US1875984A - Mercerizing machine - Google Patents

Description

Spt. 6, 1932. BOSSHARD 1,875,984

MERGERIZING MACHINE Original Filed June 28, 1926 Patented Sept. 6, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE} ARNOLD BOSSHARD, F ARBON, SWITZERLAND, ASSIGNOR TO SIR/JAMES FARMER NOR- TON & COMPANY LIMITED, 01 LANCASHIRE, ENGLAND, A BRITISH COMPANY MERCERIZING MACHINE Original application filed June 28, "1926, Serial No. 119,137, and in Germany July 3, 1925. Divided and this application filed January 24, 1928. Serial No. 249,052.

same being realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention consists in the novel parts,

constructions, arrangements, combinations and improvements herein shown and described.

The accompanying drawing, referred to herein and constituting a part hereof, illustrates one embodiment of the invention, and together with the description, serves to explain the principles of the invention.

Of the drawing Fig. 1 is a vertical section of the machine embodyingmy invention along line 1f1 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 1 in which the fabric is partly omitted.

The present application is a division of my copending application Ser. No. 119,137, filed June 28, 1926.

The invention is directed to providing a mercerizing machine containin improvements in the apparatus for steeping the fabric whereby a more rapid and at the same time a more thorough impregnation of the mercerizing liquid is obtained; an improved mechanism for tensioning and stretching the fabric after steeping which is readily adapted for giving exactly the proper amount of stretching to fabrics differing widely in their qualities and textures; and to a washing and rinsing mechanism in combinationwith the steeping and stretching devices which is adapted to quickly and completely remove excess amounts of mercerizingliquid from the steeped fabric without, shrinking or dis-.

torting-the cloth j v v v With the hitherto known manner of mer- ,cerizing woven fabrics lye of the same concentration and temperature has been used in different compartments of the steeping apparatus. From a storage tank for the cooled lye the latter is caused to flow simultaneously to the single compartments in such a quantity that a certain surplus quantity flows back into the storage tank, in which the lye is continuously kept at the same concentration and at a constant 10W temperature so that owing to the excess quantities in the different compartments in which the treatment is effected the concentration and temperature of the lye are constant. It is known that fabrics are only gradually saturated when brought into contact with cold and concentrated lye so that a certain time elapses until a fabric is completely saturated with soda lye. Therefore, an impregnation of the fabric cannot occur in the first compartment and the following compartment unless the treatment were prolongated in an inadmissible manner. Therefore one had to be satisfied with a partial saturation in the first compartments and a complete impregnation occurred only in'the last compartment of such apparatus. A good and uniform mercerizing effect could not be obtained by working in this known manner. 1

This drawback is overcome with the mercerizing machine according to the present invention in which the fabric is completely impregnated with the lye in the first compartment by utilizing in this compartment a weaker lye having a higher temperature, which lye impregnates the fabric quickly as is known, and by utilizing in the further compartments and steps of treatments lye of gradually higher concentration and lower temperature.

Another feature of the chainless mercer-. izing machine according to the present in-' vention is the means for effecting the stretch-.

ing of the fabric.

In the known chainlessmercerizing ma-,

chines, the-breadth stretching of thefabric against. its shrinkage owing, to the preceding.

saturation with soda lye for the purpose of producing the mercerizing effect is carried outby means of breadth stretchingdevices which for the most part consist of curved roll ers or cylinders ridged on the periphery or provided with helical grooves rising in opposite directions towards both ends, the said rollers or cylinders being arranged transversely to the fabric, straight or in a curve,

and one behind the other.

Such breadth stretching devices only to a small extent impart to the fabric a simultaneous longitudinal stretching, which is likewise extremely important for the mercerizing effect, and even the breadth stretching action leaves something to be desired in consequence of the slipperiness of the saturated fabric. For each kind of fabric there is a quite definite degree of adhesion of the fab ric to the periphery of the breadth stretching cylinders or rollers. This, however, in the case of a particular construction of the breadth stretching device is only present at any time for one particular kind of fabric which is just especially adapted to this construction, so that the chainless mercerizing machines can as a rule only impart satisfac-' torily to quite a definite fabric the desired mercerizing effect, while for all other goods of thinner or thicker, closer or looser quality they produce more or less poor results.

With the machine according to the present invention the abovedefect is remedied by interposing between the steeping apparatus and the breadth stretching apparatus for the fabric an adjustable longitudinal tensioning device. The latter renders it possible to adjust accurately the adhesion of the goods to J the cylinder or roller peripheries of the spreading apparatus, which is required for the correct spreading action for eaCh kind of fabric, by suitable regulation of the longitudinal tension of the goods, and thereby to obtain in each instance the best action of the stretching apparatus and consequently the best mercerizing efiect for the kind of goods in question.

A further feature of the chainless mercerizing machine according to the present invention is the stretching, washing and rinsingapparatus in which the washing liquid is led in a counter-flow to the fabricv to be washedso that the liquid which contains the largest percentage of the washed out lye treatment tank constructed as a Washing box in which case the entire breadth holding apparatus lies in the treatment liquid with the material. already been brought into action by spraying the fabric on both sides, the entire, breadth holding apparatus being enclosed ima treat- Further the washing liquid has ment trough. This spraying process has also been employed on the counter-current principle, the treatment trough which receives the treatment liquid being separated into compartments located one behind the other, out of which the used treatment liquid is taken forwardly in series, and the treatment liquid flowing away from the last por tion of the stretching apparatus being supplied to the immediately preceding part of the stretching apparatus, and so forth.

With the chainless mercerizing machine forming the subject matter of the present invention the apparatus for washing comprises a chest in which the fabric is subjected to a steam treatment and passes through various compartments in succession in which it is washed; the washing water being sprayed to the fabric after it leaves the chest and flows from one compartment in the chest to the next by means of over-flow crests. In combination with this steam chest a breadth stretching apparatus is provided in which the rollers are submerged in the washing liquid, baflle plates being arranged to provide for a tortuous path of the Washing liquid which flows on the countercurernt principle towards the end at which the fabric enters the apparatus. The washing liquid is thus caused to intimately contact with the fabric which moves in the opposite direction so that a very perfect washing effect is obtained.

The foregoing general description, and the appended detailed description as well, are explanatory and exemplary of the invention, but are not restrictive thereof.

Referring now in detail to the embodiment of the invention, illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawing, the fabric to.be treated is shown in'Fig. 1 by the thick full line 1. The fabric, which passes -through the machine in the direction indicated by the arrows A at the entrance end and B at the exit end, enters first the steep ing apparatus composed in the example shown of two units Qand 3. The fabric is led over a guide roller 4: into a vessel or compartment 5 in whichit passes around a guide roller 6 submerged in the mercerizing liquid, i. e. soda lye, contained in the compartment 5; thereupon it passes between a large roller 7 and a squeezing roller 8, whereby the mercerizng liquid is squeezed out, into the next compartment 9 containing lye, around a sub merged guide roller 10, over a guide roller 11, between the guide roller 12 and the squeezin guide roller 13 into the unit 3 of the steeping mechanism. This unit i's'constructed' similarly to the unit 2 and the same reference numerals are applied to its parts as in the roller 8 and from there over a.

case of the unit 2 with the exception of the f two compartments which/ are designated by driven from the main shaft 16 by the interposition of the transmission gearings 17, 18 and operates with a gear wheel 24 fixed on the shaft 25 of the roller 7 by means of the intermediate gear wheel 23. The connection between the train of gear wheels of the unit 2 and the main driving shaft 16 is effected by means of the conical pulleys 26 and 27, belt 28 and counter-shaft 29.

The concentrated and cooled lye is supplied from any source, forinstance from a storage tank, by. means of the pipe 30 to the compartment 15, from where it flows over the partition wall 31' into the compartment 14, thence through pipe 32 into the compartment 9 and over the partition wall 33 into the compartment 5 from where it is led off by the pipe 34. The highest concentration and the lowest temperature of the lye is thus in the compartment 15; the concentration gradually decreasing and the temperature increasing in the compartments 14, 9 and 5, so that in the latter the soda lye will have the lowest concentration and the highest temperature. Thereby the novel effect is attained that the fabric is well saturated with lye in the first compartment as the higher temperature and lower concentration of the lye in this compartment ensures a ready saturation. The lye is squeezed out of the fabric after it has left the first compartment and the fabric is saturated in the next compartment with a more concentrated lye having a lower temperature, which lye is again squeezed out and so on until in the last compartment saturation with lye of the highest concentration and of the lowest temperature is obtained and the mercerizing effect is completed. Obviously the steeping apparatus may comprise more than two units. By this method of gradualfgmercerization a better mercerizing effect. a considerablessaving in concentrated cooled mercerizing liquid and in time is obtained. As the consumption of concentrated, highly cooled lye occurs solely in the last compartment only small quantities of such lye are required so that only a small amount of the lye need be artificially cooled to obtain the desired mercerizin'g efi'ect.

Obviously instead of having only one storage tank from which the concentrated and cooled lye is fed to the last compartment of the steeping apparatus and instead of letting the lye flow by gravity-into the preceding compart nents whereby its concentration and temperature adjust itself a separate storage tank for each compartment may be provided in which tanks lye of different strength and temperature is stored and led to the respective compartment of the steeping apparatus.

means well known per se.

. After the web of the fabric has left the roller 12 of the unit 3 of the steeping apparatus it is led to a variably positionable longitudinal tensioning device 35. The latter comprises two stationary guiding rollers 36 and 37 and a guiding roller 38 rotatably mounted at its end in guide blocks 39 which are displaceable along guides 40 provided in the frame of the device 35. The guide blocks are influenced by weights 41 connected to the former by pulling organs 42 passing over guide pulleys 43. The webpassing over the guiding rollers 36, 38 and 37 is thereby subjected to a longitudinal stretching effect.

This stretching effect can be adjusted by varying the load '41 according to the nature of the fabric and to the nature of the subsequent breadth stretching apparatus in order to attain the desired efiect. By the aid of this variable longitudinal tensioning apparatus the mercerizing machine admits of being adapted easily and conveniently to any type of fabric so as to attain the best ultimate effect. Obviously the longitudinal tension may be produced by any other The tensioning by means of weights is advantageous inas- 7 much as it adapts itself automatically during working to the various working conditions and thereby maintains the longitudinal I tension, once determined uniform during working.

The fabric leaving the longitudinal stretching device passes thereafter tothe breadth stretching and washing apparatus. The breadth stretching apparatus illustrated comprises a plurality-of curved stretching rollers of the known type which are subdivided in the running direction of the web of fabric into two sets arranged at different heights. The first set comprises five rollers 44 which are in driving connection with each other by the gear wheels 45 provided at their ends and the gear wheels 45 are driven from shafts 46 and 47 provided with gear wheels 48 and 49 respectively which are in mesh with 7 some of the gear wheels 45.

The second set of curved stretching rollers comprises eight rollers 50 arranged in a treatment tank 51. The rollers 50 are in operative connection with each other by means of gear wheels 52 and the latter are driven by gear wheels 53 and 54 on the shafts 55 and 56 respectively. The shafts 46, 47, 55 and 56 are rotated from the main driving shaft 16 through the interposition of the conical pulleys 57, 58, belt 59, countershaft 60, chain wheels 61 and chains 62, 63 and 64.

Baffle plates 65 are provided in the treat-' ment tank 51 in order to provide a tortuous path for the washing liquid which is thereby caused to flow in an opposite direction to that in which the fabric moves and in close contact with the latter so that an effective washing is obtained...

upper guide rollers 68 and a "set of lower guide rollers 69 mounted inside a chest 70 and over which the fabric passes. The lower rollers 69 are separated from each other by partition walls 71 whereby different compartments 72 are formed, the upper rollers 68 are mounted at the same elevation in the steam space of the chest 70. From the last of the lower rollers 69 the fabric passes between the squeezing rollers 73 and 74, the upper one of which is loaded by the weight 75 through the intermediary of a system of levers 76. 77 denotes a pipe for supplying water for washing purposes which is sprayed on the fabric before it passes between the squeezing rollers, and 7 8 is a pipe for supplying steam to the chest 70. The rollers 68 are rotated from the countershaft by means of the conical pulley 79, belt 81, and belt pulley 80 fixed to the shaft 82 of the roller 68 and a" train of chain wheels 83 and chains 84.

The partition walls 71 are of different heights so that the washing liquid which is supplied by the pipe 77 flows from the last compartment 72 over the partition wall 71 into the next compartment andso on until the last compartment from where the liquid enters the treatment tank 51 containing the breadth stretching rollers. VVithinthe'tank 51 the washing liquid is caused by the baflled plates to flow in intimate contact with the fabric but in opposite direction to that in which the fabric moves, until the washing liquid is discharged through the pipe 85. The difference in the liquid levels inside the chest and in the treatment tank 51 is caused by the'pressure of the steam admitted into the chest 70.

As the washing liquid flows into the apparatus from the pipe 77 at the end at which the fabric leaves the apparatus it is apparent that the washing liquid in the last compartment 72 will contain the least portion of the washed out mercerizing liquid. This percentage of mercerizing liquid will gradually increase in the preceding compartment 72 of the chest and the highest percentage will be present at the beginning of the treatment tank 51 where the washing liquid is dis charged. The washing efl'ect issuflicientl'y gradual in order not to impair the mercerizing effect in certain goods.

The invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific mechanism shown and described but departures may be made there- 'OQ from within the scope of the accompanying breadth stretching and washing apparatus comprising a treatment tank, a plurahty of breadth stretching rollers of the curved type in said tank at two different heights, 2. plurality of baifles provided in said tank and mterposed between adjacent rollers of the same height, some of the baflles extending from the bottom of the tank upwards and others from the top downwards, and means to supply washing fluid to said end of the tank at which the fabric passing over said breadth stretching rollers leaves the tank, and d scharge means for the superfluous washing fluid at the opposite end of the tank, said baffles providing for a tortuous path of the washing liquid in intimate contact with and I in counter-flow to the moving fabric and means for maintaining the level of the liquid above the upper rollers.

2. In a chainless mercerlzing machine, in

combination, a steeping tank, means for moving a 'web of fabric through said tank, a washing tank, means for moving the steeped fabric through the washing tank, means for passing washing fluid through the washing tank counter to the movement of the fabric, a plurality of breadth stretching rollers of the curved type in the washing tank for stretching the fabric in width, and means for maintaining the level of the washing fluid in the tank above said stretching rollers, so that the fabric will remain immersed while being stretched and washed.

3. In a chainless mercerizing machine, in combination, a steeping tank, means for moving a web of fabric through said tank, a washing tank, means for moving the'steeped fabric through the washing tank, means for passing washing fluid through the washing tank counter to the movement of the fabric, a plurality of breadth stretchin rollers of the curved type positioned at different levels in thewashing tank for stretching the fabric in width, and means for maintaining the level of the washing fluid in the tank above all of said stretching rollers, so that the fab ric will remain immersed while being stretched and washed.

In testimony whereof, Ihave signed my name to this specification.

ARNOLD BOSSI-IARD.

1.- In a chainless mercerizing machine, a

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