US2011935A - Fabric treatment and apparatus therefor - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 20, 1935. M. M. KASANOF I FABRIC TREATMENT AND APPARATUS TI IEREFOR A 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 19, 1954 l v INVENTOR Myrna/EMMA ATTORN Aug. 20, 1935. MMKASANOF 2,011,935

FABRIC TREATMENT AND APPARATUS THEREFOR Filed Jan. 19, 1954 4 Shets-Sheet 2 g Y I/ 62 $2 7 l L 3 46 Y 1% i 3*." v. m I V (2'0 54 lg 07 -1 L g a? .156 i INVENTOR ATTORNEY 20, 1935- I M. M. KASANOF 2,011,935

FABRIC TREATMENT AND APPARATUS THEREFOR v Filed Jan. 19, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Aug. 20, 1935.

M. M. KASANOF FABRIC TREATMENT AND APPARATUS THEREFOR Filed Jan. 19, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR flamwjlmmfi BY ATTORN Y Patented Aug. 20, 1935 FABRIC TREATMENT AND APPARATUS THE Maurice'M. Kasanof, NewlYork, N. Y4 David R. Kasanof and Abraham Kriegel executors-of said ManriceM.Kasanof, deceased Application assay 19, 1934, Serial No.70'7,2181:-

it claims; (or. 26 -56) :My invention relates generally to thev treatment ofifabrics and coordinately-relates to an a paratus whereby suchtreatment may be applied.-

My invention contemplates the treatment of ,the fabric while in tubular form regardless of Wh t er the. fabric hasbeen so knit or whether it has been knit flat and then caused to assume the tubular form either temporarily for treatment or permanently. I f The treatments herein particularly referred to are tho'segen'erally applied to fabrics after a dye ing orwashing operation and when the fabricis wet andg'roup themselves generally under the heads .of drying, stretching or finishing and as will later, appear my invention contemplates its employment either for subjecting the fabric to one character of treatment alone as for example drying orstretching-or finishing, or simultaneously or successively to two or all three of said,

treatments, and therefore it will be understood that while, as this description proceeds reference will befmade to one orfthe other of the treatm'ents,:that such reference'is not necessarily in-' tended to be limited to the specifictreatme'nt mentioned. a e

"From the standpoint of the treatment offthe fabric for stretching purposes, it is one of the objects of my invention to attain this without the, use of any tangible means, andmore particularly,-

without the employment of; elements'which con-f tact" directly with the fabric during or for the stretching process, and this general objective I 'attain by subjecting the tubular fabric to the pressure action "of a cushion of air directed outwardly frornlwithin the fabric tube and. against the fabric structure. By the employment of this arrangement and of such a method, the amount of stretching' tofwhich the fabric is subjected, will be the resultant of factors which can be readily controlled, such asthe pressure with whichthe air isprojected against-the fabric structure at'the points of contact therewith. Furthermore, theapplication of these forces will beuniform cireularly about the fabric tube, and

, therefore the stretching will be uniform throughoutthe, fabric and will be of a character aswill' tend to rectify abnormalities in the fabric struc ture that are the result of any irregular treatments to which the fabric hasbeen previously subjected. For examplefin the handling of the fabric prior to the stretching process, pressure may have been applied toan area of the fabric to produce What mightbe termed abulge in that area, Treatment ofthe fabric in the manner above set forth during the stretching process will tend to flatten out this bulge and restore the fabric when stretched to a uniformity of character throughout its entire perimeter.

Furthermore, in view ofthe fact that the degree o tretc n i he esumes al e d ta d; 9

the pressure of t i e t to the fabric structure, the degree of stretch can be varied at will within limits merely by varying this pressure."

I attain a furtherfobject of my invention by directing the'air at an angle to the fabric'structureland generally in the direction of the move': ment of the'fab ric structuieand in. this way assist in the feeding movement of the fabric durj ing its process of treatment,

The employment ofair in the manner' and for the purposes'set forth alsoattains a further object in that the cushlon'of air will tend to form an annular; column of air whichwill maintain the; fabric in its stretched' tubular form even after it haspassed by the points of pressure application of air. thereto, and will thus, from one aspect, keep.

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"the is at the point of applicatien Y the fabric out of contact with ad jacent physical? structure; and also create a eolumn Of air about the point of application under pressure of air to' the fabric structure, so asto virtually continue a the drying process.

The treatmentabove' set forth 'has'been' of a character to stretch the fabric and incidentally thereto will also dry and the fabric and aspects such as a process for; drying, a process of stretching, or aprocess'for finishing, or, a process 2 5,, therefore can be viewed from any. number of serving to attain any twooffthese resultsor all From another aspect, my invention relates tof a process of subjectingthefabric in tubular form} to a treatment wherein the fabric isc'aused to move downwardly for purposes of being subjected to treatment and gathered at the bottom of the. apparatus at the end of the treatment process,

and then is moved upwardlyto be wound ona Winding apparatus or'the like for purposes of removal and storage or shipping. In thisway,.I. attain the objective ofspeeding up the treatment in a manner that I will now point out.

When moist fabricis' fed downward into and through the machine, as is customary in the. machines and processes of this type heretofore.

' used, his difficult to handle, and the speed at which this can be done is comparativelyslo'm; Whenthc moistened fabric gathers (in thejplat-f 7 form at the base of thetreating unit, it forms 'intoi wrinkles and folds which are practically 'impossible to eliminate from-the finished fabric by any treating process, and which are worse if it is attempted to increasethe speed ofoperation,;there-,

by imposing alimitation on the speed. On theupward feed, the fabric is treated and after treatment wound or takenup. The speed of the ta-lz ing up operation is thereforedependent on that of the treating operation'which'isa slow process. In my process, on the contrary, the fabricis moist only fora small fraction of its downward travel, namely during its travel to the treat- I Figure1;- J H, a

Figure .3 is a side view showing a bank of ma ing unit, and thereafter it is gathered in dried form. When dry,"it does not wrinkle, and after it is dry it is wound uprapidly without any' further treatment. The total time for the treating operation is therefore substantially less than it is in the old process, in which the moistened fabric is fed into gathered form at aslow speed and then dried and taken up again at a slow speed.

A method of fabric treatment which involves loading the fabric on a platform while wet, and

then feeding the fabric upwardly for the treat- I the treatment of thecloth iseffected by acushion of air in the manner and serving the purpose above'pointed out, although it is to be understood that ;this second aspect of, my invention may be' performed without the employment of a cushionof air as set forth above,'bu't instead thereof may be employed with any other drying medium, such w as a dome or drum heated byair under condi- 30" tions where no stretching operation is effected.

My invention contemplates, particularly from the standpoint of the second aspect, that the fabric to be subjected te the treatment'be suspended freely'from a'p'oint directly above where the treatment is. applied, and that this be true throughout the entire operation and of each section of the fabric as itis feddown continuously.

From another aspect my invention relates to an arrangement whereby. a number of tubular fabricsections canine simultaneously subjected to treatment. and thisis attained by mploying a bank 'or battery of treating units associated togetheras' in the manner to be pointed out.

From still another aspect my invention relates to an attachmentto be'associated with a type of apparatus such. as heretoforeQeniployem'wherein the clothis subjected to a drying or stretching operation, or both, during the upward move- I ,ment thereof, whereby such apparatus can be readily changed over to employ my process and to function as hereinbefore setforth.

For the attainment of these objects and'such other objects as may hereinafter appear or'be pointed out, I have shown in the drawings several types of apparatus, embodying myinvention and adapted for the practice thereof, and wherein:

Figure 1 is aside view of one form of my improved apparatus for the treatment of fabrics while in tubular form, portions thereof being shown in section, and portions thereof being broken away; 7 1

1 Figure 2 is a'detail view of the take up mecha nism'u'sed. in connection with the, apparatus of chines adapted for unitary control; portions thereof being broken away and other portions being shown in section; I

' Figure 4 is a plan view thereof; Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing another form of my machine; I

Figure 6 is a detail view in plan, of a portion of the roller mechanism-of the apparatus of Fig- Figure 7 isa side view, similar to Figure 1,-

showing a machine of the type heretofore used,

with an attachment for the same, wherebyit may be used for carrying out my improvedjprocess.

My process can be best explained in connec- .'tion with. the description of a specific machine for carrying it out. .,Such a machine in general will consist of means for causing the fabric, while in tubular form, to move in relation to a body of air under pressure, said air being directed through a suitable conduit, located within the tube of moving fabric, and provided at its'end with means for discharging the air outwardly against the fabric and'uniformly in all radial directions. For

greater effectiveness in drying the air may be heated. I 'he body of discharged air will impinge upon the inner w'allsof the fabric, and being under pressure when fabric. stretching isldef sired, vn'll distend the fabric to an extentwhich may be readily'controlled by the simple expedient 10f regulating the pressure of air. the fabriciscaused tomove past the air discharging means andduringsuch movement the column of air acts as a cushion which serves to support it and to guide it. While I have described the use of air as the treating means, it is to be under:

stood that it is also. within my contemplationto' use othertreating media where other forms of treatment are desired, [and fluid media other thanair may beemployed. f v r Thus far, the general idea underlying my invention has been described. As adjunctive there to there will beprovided means for feeding the fabric. to move it inrelation to the body of treat ing air- Such means may consistffor example, of

.a feed roller which will serve to feed the moistened fabric from some; station where it" is placed preparatory to the stretching and drying treatment, vertically "downward'over the discharging air. The purpose of the vertical down feed is to freely suspend the fabric and to expose it to the action of gravity and thereby secure uniformity of tensioning andsymmetry of form when the air is directed against the inner walls thereof. There will furtherv beprovided a suitable station such'as a tablelor platformfor receiving the dried "fabric,afterexposure to the air treatment, in

gathered or collapsed condition. I have found it of advantage, although it is not necessary for the. successful practice. of my invention'in its other aspects, to 'directthe air currents downward.-

ly in addition to their outward movement. In this way, apropelling effect against the fabric is attained which will assist the feeding'means in their operation. It is also within my contempla tion, where such construction seems desirableto depend exclusively on thisrdownwardly' directed air current for feeding the fabricyin' which event the driven feed roller may be dispensed with and;

a freelyiro tatable guide roller substituted therefor. I r I As a further adjunct of my machine, some form of take up means may beprovided, which may consist of 'a take up roller over which the' fabric will be fed at a speed far greater than is possible On thedown feed, becausethere is no treating process connected'with the take up operation, and are dealing only'with the -trans portation of dried fabric.

Comparative tests have shown that a fabric moved downward1y* and treated during such movement and thenfed upwardly for 'rewinding can betre'ated in one-third the time as can a fabric moved downwardly while wet for loading and then treated while moving upwardly. 'In addition' to thisadvantage a wet fabric tends to Thereby "52 and. the lower stretches of the fabric.

the air strikes the fabric adjacent the mouth HI of the conduit l2, it willcauseit to belly as indiing-of a' roller3ll,"which may have its. surface: 'coatedwith felt or thelike, to protect thefabric;- .and'which is driven by suitable means, as indicate ed at 32, and the function of whichtis .to guide stick'to the adjaceiit apparatus and the downwardifeedmust-be assisted by manual coopera-l tion,

:Referring to Figure l in detail, itlwillbe ob served thatthe fabric' lil, to be treated, is-there shown as pendently overhanging and surrounding an air conducting system which comprises a conduit"l2, open at itstop, asshown'at i4, anda distributing head l8 supported in any preferred or suitable manner. "overthe open mouth of saidconduit, asshow'n' at l8; 1 The function of head l8 is to redirect the air as it emerges from-the conduit l2,"so as 'tocause it-to passi-racliallymutward and downwardly, as indicatedby the arrows. 20 inthe figure, and forthis purpose the head l 8' has its inner surfacelcurved appropriately and catedat 22 but-since the air causes a drying of the fabric, and simultaneously a contraction theretifgthe diameter of the fabric as itdries, will. decrease from its bellieddiameter and-the result ing conformation ofthe downwardly moving fabric is indicated in Figu r e 1. Itwill be understood that above -the" belliedportionfi, the fabric is moist? and that 'belowsaid bellied portion the fabric/"is" f fa i ed its final form. :BY

7 controlling the air pressure by suitable or preferred means, not indicatedg such as valve means'the fabric may be stretched at itsbellied portion' toan extent'so that' when dry it :will

remain stretchedv to the desired degree within 7 limits. Asthe" finished fabric passes farther downward, it is gathered up' as indicated at 26 on 1 a platformor table 23 provided for 'thispurpose. It is then ready to be taken up, and to carry out the latter process, the flow or air is shut off, and themotion of the fabric is reversed-by suitable means that will behereinafter described,

The head i8 is made of such a diam'ter that it Willnot contact with the fabric ID in its 'fin-' ished form, as it passestherearound, so'that'the take up operationmay be a rapid one. It will be observed that both during the feeding operationand the'take up operation the fabric does 1 not come into contact with any rigid guiding I members, but that the' entire dryingbperation takes place over'a' cushion of air uniformly sup-'- porting and cushioning the fabricjwhereby the fabric will be: uniformly tensione'd. Uniformity of air pressure is obtained by suitable provision therefor in the construction or the'head l8, and

secondly by the automatic action of the suspended'fabric in positioning itself so as to be balanced inrelation to'the outwardairflow. After the fabrlc'is dried it is in a very suitable form for handling, being then highly resistantto wrinkling and creasing and it may be safelyandrapidly handled" on the. take upzoperation without danger of damage; Nowhere'in: its course through the treating apparatus on the take-up operation is the fabric subjected to rigidtensioning or forming members that would tendto distort it and 1 result in defects such as crow-feet, wrinkles and creasesorithe like or that-would tear the same.

78' The feeding mechanismiis shown asconsistthe'raw fabric, gathered onaplatform 34 from said platform downward and so as to surround the 7 head 18, and'for that purpose the feedingsidetof. the roller is positione'd in substantially vertical alignment oyer'said head. A guide membergilii is I also shown as located directlyabove the headi 8;

and thisfwill function to initiate'thespreading of the fabric which has come from the r'oller in flattenedform, into its ultimate-tubular. form:

Once the end of the fabrichas passed the'head I8,'however,' the'guiding member 36 will ordinarily I cease to function,:-as there will usually be -"suf ficient airpressure toxcausedistension'of the fabric before it"reaches the guide means lDue tof its downward direction, the air curs rent 20 exerts a downward pushing action on the fabric, and thereby assists the motivatingmeans 32 for the feedroller iifi." As has already been mentioned,- this actionprnay be; made use of .to dispense with themotivating means 32 altogether and to substitute for the driven roller38 an idler roller which will allow the fabric ,to pass the'ref over as the 1 air current 3i) pulls it down. r

c The take up feed -roller,driven by suitable means indicated at 40 is shown ates, andit is spaced from roller 38, sons to affordspace for the fabric to pass therebetween. Liketheroller- 3!], it-may be coated with felt or-the like to pro- 1 tect the'fabric. Its direction of rotation isreverse to'that of the'feed roller 30 and it guides the fabric Ill upward and over a take-up roller 42 on which the fabric If) is rolled and by which it'may be removed from the apparatus whenthe operation isfinishedQ The take-up rollerv 42 is actuated by the contact of the'fabric it, rolled up thereon, with theroller 38, and, for this'purpose the roller isjmounted on slidable bearings. 1

The details of the mounting of roller 38 are shown in'Figure 2. An upright. 46 is provided on the roller carrying frame 44, and this is providedfwith a fixed extension 48 and an armbfl pivoted at .52 and suspended at its free end from" the extension 48 by means of a spring 52. A car riage 54 is free to slide along arm 58 and is pulled toward the pivoted'end of the arm-by weight 58;

suspended therefrombyany suitable or preferred meansysuch as the cable 56,'which may pass over a'roller 51*associatedwith the plVOt'52r The trune nions 62 of the'roller dz are journalledin the carriage 60. a V

It will be observed therefore that the roller 32 is free to move toward or away from roller 38, but is always urged thereagainst by the weight 58... This construction is necessitated by theincreasing diameter of the. roller as the fabric is wound upon it, and the necessity for always maintaining the 1 contact between roller 42, for

rather the fabric rolled up on it, for-maintaining it in motion for rolling up-th'e fabric. .At the same time, the, spring 53 providestfor resilient contact between rollers 38 and 42 and thereby assures'a smooth, even operation. r

, Itwillinot be necessary to refer to the various details ofthe construction as the same may be varied widely, and-for the purposes of thisfdisclosure are adequately illustrated in the draw ingsr Attention, will, however, be called to the pipe43 by which steam or other treating fluiday be mixed with the airorby which the air may be heated.

Passing next to' the consideration of the dis that I show therein a batteryor set .of treating devices, designated by the letters A, B, C,D, E and each provided with an air distributing head I nection with Figure l.

I8 above a .conduit I2 and constructed and functioning like the apparatus described incon- The source of air supply is indicated'at 84 and suitable valves 86 areinterposed between this: air source 84 and each 0011-.

duit I2, so that air may bezadmitted or cutoff from any oneor all of theheads I8" at pleasure; A common feed roller 39' serves all the heads, and a-common take up feed roller 38' maybe used to draw the fabric from any one of the heads and to actuate the take up rollers'42" of which there is one corresponding to each head I8.

' The number'of heads in the battery is controlled entirely by expediency. and various practical con-.

siderations, and the showing of five heads in the battery of Figures .3 and 4' is intended tobe illustrative'merely. I Figure' 3 indicates fabric :II) as positioned in relation to the various heads in various stages of treatment. In the head A, thefabric is just about. to descend over the head. In the head B, it is being treatedjand gathered on the platform 28. In the head C,'it is shown asbeing takenuprwhile in head D the fabric is'at the beginning of .the'

downward feeding operation and in head E it is gathered at the bottom of the conduit I2 and ready tobe taken up. a

in spite of the factthat common 'feed and take up rollers are used.

It will, of course,'be understood thatz a single take-up roller 42' maybe used instead of the individual rollers 42 illustrated, but in that case the finished product of all the heads would have to be removed simultaneously; If necessity or desirability for suchconstructionarises, it is also within my contemplation to use'individual rollers 30' and 38' for each apparatus'A.I, A-2, etc.-

Such conditions might arise where a-variety of fabrics is to be'treated in which case each of' the rollersmay be given different speeds. Y

The modified form of my invention illustrated in Figures 5 and 6'comprises'essentiallythesame elements, as the form heretofore described. A

simplification, however, has been effected in the roller system, which comprises a roller jI3Il driven by suitable or preferred means I32, and a second roller I42, the detailed construction offwhich is indicatedin Figure 6', and in'which it ,is shown" as provided with flanges I40 at its-end portions,

which flanges are in'contact with :roller I30, whereby the roller I30 will serve to drive the roller I42. Further details ofthe roller construction are shown in Figure 5 wherein the mounting of roller I42 is shown as similar to that of the roller 42 of Figures 1 and 2, that is, it is journalled in a carriage adapted to'slide along a bar I50 pivoted in the roller supporting frameand resilientlysus pended by spring I53 from an' extension MB'. of the frame. A counterweight IE8 is flexibly connected tothe carriage in which the-roller I42 7 is journalled so as'to maintain thedriving con-' nection between rollers I30 and I42, and whereby replacestheroller I42.

Figures 5-and6. 1

Attention is invited to thefact that by the arclosure of Figures 3 and 4, itwill be observed.

indicated in dotted lines, by leading thefabric over roller I30, which maybe felted or otherwise protectively covered, to prevent injuryrto the fabric, and on to a rollersimilar Figure-7 indicates "the application of my improved process to treating apparatus of the type heretofore used; Byway of illustration, I have selected-apparatus of -the particular type disclosed in my Patent No. 1,711,094of April30, 1929., The air duct or conduit 2I2 .in such apparatussurrounds;asteampipe 2I4-anda drain pipe 2I6 and these inturn supporta steam bowl 220 and a steam drum 222' shown in Figure? in twopositions, one at, the left side in full lines, toindicate their removal from the apparatus, and one .in themiddle dotted lines to indicate the posi- When removed, theirplace istaken by the guid- 7 ing. member 236, and anair distributing head 2I8.

is positioned above theopen mouth of air duct 2 1 The normal roller'equipment for this apparatus comprises a pair. of rollers-=230 and:-23I, betweento roller .42, which -tion they normally occupy in the apparatus,

which the fabricis led'upwardoutzof the ma- 1 chine after its treatment therein; Toadapt such apparatus for my new process, I propose to add roller .242, provided with flanges 240, whereby it may be'driven fromroller 2 3I and having a con- I struction and mounting similar to that of the roller I42 heretofore described, r

Fabric 2II), gathered on platform 234, will be, fed into the machine over roller 242, asindicated by the arrow, .and will be-taken up by passagebef tween the rollers 230 and 23]; as indicated'by the dotted lines and thefarrow relating thereto, toberolled up on a roller similar to roller 42, which takes the place of roller 242, just as has been described in connection with the form of rangemen t-ofthe battery -;of fabric treating apparatuses shown in Figure 5,,the units are so related and assembled that one unit can be em-' played forfeeding the fabric downwardly and subjecting it to treatment-during such movement and whileanother unit --is feeding afabric section upwardly for rewinding purposes. In this manner all the units may be-employed simultaneously without requiring the parallel treat mentfon each unit. 4 3 f l In this connection attention is invited to the fact that this is also true of the embodiment of Figure 67 where only one unit'is shown, to the extent at least thatno Ichangeis required in the direction of movement of any of the parts for employing the apparatus either for a downward feed for, fabric treatment or. for upward-feed for fabric rewinding.

' While I have confinedmy detailed'disclosure to illustrative embodiments of my invention, it will be understood that thesame may be embodied in many other forms and may be practised in many other ways, without departing from the spirit thereof, as defined in the appended claims. I I

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is-- I 1. In apparatus for treating fabrics, a vertically positioned upwardly opening conduit for conducting heated air under pressure, deflecting means positioned above the mouth thereof for deflecting said air so as to cause it to move symmetrically radially outwardly and downwardly, means for progressively lowering tubularly formed fabric thereover so that it is freely suspended and so as to surround said conduit and said deflecting means and to receive and to be distended by said downwardly directed air discharga'the dimensions of said conduit, said deflecting means, and saidfabric being so related to the air pressure, that said fabric throughout its motion will be spaced from said conduit and said deflecting means by a cushion of air, whereby said moving fabric during its treatment by the air will be subjected to no forces except those of gravity and the pressure of the air against the fabric.

2. The process ofltreating fabrics which cornprises the steps of exposing successive annular zonal portions of the fabric to a treating fluid and directing said fluid so that it will exert. a propulsive pressure against the fabric tending to cause it to advance, and causing said fabric, as the result of said propulsive pressure of, said fluid, to advance. and thereby expose fresh portions of the fabric to the action of the fluid.

3. The process of treating fabrics while in tu bular form, which comprises the steps of exposing successive portions of the fabric to a treating fluid applied internally thereof and directing said fluid outwardly against the fabric and so that it will exert a propulsive pressure against the fabric tending toexpand it and to cause ittoad- Vance, and causing said fabric, as the result of said propulsive pressure of said fluid, to advance and thereby expose fresh portions of the fabric to the action of the fluid. e

4. In, apparatus for the treatment of. fabrics, when in tubular form, by fluids, means for suspending and lowering said fabric, said means be ing adapted to control the speed of lowering there of, and means positioned vertically beneath said lowering means and within said tubular fabric when it. is lowered thereover for directing and radially and symmetrically discharging a treating fluid under pressure outwardly inall directions and downwardly against-the inner walls of said fabric, the pressure of said fluid being sufficient to cause a propelling effect on the fabric, all of said means being so positioned in relation to said fabric that the same, below its point of suspension from the suspending and lowering means, and during the action of said fluid, is free from the action of all forces, except the action of gravity and the moving fluid. I

5. In apparatus for the treatment of fabrics,

when in tubular form, by fluids, meansfor suspending and lowering said fabrics, said means be-I ing adaptedto retard the speed of lowering there-,

of, means positioned vertically beneath said low? ering means and within said tubular fabric when it is lowered thereover, for directing and symf metrically distributing a treating fluid under pressure outwardly and downwardly in all directions against the inner walls of said fabric,-the pressure of said fluid being suflicient to cause it to exert a propelling effect on said fabric, said fabric below its point of suspension from the suspending and lowering means being free from the action of all forces except the action of gravity and the moving fluid, whereby said treating fluid willhave a treating and stretching action, and whereby said fluid will propel said fabric downward against the'retarding effect of said suspending means. 1

6. In apparatus for the treatment of fabrics when in tubular form, by'fluids, means for frictionally engaging said fabricfor suspending and lowering said fabric, said means being adapted to cause downward movement of said fabric and to determine the speed of lowering thereof, means positioned vertically beneath said lowering means and within said tubular fabric, when'it is lowered thereover, for directing andsymmetrically projecting a treatingfluid outwardly and downward-' ly in all directions against the inner walls of said fabric atsuch velocity that'it exerts a propelling -force' on the fabric, said fabric below its point of suspension from the suspending and lowering means being free from the action of all forces except the action of gravity and the moving fluid,

, whereby said treating fluid will have a treating and stretching action, and will act conjunctively with the said suspending and lowering means, to propel said fabric downward. I

7. In apparatus for treating fabrics while in tubular form, meansifor suspending said fabric so that it is free to move downwardly, ,means for supplying air under pressure positioned within said fabric and guide means fordeflecting said air current so as to direct, it radially outwardly and also downwardly, the pressure of said air being such that it will strike the fabric with sufficient force" to cause said fabric to move with the air current.

8. The process of treating tubular fabrics which 7 comprises the stepsof supporting said fabric so that it is adapted to move downwardly while free- 1y suspended and applying against the inner surface of said" fabric, so as to distribute the same uniformly, a downwardly moving current of treating fluid, and thereby causing said fabric to move downwardly and effecting treatment of the same. 9. The method of treating fabrics. while in tubular form which" comprises the steps of suspending a portion of said fabric from a rotatable feed roller so as to hang down freely, directing a treating fluid under pressure against the inner Walls of an annular section thereof at such an angle and under such a pressure as tocause stretching thereof and a downward propelling eifect,'and causing said fabric to movedonmwardly, while freely suspended, by the action of said propelling effect and ,movement of said feed roller, wherebyconsecutive portions of said fabric Q y will be treated.

10. In apparatus for the treatment of tubular fabrics, means for uniformly distributing a treating fluid under pressure radially outward and at

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