EP1055764B1

EP1055764B1 - Method and device for finishing knitted or woven fabrics

Info

Publication number: EP1055764B1
Application number: EP00110591A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Antonio Panozzo
Original assignee: Lafer SpA
Current assignee: Lafer SpA
Priority date: 1999-05-25
Filing date: 2000-05-18
Publication date: 2004-08-04
Anticipated expiration: 2020-05-18
Also published as: IT1310568B1; ITUD990099A1; DE60012626D1; DE60012626T2; ES2224964T3; EP1055764A2; ATE272737T1; EP1055764A3; ITUD990099A0

Abstract

Finishing method and device for knitwear fabrics, wherein it is provided to subject the fabric (11) to a first compacting-stabilizing treatment, carried out by winding the fabric (11) around a heated cylinder (14), and then to subject the fabric (11) emerging from the compacting-stabilizing treatment immediately and on the same machine to a steaming-decatizing treatment, carried out by winding the fabric around a holed cylinder (22), and hitting it with a jet of steam sent by delivery means (26) arranged in co-operation with the outer periphery of the holed cylinder (22), the fabric (11) emerging from the steaming-decatizing treatment being subjected to a drying-conditioning treatment. <IMAGE>

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention concerns a finishing method for both knitwear fabrics and for shuttle-worked fabrics (warp/weft) and the device able to achieve said method, as set forth in the respective main claims.
The invention is applied in finishing operations for fabrics, subsequent to the dyeing and washing and/or fulling step, which are performed to fix and establish particular characteristics of quality and of size on the finished fabric before it is sent for making up and for use.
The invention is applied both to knitwear fabrics in general, of all possible types of fibre, both natural (cotton, wool, etc.) and also artificial or synthetic (polyester, nylon, elasticized fabrics in general, etc.) and also mixed, both combed or carded fabrics of a traditional, wool type (shuttle-worked fabrics), whether they be 100% wool, or wool mix, for example wool-polyester, wool-silk, or otherwise.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In finishing operations for fabrics, whether they be woollens in general or classic, shuttle-worked fabrics, the state of the art includes the technique of subjecting the fabric emerging from the dyeing and/or washing and/or fulling operations to a series of treatments, carried out in sequence, the function of which is to improve and to stabilize the characteristics and properties of the fabric.
The treatments serve mainly to give the touch of the fabric the desired characteristics of fullness, together with a certain consistency (draped effect), and softness, in order to attenuate any possible excessive shininess, and to guarantee the fabric a good stability of size.
Generally, these treatments provide an initial step of drying the fabric, followed for many articles by a clipping operation which serves to make the pile of the fabric uniform to a desired height.
Then the fabric is subjected to the stabilizing steps proper, which are very different according to whether it concerns knitwear or shuttle-worked fabrics.
In the case of knitwear, the drying step usually follows the dyeing step and can be performed either on free standing dryers (belt dryers), or on a tenter frame with pin chains; in this second case the fabric can be returned to the desired height (width).
Subsequently a finishing step is carried out; this can be a calendering step (stretching) or a pass on compacting machines with a piece of felt to give the necessary stability of size, together with a stretching effect and to improve the touch of the article. After these operations, the article is generally sent for making up.
In the case of traditional shuttle-worked fabrics made of wool, both before and after the dyeing operation it is possible to carry out a cycle known as damp fixing or boiling (combined effect of high humidity and high temperature, up to 150°C) with the purpose of giving permanent stability of size to the fabric.
Finally, the fabric is subjected to a decatizing treatment by means of which it is subjected to high temperature steaming.
This cycle can be carried out either with continuous drum-type machines, at atmospheric pressure, or (to obtain a more consistent effect) in discontinuous decatizing with steam under pressure up to 2 bar (autoclave decatizing).
The main function of this treatment is give the fabric fullness of touch, a sustained feel and good stability.
Another intermediate stretching pass between the boiling and decatizing steps can be made by means of a machine known as a "basin press"; however, for many reasons, these machines have now fallen into disuse.
Conventional finishing treatments are not, in general, completely satisfactory, particularly since they are not versatile and cannot be adapted to fabrics which are different in weave and in the type and characteristics of fibre and yarn.
Conventional calendering machines normally generate an effect of lengthening the fabric, which is difficult to redress, due to the strong drawing pressures and an excessive shining of the fabric itself which often is not desired.
Conventional continuous decatizing processes, which provide to introduce steam at atmospheric pressure from a delivery chamber, making the fabric pass over a holed, lined cylinder, pressed by an endless ring-type felt, often cause an uneven effect (marbling), or the nap is too crushed, etc.
On the other hand, decatizing process where the fabric is wound dis-continuously onto a coil has the advantage of a good finishing quality, but the considerable disadvantage that it requires a high number of manual operations, and therefore entails very high labour costs.
Other disadvantages of conventional finishing machines derive either from the great spaces which they occupy, or their limited ease and safety in operating, or their high management costs, particularly with regard to energy consumption, or their need for complex and expensive auxiliary services, or the difficulty of transferring the fabric from one machine to the other, and other problems. GB 2.194.973, on which the preamble of the independent claims 1 and 8 is based, discloses a fabric treatment device comprising a compacting assembly and a steaming assembly placed in series. The compacting assembly includes a heatable roller and a thrust belt. This kind of compacting assembly has the drawback of reducing the thickness of the fabric, and hardening and flattening the surface of the fabric, so the fabric has a very low attitude to be treated effectively with a flow of steam in the steaming device placed downstream.
The present Applicant has devised, tested and embodied this invention, to overcome these shortcomings with a functional, economic and versatile solution, and to obtain further advantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is set forth and characterized in the respective main claims, while the dependent claims describe other characteristics of the main embodiment.
The purpose of the invention is to achieve a method and device for finishing fabrics, particularly knitwear fabrics, which will guarantee, with extremely limited bulk, costs and consumption, a high-quality final result which can be repeated over time, and above all valid for a plurality of fabrics which can even have different characteristics.
The invention allows to compact, stabilize, steam, decatize, and continuously condition the fabric, in a unified machine of limited bulk, with low operating costs and high yield.
The function of the finishing device according to the invention, in its entirety, is to stabilize and fix the characteristics of size and quality of the fabric, and to guarantee the desired touch so that the fabric can be sent for making up and final use.
The device according to the invention is limited in size and allows, substantially in a single machine, to carry out a plurality of treatments and operations without needing to transfer the fabric from one machine to another, thus using extremely limited resources and consuming very little energy.
The device also allows extreme versatility of use in that it has a wide range of parameters which can be regulated according to the type of treatment to be carried out, the type of fabric to be treated and the type of result to be obtained.
It can therefore be used both on knitwear fabrics and also on shuttle-worked fabrics, whether they be 100% wool, or wool mix, for example wool-polyester, by means of a simple and rapid reconfiguration of the working parameters.
The finishing device for fabrics according to the invention substantially comprises:

a first compacting-stabilizing assembly, consisting of a heated cylinder; an accompanying felt is wound around three quarters of the circumference of this cylinder;
a second steaming-decatizing assembly, consisting of a holed cylinder under depression; a felt is wound around three quarters of the circumference of this cylinder and it co-operates with outer means to deliver steam against the surface of the fabric, and
a third drying-conditioning assembly,

The fabric is made to transit continuously through the assemblies.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the finishing device comprises a heating-humidifier, or pre-steaming device, arranged upstream of the first compacting-stabilizing assembly.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the finishing device comprises a steaming assembly arranged between the second steaming-decatizing assembly and the third drying-conditioning assembly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The attached drawings are given as a non-restrictive example, and show a preferential embodiment of the invention wherein:

Fig. 1: is a schematic view of the device according to the invention in its entirety;
Fig. 2: shows an enlarged detail of Fig. 1;
Fig. 3: shows another detail of Fig. 1 on an enlarged scale;
Fig. 4: shows a variant of Fig. 1, with a detail.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The finishing device 10 for fabrics shown in Fig. 1 consists in sequence, in its main parts, of a pre-steaming assembly consisting of two elements 18a and 18b, a compacting-stabilizing assembly 12, a steaming-decatizing assembly 21, a steaming assembly 34 and finally a drying-conditioning assembly 31.
The fabric 11 is fed continuously to the finishing device 10 after having been subjected to the usual dyeing treatments, followed for example by drying; this can take place either in dryers with conveyor belts or on tenter frames with pins, after the fabric 11 has been subjected to optional operations of clipping and equalizing the pile.
The tension at which the fabric 11 is sent to the finishing device 10 can be regulated and controlled upstream by means of a suitable variable speed feeder cylinder 37, associated with a dandy roll 38 connected to a feed-back rheostat.
The fabric 11 is subjected to a preliminary heating-damping operation, obtained by making it pass through said pre-steaming assembly.
The pre-steaming assembly comprises a pair of steaming containers, a fixed inner container 18b and a movable upper container 18a associated with an opening-closing element.
At outlet from the pre-steaming assembly the fabric 11 is sent to the compacting-stabilizing assembly 12.
The assembly 12 substantially comprises:

a metal cylinder 14, with a diameter of between 100 and 1200 mm, heated up to 160°C and more, by introducing pressurized steam inside; according to a variant the cylinder 14 is heated electrically by means of resistors immersed in a bath of diathermal oil;
a compression felt 13 made of polyester and aramidic fibre, of a suitable thickness (from 3-4 mm in the case of finishing-stabilizing woollen fabrics of the shuttle-worked type, and up to 22-25 mm in the case of compacting knitwear fabrics); the felt 13 winds around the cylinder 14 for at least three quarters of its circumference;
a counter-roller 16 to return the felt 13 to the zone where the fabric 11 is introduced, possibly resting on the heated cylinder 14 with an adjustable pressure, for example by means of a pneumatic piston combined with a device to regulate the pressure of the compressed air (described in detail later, with reference to Fig. 4);
an element 17 (called "slipper") to introduce and accompany the fabric between the felt 13 and the heated cylinder 14, with a position angle which can be manually regulated, or if necessary with a servo motor and a feedback encoder.

The felt 13 has an annular path and is kept under tension between three rollers, respectively 15, 16 and 19, of which the roller 19 is motorized.
In this case, the roller 15 has a tensioning and centering function.
The roller 15 is associated with an electro-pneumatic device 15a, which serves to automatically center the felt 13 by means of photo cells, and with a pneumatic device 15b, which serves to regulate the tension of the felt 13 to give a greater or lesser stretching and crushing of the fabric 11 being worked.
While it is winding around a substantial part of the circumference of the heated cylinder 14, the fabric 11 is pressed against the latter, with an adjustable pressure, by said felt 13 and also by the counter-roller 16; the latter can also be driven by a pneumatic system with an adjustable pressure.
This pneumatic system, as can be seen in Fig. 4, comprises an adjustment piston 41, connected to a remote rapid drive mechanism, by means of which the user, acting from the control panel of the machine, can set at least two working conditions of the counter-roller 16 in order to regulate the intensity of the pressure exerted on the fabric 11 in the inlet zone to the cylinder 14.
The counter-roller 16 can assume at least a first working position adhering to the cylinder 14, wherein it exerts a high pressure against the felt 13 and therefore against the fabric 11 passing through, and at least a second position 16a, wherein by activating the piston 41 it is slightly distanced with respect to the cylinder 14 to exert less pressure on the fabric 11 passing through.
The desired degree of compaction of the fabric 11 is obtained therefore by regulating the position of the introductory element 17, the tension of the felt 13, the temperature of the heated cylinder 14, and the position or pressure of the counter-roller 16.
In a preferential embodiment, the surface of the heated cylinder 14 is chromed and ground.
According to a variant, the outer surface of the heated cylinder is made soft for example by a suitable lining of vulcanized rubber, or by trigging onto the cylinder a sleeve of heat-retracting felt, or several rounds of soft canvas or non-fabric etc.
At outlet from the assembly 12 the fabric 11 is sent to a steaming and decatizing assembly 21 which substantially comprises:

a holed steel cylinder 22 to wind the fabric 11, with a diameter in the region of 100+1200 mm and connected by means of lateral apertures on both sides to two centrifugal electric fans, able to create inside a suitable depression, and hence a suction effect from the cylinder; the cylinder 22 rotates in the direction of feed of the fabric 11;
a steaming assembly, comprising means to deliver the steam 26 and containing chamber means 27 arranged in co-operation with a segment of the circumference of the cylinder 22 and able to deliver steam in the direction of said cylinder 22 while the fabric 11 is winding;
an accompanying felt 29 made of polyester and aramidic fibre, between 3 and 8 mm thick, transpirable, and therefore able to be passed through both by the steam delivered by the steaming assembly 26 through the chamber 27, and also by the air sucked in by the holed cylinder 22; the felt 29 winds around at least three quarters of the circumference of the cylinder 22;
a counter-roller 24 to return the felt 29 to the introduction zone, possibly resting on the holed cylinder 22 with an adjustable pressure, for example by means of a pneumatic piston combined with a device to regulate the pressure of the compressed air;
an element 25 (called "slipper") to introduce and accompany the fabric 11 between the felt 29 and the holed cylinder 22, with a position angle which can be manually regulated, or if necessary with a suitable servo motor and a feedback encoder.

The accompanying felt 29 winds in a ring around at least five rollers, respectively the two idler return rollers 40, the tensioning-centering roller 23, the counter-roller 24 and the motorized drawing roller 28.
In this case, the tensioning-centering roller 23 is associated with an electro-pneumatic device 23a which serves to automatically center the felt 29, and to a pneumatic device 23b, which serves to regulate the tension of the felt 29, so as to vary this working parameter as desired, to give a greater or lesser stretching and crushing of the fabric being worked.
While it is winding around a substantial part of the circumference of the holed cylinder 22, the fabric 11 is pressed against the latter, with an adjustable pressure, by said felt 29 and also by the counter-roller 24; the latter can also be driven by a pneumatic system with an adjustable pressure.
The desired degree of decatizing is therefore obtained by regulating the position of the introductory element 24, the tension of the felt 29, the quantity and quality of the steam delivered by the delivery means 26 located inside the chamber 27, the quantity of air sucked in through the holed cylinder 22, which can be regulated by means of suitable means, for example throttle means, and also by the position and pressure of the counter-roller 24.
In a preferential embodiment, the outer surface of the holed cylinder 22 is made soft by means of a suitable lining, for example by trigging onto the cylinder a sleeve of felt, which must be transpirable, or some rounds of soft canvas or non-fabric, etc.
The steaming assembly also comprises anti-condensation heating means 26a, co-operating with the chamber 27, which is enclosed by rigid walls made of sheet stainless steel.
The chamber 27, open on the side facing the holed cylinder 22, is lined with a layer of technical fabric of low transpirability, consisting of a fabric of the aramidic fibre type or Nomex® 27a (Fig. 2), combined with an outer anti-friction element 27b, which can be made with a mesh-type net of stainless steel.
The steaming assembly so described is associated with a substantial segment of the circumference of the holed cylinder 22.
The delivery means 26 and 26a are able to deliver steam, at a controlled pressure and temperature, which is transmitted from the outside, passing exactly in sequence through the felt 29, the fabric 11, the lining on the holed cylinder 22a and the holed cylinder 22 itself.
The steam is then conveyed outside by means of the electric fans connected to the cylinder.
The combination of the compression on the fabric 11 caused by the pressing between the felt 29 and the surface of the holed cylinder 22, and the action of steaming from the delivery means 26, 26a, 27, causes a stretching effect on the fabric and a stabilizing of the touch which is called technically "decatizing". It also reduces any possible problems of excessive shininess taken on by the fabric 11 during treatment in the compacting-stabilizing assembly 12.
Between the two functional assemblies - the compacting-stabilizing assembly 12 and the steaming-decatizing assembly 21 - there is a device 20 to monitor the tension of the fabric passing through, consisting of a return roller, at the ends of which two load cells are mounted.
The load cells are able to send an electric signal to synchronize the speeds of the motors of the drawing cylinders, respectively of the compacting felt 13 and the decatizing felt 29,; this keeps the tension (drawing) on the fabric in its critical passage between the two functional assemblies extremely limited, or in any case adequately controlled.
Downstream of the delivery means 26, 26a and 27 and in co-operation with a zone of the outer periphery of the holed cylinder 22, there is in this case a heating assembly 30.
The heating assembly 30 may consist, for example, of drying coils heated by steam and is able to deliver hot air at a temperature of between 80 and 160°C from outside against the felt 29; this air then passes through the sandwich consisting of the felt 29, fabric 11, lining of the holed cylinder 22a and the holed cylinder 22.
According to the type of fabric and the type of treatment to be made, the heating assembly 30 can operate in alternation with or together with the steam delivery means 26, 26a and 27.
The fabric 11 emerging from the decatizing assembly 21 passes around a return roller 39 which is associated with a tension monitoring device with two load cells, suitable to measure the drawing of the fabric 11 passing through.
If the tension of the fabric does not correspond to the pre-set values as required by the finishing treatment, the invention provides to act on the electronic regulation means of the machine which, synchronizing the drawing motors of the two contiguous assemblies, restores the desired and correct conditions.
At outlet from the steaming-decatizing assembly 21, the fabric is sent to a third drying and conditioning assembly 31.
In the drying and conditioning assembly 31, the fabric 11 advances on a conveyor belt 35 (Fig. 3), advantageously with holes or slits, which is made to rotate in a ring between a motorized cylinder 36 and a tensioning cylinder 36a.
The conveyor belt 35 defines a substantially plane supporting base for the fabric 11 which is subjected to drying and conditioning.
The assembly 31 essentially consists of a chamber 32, containing a heat exchanger 33 inside which cooled water circulates, wherein a determined and adjustable quantity of air can be introduced, by means of one or more electric fans 41.
As the air passes through the heat exchanger 33, its temperature is lowered and it then passes through the fabric 11 supported by the holed conveyor belt 35.
In a preferential embodiment, the drying and conditioning assembly 31 is of the type operating with nitrogen vapors, which can be introduced inside the chamber 32 by appropriate atomizer nozzles.
In a further embodiment, the fluid which passes through the heat exchanger 33 consists not of water but of freon gas, connected to an appropriate cooling assembly outside the machine.
In yet another embodiment, nebulized water can be introduced inside the chamber 32, sprayed by suitable atomizer nozzles, so as to deliver onto the underlying fabric not only cooled air but also a certain percentage of humidity.
Between the steaming-decatizing assembly 21 and the drying and conditioning assembly 31, in this case, a steaming assembly 34 is provided.
The steaming assembly 34 is located inside the conveyor belt 35, and the steam is transmitted to the fabric 11 through the holes or slits in the conveyor belt itself.
The assembly 34 consists of a container delivering saturated steam, with adjustable pressure and quantity; the function thereof is to fluff up the fabric (should it be considered too crushed) emerging from the compacting and decatizing treatments before its touch is definitively stabilized by the action of the drying and conditioning assembly 31.
The steaming assembly 34 also has the function of removing any possible excess shininess from the fabric, both in the case of knitwear fabrics, and also in the case of woollen fabrics.
Moreover, by combining the effect of humidity delivered by this steaming assembly 34 on the fabric 11 with the cooling action of the conditioner 31 immediately afterwards, this gives the effect of condensing the humidity on the fabric 11 itself, hence contributing to restoring the optimum value of relative humidity of the textile product.
This humidity value is another of the objectively important parameters in order to have a good stabilizing treatment, both as regards the effects of the processing and as regards the dimensional stability of the finished fabric.
It is important that, during the steaming step performed by the assembly 34, the fabric 11 is supported in a relaxed form on the conveyor belt 35, avoiding any type of unwanted tension on the fabric 11, which otherwise would find itself in a critical condition of substantial plasticity due to the effect of the steam, and would therefore tend to stretch.
The drying and conditioning treatment can be used in co-operation, or in alternation, with the decatizing treatment performed by the delivery means 26, 26a, combined with the suction performed in the holed cylinder 22.
The speed of the conveyor belt 35, which accompanies the fabric 11 through the steaming assembly 34 and the drying and conditioning assembly 31, is appropriately adjusted according to the type and the thickness of the fabric 11, the final level of humidity desired and the presence or absence of any optional further treatments.
In other words, according to the fabric and the result to be obtained, it is possible to achieve as desired all those combinations able to obtain the method of treatment which are held to be appropriate or necessary.

Claims

Finishing method for knitwear fabrics, whether they be 100% cotton, 100% wool, or mixed natural-artificial-synthetic fibres, or shuttle-worked fabrics of a woollen type, whether they be 100% wool or wool-mix, such as for example wool-polyester or wool-silk, the method providing to subject the fabric (11), emerging from a conventional dyeing and/or drying treatment, to a first compacting-stabilizing treatment, carried out by winding the fabric (11) around a heated cylinder (14), and then subjecting the fabric (11) emerging from the compacting-stabilizing treatment immediately and on the same machine to a steaming-decatizing treatment, carried out by winding the fabric around a holed cylinder (22), and pressing it against said cylinder by means of at least an accompanying element (29), the fabric (11) winding around said holed cylinder (22) being hit from outside by a jet of steam sent by appropriate delivery means (26) arranged in co-operation with a segment of the outer periphery of said holed cylinder (22), the fabric (11) emerging from the steaming-decatizing treatment being then subjected to a drying-conditioning treatment carried out by means of passing conditioned air through the fabric (11) itself, characterized in that during the first compacting-stabilizing treatment the fabric is pressed against said heated cylinder (14) having a diameter of between 100 and 1200 mm by means of an accompanying felt (13) with a thickness of between 3 and 25 mm, a counter-roll (16) being located close to said heated cylinder (14) to return said felt (13) where the fabric is introduced, the fabric (11) being introduced and accompanied between the felt (13) wound around said counter-roller (16) and the heated cylinder (14) by an introductory element (17), the position of which can be regulated, thereby varying the introduction position of the fabric.
Method as in Claim 1, characterized in that upstream of the compacting-stabilizing treatment there is a heating-damping treatment on the two faces of the fabric (11), obtained by making the fabric pass through a pair of steaming containers, a fixed lower container (18b) and a movable upper container (18a) associated with an opening-closing element.
Method as in Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that between the compacting-stabilizing treatment and the steaming-decatizing treatment there is an operation to measure and adjust the tension of the fabric, carried out by a device with load cells (20).
Method as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that upstream of the drying-conditioning treatment there is a steaming treatment (34) with the function of fluffing up the pile of the fabric (11) before definitive stabilization.
Method as in Claim 1, characterized in that the drying-conditioning treatment is carried out by means of cooled air with a heat exchanger.
Method as in Claim 1, characterized in that the drying-conditioning treatment is carried out by means of the direct introduction of nitrogen gas.
Method as in Claim 1, characterized in that it provides to subject the fabric (11) passing through the drying-conditioning assembly (31) to a jet of nebulized water to increase the content of humidity in the fabric (11).
Finishing device for fabrics, which can be used both on knitwear fabrics, whether they be 100% cotton, 100% wool, or mixed natural-artificial-synthetic fibres, or shuttle-worked fabrics of a woollen type, whether they be 100% wool or wool-mix, such as for example wool-polyester or wool-silk, having the function of stabilizing characteristics of quality and size of the fabric (11) before making up and final use, the device comprising at least a first compacting-stabilizing assembly (12), a second steaming-decatizing assembly (21) and a third drying-conditioning assembly (31) arranged in sequence, at least the compacting-stabilizing assembly (12) and the steaming-decatizing assembly (21) being mounted on a single machine, said first compacting-stabilizing assembly (12) comprising a heated cylinder (14) on which the fabric (11) winds, characterized in that said cylinder (14) has a diameter of between 100 and 1200 mm and co-operates with an accompanying felt (13) with a thickness of between 3 and 25 mm, the first compacting-stabilizing assembly (12) further comprising an introductory element (17) and a counter-roll (16) which is located close to said heated cylinder (14) to return said felt (13) where the fabric is introduced, the fabric (11) being introduced and accompanied between the felt (13) wound around said counter-roller (16) and the heated cylinder (14) by said introductory element (17), the position of which can be regulated, thereby varying the introduction position of the fabric.
Device as in Claim 8, characterized in that upstream of the compacting-stabilizing assembly (12) there is a heating-damping, or pre-steaming assembly (18a, 18b).
Device as in Claim 8, characterized in that the heating-damping assembly comprises a pair of steaming containers (18a, 18b), able to make the advancing fabric (11) pass inside, at least one container (18a) being associated with an opening-closing element.
Device as in Claim 8, characterized in that said cylinder (14) is chromed and/or lined with soft material, vulcanized rubber, or a felt sleeve.
Device as in Claim 8, characterized in that said cylinder (14) is heated by means of pressurized steam being introduced inside.
Device as in Claim 8, characterized in that said cylinder (14) is electrically heated by means of resistors immersed in a bath of diathermal oil.
Device as in Claim 8, characterized in that the felt (13) is kept under tension between two rollers (15, 19) and said counter-roller (16), wherein the roller (15) has a tensioning and centering function and is associated to a first centering device (15a) and a second tensioning device (15b).
Device as in Claim 14, characterized in that said counter-roller (16) is associated with means (41) to regulate the pressure at which the fabric (11) is pressed against said cylinder (14)
Device as in Claim 8, characterized in that between the first compacting-stabilizing assembly (12) and the second steaming-decatizing assembly (21) there is a device (20) to monitor the tension of the fabric (11).
Device as in Claim 8, characterized in that the second steaming-decatizing assembly (21) comprises a holed cylinder (22) onto which the fabric (11) is wound, said cylinder (22) having a diameter of between 100 and 1200 mm, and co-operating with an accompanying element (29) consisting of a transpirable felt, said cylinder (22) being associated, at least at its ends, to suction means able to create a depression inside said cylinder (22).
Device as in Claim 17, characterized in that said second assembly (21) comprises means (26, 26a, 27) arranged in co-operation with a zone of the outer periphery of the cylinder (22) and able to deliver a jet of steam from outside which passes through the surface of the felt (29) to hit the fabric (11).
Device as in Claim 18, characterized in that said means comprise means to deliver steam (26) co-operating with a sealed containing and conveying chamber (27), said chamber (27) being lined with a resistant layer (27a) made of fabric and an anti-friction layer (27b) made of steel mesh.
Device as in Claim 17, characterized in that in co-operation with a zone of the outer periphery of the holed cylinder (22) the second steaming-decatizing assembly (21) comprises means (30) able to deliver hot air from the outside against the felt (29), said hot air passing through the sandwich consisting of the felt (29), the fabric (11), the lining on the holed cylinder (22a) and the holed cylinder (22).
Device as in Claim 20, characterized in that the means (30) operate in alternation with the means (26, 26a, 27).
Device as in Claim 20, characterized in that the means (30) operate simultaneously with the means (26, 26a, 27).
Device as in Claim 17, characterized in that the felt (29) is kept under tension between at least a motorized drawing roller (28), a roller (23) and return rollers (40), wherein the roller (23) has a tensioning-centering function and is associated with a first centering device (23a) and a second tensioning device (23b).
Device as in Claim 8, characterized in that the drying-conditioning assembly (31) comprises a cooling unit (32) consisting of a series of water-air exchangers (33) able to send a current of cooled air against the surface of the fabric (11) passing through.
Device as in Claim 24, characterized in that upstream of the cooling unit (32) there is a steaming unit (34).
Device as in Claim 24 or 25, characterized in that it comprises a holed or slitted conveyor belt (35) defining a supporting plane for the fabric (11) passing through the drying unit (31) and/or the steaming assembly (34).