US3137056A - Method for dyeing and treating textile material - Google Patents

Description

J1me 1964 T. v. MGCLURE ETAL 3,

METHOD FOR DYEING AND TREATING TEXTILE MATERIAL Filed Dec. 27, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.

33A A 13 TQM INVENTORS THOMAS V. MC CLURE JOHN MC NUTT HARRY L. MORGAN ROBERT E. OBERHOLTZER June 16, 1964 T. V. M CLURE ETAL METHOD FOR DYEING AND TREATING TEXTILE MATERIAL Filed Dec. 27. 1961 FIG. IC

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS THOMAS v. MC CLURE JOHN Mc NUTT HARRY L; MORGAN ROBERT E .'OBERHOLTZER BY 342C w- /W June 16, 1964 v. MCCLURE ETAL METHOD FOR DYEING AND TREATING TEXTILE MATERIAL 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec.

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. 3,137,056 METHOD FQR DYElNG AND TREATING p 1 TEXTILE MATERIAL Thomas V. McClure and John McNutt, Lexington, Va., Harry L. Morgan, (Iollegeville, Pan, and Robert E. Uberholtzer, Lexington, Va., assignors to James Lees and Sons Company, Bridgeport, Pan, a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 27, 1961, Ser. No. 162,453 15-Claims. (Cl. 28-75) This'invention relates to the dyeing of yarn and more particularly to an improved apparatus and method for dyeing and treating roving and/ or yarns of continuous filament synthetic fiber.

In the processing and dyeing of continuous filament yarns it becomes of-major importance to provide a fast, highly flexible pad dyeing operationfortreating two or w more groups or rovings of approximately 28-30 yarn ends simultaneously. In the manufacture of soft floor coverings the well-known procedures for stock dyeing and skein dyeing natural fibers are too slow and expensive to be used satisfactorily for certain types of synthetic yarns currently popular in these fabrics. A controlled semicontinuous dyeing'o'peration gives far superior dyeing characteristics, reduces waste, and greatly expedites the yarn handling operation. The yarn packages as received from the yarn manufacturer can be taken directly from a creel, introduced into a padder, and-then wound on beams, or otherwise prepared for further spinning or twisting of the yarn. The most important requirement in the dyeing and treatment of continuous filament yarn resides in the fact'that the bulk or crimp produced in this .yarn when manufactured must be retained during the application of the dye and later processing steps. If excess tension is applied to such bulked or crimped yarn at elevated temperatures, the crimp will be removed. The yarn, .therefore, must be handled under conditions of relaxed tension, particularly during the steaming operation. .The requirements for processing a crimped synthetic yarn, such as nylon, preclude satisfactory employ ment of either stock or skein dyeing since the raw material as 'supplied by the manufacturer is not in condition to be stock dyed and the skein dyeing in accordance with known equipment is too slow, expensive, and will not satisfactorily retain the desired bulk or crimp.

The present invention accomplishes the most satisfactory dyeing and treatment of a bulked continuous filament synthetic yarn, such as nylon, without injuring the yarn or removing the pre-set crimp characteristic. Furthermore, a preferred form of the present invention has a distinct advantage as compared to a completely continuous system because a broken end in the wet processing section does not require shutting down the padding equipment and vice versa. A sectionalized system in accordance with the present invention provides the maximum overall efliciency and proper production of the material.

A primary object of the invention, therefore, is to provide an improved method for dyeing and'treating running lengths of textile yarn.

United States Patent 3,137,056 Patented June 16, 1964 'ice A further object of the invention is to provide a completely continuous system for dyeing, steaming, Wet processing, and dryingrunning lengths of bulked'continuous filament yarn.

Further objects will be apparent from the specification and drawings in which:

FlGURES la-lc show a schematic representation of the yarn processing steps in accordance with the present invention, and

FIGURE 2Jis a schematic diagram of a continuous yarn-dyeing and steaming apparatus. p

The invention comprises the continuous running of-a roving of yarn from yarn packages on a creel to a padder and thence to a plurality of wheeled, perforated yarn trucks. Preferably the roving is divided into two groups so that two trucks are fed simultaneously. These trucks are then inserted bodily into an autoclave where the yarn is steamed while in a relaxed condition. The trucks are then transferred to an unloading station where the roving is continuously removedand opened up. A series of Wet processing treatments are given to the yarn and these may comprise an acid bath, a water bath, and an antistat bath. Depending upon the type of yarn and the dye, one or more of the liquid-treating baths may be omitted. The

roving is then separated into individual yarns, fed through a drier, and from the drier each individual yarn passes through a delivery-tube and is deposited into a can. In the efficient dyeing and treating of synthetic yarn, it is important that the yarn pattern in both the trucks and the'cans be such that the yarn can be removed therefrom at relatively high speed without rupturing or snarling. For this purpose the yarn trucks, which in the specification will be called the autoclave trucks, are mounted upon a carriage to which there is imparted an oscillating motion in one direction and a stepped or intermittent motion in a direction to the oscillating motion. In the case of the final delivery into the yarn cans, the feeding equipment is given a composite, planetary motion which serves to form layers of yarn in the cans. As mentioned above, there is an advantage in processing the bulked continuous filament yarn by interrupting thev continuous travel of the yarns and performing the steaming operation at this point of interruption. However, in a modified form, it is possible to utilize a continuous steamer in which'the yarn is loosely festooned over a series of gradually progressing bars in a steam chamber. The introduction and removal of the yarn in this chamber progresses at a rate sufiiciently slow to permit adequate steam treatment.

Referring now more particularly to the'drawings, the yarn to be dyed and liquid-treated is fed from yarn packages in a creel, shown generally at 20, over a feed roller 21 and into the padder 22 which comprises a series of squeeze rolls 23, 24, and 25, a dye trough 26, and the dip roll 27. After "leaving the padder, which may be constructed in accordance with the detailed showing in application Serial No. 54,735, filed September 8, 1960, the yarn ends, in the form of two separate groups or rovings, pass over a series of arcuately concave spools 30, 3t) which deliver the separate rovings R1 and R2 into each 'of two autoclave trucks 31 through funnels 32, 32. The autoclave trucks are provided with suitable grooved wheels 33, 33 which roll on tracks 34 in a manner to be more fully described hereinafter. It is of importance to insure that the rovings be deposited in the autoclave trucks so that they can quickly be removed without any interference or snarling. On completion of each pass the carriage on which the trucks are mounted shifts longitudinally a pre-determined increment so that the rovings are zig-zagged back and forth in the truck to provide a substantially even layer. After the carriage has completed one full longitudinal pass to deposit a layer of zig-zag roving on the bottom of the truck, the carriage returns in equal increments of movement until each truck is substantiafly full.

After each of the trucks 31 has been filled, the truck is then removed from the oscillating carriage and transferred to an autoclave 4i] whereupon empty trucks can immediately be positioned beneath the funnels 32, 32. The truck sides are perforated as shown at 41 in FIG- URE 1A to permit adequate penetration of the steam to all the yarn. After suitable steam treatment in the autoclave, the truck is removed to the position shown at the left of FIGURE 13 whereupon the roving is Withdrawn from the truck over a series of guide rollers or guides 42, 43, and 44. From thence the individual ends of each roving are separated by passing over and under two pairs of biased thread-advancing rollers 45 and 46. A revolving yarn opener or beater 47 is positioned between groups of the yarn ends to maintain their separation. The yarns then pass through suitable drop wires 48 positioned over an electrode 49 to detect any broken ends or improperly tensioned yarns. From thence the yarns are carried through the first liquid-treating padder 50 having a series of upper rollers 51, 51 and a series of submerged rollers 52, 52. A bank of squeeze rollers 53 carries yarns out of the bath 50, delivers them to the second bath 55 which may be identical to the first bath and having upper rollers 51a, 51a and submerged rollers 52a, 52a and squeeze rollers 53a. Additional liquid treatments as, for example, antistat applications and rinses, may be applied by means of further liquid-treating baths, such as bath 56, which in turn has upper rollers 51b, 51b submerged rollers 52b, 52b, and squeeze rollers 53b.

After the passing through the appropriate liquid treatment apparatus, the yarn ends are 'fed through a drier assembly 58 which comprises a first pair of control rollers 59 and suitable direction reversing rollers 60, 61, 62, and 63. Drive rollers 64 then feed the yarn over a yarn guide 65 from whence each individual end is carried through an air jet tube assembly 66, 66 for delivery of each end into one of the yarn cans 67, 67. The air jets 66, 66 are mounted on a movable framework to which a planetary motion is imparted but which provides a particular advantage in that each yarn end is supplied to a can in overlapping symmetrical layers. The individual yarn ends deposited in the cans 67, 67 are each designated with reference number 68 and the control and movement of each of these yarn ends 68 is identical so that the description of one applies to all.

After the yarn ends have been opened up as described above, they are given a series of liquid treatments which may include an acid treatment applied in bath 50 (FIG- URE 1B), a rinsing bath 55, and the application of a suitable size or antistat liquid in bath 56. The liquid treating baths 50, 55, and 56 are conventional in design and operation and in themselves form no part of the present invention.

Under circumstances where it may be considered desirable to use a completely continuous yarn dyeing and processing sylstem, a steam chamber shown schematically in FIGURE 2 may be substituted for the autoclave. In this case the yarn ends coming from the padder 22 are carried over a guide 250 from which they are fed through interdigitating feed heaters 251 and 252. A steam chamber 253 is provided with a means for advancing the yarn through the chamber 253 in a relaxed or relatively untensioned condition. As the chains carry the yarn festoons through the steam chamber, the yarns are with- 4 drawn therefrom by means of pair of driven nip rollers 264 and 265. The yarns are then carried over a guide 266 and into one or more liquid treating baths 267 of the type described above and thence through the drier 58 whereupon they may be wound on a beam 268 for further utilization.

The present invention achieves substantially more efiicient and uniform treatment of continuous filament yarns both in the continuous and semi-continuous forms as compared to a strictly batch process. The elimination of manual handling of the rovings reduces snagging and permits the rapid treatment of the yarns without shut-down due to broken ends of other conditions prevalent in the handling continuous filament synthetic yarns. This improvement is noticeably more beneficial in the case of bulked or crimped yarns which, if anything, have a greater tendency to snag. The dyeing and subsequent steam treatment of these yarns under relaxed tension is an important feature of the invention and permits a far better product to be obtained and at much higher rates of production.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. The method of continuously treating running lengths of textile yarns which comprises the steps of introducing said running lengths into a dye bath, removing excess amounts of dye liquor from said running lengths, feeding each of said lengths into a container in even linear layers, steaming said running lengths under conditions of relaxed tension, removing the lengths from the containers, separating each length into individual yarns, applying a liquid treatment to said separated yarns, drying the yarns, and continuously supplying each of said yarns to a yarn takeup device.

2. The method of treating running lenghts of continuous filament bulked fibers which comprises the steps of introducing said running lengths into a dye bath, removing excess amounts of dye liquor from said running lengths, feeding each of said lengths into a container in even linear layers, steaming said running lengths under conditions of relaxed tension, removing the lengths from the containers, separating each length into individual yarns, applying a liquid treatment to said separated yarns, drying the yarns, and continuously supplying each of said yarns to a yarn take-up device.

3. The method of claim 2 in which the container for steaming the yarns is oscillated in linear paths to each other.

4. The method of claim 2 in which the separated yarns are given an acid bath.

5. The method of claim 2 in which the separated yarns are given an antistat bath.

6. The method of claim 2 in which the separated yarns are given an acid bath, a rinse bath, and an antistat bath.

7. The method of claim 2 in which the yarns are continuously supplied in layers into yarn cans by means of a planetary motion.

8. The method of claim 2 in which the yarns are taken up by means of winding them on beams.

9. The method of claim 2 in which all of the steps are performed in continuous sequence.

10. The method of claim 2 in which the yarn is dyed and deposited in the containers in a continuous sequential operation and subsequently removed from the containers and supplied to the take-up device in continuous sequence.

11. A method of treating a running length of bulked fibers which comprises the steps of immersing said fibers in a dye bath, removing excess amounts of the dye liquor 12. The method of claim 11 wherein the fibers are References Cited in the file of this patent spun into a series of yarns and the yarns are grouped into UNITED STATES PATENTS rovings before immersion in the dye bath.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the rovings are 2342746 lMasland 1944 Separated into individual yarns before passing through the 5 2,3 67730 Masland 1945 drying Zone 2,504.133 Craft Apr. 18, 1950 23 092 S encer Feb. 11 1958 14. The method of cla m 11 in which all of the steps 2,8 p 1 are performed in continuous sequence. 2826479 Cole 1958 15. The method of claim 11 in which the yarn is dyed 2,863,208 Dmmmund at V- 1958 and deposited in the containers in continuous sequence 10 2895210 Hubbard July 1959 and subsequently removed from the containers and de- 2,971,244 Feller et 1961 posited into the receptacles in continuous sequence. 3021587 Rudbarg 1962

Claims (1)

1. THE METHOD OF CONTINUOUSLY TREATING RUNNING LENGTHS OF TEXTILE YARNS WHICH COMPRISES THE STEPS OF INTRODUCING SAID RUNNING LENGTHS INTO A DYE BATH, REMOVING EXESS AMOUNTS OF DYE LIQUOR FROM SAID RUNNING LENGTHS, FEEDING EACH OF SAID LENGTHS INTO A CONTAINER IN EVEN LINEAR LAYERS, STEAMING SAID RUNNING LENGTHS UNDER CONDITIONS OF RELAXED TENSION, REMOVING THE LENGTHS FROM THE CONTAINERS, SEPARATING EACH LENGTH INTO INDIVIDUAL YARNS, APPLYING A LIQUID TREATMENT TO SAID SEPARATED YARNS, DRYING THE YARNS, AND CONTINUOUSLY SUPPLYING EACH OF SAID YARS TO A YARN TAKEUP DEVICE.

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