NO152052B - PROCEDURE AND APPARATUS FOR SURFACE DESIGN OF A MATERIAL COAT. - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to a method and a

apparatus for surface patterning of a material web of textile material containing thermoplastic filaments, comprising guiding the material web past an outlet manifold extending over the web, from which streams of heated gas under pressure can be directed in a specific pattern towards the surface of the material web.

In connection with the invention, the term "fluid" is

meant to denote gaseous, liquid and solid, liquid materials that can be controlled in the form of one or more continuous streams under pressure against the surface of a substrate material. The term "gas" includes air, water vapor or other gaseous or vaporous media, or mixtures of these, which can be controlled in the form of one or more connections

gende flows under pressure. The term "substrate" is used to refer to any material whose over-

surface can be brought into contact with one or more streams under pressure of a fluid, so that the visual character of the material changes.

Although substrates that are particularly suitable for treatment

with a fluid flow under pressure using appa-

rate according to the invention consists of textile material compositions and, more specifically, of textile materials containing thermoplastic yarn and/or such fiber components, whereby the treatment of the material surface with a heated fluid

current under pressure causes a thermal modification of the yarn or fibers so that a desired surface effect or pattern occurs, the present apparatus can be used for the treatment of any substrate where the nature of the treatment fluid flow under pressure or of the substrate causes a visual change of the substrate surface due to contact

ten with the fluid flow. The treatment fluid can, for example, consist of a solvent for the substrate material, or the fluid can have such a temperature that the components in the substrate that are brought into contact with the fluid flow are thermally modified or deformed to produce such effects.

The term "textile material" is intended to include as well as-

different types of continuous or discontinuous webs or sheets containing fiber or yarn components, such as knitted

bored, woven or stretched materials, felted material and laminated or non-woven materials whose surface appearance can be changed under the influence of heated fluids under pressure.

It is known that certain acrylic fleece materials can be given a surface pattern by roller embossing, whereby the fleece surface is brought into engagement with raised surface parts on the roller with the result that heated fleece fibers are pressed into the material's substrate, so that the roller's surface pattern is transferred to the material surface. Such roller embossing of heated lo-material products is, however, relatively expensive, as a new roller is required for each new pattern to be applied to the material, and as the repetition length of a pattern in the material is limited by the circumference of the pattern roller. It is also believed that patterns created in acrylic fleece materials by embossing will not usually be able to be produced by roll embossing of melt spun thermoplastic material such as nylon and polyester fleece material due to the difficulty in achieving the high temperatures required for the purpose on sufficient shrinkage and heat hardening of the yarn, in combination with the yarn's own tendency to adhere to the embossing roller.

When dyeing materials, as is known, a material in motion can be pattern dyed using continuously supplied liquid streams of a dye which is selectively deflected from hitting the material, by means of crossing air currents which are regulated in accordance with the pattern information. US Patent Nos. 3,969,779 and 4,059,880 describe an apparatus for use in this regard.

It is also commonly known that apparatus can be used for conducting air or water vapor under pressure into the outer surface of textile material, for changing the position or modifying the thermal properties of fibers or yarn

in the material to achieve a change in the surface appearance of such materials. US Patent No. 3,010,179 describes an apparatus for treating synthetic fleece material by directing a number of jets of dry steam from a collecting tube towards the surface of the material in motion, for deflection and disorientation of the fleece fibers in the zones brought in contact with the steam, with

subsequent drying of the material and heating for hot-curing the deflected fibers and creating a visible effect to produce a fur-like material. US patent no. 2 56 3 259 deals with a method for patterning a down-fleece material by directing several air currents towards the material's fleece surface within the final hardening of the binder in which the fibers are embedded, whereby the direction of the fluff fibers is changed so that certain patterns are formed in them. US Patent No. 3,585,098 describes an apparatus for treating the fleece surface of a material with hot air or dry steam, in order to remove tension in the synthetic fibers and induce a disorientation and ripple of the fibers through the material. US Patent No. 2,241,222 describes an apparatus with a number of jet nozzles for directing air or steam under pressure at right angles into an airy material surface, to lift and crimp the fluff in the material. US Patent No. 2,110,118 describes a branch pipe with a narrow gap for conducting compressed air towards the outer surface of a material comprising groups of tassels for straightening the tassels during a textile treatment process.

Although it is stated in the above-mentioned patents in general that compressed air or steam can be used to change the surface appearance of materials, the devices described lack sufficient accuracy and precision to regulate gas streams of high temperature for the production of particularly exact and complicated surface patterns with well-defined limits, and can generally only be used for the production of relatively roughly defined surface patterns or of flat fiber modifications of a random and undefined nature. The devices also seem to be limited in terms of the number of different patterns that can be applied to the materials.

When modifying the surface appearance of a relatively mobile material, for example a textile material, by supplying fluid flows, many difficulties will arise in connection with regulating the supply quantity, the pressure and the direction of the flows with sufficient reliability and accuracy to exactly define and complicated patterns must be able to be produced on the textile material. Besides in connection with the accuracy of the pattern definition, difficulties will arise in connection with the effective handling of fluids of very high temperature while simultaneously maintaining a homogeneous temperature in the fluid flows over the width of a moving material, and in connection with regulation of rapid activation and de- activation of heated streams by means of conventional valves connected to the lines for the heated fluids.

When a heated fluid, e.g. heated air or water vapour, is transferred to the surface of a material in the form of one or more streams which are arranged at a distance along an elongated branch pipe, difficulties will arise regarding the maintenance of a uniform temperature in the stream or streams over the entire width of the branch line. If heated fluid under pressure is introduced into the manifold from a single point in the conduit to discharge through an elongated, narrow gap or a number of openings provided along the manifold, the varying distances of fluid flow through the manifold and from the fluid's heating source will cause different temperature drops in the fluid , so that temperature differences occur in the fluid flows that run out from the branch line. When the heat in the fluid streams is used to thermally modify thermoplastic yarns and fibers in the materials to induce longitudinal shrinkage and molecular reorientation to produce a desirable pattern in the material, differences in the temperatures of the fluid streams directed at the material can cause unwanted irregularities in the produced pattern. It is therefore important to ensure that all currents directed towards the material have a practically uniform temperature. Contamination in the heated fluid can also easily cause blockage and re-clogging of small, separate jet nozzles in a pressurized fluid applicator, which entails time-consuming cleaning of the blocked part of the treatment equipment and material product loss due to incorrect patterning due to the equipment blockage.

It should also be mentioned that e.g. from US Pat

3,585,098 is previously known to treat a web of material by means of a series of successive fluid streams each extending across the web. Furthermore, it is previously known from GB patent 1 063 252 to structure the surface of new textile material by means of liquid under pressure. Fluid jets are sent towards the material's surface from a number of jet nozzles which can have outlets of varying shape and size. Nor can the devices mentioned in the two latter publications be used for surface patterning of a textile material web using heated gas under pressure.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method of the kind mentioned at the outset which allows a safer and more accurate surface patterning of textile web material using heated gas than can be achieved with the help of known equipment and known methods.

The method according to the invention is characterized essentially by the fact that evenly heated compressed gas is supplied to the outlet manifold, formed into a flat stream of compressed gas with uniform thickness and temperature that extends over the path of the material web and is directed towards the surface of the material web, and where the flat heated compressed gas stream that extends itself across the longitudinal direction of the track, mechanically and/or pneumatically divided into a number of side-by-side sub-streams that extend in the width direction of the track.

In one embodiment of the method, the mechanical flow division in the outlet manifold can be carried out by introducing mutually separated blocking bodies in the transverse direction of the path for dividing the main flow into a number of parallel sub-flows.

The division of the flat main flow can also be carried out pneumatically by a number of division jets of cold compressed gas being introduced across the direction of movement of the main flow at a number of places arranged at a distance from each other across the direction of movement of the path for the formation of largely parallel sub-flows. The split jets of cold compressed gas can be fed into the manifold in the spaces between the blocking elements. The temperature of the heated gas can be regulated by the gas being supplied to the manifold in the form of several individual streams which are heated individually and temperature controlled individually.

As mentioned above, the invention also includes an apparatus for carrying out the described method. The apparatus is of the type that comprises a transport device for the material web and an outlet manifold for directing heated compressed gas flow towards the surface of the material web, where the outlet manifold comprises an inner chamber for receiving heated compressed gas and a narrow, elongated outlet slot for the compressed gas flow, and the distinctive feature of the device is that at least a mechanical flow divider is arranged in the outlet slot and/or at least an outlet for cold compressed air is arranged in the wall of the slot, for dividing the compressed gas flow in the transverse direction of the material path and the longitudinal direction of the slot.

The mechanical current divider can be designed as a plate with ribs that project into the chamber's outlet slot and between them form recesses that extend in the direction of movement of the material path. The apparatus can be equipped with a pattern control device which controls valves for the supply of cold pressurized gas to the manifold's outlet nozzle in dependence on pattern information.

The manifold may be in connection with supply lines for compressed gas which are assigned to individual heating and temperature control devices and are equipped with individual valves for flow regulation, and the inner chamber of the manifold may be equipped with a thermocouple that cooperates with the regulation devices.

The invention will be explained in more detail below with help

of examples and with reference to the drawings where:

Fig. 1 shows a schematic overall side view of the device according to the invention for producing visual surface effects in a moving substrate. Fig. 2 shows an enlarged, schematic, front vertical end view of the supply section for heated fluid under pressure in the device according to fig. 1, where the component parts are placed in a system for supplying both heated and relatively cool pressurized gas to a branch pipe for distribution of hot gas in the supply device. Fig. 2A shows a schematic block diagram, from which it is clear how electrical energy is supplied to the group of heating devices according to fig. 1 and 2, for temperature regulation of the pressure fluid which is supplied to the branch pipe from the heating devices, for distribution of the heated fluid. Fig. 3 shows an enlarged, schematic perspective view of a part of the branch pipe for distribution of hot gas, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, where certain parts are reproduced in section to illustrate certain of the internal components, and an intermediate device which, by being used in the elongated slot in the branch pipe, gives the relatively movable substrate a desired surface pattern. Fig. 4 shows a schematic vertical section of the branch pipe according to fig. 3, for distribution of heated gas, and also illustrates the use of the distribution device for pressure-cooling gas by selectively blocking outflow of parts of the heated gas, from the manifold, to impart a patterned appearance to the substrate. Fig. 5 shows a schematic section along the line V-V in fig. 4 and seen in the direction of the arrow, of a part of the branch pipe according to fig. 4, for distribution of hot gas. Fig. 6 shows a schematic vertical section of a modified version of the branch pipe for hot gas, where the melro laying device has been removed from the hot gas distribution gap,

and where only the distribution device for the cooler gas is used to regulate the hot gas emission from the gap,

Fig. 7 shows a schematic section along the line VII-VII

on fig. 6 and seen in the direction of the arrow, of parts of the branch pipe according to fig. 6,

Fig. 8 shows an enlarged, schematic perspective view of an intermediate device for use in conjunction with the hot gas branch pipe, for distribution of the gas in nearby streams on the surface of a substrate, Figs. 9 and 10 schematically show a method that enables utilization of the processing apparatus according to the invention for lifting the fluff in a textile-fleece material substrate including a fluff-yarn layer with a main fiber direction in the material, and Figs. 11-15 show photographs of the surface of certain new textile material products, which have been applied with patterns by treatment using of the method and device according to the present invention.

As mentioned, the invention mainly comprises a method and device for restructuring the surface of a material web in motion by means of heated gas under pressure. The method is carried out in a device which comprises a distribution branch pipe for heated fluid with a narrow, elongated slot which is placed above the material web and very close to the surface to be treated.

Fluid, for example air, under pressure and at high temperatures, e.g. 150-370°C, is fed to the branch pipe and is directed from the slot at a mostly right angle into the surface of the moving substrate while simultaneously regulating the hot air release from the slot, so that the hot air is directed in the form of one or more precisely defined, narrow streams which supports against the stump rat surface and thereby changes the surface appearance in the desired way. The heated air impinging on the substrate will, if the substrate includes textile material containing thermoplastic yarns or fibers, cause thermal modification of the thermoplastic fibers and yarn components in the material, so that the physical appearance of the components changes as the fibers and yarns shrink in the longitudinal direction in pre-selected zones, thereby forming patterns with precisely defined boundaries.

In one embodiment of the method, a heated gas, for example air, is guided selectively in the form of precisely defined streams, using an elongated spacer device with slits which are arranged with a selective, mutual distance along a side edge of the spacer device, where the slotted edge of the spacer device which are placed in the longitudinal direction in the manifold gap, delimit separate channels for conducting the air in a number of narrow streams towards the surface of the relatively movable substrate. The intermediate cover device is also of a construction in which foreign particles are filtered from the air, so that re-clogging of the channels is prevented while maintaining continuous air flow through the channels.

According to another version, the treatment apparatus includes a device for selectively conducting relatively cooler gas streams under pressure in a transverse direction across the branch pipe gap in zones spaced along the gap, to effectively prevent the hot air from passing and impinging on the substrate in places in accordance with the pattern regulation information. The outlet device for cool gas under pressure includes suitable valves for individually regulating each of the blocking flows of cool gas, e.g. air,

and the blocking device can, using cool gas, be utilized in the manifold gap, with or without an intermediate device, for selective pattern transfer to the substrate surface in accordance with the pattern information.

Furthermore, the apparatus includes a fluid handling device for maintaining uniform distribution of the heated fluid over the entire length of the branch pipe and the branch pipe gap, which provides security for a more accurate and exact hot-patterning of the substrate.

According to a further version of the invention, ambient fluid, for example air, is supplied under pressure to each heating device through separate lines which are individually connected to a fluid flow measuring valve for independent and exact regulation of the fluid flow through each heating device.

On the drawings which, among other things, shows a preferred embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention, fig. 1 is a highly schematic side view of the apparatus. As shown, an indefinite length of a substrate material, e.g. a textile material 10, advanced continuously from a supply roll 11 by means of driven feed rolls 12,13 with variable speed, to a device 14

for treatment with a heated fluid under pressure. During the application of heated fluid, the transported material 10 is supported by the same by being passed over a carrier roller 16, and the fluid-treated material is led by means of driven pick-up rollers 18,19 with variable speed, to a material collection roller 20.

A conventional material edge guide device 21 of a known type can be placed in the material's path between the feed rollers 12 and 13 and the fluid processing device 14, to maintain the correct lateral alignment of the material during the advance over the carrier roller 16. The speed of the feed rollers 12,13, the carrier roller 16 and the take-off rollers 18 and 19 can be is regulated in a known manner, to achieve the desired material feed rate and desired stresses in the material that is introduced, passes through and leaves the fluid treatment device 14.

As can be seen from fig. 1 and 2, comprises the device 14

for treatment with fluid under pressure, an elongated branch pipe 30 for discharging heated gas, which extends at right angles over the transport path of the material 10 and is equipped with a narrow, elongated outlet gap 32 for conducting a stream of heated gas, for example air, under pressure into the material surface, mostly perpendicular to it, while materia-

is easily advanced over the carrier roll 16.

Gas is led, e.g. air, under pressure to the interior of the discharge branch pipe 30 by means of an air compressor 34 which is connected via an air line 36 to opposite ends of a cold air branch pipe or collection line 38. In the air line 36, a main control valve 40 and an air pressure control valve 42 are connected for control of the inflow and pressure of the air to the branch pipe 38. A suitable air filter 44 is also arranged which helps to remove contaminants from the air that flows into the cold air branch pipe 38.

Air under pressure in the cold air manifold 38 is led from the manifold 38 to the inner chamber of the hot air discharge manifold 30 through a group 46 of separate electric heating elements, of which two elements 48 are shown in FIG. 2. Through the inlet and outlet lines, acc. 50 and 52, the heating elements are connected at a uniform distance from each other along the two branch pipes 38 and 30, for heating and homo-

gen distribution of compressed air from the branch pipe 38 over the entire length of the discharge branch pipe 30. With a discharge branch pipe of 1.5 meters in length, 24 units can typically be used for the heating element group 46. 1-kw electric heating elements, where the heating elements' outlet lines 52 are located

with 6.5 cm center distance along the manifold. The heating element group 46 can be surrounded by a suitable insulating jacket.

In the inlet line 50 to each heating element 48 in the heating element group, a manually operable fluid flow measuring valve 61 is arranged for precise regulation of the flow rate of the compressed air from the branch pipe 38 through each of the respective heating elements 48. The valves can advantageously be of the needle valve type , for precise flow regulation, and the use of such valves is explained in the following.

In the air outlet line 52 of each heating element, a temperature sensing device is connected, for example a thermocouple, of which only one element 54 is shown in fig. 2, for measuring the temperature of the outgoing air from each heating element. Each thermocouple 54 is electrically connected to a conventional electrical chart recorder 58 through suitable wires (wires 55 in Fig. 2 and 2A), whereby all air temperatures in the outlet wires from the heating elements can be observed and monitored visually or through an audible signal. Electric current is transferred homogeneously and as needed to the individual heating elements from a common power supply source 60.

As shown in fig. 2A, the electric heating elements 48 are connected in parallel to the common power supply 60 through a suitable line 22. The power supply line to the individual heating elements 48 includes a conventional current regulating device 24 such as a silicon regulated rectifier, model 7301, manufactured by Electronic Control Systems. In the inner chamber of the elongated branch pipe 30, a temperature sensor element or a thermocouple 26 (Fig. 2A) is arranged in the middle part of the chamber in the longitudinal direction, which is electrically connected to a conventional temperature control device 28, e.g. a control unit, model 6700, which is 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, by periodic supply of homogeneous electrical energy to the heating elements 48 in the group 46, a desired temperature can be maintained in the chamber in the discharge branch pipe 30.

As can be seen from fig. 3,4 and 6, the branch pipe 30, for discharge of hot air, is formed by upper and lower wall sections 62 and 64 which, by suitable anchoring means such as mutually separated bolts 66, are removably connected to each other and thereby delimit the internal chamber 68 in the branch pipe and forms opposite, parallel walls 70 and 72 in the elongated outlet gap 32.

Before the discharge through the slot 32, air flowing into the chamber 68 in the branch pipe 30 from the outlet conduits 52 from the group of heating elements 48 is directed backwards and then forwards in a deflection path through the branch pipe chamber (as shown by arrows) under the influence of a guide plate 74 which defines a narrow, elongated opening in the rear part of the chamber 68, through which the air can pass from the upper to the lower part of the chamber. The guide plate 74 will thus cause a more uniform distribution of the air in the manifold chamber, and furthermore facilitate the maintenance of homogeneous air temperature and homogeneous air pressure in the manifold. The guide plate 74 is stored in the manifold chamber 68 by means of spacer sleeves 76 which enclose the bolts 66.

As is most clearly evident from fig. 4-7, a number of cold air outlet openings 78 are arranged in the wall surface 72 of the lower wall section 6 4 in the branch pipe with a mutual distance in the longitudinal direction of the outlet gap. Through a flexible line 80 and a solenoid valve 82, each outlet opening is separately connected to a cold air branch pipe 84 which in turn, through a line 86 (fig. 2) is connected to the air compressor 34. A main control valve 88, an air pressure control valve 90 and an air filter 92 is arranged in line 86.

Fig. 2 schematically shows that each of the solenoid valves is electrically connected to a suitable pattern regulation device 94 which emits electrical pulses which cause selected solenoid valves to be opened and closed in accordance with predetermined pattern information. Various, conventional pattern control devices which will be well known to the person skilled in the art, can be used for activating and switching off the valves in the desired order. A characteristic pattern control device may be of the type described in U.S. Pat. patent document no. 3 894 413.

As shown in fig. 4 and 5, each of the cold air outlet openings 78 in the lower wall surface 72 in the branch pipe gap 32 is arranged for conducting a separate flow of relatively cold air across the outlet gap for heated air and at right angles to the hot air flowing through. The pressure in the colder air currents is maintained at a level which is sufficient for effective blocking and blocking of heated air currents through the gap in the part or parts in which the cold air currents exit. Through switching in and out of the individual cold air streams by means of the solenoid valves 82 in accordance with information from the pattern regulation device 94, hot air under pressure, which passes through the gap, will therefore be forwarded in the form of one or more defined streams as in a desired zone collides with the material surface which is in motion, whereby the surface of the material 10 is subjected to a patterning effect during the passage of the outlet manifold. The colder air that blocks the flow of hot air passes out through the gap instead of the hot air, and is diverted around or inside the material surface, without changing the material's thermal properties or noticeably disturbing the yarn or fibers in the material. Reference is made to the arrows indicating the air flow in fig. 4,6 and 7. In order to ensure that the cooler blocking air is kept sufficiently cold so as not to affect or thermally modify the material, the surrounding air, before it flows out over the branch pipe gap 32, can be further cooled by means of a cold water collector pipe 95 through which the cold air lines 80 pass.

Although the described blocking device, based on the use of cold air under pressure, is preferred for regulating the discharge of heated gas streams under pressure,

it will obviously be possible to use other types of blocking devices, for example movable guide plates or the like, in the elongated gap 32, to selectively prevent the passage of hot air under pressure into the material.

At the initial start-up of the fluid treatment apparatus, electric current is homogeneously transferred to the heating elements 48 in the element group 46 from a power supply unit 60, and compressed air from the compressor 34 is passed through the heating elements. The temperature control unit 2 8 is set to a preselected temperature. When the temperature in the outlet manifold chamber, measured with the thermocouple 26, has reached the desired value, the individual outlet air temperatures from each individual heating element are recorded in the chart printer 58. If there is a temperature difference between some or more of the individual heating elements' outlet air temperatures that are recorded by chart recorder 58, the needle control metering valve 61 in the heating element or elements in which a deviation has been observed is manually adjusted by a stepwise deviating amount to increase or decrease the air flow through the heating element, whereby the temperature of the outgoing air from the individual heating element decreases or increases correspondingly. Consequently, the individual outlet air temperatures from the entire group of heating elements can be equalized exactly by stepwise adjustment of the flowing air to a homogeneous temperature, whereby tolerance variations for the manufactured heating elements or minor variations in the fluid flow through the heating elements in the fluid flow system are compensated. A uniform temperature can then be maintained over the entire length of the outlet branch pipe chamber, by the current supply to all heating elements being adjusted homogeneously by means of the separate sensor element 26 which includes a thermocouple and which is arranged in the middle of the branch pipe chamber.

The apparatus further comprises a device for circulating heat transfer fluid through the interior of the rotatable carrier roller 16 (Fig. 1) over which the continuous substrate path is advanced into contact with the heated fluid from the fluid distribution manifold 30. When the stream or streams of heated fluid under pressure impinge on the substrate, for thermal modification and inducing a desirable, visual change in the surface, the closest underlying surface part of the carrier roll 16 will obviously also be heated by the fluid. Such local heating can cause non-uniform thermal expansion and contraction of the roll in the longitudinal direction, particularly if the advancing substrate is stopped temporarily during the processing processes. Such non-uniform expansion and contraction of the carrier roll 16 can lead to wind bias and distortion of the outer surface of the carrier roll closest to the outlet slot 32 in the branch pipe 30, so that the material substrate supported by the roll is placed at a varying distance from the outlet slot 32 in the longitudinal direction of the slot, which can result in irregular patterning of the substrate due to temperature and pressure differences in the heated fluid streams impinging on the substrate surface.

In order to prevent such wind bias or distortion with consequent irregular patterning of the substrate surface, a system has been created for circulating a fluid heat transfer medium through the rotating roller 16 during ongoing fluid treatment processes. As shown in fig. 1, a suitable fluid such as cooled or heated water, steam or the like is brought to circulate in and out of the interior of the roller 16 from a suitable supply source 96, through a conduit system 91 which is connected to the roller's hollow central shaft. The system for circulating fluid through a rotating roller from a stationary fluid reservoir is known and commercially available within this field, and is therefore not described in more detail. As characteristic circulation apparatus can be mentioned the type manufactured by the Duff-Norton Company of Charlotte, North Carolina, under the trade mark 8000 Series Rotary Union Joints.

As previously mentioned, the heat transfer fluid can persist

of cold water or of a heated fluid such as steam or hot water if it is desired to promote total heating of the substrate during the fluid treatment processes. The heat transfer fluid circulating through the interior of the rotatable roll 16 will consequently distribute the local heating of the surface portion of the roll 16 closest to the outlet slot 32 of the branch pipe homogeneously over the entire roll circumferential surface, thereby preventing the former, non-uniform heat expansion and contraction of the roll during processing - the sessions.

In order to prevent the material from being damaged by the hot gas present when the material feed is interrupted, the branch pipe 30 for hot gas with associated heating elements 48 is pivotably stored, e.g. at 97, and by using a liquid piston device 9 8, the branch pipe with the outlet gap can be swung away from the material path.

Fig. 3 shows a first version of the outlet branch pipe for heated gas under pressure, for use according to the invention, where the pipe is connected to an elongated intermediate device or plate 99 which is demountably placed in the branch pipe chamber 6 8 and equipped with a number of elongated, generally parallel slots 100 which is evenly distributed along one plate edge which is mounted so that it protrudes into the elongate slot 32 and thereby, in union with the walls 70 and 72 of the slot, delimits a series of corresponding outlet channels for hot air, for the conduction of narrow, separate streams of heated gas under pressure against the surface of the textile material in motion. As can be seen from fig. 3 and 4, the slits 100 in the plate project into the branch pipe chamber for the hot gas, so that an elongated inlet is formed above and below the plate to each of the outlet channels which are delimited by the slit edges of the intermediate layer and the walls 70 and 72 of the distribution pipe gap 32. The function of the intermediate layer is thus not only to convert gas under pressure into narrow streams which are to flow out through mutually separated channels, but the edges of the plate also serve to delimit the upper and lower openings to the narrow, elongated inlets (see fig. 4) which act as traps ler for filtering out any foreign particles in the compressed gas while maintaining the flow of compressed gas around the particles and through the channels.

By means of the outlet channels formed by the intermediate plate and the outlet gap, a number of separate, individually separated gas streams will obviously be directed towards and into the surface of the textile material being advanced, whereby narrow, separate and mostly parallel paths are formed which extend in the direction of the material's movement past the outlet manifold. As the pressure and temperature of the hot gas streams are maintained at a sufficient level, the fleece material containing thermoplastic fleece yarn that is brought into contact with the hot gas streams will shrink in the longitudinal direction, be compressed in the fleece surface and be heat cured so that continuous separate furrows in the material, which allows patterning of the material surface in various ways, some of which are described below. In order to change the furrowed pattern in the material, it is only necessary to loosen the branch pipe bolts 66 and replace the inserted intermediate plate with another plate with furrows of a different size and/or distance along the plate edge. Fig. 8 shows another intermediate plate 102 where the slits 104 are arranged with an irregular, intermediate distance along the plate edge, in order to achieve a variation in the pattern that can be transferred to the surface of the material web. It thus appears that different surface patterns can be applied to the material web in motion exclusively by means of the intermediate plates, without further regulation of the flows of colder gas under pressure from the outlets, as previously described. Fig. 4 and 5 show a version of the apparatus, where the intermediate plates are used in conjunction with the outlets for colder gas under pressure in the outlet gap 32, for producing more complicated or detailed patterns in the textile web. As can be seen from fig. 5, the outlet openings 78 are arranged in the channels formed by the intermediate plate and the gap walls 70,72, for selective blocking of the cold gas channels, allowing periodic emission of selected streams of heated gas, for producing surface patterns that can vary over the material width and in the material's direction of movement past the outlet branch pipe.

Fig. 6 and 7 show another version, where

the material pattern is produced by means of the elongated slot 32 and outlet openings for cold gas under pressure, without the use of intermediate plates. As can be seen from fig. 7, the flow of heated gas, through the gap 32, through the colder gas in corresponding zones of the gap, is blocked by activating the supply of cold gas streams to certain of the outlet openings 78 in accordance with the pattern information, for pattern transfer to the moving material.

The outlet manifold for hot gas under pressure, which is used in accordance with the invention, can also be used for homogeneous lifting of thermoplastic fleece yarn in a fleece material including a generally homogeneous air layer with one direction, e.g. fleece material that is produced by cutting fleece yarn belonging to a knitted material construction with a double base, for creating two fleece material webs. When using such a method for the manufacture of pile material, the pile yarn in the two material webs will as a rule be deflected uniformly in the opposite direction to the material's advance direction during the cutting process.

As schematically shown in fig. 9 and 10, it has been established that when a fluff material with deflection in one direction passes the narrow, elongated outlet slot 32 in the branch pipe 30

in the opposite direction to the deflection direction of the pile yarn, the deflected pile yarn will surprisingly assume an upright position, generally at right angles to the pile material surface, and is heat-cured in this position under the influence of the hot gas flow that hits the material surface. Fig. 9 and 10 show the fleece material substrate 106, the fleece yarns 108, the deflection direction of the material fibers and the direction of the hot gas flow 110 towards the fleece surface.

As can be seen from this, the gas stream 110, as shown by arrows, should preferably be directed towards the material surface at an angle of approx. 90° or more to the direction of the material's advance, so that the log yarn is cured in a homogeneous, upright position. If the material has to pass in a direction other than that at right angles to the direction of deflection of the flame yarn, or if the flow of gas under pressure is advanced in a direction other than within the specified angles, the flame yarn will not be lifted to a homogeneously upright position, but will either be deflected further, or placed in arbitrary directions in the fleece material surface.

The use of the apparatus according to the present invention for carrying out certain of the previously described methods is further explained by the following examples which indicate the process conditions of a desired material surface appearance or pattern. However, it is obvious that many other variations and embodiments of the invention than those indicated in the examples are possible.

Example 1

A knitted polyester plush fleece material with a weight on

461.5 g/m 2 and a pile yarn height of 2.5 mm was fed continuously

lie through the apparatus according to fig. 1 with a material feed speed of 4.5 m/min. The temperature and pressure of the hot air in the outlet branch pipe chamber was maintained by 315°C and 0.04 MPa overpressure. The outlet gap in the manifold was at a distance of approx. 1.3 mm from the pile surface and was provided with a slotted intermediate plate of the type shown in fig. 3. The separate outlet channels in the slot had a rectangular cross-section with dimensions 0.3 mm x 1.6 mm. The length of each channel through the slot was 6.4 mm, and the channels were located with a center distance of 5.0 mm above the manifold.

The heated gas streams that supported the pile surface of the material caused longitudinal shrinkage of the pile yarns in the contact zones, as the fibers sank down and were compressed in the material, resulting in narrow, elongated and separated furrows extending in the direction of advance of the surface. The pile yarn adjacent to the furrow sides was largely unmodified and undisturbed, so that distinct side walls against the furrows were formed. The material was applied to a surface pattern that appears from the photograph in fig. 11.

Example 2

A two-shank bonded polyester material with a surface weight

of 124.2 g/m 2 and including 92 warp threads x 84 weft ends per 25 mm material was processed with the apparatus according to fig. 1 at a material speed of 3.6 m/min and with 12% over-feeding of the material between the rollers 12, 13 and the rollers 18, 19. The carrier roll 16 was over-exchanged during the material feed over the roll. The temperature and pressure of the hot air, as well as the size of the outlet channel and the distances created in the branch pipe were the same as in example 1.

The high temperature pressurized gas streams directed against the material being superimposed in the warp direction on the carrier roll caused longitudinal thermal shrinkage continuously over the entire length of the warp yarn brought into contact with the gas streams. Intervening portions of the material between the lines containing yarns that were not thermally shrunk assumed a crepe-like or puckered appearance, as shown in the material photograph of FIG. 12.

Example 3

A fleece material as described in example 1 was processed with the apparatus according to fig. 1 at a feed speed of 1.8 m/min. The hot air in the manifold had a constant temperature of 370°C and an overpressure of 0.014 MPa. At a material speed of 1.8 m/min, the outlet channels for hot air in an intermediate plate of the type as in Example 1, but with 2.5 mm center distance, were blocked selectively by means of colder compressed air streams, in accordance with the pattern information, from the cold air outlet opening in the branch pipe gap. The air in the cold air manifold had an excess pressure of 0.03 MPa. The treated material was applied with a pattern in the form of a series of narrow, distinct and well-branched furrows, as can be seen from the material photograph in fig.13.

Example 4

Two woven polyester materials, as described in Example 2, were treated under the same conditions and with the cold air pattern control device as described in Example 3, to induce thermal shrinkage of the warp yarn in zones located at a distance along the material's direction of advance. In accordance with the pattern information used, a material appeared with a wrinkled or crepe-like appearance, as can be seen from the respective photographs in fig. 14 and 15.

Example 5

A plush polyester fleece material in undyed and non-heat-set form and of a composition as set forth in Example 1,

was processed with the apparatus according to fig. 1 at a feed speed of 3.6 m/min. The material showed a flame yarn deflection in one direction and passed past the unbroken outlet gap in the hot air manifold in the opposite direction to the flame yarn deflection direction in the material, as shown in fig. 9 and 10. Hot air under pressure, with a temperature of 150°C in the branch pipe and an excess pressure of 0.011 MPa, was directed continuously towards the pile surface which was advanced at right angles to the material pile surface and the material substrate. The treated material had a uniform surface appearance with upright fluff.

Example 6

A knitted nylon plush fleece material and a knitted acrylic plush fleece material, both with a surface weight of approx. 426 g/m 2 and a pile height of 2.5 mm, were each treated separately with the apparatus according to fig. 1 and under the same processing conditions and with the same type of spacer plate as described in example 1. The processed nylon fleece material showed a well-defined, distinct pattern of surface furrows where the fleece yarn that had been brought into contact with the hot air currents had shrunk in the longitudinal direction down to the material substrate. The acrylic material was also applied with a furrowed surface pattern, but of less distinct appearance and less distinct furrow delineation than the melt-spun thermoplastic yarn materials such as the polyester and nylon yarn materials in the examples.

In these particular embodiments, the processing speed for the fluff material that passes through the apparatus can be increased by preheating the material before it is advanced past the outlet manifold gap for hot air. The material can preferably be preheated in infrared heating devices of a known type and/or by heating the carrier roll 16.

Although the examples indicate typical process conditions when treating textile fleece materials and woven materials for the application of visual surface changes and patterns, it is obvious that the treatment fluid and the temperatures and conditions during the fluid treatment may vary depending on the particular substrate type and the particular surface appearance to be achieved. Excellent results have been achieved regarding the patterning of fleece material containing thermoplastic yarn, at processing speeds of 3.6-5.4 m/min and with hot air temperatures of 315-370°C at the heating element outlets and an overpressure of 0.014-0.047 MPa in branching - the pipe chamber. Higher pressures can generally be used if the outlet gap or the channels therein have smaller cross-sectional dimensions. When using a cold gas under pressure to regulate the hot gas inflow, it can also be advantageous to have higher gas temperatures.

In order to visualize the possibility of changes and modifications of different substrate materials when transferring heated fluid streams under pressure to selected zones of the substrate surface, in accordance with the invention, a number of substrates of different construction and composition are brought into contact with a heated compressed air stream which was directed into the substrate from a single, fixed nozzle for the fluid flow, under process conditions as indicated in the table below.

By visual observation of the substrate that was treated under the above conditions, it was established that in the

zones of the substrates 1-5 which were brought into contact with the flow of heated air, narrow furrows were formed, a more exact delineation of furrows formed in the substrates 1-4 containing thermoplastic fiber material of the melt-spun type being achieved than for material with fibers of non-thermoplastic type such as rayon (substrate 5), or with acrylic fibers as in example 6.

For the above-mentioned substrate 6, the conditions for air flow treatment meant that the substrate was completely cut through, which indicates that the present invention can also be used to produce lace effects in sheet-shaped substrates and materials.

By using the proposed apparatus and method, surface changes can be produced in textile material containing thermoplastic fibers and yarns, as well as in other substrates,

for producing precisely defined and complicated patterns and surface structures. The material processing can through-

carried out before the dyeing, to achieve a subsequent, differentiated color uptake in thermally modified and non-

modified fibers and yarns, which make it possible to give the materials two-tone color effects and surface patterns

effect

The method and device according to the invention are

particularly suitable for production, in the textile material which contains

where melt-spun thermoplastic pile yarn, of surface patterns that have so far been considered impossible to produce with the help of heated fluid. Surface patterns can also be produced on

material containing yarn components of non-thermoplastic type, for example rayon yarn, although the demarcation in such patterns is usually not as precisely defined as in patterns of material containing thermoplastic yarn. The method and apparatus according to the invention can also be used for the selective treatment of woven materials containing thermoplastic yarns, for the production of new patterns of crepe

or crepe type in such materials'.

Although the apparatus according to the present invention is

particularly suitable for processing textile material containing thermoplastic fibers and yarn components, for producing various, visible surface effects in the material, it is obvious that the device can also be used for fluid processing of other substrate materials containing thermoplastic components, for thermally changing the surface appearance of the materials or for providing a desired pattern in the material.

Claims (9)

1. Method for surface patterning of a material web of textile material containing thermoplastic filaments, comprising guiding the material web past an outlet manifold extending over the web, from which streams of heated gas under pressure can be guided in a specific pattern towards the surface of the material web, characterized in that the uniformly heated compressed gas is supplied to the outlet manifold,' is formed into a flat stream of compressed gas with uniform thickness and temperature that extends over the path of the material web and is directed towards the surface of the material web, and where the flat heated compressed gas stream that extends across the longitudinal direction of the web is mechanically and/or pneumatically divided in a number of side-by-side sub-streams which extend in the width direction of the track. 2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that mechanical flow division in the outlet manifold is carried out by introducing mutually separated blocking bodies in the transverse direction of the path for dividing the main flow into a number of parallel sub-flows. 3. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that pneumatic division of the flat main flow is carried out by a number of division jets of cold compressed gas being introduced across the direction of movement of the main flow at a number of places arranged at a distance from each other across the direction of movement of the path to form largely parallel sub-streams. 4. Method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the dividing jets of cold compressed gas are introduced into the mani fold in the spaces between the blocking elements. 5. Method according to one of claims 1-4, characterized in that the heated gas temperature is regulated by the gas being supplied to the manifold in the form of several individual streams which are heated individually and temperature controlled individually. 6. Apparatus for surface patterning of a web of textile material containing thermoplastic filaments, comprising guiding the web of material past an outlet manifold extending over the web, from which streams of heated gas under pressure can be directed in a specific pattern towards the surface of the web of material, comprising a transport device for the web of material and an outlet manifold (30) for directing heated compressed gas flow towards the surface of the material web, where the outlet manifold comprises an inner chamber (68) for receiving heated compressed gas and a narrow, elongated outlet slot (32) for the compressed gas flow, characterized in that at least one a mechanical flow divider is arranged in the outlet slot and/or at least one outlet (78) for cold compressed air is arranged in the wall of the slot, for dividing the compressed gas flow in the transverse direction of the material path and the longitudinal direction of the slot. 7. Apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that the mechanical current divider is designed as a plate (102) with ribs that project into the outlet slot (32) of the chamber (68) and between them form recesses (104) that extend in the direction of movement of the material path. 8. Apparatus according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that a pattern control device (94) controls valves (82) for the supply of cold compressed gas to the outlet nozzle of the manifold in dependence on pattern information. 9. Apparatus according to one or more of claims 6-8, characterized in that the manifold (38) is in connection with supply lines (52) for compressed gas which are assigned to individual heating and temperature control devices and are equipped with individual valves for flow regulation, and that the inner chamber of the manifold (38) is equipped with a thermocouple (26) which cooperates with the regulating devices.