Classifications

• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06B—TREATING TEXTILE MATERIALS USING LIQUIDS, GASES OR VAPOURS
  • D06B7/00—Mercerising, e.g. lustring by mercerising
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06B—TREATING TEXTILE MATERIALS USING LIQUIDS, GASES OR VAPOURS
  • D06B1/00—Applying liquids, gases or vapours onto textile materials to effect treatment, e.g. washing, dyeing, bleaching, sizing or impregnating
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06B—TREATING TEXTILE MATERIALS USING LIQUIDS, GASES OR VAPOURS
  • D06B23/00—Component parts, details, or accessories of apparatus or machines, specially adapted for the treating of textile materials, not restricted to a particular kind of apparatus, provided for in groups D06B1/00 - D06B21/00
  • D06B23/02—Rollers
  • D06B23/028—Rollers for thermal treatment
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06C—FINISHING, DRESSING, TENTERING OR STRETCHING TEXTILE FABRICS
  • D06C7/00—Heating or cooling textile fabrics
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06M—TREATMENT, NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE IN CLASS D06, OF FIBRES, THREADS, YARNS, FABRICS, FEATHERS OR FIBROUS GOODS MADE FROM SUCH MATERIALS
  • D06M11/00—Treating fibres, threads, yarns, fabrics or fibrous goods made from such materials, with inorganic substances or complexes thereof; Such treatment combined with mechanical treatment, e.g. mercerising
  • D06M11/58—Treating fibres, threads, yarns, fabrics or fibrous goods made from such materials, with inorganic substances or complexes thereof; Such treatment combined with mechanical treatment, e.g. mercerising with nitrogen or compounds thereof, e.g. with nitrides
  • D06M11/59—Treating fibres, threads, yarns, fabrics or fibrous goods made from such materials, with inorganic substances or complexes thereof; Such treatment combined with mechanical treatment, e.g. mercerising with nitrogen or compounds thereof, e.g. with nitrides with ammonia; with complexes of organic amines with inorganic substances

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a method for treating textile materials by ammonia, in particular bolts of fabric or yarns. This type of method is commonly known as mercerization. More generally, the invention relates to a method for treating textile articles or materials by liquids at low condensation temperature.
• the invention also relates to a machine for treating textile materials.
• State of the Art
• Mercerization is a typical treatment for fabrics and yarns made of all cel- lulosic fibers, particular for cotton, which allows the material to be given a series of advantages, such as:
• the section of the fiber is transformed from elliptical to circular, thus al- lowing improved reflection of light with a consequent increase in luster.
• liquid ammonia can be used as the mercerization chemical.
• Discontinuous mercerization machines were recently proposed. In these machines a bolt of fabric wound on a roller is disposed in a closed chamber, where it is gradually unwound, immersed in an impregnation bath containing liquid ammonia, dried and rewound on a pick-up roller.
• An example of a discontinuous machine of this type is described by C. Meyer «Nuovo proce- dimento di trattamento discontinuo con ammoniaca» ("New procedure of di- scontinuous treatment by ammonia”), in ITB, International Textile Bulletin 6/99, page 48 and following.
• the object of the present invention is to produce a method and a machine that overcomes the drawbacks described above. More specifically, ac- cording to a first aspect, the object of the present invention is to produce a method that makes the mercerization process with ammonia simpler and less expensive, as well as intrinsically safer, and more generally a method wherein a textile article is impregnated with products that at ambient pressure condense at low temperature. According to a different aspect, the object of the present invention is to produce a machine that is simpler and easier to manage, as well as less e- xpensive and safer, for mercerization with ammonia or for other treatments implying impregnation of textile materials with products that at ambient pressure condense at low temperature.
• the method according to the invention is defined in claim 1 and the machine according to the invention is defined in claim 20.
• the dependent claims define characteristics and non-limiting preferred embodiments of the invention. -
• Textile material or article is intended as any semi-finished product of considerable length that may be fed along a treatment path.
• the textile article or material may be a spun fabric, a knitted fabric, a non-woven fabric or an essentially tubular product produced with spun or unspun textile fibers.
• the textile article or material may, moreover, also be a yarn with any structure.
• the method according to the invention performs controlled impregnation of the fabric with liquid ammonia that is made to condense from the gaseous or vapor state directly on the fabric or on a surface with which the fabric comes into contact, in a quantity sufficient to implement the process. With this system the quantity of ammonia that impregnates the fabric can be reduced in a controlled way to any percentage value required.
• the method according to the invention to obtain condensation of the gaseous ammonia on the fabric consists in rapidly cooling the fabric, immersed in an environment saturated with gaseous ammonia, placing it in contact with surfaces maintained suitably cold with a cooling system capa- ble of controlling the temperature.
• the time for which the fabric remains in contact with the cold surface and the temperature thereof allow safe and re- peatable control of the percentage of impregnation of the fabric.
• the pressure of the ammonia gas chosen to saturate the treatment chamber, which due to incompatibility with the environment must be isolated from the outside envi- ronment, will also determine the temperature range to which the fabric must be taken to obtain condensation of the ammonia.
• the cooled surface can be a fixed surface, on which the textile article is made to run.
• one or more guide rollers, motorized or idle, are provided, on which the textile article is guided and which are maintained at the temperature required to obtain condensation of the ammonia present in the saturated atmosphere of the chamber in which said rollers are disposed.
• One of the possible configurations is to feed the fabric maintaining it in contact with the two cooling rollers, on one of which the fabric is partially wound with the right side and on the other with the wrong side.
• rollers or other members defining the condensation surface of the ammonia are enclosed in a treatment or impregnation chamber, filled completely with gaseous ammonia at a pressure in the vicinity, for example, to the ambient pressure, so that the rollers or any other condensation surface must be maintained at temperatures below -33°C by means of a suitable cooling circuit.
• condensation of the ammonia will take place both on the fabric and on the cooled metallic surface immediately before the fabric comes into contact and absorbs it immediately.
• the fabric will advance in contact with heated rollers, or other drying devices and the ammonia vapor released from the fabric will return to the treatment or impregnation chamber to be condensed once again on the fabric fed to the chamber.
• the two condensation and drying chambers are in fluid communication, so that condensation of the ammonia in the first causes gaseous ammonia to be retrieved from the other.
• the machine does not require the addition of any ammonia or complex systems to recover and liquefy said ammonia.
• the process may be a continuous process, with the textile article fed through an open system, that is with an inlet and an outlet.
• the process and machine may be produced for discontinuous treatment, in which a bolt of fabric or reel of yarn or another textile article is unwound and rewound in a closed environment, from which the treated textile article is collected at the end of the treatment after said treatment is interrupted.
• Figure 1 shows a schematic longitudinal section of an exemplificative diagram of a machine according to the invention in an embodiment for continuous treatment
• Figure 2 shows a schematic section of a machine for discontinuous treatment.
• the machine indicated as a whole with 1 , is of the continuous type and has an inlet 3 and an outlet 5 for the textile article, which in this example of embodiment is a fabric indicated with T.
• the treatment may also be performed on a yarn or on another type of textile article the fibers of which must undergo mercerization using ammonia.
• Means, of a per se known type may be associated with the inlet 3 and the outlet 5, to prevent the gases present inside the machine from escaping.
• Schematically the machine is provided with a first condensation or impregnation chamber, that is for the actual treatment, indicated with 7, communicating with a second drying chamber 9.
• the path of the fabric T to be treated extends and travels through the two chambers.
• Two rollers 11 , 13 are disposed in the impregnation chamber 7 and ro- tate in opposite directions according to the arrows in the drawing.
• the rollers may be motorized to facilitate feed of the fabric, or one of them may be idle and the other motorized. Alternatively they may both be idle.
• the solution with idle rollers simplifies the roller support system, but the fabric must to be made to travel through the impregnation chamber 7 by traction.
• one or more of the rollers downstream along the path of the fabric may be motorized.
• the number 15 schematically indicates a cooling circuit used to compress, cool, condense and expand the coolant made to circulate in the two rollers 11 ad 13.
• the chamber 7 is saturated with ammonia at a controlled pressure, for example slightly below the atmospheric pressure, to prevent ammonia from escaping from the chamber into the environment.
• a controlled pressure for example slightly below the atmospheric pressure
• the ammonia condensates on the surface of the rollers and impregnates the fabric T which is driven around them.
• This allows essentially uniform impregnation of the thickness of the fabric,
• the fabric exits from the impregnation or treatment chamber 7 through a passage 17 and enters the dryi ing chamber 9, where a dancer roll 18 determines the correct tension of the fabric and automatically adjusts the speed of the subsequent controlled rollers.
• the fabric is also wound around guide and drive rollers 19, 21 , 27 that define a path of the fabric around two heated rollers 23, 25.
• These may be heated electrically, by the circulation of hot air, by a heat- carrying liquid or vapor or in any other suitable way.
• the drying rollers 23, 25 are disposed so that they comejnto contact with the two opposed faces of the fabric T to cause rapid and uniform drying.
• the ammonia that evaporates from the fabric T by means of absorption of heat energy supplied by the rollers 23, 25 is returned to the chamber 7 through the passage 17. In this way no machine of any type is required to re- cover the ammonia. Recovery and re-use of the ammonia occurs as a result of the difference in the thermodynamic conditions in the two chambers.
• the condensation conditions in the chamber 7 and the feed speed of the fabric T can be controlled to obtain impregnation of the fabric with low percentages in weight of ammonia, typically and advantageously below 50% in weight of the dry fabric and preferably equal to or below 25%.
• the textile article may be impregnated with a quantity ranging from 1% to 20% in weight, and in particular from 1% to 15% in weight, and even more preferably from 1% to 10% or from 1% to 8% in weight. This small percentage of ammonia may be eliminated very easily and more or less completely by the heated rollers 23, 25.
• ammonia dissolved in water does not perform any useful effect on the fabric.
• the fabric subjected to the treatment necessarily has a humidity content relevant to a greater or lesser extent (typically ranging from 2% to 8% but in any case depending on the ambient humidity and on any pre-treatments of the textile article)
• part of the ammonia absorbed by the fabric is neutralized by the water present in the fabric in the form of humidity. Water absorbs up to 40%) in weight of ammonia. Therefore, if the fabric has a humidity percentage of, for example, 5% in weight compared to the weight of the dry fabric, a quantity equal to 2% in weight of the dry fabric will be absorbed by the water and neutralized by it.
• impregnation must be carried out with a total quantity of 5% in weight of ammonia, with reference to the weight of the dry fabric.
• Useful percentage is intended as the percentage of ammonia that remains available to perform its action on the textile fibers, after that the residual water in the form of humidity in the fabric has been saturated by the ammonia.
• Figure 2 shows an example of embodiment of a discontinuous machine.
• the same numbers indicate parts that are the same as or correspond to those in the machine in Figure 1.
• the machine once again indicated as a whole with 1 , comprises a first impregnation and treatment chamber 7 and a second drying chamber 9.
• a feed path of the textile article which also in this case is represented by way of example by a fabric T, e- xtends around the two rollers 11 , 13.
• the fabric is unwound from a feed roll R1 on which a certain quantity of fabric to be treated is wound.
• the roll R1 is unwound by a motorized unwinding roller 2.
• the number 4 indicates two counter-pressure rollers associated with two cooled rollers 11 , 13.
• a scraper 6 with a heating pipe 8 and a drainage tray 10 is also associated with each of the two cooled rollers 11 , 13.
• This layout may be used to scrape away any water ice forming on the surface of the rollers.
• the ice is detached by the scraper, which may be positioned at a minimum distance from the surface of the roller so as not to scrape the ammonia condensate.
• the detached ice is heated by means of the heating pipe and recovered by means of the drainage tray.
• the number 12 indicates spreader bars used to prevent wrinkles from forming on the fabric T, so that it adheres perfectly to the respective roller 11 or 13.
• two heated rollers 23, 25 are provided, around which the path of the fabric T, said path also defined by guide rollers 18, 19, extends.
• the roller 18 may be a dancer roll to control tension of the fabric T.
• Further spreader bars 12 are also provided along the path of the fabric and in the impregnation chamber 7.
• the treated and dried fabric is wound on a roll R2, made to rotate by a motorized winding roller 30.
• the machine operates as follows. A roll R1 of fabric to be treated is fed into the chamber 7 and its initial end is made to pass through the path and fastened to a winding core on which the roll R2 will be formed. The machine is closed and the fabric is treated being unwound from the roll R1 and rewound on the roll R2. At the end of the treatment, after elimination of the ammonia from the machine or in any case with due caution, the roll R2 is removed from the chamber 9 and a new roll R1 is inserted in the chamber 7 to be subjected to a new treatment cycle. In the example shown in Figure 2, the fluid passes from the chamber 9 to the chamber 7 through a separate path with respect to the path of the fabric.
• a heat insulated wall 33 is provided to separate the two chambers and define, together with a cold wall 35, cooled by a cooling coil 37, a cavity 39.
• the cooling coil 37 also has the function of causing condensation of any water vapor released by the fabric during the drying phase.
• the condensed water is collected by a drainage tray 40 that closes the cavity 39 at the bottom.
• the particular layout of the cavity 39 with the coil 37 and any other hea- ting means for defrosting, and the other elements combined with it, may also be provided in the continuous machine in Figure 1.
• the expedients for eliminating water vapor, water condensate or ice are particularly useful in the case of a continuous machine, where the continuous passage of the fabric may cause water to accumulate. Therefore, the presence of the elements 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 may also be provided and advantageous in the continuous machine in Figure 1.
• One or more guide rollers defining the path of the fabric in the impregnation chamber 7 may be adjustable to modify the path of the fabric and to increase or reduce the contact surface between the fabric and the cooled rol- lers 11 , 13. This allows a greater or smaller percentage of the surface of the rollers to be made available for direct condensation of the ammonia. In this way it is possible to modify the quantity of ammonia that condenses on the surface of the rollers and impregnates the fabric when it comes into contact with the roller. In fact, impregnation can take place by condensation of the ammonia from the atmosphere of the chamber 9 on the exposed surface of the fabric cooled by the rollers, or by condensation on the surface of the rollers and absorption by the fabric upon contact.
• impregnation takes place through the surface of the fabric in contact with the roller rather than through the surface exposed to the atmosphere of the chamber 7.
• the drawing purely shows a possible embodiment of the invention, which may vary in forms and layouts without however departing from the scope of the concept on which the invention is based.
• the ammonia, or any other treatment product may also be eliminated using a different method to heating, such as through evaporation caused by vacuum pressure, by washing or in another way.
• heating is the least expensive method and allows immediate re-use of the evaporated product, by cooling and transferring it to the impregnation chamber.
• the fabric may also be subjected to further operations upstream and do- wnstream of the treatment described herein.
• further operations upstream and do- wnstream of the treatment described herein.
• a subsequent wash phase may be provided. These operations may take place in line in the case of the continuous line in Figure 1 , or outside the line by unwinding the roll R2 in the case of the machine in Figure 2.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Textile Engineering (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Thermal Sciences (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Inorganic Chemistry (AREA)
• Treatment Of Fiber Materials (AREA)
• Chemical Or Physical Treatment Of Fibers (AREA)
• Fertilizers (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=33105032

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (11)

Families Citing this family (12)

Family Cites Families (2)

• 2003
  • 2003-04-02 IT IT000088A patent/ITFI20030088A1/it unknown
• 2004
  • 2004-03-26 TW TW093108280A patent/TW200500524A/zh unknown
  • 2004-03-31 WO PCT/IT2004/000165 patent/WO2004088027A1/fr active IP Right Grant
  • 2004-03-31 DE DE602004005169T patent/DE602004005169D1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2004-03-31 AT AT04724709T patent/ATE356241T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2004-03-31 BR BR0403963-7A patent/BRPI0403963A/pt not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2004-03-31 EP EP04724709A patent/EP1608807B1/fr not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2004-03-31 US US10/512,985 patent/US20050172417A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2004-03-31 KR KR1020047019599A patent/KR20050120569A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2004-03-31 CN CNA2004800002872A patent/CN1697896A/zh active Pending
  • 2004-03-31 JP JP2006507646A patent/JP2006522236A/ja active Pending

Non-Patent Citations (1)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events