US2037797A - Treatment of fabrics - Google Patents

Description

April 21, 1936. M. M. KASANOF TREATMENT OF FABRICS 2 Sheets-Sheei; 1

INVENTOR,

Filed Nov. '7, 1932 ATTO RNE April 21, 1936. M. M. KASANOF TREATMENT OF FABRICS Filed Nov. 7, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVIENTOR V .7

ATTORNEY M BY Patented Apr. 21, 1936 UNITED STATES PATE NT orric s Application. November 7, 1932, Serial No. 641,521

4 Claims.

My present invention relates. generally to the treatment of fabrics for purposes-such as drying, shrinking, bleaching and similar operations.

I: haveillustrated my invention as employing an apparatus particularly. adaptedand intended for the fluid treatment of'fabrics in tubular form.

Among the general objects of: my invention are the provision of anv arrangement whereby the treatment: of the fabric may be. variedin accordance with the requirements ofthe particular fabric being treated, and: of an arrangement whereby the treatment maybe controlled to vary the effects to be produced on any given fabric.

Other objects are: the provision ofan arrangement whereby a fabric moving across astream of treating. fluid. mayhave a substantial portion of it exposed to thefiuid at any given moment; the provision of an arrangement whereby all portions of the fabric are subjected to the treatment for a.

substantial time interval; the provision. of an arrangement whereby the resistance offered to the movement of. the fabric during treatment is minimized; the provision of an arrangement whereby the area of fabric exposed atone. time may be varied so that a changein the time of treatmentmay be effected; the provision of an arrangement whereby the shrinking or stretching and other changes-of form of the fabric. during treatment may be controlled; the provision of an arrangement whereby a selected. treating fluid or a combination of treating fluids may be. used; the provision of an arrangementwhereby the treating fluid is discharged'freely and with little resistance, and effectively distributed with. relation to the I fabric; the provision of. an arrangement whereby the treating fiuid is prevented from escaping through passages other than those intended for its discharge; and the provision of an arrangement whereby condensed moisture or other matter may be convenientlyv separated from the treating fluid before its application to the fabric.

Inthe specific embodiment herein disclosed, I

show the employment of two members to form the end walls of the treating chamber, the side en 3 closure for the chamber being formed by the fabric itself as it is moved during the treating process and I attainsome of the objects of my invention by spacing these two members a. substantial distance apart so as. to expose to the action of. the treating fluid a substantial fabric length,..so that the. fabric portions are subject to treatment by the treating fluids during a very substantial portion of the movement ofithe fabric, and therefore for a very substantial time.

I attain still" further objects of 'the invention by making thesetwomembers relatively adjustable so as to vary the length of thetreating chamber,, and therefore of the fabric length exposed-to treatment. As a consequence the: time during which any one portion of the fabric. is. exposed may be varied to suit a: given kind of fabric or to produce adesired effect, and it isalso obvious that by increasing the area exposed atonetime, the speed of travel ofthe fabric maybe increased without changing the: character of. thetreatment, and thereby the. total time of treat ment may be shortened.

These'two end members serve the additional. function of guiding the fabric during itstravel,

and I attain still further objects of my invention by so contouring them as to subject the fabric to a minimized resistance to its travel tl iereover andfor treatment purposes, and also to a minimum of. injury to the fabric. By using membersof various sizes and contours, the shrinking or stretching. of the fabric may be controlled.

I. attain other objects of the invention by discharging the treating fluid into the treating chamber instead 7 of directly from apertures through the fabric thereby causing it to spread. before it passesthrough the fabric so that-the resistance to discharge is-lessened and a. greater area of .fabric penetrated by the fluidthan if the discharge were directly from the nozzles throughthe fabric. v p

I further provide, for the attainment of other objects, a specially constructed end member for the. treating. chamber; whereby leakage, waste of. treating fluid, and. ineffective treatment ofthe. fabric is prevented.

By the provision of a peculiar discharging arrangement, Iain able to control the moisture contentof the treating fluid, it being-understood that. in using the term moisture I mean not merely condensed water-vapor, but also condensed matter of. other kinds.

When it isdesired to dry. a fabric, air, either. hot or. cold; willordinarily be used, and when it is desired tcstretch or shrink the fabric, steam may be used. Myinvention also providesfor the use of. a mixture. of steam and air..

It will be understood, however,.that the term fluid is not to be. considered'as restricted'to these particular fluidsunless specifically called for by the language of the claims.

It willbe obvious that changes in. the. details hereinafter described and illustrated for the purpose of. explaining the nature. of. my invention may bemade by those skilled! in. the. art without departingfrom the spirit. and. scope ofmy. in-

vention as expressed in the appended claims. It is therefore intended that these details be interpreted as illustrative merely and not in a limiting sense. It is further to be understood that while I have described and illustrated embodiments which attain all of the enumerated objects, embodiments may be employed that utilize only some or even only one of the objectives, and not all of them.

For the attainment of these objects and such other objects as may hereinafter appear or be pointed out, I have illustrated one embodiment of my invention in the drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevation showing one illustrative embodiment of my invention;

Figure 2 is a section, on a greatly enlarged scale, on line 2--2 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 3 is an elevational view of another em bodiment of my invention;

Figure 4 is an exploded view of certain details of my invention;

Figure 5 shows a modified form of the discharge openings by which the fluid is emitted into the treating chamber;

Figure 6 is a sectional view on line 6-6 of Figure 5, looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Figure 7 is an elevational view of a modified form of end member, portions beingbroken away to more clearly disclose the construction.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, it will be observed that the chamber here shown for treating a tubular fabric III, is constituted by the spaced members 20 and 2I which form the ends of such chamber, and by the fabric I0 itself, which forms the outer walls of the chamber.

For purposes of treatment the fabric is caused to move over the members 20 and 2I and during such motion, a treating fluid is admitted into the chamber and discharged through the walls of the fabric. The effectiveness of the treatment obviously depends on the length of time during which a given portion of the fabric is exposed to the action of the fluid, and such time of exposure will depend on the speed at which the fabric moves in relation to the fluid and on the area of fabric exposed at one time. This area depends on the size of the treatment chamber. For example, by spacing the members 20 and 2I eight feet apart and moving the fabric at the rate of four feet per second, any given portion of the fabric will be exposed for two seconds, while if the spacing is only four feet, the exposure will be only one second.

For these reasons I provide an arrangement whereby the members 20 and 2I may be widely separated and thereby provide a relatively elongated treating chamber. And further, I make the spacing adjustable, so that the area of fabric exposed to treatment may be varied within wide limits and the treatment thereby adapted to obtain various effects on various fabrics, without resorting to the expedient of varying the speed of the fabric. It is of course obvious that this speed also may be varied if desired and still further flexibility of control attained thereby.

The adjustability of the spacing of members 20 and 2| is attained by making at least one of them adjustable in relation to the other one, and in the disclosure I have shown both of them adjustable. I

The members 20 and 2| are shown as provided with annular flanges 25 for the twofold purpose of securing a minimum area of contact between said flanges and the fabric as it is led thereover, so as to reduce friction, and of providing a smooth and rounded surface which will not cause injury to the fabric. The guide members are further shown as mounted on split collars 32 and. 33, each adjustable on the conduit II, which is shown as passing centrally through the treating chamber, and as being provided with apertures I4, through which the treating fluid may be discharged into the chamber.

The conduit I I is shown closed at its top, as by cap I6 and as connected, in any suitable man ner, such as by the fitting I2, closed by cap I211, to a supply pipe I3, by which the treating fluid is led from its source to the conduit II and discharged through apertures I4. A platform 60 may be provided through which the conduit passes and below which are located the'supply pipe I3 and its auxiliary parts. This platform serves as a suitable gathering place for the fabric before 1 treatment and protects it against soiling and other injury, due to contact with parts other than the conduit.

In Figure 2 the fabric, after its passage over guide members 20 and 2I, is shown as led over 2.

spreader or stretching frame 50, which may be used for stretching the fabric and also for spreading it so that it will be adapted to pass'into a suitable pulling device (not shown), such as a pair of drawing rollers, which will furnish the x actuating force by which the fabric III is drawn over the guide members 20 and 2I The stretching frame is shown as provided with angularly disposed portions 5 I, whereby the fabric is guided on to the wider portions of the spreader, and with inwardly turned lugs 52 pivotally disposed in ears 24 located on the upper guide member 2I. This results in a construction whereby the spreader may be readily removed for which purpose it is made of slightly yielding or resilient material and it will also be observed that the pivotal mounting permits tilting of the spreader where this is desirable.

The details of the construction of guide members 20 and 2I and the adjustable collars 32 and so that it may be passed over the conduit I I and seated in place on the adjustable collar 32. The opening 28 is made large enough so that it will pass over the cap: I6, which will insure ready removal of the member 20 and its replacement by similar other members of various sizes and shapes.

The collar 32, as illustrated, is composed of two complementary portions 34 and 35 which are adjustably held together by screws 42 passing freely through holes 40 in ears 39 on part 35 and into threaded openings 31 on ears 36 of part 34, this arrangement permitting adjustability of the collar with relation to the conduit. Screws 44, corresponding in number and location to the keyholes 26 in guide member 20, are positioned in the collar 32, so that the member 20 may be removably mounted on collar 32 by passing the enlarged portions of its key-holes over the heads of screws 44 and then giving it a twist so that the narrow portions of the key-holes pass under the screw heads. It will be understood that member 20 and collar 32 are identical in construction with the upper guide member 2I and collar 33, except that the member 2I carries the ears 24 aforementioned for accommodating the stretcher frame.

so that theymay bereadily repl'ace'd by other guide members of diiferent sizes or different shapes or both, so that they may serve-'to guidethe tubular fabric in its; course through the apparatus and cause it to shrink when said guide members are small in dimensions in relation to the tubular fabric or tostretch when their dimensions are greater than the dimensions of the fabric; Instead of being circular, the guide members may be given other shapes, so as to affect the forming of the fabric, and said guide members are furthermore adjustable on said conduit by the screws 42 provided on the adjustable collars.

By making the conduit II of suitable dimensions, great variation in the length of the treating chamber, which is formed by the space between the guiding members 20 and 2|, may be achieved, so that by spacing them a great distance apart, a large area of the tubular fabric may be exposed for treatment at one. time, and the time of treatment for a given length of fabric correspondingly shortened. To further increase the effectiveness of an enlarged chamber, I may use a greater number of apertures I 4 than are illustrated and these may be distributed along the conduit.

The operation of this embodiment of my invention will now be described. The guide members 20 and 2i together with spreader 5i] are first of all removed, either by opening split collars 32 and 33, or by removing 20 and 2| from their seats on the collars, and the tubular fabric is placed over the conduit II and gathered in collapsed form over the platform 60. This is indicated at the bottom of Figure 2. Parts 20, 2I and Si! may now be replaced, 20 and 2I being placed on opposite sides of the apertures, and spaced from each other so as to give a treating chamber of the desired length. The end of the fabric is next drawn over these parts and inserted into the pulling device. The treating fluid is then admitted into the treating chamber and the pulling apparatus brought into action to draw the fabric through the apparatus and thereby expose its entire length to the treatment.

In Figure 3 is shown a modified form of my invention in which all parts corresponding to those of the form of Figure 1, have been numbered similarly, except that each numeral has been primed. This form differs from the preceding one in having, in addition to the features of the other form, a pipe 90 entering the conduit at one side thereof, but preferably below the platform 69', so as not to come into contact with the fabric and interfere with the treating operation,

by means of which a second treating fluid may be introduced into the conduit II either alternatively to or simultaneously with the fluid coming through I3. Figure 3 also shows a valve 9| to control the fluid in pipe 90 and a valve 92 to control the fluid in pipe I3. By the use of these valves, mixtures of the two fluids in any desired proportion, may be effected.

In Figures 5 and 6 is shown a modification of the discharge openings I4 of Figures 1 and 2.

The modified discharge openings are here indicated by the numeral I4. In this modification each opening I4" is the outlet of a short tube 80 mounted in the walls of the conduit H. When a fluid such as steam is discharged, the temperature of which is higher than that of the walls of the conduit or of the air surrounding the conduit It"; therewill be a tendency forthe steam: to cool and to condense on the walls of the conduit, whereas, the steam in the' interior portions of'the conduit will: maintain its temperature. By using the pipes 80, the steam coming out of'the orifices I4 will be the hotter and drier steam from theinter-ior portions of the con.-

diiit, while-the condensed steam will collect on the' walls: of the conduit from which it may be removed by any suitable drainage provision, as will be. obvious to those skilled: in the art, it being believed unnecessary to describe such arrangement in detail. It will thus be evident that I provide a separating or filtering action by which the moisture content of a treating fluid may be controlled at the point of delivery.

In Figure 7 I have attempted to illustrate modified form of the member 20.

When it is desired to shrink a tubular fabric, say one having a diameter of 26", to a diameter of 20", it will be evident that the member 20 must not exceed 20 in diameter. On the other hand if member 26 is made 20 in diameter and the fabric passing over it is 26" in diameter, it will be obvious that the treating fluid can escape through the space between the two instead of passing through the fabric.

To avoid this, I may use, in place of the member 20, a member I20 provided with an upstanding annular portion having a channel I22 and beaded surfaces I23 on either side thereof. A resilient member I24, shown by way of illustration as a coiled spring under suitable tension is disposed in the channel I22 and serves to keep the fabric III, as it passes between spring I24 and the member I20, in contact with the surface of said member, with a pressure sufficient to prevent leakage. The member I20 may be mounted removably on a split collar I32, corresponding to collar 32, this construction being similar to that shown for 20 and 32.

It is to be understood that the surface of channel I22 and of beads I23 will be made smooth and of as small area as possible so as to reduce friction to as small a value as possible, and that the surface of the spring I24 will also be restricted and made smooth for the same purpose.

While I have described this modified form of end member as alternative to member 20, it will be understood that it may also be used, with suitable modifications, in place of member 2|, and that either end or both ends of the treating chamber may be provided with this modified form of end member.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. For use with apparatus for treating tubular fabrics, having a treating chamber, the outer walls of which are constituted by the tubular fabric to be treated, and having a conduit for supplying treating fluid to the chamber, a split collar adjustably mounted on the conduit and carrying removably mounted thereon means for guiding the tubular fabric, said means constituting one of the ends of said chamber.

2. For use with apparatus for treating tubular fabrics, having a treating chamber, the outer walls of which are constituted by the tubular fabric to be treated, and having a conduit for supplying treating fluid to the chamber, a collar comprising two complementary sections separably and adjustably related and adjustably mounted on the conduit and carrying, removably mounted thereon, means for guiding the tubular fabric, said means constituting one of the ends of said chamber.

3. In treating apparatus for tubular fabrics, a conduit for conducting a treating fluid, said conduit being provided with at least one aperture for the discharge of said fluid, the entrance portions of said apertures being in the form of tubular members projecting horizontally from the inner walls of said conduit, whereby they are positioned so as to oppose the entrance and flow therethrough of particles of fluid moving downward under the action of gravity.

4. A device for treating tubular fabrics comprising, in combination, a conduit, a pair of members secured to the conduit over the peripheral edges of which the tubular fabric is drawn, at least one of the members being adjustably secured so as to vary the distance between the members, and a spreader attached to one of the members, over which the fabric is likewise drawn.

MAURICE M. KASANOF.

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