GB2202871A

GB2202871A - Dyeing apparatus for piece goods

Info

Publication number: GB2202871A
Application number: GB08704698A
Authority: GB
Inventors: I Long Jang Chy
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1987-02-27
Filing date: 1987-02-27
Publication date: 1988-10-05
Anticipated expiration: 2007-02-27
Also published as: HK3091A; SG101390G; GB8704698D0; GB2202871B

Abstract

Dyeing apparatus comprising a dyeing tank (13) and a fabric delivery pipe (11) which branches into two conduits (4) and (5) is provided which defines a first path in the form of a closed loop for a string of piece goods of thin texture and a second closed loop path for piece goods of thick texture. In each case, dyeing liquid is applied to the string of piece goods via a respective nozzle (9, 10). The thick texture string of piece goods is circulated at a lower speed than the thin texture string of piece goods and the dyeing liquid is applied to the thin string of piece goods at a higher pressure than it is applied to the thick texture string. <IMAGE>

Description

DYEING APPARATUS FOR PIECE GOODS The present invention relates to dyeing apparatus for piece goods.

Since piece goods have different thicknesses and fabric textures, if all are treated under the same dyeing conditions, uneven dyeing is likely to result.

An object of the present invention is to provide dyeing apparatus which can be used to dye a variety of piece goods uniformly and evenly without requiring substantial adjustments during its operation.

The present invention provides dyeing apparatus for piece goods comprising means defining a first path through dyeing liquid for a string of piece goods having a relatively thick fabric texture and means defining a second path through said dyeing liquid for piece goods having a relatively thin fabric texture, said second path being distinct from said first path, said apparatus being arranged to apply said dyeing liquid to the piece goods at a pressure which is higher in said second path than in said first path and to conduct the piece goods through said second path at a greater speed than through said first path.

Preferably said strings of piece goods are conducted through respective first and second nozzles in said first and second paths, dyeing liquid being applied to the piece goods via said nozzles and the flow of dyeing liquid over the piece goods being in the same direction as the direction of travel of the piece goods. The speed of travel of the piece goods in at least the second path may be determined at least partially by the pressure of dyeing liquid in said second nozzle.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to Figures 1 to 4A of the accompanying drawings, of which: Fig. 1 is a sketch perspective view of dyeing apparatus in accordance with the invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partially cut-away, of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, showing the dyeing path for thick piece goods; Fig. 3B is a cross-section taken on B-B of Fig. 3; Fig. 3C is a cross-section taken on C-C of Fig. 3; Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, partially cut-away to show the dyeing path for thin piece goods; and Fig. 4A is a cross-section taken on A-A of Fig. 4.

Referring to Fig. 1, the apparatus shown comprises a dyeing tank 13 which communicates with two fabric delivery pipes 11, each of which divides into two conduits 4 and 5. Only one conduit 4 and one conduit 5 are visible in Fig. 1. As will subsequently be described in detail, strings of piece goods are introduced into the apparatus over delivery drum 1 and are fed either to conduits 4 or to conduits 5 from which they are conducted through delivery pipes 11 to the dyeing tank 13. The piece goods move from the far end of dyeing tank 13 as shown in Fig. 1 to the near end and when they reach the near end they are tied to the piece goods being fed to conduits 4 or 5 to form continuous loops which are circulated through the apparatus until the dyeing operation has been completed.

Referring to Fig. 2, dyeing liquid is circulated through the apparatus by a pump 7 which feeds the dyeing liquids to a heat exchanger 6 and thence via a valve 12 to a conduit 4 or 5. The apparatus includes a filter 2 for the circulating dyeing liquid and a chemical reaction tank 3, as is conventional.

Referring to Fig. 3, piece goods of thick texture, such as towel fabrics and carpet fabrics are fed into the apparatus by fabric delivery wheel 8 and are fed through conduits 5, pipe 11 and tank 13 until the head of the string of thick-texture piece goods can be retrieved from the left hand end of the apparatus (as shown in Fig. 3). The string of piece goods that can then be tied together to form a closed loop which which circulates in the path indicated by the chain dotted line 14. Dyeing liquid is applied to the circulating string of piece goods via nozzle 9 at low or essentially zero pressure. If high pressure dyeing liquids were applied, the fabric speed would be increased but the fabric texture would be damaged, causing defects such as reversing, overlapping, and casting off.In this embodiment the speed of the string of piece goods is controlled by the rate of rotation of the fabric delivery wheel 8, resulting in a slow and steady absorbtion of the dye stuff. This leads to excellent dyeing quality.

It will be noted from Figs. 3B and 3C that the conduits 5 and pipe 11 both have a substantial rectangular cross-section which enables the string of piece goods to circulate freely.

Fig. 4 shows the corresponding path 15 for a string of piece goods of thin texture. The string is fed over fabric delivery wheel 8 but is additionally driven by high pressure dyeing liquid applied via nozzle 10 in conduits 4. This causes the string to circulate at a faster speed than would be obtained merely by driving it by the fabric delivery wheel 8. Because the fibre textures of the fabrics to be dyed in the string shown in Fig. 4 are finer and more continuous than the fabrics of the string shown in Fig. 3, the dyeing liquid cannot permeate into the fabric so easily; the high pressure of dyeing liquid compensates for this tendency. Each conduit 4 incorporates two nozzles 10 as can be seen from Fig. 4A, each nozzle 10 conducting a respective string of piece goods.

As can be seen from Fig. 1, the apparatus incorporates two fabric delivery pipes 11, each of which comrmnicates with a respective conduit 4; thus the apparatus can handle four strings of thin texture piece goods or two strings of thick texture piece goods.

It has been found that by reducing the cross-section of the nozzles and passages for the thin texture piece goods in comparison with the thick texture piece goods1 the thin texture piece goods are prevented from tangling together or getting tied up into knots. Thus the apparatus can be used to dye both thick texture piece goods and thin texture piece goods with equal facility.

It will be appreciated that the loops of piece goods may be circulated through the apparatus continuously until the required dyeing density is achieved.

Claims

ClAIMS:

1. Dyeing apparatus for piece goods comprising means defining a first path through dyeing liquid for a string of piece goods having a relatively thick fabric texture and means defining a second path through said dyeing liquid for piece goods having a relatively thin fabric texture, said second path being distinct from said first path, said apparatus being arranged to apply said dyeing liquid to the piece goods at a pressure which is higher in said second path than in said first path and to conduct the piece goods through said second path at a greater speed than through said first path.

2. Dyeing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said strings of piece goods are conducted through respective first and second nozzles in said first and second paths, dyeing liquid being applied to the piece goods via said nozzles and the flow of dyeing liquid over the piece goods being in the same direction as the direction of travel of the piece goods.

3. Dyeing apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the speed of travel of the piece goods in at least said second path is determined at least partially by the pressure of dyeing liquid in said second nozzle.

4. Dyeing apparatus as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the cross-section of said first nozzle is greater than the cross-section of said second nozzle.

5. Dyeing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein two or more such second paths are defined within a common conduit by respect nozzles through which respective strings of piece goods of relatively thin fabric texture can be conducted simultaneously.

6. Dyeing apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein each said path is in the form of a closed loop.

7. Dyeing apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein each said path includes a bath of dyeing liquid.

8. Dyeing apparatus substantially as described hereinabove, with reference to Figures 1 to 4A of the accompanying drawings.