IL44523A - Machines for continously spinning and treating rayon-viscose filaments and yarns - Google Patents

Description

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IMPROVEMENTS IN OR TO MACHINES FOR CONTINUOUSLY SPINNING AND TREATING RAYON-VISCOSE FILAMENTS AND YARNS □'Dim α»3"»03 D'S'si ?is*c?7i n"»no7 manass D* I 3¾? nTTWT 7W ΠΤΙΡΟ'1 757 This invention relates to an improved machine for continuously carrying-out, under conditions of high productivity and yield, and of regularity of operation and production, the entire processing cycle leading to the formation of viscose rayon filaments and yarns, starting from the spinning of spinnable viscose dope into a coagulating bath, and yielding a product which is spun and if desired twisted, wound-up and packaged so that it may be sent as such to the production of textile goods.

It is known that the manufacture of viscose rayon fibres and yarns comprises a sequence of operations and treatments. The spinnable viscose dope, when it is suitably extruded through spinning nozzles into a coagulating bath, is transformed into filaments which, after having been stretched, require a sequence of other physical-chemical treatments which typically include desulphurizing, bleaching and other processes, in suitable liquid processing baths, separated by washing treatments, and at the end undergo a final drying treatment whereafter they are woundup, optionally as a twisted yarn resulting from the coupling of a plurality of filaments, and preferably after the application of sizing and/or lubricating agents, ^hiis technology of spinning and treating viscose rayon fibres is well known and does not require further comments.

It is also known that this process is conventionally carried-out by gathering the Coagulated and stretched filaments by centrifugation within baskets or. like rotating containers in the form of "cakes"* The successive physical-chemical treatments of desulphurizing, bleaching, finishing 2 pp n. o. by causin liquid agen s o paoe through said cakes, on a separate apparatus, and in suitable environments frora whloh the gaseous products and the solutions which evolve in the course of the aforesaid treatments are removed* The U.S.Patont No, 2,516,157 teaches an apparatus of the above bind and wherein a plurality of Operative and thread processing devices is enclosed into suitable coaunon environment provided with means for withdrawing the produced foul atmosphere* Various, apparatuses have been proposed for oarrying-oui such -teatments continuously. The Patents and technical literature in this art have disclosed* among others, apparatus see wherein the fiiaments* as they emerge from tho coagulating bath* are led round a treatment roller which is divided into a plurality of coaxial κθηοα set side by side* in correspondence to which the coils of the yarn are exposed to various actions on the part of liquid agents suitably fed onto the coils, and are thereafter gathered in underlying separate tanks or pans* B associating to the treatment roller a pluality of auxiliary rollers, hich are essentially parallel to the first and suitably positioned, it has bee possible to achieve the twin purpose of better exposing ¾he filaments to the treatment and washing liquids by repeatingly detaching them from the treatment roller and advancing them in a spiral configuration along a path which embraces the treatment roller1 and one auxiliary roller, and Of permitting the concurrent treatment* about said treatment roller, of a corresponding pluralit of fila-ments individually travelling in coils which embrace, besides the treatment" oller, one auxiliary roller for each filament* In this wa the individual filaments* jointly advanced in The improved machine according to the invention generally embodies such advantageous technical solutions, but they are integrated and completed so as to ensure a higher production together with a more favourable and selective treatment, all this in such a way as to achieve an increased yield of the machine or installation, both from the quantitative and from the qualitative viewpoints.

The technical solutions which have been found and applied for achieving the aforesaid as well as other purposes and objects of the invention, will appear in the course o the following detailed description with reference to the attached drawings, in which} Fig. 1 represents, essentially in view and partially in cross-section in a vertical plane parallel to the axis of the main roller, a complete improved machine according to the invention, wherein there have been omitted and simplified numerous purely structural and constructive details of components which individually are not characteristic of the said invention; Fig* 2 represents, schematically and in cross-section and perspective view, approximately on the plane and in the direction indicated by II-II of Fig* 1, the characteristic arrangement of the main and auxiliary rollers; Fig* 3 represents, partially in view and partially in cross-section and likewise with constructive simplifica-tions , the part of the improved machine which is circumscribed by the contour indicated by III in said Fig* 1; Fig. 4 fragmentarily represents the structural coupling of two machines of the type represented in Fig* 1 drying phase, after the spiral-like paths of the said ^ yarns about the said rollers; Fig. 5 represents, also schematically, the application o complementary means vhich cooperate to the removal from the individua yarns of the liquid agents fed thereto in the course of anyone of the treatments, in order to improve the predisposition thereof to the successive treatment and concurrently to improve certain working and operating conditions of the machine; Fig. 6 represents in cross-section and in detail a possible embodiment of the aforesaid complementary means* By initially referring to Figs* 1 to 3, a machine for the continuous production treatment of rayon viscose filaments and yarns comprises a viscose spinning and coagulating system vhich comprises a spinneret 10 embodying a number of orifices equal tofiithat of the filaments vhich can be processed concurrently in the machine, immersed in a coagulating bath 12, and operating at the inlet of a known coagulating and stretching tube 14· The spinneret 10, which may be fed for example through a piping 16, is obviously associated to known volumetric pump devices, and likewise the coagulating bath 12 is associated to means which ensure that the same is maintained at the desired levels* in its various parts* that the bath liquid is circulated and regenerated, and so on* The several treatments to which the filaments must be submitted in order to be transformed into usable yarns, are carried-out at least prevalently about a main treatment roller 18, divided by suitable flange projections 20 into washing phases to be intercalated between the successive aforesaid treatments.

The treatment and washing liquors are ed onto the corresponding zones 18a by spraying or by pouring them, preferably by means of jets which impinge on the said filaments, in such a way that the liquor will come into contact with the entire surface of the individual filaments, Under the main roller or drum 18 there is positioned a tank 22, which in turn is divided by suitable partitions 24 in as many zones 22a wherein the treatment liquors operating in the overlying zones 18a are selectively gathered, the liquors thus gathered being evacuated through suitable conduits 26 in order to be removed and if desired recovered and regenerated* The separation between the individual filaments which are led around the main roller is effected, by a corresponding number of auxiliary rollers 28 essentially parallel to the treatment roller 18 and spaced from one another, about which the individual filaments are led, with the cooperation of suitable combs for separating the various groups of filaments which travel in a spiral path. In Fig. 2 there is. schematically shown the trajectory along one spiral coil of s many filaments 30a-30d the individual coils whereof all circumscribe the main roller and selectively circumscribe each one of the auxiliary rollers 28a-28d, in this order* Obviously the several filaments travel each along numerous' spiral coils before they are transferred, preferably through the intervention of thread guided or thread shifting pulleys, into. the successively adjacent zone* For the sake as if thoy had equal axial dimensions. It is obvious that they could have different dimensions, in agreement with the different times required to ensure the completion of individual treatments, and that is of the number of spiral coils along which the filaments must travel in the corresr-ponding zones. Also for the sake of simplicity there have been omitted numerous constructuve details of the means which ensure the more complete hydraulic and mechanical separation between the various zones 18a of the main roller and the various zones 22a of the collecting tank, for example by means of double or multiple partitions 24, double or multiple flanges 20, so as to create suitable separating path holes, and others* At the end of the treatments the yarns thud obtained are ready to be led to their packaging, for example in bobbins or cops 32^ wound about known ring spindles or in bobbins actuated by winding machines with controlled speed and tension.

In the improved machine according to the invention the whole of said essential components is combined and supported in a structurally unitary assembly, having a rigid structure fragmentaryly indicated by 34 and mounted on suitable foundations 36 which comprise shoulders 38 and 40 for supporting said rollers and the relative actuating means (not shown), and so forth. The entire assemblage is enclosed in a work chamber which is easily accessible for example by opening broad lateral ports 42 and 44 which are slidable and amply, provided with transparent panels permitting the observation and the control of the machine and the matters which evolve in the course of the various treatments. It is known that the production and the treatment of viscose rayon filaments, treatments which include the use of several chemical agents, lead to the establishment of environmental conditions which are detrimental and dangerous for the personnel operating the machines and installations. The grouping, exemplified in Fig. 1 , of all the means required for transforming the starting spinnable viscose dope into the commercial yarn, and particularly a yarn already packaged in the desired form, in an assembly which is unitary both structurally and as relates to its installation, and which continuously operates in a completely closed chamber, which may need to be entered only from time to time for purposes of maintenance and repair, and only in the course of transitory phases and operations of starting and threading-up the machine, constitutes an extremely important advantage which impinges on all the various aspects of the application and industrial operation of the machine.

These advantages may be advantageously integrated by the use of suitable means (known per se) for automatically changing the cops or bobbins of wound-up yarn with tubes or shells adapted to receive the winding, each time that the packaging of the yarns has been completed* Consequently the machine becomes completely automatic and can operate for an indefinite period of time and it is only required to check that it operates regularly, which check can be effected vidually from the outside and can be integrated if required by signals supplied by suitable sensing devices, and so on. Similarly, checks as to the conditions of the bath liquors and others can be effected from the outside, for instance by drawing-off small amounts of the same, through suitable pipings, and so on.

Operational assemblies such as that hereinbefore described with reference to Pig. 1 may be in turn. grouped into various units for the production of as many yarns of the same or different nature and count. Fig. 4 shows by. way of example a possible vay of grouping several machines, for instance by coupling two machines M1 and M2 -set side by side, which machines individually produce yarns that are suitably wound for example about ring spindles or others, as exemplified at 3 " and 32"· Grouping several machines permits for example to unite various servicing means, such as those of the preparation and feed of the spinnable dopes, the regeneration circuits of the treatment and washing baths and so on.

Fig. 4 exemplifies further a preferred technical solution for the completion of the treatments* Said treatments (desulphurizing, bleaching and so forth) must necessarily end with a phase of complete drying of the treated yarn. This drying may be effected for instance by repeatedly passing the yarn, under the conditions described with reference to Fig. 2, about a terminal zone of the main treatment roller, zone which is suitably heated* It is also known that in the course of such heating the yarn may undergo and generally does undergo spontaneous length variations which may be of a substantial entity, generally a significant contraction. Therefore, the drying geometrical parameters of which are obviously constant, ma cause harmful phenomena, and particularly may cause stresses in the direction of the length of the yarn (and which may even produce a flattening of the same) because the actual presence of the said rollers prevents the yarns from freely or even controllably (such as under a predetermined countertension) changing their length.

In the embodiment represented in l7ig* 4, yarns 30* and 30" are removed from the treatment and auxiliary rollers at least before their drying has been completed and, are passed under conditions of free or controlled tension through elongated drying chambers 52* and 52", wherein suitable heating means are disposed, which means may be for instance generators of infrared radiations, generators of high frequency fields, or simple radiators consisting for instance of electric resistors, and associated with suitable reflecting means for concentrating the radiating energy onto the advancing filaments* Wixthin said dryin chambers there may also flow, preferably in countercurrent with respect to the direction of travel of the yarns, suitably dried gaseous streams, so as to associate the drying to a removal of the liquid evolving from the filaments* At the outlet from said chambers the yarns, are led to the winding, i desired after passing in contact with rollers or other means 54* and 54" for applying lubricating agents, sizers and others, all as it is well known in the art* It is obvious that one essential condition or a high productivity of a machine of the type indicated consists in the speed of travel of the filaments, which speed depends is defined by the peripheral speeds of the treatment' and auxiliary rollers,. It is obvious that such speed should be as high as possible, compatible with the spinning and collection of the yarns. In turn the various treatments and intermediate washing phases strictly demand that the yarns remain in contact with the treatment agents and washing liquors for predetermined length of time* This requirements becomes translated into a number and length of spiral coils* that is into the length of the path along which the yarns travel within each zone of the treatment drum. In other words, the high production speed causes a corresponding increase of the axial and diametral dimensions of the treatment roller* According to an important feature of this invention, said, dimensions may be advantageously contained within desirably low limits (consequently reducing the overall , outer dimensions, the weight and the cost of the complete machine) by shortening to the highest degree the times required for the total elimination of the liquids fed onto the yarns in the course of each treatment phase, before they are transferred to another zone of the treatment drum to undergo a treatment with different chemical agents* As a rule this elimination is effected in the course of the washing phase by means of liquids wherein the concentration of the chemical agents that are washed-off necessarily increases with time, therefore, according to said further feature of the invention, the yarns undergo a first energetic action of mechanical removal of liquids which are present thereon at the exit from each treatment or washing zone, so that the washing liquids transported by said yarns do not cause a progressive dilution of the treatment liquids., Said action may be effected as shown by way of exampl in Fig. 5, by projecting energetic gaseous jets, by means of suitably positioned nozzles 56, onto the aforesaid yarns, so as to remove therefrom the liquid films which cover their surface and consequently to reduce to a minimum tl»e amount of treatment or washing agents to be eliminated before the yarns are transferred to the success sive zone.

Pig. 6 shows by way of example a device by means of which said at least partial elimination of the liquid substances carried along by the yarns may be effected in a particularly energetic maimer. Said device comprises an elongated body 60, axially perforated so as to be longitudinally traversed by the yarn, comprising an inlet chamber 62, a series of stepwise divergent passages 64 and an outlet chamber 66, said inlet and outlet chambers being respectively connected to conduits 68 and 70 through which gaseous streams previously dried and preferably heated are fed and respectively draw¾n-off, said streams flowing at high speed, possibly at supersonic speed, through the intermediate passages 64j thereby energetically acting physically to withdraw the liquids carried alon by the yarns, which liquids are at least in part evacuated through conduit 70.

Obviously, numerous other auxiliary means ÷ devices or mechanisms may be associated to the improved machine, further to increase its ualitative and uantitative

Claims (12)

/ Appln.No. 44523/2 « 12 ··

1. A machine or the continuous spinning and treatment of viscose rayon filaments and yarns , consisting of a struc- tO ally and operatively unitary assembly, comprising spinning means for extruding said filaments into a coagulating bath, means for stretching the coagulated filaments9 and for progressively advancing the stretched filaments along a helical path through a sequence of zones for the treatment and washing thereof, which zones are axially juxtaposed along a treatment drum, and means fo £kA drying the completely treated yarn, the said assembly being enclosed within a casing adapted physically to separate the treatment space, wherein gases, vapours and harmful matters are evolved, from an outlying environment wherein operating personnel may be stationed during the regular operation of said machine.

2. · A machine according to claim 1, comprising i said casing moans for gathering and winding and if required, twisting the yarns which have been produced, treated and dried.

3. · A machine according to claim 2, comprising means for automatically substituting bobbins or tubes covered with yarn windings, with tubes or or equivalent means adapted to ■receive a new winding, so as to ensure that the machine will be continuously operated within said casing.

4. A macnine according to any onr of claims 1 to 3, wherein said drying means is adapted to completely dry of treated yarns under conditions/free or controlled tension after they have left the treatment drum* Appln.No. 44523/2

5. A machine as claimed in Claim 4, wherein said 'drying means comprises an elongated chamber having inlet and outlet passages for permitting yarn to travel therethrough and means within said chamber adapted to act on said yarn to completely eliminate liquids carried thereby*

6. , A machine as olaimed in Claim 5, wherein sources of thermal radiating energy a e located within said chamber*

7. * A machine as claimed in Claim 6, wherein said energy spurces are associated with means for reflecting and concentrating said energy on said yarn.

8. A machine as claimed in Claim 5, wherein the energy sources are sources of high frequency alternating electromag^-netio fields within said chamber.

9. 0· A machine as claimed in Claim 5, wherein said chamber comprises feed and removal conduits connected to a source of drying gases so that gaseous streams pass through the space in which the yarn travels.

10. A machine as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 9, comprising, along the path of yarns travelling between successive treatment and/or washing zones round the treatment drum) means adapted to exert a mechanical action for at least partially removing liquids fed onto the yarns in the course of the treatment or the washing effected in the zone which immediately precedes said last-mentioned means*

11. · A machine as claimed in Claim 10j wherein said means adapted to exert a mechanical action comprises nozzles which are positioned, oriented and fed in such a way as to project gaseous jets onto the yaraa. A pln. No. 44523/2 14

12. A machine as claimed in Claim 10, wherein a d means adapted to exert a mechanical action oomprises tubular bodies longitudinally traversed by the yarn and fed with gas under pressure, whereby high-speed gaseous streams will circumscribe the yarns within said bodies. 13, A machine for the continuous spinning and treatment of rayon-viscose filaments and yarns substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 1,2 and 3 or Figure 4 of the drawings forming part of this specification* Tel-Aviv, March 28, 1974 AGENT FOR APPLICANTS