US2535846A

US2535846A - Treatment of materials consisting wholly or partly of wool

Info

Publication number: US2535846A
Application number: US116855A
Authority: US
Inventors: Foulds Robinson Percy
Original assignee: Tootal Broadhurst Lee Co Ltd
Current assignee: Tootal Broadhurst Lee Co Ltd
Priority date: 1948-09-29
Filing date: 1949-09-20
Publication date: 1950-12-26
Anticipated expiration: 1967-12-26

Description

Patented Dec. 26, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE masmsmoam'raams ooNsrsrme WHOLLY oa-rsnrnr or WOOL RobinsonPercy'Fodlds, ManehesteryEngland'assigner toiootal-Broadhurst Lee CompanrLimited, Manchester, England, IsrBriflsh company No Drawing. a'pgucamn september :20, 19:9,

Serial No. 116,85 29,1948

In Great Britain September 7 Claims. (CI. 84128 ever used -in the present specification, we include all animal fibres which are capable o'f'being felted.

In describing this inve'ntion,the termfeltlis to be understood 'to refertothat property ofo'rdinary wool which causesthe individual fibres to c1ose=upon-each other inwashing, or other'treatment. in aqueouslliquor-in'whichthe wool mate rial is repeatedlys'queezd' an'drubbed, so that the wool material becomes tiens'erandmore compact. This propertyof. felting is responsible for the shrinkage which wool yarns and fabrics suffer when washed, so thatmhen-woob is-rendered less liable-todelt-it-isalso rendered. less liable to shrink. j

It -is known-that the treatmentoi wool with halogens in :the'gaseous or. dissolvediorm is-capable of rgivin'g thew'ool increased aiilnity for dyestufis and reduced tendency tofelt.

It has now-been found that-the treatment of I wool with halogens can a be -efleo ted:- lays-placing it in contact with-a soiid.-substance whichliberates or can be caused to liberate halogen when in contact withwool. The time required for treatment depends'uponrthenature of the-solid substance employed and the eil'ect desired.

'According tothe present invention, therefore,

materials consisting whollyor partly of woolare treated'with halogen by liberating-the halogen from a solid substance placed in contact with the materials. i

The materials treated by the present invention may=be in the form of loose fibresor in a manufactured form such as yarn or woven or knitted fabric on in any; intermediate stage. The materials-may have received-some treatment such as scouring,:b1eaching,-dyeing hot pressing and milling. The method ofthe present invention is also suitable for thetreatmentzof woven orknitted goods suchras-igarments. The wool may be -in. admixturewith-other. materialsrsuch ascotton. I

The :method of the-z-present invention has the advantageover--thedmownmethods using halogens in the gaseousor dissolved form thatit is simpler to'zcarry ou and -easier to'control. It also has-thezgreat advantage thatit-may be' used on shaped garments with less tendency for the garments to become :distorted' than when they are treated with liquid oi-gaseous reagents.

,2 the-form of-a flnely divided-powder may be a compoundofa fiuid halogen -whichLwill-liberate or can be induced-to liberate such halogen when in-contact-with wool at atmospheric cr -superatmospheric temperatures or-it may be 'a-solid having halogen: absorbed or adsorbed in orlupon it. The preferred halogens are .chlorineand bromineeases, the former being cheaper -'and more convenient to -'A-suitable compound teemploy is bleaching powder which is a well known andcommercially obtainable product obtained by passing"chlorinergas over lime.

If the solid substance after it'has beenlused in the method oi the present inventiohgis. still capable of liberatingmalogen it'may be used again.

-'I he =m'ethod ofthe' preseiit-inventiom maybe so employed that -th'eextent-of treatment of the wool is insufllcient to reduce naterially its tendency to felt but suflicient'to'lncrease its afllnity for dyestuffs: :Bu'chl treatment may .befollowed, if'desired,'by further treatment witlriani oxidising or:reducing agent, fsuch as hydrogen peroxide, which is knownlto reduce the -tendency"of .-wool tofelt. The 'utent'ottreatmentandthe Itime'required for treatment, .:can:behnodifled'by?employingthfisolitbsuhstancein admixturevwith a solid diluentfinertdio'stheimm fpmferalfiy in the form of aifln'elyx divided powders .Thereil'ect ,oi: the .hahgeniis'incrw'sedi with: increase: inrtime off treatmentsand: is reduced "by dilution not the solid" substance with'ithe solid-:diluent. .The time required fi'or itreatn'ient rdepends upon:the nature ofrjthe solid rsuhstance temployedcand the ne'ifect desired. Theztinie required-Ito produce :a'nysgiven effect, is. Lg.rdegreefofrieltingrresistauceralso-depends upon thezxcidityrofialkalinityof the wool. In general, the time of treatmentds*longer if .zthe woolris'on theialtallne side and'shorterif it is'on the acid sidemflneiztrality. Similarly, the -time depends upon the moisture content of the wool. Within ordinary limits','-the"moisture content of thetkvooifdoes=not -appeai'--to be or great'dnzportancerbntdi'the woolsdrien than customarymhen theggtime of treatmentimayr-be more prolonged; The solid material with which the'woolzis treated may be-moist orrdry;

: Thematnientmnconveniently be carriediout at atmospheric temperature, although 'higher temperaturescandmeduced; pressures may be employeddi desired.

-Gonvenientiy-the woolwmaterialmay be embedded in the finely divided solid substance capable 'of liberating haloscn whenin contact withwool or in The solid substance which-is'preierably used in as the 'solid'substance mixedwith' the soliddiluent.

Alternatively one face of a fabric may be covered with a layer or the solid substance and the fabric may then be rolled up so that the solid substance is in contact with both faces. The solid substance may be removed after the desired time of contact by unroilmg the fabric and shaking'and/or brushing the solid substance from the fabric which is thereaiter washed. The washing preferably in- CllldeS treatment with an anti-chlor" such as sooium bisulphite which may itself reduce the tendency of the wool to felt.

it bleaching powder is spread over a wool fabric. or a wool fabric is buried in bleaching powder and the two materials are allowed to remain in contact, for a number of hours, the wool acquires an increased resistance to felting. Movement of the fabric while in contact with the bleaching powder improves the evenness of the result which is particularly desirable where the fabric is to be subjected to additional treatment after the treatment to improve. its resistance to felting. The action of the bleaching powder on the wool can be conveniently retarded by diluting the bleaching powderwith a solid inert to bleaching powder such as china clay, sodium carbonate or fine sand preferably in the form of a finely divided powder, the extent'of reaction in unit time being determined by the proportion of inert pow-' der. For examp1e,-witl1' two parts ofiinert powder to one part of bleaching powder by .weight, the timerequired to produce gree ofanti-felting is abouttseventeen or eighteen hours at room-temperature. Inert diluents which are water-soluble, such as the sodium carbonate;.refererd to: above. are. advantageous I as they can be removed from the wool by washing.

The inventionwillbe illustrated by, but is not limited. to; the followingvexamples. 1

' One faceofan unscoured knitted all wool fabric containing:14-18% moisture was. wholly cov ered with-solidbleaching powder in fine powder form byspreading on to the fabric 1% parts by weight of the powderto 1 part of wool. The exact constitution ofibleaching powder is uncertain; but qit is commonly statedto ncontain lime, Ca(OH) 2; andfcalcium hypochlorite,.Ca(OCl) The:fabricawas'rolledmp and-left in-this consa es A of 1"part byivolume of bleaching powderin-hne powder'form and-2 parts of'aniii:

hydrous-sodium carbonate?was. evenly scattered over one face'or' a scouredwovenzmixture'flabric consisting of 50% cotton and.50%-wool; the wool component of .Whic11=- contained" 18%:- moisture. The proportion of.mlxed powder: to-fabric used was 2':=to'- 1 by weightw without-removing-the solid powder the fabric was wound-on-a roller so that :both' the upper 'andllower surfaces of the fabric were -'in contact with'the-powder and the fabric 'was'allo'wed to remain in this condition for:18'-20:hours at room temperature: 'The fab-- a substantial dc-.-

4 ric was then unrolled, and the powder removed and the fabric washed and dried as described in Example 1.

The finished fabric when washed with soap showed greater. resistance to felting than the untreated fabric.

Example 3 Knitted wool socks were air conditioned and then buried in a mixture of finely divided silica and bleaching powder in the proportions by volume of 2 to 1%, contained in a suitable vessel. After 24 hours the socks were freed of solid powder by shaking, exposing to currents of air and washing as described in the preceding examples. The treated socks were more resistant to felting than the untreated.

Example 4 One face of a woven all wool fabric which contained 210% by weight ot'water was covered with solid bleaching powder in fine powder form. The fabric was rolled up and left for 4 hours. At the end of this time the powder was shaken off the fabric which was then washed in water containing alwettingagent. Then it .was immersed in dilute sodium bisulphite solution and finally washed. l I

- The untreated fabric when washed and milled in soap solution shrank by 42% of its original area, whilst the treated fabric when washed under the same conditions showed no shrinkage.

A"process-6f treating wool with chlorine bleaching powder.

'2. A-proc'ess' of reducing the tendency of wool which comprises placing it in contact with solid to feltwhich comprises embeddingit in solid bleaching powder for a period exceeding one hourfi' 3. A process of reducing the tendency o f wool to felt which comprises placin it in contact for a periodexceeding four hours with solidbleachlug-powder.- p A process of reducingthe-tendency of wool to"feltwhich"comprises placing it in contact for aperio'd ="exceeding one hour' *with a mixture r of solid'bleaching 'pow"dei;"and a solid diluent inert t 'bieechl a llt'lwtieiz r 1 ["5. A "process of reducing the tendency 'ol' wool tGTIeItwhIch comprises placing it in contact, for a period from about eight to about twenty-four hours-with a mixture ofsolid bleaching ipowder and a finely divided solid" inert solid bleaching hours'with a mixture of 'solidibleaching. powder inert to solid bleaching-powder.

powder. 1

6. A process of reducing the tendency of wool tolfelt' which comprisesplacing it in contact for a periodifrom' about'eight .to-about twenty-four and a finelyrdivided water-soluble solidrdiluent 'I. A process of treating wool with chlorine which comprises placing it in contact for e. period exceedin one hour with a. mixture 9; solid bleaching powder and solid sodium carbonate.

nonmson Pm mums.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are 01 record in the file of this patent:

Number Number Great Biltaln A. D. 1799

Claims

1. A PROCESS OF TREATING WOOL WITH CHLORINE WHICH COMPRISES PLACING IT IN CONTACT WITH SOLID BLEACHING POWDER.