CN113508200A

CN113508200A - Shrinking machine

Info

Publication number: CN113508200A
Application number: CN202080017923.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 佛朗哥·贝托尔多
Original assignee: Red Carpet Co ltd
Current assignee: Red Carpet Co ltd
Priority date: 2019-03-04
Filing date: 2020-02-26
Publication date: 2021-10-15
Anticipated expiration: 2040-02-26
Also published as: EP3902950A1; CN113508200B; IT201900003121A1; WO2020178670A1; EP3902950B1; EP3902950C0

Abstract

A shrinker comprising an elastically flexible and extensible conveyor belt (2) for supporting and transporting textile articles (T) and arranged in a closed loop around a plurality of rollers (3); a stretching roller (5) delimiting with the conveyor belt (2) a stretching tunnel (8) for the textile article (T); an inlet roller (4) arranged beside the stretching roller (5) and having a circular crown (13) made of compressible material; a tensioning roller (14) operatively located upstream of the inlet roller (4) and rotating at a lower speed than the surface rotation speed of the inlet roller (4) so as to cause the conveyor belt (2) to elongate. During operation, the stretching roller (5) is disposed against the inlet roller (4), partially compressing the circular crown (13), thereby deforming the stretching tunnel (8) and operatively moving the inlet (9) upstream.

Description

Shrinking machine

Definition of

In the present patent application, the term "textile" refers to any type of continuous and discontinuous fabric, such as orthogonal fabrics, knitted fabrics, non-woven fabrics, etc.

Technical Field

The invention is suitable for textile industry, and particularly relates to a textile shrinking machine.

More particularly, the present invention relates to a constriction portion of a constriction machine.

Background

During the manufacturing process, the textile is subjected to longitudinal tension, which causes it to be temporarily lengthened. Therefore, there is a need to eliminate this lengthening, avoiding the automatic recovery of the textile during or after packaging of the final finished product. In fact, this situation permanently impairs the quality of the product itself.

Therefore, it is known that textile shrinkers can recover the longitudinal elongation and achieve its stability.

Among these known machines are shrinkers having a flexible and elongated conveyor belt, usually made of rubber, disposed in a closed loop around a series of rollers, which, among other things, are responsible for the movement of the conveyor belt. It is noted that an entrance roller, an exit roller, and a tension roller are provided in contact with the inner side of the conveyor belt.

Between the inlet and outlet rolls is a draw roll having a diameter substantially larger than the inlet and outlet rolls. The textile to be treated passes in a stretching tunnel defined between the stretching roller and the conveyor belt. The thrust exerted by the conveyor belt on the textile article against the stretching rollers achieves the desired stretching.

In the passage between the tension roller and the entrance roller, the conveyor belt is elongated by exerting a rotational speed on the tension roller lower than that of the entrance roller. When the belt loses contact with the entrance roller, it contracts until it returns to its previous state.

This phenomenon is then used to shrink the textile. In fact, before the belt shrinks, it is sufficient to place it on the belt and bring it close to the belt itself to shrink the textile. This occurs in the tension channel.

Furthermore, it is convenient that stretching and shrinking occur simultaneously, making the latter more effective and more durable.

However, the contraction of the conveyor belt has already started at the last part of the contact with the entrance roller. This usually occurs before entering the draw path, i.e. before the textile articles approach the conveyor belt. The result is a loss of the ability to shrink, since the shrinkage of the conveyor belt begins before it is transferred to the textile product.

To compensate for this drawback, according to the prior art, the difference in the rotation speed of the entrance roller and the tension roller is increased to increase the elongation of the conveyor belt.

However, the intense traction exerted on the conveyor belt often causes waves to form thereon, affecting the quality of the textile product.

Furthermore, the tension experienced by the conveyor belt can cause the conveyor belt itself to slip off the entry roller and subsequently lose shrinkage on the textiles.

Documents US 2015050460 a1, US 3469292A, DE 718624C and US 2006112526 are also known, in which different solutions for lengthening the conveyor belt are proposed. However, these documents do not address the drawbacks associated with the loss of the ability of the belt to shrink due to premature shrinkage.

Disclosure of Invention

The object of the present invention is to provide a shrinking machine that allows the fabric to be suitably shrunk using the belt stretching technique, thus overcoming at least partly the above-mentioned drawbacks.

In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a shrinking machine which allows to increase the degree of shrinkage achieved by optimizing the shrinkage imparted to the textile article by the conveyor belt.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shrinker that allows to avoid the shrinkage of the conveyor belt before retaining the textile articles on the conveyor belt.

It is another object of the invention to avoid the formation of waves in the conveyor belt during the elongation step.

Another object is to avoid the belt slipping on the entry roller due to the tension of the belt.

This aim, as well as further objects that will become better apparent hereinafter, are achieved by a shrinker according to the following claims, which are considered to be an integral part of the present patent.

In particular, the machine comprises at least one elastically bendable and extensible conveyor belt for transporting and treating textiles. Such a conveyor belt, usually made of rubber, is arranged in the form of a closed loop around a plurality of rollers for its movement.

At least one draw roll has at least a portion of an outer surface thereof defining with a corresponding portion of the conveyor a textile draw path having an inlet and an outlet.

According to an aspect of the invention, at least one inlet roller among the plurality of rollers is disposed beside the stretching roller to define an inlet of the stretching passage. At least one tensioning roller is also operably disposed upstream of the inlet roller and rotates at a lower surface rotational speed than the inlet roller.

As a result, the conveyor belt already experiences an elongation caused by the difference in the rotational speed of the roller surfaces before reaching the entrance of the drawing channel. In this case, the conveyor belt receives the textile and supports it.

In the case of an inlet roller, according to another aspect of the invention, the inlet roller has at least one circular crown made of a compressible material, typically rubber. Furthermore, the stretching roller is arranged against the inlet roller, at least during operation, at least partially compressing the circular crown.

Advantageously, compressing the circular crown of the entry roller enables a wider contact area between the circular crown and the conveyor belt.

Still advantageously, the amount of compression of the circular crown is greatest at the axis connecting the centre of rotation of the entry roller and the centre of rotation of the stretching roller. As a result, it is still advantageous for the contraction of the conveyor belt to occur only downstream of this axis.

Still advantageously, the circular crown of the compression inlet roller is such that the inlet of the stretching tunnel is operatively moved upstream of the axis connecting the centre of rotation of the inlet roller and the centre of rotation of the stretching roller.

Thus, it is still advantageous to keep the textile articles against the conveyor belt already before the start of the shrinking step of the conveyor belt, increasing the shrinking effect of the textile articles compared to what happens in the known art.

Still advantageously, the compressible material forming the outer surface of the entry roller increases the friction between the conveyor belt and the entry roller itself, thereby improving slip resistance.

According to another aspect of the invention, the shrinker further includes at least one guide roller operably disposed between the entrance roller and the tension roller.

Advantageously, the guide roller allows the belt to be guided from the tensioning roller to the entry roller, while avoiding the possibility of the belt itself forming corrugations or wrinkles, thus affecting the textile.

Drawings

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become clearer from the detailed description of a preferred but not limitative embodiment of the shrinker of the present invention, illustrated by way of non-limitative example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which figure 1 is a schematic view of the shrinker of the present invention.

Detailed Description

With reference to the mentioned figures, a shrinker 1 of textile articles T is described, wherein textile articles T represent continuous and discontinuous fabrics of any type as previously defined.

The shrinker includes an elastically bendable and stretchable conveyor belt 2 for supporting and transporting the textile articles T. Such a conveyor belt 2 is usually made of an elastic material, usually rubber. This feature should not be considered as limiting the invention, as the conveyor belt 2 may be made of any material having sufficient characteristics of elasticity and flexibility to serve this purpose.

According to the described embodiment, the conveyor belt 2 is arranged in a closed loop around a plurality of rollers 3 for its movement. Wherein an entrance roll 4 and a stretching roll 5 are included. A portion of the outer surface 6 of the stretching roller 5 and a corresponding portion 7 of the conveyor belt 2 define a stretching tunnel 8 for the textile T. The drawing channel 8 has an inlet 9 and an outlet 10.

In this stretching tunnel 8, the conveyor belt 2 pushes the textile T against the stretching roller 5. The stretching roller 5 is generally heated by steam injected into the cavity of the stretching roller 5 itself, so as to heat the textile T.

The shrinker 1 further comprises a tensioning roller 14 operatively disposed upstream of the inlet roller 4 and rotating at a speed lower than the surface rotation speed of the inlet roller 4.

Advantageously, the conveyor belt 2, during the sliding between the tensioning roller 14 and the entry roller 4, elongates due to the difference in the rotation speed of the entry roller 4 and the tensioning roller 14. The conveyor belt 2 then elongates and receives the textile T at this stage. As a result, the shrinkage experienced when the conveyor belt 2 separates from the entrance roller 4 will shrink the textiles held on the conveyor belt 2 by the stretching roller 5.

In the described embodiment, the stretching roller 5 is not always placed against the inlet roller 4, but is movable along an axis X connecting the first centre of rotation 11 of the inlet roller 4 and the second centre of rotation 12 of the stretching roller 5.

Advantageously, therefore, the stretching roller 4 can be moved away from the contact position, so as not to damage the conveyor belt when the machine is stopped or for maintenance. Obviously, this aspect should not be seen as limiting the different embodiments of the invention, wherein, for example, the entry roller is movable with respect to the stretching roller, or both are stationary, contacting each other.

According to another aspect of the invention, the inlet roller 4 has a circular crown 13 made of compressible material, typically constituted by rubber. Such features should not be considered as limiting the invention. In fact, according to a possible alternative embodiment not shown in the figures, the inlet roller is made entirely of compressible material. The type of material used is also a non-limiting feature of the invention.

According to another aspect of the invention, during operation, the stretching roller 5 is arranged against the inlet roller 4, partially compressing a circular crown 13 made of compressible material.

Advantageously, compressing the crown 13 of the inlet roller 4 enables deforming the initial portion of the stretching tunnel 8, thus operatively moving the inlet 9 of the stretching tunnel 8 upstream of the axis X connecting the centers of rotation of the inlet roller 4 and the stretching roller 5. That is, the contact between the inlet roll 4 and the stretching roll 5 is not defined as a single-point tangent but as a secant (secant) where a segment of the stretching roll 5 is tangent to a circular area of the inlet roll 4.

Still advantageously, the textile T abuts against the conveyor belt 2 before the conveyor belt 2 is no longer in contact with the entry roller 4, i.e. before the conveyor belt 2 starts the shrinking step. The present invention allows for greater shrinkage of the textile T than prior art fabrics that are only immediately adjacent to the belt after the belt shrinkage step has been initiated.

Furthermore, still advantageously, since textile T is heated by stretching roller 5, a more efficient and longer lasting shrinkage is achieved.

According to the known art, as mentioned above, conveyor belts are generally operated with particularly high tensioning values to achieve greater elongation of the belt and thus greater and more efficient shrinkage of the textile articles. Thus, as previously mentioned, the conveyor belt may slip off the entry roller, thereby affecting the textile and compromising its quality.

Advantageously, according to the invention, the presence of the circular crown 13 made of compressible material increases the friction between the conveyor belt 2 and the entry roller 4, increasing the resistance to slipping that may occur during the elongation step of the conveyor belt 2.

According to the embodiment of the invention being described, the tensioning roller 14 also has an outer crown 15 made of rubber or other material that is advantageous in increasing the friction with the belt 2, further reducing the risk of the belt 2 slipping out when it moves along its trajectory. It is also clear that such features should not be considered as limiting the invention.

According to another aspect of the invention, the shrinker 1 further comprises a guide roller 16 arranged between the downstream of the tensioning roller 14 and the upstream of the inlet roller 4.

Advantageously, the presence of the guide roller 16 keeps the conveyor belt 2 in tension and shortens the air path between the tension roller 14 and the inlet roller 4. As a result, the waviness generated on the conveyor belt 2 is eliminated, and the quality of the textile T is improved.

According to another aspect of the invention, the shrinker 1 includes an additional guide roller 17 operatively disposed in the vicinity of and upstream of the tensioning roller 14. Advantageously, the presence of the additional guide roller 17, and the action of the guide roller 16, allows the surface of the conveyor belt 2 in contact with the tensioning roller 14 to be increased. Thus, the friction between the belt 2 and the tension roller 14 is increased, and the slip resistance is enhanced.

However, these aspects of the invention should not be seen as limiting to the different embodiments. In particular, according to some alternative embodiments not shown in the figures, there may be a plurality of guide rollers and a plurality of tensioning rollers. In contrast, according to other alternative embodiments, no additional guide rollers are provided. Also, according to certain alternative embodiments, no guide rollers are provided.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the shrinker of the present invention achieves all of the intended purposes.

In particular, by optimizing the shrinkage of the textile by the conveyor belt, the appropriate shrinkage of the textile can be achieved using the elongation technique of the conveyor belt.

In fact, deeper layers, it can cause the textile to abut the belt before the belt begins to shrink.

The shrinker of the present invention can also avoid the formation of waves in the conveyor belt during the elongation step.

Furthermore, it can prevent the belt from slipping off the entrance roller due to the tension of the belt.

The present invention is susceptible of numerous variations and modifications, all of which are encompassed by the appended claims. All the details may be replaced by other technically equivalent elements, and the materials used may vary depending on requirements, without departure from the scope of protection of the invention, as defined in the annexed claims.

Claims

1. A shrinking machine for textile articles (T), comprising:

at least one elastically flexible and extensible conveyor belt (2) made of elastic material for supporting and transporting the textile articles (T), said conveyor belt (2) being arranged in a closed loop around a plurality of rollers (3) for its movement;

at least one drawing roller (5) having at least one portion of its outer surface (6) defining, with a corresponding portion of the conveyor belt (2), a textile (T) drawing channel (8) having an inlet (9) and an outlet (10);

at least one inlet roller (4) arranged beside the stretching roller (5) to define the inlet (9) of the stretching tunnel (8);

at least one tensioning roller (14) operatively arranged upstream of said inlet roller (4) and rotating at a lower rotation speed than the surface of said inlet roller (4) so as to produce an elongation of said conveyor belt (2) at least between said tensioning roller (14) and said inlet roller (14),

the method is characterized in that:

said inlet roller (4) comprising at least one circular crown (13) made of compressible material;

at least during operation, the stretching roller (5) is arranged against the inlet roller (4) and at least partially compresses the circular crown (13) made of compressible material, thereby deforming at least an initial portion of the stretching tunnel (8) and operatively moving the inlet (9) of the stretching tunnel (8) upstream of an axis (X) connecting a first centre of rotation (11) of the inlet roller (4) and a second centre of rotation (12) of the stretching roller (5).

2. The shrinker according to claim 1, characterized in that said stretching roller (5) is movable with respect to said inlet roller (4) along said axis (X) connecting said first (11) and second (12) centers of rotation.

3. The shrinker of claim 1 or 2, wherein said elastic material is rubber.

4. The shrinker according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that said tensioning roller (14) has at least one circular outer crown (15) made of rubber.

5. Shrinker according to any of the preceding claims, characterized by comprising at least one guide roller (16), operatively arranged between said inlet roller (4) upstream and said tensioning roller (14) downstream.

6. Shrinker according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises at least one additional guide roller (17), operatively located upstream of said tensioning roller (14).