the front surface of the moving fabric and positioned to wet at least that front surface of the fabric;
(c) drying means for drying the fabric to substantially removed all liquid from the fabric; and (d) the improvement comprising:
(1) said liquid-applying means being a liquid spray means adjacent the front surface of the moving fabric and positioned to wet the front surface of the fabric with a liquid without substantially wetting the back surface thereof;
(2) air jet means directing a stream of air against the front surface of the fabric to drive liquid from the front surface of the fabric after it has been sprayed but before it has been subjected to the above-mentioned drying means; and (3) a vacuum extraction means extracting at least a portion of the liquid from the moving fabric after it has been subjected to the air jet means and prior to the above-mentioned drying means.
(a) means for moving a fabric for liquid treatment and drying;
(b) liquid-applying means adjacent the front surface of the moving fabric and positioned to wet at least that front surface of the fabric;
(c) drying means for drying the fabric to substantially removed all liquid from the fabric; and (d) the improvement comprising:
(1) said liquid-applying means being a liquid spray means adjacent the front surface of the moving fabric and positioned to wet the front surface of the fabric with a liquid without substantially wetting the back surface thereof;
(2) air jet means directing a stream of air against the front surface of the fabric to drive liquid from the front surface of the fabric after it has been sprayed but before it has been subjected to the above-mentioned drying means; and (3) a vacuum extraction means extracting at least a portion of the liquid from the moving fabric after it has been subjected to the air jet means and prior to the above-mentioned drying means.
8. An apparatus as set forth in claim 7 wherein a roll means is used to support the fabric and open up the face surface of the fabric during the spraying of the fabric.
9. An apparatus as set forth in claim 7 wherein two sequentially-operated spray wash means are utilized and an air jet means is used adjacent one spray wash means and the combination vacuum ex-traction means and air jet means are utilized adjacent the second spray wash means.
10. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the liquid-treating means provides the fabric with approximately a 35% moisture content and said vacuum extraction means and air knife combination lowers the moisture content to approximately 12% prior to the time the fabric moves through the means for drying the fabric to substantially remove all of the liquid from the fabric.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US89494378A | 1978-04-10 | 1978-04-10 | |
| US894,943 | 1978-04-10 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1116882A true CA1116882A (en) | 1982-01-26 |
Family
ID=25403717
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000315288A Expired CA1116882A (en) | 1978-04-10 | 1978-10-31 | Carpet face fiber washer with air jet |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1116882A (en) |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN112139107A (en) * | 2020-07-30 | 2020-12-29 | 福涞堡造纸技术(上海)有限公司 | Silk screen cleaning and drying device and method |
-
1978
- 1978-10-31 CA CA000315288A patent/CA1116882A/en not_active Expired
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN112139107A (en) * | 2020-07-30 | 2020-12-29 | 福涞堡造纸技术(上海)有限公司 | Silk screen cleaning and drying device and method |
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