DE3821175A1 - Abradant for washing garments and fabrics in the stone-wash process - Google Patents

Abstract

Published without abstract.

Description

The "Stone Wash" process for washing clothes and fabrics of items of clothing such as "blue jeans", is intended to cause the - in primarily brand new - garments, preferably made of "blue jeans" made of blue dyed cotton twill, after washing as already done look worn or worn.

Washing is done by machine, preferably in large drums, with the addition of pumice stone pieces of suitable size and certain origin, for example Neuwieder Becken, Italy or Turkey.

The rough pumice stones rub first on all protruding parts of the clothing cut off the surface of the fabric, creating first on the seams and edges and in the course of the washing process also in different places of the smooth Surfaces the tissue becomes lighter, i.e. appears worn. With extreme extension like the washing process, abrasion can lead to real wear and tear. The any damage that may occur is caused by the sewing on of Flik fixed; Such patched "blue jeans" are special for many buyers coveted.

The pumice stone used in the "stone wash" process is relatively loose Microstructure, so that many individual grains continuously wash out in the drum release the bond. This abrasion quickly makes the pumice stones always small until it is finally washed through the holes in the washing drums will. The loss amount must therefore be continuously added, what with a be agreed workload is connected.

The "stone wash" process with pumice stone pieces has serious consequences parts:

• 1. The precipitated pumice sand must be washed and rinsed in a suitable manner filtered or placed in suitable containers. It contains leftovers of the chemicals used in the washing process and must be removed as hazardous waste ported and disposed of, which is associated with considerable costs.
• 2. After the "stone wash" wash cycle, remain on the washed items of clothing Significant remains of pumice sand, especially on the surface, however also in the pockets and the inside envelopes of the seams. That sand can only be removed completely by several rinses. This fact too increases the cost of the washing process and therefore the product.

This patent application is based on the idea, instead of the previously described pumice stone pieces with serious disadvantages, for mechanical "Stone wash" process from a suitably shaped, abrasion-producing body temperature-resistant, detergent-resistant and tough plastic use, for example polyamide 6.6 or another suitable plastic, preferably reinforced with abrasive additives, for example with glass fibers.

Such plastic rubbing bodies eliminate all the disadvantages of pumice stones. The drop in plastic material is in relation to the drop in pumice stones low that it is neither an ecological nor costly burden.

On the other hand, there is an additional profit item in the fact that those that have become dull Plastic body collected and recycled to reusable Plastic granules can be processed.

The ideal shape for a rub-off body, which is to process garments or fabrics in a washing drum, is a ball-like body ( Fig. 1). During the washing process, the largest possible part of the rubbing body is always in engagement, since the spherically curved rubbing surface largely lies against the fabric surface. In comparison, new pumice stone pieces only attack with corners and edges until the pumice stone becomes a body that is curved on several surfaces due to the ongoing wear.

In order to achieve the desired abrasion effect, the surface of such a plastic body can be provided with preferably parallel grooves ( Figure 2), the spaces between which taper in a wedge shape. This creates the sharp burrs ( Figure 2 ( 3 )) - wedge angles of 20 degrees to 30 degrees have proven themselves in experiments (other angles are possible) - cause the desired abrasion effect on the surface of the clothing. A groove spacing between 1 mm and 2 mm generates sufficient abrasion performance. Smaller or larger distances are possible.

Because the direction of movement of the rubbing body is uninterrupted during the washing process changes, the grooves, which are straight, wavy, zigzag or otherwise how can run, preferably over the entire surface, arbitrarily shaped, for example trapezoidal, pentagonal, hexagonal or otherwise formed, preferably abutting surfaces be ordered that the grooves of two adjacent surfaces in approximately right Angle or at such an angle to each other that the grooves of part of the abrasion-generating surface is always approximately transverse to the respective one Direction of movement of the abrasion body and thereby cause abrasion can.  

The division of the spherical surface can also be done such that part of the parallel grooves as a wide belt ( Figure 1 ( 1 )) is around the center of the Kugelflä surface and the grooves are arranged approximately parallel, meridian-like on this. The two remaining caps ( Figure 1 ( 2 )) are hen with grooves verse that the direction of the grooves of the two caps against each other is rotated by a larger angle. Other arrangements of the grooved surfaces are also possible. The formation of the abrading body as a ball-like, for example also egg-shaped body, or else as a body whose curvatures are irregular, causes a relatively gentle abrasion on the surface of the clothing. For washing cycles in which the work of the abrasive bodies is to be more aggressive, in order to thereby generate a stronger abrasion image, abrasive bodies which are formed by many flat abrading surfaces can be advantageous ( Figure 3), the grooves of adjacent surfaces preferably being in one appropriate angles to each other. This shape creates many corners and edges, which attack the fabric of the garments more strongly. In extreme cases, polyhedra down to the hexahedron can also be used, with the sharp corners and edges doing some rough work, while the grooved surfaces cause fine abrasion.

The attached drawing shows:

Fig. 1 the ball-like abrasion body with zone-like division of the surfaces provided with grooves.

Figure 2 shows an enlarged section of a cross section through the abrasion body, from which the shape of the burr-forming grooves can be seen. ( 3 ) denotes the ridges causing the abrasion.

Figure 3 shows, in pictorial representation a Abreibkörper with planar Abreibflä surfaces, which are formed for example as a regular pentagons and hexagons (Figure 3 (4) and (5)).

Claims (3)

1. Abrasive body for the mechanical "stone-wash" process for garments and fabrics, made of heat-resistant, detergent-resistant tough plastic, preferably PA 6.6 or other suitable plastics characterized in that they are suitable as a ball-like body ( Figure 1) are formed, the surface of which is preferably parallel, straight, wavy, zigzag or otherwise suitable grooves ( Figure 2), the spaces between which form wedge-shaped, sharp ridges ( Figure 2 ( 3 )). 2. abrasion body according to claim 1, characterized in that its surface is divided into suitable sub-areas ( image 1 ( 1 ) and ( 2 ) or image 3 ( 4 ) and ( 5 )), so that preferably all adjacent sub-areas touch and these Partial surfaces with parallel grooves ( Figure 2) are preferably such that the direction of the grooves of adjacent surfaces is partially different. 3. abrasion body according to claim 1 and 2, characterized in that the burr-forming grooves ( Figure 2) provided surfaces are flat ( Image 3 ( 4 ) and ( 5 )).