Classifications

• • 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
  • D06C7/02—Setting
• • 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
  • D06B15/00—Removing liquids, gases or vapours from textile materials in association with treatment of the materials by liquids, gases or vapours
  • D06B15/06—Removing liquids, gases or vapours from textile materials in association with treatment of the materials by liquids, gases or vapours by vibrating the textile material
• • 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
  • D06C19/00—Breaking or softening of fabrics
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F26—DRYING
  • F26B—DRYING SOLID MATERIALS OR OBJECTS BY REMOVING LIQUID THEREFROM
  • F26B13/00—Machines and apparatus for drying fabrics, fibres, yarns, or other materials in long lengths, with progressive movement
  • F26B13/10—Arrangements for feeding, heating or supporting materials; Controlling movement, tension or position of materials

Definitions

• This invention relates to an improved machine and method for the combined mechanical and thermal treatment of iabrics to provide effects of dimensional restorability and hand and, in particular, for treating knitted fabrics continuously or discontinuously.
• fabric finishing processes use various devices and treatments to promote the dimensional restorability of the fabric so that this value is as close as possible to the maximum that this will have during the future washing and drying treatments necessary for cleaning an item of clothing tailored with the fabric.
• the first and second types of treatment are not particularly effective and, in most cases, both the treatments, performed immediately after one another, are necessary to obtain an acceptable result.
• the third type of prior art treatment that is, tumble drying, is by far the most effective and is normally used as a limit term of reference.
• Tumble drying has the serious disadvantages of being discontinuous, with the fabric in rope form, of being possible only on small quantities at a time, with problems of knotting and wringing, of not providing uniform quality and, lastly, of being labour- intensive.
• the methods used to help fabric relaxation include vibrating or beating in order to reduce friction between the fibres and between the fibres and other surfaces in contact with them.
• Patent documents GB1178270, GB1304733, EP148113A1, EP130342A2, US4219942 describe machines equipped with vibrating conveyor belts for the fabric. The flexibility of the belts in these machines prevents vibrations from being adequately transmitted to the fabric.
• Patent document GB2103670 describes apparatus and methods for relieving stresses in fabric which is made up into a roll or bolt preparatory to further processing.
• the fabric is unwound in such a way as to leave a portion of it slack and to lay it on a vibrating plate.
• Document GB879483 describes an apparatus in which a damp fabric is made to vibrate using a vibrating grid in a drying zone. The amplitude of vibration imparted to the fabric decreases progressively in the direction of fabric feed.
• Document FR1024514 describes a method for stress-relieving a fabric where the fabric is opened out and made to pass on a vibrating support. Alternatively, the fabric may be folded on a vibrating table. To increase the efficacy of the treatment, the fabric may be loaded with weights.
• Patent WO2010064130 to the same applicant as this invention describes a machine in which the fabric is treated partly in the form of a substantially compact mass in a vibrating tub and partly in a drying tunnel. As it feeds through the machine, the fabric is substantially in open-width form.
• This invention therefore has for an aim to provide an improved process for treating fabrics continuously and discontinuously, and which permits drying of a fabric, especially a knitted fabric, while simultaneously obtaining an effect of recovery, swelling and relaxation that improves hand feel and dimensional stability.
• FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a machine according to the invention for the discontinuous treatment of a fabric
• FIG. 2 is a photographic image showing the fabric during the step in the process in which it is subjected to vibration;
• FIG. 3 is a photographic image showing the fabric in transit towards the drying tunnel
• FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a machine according to the invention for the continuous treatment of a fabric.
• Figure 1 illustrates an improved machine according to the invention for the discontinuous, combined mechanical and thermal treatment of a fabric. To better illustrate the essential parts of the machine, the containment walls are not shown.
• the machine comprises a rigid, vibrating platform in the form of a cradle 2, and a drying tunnel 4 equipped with at least one hot air distributor 8 fed by a fan 10.
• a conveyor 7 driven by motor-operated rollers 5,6 is provided for picking up the fabric from one end of the cradel, running it through the tunnel and returning it to the other end of the cradle.
• the platform-cradle is divided into at least two sections 2a, 2b parallel to the direction of fabric movement, for simultaneously treating as many bolts Tl, T2. Further, the width of each section 2a, 2b is less than the height of the bolts and is preferably adjustable.
• the bolts Tl, T2 are partly in open-width form and partly in rope form, taking on the form of a mass 3 better illustrated in Figure 2, with an efficacy of treatment that is remarkably improved over even that obtainable using the machine of patent WO2010064130.
• the bolts Tl, T2 are picked up (see Figure 3) by the rollers 5, 6 and by the conveyor belt 7, run through the drying tunnel 4 and then placed in the cradle 2 again.
• the drying tunnel 4 comprises a first hot air distributor 8 located above the belt 7 and acting substantially on the entire stretch of the bolt lying on the belt.
• a second hot air distributor 9 may be provided to act from below, through the belt, on the part of the stretch of bolt furthest from the unloading roller 6. The hot air is thus distributed correctly and effectively on the part of the fabric being transported by the belt and, moreover, adherence of the fabric to the unloading roller 6 is guaranteed.
• directional paddles are advantageously provided.
• the vibrations or oscillations are preferably vertical or have a significant vertical component.
• the amplitude and frequency of the oscillations are induced in such a way that the acceleration imparted to the fabric is greater than gravity, so that the entire mass of the fabric is jolted and not just the part of it that is in direct contact with the platform 2, as in the case of prior art vibrating belt systems.
• the peak-to-peak amplitude of the vibrations or oscillations may be between 20 and 60 mm, and the frequency between 5 and 15Hz or, more preferably, between 5Hz and 10Hz.
• the heating system 8,9 is preferably of the hot air type, with air partly recirculated, if necessary.
• the fabric T should initially be in a moistened or wet state.
• the fabric is sewn head to tail in such a way as to form a closed loop that moves round continuously within the machine.
• the hot air fed into the tunnel 4 by the distributors 8, 9 through the fan 10 and heated by a direct or indirect heating system 15 may be partly recirculated and partly renovated depending on the flow rate set using the extraction fan 1 1.
• FIG. 4 schematically illustrates an embodiment of the machine for the continuous treatment of knitted fabrics.
• the bolts of fabric partly in open-width form and partly in rope form, are fed continuously into a first vibrating platform-cradle 18 which is divided into at least two sections and from there are transferred by a conveyor belt system 70 similar to the one described above into a second platform-cradle 19 passing through a heated tunnel 40, also similar to the one described above.
• the bolts can be moved alternately between the cradles 18, 19.
• the invention achieves considerable technical advantages.
• a first advantage is that the relaxation and compacting action induced in the mass of fabric partly in open-width form and partly in rope form accumulated on the platform, combined with the action of the heat applied by the drying system, absorbs most of the residual tensions in the fabric and almost completely recovers deformation, whether elastic or plastic.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Textile Engineering (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Treatment Of Fiber Materials (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=44588147

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (8)

Families Citing this family (4)

Family Cites Families (13)

• 2010
  • 2010-06-29 SM SM201000089A patent/SM201000089B/it unknown
• 2011
  • 2011-06-30 BR BR212013000025U patent/BR212013000025U2/pt not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2011-06-30 EP EP11754937.8A patent/EP2588660A2/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2011-06-30 CN CN2011900007123U patent/CN203346644U/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2011-06-30 DE DE202011110544.3U patent/DE202011110544U1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2011-06-30 WO PCT/IT2011/000223 patent/WO2012001722A2/en active Application Filing
  • 2011-06-30 RU RU2013103700/12U patent/RU142886U1/ru not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2014
  • 2014-08-02 IT ITPO2014U000010U patent/ITPO20140010U1/it unknown

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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