FI56561C - FOERFARANDE OCH ANORDNING FOER FAERGNING AV ETT POROEST TEXTILMATERIAL UNDER BILDANDE AV ETT MOENSTER - Google Patents

Description

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17 D 06 B 11/00 FINLAND — FINLAND ¢ 1) Patent application - Patentansöhning 3588/7 * + (22) Application form - Ansflknlngsdag 12.12.7 * + (23) Initial publication - Giltighetsdag 12.12.7 4 (41) Published public - Bllvlt offentllg 04.07.7 5

National Board of Patents and Registration Nihtivikslpanon j. the date of the month. -

Patent and registration authorities '' Aiuölun utlagd och utl. * Crystal published 31.10.79 (32) (33) (31) Privilege requested —Begird prlorltet 03.01.74 07.06.7 * +, 30.07.7 * + USA (US) * +30526, 477461, * + 93187 (71) Milliken Research Corporation, P.0. Box 1927, Spartanburg, South Carolina, USA (72) Harold Lee Johnson, Spartantmrg, South Carolina, William Hogue Stewart, Jr., Spartanburg, South Carolina, USA (7 * +) Berggren Oy Ab (5 The present invention relates to the addition of colors in the form of patterns to porous textiles, in particular to the pattern dyes of textile pile fabrics such as carpets.

Textile fibers and fibrous materials have long been dyed with natural and synthetic dyes, and especially by decorating the printed surface or surfaces of materials with colors in certain repetitive shapes and colors to form a pattern. Such color printing of textile fabrics has been performed by either plate printing, roll printing or wire printing.

Recently, the printing of textile materials, including pile carpets, has been described essentially by spraying dyes on the surface of a moving material web, e.g. as described in U.S. Patents 3,419,138 and 3,570,275 and British Patent 978,452. Generally, the devices used for this consist of a plurality of dye-spraying rods, i.e. manifolds, spaced apart along the direction of travel of the textile web and each having a plurality of dye nozzles spaced transversely across the transverse web. Each nozzle can be activated by a suitable electrical, pneumatic or mechanical device to deliver toner to the moving web, and pattern control to deliver toners in the desired sequential order can be accomplished by a variety of conventional programming devices such as mechanical control pins and drums, coded

U.S. Patent Nos. 3,443,878 and 3,570,275 disclose the use of continuous flowing toner streams that are deflected by an air jet or mechanical deflector so that the toner stream can be struck by a dye or recycled back to the toner container.

It would be quite desirable to be able to produce very detailed, sharp and complex patterns as is obtained in conventional weaving processes using multicolored yarns, such as Axminster or Wilton weaving processes. Therefore, in the pattern dyeing of pile fabrics, it is extremely important to have the toner accurately placed in the pile yarns of the fabric. It is desirable that the toner be added in such a small amount that it is capable of staining a single yarn or pile or similar area without improperly absorbing or migrating the pile surface to other puppets. It is thus obvious that the accuracy of the amount and placement of the toner in the pile fabric is extremely important when dyeing the pile fabrics with complex patterns.

Certain factors can adversely affect the accuracy of dye placement on the pile. The speed of movement of the fabric must be accurately correlated with the addition of dyes. If the toner flow rate varies with the speed of the carpet to which it is added, there will be difficult tinting and placement accuracy problems.

In order to minimize such problems, the present invention relates to a method for dyeing a porous textile material, in particular a lint-free pattern, in which the material is passed past at least one row of color nozzles extending transversely to the swimsuit and the ink is continuously discharged from each color nozzle. 3,5561 depending on the material transfer and the pattern to be formed, and an apparatus for performing this method, the apparatus comprising a conveyor for transferring the substance, at least one row of color nozzles arranged transversely to the conveyor, a device for continuously pumping pressurized dye liquid out of the color nozzles, nozzle a device that controls the deflection devices by means of pattern information stored therein, which information is triggered by a pulse device operating on the movement of the conveyor. The method and device according to the invention are mainly known from the features according to claims 1 and 11.

According to this method, the substance is conveyed in relative motion to a row of color-donating nozzles transverse to the movement of the substance, the liquid toner stream is continuously dispensed from each nozzle and is optionally directed away from the substance or substance, according to the flow pattern shown therein. with pattern information batches in repetitive cycles to control the toner flows so that each color cycle starts due to the substance moving a predetermined distance, all toner flows can be directed to the substance during each cycle for a predetermined period of time, streams are controlled according to pattern information in each period, and the toner flows in the line are diverted away from the material. In this way, a certain area of the fabric is dyed by repeated, intermittent additions of color, instead of an uninterrupted current flowing continuously into this area. For example, if it is desired to form a continuous, full color line along the length of the fabric below a certain color stream, the color stream will not impinge on the fabric continuously throughout the line, but instead the color is added in separate increments by periodically diverting the current away in correlation with fabric movement. This provides a much more precise control of the amounts of color that can be added to the fabric while minimizing the possibility of inaccurate dye placement due to possible erroneous movement of the fabric when adding color to the desired area of the fabric.

An additional aid in dispensing accurate amounts of toner to the pile fabric in a preferred embodiment of the invention is an apparatus for adding currents to the fabric at optionally variable time intervals during said period of each period, allowing individual amounts of color to be adjusted from individual streams. To provide complex tinting and / or "in situ" mixing of colors from different color jet rods, if desired.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus for performing the method described above, the apparatus comprising conveying a dye, at least one row of nozzles located transversely near the conveyor, means for pumping liquid dye in continuous streams through nozzles, nozzle-specific deflection deflectors a guide device which, on the basis of the movement of the conveyor, gives timing signals limiting successive operating periods corresponding to parts of the movement of the conveyor, a pattern control device which can optionally be made to control the deflection devices on the basis of the stored information so as to select the selected color to strike the substance in one or more periods within each period, and a timing device to determine the duration of such period; for a period shorter than the duration of the period and is determined independently of any variations in the duration of the period.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which an embodiment of the invention is shown by way of example and in which:

Fig. 1 is a schematic side view of a textile dyeing and printing apparatus, Fig. 2 is an enlarged schematic plan view of the color spraying portion of the apparatus of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a schematic vertical side view of the color addition portion of Fig. 2, showing only one spray bar; and shows its functional connection to its color supply system and the pattern control components of the device, Fig. 5 is an enlarged schematic sectional view of the color jet rod of Fig. 4, Fig. 6 is a time diagram showing , Fig. 9 is a timing diagram related to Fig. 8, Fig. 10 is a block diagram of the main control table of Fig. 8, Fig. 11 is a block diagram of one of the dispensers of Fig. 8, Fig. 12 is a block diagram from the jet rod spray time duration control circuit, and Fig. 13 is a block diagram of the sub-cycle control circuit.

Figure 1 shows a spray dyeing device for pattern dyeing of carpet tiles. The device consists of a feed table 10, from which the carpet tiles 11 are transferred to the lower end of the inclined conveyor 12 of the color addition 14, where the tiles are suitably pattern-dyed by as you pass. The patterned tiles are transferred from the color addition section by conveyors 18,20 driven by the motors 22, 24 to the steam chamber 26 where the dyes are attached.

S6561 The stained tiles from the steam chamber 26 are passed through a water washer 28 to remove excess, non-adhering toner and then pass through a hot air dryer 30 to a collection table 32 on which the dried tiles are stacked. It is clear that this conveying system can be used to convey other substances, such as continuous, wide machine woven pile carpets for dyeing, if the device is equipped with conventional feed and discharge devices.

Details of the device are shown in Figures 2-5. Fig. 2 is an enlarged schematic plan view of the color spray section 14 of Fig. 1 and showing an endless conveyor 12 supported by chains and sprockets (not shown) suitably mounted on rotating shafts 34, 36, one of which, 36, is driven by a motor 38. Rectangular or square mats for pattern dyeing, the surface of the conveyor 12 is provided with a series of separating or intermediate ribs 40 which precisely place the plates at a distance from each other on the support slats of the conveyor. As the conveyor moves, the plates pass successively near and below substantially similar jet bars 16, five of which jet bars, 42-50, are schematically shown spaced along the conveyor path extending over its entire width.

As best seen in Figures 3 and 4, in which only one spray rod 42 is shown for clarity, each of these structurally substantially similar spray rods comprises a plurality of separate spray nozzles 52 disposed along the rod and positioned to direct toner in thin fluxes toward the surface of the pile tiles. Each spray rod includes a dye supply manifold 54 (Figure 5) that communicates with the spray nozzles 52 and is supplied with liquid toner from a separate toner reservoir 56. The pump 58 delivers liquid toner from the reservoir 56 under pressure that is, as jets of nozzles 52 per pattern-stained surface.

Near each spray nozzle, at right angles to its opening, there is a nozzle opening 6l of the air supply pipe 62 (Fig. 5). Each air tube 62 is provided with its own separate solenoid valve 64 (Figure 4). Air is supplied to the solenoid valves from the air compressor 66.

Although the valves of each jet rod are shown in Figures 2 and 3 for clarity with only one valve symbol 64, each jet of the jet rod has its own solenoid valve and its own air supply pipe so that each individual color jet can be controlled on a jet-by-jet basis. The valves are controlled by a pattern control device or mechanism so that all of the continuously flowing color jets normally collide with an air stream deviating from the direction of the color jet to a collection basin 95, from which toner . Generally, for dyeing repetitive patterns, the magnetic tape may be provided with a repetitive set of information that is transferred to the solenoid valves until the desired number of tiles have become pattern dyed. In the case of the drawing, a series of ten tiles (five pairs) are arranged at a distance from each other on the conveyor belt, and the pattern control device starts operating when the leading edge of the first pair of tiles appears under the first spray bar 42. Information about the magnetic tape and the switching device is then fed to close and open the solenoid valves.

Each solenoid valve is normally open, allowing the air jet to impinge on the continuously flowing toner jet, deflecting all the jets of color from their direction into the jet collecting trays for recycling. As the first pair of carpet tiles pass under the first spray bar and the pattern control device begins to operate, some of the normally open air valves close so that the corresponding color jets do not have to deviate from their direction, but collide directly with the surface of the textile material. In this way, opening and closing the solenoid air valves in the desired order on the textile material causes the desired color pattern to form as the textile material passes.

When the spray dyeing machine is running continuously, the speed of the conveyor conveying the textile material may vary slightly or the position of the fabric tiles may otherwise change, which may cause the color pattern formed on the tiles not to match the dye to be dyed. For this purpose, the machine is provided with a device for correlating the start time of the signals coming from the pattern control device 68 to the air valves with the position of the conveyor. As schematically shown in Figures 2 and 3, the control system includes a synchronization switch 70, a transfer system 72, and an electronic alignment system 74. The switch 70 periodically contacts a mechanical trigger finger 76 attached to the edge of the conveyor 12 and the transfer system 72 is operatively associated with the shaft 36. to convert the mechanical movement of the conveyor 12 into electrical pulses which nominally occur every millimeter.

As best seen in Figure 2, the transmission system 72, which may be of the mechanical, optical, or electromagnetic type, is mechanically coupled to the shaft 36 via gears 78 to transmit the desired heart rate per centimeter of distance traveled by the conveyor. In the present case, the transmission system 72 is provided with a tooth transmission that transmits ten electric heartbeats per centimeter of travel.

The signals from the transfer system 72 pass through the electronic alignment system 7 to the pattern control device 68 as the conveyor passes the carpet tiles past the jet bars. The signals are sent to trigger private jet rod jets per fluff material only after the material has traveled a predetermined, preselected distance relative to the spray coil stations. For example, if you want to pattern dyed a tufted mat with a tuft spacing of 2.5 mm in both the longitudinal and transverse directions, the nozzle spacing in the spray bar is 2.5 mm from center to center, and the alignment system signals activating the pattern control are set to four signals for conveyor travel. per centimeter.

At the time interval corresponding to the 2.5 mm travel of the conveyor, the pattern control device is able to apply the color streams to the lint mat for selected periods of time. As best seen in the time line of Figure 6, after receiving the alignment of the activating signal E from the system 74, the pattern control device is adjusted to send signals to close the selected air valves and thus direct toner from the respective toner jets to the lint mat. The duration of the closure of each air valve (in which case the color jet is not exposed to the air jet) can be varied within a certain period of time by suitable means, such as an analog or digital timer.

The duration of the period T during which the selected air valves can be actuated is set at the start of the run and is consistent during each time slot I, although the length of the time slots I may vary.

When selecting the length of time during which the pattern control device can send operation signals to the valves of a particular jet rod, 9 S6561 it should be noted that the longest period that can be selected is so much shorter than the shortest time interval I that can be expected to have a rest time Q long enough taking into account valve switching speeds, electronic timing error and conveyor speed variations.

For example, the conveyor and the pile mat may travel at such a rate that operating signals are transmitted to the pattern control device at nominally 82 millisecond intervals I. The fixed period T within this time period I during which color jets can be applied to the pile surface is set to 25 milliseconds. -KIINNI-action-continually applied. The period T can be divided into a certain number of time sections, e.g. 31, and each air valve can be signaled to remain closed as a selected number of these time sections C, which constitutes the OPEN dwell time. The remaining time parts, in which the valve is open, deviating to the side of the color jet, then constitute an operation within the CLOSED period of the CLOSED period of the OPEN-CLOSED period. This arrangement is particularly advantageous when it is desired to effect the "in situ" mixing of the dyes from the different spray bars. Thus, it can be seen that if two of the shower rods have blue and yellow as primary colors, different shades of green can be obtained by successively applying color to the same point on the mat, whereby the color from the second shower gives a blue jet and the second from the shower gives a yellow jet.

If the dyeing delivery does not use "in situ" mixing, but the dyeing is to be performed by applying the desired dyes to selected areas from only one spray bar of the desired color, the air valves selected for operation may remain closed throughout period T. The duration of this period must be selected at the start of dyeing , according to the viscosity and flow rate of the color jets, etc., so that the amount of dye applied to the fabric is large enough to completely cover the desired tassel or tufts up to their base, without being absorbed or leaking into the neighboring area.

It will be appreciated that the particular size and spacing of the color nozzles, the viscosity of the toner used, the lint-free amount of toner to be applied to each object, etc. will vary depending on the characteristics of the mat to be dyed. Experience with pattern dyeing of pile carpets shows that carpets with a density of 500-1500 g / m and a tassel height of 3.2-3.8 mm give good results with this process if the distance between the color jets is 2.5 mm and the nozzle size is 0, 25-0.65 mm (where the ratio of the length of the jet to the diameter is 5/13). In addition, dye viscosities ranging from 50 to 1000 have been found to be very suitable for dyeing carpets. The pressure of the color jets can typically vary between 0.56 and 1.05 kp / cm 2.

It is clear that the exact values of the enable signals E, the time slots I, the periods T during which the signals can be transmitted from the pattern control device to the valves, and the duty cycle rest periods Q can vary depending on many parameters such as carpet speed, carpet density and type, distance, dye viscosity and spray pressure, minimum valve switching speed, etc. According to practical experience using the dyeing device described above, , the interval between enable signals E is 16.5 milliseconds. The period T during which the trigger signals can be transmitted lasts 15 milliseconds, so that the rest time Q remains 1.5 milliseconds. This is the minimum rest time required to obtain a valve switching time of 1.5 milliseconds (air valve switching speed) if the valves are to be kept in the CLOSED position throughout the OPEN-CLOSED period time T. The time Q is preferably at least about 5% of the allowable signal interval I.

As explained above, the pile carpet travels in an inclined path with toner jets on it. The angle of inclination shall be chosen so as to strike a balance between the detrimental effect of gravity on the direction of the toner jet and the spillage or spread of the toner after spraying on the pile surface and the requirement that the spray bar and pile surface be so spaced. the trough drains away with its own weight and the possible dripping of toner from the shower bar onto the mat is minimized. The angle of inclination with respect to the horizontal can be 15-50 °. 25 ° has been found to be particularly suitable.

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Fig. 7 shows the alignment system 74. When the trigger finger 76 activates the synchronization switch 70 just when the first carpet plate on the conveyor reaches the spray bar 42, it resets the trigger circuits 65, 67 and the counter portions of the counter / comparators 71, 73, 75. The counter of the counter / comparator 71 is set to a manual reading (shown as a reading 10 on the manually adjustable digital pointer 71a) which allows this number of clock pulses to enter the counter / comparators 71 and 72 before resetting the counter 71 and the trigger circuit 65 which stops the clock oscillation.

A reading (shown as 25 in the manually adjustable digital indicator 73a) is set in the comparator section of the counter / comparator 73 to allow this number of clock beats to enter the counter section 73 before the heart rate is output from the counter / comparator 73. This heart rate is returned to the counter / comparator 75, reset to the counter / comparator 73 and the pattern control mechanism 68. Upon receiving the heart rate from the counter / comparator 73, the mechanism 68 transmits one of its stored signal signals to momentarily close one or more solenoid valves so that the corresponding jets of color enter. When the counter comparator 73 has received a certain number of heartbeats from the counter / comparator 73 (shown in the hand-held digital pointer 75a as read 980), it sends a signal to the trigger circuit 67 to set this trigger circuit and close the "AND" port 77 so that no more of these signals are received. from the calculator / comparator 73 to the pattern control device. The indication of the pointer 75a is selected according to the number of carpet tiles to be dyed or the length of the textile web during one operation of the pattern control device.

The number of heartbeats sent by the transfer system per 72 centimeters is multiplied by a counter / comparator 71 and then divided by a counter / comparator 73 to reduce the heart rate (per centimeter), in this example, by a factor of 10/25. · This ratio can be set by arranging pointers 71a and 73a exactly . In this way, factors such as the wear of the conveyor 12 are compensated.

Fig. 8 shows a block diagram of the pattern control device 68. The input line 84 of the main instrument panel 80 is connected to the computer 69, the input line 86 is connected to the electronic alignment system and the output line 85 12 66561 to the computer 69. The dashboard 80 further includes eight output lines 81 to eight manifolds 82. , are each connected to their own manifold 82 by lines 96 and each has a jet rod switch panel 98 connected to the solenoid valve panel 100 by line 102.

Each of the eight shower rods has 1560 nozzles controlled by 1560 solenoid valves. The pattern information from the computer 69 comprises items with 8 x 1568 information items and a clock heart rate.

After the conveyor 12 has moved 2.5 mm, the electronic alignment system 74 sends the allowable heart rate to the dashboard 80, which then requests a batch of pattern information from the computer 69 along the line 85. The computer then provides pattern data of the output serial bit stream, which also includes clock pulses, and is fed to the dashboard 80.

Figure 9 shows a serial information format output from a computer 69 for a normal cycle run. The dashboard 80 reduces the information and clock beats into eight groups of 1568 bits, each transmitted to one of the eight splitters 82. The first 1560 bits of each group provide pattern information for each 1560 nozzle of the jet and the last eight bits are not used in normal cycle operation.

Fig. 10 schematically shows the circuitry of the dashboard 80 with which the pattern information and clock heart rate are reduced. The dashboard 80 includes two wires 84a, 84b that receive pattern information and clock heart rate from computer 69, respectively. Clock heart rate is input to first decoder 118, and pattern information is input to second decoder 138.

Both decoders 118, 138 receive address information from the address counter 140 down the lines 142, and 144, respectively, and route the received bits to the respective eight splitters up to the lines 146, 148 based on the information they receive. The address counter 140 increments its reading by one when the dashboard 80 has received a predetermined number of clock beats, to identify one of the lines 146, 148, and then to connect a set of information bits and clock beats to the pair of wires so identified. To increase the reading of the address counter 140 by one, line 84b is further connected to a single-acting multivibrator 152, the positive output heart rate of which is fed to the counter / comparator 160.

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In a manner known per se, after the counter / comparator has calculated a certain reading, the output heart rate is sent to a NAND port 176, the second input of which is connected to a multivibrator 152. The output of port 176 is fed to an address counter 140 to increase its reading by one.

When the computer 69 no longer receives clock pulses, indicating that all pattern information has been provided, the address counter 140 is set to zero. To this end, line 84b is also connected, along line 183, to a re-triggered multivibrator 182, the output of which is connected to the main reset input of counter 140. The multivibrator 182 continuously trips again and thus does not send a negative (reset) output signal until the clock pulses no longer reach its input. In addition, the counter 160 is reset after it has counted to said specific reading. To this end, the output of port 176 is also fed to a single-acting multivibrator 188. The output of a single-acting multivibrator 188 is fed to a NOR gate 192, which as its second input receives a line 184 along the input of a restarting multivibrator 182. The output of port 192 is fed to the main reset input of the counter 160.

Decoder 138 directs the information it receives to various outputs 148 for input to appropriate distribution devices 82. As can be seen from the information format of Figure 9, the first 1568 bits of the serial bit stream are routed to the first splitter, the second 1568 bits to the second splitter, etc. · To do this, the calculator 140 increments its reading by one for each 1568 clock bits. Similarly, decoder 118 directs clock pulses to each jet rod line 146.

Once the pattern information and clock heart rate have been reduced to eight 1568 bit groups, each splitter 82 is responsible for decoding each group it receives into thirteen 120 bit subgroups, each corresponding to a distance of 120 x 2.5 mm from the width of the conveyor 12. The same reduction technique is used here as in Fig. 10, so it is not shown or explained in detail. Briefly, the two decoders (one for information and one for clock pulses) each have fourteen output lines 224, 226 (Figures 11 and 13).

Krui i.rnmäisel L20 bits are applied to the first output lines, the other 120 bits to the second output lines, etc. The last eight information and clock heart rate bits 56561 of the group of 1568 bits received by one splitter are routed to the quadrature output lines 224, 226 of said two decoders.

When the jet rod pattern information and clock pulses are thus grouped into a group of thirteen 120 bits, the splitter 82 stores these bits in a series of thirteen shift register groups. Each register in each group is capable of storing four bits of pattern information, and thus the information up to each output line 224 of the information decoder (not shown) is exchanged into thirty registers so that one 120-bit exchange register is obtained. Fig. 11 shows only two of these registers 228, 290. The first exchange register 228 receives pattern information along line 224, up line 226, and as clock pulses are received through the turning device 292. Each of these thirty shift registers has four output lines 296, one for each of the four stored bits, connected as one input to four corresponding functional differential amplifiers 298. The fourth stage of the first shift register 288 is connected to the input of the second shift register, etc. so that all 120 bits are exchanged. The second input of each operating amplifier 298 is connected to a measuring point line 302, the voltage of which is used to control various solenoid valves via the amplifier line 304 for a predetermined and varying closed-time according to the pattern information stored in the registers.

The four bits stored in register 228, for example, represent logic zero or one and may correspond to 0 V and +5 V levels. The output of each operational amplifier 218 depends on whether the voltage in line 296 is higher or lower than the voltage level in measurement point line 302. Only if the voltage of the information bit exceeds the measurement point voltage is the output of the amplifier such that it activates the solenoid valve and allows toner to flow through the corresponding nozzle. The time that the solenoid valve is activated also determines the amount of toner added to the carpet tile. In addition, when bits are loaded into shift registers, none of the solenoid valves shall be controlled by pattern information; therefore, during this loading period, such a high level of measuring point voltage is used that the amplifiers 298 cannot change their state and supply power to the solenoid valves.

Fig. 12 shows a circuit for providing suitable measuring point voltages for performing the tasks described above.

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The figure shows thirteen similar solenoid valve operation inhibitors 306, one for each of the thirteen groups of 120 bits stored in the distributor 82. Each estimator 306 includes an operational amplifier 308, the output of which is connected to a hand switch 310 having contacts 310a, 310b and 310c. One input of each amplifier 308 is connected to a +3 volt source formed by five diodes 316. The second input of each amplifier 308 is connected by wire 318 to the output of NAND gate 320, one gate of which is connected to jet bar shut-off relay 322 and the other input of trip multivibrator 278 output. The output of the inhibitors 306 is the measurement point voltage of the line 302, which is supplied from the respective thirteen 120-bit series to the operational amplifiers 298.

During charging, the re-triggered multivibrator 268 is continuously triggered back by the clock pulses following the line 146. Therefore, the trigger multi-vibrator 278 does not trip. Thus, the NAND gate 320 does not operate, and up to line 318, the input to the respective amplifiers 308 is +5 volts. Since this +5 volt input voltage is greater than the +3 V acting on the second input of the amplifiers 308, the output voltage of these amplifiers is +15 V.

As a result, the second input of the amplifiers 298 is affected up to the output line 300 through the contacts 310a, 310c by a voltage of +15 volts. Since the voltage of the information bits does not exceed +5 volts, the operational amplifiers 298 cannot change their state to allow the operation of the solenoid valves during loading. In addition, this relatively high +15 volt measurement point voltage also prevents circuit noise from causing the amplifiers 298 to turn on during loading. The contacts 310a and 310b of the hand switch 310 can be closed to prevent the operation of one shift register and thus of one of the spray bars at said +15 volt voltage along the line 326.

After loading, the restarting multivibrator 268 no longer receives clock pulses; as a result, an output signal is generated to trigger the multivibrator 278 when this signal moves to the negative side. The multivibrator 278 then generates a trigger pulse in line 286, the duration of which is proportional to the charge of capacitor 280 obtained through resistor 282 from line 284. Line 284 is connected to a connected attenuator (not shown) which can be connected to provide a charge voltage such that selected value between 4.5-12 msec or between 4.5-47 msec.

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The trip pulse is applied as a second input to port 320, which, when the jet bar shut-off relay 322 is closed, is able to provide a 0 volt output pulse to line 318. Since this voltage is less than +3 volts from source 312, amplifier 308 changes state and generates +2 volts. Thus, along line 302, a +2 volt measurement point signal affects the second input of each amplifier 398 (Fig. 11). Since the second input voltage of each amplifier 298 is either 0 or +5 volts, corresponding to the pattern information stored in the shift registers, the amplifiers 298 change state depending on this information. To further ensure that the nozzles 52 of any jet rod 42 are not guided according to the pattern information until the shift registers of this jet rod are fully loaded, the duration of the re-triggered multi-vibrator 268 after the clock pulses is no longer reached is approximately 25 microseconds to trigger the multivibrator 278.

The outputs 304 of the amplifiers 298 (Fig. 11) are connected to transistor controllers on the solenoid valve port 100 (Fig. 8), each of which has a solenoid valve coil in the collector circuit to close this valve when the corresponding information bit is "1", with a measuring point line voltage of 2 V.

If the conveyor belt moves relatively quickly, the dashboard 80 may request new pattern information from the computer 69 while the dispenser 82 causes toner to flow onto the carpet plate according to the previous pattern information. This situation is called overspeed and may occur when a relatively long spray time is set. Namely, the conveyor 12 may have displaced 2.5 mm, causing the electronic alignment system 74 to generate an allow heart rate on the dashboard 80 to request new pattern information while the spray multi-vibrator 278 develops a relatively long operating pulse down the line 286. This detrimental situation can be detected by the overspeed protection circuit of Fig. 12 and can be corrected either by slowing down the speed of the conveyor belt or by shortening the operating time.

This overspeed protection circuit includes a single-acting multivibrator 344, the input of which is connected to the output of NAND gate 346 and the output connected to line 350 to warning circuit 352. Gate 346 receives line 146 to the clock heart rate input and a second input to trigger 278 of the multivibrator.

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If port 346 receives both a clock heart rate and a trip heart rate, it indicates that the spray bar is spraying at the same time as the dispenser is receiving new pattern information. In this situation, port 346 is capable of providing an output pulse whose negative transition triggers multi-vibrator 344. The output of multi-vibrator 344 is then fed to warning circuit 352 comprising first and second transistors 354 and 356. Transistors begin to operate to provide a warning device, e.g., lamp 358. When the operator of the device sees the lamp 358 lit, he can shorten the spraying time or slow down the speed of the conveyor belt.

The normal cycle run has been discussed above. During such a run, when the line of the carpet tile is under the spray bar, the nozzles 52 spray a predetermined, uniform amount of toner according to the pattern information stored in the computer. However, in the designed pattern, it may be necessary to use different color intensities on the same carpet tile line. For example, the outer parts of a certain line may require a light green color and the inner parts a darker green. This tone difference is obtained by the sub-cycle run described below.

Fig. 13 shows a cycle control circuitry with which either a normal cycle or a sub-cycle run can be provided. This circuit is only needed for the distributor # 1 of Figure 8, the JK trigger circuit 360 and the J and K inputs are connected to the fourteenth information line 214 and its T or trigger input is connected to the fourteenth clock line 226. The specific lines 224, 226 shown in Figure 13 transmit each contributes to the eight additional or synchronization bits shown in Figure 9. The output of the trigger circuit 360 is fed to a single-acting multivibrator 364 which transmits an output pulse down the line 366. The output pulse duration, or width, of the multivibrator 364 is equal to the maximum activation time of any distributor 94 and is obtained by charging capacitor 368 through a resistor 370 connected to an attenuator (not shown), in the same manner as capacitor 280 of multivibrator 278 (Fig. 12).

The output of multivibrator 364 is fed to a second disposable multivibrator 370, which is activated when the signal from line 366 becomes negative. The output of the multivibrator 370 is fed to line 85 (see also Figure 8), which leads back to the computer to request new pattern information for each of the eight splitters.

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The computer provides a batch of pattern information either due to the heart rate E of the alignment system of Figure 7 or due to the heart rate from the multivibrator 370.

During a normal period run, the eight synchronization bits of each group of eight 1568 bits are all logic 0, as shown in Figure 9. These eight bits are fed all the way to the fourteenth line 224 to the trigger circuit 360. Since all of these bits are zero, the trigger circuit 360 does not change its state so that no output is generated to activate the multivibrator 364. Thus, the multivibrator 370 does not trip, so no new pattern information is requested until the alignment system 74 becomes the next heart rate E.

In sub-period operation, the information format includes odd and even periods, of which in at least one and preferably all eight of the odd periods the logic bit is logic 1. The eight synchronization bits of the even period are all zeros.

During the odd or first period of the sub-period, information bit 1 appears on the JK terminals, and the clock triggers the trigger circuit 360 from its T-pole, thereby causing the trigger circuit to trigger the multivibrator 364. The multivibrator 364 then generates a signal equal to the maximum activation time of any distributor 82. , from capacitor 368. When negative, this signal then triggers a multivibrator 370, which provides an allowable heart rate to request pattern information for an even period to all splitters 82.

The computer 69 then provides an additional set of pattern information, in which the synchronization bits are all zero, so that a new pattern information request does not occur until the alignment system 74 issues a new heart rate E.

In sub-cycle running, the odd cycle of pattern information provides information for adding a predetermined amount of toner to the carpet tile line. During the even period, the pattern information provides information to add additional toner to the parts of this line of the carpet tile that need it, thus increasing the concentration in these parts and giving different shades of a particular color.

In a sub-cycle run, the even-cycle information must not be requested as long as one of the splitters 82 is still operating according to the odd-cycle information 56561 19 stored in the shift registers. Otherwise, the even period pattern information becomes exchanged in the registers before the odd period information is used to increase the desired amount of dye. To prevent this, the output pulse duration, or width, of the multivibrator 364 is equal to the maximum activation time of any splitter, and here it is taken advantage * that there is a delay of approximately 1 millisecond between loading information into said eight splitters 82.

More specifically, the information reduced by the dashboard 80 is first loaded into the splitter ΦΦ1, and this requires approximately 1 millisecond. The reduced information is then loaded into the splitter # -2 and this requires another millisecond. This continues with a delay of approximately eight milliseconds between the loading times t ^ I and i = h8. For example, if the maximum activation time of the distributor 82 is 10 milliseconds and this is entered into the distributor # 3> then this distributor ^ 3 does not receive the even period information until it has finished adding color. When the splitter ΦΦ1 receives the odd cycle information, the multivibrator 364 generates an output pulse lasting 10 milliseconds. After the distributor # 1 has been operating for 2 milliseconds, the distributor is loaded and will start operating for 10 milliseconds. When another 6 milliseconds have elapsed, the splitter # Ί may be ready to load the even-cycle information (if its activation time is only 8 milliseconds); but the heart rate duration from multivibrator 364 is still 2 milliseconds left (and distributor # 3 has 4 milliseconds left). Then, after a further 2 milliseconds have elapsed, the multivibrator 370 trips and the even cycle information is requested, leaving distributor # 3 with only 2 milliseconds of operating time left. Finally, after a further 2 milliseconds, the information of the even period is exchanged in the registers of the splitter 3 as soon as it has completed the operation according to the information of the odd period. When such a sub-cycle run is used, and taking into account the time delay spent loading the pattern information 8 into the registers of the splitter 82, the even-cycle information may be requested while the subsequent splitters are still operating according to the odd-cycle information. This allows the desired pattern to be achieved quite accurately, as the conveyor has only moved an extremely small distance before the toner is injected to increase the concentration in certain parts of a certain line of the carpet tile.

20 S6561

The shower rods 42-50 operate continuously and can be spaced, for example, 25 cm apart. As a result, the pattern information for the various spray bars on the computer 69 must be on the magnetic tape so far apart that it corresponds to the time required for the line of the carpet tile to move 25 cm from one spray bar to the next. Thus, if spray bar 4Φ-1 sprays red toner and spray bar # 2 sprays green toner and two adjacent portions on the carpet tile line are intended to be dyed with red and green toner, respectively, then the information stored on the computer must be scattered so that # , red toner is sprayed on the other part of the line and when this line of the tile has passed 25 cm, green toner is sprayed on the other part of the line.

The present invention can be used to form any desired pattern on fabric, and is particularly suitable for forming non-geometric patterns, such as oriental or floral patterns, which require detailed colored areas with small and irregular dimensions.

The textile material can be a long piece of tassel pile carpet from which several piece mats can be cut. The pattern may then be a piece-carpet pattern formed on successive portions of this long piece of material as it continuously passes under the color jet nozzles and further through the finishing processes as described in connection with Figure 1.

Although the invention has been described above in connection with the particularly difficult problems associated with pattern dyeing of pile fabrics and especially carpets, it should be noted that the method and apparatus of the present invention can be used satisfactorily for dyeing other porous textiles such as warp coverings, woven and knitted fabrics and nonwovens, etc.

The use of an analog timer to control the spray time is explained in connection with Figure 12. In the sub-cycle run or its extension described in connection with Fig. 6, several analog timers can be used, which are switched on in succession to provide spray times of different lengths for the two time parts to which T is divided.

56561 21

The method of the present invention is illustrated by the following examples:

Example 1

Antron-nylon type 838 double-twisted, 17.7 turns of 10 cm S-twisted staple fiber yarns with a cotton number of 2.04 are glued to a non-woven substrate reinforced with a rough plain to form a cut-pile glued mat with 53 thread ends per 10 cm in the transverse direction and 71 yarn ends per 10 cm in the longitudinal, 2 directions. The carpet, with a pile of pile yarn of 1370 g / m and a pile height of 6.5 mm, is cut into 46 x 46 cm tiles. The tiles are lightly brushed to raise the lint, and placed on the conveyor 12 of the jet-dyeing machine described above. The conveyor has suitable guides for placing the tiles exactly 5 cm apart. The pattern control device uses a computer-developed pattern control tape to spray the color liquid onto the tiles so as to create an evenly spaced pattern of 36 2.54 x 2.54 cm squares in each tile. Each shower bar naturally becomes inoperable whenever it crosses the guide.

The composition of the dye used is as follows:

Component Weight parts

Formic acid (90 55) 2,5 '' Progalan PCN-2 0,6 2

Chemco Antifoam 73 Special 1.0 ^ Polygum CP 0.7 ^ Tectilon Blue 4G 200% 0.1

Water 95.1 100.0 "^ Mixture of wetting and surfactants - Chemical Processing of Georgia 2

Alcohol Blend - Chemical Processing of Georgia ^ Modified Natural Rubber Thickener - Polymer Southern ^ Dye Acid Blue 40 - Ciba Geigy The dye has a pH of 2.3 and a viscosity of 54 cp as measured by a Brookfield Viscometer (model LVF) using a 4Φ-1 spindle at 60 rpm.

22 S6561

The jet dyeing machine is set to dye the ten tiles described above in a dyeing cycle which is triggered by a signal of a microswitch precisely positioned relative to the conveyor, controlled by a conveyor.

2 The pressure of the color supply manifold is 0.92 kp / cm and the pressure of the air supply manifold 2 is 0.56 kp / cm. The line speed of the conveyor is 18 m per minute. Air-deflected color jets with a diameter of 0.35 mm and a channel length of 33.2 mm are distributed at 2.5 mm center intervals along the shower rods in the transverse direction, i. perpendicular to the movement of the mat. The flow of toner through one spray nozzle is 35 ml per minute, measured as a continuous flow. Said pattern of squares is obtained by spraying jets of color liquid with a duration of 24 milliseconds at the desired locations on the tiles whenever the conveyor (and thus the tiles) have traveled 2.5 mm relative to the fixed position of the jets of color. The distance from the color jet nozzle to the surface of the pile is approximately 3.8 cm.

The pattern-dyed tiles are then steamed for 4 minutes on a continuous belt evaporator under saturating steam conditions (100 ° C, 1 ata). As the tiles leave the evaporator, a series of water jet nozzles flush the back of the tiles and cold air is blown to their front. The tiles then pass through a scrubber which sprays ambient water to the front surface and absorbs it, thereby removing any remaining thickener, chemicals and any non-adherent dye. The plates are then dried in a rotary tumble dryer at 135 ° C. After removal from the dryer, the tiles are placed on a flat, water-based table for 5 minutes before inspection and packaging.

Example 2

Spun, double-twisted 15.7 turns of 10 em S-twisted Anso (Allied Chemical) nylon yarns with a cotton number of 2.24 are formed into tassels on a 4 mm, 3.65 mm wide cut puppet tamping machine on a Typar (DuPont polypropylene) felt backing. The height of the pile is 13.5 mm. After dyeing and finishing, which includes shearing, the pile has a height of 12.7 mm and a weight of 1150 g / m.

To prepare the samples, the carpet described above is cut into 46 cm long, 23 cm wide pieces. The sample pieces are then stained with a background shade by immersing the piece in a dye liquid container (composition given below) for 8 seconds and then passing it through a conventional pad press to reduce the dye liquid residue to 100 to 35 by weight of surface yarns. The composition of this background toner is as follows:

Component Weight part

Polygum CP (Polymer Southern) 0.9

NaH 2 PO 0.4

Na 2 HPO 1) 0.1

Merpacyl Yellow 4G (powder) (DuPont) 0.02108

Merpacyl Red G (powder) (DuPont) 0.00420

Merpacyl Blue 2GA (powder) (DuPont) 0.00700

Water 98,568

The finished mixture has a pH of 6.3 and a viscosity of 62 cp as measured by a Brookfield Viscometer (model LVF), using a spindle # Ί at 60 rpm.

The background stained samples are then placed on the conveyor of a jet dyeing machine and run under two successive jet bars at a speed of 1.8 meters per minute. The two dyes are then added from different shower rods to the tufted carpet sample, and the compositions of the two dye liquids shown are shown below. Each spray bar has color nozzles with a nominal diameter of 0.50 mm, a channel length of 3 * 2 mm and center lines 2.54 mm apart. The distance between the shower rods 2 is 30.5 cm. The pressure in both color distribution tubes is 0.98 kp / cm. . . 2 and 0.70 kp / cm in both air distribution pipes. The sulfur flow from one shower, measured continuously, is 120 ml / min and the spray nozzles are located approximately 3.8 cm from the lint surface.

color Mixes

Component Weight part

Polygum CP (Chem. Process of Ga.) 1.0

Formic acid (90%) 1.5

Chemco Antifoam 73 Special (Chem.Process of Ga) 1.0

Progalan PCN-2 (Chem.Process of Ga) 0.6 Color I or II (see table)

Water ad. 100 pH = 2.5.

Viscosity = 145 cp. (Brookfield model LVF, spindle ^ 1, 30 rpm).

.24 56S61 Toners

Shower bar I Shower bar II parts by weight parts by weight

Verona - Isalan Yellow NW (250 5?) 0.10000 0.375

Ciba Geigy - Tectilon Blue 46 (200%) 0.00132 0.00496

Allied Chem. - Alizerine Violet NRR 0.00100 0.00392 0.10232 0.38288 The dyes are sprayed on the desired areas of the fabric as sprays lasting 24 milliseconds.

After pattern staining, the samples are evaporated for 8 minutes under saturation-steam conditions (100 ° C, 1 ata) and then washed with cold water, passed through a roller press and dried at 120 ° C.

2 Stained samples are reinforced on the back with 1070 g per 11 m of latex glue and 140 g / m SB-34 woven Polypack (Patchogue-Plymouth Company) (100% polypropylene fiber). The samples are wound on a sample shearing machine.

Claims (18)

5656] 25 A method for dyeing a porous textile material, in particular lint-free, to form a pattern, comprising passing the material past at least one row of paint nozzles extending transversely to the direction of movement of the material and diverting depending on, it is known that the selective orientation of each color beam is controlled by data blocks containing pattern information (Fig. 9) during successive cycles (I), each cycle (I) being triggered by moving the substance a distance corresponding to one pattern unit. during period (I) occurs only during a predetermined period of time (T), followed by a rest period (Q), in which all the color jets are directed away from the substance, and which rest period is at least as long as the color jet direction control device (91, 92) pa lautumisaika. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that during the predetermined time periods (T) the color jets are directed towards the substance only during one or more time parts (C), said time parts (C) together forming a time period (T). Method according to claim 2, characterized in that the color beams are controlled in each time part (C) by means of a data block from the pattern determining data source (69) and in that the data block for the first time part (C) of the period (I) is released from the data source (69) E) and that each block of data, except that relating to the last time part of period (I), controls the release of the data block for the next time part (C). Method according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the predetermined time periods (T) are approximately equal in length. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the color depth is determined by the time duration of the color jet effect during period (I). 26 S6661 Method according to one of Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the distance corresponding to the pattern unit is approximately equal to the length of one loop of the substance or the distance between adjacent dolls in the direction of movement. Method according to Claim 1 or 6, characterized in that the number of color jets in one row is substantially equal to the number of loops or adjacent dolls of the substance in the transverse direction. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 7, characterized in that a plurality of rows of color nozzles (50-5 * 0 spaced apart in the direction of movement of the substance) are used, and the color jets of each row are deflected as defined in each period (I) . Method according to claim 8, characterized in that in each time period (T) the color jets are controlled from a block containing pattern information (Fig. 9) »which information is obtained in serial form from a data source (69), so that the bits in each nozzle row (50-5 * 0 are grouped), and the groups of bits are divided into registers (288, 290) corresponding to rows (50-5 **) and having stages corresponding to the nozzles of the row, wherein the bit corresponding to each stage determines whether or not the color jet of the associated color nozzle hits the substance. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 9, characterized in that each color beam is controlled in each time period (T) by a corresponding data bit and that a logical product is formed between the data bit (296) and the time period (302) determining the length of the time period or part thereof, so that the color jet can hit the substance with only one value of the data bit, and even then only with the passage of time. An apparatus for performing a method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, the apparatus comprising a conveyor (12) for transferring material, at least one row of color nozzles arranged transversely to the conveyor, a device for continuously pumping pressurized dye liquid out of the color nozzles, nozzle-specific deflection devices and a pattern control device deflection devices by means of pattern data stored therein, which information is triggered by a heart rate device operating on the conveyor movement, 27 56561 characterized in that the heart rate device (7 * 0 is connected to the conveyor (12) so that each time the conveyor has moved one pattern unit travel to generate trigger pulses (E) indicating successive cycles of operation (I) during which the pattern control device (9 * 0 controls the direction deflection devices according to the stored pattern data so that the selected color jets during one or more time sections (C) of each cycle (I) remain inside ä fall into the substance, and that the device comprises a timing device (278, 280, 282) which determines the length of each time part (C) so that this is shorter than the period and independent of any variations in the duration of the period. Device according to claim 11, characterized in that it comprises a data source (69) with data blocks belonging to time parts (C), a storage device (288, 290) in the pattern control device (9 * 0) for storing data blocks and a device for each trigger (E) initiates and causes the data block to be transferred from the data source (69) to the storage device (288, 290). Device according to Claim 11, characterized in that the pattern control device (9 * 0) comprises a device (360, 36 * 1, 370) which is sensitive to the selected data blocks and transfers a new data block from the data source (69) to the storage device (288, 290). such that a series of one or more time sections (C) is formed within the period (I), and that the time period (T) filled by the time series is less than the duration of one period (I). Device according to claim 13, characterized in that the pattern control device (9 * 0) comprises a circuit (Fig. 13) which prevents the transfer of data to any deflection device as long as they are controlled and allow the said color jet to be applied to the substance. Device according to one of Claims 11 to 14, characterized in that the heart rate device (72, 7 * 0 has a transformer (72) which transmits travel pulses corresponding to equal steps of movement of the conveyor, and an adjustable device for multiplying and / or dividing the heart rate. (68-7 **), which produces trigger pulses (E) at a rate that is adjustable relative to the rate of transmitted travel pulses 2 8 56661 Device according to one of Claims 11 to 15, characterized in that the pattern control device (94) stores one bit of data for each color nozzle, the bit value of which determines whether the corresponding color jet remains deflected or encounters the substance that the timing device (278, 280, 282) generating a time pulse (302) that determines the length of the time portion (C), and that the device has a device for generating logical products between the time pulses and data bits to generate pulses (304) that control device deflection devices so that each color jet can only encounter matter with one value of its associated data bit, and even then only during the time pulse. Device according to one of Claims 11 to 16, characterized in that the pattern control device (94) has an overspeed protection circuit (346, 3, 4, 352) which generates a warning signal when the duration of the period (I) is too short in relation to the preselected time. time period (T). Device according to one of Claims 11 to 17, characterized by a plurality of rows of color nozzles (50-54) spaced apart in the direction of movement of the conveyor (12) by a plurality of registers (288, 290) in the pattern control device for storing a data block belonging to all rows. nozzles, wherein each register stores a group of bits corresponding to one row of nozzles, a data source (69) that transmits binary data in serial form, and connections (138, 140) that divide the bits into groups belonging to each register.