US3103731A

US3103731A - Textile apparatus for bulking yarns and process

Info

Publication number: US3103731A
Application number: US138943A
Authority: US
Inventors: Howard C Salyer; Charles A Fletcher
Original assignee: Eastman Kodak Co
Current assignee: Eastman Kodak Co
Priority date: 1961-09-18
Filing date: 1961-09-18
Publication date: 1963-09-17
Anticipated expiration: 1980-09-17
Also published as: GB1023944A

Description

Se t, 17, 1963 H. c. SALYER ETAL 3,103,731

TEXTILE APPARATUS FOR BULKING YARNS AND PROCESS Filed Sept. 18, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet l IO HOWARD c. SALYER 1 CHARLES A. FLETCHER INVENTOR.

A TOR N EYS Sept. 17, 1963 H. C. SALYER ETAL TEXTILE APPARATUS FOR BULKING YARNS AND PROCESS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 18, 1961 FIG. 2

HOWARD C. SALYER CHARLES A. FLETCHER INVENTOR.

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ATTO RN EYS United States Patent 3,103,731 TEXTILE APPARATUS FOR BULKING YARNS AND PROCESS Howard C. Saiyer and Charles A. Fletcher, both of Kingsport, Tenn, assiguors to Eastman Kodak Company,

Rochester, N.Y., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Sept. 18, 1961, Ser. No. 138,943 8 Claims. (Cl. 28-4) This invention relates to textile processing apparatus and more particularly to an improvement in such apparatus which provides a means for collecting and removing textile lubricants and chemicals normally applied to textile yarns from the air or other gases employed in carrying out various textile treating operations such as yam conveying, entangling, texturing, lofting, bulking, liquid treating, wet spinning and other operations, particularly in operations in which the yarn is treated in a jet by means of high velocity air or other gas. The invention also relates to a method of handling contaminant-laden exhaust gases from jet processing operations in which a lubricated yarn is treated with high velocity air or other gases so as to remove such contaminants from the air stream emerging from the jets.

A number of types of jets, have been described for imparting various configurations or properties to textile yarns, particularly synthetic yarns of the continuous filament variety. Typical of such jets are those disclosed in the US. patents to Claus, 2,100,588; Taylor, 2,067,251;

Mummery, 2,379,824; McDermott, 2,460,390; Griset, 2,661,588; Head, 2,884,756; Dyer, 2,924,868; Field, 2,962,794; and Jackson, 2,737,688. Normally, when jets of the type disclosed in these and other patents are employed they are used to process textile fibers which have had a liquid material or lubricant applied to the fiber to facilitate handling or use or to contribute desirable properties as, for example, to reduce and control static electricity, to reduce lfriction or to impart desirable characteristics of softness or stiffness of hand, potential adhesiveness and so forth. In some cases the yarn is wound and stored for a period of time prior to treatment in the jet, while in other cases processing in the jet may immediately follow the liquid application. To a greater or less degree, determined by the nature of the liquid applied and the time lag before passage of the yarns through the jet, it has been found that the action of the high velocity gases passing through the jet tends to blow or strip off a certain amount of the yarn treating liquid. For example, a yarn may be treated with 3% by weight of the yarn with a yarn finishing oil in a 10% emulsion in water by weight. Thus a total of 30% liquid is applied to the yarn by weight. If this yarn is immediately treated in a high velocity air jet where the air impinges on the yarn at close to sonic velocities, as much as 50% of this liquid may be stripped olf the yarn by the air fiow. If the yarn is aged prior to passage through the jet the water in the lubricant emulsion would evaporate so that only 3% oil might be present, but experience has shown that certain types of air jets may remove a substantial portion. of even this residual with the result that the treated yarn may, for example, contain only 2.5% oil after the jet treatment. While the amount of oil removed is not appreciablewhen only a few ends of yarn are being treated practical mill operations often involve the processing of many thousands of pounds of yarn per day in a single operating room and it will be seen that the amount of liquid, oil or other chemicals thrown into the atmosphere in a large scale operation may, in the course of a day, run into several hundred or even a thousand or more pounds.

When the practice of using jets for treating various textile yarns originated, the need for collecting lubricants and chemicals blown off the yarn and carried in the exhaust gas from these jets was not recognized. However, it is now known that it is necessary to collect and control these contaminated gases for two important reasons, first, to eliminate the health hazard and second, to prevent contamination of the product and machinery with the objectionable residue deposited by these oily or misty gases. Prior to our invention various collecting systems were used but these required the use of large volume, expensive, :and sometimes complicated exhaust ducts and fans. Furthermore, the effectiveness of such devices depends primarily on the volume and suction of these large and sometimes unwieldly exhaust systems. In contrast to this relatively cumbersome method of eliminating contaminants from the atmosphere of the processing rooms and from the machines themselves the present invention utilizes the inertial energy of the high velocity oil or chemical particles entrained in the exhaust gas emerging from the jet to separate these particles from the air or other gas and does not require the use of large volume, high suction exhaust fans and ducts.

The invention has as a primary object to provide a means of efficiently collecting and separating textile lubricants and other chemicals from the exhaust gases emerging from jets through which lubricated textile yarns are passed in such operations as conveying, texturing, lofting, bulking, and the like.

Another object is to provide a simple and elfective mechanism for removing atomized lubricant and other chemicals from the atmosphere in the immediate vicinity of jets through which a lubricated textile yarn is passed by means of high velocity air or other gases.

Another object is to provide a means of preventing the contamination of the air in a textile processing room or operating space by entraining the lubricant-containing air emerging from high velocity jets through which a lubricated yarn is passed and conveying it way from the jet area without the use of large volume and complicated exhaust ducts and fans.

, This invention has as an object to provide a means of removing excess liquid from a running strand of yarn by means of the energy of high velocity gases.

Another and specific object is to take advantage of the energy of. the high velocity air or other gas employed in a textile jet processing operation to create conditions in the immediate vicinity of the jet orifices such as 'will prevent the escape of contaminated exhaust gas into the outside atmosphere of the operating area.

from jets through which lubricated textile yarns are passed in such operations as conveying, entangling, texturing, lofting, bulking, and the like and comprises a housing or enclosure for the jet provided with curvilinear internal surfaces or walls adjacent its top and having an opening at the top which permits the processing jet to be moved into and out of operating position and allows the textile yarn to pass into and out of the jet. The jet may be mounted in the housing so that it can be manually raised for threading the yarn strand through the jet at start-up and then lowered to running position. The high velocity. contaminated exhaust gases which result from the stripping of lubricants or other treating liquids from the yarn by the turbulent processing gas (normally pressurized dry air) are, in accordance with the invention, directed at the curved surfaces in a manner which causes the gas to gradually change direction by an angle of approximately The inertial energy of the entrained liquid particles in the gas causes themto impinge on the curved surfaces and condense. The resulting liquids are continuously drained off in a gutter or other type of conduit. One of the important and novel features of the invention is that the movement of the high velocity gas around the curved surfaces creates a partial vacuum in the top of the housing and causes room air to be drawn into the housing, thus insuring, not only complete removal of the contaminant but also precluding the escape of any lubricant mist-laden air into the atmosphere of the processing room. The cleaned gas is exhausted from the treating area by a low suction exhaust system or allowed to vent into the room environment with or without further treatment by filter or other devices.

In the following examples and description we have set forth several of the preferred embodiments of our invention, but they are included merely for purposes of illustration and not as a limitation thereof.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic, elevational, sectional view of a conventional synthetic yarn spinning operation from which lubricated yarn is passed through a processing jet equipped with the device of this invention.

FIGURE 2. is a partial cut-away vertical sectional view illustrating the contaminant collecting and condensing device of the invention and showing a conventional yarntreating jet positioned therein in operating position and illustrating in dotted lines how it may be raised for threading up.

FIGURE 3 is a partial perspective view of the top of the contaminant collecting housing of the invention and illustrating the position of a conventional yarn processing jet in the raised threading position.

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 but showing the yarn processing jet in the lowered running position.

FIGURE 5 is a partial cut-away vertical elevational view of another form of a contaminant collecting device with a conventional yarn processing jet in the operating position and in which the curved collecting surface is provided in the form of a removable top for the contamin-ant collecting housing.

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of the removable top of the device of FIGURE 5.

FIGURE 7 is a partial cut-away view in vertical section of another form of contaminant collecting housing in accordance with our invention and having a slightly different form of internal collecting surface and also illustrating a specific form of jet which may be mounted therein.

Referring to FIGURE 1, the numeral 1 designates the cabinet of a conventional apparatus for the spinning of synthetic yarns by the extrusion of a filament-forming solution or melt. The numeral 2 designates the extruded filaments proceeding through the cabinet from the spinnerette 3. The strand of yarn filaments 4 emerges from the cabinet and passes in contact with the surface of an applicator roll 5 which dips into and conveys lubricant or other treating liquid 6 from the container 7 onto the yarn.

After treatment with the lubricant the yarn passes over a godet roll 8 and thence to a jet processing operation as shown in FIGURE 1. The processing of the yarn in the jet may be an operation such as lofting, bulking, entangling, texturing or other operation it may be desired to perform upon the yarn to give it special physical properties to adapt it for use in a wide variety of textile operations. A jet for such purpose is indicated by the numeral 9, which jet is, in accordance with our invention, adjustably positioned within a contaminant collecting and condensing housing It). The yarn strand 4 passes from the godet roll 8 over a ceramic guide 11 positioned on one edge of the opening into the top of the collecting housing, thence through the jet 9 and emerges on the other side of the jet to pass over another ceramic guide 12, thence over

yarn guides

13 and 14. After passing under guide 14 the yarn passes into the traverse mechanism 15 of a conventional yarn winding device 16 where a yarn package is formed. It will be understood that the jet 9 is supplied with a suitable source of high velocity air or other gas at a desired or predetermined pressure through tube 9A.

Referring now to FIGURE 2, which illustrates one of the preferred forms of the contaminant collecting and condensing device of our invention and also illustrates the conditions which prevail in the vicinity of the jet, the jet 9 is movably positioned within the contaminant containing housing by a mechanism, not shown, which permits it to be raised to threading position or lowered to running position. As previously described, the yarn strand 4 passes over a ceramic guide 11 which is atfixed to the edge of the opening in the housing 10 in the manner shown. The strand then passes through a ceramic eyelet I7 fixed to the jet on one side, thence through the jet and out through another ceramic eyelet 18 on the opposite side of the jet. The processed yarn then passes over ceramic guide 12 in all respects the same as guide 11 and thence out of the processing mechanism. It will be understood that air or other gas at a predetermined pressure passes into the jet through the conduit 9A in the direction indicated by the vertical arrow.

As will also be evident from FIGURE 2 the housing 10 is connected to and discharges into a duct 13 for conveying away exhaust air or other gas from which a substantial portion of the lubricant or other contaminant has been removed. The duct 18 also serves to collect condensed liquid which flows down the sides of the collecting housing 10. The condensed liquid is conveyed away through outlet conduit 19 to storage or to a reworking operation to recover lubricant or other valuable components It will be understood that the yarn strand 4 passing in the direction indicated by the horizontal arrows arrives at the jet with a coating of the lubricant previously picked up in the lubricating operation. Since air or other gas passes through the jet at a high velocity and with extreme turbulence it will readily be seen that the lubricant or other liquid will be blown ed the yarn in the form of a very fine mist or aerosol which, were it not for the provision of the present invention, would contaminate the air, not only in the immediate vicinity of the jet operation but also practically the entire working space in which such machines are located. In addition such air, heavily loaded with lubricant or other contaminant, would tend to condense upon the machinery and upon the yarn product itself. These undesirable results are prevented by the instant invention.

Assuming the jet to have been properly threaded as shown in FIGURE 3 and then to have been lowered into housing 10 in running position as shown in FIGURE 4 and the jet supplied with high velocity air through conduit 9A, the contaminated high velocity exhaust gas from the jet will begin to emerge drom the jet through the jet orifices through ceramic eyelets 17 and 18. This is a fine mist containing droplets of oil 19 which, for purposes of illustration, have been greatly exaggerated. The housing 10 whose inner walls in the top portion are curved or curvilinear in form provides a means of collecting and directing this high velocity contaminated air away from the jet. The lubricant or other chemical thus blown off the yarn as droplets on aerosol then converges or impinges upon the walls of the housing 10 and collects and flows as a liquid condensate down these walls. The high velocity exhaust air itself, shown as arrows 21, likewise strikes the curved surface of the housing 10 and is turned downwardly inside the housing. This in turn creates a partial vacuum at the opening 22 which pulls a certain amount of room air into the housing 10, thus effectively preventing the escape into the atmosphere of any particles or droplets of lubricant or other treating liquid. As the gaseous mixture 21 emerges from the jet and passes through the housing 10 it expands and thus loses most of its velocity. housing 10 and by connecting conduit 18 which, if desired, may serve more than one contaminant collecting device as shown in FIGURE 2. The air thus denuded of lubricant or other contaminant may be exhausted from the treating area by a low suction exhaust system or allowed to vent into the room environment with or without iurther treatment by filters or other devices.

FIGURE illustrates a modification of our invention which, although operating on the same basic principles as the device illustrated in FIGURE 2, nevertheless possesses certain features of structural novelty and advantage. In this embodiment the curved surfaces provided for changing the direction of the contaminated lair emerging from the jets and for creating the partial vacuum referred to above are incorporated in a removable top 23 also illustrated in perspective in FIGURE 6. In this embodiment the jet 9 is held in fixed position within the contaminant collecting and condensing housing It) and in this respect differs from the mechanism shown in FIG- URE 2. The removable top 23 is provided with a weighted handle 24 and slit ceramic eyelets 25 which serve the purpose of keeping the top in position on top of the jet merely by force of gravity. Inspection of FIGURE 6 in connection with FIGURE 5 will readily indicate how the top 23 is placed in operative position with respect to the jet with the yarn being threaded into the slit eyelets merely by lowering the top over the running strand or strands of yarn.

The collection and separation of the contaminant from the exhaust gases emerging from the orifices l7 and 18 in this device takes place in the same manner as does the collection and separation in the device shown in FIGURE 2, the droplets or mist of lubricant or other chemicals blown off the yarn in the air stream impinging on the curved surface of top 23 and being condensed thereon and directed as liquid condensate downwardly along the inner walls of the housing 10. As in the previously described device, the cleaned air passes into the duct 18 and is conveyed to the room environment or elsewhere as desired. Likewise, the condensate which falls from the housing It: is collected in the duct and is conveyed therefrom by the outlet 19. As in the previously described device, direction of the exhaust air downwardly inside the curved surface of the top 23 creates a partial vacuum in the voids 22 between the top 23 and the walls of the housing lit} and this vacuum pulls room air into the housing, thus effectively preventing the escape of lubricant or other contaminants into the atmosphere.

While we have found it convenient to illustrate our invention by reference to truly curvilinear surfaces in the devices of FIGURES 2 and 5 the same results may be obtained by employment of a housing provided with a cries of plane surfaces as, for example, the device illustrated in FIGURE 7, such series of plane surfaces being indicated by the numeral 26 and arranged in generally curvilinear form. Similarly, various forms of jets may be employed to process the yarn in any desired manner, one conventional type of bulking jet being shown in cross section in FIGURE 7. Likewise, the housing itself can be rectangular in cross section, as illustrated in the various figures of the drawing or it can be circular or have any other geometric configuration dictated by the requirements of any particular application or design. Similarly, the invention can be applied to the collection of exhaust from any number of jets, the contaminants from which it is desired to control.

In further illustration of our invention a typical operation involving its use may be carried out as follows:

A 55 denier 13 filament dull acetate yarn produced in accordance with :a conventional dry spinning operation was subjected to an entanglement process by passing it through a jet designed to intermingle the filaments at periodic points along the run of the strand. The yarn emerging from the spinning machine and before entering In this condition it is carried away by the,

the jet was treated with a yarn finishing oil in a 15% emulsion so as to deposit 3.0% by weight residual lubricant on the yarn. High velocity air was supplied to the jet at a pressure of 15 psi. g. The yarn emerging from the entanglement jet retained 2.3% residual lubrican-t thus indicating that approximately .70% lubricant had been blown off the yarn during treatment by the jet. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the collector housing as illustrated in FIGURE 2 the jet was operated in the raised position and the lubricant entrained in the jet exhaust was measured with a laboratory air-sampling device. This test indicated that 16.7 ting/m. of oil was contained in the exhaust. The jet was then lowered into the collector and the test was repeated. This test indicated that only 2.22 mg./m. remained in the air in the vicinity of the treatment jet which illustrates the efficiency of our invention in removing contaminants, it being noted that the normal atmosphere of a spinning room in which no jet treatment is taking place contains an amount of lubricant mist corresponding to about 2.5 mg./m. It will thus be seen that a substantial reduction in the amount of lubricant or other contaminant in which a lubricated yarn is processed in the vicinity of a jet is thus effected. By operating in the manner described above in the production of entangled yarn an excellent product that processes well in a tricot knitting operation can be made.

In addition to the above-mentioned benefits to be derived from the present invention \a collateral benefit is the fact that the contaminant collecting housing of the invention provides a means of reducing the noise inherent in the use of yarn processing jets, especially the larger type jets required to bulk heavy denier yarns and which employ high pressure and high velocity air flow. It will be readily understood that the noise problem is aggravated when there are a large number of jets in operation and that any-thing which tends to reduce the noise level will contribute to the safety and efficiency of the operation. It has been found that the contaminant collecting housing of the present invention, particularly when constructed of suitable sound reflective or absorbent materials substantially reduces the noise level and is thus a valuable adjunct to any jet processing operation. As has been mentioned above, the stripping ofi of lubricant or other treating liquids from the yarn during the processing opera-tion represents a substantial economic loss. The instant invention also provides a means of collecting and recovering such yarn treating liquids which may be reworked to enable valuable lubricants or other ingredients to be reused as yarn treating agents.

While in the above description emphasis has been laid upon the employment of our invention to recover lubricants and similar liquid chemical compositions from .the high velocity gases emerging from the orifices of jets used to process yarns in such operations as'texturing, lof-ting, bulking and the like, it is also applicable to the removal of excess liquid from a running strand of yarn emerging from a fluid treatment bath as, for example, a coagulating bath such as is employed in various wet spinhing processes and also for removal of the excess liquid from yarn undergoing other liquid treatment such as washing, hot water drafting, dyeing, sizing and the like. Typical of such uses are wet spinning of regenerated cellulose fibers, wet spinning of acrylic fibers and hot water dratting of polyolefin and polyester fibers. Thus, while in the illustrative example given above reference has been made to the collection of lubricants and other treating liquids in the air stream emerging from jets employed in the processing of cellulose acetate yarn the invention is equally applicable to the gaseous treatment land to recovery of various treating liquids in the processing of other types of yarns such as continuous filament yarns of polyester, polyamide, polyolefin, acrylic and modified acrylic materials and is also applicable to yarns spun from staple 7 fibers of the foregoing synthetic materials or spun from such natural fibers as cotton and wool.

Although the invention has been described in considerable detail with particular reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention as described hereinabove and as defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In an apparatus for processing textile yarns in which the yarn, lubricated with a textile lubricant or other yarn treating liquid, is passed through a jet under the influence of a high velocity gaseous stream which tends to strip from the yarn a portion of the lubricant and to cause it to be emitted into the surrounding atmosphere from the jet orifices in the form of a fine mist or aerosol, the improvement which comprises a yarn processing jet adjustably mounted in a housing therefor, means for supplying high velocity air or other gas to the jet, said housing having an opening in the top thereof permitting the raising and lowering of the jet into and out of operating position within the housing, the inner walls of said housing adjacent the jet having curvilinear surfaces and providing a means for directing the mist-laden stream of gas away from the vicinity of said jet and for condensing out the liquid components thereof.

2. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which the housing for the jet is in the form of a conduit which both collects yarn treating liquid condensed on its inner walls in the upper part thereof and conveys away the condensed liquid and air or other gas denuded of said liquid.

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which the housing for the jet is in the form of a conduit which both collects yarn treating liquid condensed on its inner walls in the upper part thereof and conveys away the condensed liquid and air or other gas denuded of said liquid and in which the housing is connected to a source of low vacuum suction.

4. In an apparatus for processing textile yarns in which the yarn, lubricated with a textile lubricant or other yarn treating liquid, is passed through a jet under the influence of a high velocity gaseous stream which tends to strip from the yarn a portion of the lubricant and to cause it to be emitted into the surrounding atmosphere from the jet orifices in the form of a fine mist or aerosol, the improvement which comprises a yarn processing jet, fixedly mounted in a housing therefor, means for supplying high velocity air or other gas to the jet, said housing having an open top, said opening being partially closed by a weighted top resting on said fixedly mounted jet, said top being provided with slit type orifices for guidance of the yarn into and out of the jet, the inner walls of said top having curvilinear surfaces and providing a means for directing the mist-laden stream of gas away from the vicinity of said jet and for condensing out the liquid components thereof.

5. Apparatus in accordance with claim 4 in which the housing for the jet is in the form of a conduit which both collects yarn treating liquid on its inner walls and conveys away the condensed liquid and the air or other gas denuded of said liquid.

6. Apparatus in accordance with claim 4 in which the housing for the jet is in the form of a conduit which both collects yarn treating liquid on its inner walls and conveys away the condensed liquid and the air or other gas denuded of said liquid and in which the housing is connected to a source of low vacuum suction.

7. The process for treating yarn previously treated with lubricant or other yarn treating material whereby when the yarn is processed in a high velocity air jet, said yarn treating material, which is stripped off because of the jet action, is largely prevented from escaping and causing undesirable contamination, which comprises threading such treated yarn into and through such jet, moving the yarn and the jet into a small confined space whereby the linear directional movement of the yarn into and from the jet is caused to change from a relatively straight line movement and the said lubricant and yarn treating materials which come off the moving yarn is collected in the confined space, and conducting away at least some of such materials thus collected.

8. The process in accordance with claim 7 wherein when the yarn and jet are moved into the confined space the yarn is by the movement brought into contact with low wear guide members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,516,177 Blake July 25, 1950 2,631,385 K-inraide Mar. 17, 1953 3,009,309 Breen et a1. Nov. 21, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 861,108 Great Britain Feb. 15, 1961

Claims

1. IN AN APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING TEXTILE YARNS IN WHICH THE YARN, LUBRICATED WITH A TEXTILE LUBRICANT OR OTHER YARN TREATING LIQUID, IS PASSED THROUGH A JET UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF A HIGH VELOCITY GASEOUS STREAM WHICH TENDS TO STRIP FROM THE YARN A PORTION OF THE LUBRICANT AND TO CAUSE IT TO BE EMITTED INTO THE SURROUNDING ATMOSPHERE FROM THE JET ORIFICES IN THE FORM OF A FINE MIST OR AEROSOL, THE IM-