US2534315A

US2534315A - Treatment of wool to increase its harshness and fullness and to decrease its luster

Info

Publication number: US2534315A
Application number: US791668A
Authority: US
Inventors: Stuart E Swanson
Original assignee: Bigelow Sanford Carpet Co Inc
Current assignee: Bigelow Sanford Carpet Co Inc
Priority date: 1947-12-13
Filing date: 1947-12-13
Publication date: 1950-12-19
Anticipated expiration: 1967-12-19

Description

Patented Dec. 19, 1950 TREATMENT .OF WOOL 'TO INCREASE ITS HAR SHNESS'AND FULLNESS AND TO 'DE- GREASE ITS LUSTER Stuart 1 Swanson, Suflield, Conn assignor to ,Bigelow-Sanfcrd Carpet 00., 1110., Thompson ville, Corin a corporation of Massachusetts No Drawing. Application December 13, 1947, "Serial No. 791,668

'9 Claims The present invention relates to'the treatment of wool to improve its physical properties and more particularly to a treatment'which'will en hence the harshness and the fullness or plumpness of the wool while at thesame time decreasin its lustre.

.In the manufacture of pile fabric floor covering by the established operations peculiar to this field, including the carding, spinning, dyeing, etc. of the fiber, it is necessary that the wool be harsh in textureand of a bushy .nature so thatthefiber possesses a certain fullness. Such 'bushiness, plumpness, of fullness is also desirable, inmost cases, in the pile tufts of the completed product, which also should have low degree of lustre.

B. A.-type W001 is so deficient in the foregoing characteristics that it has not been possible to process it into carpets or rugs by the established procedure and with the equipment presently in stalled in carpet manufacturing plants which operate successfully with the conventional carpet wools of a harsher and plumper character. Be cause of the soft, slippery, silk-like nature of the B. A.-type Wool fibers, great care and constant attention must me exercised throughout the'processing of the wool and the yarn and the weaving thereof. The resulting product is in a sense a hand-made article'and commercialproduction by the established practice is not feasible.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a, process for delustering, harshening and plumping B. A.-type wools thereby to extend their use in the manufacture of pile fabric floor coverin By the present invention I provide a process for so modifying these B. A.-type wools that both the harshness and the plumpne ss or fullness of the fiber is so increased, as contrasted with the native; untreated fiber, that the modified wool they be manufactured into pile fabric ilooicovering on a commercial scale by the convent onal procedure and apparatus with only normal. attention during the processing. It is possible to man- ;ufacture on a commercial basis pile fabric floor coverings consistin entirely of B. A.-type" wools modified by my process... The treatment of my inventional'so decreases the lustreof the wool. l'n accordance with the invention the wool, either as raw stock, or partly processed, for ex ample in the formof yarn, is modified by wetting it with a solution containing aluminum sulfate, or sodium aluminum sulfate, or ammonium aluminum sulfate. Preferably, the solution has a pH above 3.0.

Z The following is given as an example ofmy process:

A batch of raw B. *A. wool stock weighing about 900 pounds is immersed in about &,000'ga1lons of a. cold aqueous solution containing 45 pounds of aluminum sulfate. The solution is brought to the boil and maintainedat the boiling point for about 20 minutes. Thereafter, the wool is re: moved from the bath, rinsed in running'tap water and dried. The resulting modified wool can be processed. into pile fabric floor covering by the conventional procedures employed with the usual carpet wools with no more than normal care and attention. 1 The aluminum sulfate of the foregoing example may bereplaced partly or entirely by sodium aluminum sulfate or ammonium aluminum sulfate or mixtures of these compounds.

I have found that the effect of the treatment with the specified aluminum sulfate salt or salts is improved and is more uniform when the pH-of the treating solution is in the range 3.0 to 4.5, and accordingly .I prefer to include in the treating solution, in addition to the aluminum sulfate salt or salts, an alkaline salt in an amount sufficient to bring the pH into the range 3.0 to 4.5. Examples of such salts which I have found to be effective for this purpose, in amounts rang, ing from to 1%, and desirably about 4%, by weight of the wool to be treated, are the following:

Sodium formate Ammonium hydroxide Basic reacting sodium phosphate Sodium chloride Sodium acetate Sodium oxalate :Sodium chloride and formaldehyde Sodium thiosulfate. Sodium tungstate I prefer'that the treating bath be kept at the a boil during the treatment, as in the foregoing example, and that the wool be kept in the treat in'g solution at or near the boil for a period of 10 to 40 minutes; However, the process may also be carried out at lower temperatures by allowing the wool to remain standing therein for a longer period of time. In this case, the aluminum sulfate salt or salts may be incorporated in the bath in the same proportion used with the boiling bath.

I have found that the proportion of modifying agent present in the treating liquid may be varied over a substantial range depending upon the degree of modification to be imparted to the wool and upon the temperature and the duration of the treatment. Amounts of the modifying compounds ranging from about 2% to 8%, by weight of the wool to be treated, preferably about have been found advantageous. U

The treatment of the present invention is mos useful when applied to the B."A.-type wools ecause, in this case it serves to convert a Wool which can be used only in minor proportions, if at all, for the manufacture of pile fabric floor coverings, into a wool which can be used substantially in the same wa as the conventional carpet wools. However, my treatment is also useful with these conventional carpet wools to decrease their lustre and to enhance their qualities of harshness, and of plumpness and fullness which render them amenable to processing into pile fabric floor coverings by the established procedures and equipment. The improvement in these properties, however, is not as great in the case of the conventional carpet wools as it is with the B. A.-type wools. The treatment is also useful with mixtures of wools of different types.

, Wooltreated by my process may be spun into yarn which may then be woven as the pile of pile fabric floor coverings, notwithstanding the fact that the original stock was largely or entirely a B; A.-type wool which inherently is incapable of being processed on the conventional carpet manufacturing apparatus. Such pile has a coarse harsh texture, a bushiness or fullness, and a lack of lustre far different from the texture, fullness and lustre of untreated B. A.-type wools and comparable with the texture, fullness and lack of lustre of the harsher conventional carpet wools.

Raw B. A.-type wool stock modified by my process may be mixed with conventional carpet wools in all proportions to give a wool mixture suitable for use in forming the pile of pile fabric floor coverings.

By the term B. A.-type wool as used herein, I mean wool having the characteristics of B. A. wool as regards its soft, slippery nature, its lustre and its lack of harshness and fullness as contrasted with the conventional carpet wools. I use the term B. A. wool in its ordinary meaning in the trade, i. e., wool from the Lincoln-type sheep as grown in South America. The B. A.- type wools available today consist primarily of B. A. wool, and wool from the Lincoln-type sheep as grown in New Zealand.

Athough the specific examples of my process given above by way of illustration and not of limitation relate to precedures in which the wool is immersed in a bath of the treating liquid, it is not, intended thereby to exclude other ways of Wetting the wool with the treating solution, such as by sprinkling, spraying, etc.

Iclaim:

: 1. The process for imparting to B. A.-type wool the-properties of harshness, plumpness, and fullness requisite for conversion of the wool by standard procedures into pile fabric floor covering and for decreasing its lustre which comprises wetting the wool with an aqueous solution having a pH value between 3.0 and 4.5 and consisting essentially of 2% to 8% by weight of the wool of an aluminum sulfate salt selected from the class consisting of aluminum sulfate, sodium aluminum sulfate and ammonium aluminum sulfate.

2. The process as in claim 1 in which the wool is immersed in the solution for 10 to 40 minutes at the boil.

3. The process of claim 2 in which lower than boiling temperatures and longer periods of time are used.

4. The process for imparting to B. A.-type wool the properties of harshness, plumpness, and fullness requisite for conversion of the wool by standard procedures into pile fabric floor covering and for decreasing its lustre which comprises immersing the wool for 10 to 40 minutes in a boiling aqueous solution having a pH value between 3.0 and 4.5 and consisting essentially of 2% to 8% by weight of'the wool of aluminum sulfate.

5; The process of claim 4 in which lower than boiling temperatures and longer periods of time are used.

. 6. The process for imparting to B. A.-type wool the properties of harshness, plumpness, and fullness requisite for conversion of the wool by standard procedures into pile fabric floor covering and for decreasing its lustre which comprises immersing the wool for 10 to 40 minutes in a boiling aqueous solution having a pH value between 3.0 and 4.5 and consisting essentially of 2% to 8% by weight of the wool of sodium aluminum sulfate.

7. The process of claim 6 in which lower than boiling temperatures and longer periods of tim are used.

8. The process for imparting to B. A.type wool the properties of harshness, plumpness, and fullness" requisite for conversion of the wool by standard procedures into pile fabric floor covering and for decreasing its lustre which comprises immersing the wool for 10 to 40 minutes in a boiling aqueous solution having a pH value between 3.0 and 4.5 and consisting essentially of 2% to8% by weight of the wool of ammonium aluminum sulfate.

9,. The process of claim 8 in which lower than boiling temperatures and longer periods of time are used.

E i STUART E. SWANSON.

' REFERENCES CITED The following references are of file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS record in the Number OTHER REFERENCES Dale: Mordanting W001 with Aluminum Salts,- Iowa State College J. Sci., 1942, vol. 17-, pages 49-50. Abstracted in J. Textile Inst., Oc tober 1943, one page.

Claims

1. THE PROCESS FOR IMPARTING TO B. A-TYPE WOOL THE PROPERTIES OF HARSHNESS, PLUMPNESS, AND FULLNESS REQUISITE FOR CONVERSION OF THE WOOL BY STANDARD PROCEDURES INTO PILE FABRIC FLOOR COVERING AND FOR DECREASING ITS LUSTRE WHICH COMPRISES WETTING THE WOOL WITH AN AQUEOUS SOLUTION HAVING A PH VALUE BETWEEN 3.0 AND 4.5 AND CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF 2% TO 8% BY WEIGHT OF THE WOOL OF AN ALUMINUM SULFATE SALT SELECTED FROM THE CLASS CONSISTING OF ALUMINUM SULFATE, SODIUM ALUMINUM SULFATE AND AMMONIUM ALUMINUM SULFATE.