EP0137740A2

EP0137740A2 - A device for holding fabric in a drying stenter

Info

Publication number: EP0137740A2
Application number: EP84306213A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Nitin Shantilal Mehta; Vasant Vyankatesh Apte
Original assignee: PRIMATEX MACHINERY PRIVATE Ltd
Current assignee: PRIMATEX MACHINERY PRIVATE Ltd
Priority date: 1983-09-09
Filing date: 1984-09-10
Publication date: 1985-04-17
Also published as: EP0137740A3

Abstract

The present invention provides a device for holding the edge of a piece of fabric (7) conveyed through a stenter. The device includes a pin carrier (2) that carries pins (4) that hold the fabric edge (7). A locking arm (12) carries pins (9) that can be interposed between the pins (4) to prevent the fabric being removed from pins (4). The locking arm (12) is pivotable about a pivot (6) to move the pins (9) from between the pins (4) to allow fabric to be engaged and disengaged from pins (4) before and after (respectively) the fabric has passed through the stenter.

The invention also covers the locking arm (12).

Description

This invention relates to a device for holding the edge of a piece of fabric in a pin-and-clip type or pin-type stenter.
In a stenter, fabric is held tightly stretched between two parallel conveyor chains. The conveyor chains have attached to them at regular intervals a plurality of devices holding the edges of the fabric. In one type of device known as "pin-and-clip" type, or "pin" type, there is a pin-bar. The fabric edges are engaged by pins of the pin bar and thus conveyed along with the chains inside the stenter.
In most modern stenters, the drying chamber has provisions for drying the fabric by jets of hot air or superheated steam. The jets impinge on the fabric from above and below the fabric at high velocities. Even though the velocity of jets from above and below are the same, due to turbulence in the system, there is distinct possibility of the fabric becoming detached from the pins holding it and thus decrasing the tension in the fabric with consequential irregularities. In order that the fabric does not become detached from the pins, it is necessary to reduce the air/steam jet velocity of the bottom air/steam jet either by providing resistance in that air/steam jet using dampers or by reducing the speed of the fan providing that jet. However, the reduction in velocity reduces the overall drying speed of the machine. It is an object of this invention _Lo obviate the possibility of fabric becoming detached from the pins without reducing the velocity of air/steam jet.
This invention therefore provides a device for engaging the edge of a piece of fabric to carry the fabric through a stenter, the device comprising a carrier carrying a plurality of pins for piercing and retaining the edge of a piece of cloth, a locking ann that is movably mounted with respect to the pins, the locking arm carrying spaced elements that in one position of the locking arm, are interposed between the pins, and means for maintaining the locking arm in the said one position.
The present invention also provides a locking arm as defined above for fitting to existing pin-and-clip or pin-type devices to convert them into devices according to the present invention.
A device in accordance with the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 shows in vertical section, a pin carrier of the device;
Figure II shows in vertical section a locking arm of the device;
Figure III shows in vertical section the device including the pin-carrier of Figure I and the locking arm of Figure II, the two parts being in one operational position;
Figure IV shows the device with the locking arm and the pin carrier in a second position, and
Figure V shows in vertical section the device in a totally folded condition when not in use.

Figure I shows a clip including a clip body 1, one end of which is attached to a conveyor chain of a stenter (not shown) and the other end carries a pin carrier 2 which is secured to the clip body 1 by means of a pivot pin b. A pin bar 3 composed of sharp pins 4 is secured to the pin carrier 2 by a screw 5. The reference number 7 shows the edge of a textile piece held on the pins 4.
Figure II shows the locking arm 12 of the device. It is this locking arm 12 which differentiates the present device from known devices.
The locking arm 12 has a pin-bar carrier 8 holding pins 9 and a lever 10 for raising the pins 9. The locking pins 9 are in a row separated by such a distance that they can be interposed between the pins 4 shown in Figure I. The locking arm 12 is pivotable about the same pivot 6 as the pin carrier 2.
Figure III shows the assembled device including the clip of Figure I, and the locking arm 12 of Figure II, both of which are pivotable about a pivot 6. Fabric 7 is held by pins 4 and is prevented from leaving the pins 4 under the influence of a jet of drying air or steam directed on the underside of the fabric 7 by pins 9. Thus, the fabric 7 is locked between the pins 4 and 9 and held in this manner passes through the drying chamber of a stenter.
A spring 11 which is not visible in Figures II and IV but is shown in Figure V connects the pin carrier 2 and the locking arm 12 shown in Figures I and II. The tension in the spring urges these two parts into the position shown in Figure III.
After the fabric has passed through the stenter, the lever 10 is pressed by a tapered plate (not shown) whereby the pins 9 of the locking arm 12 are raised and fabric can thus be removed from the pins 4. The lever 10 disengages from the tapered plate (not shown) and the pins 9 along with the locking arm 12 assumes the position as shown in Figure II (but without the fabric 7) because of the tension of the spring 11.
For pinning the fabric 7 on pins 4, a tapered plate (not shown) presses the lever 10 (Figure II) which raises the pins 9 and makes the pins 4 free to receive the fabric 7. After the fabric has been pinned, the lever 10 disengages from the tapered plate (not shown) and assumes the position shown in Figure III because of the spring 11 (Figure V).

Claims

1. A device for engaging the edge of a piece of fabric to carry the fabric through a stenter, the device comprising a carrier (2) carrying a plurality of pins (4) for piercing and retaining the edge of a piece of cloth characterised in that the device includes a locking arm (12) that is movably mounted with respect to the pins (4), the locking arm carrying spaced elements (9) that, in one position of the locking arm, are interposed between the pins, and the device further includes means (11) for maintaining the locking arm in the said one position.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the locking arm (12) is pivotably mounted with respect to the pin carrier (2).

3. A device as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that the pin carrier (2) is mountable on the stenter by means of a pivot and the locking arm (12) is pivotable about the same pivot as the pin carrier (2).

4. A device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the pins (4) on the pin carrier are arrayed in one or more rows.

5. A device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterised in that the spaced elements (9) are so located that, when the locking cam (12) is in the said one position, they are located above the base of the pins (4) on the pin carrier (2), thereby being located, in use, above the fabric edge.

6. A device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the means (11) for maintaining the locking arm (12) in said one position is a spring that urges the locking arm (12) into said one position.

7. A device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, characterised in that the pins (4) on the pin carrier (2) are part of a pin bar (3) that is secured to the pin carrier.

8. A device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the spaced elements (9) are pins.

9. A locking arm as defined in any one of claims 1 to 8.