EP0666354B1 - Device for shrinking of textile webs - Google Patents

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 here is a double one Shock effect - 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. Such a shrinking device is disclosed in DE-B 12 68 093.

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 results in 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.

A device with intensive damping is known from DE-A-19 44 350, Fig. 1. The shrinking device shown there has a housing in which two support plates inclined in opposite directions for the goods to be treated are arranged one above the other. The support plates are smooth and concave and have a Variety of through openings. Steam pipes are provided beneath the support plates, which are provided with many steam outflow openings on their peripheral parts facing the support plates. The product to be treated is fed through an inlet in the housing of the upper support plate, on which it is collected in a wavy form. The goods are transported on the support plates by the interaction of gravity and a jumping movement of the support plates, which are forced on them by appropriate mechanisms. At the lower end of the first support plate, the goods are transferred to the upper end of the second support plate and from there to the lower end of the support plate. On the way over the support plates, the goods are blown with steam from below, so that they are simultaneously subjected to shock and heat treatment. After this treatment, the goods run onto a conveyor belt on which they pass through a cooling device.

In another device, the goods to be treated are placed on an endless conveyor 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 is then connected to 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 swelling of the fibers 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 methods and which is also used also represents a more cost-effective overall concept.

According to the invention, this object is achieved with a generic device described at the beginning in that at least one quantity-adjustable and switchable steaming box is arranged below the shrinking plate and extends substantially over the entire width of the shrinking plate, the steam outlet of which lies in the sliding surface of the shrinking plate.

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, this 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 on 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 is available via the steam box or the steam boxes 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 steam box provided can be integrated into the sliding surface of the shrink plate in such a way that the steam box from below is attached to the shrink plate, which is then designed to be vapor-permeable in the region of the steam outlet cross section of the steaming box, the vapor permeability being able to be achieved, for example, through bores, slots or the like. 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 shrink plate can be divided into spaced-apart transverse sections, a steamer 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 shrink 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 expedient to use a 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 volume, 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 closer to the goods that will dry more intensively and thus be 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 v ₀ 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 which extends over the entire width of the shrink plate 4 5a and 5b arranged, over which a controllable amount of water drop-free water vapor can be blown out. 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 steam boxes 5a, 5b even brings about a certain vibration effect, by means of 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. So that the heat accumulation tunnel 6 is only open at the front and back so that the goods 14 can be placed on or removed from the shrinking plate 4.

The upper radiation surface of the heat accumulation tunnel 6 is expediently arranged with a different slope relative to the heated shrink 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 reach a goods receiving roller 8. The speed v _{1 of} the roller 8 is automatically regulated and receives its control impulses via a sensor 3, which contacts the loop sag of the goods 14 at the transition point of the goods without contact 14 measures and controls from the feed roller 1a to the shrinking plate 4. 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. Apparatus for the shrinkage of textile webs, which has a steaming device (2), an inclined heated shrinkage plate (4) which is covered with the heated heat build-up tunnel (6) and on which the textile web (14) slides downwards, and a cooling zone (17) for the textile web (14), characterized in that there is arranged underneath the shrinkage plate (4) at least one steaming cabinet (5a, 5b) which extends over the entire width of the shrinkage plate (4) and is controllable in terms of quantity and capable of being switched off and the steam outlet of which is located in the sliding surface of the shrinkage plate (4).
2. Apparatus according to Claim 1, characterized in that the shrinkage plate (4) is provided with steam passage orifices in the region of the outlet orifice of the respective steaming cabinet (5a, 5b).
3. Apparatus according to Claim 1, Characterized in that the shrinkage plate (4) is subdivided into transverse portions (4a, 4b, 4c, 4d) spaced from one another, a steaming cabinet (5a, 5b) being arranged in the gap between two portions, in such a way that its steam outlet, designed as a steam-permeable sliding surface (16), is flush with the sliding surface of the adjacent shrinkage-plate portions.
4. Apparatus according to Claim 3, characterized in that the steam-permeable sliding surface (16) is heatable.
5. Apparatus according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a nonwoven mat is stretched in each steaming cabinet (5a, 5b) underneath the sliding surface of the shrinkage plate (4).
6. Apparatus according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that each steaming cabinet (5a, 5b) can be pivoted away downwards.
7. Apparatus according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the upper radiant heating surface of the heat build-up tunnel (6) is inclined relative to the heated shrinkage plate (4), in such a way that a conical duct tapering towards the shrinkage-plate end is obtained.

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