US2536974A

US2536974A - Compressive shrinking and finishing blanket

Info

Publication number: US2536974A
Application number: US733752A
Authority: US
Inventors: Zephir J Chagnon
Original assignee: Albany Felt Co
Current assignee: Albany International Corp
Priority date: 1947-03-11
Filing date: 1947-03-11
Publication date: 1951-01-02
Anticipated expiration: 1968-01-02

Description

Jan. 2,1951- z. J. CHAGNON 2,536,974

COMPRESSIVE SHRINKING AND FINISHING BLANKET Filed March 11, 1947 Fig. I.

v' Q A 9 20W 2 4 26' 26 27 2a Z9 AT TOE/VF) Patented Jan. 2, 1951 GOMPRESSIVE? SHRINKINGE AND FINISHING BLANKET Zephir J. Chagnon, Delmar, N- Y.,. assignor to- Albany Felt Company, Albany, N. Y.", a corporation of New 'York Application-March 11, 1947, Serial No. 733,752

2" Claims. 1

My invention relates to mechanical fabrics, and

particularly to improvements in blankets for use on compressive shrinking machines which preshrink fabrics such as cotton, linen, silk, rayon and the like, and also to improvements in finishing blankets which are used for finishing similar fabrics. Blankets of this character are similar, and may be identical, in structure, and since they must be fulled, it has heretofore been the practice, so far as I am aware, to weave the same from all wool yarns. While various weaves may be employed, the shrinking action, and also the finishing action when the blanket is used for that purpose, is due largely, if not entirely, to the action of the surface of the blanket on the material being shrunk or finished and, since, in either application, there should be a uniform, continuous contact between the blanket and the material being processed, it is quite essential that the surface of the blanket be substantially smooth, For this reason, the filler yarns, which form substantially the entire surface of the blanket, are comparatively fine, while the warp yarns, which must be capable of sustaining substantial tension without stretching, are very coarse, usually in the form of cables which lie straight or substantially straight, and which are entirely buried in the blanket by the filler yarns.

In the drawing- Fig. l is a diagrammatic, one repeat of one a type of weave which may be employed in fabricating either a shrinking or a finishing blanket. It represents from top to bottom ten transverse cross sections, numbered from I to ill, of the fabric taken between adjacent filler yarns, numbered from H to 20, and cutting ten warp cables numbered from 2! to 30.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross section of a warp cable formed from separate strands 3|.

From Fig. 1 it will be apparent that in section I of Fig. 1, the filler yarn H passes under three warp cables, 22, 23 and 24; thence over two

warp cables

25 and 26; and thence under three warp cables 21, 28 and 29. In section 2, filler yarn I2, passes over three warp cables, 2|, 22 and 23; thence under two warp cables, 24 and 25; and thence over three, warp cables, 26, 21 and 28. Thus, it adjacent-sections, the filler yarns pass over two Warp cables and under three in one section, and under two and over three warp cables in the next section. It is to be understood that the section (not shown) next following section l0 would be the same as section I.

In operation blankets of this type are subjected to heat, moisture and abrasion, and wool is not particularly resistant to the disintegrating influences of any of these factors.

The principal object of my invention, therefore, is to provide an improved type of compressive shrinking or finishing blanket which will have a very substantially increased resistance to heat, moisture and abrasion and hence will be endowed with a substantially longer operating life than the all wool blankets now in use.

I accomplish this object by forming the filler yarns partially of wool fibers and partially of fibers of a synthetic linear polymer, preferably a synthetic linear polyamide, such as nylon having a protein-like structure, and which said synthetic fibers are exposed, at least in part, on the surfaces of the filler yarns. Such synthetic fibers may be obtained by the polymerization of diamines with dibasic acids or their amide-forming derivatives, or of amino acids, or a mixture of bifunctional compounds containing complementary amideforming groups such that appreciable numbers of amide linkages are produced in the molecular chain in the polymer formed. Synthetic fibers of this character are substantially more resistant to the disintegrating efiects of heat, moisture and abrasion than are fibers of wool, and, since, in my blanket, they are exposed on the surfaces of the filler yarns and the filler yarns are exposed on the surfaces of the blanket, the synthetic fibers also are exposed on the surfaces of the blanket, thus endowing it with substantially enhanced resistance to abrasion as well as increasing its resistance to heat and moisture.

The quantity of synthetic fibers which may be used varies over quite a wide range; the minimum quantity being that which will efiect an appreciable extension of the life of the blanket; and the maximum quantity being less than that which will prevent appreciable fulling, because fabrics formed entirely from such synthetic fibers cannot be fulled, and sufficient wool must be present in every case to provide for the degree of fulling desired.

I find that by incorporating in the filler yarns synthetic fibers of the above type in a quantity as little as about 5% of the total weight of the blanket the beneficial effects thereof begin to be noticeable; and that the blankets may be fulled to an appreciable degree even when the synthetic fibers are present in a quantity approximating as much as about 70% by weight of the blanket.

What I claim is- 1. A blanket of the group consisting of the com- 7 pressive shrinking and finishing blankets com prising an endless woven and fulled fabric havin subsbtantially straight, comparatively coarse warp cables of high tensile strength, and comparatively fine filler yarns forming substantially the entire exposed surface of said blanket, at least on one side thereof; said filler yarns being formed of wool fibers and a substantial quantity, but less than that which will prevent appreciable fulling of said blanket, of nylon fibers which are exposed, at least in part, on the surface of said filler yarns and the surface of said blanket; whereby the resistance of said blanket to the distintegrating effects of heat, moisture, and abrasion is substantially enhanced.

2. The structure set forth in claim 1 in which the nylon fibers constitute from about 5% to about 70%, by weight, of the blanket.

ZEPHIR J. CHAGNON.

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

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,031,013 Standish Feb. 18, 1936 2,109,223 Schmidt Feb. 22, 1938 2,130,948 Carothers Sept. 20, 1938 2,197,896 Miles Apr. 23, 1940 2,252,554 Carothers Aug. 12, 1941 2,423,827 Chagnon July 15, 1947 2,423,828 Chagnon July 15, 1947 2,444,903 Van Buren July 6, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 17,620 Great Britain of 1902 233,784 Germany Apr. 20, 1911 398,577 Great Britain Sept. 21, 1933