US2300982A - Decating machine - Google Patents

Description

Nov, 3, 1942. L. sLAGBooM ETAL 2,300,982

DECATING MACHINE Filed May 29, 1941 4 SheetSSheet l Man/af "wn/ Nov. 3, 1942. 1 sLAGBooM ETAL DECATING MACHINE Filed May 29, i941 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 MV i i vom NOV. 3, 1942- l.. sLAGBooM ETAL 2,300,982

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DECATING MACHINE Filed May 29, 1941 4 sneetsheet 4 jfl? giova/ I Patented Nov. 3, 1942 Ducarme MACHINE Louis Slagboom id Sander Slagboom, Fair Application May 29, 1941, serialV No. 395,36?.y

Claims.

This invention relates to decating machines and has for an importantobject thereof the provision of a convenient means for continuously decating cloth. n

As pointed out in our prior application, Serial No. 286,378, filed July 25, 1939, for Decating machines and method of decating, of which this application is a continuation-impart, the process of decating cloth as heretofore carried out has been time-consuming and highly ineilicient. As previously carried out, decating consisted in winding the cloth, together with a felt blanket, upon the surface of a perforated steaming drum. Following steaming, the cloth was removed from the drum and then placed upon either the same or a second drum, being reversed from end to end since, due tothe great mass of the material, it was, obviously, impossible to secure uniform treatment with a single steaming application. It will also'be obvious that underthis method the length of clothwhich could be treated in any one operation was limited.

In accordance with the present invention, we provide means for' treating goods in any desired length and, furthermore, provide means whereby the extent of the treatment may be regulated to secure a wide variety of effects in the completed goods. Generally considered, the apparatus' constructed in accordance with our invention comprises a pair of endless felts betweenL which the cloth is passed, these felts passing over` steaming and vacuum compartments in such fashion that the goods are ilrst steamed and then cooled and partially dried by drawing atmospheric air therethrough. Means are provided whereby the tension upon the felts may be regulated so that during their working passage they will provide a uniform pressure onthe material. 'Means' are also providedfor insuring against any possible puckering of the felt since this would tend to mark the goods. In the accompanying drawings, in which we have illus trated a preferred form of the apparatus,

Fig. l is a side elevation of our decating machine;

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1:'

Fig. 4 is a sectional view through the treating chambers;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view through a preferred form of cloth-feeding roll;

Fig. 6 I s a section on line l-I of Fig. 5;

Fig. 'I is a partially diagrammatic sectional of fabric to be treated and a stencil for patterning the surface of the material; and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary illustration of a piece of fabric treated in the presence of a stencil.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the numeral IIJ generally designates a frame supporting an arched treating structure S composed of a series of individual chambers. These chambers are divided into steaming chambers II and vacuum chambers I2, there being a plurality of chambers in each group and the groups being arranged at opposite ends of the arched structure. The chambers II are each connected through an individual valved inlet I3 with a source of steam under pressure while the chambers I2 are connected through similar inlets I4 with a vacuum pump. Associated with the arched treating structure S is a'pair of endless feits I5 and I6. Each of these felts passes over .the arched structure from end to end thereof and 'at that end of the arched structure formed by the vacuum chambers passes over a driving A geared thereto.

viewillustrating simultaneous feeding of a piece drum II and thence about a steam-heated dry-v ing drum I8. Y

Leaving the drying drum I8, the felt passes about suitable guide rolls I9, thence about a take-up roll 20, over a tension roll 2i., and thence about an idler' guide roll 22 to its arch-engaging run. As at present illustrated, the take-up roll 20 is mounted in bearings 23 the supports of which comprise nuts operating upon worms 24 simultaneously adjustable through a shaft 25 Tension roll 2|v is mounted in bearings 26 slidable in suitable guide frames 21. -These bearings are connected through flexible elements 28 to adjustable counterweights 29 through which the pressure with which the felt-s will engage against the arched treating surface may be adjustably regulated. In its passage to the takeup roll 20, or at some other convenient point immediately following its drying by passage over drum I8, the felt is engaged by a suitable stretching and positioning mechanism 30 which may conveniently comprise pairsI of diagonally placed rolls Il which forcibly engage the felt to shift the same whenever the felt edges become displaced either through shrinkage or transverse displacement.l Such a structure isillustrated in the prior patent to R. Hetherington, No. 2,082,799, June 8, 1937, for Cloth guider, and forms no part of the present invention except in combination with the remaining mechanism. 1.

The drums I1 are shown as geared together and one of these through a variable transmission 33 which is prefrums is driven by motor 32 the steam drums I8 to drive the same, the drum I'l foreach felt being connected to drive the drum I8 of the other of the felts in order that the drums may be given the proper direction of rotation.

That `end of the machine at which the drums i'l are disposed constitutes the outlet end of the machine for treated cloth, and at the opposite end thereof the frame l supports a cloth letoif beam 35 and a spreader roll 36. The spreader roll may be of any suitable construction, but it is preferred that it be of that type shown in Figures and 6. In these figures the numeral 31 designates a stationary shaft supporting, through sleeves 38 and guides 39, a plurality of longitudinal slats 40 which combine to form the outer surface of the roll. These slats 40 are in relatively short sections and each is provided with a roller 4| engaging in a groove 42 in the periphery of a cam fixed to the stationary shaft 31. The grooves of the cams at opposite sides of the center of the roll are oppositely inclined and the positions of these cams are such that at a given point of the rotation the slats at opposite sides ofthe roll center are caused to move outwardly, this point coinciding with the point of contact with the cloth in its passage about the roll and the outward movement of the slats continuing as longV as the cloth is engaged with the roll.

At the opposite, or discharge, end of the machine a cloth take-up roll 43 is provided, this roll being suitably driven through any preferred type of slip drive which'will maintain a proper tension on the cloth as it leaves the felts. As at present shown, this roll is mounted upon brackets 44 and is belt-driven as at 45 from the lower drum l1. The tension of the belt drive is regulated as at 46 to admit of a. proper slip to maintain the selected tension on the cloth.

It will be obvious that an apparatus of this type is not only much more efficient in cloth treatment, from the standpoint of time losses and uniformity of the finished product, but likewise provides iiexibility in operation which is altogether impossible with any prior apparatus for this purpose. It is possible vto regulate the steaming period not only by regulating the speed of movement of the felts and, accordingly, of the material arranged therebetween, but likewise by varying this treatment through cutting ofi.' one or more of the steam chambers. Similarly, the extent to which the material is cooled and/or dried in its treatment may be varied to the desired extent. Furthermore, the tension upon the felts ymay be regulated at will, thus enabling the operator to produce a material which, in its nished state, is smooth and evenly treated or which is creped. It is likewise obviously possible to pattern the goods by passing with the cloth a stencil indicated in construction lines in Figure 1 and in solid lines in Figure 7 at 41. The:

stencil will prevent the passage of the steam, thus providing treated and untreated areas 48 and 49 in the finished material. Any such treatment would obviously be solid portions of the impossible under the old system due to the inability of the operator to exactly replace the stencil in its original position. Particular attention is directed to the fact that means are provided whereby the tension on the material is maintained constant. In the absence of some tensionregulating means, such as that illustrated at 2|, the tension upon the material would constantly vary since a felt subjected to constant steaming and subsequent drying is continuously varying in length and would, accordingly, exert varying pressures on the cloth. Since these pressures have aconsiderable effect upon the finish, and it is obviously desirable that the finish of a cloth piece be uniform, any apparatus of this type which fails to include some such means of regulation is substantially useless.

Attention is directed to the fact that the guide rolls i1 and 22, and particularly the guide rolls I1, should not be in pressure contact with one another since any pressure nip at these rolls would tend to alter the effects produced by variations in the cloth treatment effected over the arch S.

Since the construction illustrated is capable of considerable modification without departing from the spirit of the invention, we do not wish to be understood as limiting ourselves thereto except as hereinafter claimed.

We claim:

1. In a decating machine, a treating arch comprising successively arranged steaming and vacuum zones, a pair of endless traveling felts trained over said arch and successively passing over said zones, means to control the effective lengths of said zones, a drying means for each felt, means to transversely stretch each felt following its coaction with said drying means, and means to maintain a regulatable constant tension on each felt.

2. In a decating machine, a treating arch comprising successively arranged steaming and vacuum zones, a pair `of endless traveling felts trained over said arch and successively passing over said zones, means to control the effective lengths of said zones, a drying means for each felt, means to transversely stretch each felt following its coaction with said drying means, means to maintain a regulatable constant tension on each felt, and driving means for said felis including an infinitely variable speed transmission.

3. In a decating machine, a treating arch comprising successively arranged steaming and vacuum zones, said zones each comprising a plurality of chambers arranged in side to side relation and extending transversely of the arch, means to selectively render said chambers inoperative, a pair of endless traveling felts trained over said arch and successively passing over said zones, a drying means for each felt, means to transversely stretch each felt following its coaction with said drying means, and means to maintain a regulatable constant tension on each felt.

4. In a decating machine, a treating arch comprising successively arranged steaming and vacuum zones, said zones each comprising a plurality of chambers arranged in side to side relation and extending transversely of the arch, means to selectively render said chambers inoperative, a pair of endless traveling felts trained .over said arch and successively passing over said zones, a drying means for each felt, means to transversely stretch each felt following its'coaction with said drying means, means to maintain a regulatable constant tension on each felt, and driving means for said felts including an infinitely variable speed transmission.

5. In a decating machine, a treating arch comprising successively arranged steaming and vacuum zones, a pair of endless traveling felts trained over said arch and successively passing over said zones, a drying means for each felt, ranged adjacent opposite ends of the arch, the means to transversely stretch each felt following rolls at that end of the arch at which the vacits coaction with said drying means, means to uum zone is disposed being in spaced relation 'to maintain a regulatable constant tension on each one another. felt, driving means for said felts including an in- LOUIS SLAGBOOM. iiniteiy variable speed transmission, and guiding 4 SANDER SLAGBOOM. means for said felts including pairs of rolls ary

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