EP0325192B1 - Method and device for spot cleaning a textile surface - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method for removing dirt stains from a textile fabric and a device for carrying out the method.

To remove dirt from textile fabrics, it is known to spray a stain solvent onto the soiled area using a so-called stain cleaning gun. The stain remover should loosen the dirt and e.g. rinse out of the fabric of the textile fabric. Then the moist area is blown with air for drying.

This procedure has the disadvantage that the solvent vapors create an environmental and health hazard for people in the same room. The solvent vapors and residues of the stain solvents are often removed by suction. However, the solvent residues must be disposed of. This disposal usually takes place through an activated carbon filter, in which the cleaning takes place. This activated carbon in turn has to be cleaned. To do this, it is washed out with steam and the wastewater formed in the process must be disposed of as special waste. This whole process is burdened with a relatively large effort and also means significant costs. Often, visible rings of dirt form around the cleaned area after cleaning.

DE-A-16 35 045 discloses a device for hydropneumatic staining of substances which contains a stain cleaning gun, by means of which stain cleaning agents can be sprayed onto an area to be stained, and which contains a drying gun, by means of which drying is carried out by an air jet emerging therefrom he follows. In order to loosen the dirt, the stain cleaning agent must act on the relevant area of the fabric for a certain period of time. This causes swelling of natural fibers, in particular. Furthermore, the long dwell time can lead to harmful effects on finishes and dyes. The finishes can be damaged and the dyes can "bleed out". In addition, at the edge of the liquid stain, the stain cleaning agent evaporates prematurely, which can lead to the known ring formation after cleaning.

FR-A-26 04 196 shows a multi-service table for pre-treatment and post-cleaning of textile objects, leather and furs, clothes etc. The table is part of a dry cleaning system. Here, too, the stain solvents are only sprayed onto the area to be cleaned by stain cleaning guns in order to loosen the dirt during a certain dwell time. Drying is also carried out by an air stream emerging from a drying gun. There are again the disadvantages that arise in the device according to DE-A-16 35 045. In addition, the solvent residues are a significant environmental and health hazard. For this reason, such facilities are banned in the longer the more countries.

In DE-A-28 32 625 a machine for cleaning a piece of tissue is disclosed, which with a constant circulating air flow works and contains a tool for applying a liquid to the area of the tissue to be cleaned. The purpose of the air flow and the tool is to prevent the liquid from spreading undesirably in the piece of tissue. There are no special precautions for the actual cleaning process on this machine.

The invention seeks to remedy this. The inventive method is characterized by the features of claim 1 and the inventive device by those of claim 7.

According to a preferred embodiment, respective hot hydraulic fluid jets are emitted in the form of a pulsating, sharp jet, for which purpose a piston or diaphragm pump is used. The effect of the sharp, hot pressure fluid jet occurring on the soiled area is that mechanical processing of the soiled area occurs.

Drying the affected area as quickly and completely as possible is crucial. The temperature of the compressed air is advantageously chosen to be as high as possible, depending on the substance to be treated. The quick and complete drying of the relevant point is achieved in that the drying air is forced through this point of the textile fabric. The area in question is not only blown on the surface, as is known in the prior art.

Obviously, it is only possible to see whether the dirt has been completely removed from the completely dried fabric.

The longer a liquid acts on the material of the textile fabric, in this case fabric, the more likely it is to swell, especially with natural fibers. This swelling can be avoided by quick and thorough drying. Furthermore, a too long residence time of the liquid, e.g. of water in the fabric, lead to harmful effects on finishes and dyes. The finishes can be damaged and the dyes "bleed out". Both processes lead to qualitative and / or visible defects.

The compressed air flowing through the fabric now makes it possible for the first time to avoid the known edge formation when cleaning a fabric. The wet area of the fabric has different status areas. The central middle area of the now cleaned wet area is so wet that the spaces between the threads of the fabric or knitted fabric forming the fabric stitches are completely filled with liquid.

This middle area is surrounded by another area in which the meshes are only partially filled with liquid along the edge. This is a known phenomenon, which is based on the surface tension of a liquid, e.g. Water. There is an opening in the center of each of these stitches.

The middle area is in turn surrounded by an outer area. In this area, only the threads of the fabric or knitted fabric are wet, but the spaces between them are empty.

Would you blow this wet spot composed of the three areas mentioned in a conventional manner with cold or warm air, i.e. dry it with a relatively high volume of air containing a relatively low pressure or with a suction device which has a relatively weak suction, by means of which air is sucked through the area to be dried, the following process results:
The moving air only flows through where the meshes are empty (i.e. not closed by liquid) or only partially filled with liquid. As a result, the completely filled meshes flow around the central region. However, this means that the outermost area, or only the outer areas of the point to be dried, is largely completely dried before the drying process of the innermost area even begins.

It is well known that in the case of partial stain cleaning, not all of the dirt, that is to say the substance forming the dirt, be it transported or flushed out of the tissue in the solid or liquid more or less viscous state. A considerable part of the dirt, i.e. what the human eye perceives as a stain, is diluted during so-called cleaning and remains distributed in the tissue is optically clean for the viewer.

It should now be noted that the dirt particles, ie the substance forming the pollution, in the Cleaning water floats, or is dissolved in it. As a result, the dirt is transported through the water. During the expansion of the wet stain, the dirt is, among other things, transported sideways outwards and inward during the aforementioned drying.

It is generally known that certain textiles leave so-called "edges" after cleaning. These edges arise because the entire wet area is not dried regularly but in stages. First, only those areas are dried in which the air flow can flow through the meshes and only then the area with the meshes closed by the water. In the known drying, the residual dirt is transported back through the liquid to the border area between the closed and the open meshes and is deposited there with the formation of the visible ring.

With the process-based compressed air treatment, which is advantageously based on the use of the highest possible air pressure and the highest possible air temperature (depending on the respective material), the air flow pressed with great force through the fabric will dry the middle area and the peripheral areas practically simultaneously and extremely quickly, So that a concentrated deposition of residual dirt can no longer take place and this (if it still exists) remains regularly distributed (invisible to the human eye).

• Fig. 1 schematisch eine beispielsweise Ausführung einer Vorrichtung zur Durchführung des erfindungsgemässen Verfahrens;
• Fig. 2 eine Seitenansicht eines Bearbeitungsgerätes der in der Fig. 1 gezeigten Vorrichtung;
• Fig. 3 eine Ansicht in Richtung des Pfeiles A auf das in der Fig. 2 gezeigte Bearbeitungsgerät;
• Fig. 4 schematisch eine weitere Ausführung einer Vorrichtung zur Durchführung des erfindungsgemässen Verfahrens, und
• Fig. 5 eine Variante der Ausführung nach Fig. 4 mit zwei Bearbeitungsgeräten.

The subject matter of the invention is explained below using the drawings, for example. It shows:

• 1 schematically shows an example of an embodiment of a device for carrying out the method according to the invention;
• FIG. 2 shows a side view of a processing device of the device shown in FIG. 1;
• 3 shows a view in the direction of arrow A on the processing device shown in FIG. 2;
• 4 schematically shows a further embodiment of a device for carrying out the method according to the invention, and
• Fig. 5 shows a variant of the embodiment of FIG. 4 with two processing devices.

In the figures, reference number 1 generally indicates a work table. On this work table 1 there is a trestle 2, the side walls of which are at least more or less impermeable to air and water. This block 2 is spanned at the top with a grid 3. The trestle 2 and the grid 3 form a support on which the textile fabric to be cleaned, e.g. a piece of fabric to be placed. The work table 1 has a passage opening 29 under the frame 2, to which a suction channel 4 connects, which runs to a source for generating a suction draft.

A water container 5 is arranged under the work table 1. A pipe 6 connects to this water tank 5. The pipeline 6 leads to a water heater 7, in which the water flowing out of the water tank 5 is heated, the temperature being controlled to a respectively predetermined value. Then the water flows to a pump 8. In this exemplary embodiment, this pump is a piston pump. The pump piston is driven via an oscillating armature 37 (see FIGS. 4 and 5). The structure of such pumps is generally known and is therefore not described in detail. From this pump 8, a return line 9 leads back to the water tank 5. A pressure switch device 10 is arranged at the outlet of the pump 8. This senses the pressure of the water at the outlet of the pump 8 and contains a switch which controls the switching on or off of the pump 8 as a function of pressure. A pressure water line 11 leads from the pump 8 to a manually manipulable processing device 12. The processing device 12 is provided with a shut-off element 14 to be actuated by means of a schematically drawn push button 13. By pressing the push button 13, the supply of the hot pressurized water is optionally switched on or off.

In the embodiment according to FIGS. 1 to 3, a container 16 with a low-foaming detergent is also arranged under the work table 1. Such detergents are known and commercially available, so that a corresponding description is unnecessary. A pipe 17 connects to this container 16. The pipeline 17 leads to a heater 18, in which the liquid flowing out of the container is heated, the temperature being controlled to a respectively predetermined value. The liquid then flows to a pump 19. In this exemplary embodiment, this pump 19 is a piston pump. The pump piston is driven by an oscillating armature. The construction of such pumps is well known and is therefore not described in detail. A return line 20 leads back from this pump 19 to the container 16. A pressure switch device 30 is arranged at the outlet of the pump 19. This senses the pressure of the liquid at the outlet of the pump 19 and contains a switch which controls the switching on and off of the pump 19 as a function of pressure. A pressure fluid line 21 leads from the pump 19 to the processing device 12 (FIG. 1). A further shut-off device 23 to be actuated by means of a push button 22 is arranged in this. By pressing the push button 22, the supply of the detergent can optionally be switched on or off.

In all implementations, compressed air is supplied from a source (not shown) through a compressed air line 24. The compressed air line 24 leads to an air heater 25. However, this air heater 25 is not mandatory in all embodiments of the present invention.

In the embodiments according to FIGS. 1 and 4, a compressed air line 26 also leads from the air heater 25 to the processing device 12 and is also equipped there with a shut-off gear 27 which is controlled by a third push button 28.

The pressure of the fluids emerging from the respective processing device is, for example, in a range between two MPa and four MPa. The liquids can be heated up to about 90 ° C in the heaters 7.18. In this exemplary embodiment, the pressure of the air emerging from the slot nozzle 31, which is still to be described, is in a range from 3 to 6 bar, and if hot air is emitted, its temperature can be up to 100 ° C.

A first embodiment of the processing device 12 to be gripped by hand is illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. It has a dispensing head 15. A slot nozzle 31 for the emerging hot compressed air is arranged on this. The slot nozzle 31 is arranged so that the dispensing head 15 can be placed with the slot nozzle on a respective piece of cloth to be processed, so that a lateral escape of the air jet is not possible and the hot air penetrates the relevant area with full pressure and completely. Alternatively, the slot nozzle 31 can be surrounded by a protruding edge, so that it is arranged somewhat recessed. In addition to the slot nozzle 31, the two nozzles 32, 34 or outlets of the liquid containing a detergent and of the water are arranged in the head 15. The fan angle of the emerging liquid jets can be adjusted. The fan angle of the liquid containing the detergent is preferably chosen to be smaller than that of the pure water (at the same delivery pressure in each case), so that the liquid containing the detergent forms the sharper jet.

To remove a dirt stain, the soiled fabric area is placed on the trestle 2, ie the grid 3, the suction through the suction channel 4 may already be in operation. The worker then grips the processing device 12 which is suspended on a hook can be or is on the table, it should also be noted that the pressure fluid lines 11, 21 and the compressed air line 26 are made of a flexible material. The device 12 is directed with the discharge openings against the surface structure resting on the grid 3, and by pressing the push button 22, the liquid containing the detergent is first sprayed at high pressure in the form of a pulsating jet against the soiled area. The sharp liquid jet hits the fabric, so that the dirt is loosened by the detergent and the fabric is machined. Due to the pressure of the liquid jet, the loosened dirt is rinsed out of the tissue and discharged through the suction channel 4. Hot water with high pressure in the form of a pulsating jet is sprayed through the soiled area by pressing in the push button 13. The sharp water jet also strikes the fabric, so that it is mechanically processed again and the detergent is completely rinsed out and any residual dirt is rinsed out of the fabric and discharged through the suction channel 4. Since the processed area is now obviously damp, it is very difficult to determine whether all dirt has been removed.

By releasing the push button 13, the pressure water supply is interrupted and the device 12 is placed directly on the textile material. By pressing the push button 28, air, preferably heated air, can be passed through this area Press through and dry the moistened area very quickly. If the dirt has not yet been completely removed from the tissue, it will obviously become visible when the tissue is dried, so that it can be processed again with liquid.

This allows dirt stains to be removed very quickly and easily from the respective textile fabric, and the fact that a complete removal has taken place is determined very quickly. This means that a device is available that is extremely easy to operate and that allows you to work quickly. In addition, there is no longer any environmental pollution or disposal of a stain remover. Also, no rings are formed on the cleaned area and personnel are no longer exposed to solvent vapors.

The embodiments according to FIGS. 4 and 5 differ from those according to FIGS. 1 to 3 for the time being in that there is no detergent circuit, but only air and water are used. However, the processing device is designed differently.

In the embodiment according to FIG. 4, the pressure water line 11 leads from the pump 8 to the processing device 12 and is connected there to a supply line 36. The shut-off device 14 to be actuated by means of the push button 13 is arranged in this feed line 36. By pressing the push button 13, the supply of the hot pressurized water can optionally be switched on or off. After the shut-off device 14 leads 36 to a dispensing piece 38 which has an adjustable nozzle mouthpiece. The adjustment of the same or the fan of the dispensed nozzle jet takes place via an adjustment wheel 39 which is rotatably mounted in the handle housing of the processing device 12 and has knurling. This adjusting wheel 39 is toothed and meshes with a toothing 40 of the delivery piece 18 which is rotatably mounted on the feed end 36.

The compressed air line 26 leads to the processing device 12 and ends at a compressed air supply line 41. This is equipped with the shut-off device 27, which is controlled by the push button 28. The feed line 41 finally ends at the delivery piece 42 on the processing device 12.

The operation of this variant is the same as the variant described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, with the exception of the treatment step in which the detergent is used.

Fig. 5 finally shows a variant in which the pressurized water discharge piece 38 and the compressed air discharge piece 42 are each arranged in a special processing device 12 or 12 '. Thus, the user of the device, depending on whether he points to cleaning hot water or drying air against the object to be cleaned, only take one or the other processing device 12 or 12 'to hand. There is also the possibility of carrying the processing device 12 in one hand and possibly the processing device 12 'in one hand and thus, for example in the case of several or a large one, in the event of an object to be cleaned being held Stains, to be able to perform a particularly time-saving cleaning.

Claims (13)

1. Method of removing stains from a planar textile structure, whereby a respective area of the planar textile structure which contains a stain is placed over a water- and air penetrable carrier, whereafter the area is mechanically worked over at least once by means of a jet of at least one pressurized liquid directed thereagainst and the area is immediately thereafter exposed to a jet of pressurized air to achieve thereby an immediate drying, and whereby an induced draught is made to act under the planar textile structure, characterized in that the planar textile structure is stretched over the carrier, that the jet of the pressurized liquid is pulsating and penetrates through the area of the planar textile structure in such a manner that dirt clinging thereto is torn along and away by the jet, and that the jet of pressurized air penetrates through the area in such a manner that the liquid is expelled from the area.
2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that an induced draught is applied at the carrier which is at least approximately aligned with the direction of the jet of the respective pressurized liquid and air, respectively.
3. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that at least the one pressurized liquid is water.
4. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the working of the area in question proceeds by means of a pressurized liquid having a detergent of low lathering power and thereafter by pressurized water, whereby this sequence is possibly repeated.
5. Method according to claim 4, characterized in that the pressure exerted by the first pressurized liquid onto the corresponding area is greater than the pressure exerted subsequently thereupon by pressurized water.
6. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the pressure of the jet of pressurized air is within the range of 3 bar to 6 bar.
7. Apparatus for removing stains from a planar textile structure, having a liquid- and air penetrable carrier (2, 3) for supporting at least an area of the textile structure to be cleaned, having at least one device (5-11; 12) for the generation and discharge of a jet of a pressurized liquid to be directed against the area of the planar textile structure placed over the carrier, having a device for the generation and discharge of a jet of pressurized air to be directed against said area, and having a drawing off device for the generation of an induced draught acting onto the carrier, characterized by an area of the planar textile structure stretched over the carrier, by a device which comprises a pulse initiator (8, 19) which serves for causing a pulsating of the discharged jet, and by a jet of pressurized air which can drive the liquid away from the area.
8. Apparatus according to claim 7, characterized by at least one working device (12, 12′) to be guided manually, which is equipped with respective discharge pieces (32, 34, 35, 42) for liquid and air, respectively, and with shut off members (14, 23, 27) each to be operated by an operating member (13, 22, 28) for a selective discharge of liquid and air, respectively.
9. Apparatus according to claim 8, characterized in that the discharge pieces (32, 34) for the liquid comprise respectively a discharge nozzle and the discharge piece (35) for pressurized air comprises a slotted nozzle (31), which nozzles (31, 32, 34) are located in one common working device.
10. Apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that a discharge piece (38) for pressurized water communicating via a feed conduit (36) with a pressurized water conduit (11) and a discharge piece (42) for pressurized air communicating via a feed conduit (41) with a pressurized air conduit (26) are arranged in a common working device (12), whereby the feed conduits (36, 41) comprise the shut off members.
11. Apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that a discharge piece (38) for pressurized water communicating via a feed conduit (36) with a pressurized water conduit (11) and a discharge piece (42) for pressurized air communicating via a feed conduit (41) with a pressurized air conduit (26) are separately arranged in a respective working device (12, 12′), whereby the feed conduits (36, 41) comprise the shut off members.
12. Apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that the devices for the generation and discharge of a pressurized liquid include a container for liquid (7, 16) and the respective pulsating pumping devices (8, 9) are located in the direction of flow of the liquid after a heating device (7, 18) for heating the pressurized liquid, and that one pressurized liquid is water and in case of a further pressurized liquid same contains a detergent of low lathering power.
13. Apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that the drawing off device is arranged in such a manner that it generates an induced draught which is at least approximately aligned with the direction of the jet of the respective pressurized liquid and pressurized air, respectively.

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