US3318722A - Process for deodorizing resin-containing textiles by treatment with ammonia and steam - Google Patents

Description

United States Patent Ofiice PROCESS FOR DEODORIZING RESIN-=CONTAIN- ING TEXTILES BY TREATMENT WITH AMMO- NIA AND STEAM James Ullrnan, New York, N.Y., assignor to Burlington Industries, Inc., Greensboro, N.C., a corporation of Delaware No Drawing. Filed Aug. 6, 1963, Ser. No. 300,170

1 Claim. (Cl. 117-62) The present application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 82,863, filed Jan. 16, 1961, which matured into Patent 3,100,159 on Aug. 6, 1963.

The present invention relates to deoderizing of clothing, draperies, furniture covers, spreads, covers and wearing apparel in general which has been subjected to various finishes to eliminate odors therefrom.

Although not limited thereto, the present invention will be described in its application to removing fishy, fonmaldehyde and resin type odors from cotton, rayon and other textile fabrics particularly such fabrics as have been resin finished to give wash-and-wear qualities, crease resistance, flame resistance and other similar treatments.

It is among the objects of the present invention to treat such articles whether woven or knitted and particularly those of cellulose material such as cotton or rayon so as to remove aldehyde and amine odors therefrom so that in garments or wearing apparel, there will not be any tendency for development of undesirable odors even though the fabrics have been subjected to resin type treatment and subsequent full or partial curing operations.

Another object is to provide an enhanced treatment of such articles which have been subjected to finishing whether urea formaldehyde resin and melamine formaldehyde resins or other resin finishes to achieve shrinkage control, crease resistance and desirable hand so that during subsequent wearing, cleaning and/or laundering and in humid and hot climates there will not be development of fishy, rancid, glue-like or other unpleasant odors.

A further object is to provide a. simple readily applicable inexpensive procedure of odor proofing such articles whether woven or knitted or whether composed in part or whole of natural or synthetic fibers such as cotton, Wool, rayon, nylon or linen which will not increase the cost of finishing not require extra labor or delay in the finishing procedure and which will not also necessitate expensive apparatus or exacting control arrangements and which will give substantial assurance or elimination of undesirable odors regardless of the type of resins employed or the time and temperature of the cure or the amount or type of finishing after applied and regardless of the type of catalysts used.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an odor proofing procedure for wash-and-wear fabrics which will be effective during storage, manufacture, shipping, laundering, cleaning and during merchandising and in hands of consumers in the form of a finished garment over long periods of time regardless of climatic and humidity conditions.

Still further objects and advantages will appear in the more detailed description set forth below, it being understood, however, that this more detailed description is given by way of illustration and explanation only and not by way of limitation, since various changes therein may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

In accomplishing the above objects, it has been found most satisfactory to remove aldehyde amine fishy glue like and similar odors from cotton, rayon and other textile garments and fabricated articles by treating them 3,318,722 Patented May 9, 1967 after manufacture with a combination of ammonia and steam and preferably anhydrous ammonia and high pressure dry steam as for example at pressures of 40 to 100 lbs. per square inch and preferably 70 to 90 lbs. per square inch.

It has been found most satisfactory to use a dry steam or steam containing no more than 5% to 20% of moisture at a pressure of lbs. per square inch and containing a concentration of 1% to 15% and desirably 1% to 5% of anhydrous ammonia which is fed directly into or which is picked up by the incoming steam.

The time period may range from one minute to two hours and desirably the temperature is maintained at about 150 F. to 230 F. during the treatment. The preferred temperature is 180 to 200 F.

In one preferred process according to the present invention, the goods are desirably held or suspended in a closed chamber or in a rotating tumbler and exposed to steam containing 1 to 5% of ammonia for about 15 to 75 minutes.

Desirably these treatments are carried out about several days to several months after the curing operation. In some instances the treatment may be carried a year or longer after the curing operation.

Desirably anhydrous ammonia is utilized as the ammonia source and depending upon the size of the treatment chamber, it is fed into the chamber at a rate so that 1% to 10% of the volume and desirably 2 /2% of the volume will consist of anhydrous ammonia.

For example, with a chamber having one hundred cubic feet, two and one-half cubic feet should consist of ammonia.

The goods may be subjected to a washing or cleaning treatment before or after the ammonia treatment, but it is most desirable to eliminate any washing, and if any subsequent treatment is to be employed, blowing steam upon the treated fabric appears to complete the process and remove all residue of ammonia therefrom.

Steam pressures of 15 to 30 lbs. per square inch are not as satisfactory as those of 60 to lbs. per square inch, and it has also been found that temperatures of 200 to 250 F. are much more satisfactory than those of to 200 F.

It is usually desirable if the steam and ammonia are combined inside the chamber or shortly before admission to the chamber.

The anhydrous ammonia is generally fed from a compressed cylinder or cylinders directly into the chamber or tumbler.

The ammonia may also be added to the steam in a header before admission to the chamber or tumbler. Aqueous ammonia is usually not suitable since it disturbs the ammonia-steam balance and yields excessive amounts of moisture and produces too wet a mixture. The moisture content should be below 10%.

It will be noted that the steam is fed in at the bottom of chamber holding the garments which may be on hangcm at about 60 to 90 lbs. per square inch pressure.

Desirably between one to five volumes of ammonia are fed in for every 70 to 90 volumes of steam which is desirably substantially dry or containing less than 10% of moisture.

If desired, the steam may be given a superheat of 5 to 20 degrees upon entering the chamber.

Desirably the ammonia and steam may be fed into the chamber in which the clothing is suspended on hanger or in a tumbler in a 50 to 60 minute cycle.

The steam is constantly admitted during entire cycle at 80 lbs. per square inch. The ammonia is introduced as follows in a chamber 9 x 12 x 9 feet in size:

Ammonia: Time, minutes Steam only 5 Ammonia (at 25 cu. ft. 1 hr.) 57 Ammonia (at 60 cu. ft. 1 hr.) 77 /2 Ammonia (at 25 cu. ft. 1 hr.) 7 /z21 Ammonia (at 60 cu. ft. 1 hr.) 21 /2-22 Ammonia (at 25 cu. ft. 1 hr.) 2236 /2 Ammonia (at 60 cu. ft. 1 hr.) 36 /237 Ammonia (at 25 cu. ft. 1 hr.) 37-51 Ammonia shut off 51 Steam only 5156 Steam shut off 56 Desirably the ceiling and walls of the chamber may also be heated to prevent condensation and the steam and ammonia introduced by separate pipes at bottom of the chamber. The steam lines may enter at 80 lbs. per square inch through a 4" pipe having a series of /s" petcocks.

The ammonia was fed in through a /2" pipe about 3" above the steam line with holes drilled at intervals in sides of the pipe.

In general the process is applicable to any resin finish particularly those made from formaldehyde, urea, melamine, carbamate, urethane, ethylene urea, and triazone combinations, condensation products, resins or linkages regardless of the molecular weight.

Although the steam is preferably continuously admitted, the ammonia also may be continuously admitted to give a mixture of 1 to in the chamber or tumbler.

The entrance pressure of the steam should desirably be at 80 lbs. per square inch and the ammonia should 'be admitted at pressures of to 60 lbs. per square inch.

As many changes could be made in the above processing, and many widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope of the claim, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, what is claimed is:

A process for deodorizing textiles having a cured resin thereon whereby the textiles may be deodorized within a period of up to one year subsequent to the curing of the resin-containing textile, comprising introducing into a chamber which is 9 x 12 x 9 feet in size and containing the said textiles, a fiow of steam from a source at 80 lbs/in? pressure for a period of five minutes, thereafter introducing with the steam anhydrous ammonia in the following amounts in consecutive order:

(A) 25 cu. ft./hr. for 2 minutes (B) cu. ft./hr. for /2 minute (C) 25 cu. ft./hr. for 13 /2 minutes (D) 60 cu. ft./hr. for /2 minute (E) '25 cu. ft./hr. for 14 /2 minutes (F) 60 cu. ft./hr. for /2 minute (G) 25 cu. ft./hr. for 14 minutes and thereafter introduce steam from a source at lbs./ in. for a period of five minutes.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,492,965 5/1924 Crystal 11848 2,267,276 12/1941 Hager 117-144 X 2,297,230 9/1942 Langen 117106 X 2,461,302 2/1949 Truhlar et al. 117138 2,870,041 1/1959 Waddle et a1. 11762 2,928,758 3/1960 Waddle et a1. 11762 2,950,989 8/1960 Freeman 11860 X 2,973,285 2/1961 Berke et a1. 117106 2,983,623 5/1961 Coates 11762 3,100,159 8/1963 Ullman 11762 3,123,494 3/1964 Charreau 11762 3,196,036 7/1965 Cotton et a1. 11762 WILLIAM D. MARTIN, Primary Examiner.

W. D HERRICK, Assistant Examiner.