FI76126B - FOERFARANDE OCH ANORDNING FOER YTMOENSRING AV EN MATERIALBANA. - Google Patents

Description

, 76126

The present invention relates to a method for patterning the surface of a web of material consisting of a textile material containing thermoplastic fibers, in which method the material web is transferred past an outlet branch pipe

The invention also relates to a device which can be used to carry out this method.

In the context of the invention, the term "medium" means gaseous, liquid and solid fluids which can be directed as one or more uniform pressurized streams towards the surface of the substrate material. The term "gas" includes air, water vapor, or other gaseous or vaporous media, or mixtures thereof, that can be controlled as one or more uniform pressurized streams. The term "substrate" means any material whose surface can be brought into contact with one or more pressurized fluid streams so that the appearance of the material changes.

Substrates which are particularly suitable for treatment with a pressurized medium stream by the device according to the invention are textile material structures and more particularly textile materials containing thermoplastic yarns and / or fibrous components such that treatment of the material surface with surface power or pattern. However, the device according to the invention can be used for the treatment of any substrate in which the type of medium stream treatment or substrate under pressure 2 76126 causes a visible change in the surface of the substrate due to the contact between the current and the surface. The treatment medium may, for example, be a solvent for the substrate material, or the temperature of the medium may be such that the components of the substrate which come into contact with the media streams deform under the action of heat to produce such textures.

The term textile material encompasses all types of solid or non-uniform webs or sheets containing fibrous or yarn components, such as knitted, woven or fluffed materials, flock materials, laminated or nonwoven materials, where pressurized, heated media can provide the appearance of the surface of the material.

It is known that certain acrylic pile materials can be given a surface pattern by roll embossing, whereby the pile surface is brought into contact with the raised surfaces of the roll so that the heated pile fibers are pressed into the material substrate and the roll surface pattern is transferred to the material surface. However, such a roll embossing of heated fluff material products is quite expensive because each pattern to be formed on the material requires its own pattern roll and because the repetition length of the pattern in the material is limited by the circumference of the pattern roll. In addition, it is believed that embossing patterns on acrylic pile materials cannot generally be obtained by embossing molten spun thermoplastic yarn materials such as nylon and polyester ink materials because the high temperatures required for adequate shrinkage and thermal curing of the yarns are difficult to achieve and the yarns tend to adhere.

3,761 26

In dyeing materials, it is known that patterned dyes can be patterned using continuously flowing liquid dye streams that are selectively diverted to the side so that they do not hit the material by means of crossing air streams controlled according to pattern information. U.S. Patent Nos. 3,969,779 and 4,059,880 describe a device used for this purpose.

Furthermore, it is generally known to use a device to direct pressurized air or water vapor inside the surface of a textile material to change the position of the fibers or yarns it contains or to modify the thermal properties so that the surface appearance of such materials changes. U.S. Patent No. 3,010,179 discloses an apparatus for treating artificial pile materials in which a plurality of dry steam jets are directed from collection tubes onto the surface of moving material to deflect and reorient the pile fibers in areas in contact with steam. The material is then dried and heated so that the deflected fibers are cured by heat and give an appearance resembling fur-like materials. U.S. Patent 2,563,259 describes a method in which a pile flock material is patterned by directing a plurality of air streams onto the pile surface of the material before the binder in which the fibers are embedded is finally cured to reorient the pile fibers and provide certain patterns in the material. U.S. Patent 3,585,098 describes an apparatus for treating the pile surface of a material with warm air or dry steam, whereby the stresses in the man-made fibers are removed and the fibers of the material change direction and curl. U.S. Patent No. 2,241,222 describes an apparatus having a plurality of spray nozzles, 4,76,126, for directing pressurized air or steam into a rectangular surface of an airy material to raise and curl the lugs of the material. U.S. Patent No. 2,110,118 discloses a manifold having a narrow slot for directing compressed air toward the surface of a material containing tassel groups to fluff the tassels during the Textile Processing step.

Although the above-mentioned patents generally disclose that compressed air or steam can be used to change the appearance of the surface of a material, the devices described therein are not accurate enough to control high temperature space gas flows to obtain highly accurate and complex textures with precise boundaries. These devices can generally only be used to form relatively rough-textured textures or to randomly deform surface fibers. In addition, the devices appear to have limits on the number of different patterns they can form on the materials.

When the appearance of the surface of a relatively moving substrate such as a textile material is modified by subjecting it to media flows, sufficiently reliable and precise control of the flow, pressure and direction of the media causes several difficulties in obtaining well-defined and complex patterns in the textile material. In addition to the accuracy of the pattern, the efficient handling of media with a very high temperature causes difficulties because the media streams must maintain a constant temperature across the width of the moving material. Likewise, control of rapid activation and deactivation of heated streams is difficult with conventional valves fitted to the lines of heated media.

5 76126

When a heated medium, such as heated air or water vapor, is applied to the surface of the material in one or more streams arranged at mutual intervals along an elongate branch pipe, uniform temperature maintenance in the stream or streams across the branch pipe width causes difficulties. If the pressurized heated medium is introduced into the manifold from a single point along its length and the medium must be removed from an elongate narrow slit or a plurality of openings arranged along the manifold, varying distances of fluid flow through the manifold and in fluid streams flowing out of the tube. When the heat of the streams medium is used to thermally deform the thermoplastic wires and fibers of the materials to provide longitudinal shrinkage and molecular reorientation to obtain the desired pattern in the material, temperature differences in the streams flowing into the material can cause undesirable irregularities in the pattern thus formed. It is therefore important that all streams flowing into the material have substantially the same temperature. In addition, contaminants in the heated medium can easily clog the small discrete spray nozzles of the pressure medium applicator. Cleaning a clogged part of the processing equipment causes a waste of time, and during such a result, the incorrect patterning formed on the equipment causes product losses.

The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a method of the type mentioned at the beginning of the description, by means of which a more reliable and accurate surface pattern can be obtained on the material web by means of heated, pressurized gas flows than can be obtained with previous devices and known methods.

The method according to the invention is characterized in that a uniformly heated pressurized gas is introduced into the outlet branch pipe to form a uniform, pressurized flow stream 76126 6 having a uniform pressure and temperature, extending over the path of the material web and directed towards the surface of the material web. the heated pressurized flow stream extending across the longitudinal direction of the web is mechanically and / or pneumatically divided into a plurality of parallel flow streams extending in the width direction of the web.

According to an embodiment of the method according to the invention, the mechanical distribution of the current is performed by fitting in the outlet branch pipe blocking means spaced apart in the transverse direction of the web to divide the main current into several parallel flow currents.

The distribution of a uniform main stream can also be performed pneumatically by passing a plurality of cold pressurized gas jets across the main flow direction at a plurality of spaced ends across the web travel direction to form substantially parallel partial flows. Cold pressurized gas jets can be led into the branch pipe from the spaces between the blocking members. The temperature of the heated gases can be controlled by introducing the gas into the branch pipe in several separate streams, which are individually heated and whose temperature is individually controlled.

The invention also relates to an apparatus for carrying out the above method, the apparatus comprising a material web conveying device and an outlet branch pipe for directing a heated, pressurized gas flow towards the surface of the material web, the outlet branch pipe comprising an inner chamber for receiving heated pressurized gas and a pressurized gas stream.

The device according to the invention is characterized in that at least one mechanical current distributor is arranged in the outlet gap and / or at least one cold, pressurized gas outlet is arranged in the outlet wall to distribute the pressurized gas flow 7 76126 in the transverse direction and in the longitudinal direction of the gap.

The mechanical distributor may consist of a baffle with projections extending into the outlet of the chamber and forming notches therebetween. The wall of the outlet gap may have outlets for cold, pressurized gas at said notches.

The device may be provided with a pattern control device which controls the valves for introducing cold, pressurized gas to the outlet openings of the branch pipe according to the pattern information.

As mentioned above, the invention essentially comprises a method and apparatus for changing the appearance of the surface of a moving web of material by means of a heated, pressurized gas. The apparatus includes a heated gas distribution manifold with a narrow elongate slot fitted over the path of relative movement of the substrate and very close to the surface to be treated.

A pressurized medium, e.g. air with high temperatures, e.g. 150-370 ° C, is fed into the branch pipe and guided from the gap into a substantially rectangular surface of the moving substrate. At the same time, the removal of warm air from the gap is controlled to direct the air into one or more narrow, well-defined currents which strike the surface of the substrate and thereby cause the desired surface change. If the substrate is a textile material containing thermoplastic yarns or fibers, the heated air impinging on it causes a thermal deformation of the thermoplastic fibers and yarn components of the material so that their physical appearance changes, shrinking the fibers and yarns longitudinally in selected areas and forming a well-defined pattern.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the heated medium, such as air, is selectively controlled as precisely limited flows using an elongate spacer device 8701 26 having notches selectively spaced along the edge of the spacer device. The notched edge of the spacer device fitted in the slot of the branch pipe then delimits the channels at the spaced ends to direct the air in several narrow streams onto the surface of the relatively moving base. The baffle device is further constructed so that foreign particles are filtered from the air so that blockage of the channels is prevented by maintaining a constant flow of air through them.

According to a further embodiment, the treatment device comprises a device for selectively controlling relatively cooler, pressurized gas flows transversely over the branch pipe gap at spaced distances therewith so as to effectively prevent warm air from flowing and hitting the substrate at such points according to pattern control information. The pressurized cool gas removal device includes suitable valves to separately control the flow of blocking flow for each cool gas, such as air. The cool gas blocking device can be used in the branch pipe gap either together with or without said spacer device for the selective patterning of the base surface according to the pattern information.

The invention further includes a medium handling device for maintaining an even distribution of the heated medium over the entire length of the branch tube and the branch tube gap, which ensures an even more accurate and precise thermal pattern of the substrate.

According to yet another embodiment of the invention, a pressurized environmental medium, such as air, is supplied to each heating device via separate lines, each of which includes a fluid flow meter valve for separate and precise control of the fluid flow through each heating device.

The method and device according to the invention are particularly suitable when new surface patterns are formed on a pile material containing eul-spun thermocouple yarns, which have particularly clearly defined limits and the formation of which has previously been considered impossible by known treatment devices using a heated medium. Textures can also be formed on a pile material containing non-thermoplastic type yarn components such as rayon yarns. Admittedly, these patterns usually do not achieve as precise limits as the patterning of materials containing thermoplastic yarns. The method and apparatus of the invention can further be used to selectively treat woven materials containing thermoplastic yarns to form new crepe or crepon type patterns on these materials.

The device according to the present invention is particularly suitable for the treatment of textile materials containing thermoplastic fiber and yarn components in order to form various visible surface patterns on these materials. However, the device can also be used to treat other substrate materials containing thermoplastic components to thermally alter the visible appearance of these materials or to form a desired pattern thereon.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure i shows a schematic overall side view of a device providing visible surface effects or patterns in a moving substrate, Figure 2 shows an enlarged schematic front elevational view of the heated medium applicator portion of the device of Figure 1; an arrangement for supplying both heated and relatively cool compressed gas to a manifold for dispensing warm gas from an applicator, Fig. 2A schematically shows a block switch diagram illustrating how electrical energy is supplied to the heater group of Figs. 1 and 2 an enlarged schematic perspective view of a portion of the hot gas distribution manifold of Figures 1 and 2, with parts cut away and shown in section; Fig. 4 shows a schematic vertical sectional view of the heated gas distribution branch pipe of Fig. 3, Fig. 5 is a schematic sectional view of a portion of the warm gas manifold of Fig. 4 generally taken along line VV of Fig. 4 and seen in the direction of the arrows; the dispenser is used to control the removal of warm gas from the slit, Fig. 7 is a schematic sectional view of parts of the branch pipe of Fig. 6 taken mainly along line VII-VII; and seen in the direction of the arrows, Fig. Θ is an enlarged schematic perspective view of a baffle device used in conjunction with a warm gas manifold to distribute gas to adjacent streams on the substrate surface; Figs. 9 and 10 schematically illustrate a method according to which a processing device according to the invention can be used to raise a unidirectional pile yarn layer, and Figures 11-15 show photographs of the surface of certain novel textile material products treated and obtained by the method and apparatus of the invention.

The drawings show e.g. a preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention, wherein Fig. 1 shows a schematic fishing side view of the entire processing device according to the invention.

76126

As schematically shown in the figure, an indeterminate length of substrate material, such as textile material 10, is continuously fed from a warehouse such as feed rollers 12, 13 from a roller 11 to a variable speed heated pressure treatment device generally designated 14. The material 10 is supported during heated media application. by passing it over the support whale in 16, after which the material treated with the medium is guided by the used discharge means 18, 19 at a variable speed to the material collecting roller 20.

A conventional material edge guide device 21 known in the art may be arranged on the material path between the feed rollers 12, 13 and the media handling device 14 to maintain the correct lateral orientation of the material as it passes over the support roller 16. The speed of the feed rollers 12, 13, the support roll 16 and the discharge rollers 18, 19 can be adjusted in a known manner so as to obtain the desired speed for conveying the material and to obtain the desired stresses for the material entering, passing through and exiting the medium handling device 14.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the media handling device 14 comprises an elongated gas outlet branch tube extending rectangularly along the material conveyor path 10 and having a narrow, elongate outlet slot 32 for directing a heated gas flow such as air flow under pressure into the material surface at a substantially angular angle 16 over.

A pressurized gas, such as air, is supplied to the interior of the exhaust manifold 30 by an air compressor 34 connected through an air line 36 to opposite ends of the elongate cold air manifold or manifold 38. A main control valve 40 and an air pressure control valve 42 are provided in the air line 36 for controlling the flow and pressure of air entering the branch pipe 38. A suitable air filter 44 helps to remove contaminants from the air flowing into the cold air branch pipe 38.

The pressurized air in the cold air branch pipe 38 is directed from this pipe to the inner chamber of the warm air exhaust branch pipe 30 via a group 46 of separate electric heating devices, two of which 48 are shown in Figure 2. Each heating device is evenly connected by two inlet and outlet lines 50 and 52, respectively. along the length of the manifold 38, 30 to heat and evenly distribute the compressed air from the manifold 38 along the entire length of the exhaust manifold 30. Typically, for a 1.5 m long outlet branch pipe, 24 l-kw electric heating devices can be used, whereby the outlet lines 52 of the heating device are arranged at 6.5 cm intervals along the length of the branch pipe. The heater assembly 46 may be enclosed in a suitable insulating housing.

A manually controlled medium flow measuring valve 61 is fitted to each inlet line 50 to each heater 48 of the heater group to precisely control the flow rate of compressed air from the manifold 38 through each heater 48. The valves can typically be of the needle valve type for precise flow control. Their use is explained below.

The deaeration line 52 of each heating device has a temperature sensing device, for example a thermocouple, only one of which 54 is shown in Figure 2, for measuring the temperature of the air flowing out of each heating device. Each thermocouple 54 is electrically connected by suitable wires (shown by wires 55 in Figures 2 and 2A) to a conventional electrical diagram plotter 58, whereby all temperatures of the heat exchanger outlets can be monitored and controlled visually or by an audible signal. Electric current is supplied evenly, as necessary, to separate heating devices from a common power source, generally designated 60.

13,761 26

As shown in Fig. 2A, the electric heating devices 48 are connected in parallel by a suitable electrical line 22 to a common power supply 60. A mains supply device 24, such as a silicon-controlled rectifier model 7301 manufactured by Electronic Control Systems, is arranged in the mains supply line to the separate heating devices 48. A temperature sensing device, i.e., a thermocouple 26 (Figure 2A), is fitted to the center of the inner chamber of the elongate branch tube 30 and is electrically connected to a conventional temperature control device 28 such as a Model 6700 control unit manufactured by Electronic Control Systems. The temperature control device 28 is electrically connected to the current control device 24 in a known manner, so that the desired temperature can be maintained in the chamber of the outlet branch 30 by periodically supplying uniform electrical energy to the heating devices 48 of the group 46.

As shown in Figures 3, 4 and 6, the heated air outlet manifold 30 is formed of upper and lower wall portions 62, 64 releasably secured together by a suitable fastening device, such as spaced bolts 66, to form an inner chamber 68 of the branch tube. 32 opposite parallel walls 70, 72.

Prior to removal through the slot 32, heated air flowing into the chamber of the branch tube 30 from the exhaust line 52 of the heater assembly 48 is directed backward and then forward along a pivot path through the branch tube chamber (as indicated by arrows) through a baffle 74 forming a narrow elongate opening at the rear of the chamber 68 flow from the top to the bottom of the chamber. The baffle 74 thus provides a more even distribution of air in the manifold chamber and further facilitates the maintenance of a uniform temperature and air pressure in the manifold. The guide plate 74 is supported in the branch tube chamber 68 by spacer sleeves 76 which surround the bolts 66.

As best seen in Figures 4-7, a plurality of cold air outlets 78 are arranged at mutual intervals along the length of the outlet slot in the wall surface 72 of the lower wall portion 64 of the branch pipe. Each outlet is separately connected by a suitable flexible line 80 and a solenoid valve 82 to a cold air branch pipe 84, which in turn is connected to the air compressor 34 by a line 86 (Figure 2). A main control valve 88, an air pressure control valve 90 and an air filter 92 are provided in the line 86.

Figure 2 shows schematically that each solenoid valve is electrically connected to a suitable pattern control device 94 which transmits electrical pulses which cause the selected solenoid valves to open and close according to predetermined pattern information. Various conventional pattern control devices known in the art can be used to activate and deactivate the valves in the desired order. Typically, the pattern control device may be of the type described in U.S. Patent No. 3,894,413.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 6, each cold air outlet 78 is provided on the lower wall surface 72 of the branch pipe slot 32 to direct a separate, relatively cold air flow across the heated air outlet in a rectangular direction against the hot air flow direction. The pressure of the colder air streams is maintained at a value sufficient to effectively prevent is 7 612 6 and to stop the flow of heated air through the gap in the section or sections from which the cold air streams are removed. When the separate cold air streams are activated and deactivated by the solenoid valves 82 according to the information from the pattern control device 94, the pressurized hot air flowing through the slit is directed as one or more separate streams hitting the moving material at the desired location to obtain the desired pattern. The colder air blocking the flow of heated air exits the slot instead of the heated air and is conducted around or into the surface of the material without altering the thermal properties of the material or significantly impairing the yarns or fibers it contains. It is worth noting the arrows indicating the air flow in Figures 4, 6 and 7. To ensure that the colder baffle air remains cold enough not to affect or thermally modify the material, the ambient air can be further cooled before passing over the manifold 32 by fitting a cold water manifold 95, through which the cold air lines 80 pass.

Although the pressurized cold air barrier described herein is preferred for controlling the removal of pressurized hot gas streams, it will be appreciated that other types of baffles, such as movable baffles or the like, may be used in the elongate slot 32 to selectively block heated pressurized air flow through the material. in.

When the medium handling device is initially started, an electric current is supplied evenly to the group 46 heaters 48 from the power supply 60, and compressed air 16161 26 is allowed to flow through the heaters from the air compressor 34. The temperature control unit 28 is set to the selected temperature. When the air temperature in the exhaust manifold chamber, as measured by thermocouple 26, reaches the desired value, the exhaust air temperature of each heater exhaust air line is monitored in chart plotter 58. If there is a difference wherein the deviation is detected, manually by a different amount to increase or decrease the flow of air through the heating device, whereby the temperature of the air leaving the individual heating device decreases or rises correspondingly. Thus, the different exhaust air temperatures from the entire heating device group can be accurately equalized to a uniform temperature by gradually adjusting the air flow through said devices, thereby compensating for variations in manufacturing device manufacturing tolerances or smaller flow variations in the fluid flow devices. Thereafter, a constant temperature can be maintained along the entire length of the outlet manifold chamber by uniformly adjusting the current supply to all heating devices by means of a single thermocouple sensor device 26 arranged in the center of the manifold chamber.

The invention also comprises an apparatus for circulating the heat transfer medium through the interior of a rotating support roller 16 (Fig. 1) over which the continuous substrate passes in contact with the heated medium coming from the medium distribution branch pipe 30. It will be appreciated that as the heated, pressurized fluid stream or streams impinge on the surface of the substrate to thermally modify it and provide the desired visible change therein, the heated medium also heats the proximal surface portion below the support roller 16. Such local heating of the support roll can cause the roll to expand thermally and shrink along its length, especially when the moving substrate is temporarily stopped during the processing steps. Such expansion and contraction of the support roll 16 can cause twisting and warping at the surface of the roll near the outlet gap 32 of the branch tube 30. In this case, the roll-supported material substrate would be spaced at different distances from the outlet gap 32 along the length of the slit, which in turn would result in irregular patterning of the substrate due to temperature and pressure differences in heated medium flows to the substrate surface.

To prevent such twisting or warping and the resulting irregular patterning of the substrate surface, a device is used to circulate the heat transfer medium through the rotating roller 16 during the media treatments. As shown in Figure 1, a suitable medium, such as chilled or heated water, water vapor, or the like, is circulated into and out of a suitable storage source, generally designated 96, within and out of the roller 16 via lines 91 connected to the hollow center support shaft of the roller. An apparatus for circulating medium through a rotating roller from a solid medium source is commercially available in the art and will not be described in more detail. Such a recycling device may typically be of the type manufactured by the Duff-Norton Company of Charlotte, North Carolina under the tradename 8000 Series Rotary Union Joints.

As noted, the heat transfer medium may be cold, 8 761 26 water, or a heated medium such as water vapor or 1 Min water, if it is desired to facilitate the entire heating of the substrate during the medium treatment steps. The heat transfer medium circulating through the interior of the rotating roll 16 thus distributes the local heating of the surface near the branch pipe discharge slot 32 of the roll 16 evenly over the entire circumference of the roll, which prevents said thermal expansion and contraction of the roll during the processing steps.

To prevent heated gas from damaging the material when the material supply is stopped, the hot gas manifold 30 and its heating devices 48 are pivotally supported as at 97, and medium piston devices 98 are used to rotate the manifold and its outlet slot out of the material 10 path.

Figure 3 illustrates a first embodiment of a pressurized heated gas outlet pipe according to the invention. An elongate baffle device or plate 99 having a plurality of elongate, substantially parallel notches 100 uniformly disposed along one edge is releasably disposed in the branch tube chamber 68 with the notched side edge extending into the elongate outlet slot 32 to form a plurality of slit walls 70, 72. without exhaust ducts for directing small, separate, pressurized, heated gas streams to the surface of the moving textile material. As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the notches 100 of the plate extend into the heated gas manifold chamber 68 so that an elongate inlet is formed above and below the plate for all outlet passages formed by the notched edges of the spacer and the walls 70, 72 of the manifold 32. - 19 76126 control of the pressurized gas into narrow streams which are discharged through mutually spaced channels, but the edges of the baffle further limit the upper and lower openings of the narrow, elongate inlets (see Figure 4) used as traps and possibly filtering out the pressurized gas foreign particles, while allowing a continuous flow of pressurized gas around the particles and through the channels.

Thus, it is found that the discharge channels formed by the spacer device and the discharge slot direct a plurality of spaced currents on and within the surface of the moving textile material to form narrow, spaced, substantially parallel lines extending in the direction of movement of the material. Because the temperature and pressure of the heated gas streams are maintained at a sufficient level, the lint material containing the thermoplastic dowels that comes in contact with the heated gas streams shrinks longitudinally, compresses on the lint surface, and thermosets to form uniform, clear grooves in the material. some are explained below. To change the grooved pattern of the material, it is only necessary to remove the branch pipe bolts 66 and replace the used spacer with another spacer with a different groove size and / or different distances along the edge of the plate. Fig. 8 shows a second spacer plate 102 in which the distances between the grooves 104 along the plate are irregular, whereby the pattern to be formed on the surface of the web of material is changed. It is thus observed that different textures can be formed on the moving web by means of spacers 20 761 26 alone without further adjusting the flows passing through the pressurized cold gas outlets, as described above.

Figures 4 and 5 illustrate an embodiment of the invention in which spacers are used in conjunction with pressurized, colder gas outlets in the outlet slot 32 to provide more complex or detailed patterns in the textile web. As shown in Figure 5, the outlets 78 are located in channels formed by a baffle and slot walls 70, 72 for selectively closing the channels with cold gas. This allows for the periodic removal of selected heated gas streams, resulting in surface patterns that can vary over the material in the saunas as well as in the direction of movement of the material past the outlet manifold.

Figures 6 and 7 illustrate another embodiment of the invention in which the patterning of the material is accomplished using an elongate slot 32 and pressurized cold gas outlets without spacers. As shown in Fig. 7, when the cold gas supply is selectively activated to certain outlets 78 according to the pattern information, the flow of heated gas through the gap 32 is prevented by the colder gas in the respective areas of the gap for patterning moving material.

The heated, pressurized gas discharge branch pipe of the invention can also be used to uniformly raise thermoplastic pile yarns in a pile material having a substantially flat unidirectional pile layer, such as in a pile material made by cutting two pile yarns of a double-sided knitted material structure so that In such a method of making a pile material, the pile yarns of the two webs of material are generally uniformly bent in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of the material during the cutting step.

As schematically shown in Figs. hitting the heated gas stream with hot-cured fluff yarns in this position. Figures 9 and 10 illustrate the pile material substrate 106, the pile yarns 108, their bending direction, and the direction in which the heated gas stream 110 impinges on the pile surface. As can be seen, the gas flow 110, as indicated by the arrows, should preferably strike the surface of the material at an angle of about 90 ° or more against the direction of movement of the material in order for the fluff wires to harden in the same vertical position. If the material is forced to move in a non-rectangular direction against the bending direction of its fluff yarns, or if the pressurized gas flow is directed other than at said angles, the fluff yarns do not rise uniformly upright but either bend more or randomly on the fluff material surface.

The use of the device according to the invention for carrying out some of the methods described above will be explained in more detail by the following examples, which show the conditions of use in processing textile materials containing yarn components 76126 22 to form the desired surface appearance or pattern on this material.

However, it is clear that in addition to the examples, many other modifications and embodiments of the invention are possible.

Example 1

A knitted polyester plush pile fabric weighing 461.5 g / m and a pile yarn height of 2.5 mm was continuously fed through the apparatus of Fig. 1 at a conveying speed of 4.5 m / min. The temperature and pressure of the heated air in the outlet manifold chamber were maintained at 315 ° C and an overpressure of 0.04 MPa, respectively. The outlet gap of the branch pipe was kept about 1.3 mm from the pile surface and was provided with a spacer with a notched structure according to Fig. 3. The outlet channels formed at the distances between the gaps had a rectangular cross-sectional size of 0.3 mm x 1.6 mm. The length of each channel through the gap was 6.4 mm, and the channels were centrally located 5.0 mm over the branch tube.

The heated gas streams hitting the pile surface of the fabric caused the pile yarns to shrink longitudinally in the contact areas so that they collapsed and compressed in the fabric, forming narrow, elongate, discrete grooves extending along the surface trajectory. The pile yarns near the sides of the grooves remained substantially unmodified and undisturbed, forming separate vertical side walls of the grooves. The surface of the fabric pattern is shown in Figure 11 of the drawings.

Example 2

A plain weave polyester fabric having a basis weight of 124.2 g / m 2 and having 92 warp yarns x 84 weft heads per 25 mm of fabric structure was treated with 23 7 612 6 in the apparatus shown in Figure 1 at a fabric speed of 3.6 m / min and a fabric 12 % with overfeed between rollers 12, 13 and rollers 18, 19. The support roller 16 was changed to an upper gear as the fabric passed over it. The temperature and pressure of the heated air as well as the size and distance of the exhaust ducts in the branch pipe were the same as in Example 1.

The pressurized and high temperature gas streams that hit the fabric fed over the support roll in the warp direction caused a continuous longitudinal heat shrinkage of the warp yarns in contact with them along their entire length. The portions of the fabric under the influence of heat between the lines containing non-shrinking yarns had a crepe-like or wrinkled appearance, as shown in the photograph shown in Fig. 12 of the drawings.

Example 3

The pile fabric structure according to Example 1 was treated with the treatment device according to Fig. 1 at a treatment speed of 1.8 m / min. The temperature of the heated air in the manifold was maintained at 370 ° C and the pressure at an overpressure of 0.014 MPa. Using a fabric speed of 1.8 m / min, the heated air outlet ducts of the baffle were selectively closed as in Example 1, with a center spacing of 2.5 mm, at pressurized, colder airflows from the cold air outlets of the manifold gap according to the pattern information. A cold air overpressure of 0.03 MPa was maintained in the cold air branch pipe. The treated fabric had a pattern consisting of a series of narrow, discrete, well-defined grooves, as shown in the photograph in Figure 13.

Example 4

The two woven polyester fabric structures described in Example 2 were treated according to the conditions of Example 3 and with a cold air pattern control device for heat shrinking the warp yarns at distances spaced along the fabric feeding direction. The fabrics obtained according to the pattern information used had a wrinkled or crepon appearance, as can be seen from the photographs shown in Figures 14 and 15 of the drawings.

Example 5 An uncoloured and uncured pleated velvet-polyester pile fabric having the structure of Example 1 was treated with the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 at a processing speed of 3.6 m / min. The nuk fabrics of the pile fabric had bent in one direction. The fabric was fed past the uniform outlet slot of the warm air branch tube in a direction opposite to the bending direction of the fabric fluff yarns, as shown in Figs. 9 and 10. Heated pressurized air having a temperature in the manifold of 150 ° C and a pressure of 0.011 MPa overpressure was continuously directed against the air against a rectangularly fed pile surface. The width of the outlet gap of the branch pipe was 0.4 mm. The air flow hitting the pile surface of the fabric raised the pile to a substantially similar, vertical, rectangular position with respect to the pile surface and the fabric substrate. The treated fabric had a uniform surface appearance with vertical dolls.

Example 6

The knitted nylon pile fabric and the knitted acrylic plush pile fabric, each having a basis weight of about 426 g / m 2 and a pile height of 2.5 mm, were each treated with the apparatus of Fig. 1 and the processing conditions described in Example 1 and the spacer described in the same example. The treated 25 7612 6 nylon pile fabric had a clearly defined surface groove pattern, whereby the pile yarns in contact with the heated air currents have shrunk longitudinally down to the base of the fabric. The acrylic fabric also had a grooved surface pattern, which, however, was not as clear in appearance and whose grooves were not as clear as in the melt-spun thermoplastic fabrics of the examples, such as polyester and nylon yarn fabrics.

In these particular embodiments, the processing speed of the pile fabric through the device can be increased by preheating the fabric before it passes the heated air outlet branch slot. Typically, the fabric can be preheated by known types of infrared heating devices and / or by heating the support roller 16.

Although the examples show typical processing conditions for textile lint materials and woven materials to form visible surface changes and patterns therein, it will be appreciated that the treatment fluid and temperatures and conditions of the media treatment may vary depending on the particular substrate structure and desired surface appearance. Various results have been achieved in the patterning of nickel materials containing thermoplastic yarns at processing speeds of n.

3.6-5.4 m / min with heated air temperatures of about 315-370 ° C at the outlets of the heating devices and a branch tube chamber pressure of about 0.014-0.047 MPa overpressure. In general, higher pressures can be used when the outlet slot or channels formed in it have a smaller cross-sectional size. Higher gas temperatures may also be desirable when using cold, pressurized gas to control heated gas flows.

26 7 6 1 26

In order to illustrate the possibility of altering and modifying different substrate materials by applying pressurized, heated media streams to selected areas of the substrate surface in accordance with the present invention, a plurality of substrates of different structure and composition have been contacted with a pressurized heated air stream from a single jet. with a diameter of 0.76 mm. The substrates were randomly moved near the spray nozzle under the treatment conditions shown in the following table.

Table I

Substrate Without Air Nozzle and pressure heat substrate spacing _MPa___ 1) Woven fabric containing a polyethylene yarn of 0.007 200 2.5 mm laminated fluff-like surface 2) Sheet of paper containing a polyethylene yarn 0.021 175 2.5 mm laminated pile-shaped surface 3) Knitted non-woven polypropylene yarn, 103 315 2.5 mm fabric 4) Pile polypropylene doll fabric 0/042 315 2.5 mm 27 7 612 6

Visual inspection of the substrate treated under the conditions described above showed that narrow grooves were formed in the surfaces exposed to the heated air stream of substrates 1-5, with more limited grooves being formed in substrates 1-4 containing molten spun-type thermoplastic fiber than in materials containing non-durable plastics. such as rayon (substrate 5), or acrylic fibers as in Example 6.

In substrate 6, the airflow treatment completely cut through the substrate, indicating that the present invention can also be used to form lace patterns on sheet-like substrates and fabrics.

Using the present apparatus and method, surface changes can be made to textile materials containing thermoplastic fibers and yarns, as well as other substrates, resulting in finely defined and intricate patterns and surfaces. The treatment of the material can be performed before dyeing, whereby the thermally modified and unmodified fibers and yarns subsequently absorb the dye in different ways, so that the materials are given two-tone color effects as well as surface patterning effects.

Claims (10)

A method for surface patterning a fabric web of textile materials containing thermoplastic fibers, comprising moving the web of material past an emission manifold extending over the web, from which the discharge manifold flows of heated gas under pressure can after a certain sample The surface of the material web, characterized in that uniformly heated compressed gas is supplied to the emission manifold, is formed into a uniform flow of compressed gas with uniform pressure and temperature extending over the path of the material web and directed towards the surface of the material web and by the uniform heated pressurized gas stream. extending transversely along the path longitudinally, mechanically and / or pneumatically dividing into a number of sub-currents extending along each other in the width direction of the path. 2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the mechanical etheric divider is carried out by inserting in the outlet manifold in the transverse direction of the path separate separating means for dividing the main current into a number of parallel partial currents. 3. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the pneumatic splitting of the uniform main stream is carried out by introducing a plurality of potassium pressurized gas streams transverse to the direction of the main swirling propagation ph, a plurality of ph mutually dependent transverse paths for forming paths. essentially parallel partial streams. Method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that rods of potassium pressurized insert into the manifold in the intermediate runner of the blocking means. Process according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that the temperature how the heated gas regulates by adding to the manifold tube in the form of several single atoms, which are individually heated and the temperature is individually heated. Apparatus for surface sizing of a material web of textile material comprising thermoplastic fibers, including a material transfer device and an outlet lip branch tube (30 ) for receiving heated pressure gauge and an enamel, elongated outlet lip aperture <32) for the pressure gauge tube, characterized in that a miniature etheric power divider <99, 102) is provided in the outlet lip panel <32) and / or a miniature outlet <7β> for potable pressure is arranged in the outer lip aperture wall, for dividing the pressure gauge stream in the transverse direction of the material web and the longitudinal apalts. 7. Apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that the mechanical atomic divider is made up of a spacer plate <99, 102) with a protrusion, which attracts oak into the chambers (68).