EP0666354A2 - Device for shrinking of textile webs - Google Patents

Abstract

An appts. for crimping textile strips has steam appts. a covered hot crimping plate tilted w.r.t. a heat build up tunnel and a cooling zone for the textile strip. Here, there is at least one steam box (5a, 5b) extending over the breadth of and below the crimping plate (4) and where its steam outlet is set into the slide plate in such a way that the downwards progress of the textile strip (14) is unimpeded.

Description

The present invention relates to a device for shrinking web-shaped textiles, this device having a damping device, an inclined heated shrink plate covered with a heated heat accumulation tunnel, on which the textile web slides downward, and a cooling zone for the textile web.

Almost all textiles, regardless of whether they are made from animal, vegetable or synthetic fibers, have the unpleasant property of being incorporated into the finished garment when used. If the goods jump in during use, then forces that are latently present in it have an effect. If you want to avoid shrinking of the ready-made garments, the fabric used must be given the opportunity to shrink in the equipment.

According to the state of the art, there are basically two different methods for carrying out a continuous shrinking process: shock treatment and intensive damping.

During the shock treatment, the goods are conveyed via a driven steam cylinder to a heated shrinking plate, on which they slide downwards without tension. A cooling zone adjoins the shrinking plate, in which the hot goods are cooled using cold, moist air. So there is a double shock effect here - first a heat shock between moist goods and hot iron, and then a cold shock between hot goods and cold moist air. If the goods to be shrunk go through these shock treatments absolutely without tension, a relatively good shrinking effect occurs.

During the further development of the shrinking machines working according to the shock process, it was recognized that an additional arrangement of a heat accumulation tunnel above the shrinking plate can increase the effect.

When shrinking after the shock process, very little steam is required. This results in a slight impairment of effects, i.e. in other words, this shrinking process can also be carried out without problems at the end of the equipment and thus in the finished goods.

The situation is very different with the intensive damping method. This shrinking process can usually only be done before a final treatment because the intensive damping destroys a lot of effect (decatizing effect). This would make it necessary to re-decorate.

In practice, it has been shown that the intensive damping brings about a strong shrinkage in the fabric width (weft), whereas the shrinkage values in the length (warp) are not as optimal as in the shock treatment.

In this process, the goods to be treated are placed on an endlessly circulating carrying belt, and then first passes through individual damping zones in which the goods are intensively subjected to steam. Extractor hoods are arranged above the damping zones, through which the excess steam is extracted. A heating and cooling zone then adjoins the damping zones.

Due to the strong supply of steam, a lot of fake gloss is removed from the goods in this process, which is sometimes desirable. In addition, an increase in volume is achieved because the fiber swelling increases the thickness of the goods. These effects are particularly in demand in the area of finishing carded yarn goods. For this reason alone, a market can be seen for intensive steaming shrinking machines.

A disadvantage of intensive steaming is the enormous steam consumption, which is around 400-600 kg / h, whereas a quarter of this amount of steam is required for shock treatment. Furthermore, it should not go unmentioned that the extracted steam-air mixture, which is ultimately blown off over the roof, is a burden on the environment.

A further development of a shrinking machine working with intensive damping is known, with which the disadvantages just outlined are eliminated. In this machine, a heat accumulation tunnel is arranged above the conveyor belt carrying the goods, as is known from the shock treatment shrinking machines. Through this heat accumulation tunnel, the steam atmosphere is captured to a certain extent, so that these machines manage with less steam than usual.

A major disadvantage of all previously known shrinking machines is that they can only work with intensive damping or only with shock treatment.

This is where the invention comes in, the task of which is to provide a shrinking machine which can be used to work with both shrinking processes and which also represents a more cost-effective overall concept.

According to the invention, this object is achieved with a generic device described at the beginning, which is additionally characterized in that at least one quantity-adjustable steaming box is arranged below the shrinking plate and extends substantially over the entire width of the shrinking plate, the steam outlet of which is integrated into the sliding surface of the shrinking plate is that the sliding downward movement of the textile web to be shrunk is not impaired.

Such a device is universal, i.e. Can be used both as a shock-shrinking machine and as an intensive steam-shrinking machine.

If this device is to operate as a pure shock-shrinking machine, the steam supply of the steaming box or boxes is completely switched off. The textile web to be shrunk then - as is known - first passes through a damping device, e.g. a steam lock and then slides down on the hot shrink plate to then enter the cooling zone. Here, too, the double shock effect described at the outset is realized with the resulting advantageous effects.

When working as an intensive steaming shrinking machine, steam is additionally blown via the steaming box or steaming boxes into the space delimited by the shrinking plate and the heat accumulation tunnel, in which a steam atmosphere is created which, with sufficient saturation, ensures intensive damping of the goods.

Among other things, achieves the advantages of the further developed intensive steaming shrinking machines described as prior art, namely a substantial saving in steam and a lower environmental impact due to exhaust steam. In addition, there are other significant advantages.

In the device according to the invention, the conveyor belt and with it its drive, the required tensioning device, the control for always central circulation, and the deflection and bearing points are eliminated. This makes the machine cheaper to buy. In addition, the number of moving parts required and thus the machine's susceptibility to repairs are reduced.

Furthermore, the advantage of the higher warp shrinkage is superimposed in the device according to the invention, since the goods slide downwards on the hot shrink plate during the damping and alternately have dry and moist surface contact on the sliding surface. This achieves an optimal shrinking effect in the warp and weft directions.

Another advantage of the device according to the invention can be seen in the fact that it can be operated to a certain extent from shock treatment to intensive damping. During the shock treatment, as already explained above, the steam supply via the steam box or the steam boxes is completely switched off, while the full steam supply via the steam box or the steam boxes is available for intensive steaming. In the intermediate stages, more or less steam can be offered via the steam box or boxes. In such a differentiated driving style, the desired effects - more or less gloss deduction, higher or lower warp and / or weft shrinkage - can be influenced in a targeted manner.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the steam outlet of each provided steaming box can be integrated into the sliding surface of the shrinking plate in such a way that the steaming box is attached from below to the shrinking plate, which is then designed to be steam-permeable in the area of the steam outlet cross-section of the steaming box, the steam permeability, for example through bores, Slots or the like can be achieved. This configuration has the advantage that the uniform sliding surface of the shrink plate is preserved and its vapor-permeable area is heated even when the steam supply is switched off.

In a further embodiment according to the invention, the curved plate can be divided into spaced-apart transverse sections, a steam box being arranged in the gaps between two sections in such a way that its steam outlet, designed as a vapor-permeable sliding surface, is flush with the sliding surfaces of the adjacent shrinking plate sections. The vapor permeability can also be achieved here, for example, by bores or slots in the sliding surface. The sliding surface can also consist of coarse-pored sintered metal. Since in this embodiment the sliding surface of the shrink plate in the areas in which steam boxes are provided would not be heated when the steam was switched off, it is advisable to use separate heating, i.e. provide independent heating from the steam supply.

It is also advantageous if a fleece mat is stretched in the steam outlet cross section of each steam box below the sliding surface for the textile web. This ensures that the steam is distributed evenly across the width of the goods.

It is also advantageous if each steamer box can be swung down to allow easy replacement of the fleece mats or to make this area accessible for inspections.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the upper radiant heating surface of the heat accumulation tunnel is inclined relative to the heated shrinking plate in such a way that a conical channel with a taper towards the end of the shrinking plate results. The steam plumes present in the heat accumulation tunnel are carried along by the goods sliding down to the end open at the end of the shrink plate. In order to avoid undesired steam leakage at this point, or at least to keep it small in quantity, the tapering of the channel reduces the open cross-section on the one hand, and on the other hand this measure moves the upper radiant heating surface of the heat accumulation tunnel get closer to the goods, which dry them more intensively and thus become more absorbent for the steam.

The invention is explained below with reference to an embodiment shown in a drawing.

14 in the illustration denotes the goods to be shrunk, which should be relaxed in the warp and weft directions when passing through the shrinking machine according to the invention. A driven goods feed roller 1 fetches the goods 14 from the stack or from a roll at the working speed vo and conveys them into the system of the shrinking machine. A downstream dancer 15 ensures constant readjustment of the feed roller 1 so that the goods 14 are moved through the steam lock 2 without tension. Here the goods 14 are warmed and slightly moistened.

The goods feed roller 1a arranged above the steam lock 2 then conveys the goods 14 to the shrink plate 4 installed with a slope, which in this embodiment is divided into four sections 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d. Between sections 4a and 4b as well as 4b and 4c there is a damping box 5a or 5b, which extends over the entire width of the shrink plate 4 and via which a controllable amount of water drop-free water vapor can be blown out upwards. The steam outlets of these steam boxes 5a and 5b are each covered with a vapor-permeable sliding plate 16, which is flush with the sliding surfaces of the adjacent shrink plate sections. Because of this design, the goods 14 sliding downward on the shrinking plate 4 are not hindered or even slowed down when they slide. The pulsation of the steam emerging from the steam outlets of the steaming boxes 5a, 5b even brings about a certain vibration effect by which the downward movement of the goods 14 is promoted.

A gap 13 is provided between the shrink plate sections 4c and 4d as an option for the arrangement of a further damping box, but this gap can also be used, for example, for the arrangement of a vibrator, not shown. If the gap 13 is not required, it is closed off with a corresponding plate flush with the adjacent shrink plate sections 4c and 4d.

The steam outlet cross sections of the steam boxes 5a and 5b are covered below the sliding surface with non-woven mats or the like, not shown, so that a uniform steam distribution over the width of the goods is ensured. Furthermore, the damping boxes 5a and 5b are arranged so that they can be swiveled downward on one side in order to enable the fleece mats to be exchanged quickly.

A heated heat accumulation tunnel 6 is installed above the shrink plate 4, which is provided with insulation 7 on the outside, and thus only radiates heat to the goods 14. It is bounded at the bottom by the heated shrinking plate 4 and also closed at the side, for example with transparent glass panes. The heat accumulation tunnel 6 is thus only open at the front and rear, so that the goods 14 can be placed on the shrink plate 4 or removed from it.

The upper radiation surface of the heat accumulation tunnel 6 is expediently arranged with a different slope with respect to the heated curved plate 4, so that a conical channel with a taper in the direction of the take-off roller 8 is formed.

At the end of its glide path through the heat accumulation tunnel 6, the goods 14 arrive at a goods receiving roller 8. The speed _{V1 of} the roller 8 is automatically regulated and receives its control impulses via a sensor 3, which touches the loop sag of the goods 14 at the transition point of the goods 14 from the feed roller 1 to the shrink plate 4 measures and controls. As soon as the loop spacing becomes shorter, the take-off roller 8 must run more slowly so that more goods 14 jam on the shrinking plate 4 and are thereby animated to shrink.

For the function of the loop sensor 3, which ultimately has to work in the vapor space of the heat accumulation tunnel 6, sensors are provided which work according to the ultrasound principle or the like.

The goods 14 are placed on an air-permeable carrying belt 11 by the take-off roller 8 and transported by the latter through a cooling zone 17 for the purpose of cooling. The cooling is achieved via a suction box 12, which is arranged below the carrying belt 11 and is in operative connection with a vacuum fan.

The conveyor belt 11 is driven by the take-off roller 10, which is automatically readjusted by a sensor 9 by means of non-contact loop feeler.

Claims (7)

1. Device for shrinking textile webs, which has a damping device, an inclined hot shrink plate covered with a heated heat accumulation tunnel, on which the textile web slides downward, and a cooling zone for the textile web, characterized in that at least one in the bottom of the shrink plate The quantity-adjustable steam box (5a, 5b), which extends essentially over the entire width of the shrink plate (4), is arranged, the steam outlet of which thus enters the sliding surface the shrink plate (4) is integrated so that the downward movement of the textile web (14) to be shrunk is not impaired. 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the shrink plate (4) in the region of the outlet opening of the respective damping box (5a, 5b) is designed to be vapor-permeable. 3. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the shrink plate (4) is divided into spaced-apart transverse sections (4a, 4b, 4c, 4d), a damping box (5a, 5b) being arranged in the gap between two sections, that its steam outlet designed as a vapor-permeable sliding surface (16) is flush with the sliding surface of the adjacent shrink plate sections. 4. The device according to claim 3, characterized in that the vapor-permeable sliding surface (16) is heatable. 5. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a fleece mat is stretched in each steam box (5a, 5b) below its steam outlet. 6. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that each steam box (5a, 5b) can be pivoted downwards. 7. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the upper radiant heating surface of the heat accumulation tunnel (6) with respect to the heated shrink plate (4) is inclined such that there is a conical channel with a taper towards the end of the shrink plate.

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