US3383884A

US3383884A - Press installation

Info

Publication number: US3383884A
Application number: US465098A
Authority: US
Inventors: Meyer Arnfried
Original assignee: Passat Maschb Fa GmbH
Current assignee: Passat Maschb Fa GmbH; PASSAT MASCHINENBAU G M B H Firma
Priority date: 1964-06-18
Filing date: 1965-06-18
Publication date: 1968-05-21
Anticipated expiration: 1985-05-21
Also published as: DE1460306A1

Description

May 21, 1968 A. MEYER 3,383,884

PRESS INSTALLATION Filed June 18, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ARNFRiED MEYER BY CQzAw AZORNEYS May 2 1968 A. MEYER 3,383,884

PRES S INSTALLAT ION Filed June 18, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheer.

IN VENTOR l umu ARNFRiED MEYER ATTORNEYS United States Patent Office 3,383,884 Patented May 21, 1968 9 Claims. (Cl. 68256) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An installation for pressing out or squeezing out elastic materials containing liquid, especially wet textile fabrics, essentially consisting of parallel rollers or drums resiliently pressed against one another of which at least one roller is provided with an elastic jacket or casing enclosing an air pressure chamber for providing high radial resiliency.

Background of the invention Such types of installations have already become known in the art which consist of twoparallel rollers, of which one roller is adapted to be driven and of which the other roller is displaceably supported in lateral guide means and is held pressed against the first-mentioned roller by springs. Both rollers are provided in the prior art with an envelope of relatively hard rubber. Such known press installations produce a satisfactory result only when the material to be pressed-out, for example, the wet laundry, is introduced between the rollers at the same height, i.e., evenly distributed over the roller width. However, this cannot be realized by reason of the very different shapes and forms of the individual laundry pieces so that always places with higher material Stratification are present against which the rollers then support themselves. The areas disposed adjacent to these places are then either not compressed or squeezed-out at all or are compressed only inadequately. The effectiveness of such a press installation is therefore incomplete.

Furthermore, rollers or drums for the pressing-out of liquid have become known in the prior art in which rin shaped hoses are placed alongside one another directly on the circumference of a rigid roller body or in which the rigid roller body is spirally surrounded by a hose. A pressure medium is fed into the hose or hoses. The hoses used for that purpose, however, normally have only a small diameter so that with the maximum possible yieldingness corresponding to the size of the inner dimensions of the hose, only a slight elasticity is obtainable which, in many cases, is inadequate. It is additionally known for purposes of improving the pressing effectiveness to surround such a roller with an additional elastic jacket of lesser thickness. However, by such an arrangement only an equalization of the uneven outer surface of the roller, otherwise formed by the hoses, can be achieved. An improvement of the elasticity and therewith of the pressing effectiveness is not connected with this measure.

Summary It is the aim of the present invention to create an installation for pressing-out materials containing liquid, in

which the rollers are so constructed that they are able to follow the differences in height of the material to be pressed-out occurring during the pressing operation and that they squeeze out or press-out the liquid uniformly in all places.

The present invention solves the underlying problem in that the elastic casing has a high yieldingness which is produced by at least one hollow space provided on the inside into which is fed a pressure gas.

According to a feature of the present invention, the casing itself consists of an elastic material within which are provided one or several hose-shaped hollow spaces for the accommodation of the pressure medium.

According to a further feature of the present invention, several ring-shaped hoses are provided as hollow spaces which are arranged coaxially in one or several layers radially one above the other and in the longitudinal direction of the roller adjacent one another.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention distinguishes itself by the fact that a single hose is provided as hollow space which is embedded in the elastic material spirally in several layers radially one above the other and in the longitudinal direction of the roller adjacent one another.

According to a further modified construction of the present invention, the elastic casing forms the walls of the circumferential surfaces and at least a part of the two end surfaces of a hose-shaped hollow body whose interior space represents a single hollow space for the accommodation of the pressure gas.

The arrangement according to the present invention offers the advantage that the elastic casing which is under the influence of the gas pressure, is able to deform strongly and thus also with very different contours of the material to be treated completely abuts at every place. As a result thereof, all or at least nearly all areas are subject to a uniformly high pressure by means of which the liquid contained therein is pressed-out or forced out. An increase of this effectiveness can be obtained by the heating of at least one of the rollers. A construction has proved itself particularly advantageous in which there is provided at least one roller with an elastic casing under gas pressure and at least one heatable counter-roller having a rigid casing that conducts well the heat. In combination with the conveyor means feeding the material to the press and removing the same after treatment thereof, the arrangement according to the present invention may be inserted into a larger, continuously operating installation. The material may be fed thereby to the press installation in only a coarsely distributed condition on the conveyor means so that additionally a considerable saving in work results. All materials can be treated by the press in accordance with the present invention in which the liquid contained therein can be removed by a pressingout operation, for example, textile materials of all kinds, leather (hides and skins) or the like, as well as also vegetable goods, for example, for dc-juicing.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a press of the type described above which eliminates, by simple means, the aforementioned shortcomings and drawbacks encountered with the prior art constructions.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a liquid press for textile materials and the like which assures a uniform pressing action of the material regardless of the thickness or number of layers at any particular place of the material.

Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of a press installation for pressing-out liquid from various textile materials or the like which is so constructed and arranged that the rollers can readily adapt themselves to the irregular contours and thicknesses of the material to be presed out.

Still a further object of the present invention resides in elastic rollers for press installations which have a sufficient resiliency to considerably improve the pressing effectiveness thereof.

Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of a press installation which not only improves the pressing effectiveness but also obviates the need for careful distribution of the material on the conveyor leading to the press.

These and further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing which shows, for purposes of illustration only, several embodiments in accordance with the present invention, and wherein:

Brief description of the drawings FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a first embodiment of a press installation in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view of the press installation of FIGURE 1, partly in cross section, to show the details of certain parts thereof;

FIGURE 3 is a partial front elevational view of a modified embodiment of the elastic roller in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 4 is a schematic side elevational view of one possible arrangement of the rollers for a press installation in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 5 is a schematic side elevational view of another possible arrangement for the rollers of a press installation in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 6 is a somewhat schematic side elevational view of a modified embodiment of a press installation in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 7 is a front end elevational view, partly in cross section, of a modified embodiment of a roller in accordance with the present invention having a spirally shaped hose;

FIGURE 8 is a cross-sectional view through the roller of FIGURE 7, taken along line VIIIVIII;

FIGURE 9 is a somewhat schematic side elevational view, similar to FIGURE 6, of a still further modified embodiment of a press installation in accordance with the present invention having a freely floating elastic roller, i.e., a shaftless roller without a support-shaft;

FIGURE 10 is an elevational view, partly in cross section, of a shaftless roller in accordance with the present invention provided with concentrically arranged hoses;

FIGURE 11 is a front elevational view, partly in cross section, similar to FIGURE 10, of a modified embodiment of a shaftless roller in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 12 is an elevational view of a still further modified embodiment of a hoseshaped roller in accordance with the present invention, one-half of the roller being shown in cross section; and

FIGURE 13 is a cross-sectional view of the roller of FIGURE 12, taken along line XIIIXIII.

Detailed description Referring now to the drawing wherein like reference numerals are used throughout the various views to designate like parts, the press installation according to the present invention essentially consists of two conventional guide columns 1 suitably anchored in or secured on both Q I so,

sides to a base plate (not shown) or the like, whose upper ends each carry a bearing support or bracket 2. A shaft 3 is supported in the bearing brackets 2 on which is mounted and secured a roller 4. The roller 4 is hollow and consists of a thermally good, conductive rigid casing generally designated by reference numeral 4 which is carried by two end disks 4". The shaft 3 is further connected with a driving gear 5 which meshes with a pinion 6 suitably connected with a conventional drive motor (not shown).

The roller 4 rolls off on a further roller 7 which is arranged on a shaft 8. The shaft 8 is supported in two bearing brackets 9 which are displaceably mounted on the guide columns 1 and in which are secured tie rods 19. The tie rods 10 extend through the bearing brackets T; and are supported against the bearing brackets 2 by means of springs 11, for example, cup springs, so that the

rollers

4 and 7 are held pressed against one another with relatively large force.

The roller 7 may consist according to FIGURE 2 of several tire-like bodies 7 coaxially aranged adjacent one another on the shaft 8; a gas under pressure, for example, compressed air, is contained within the interior spaces 7 of the bodies 7'. As a result of the abutment pressure of the rollers 4 and '7, the bodies 7' are so deformed within the area of roller contact that they form a continuous fiat or plane surface. In order to avoid a lateral escape, end disks 12 may be provided at both sides. The individual inner spaces 7 are appropriately connected with each other so that a pressure equalization can take place among the various bodies 7'.

A modified construction of the roller generally designated by reference numeral 7 is illustrated in FIGURE 3. In this embodiment, a single continuous roller-shaped hollow body 7 made of elastic material is provided whose interior space 7" contains the pressure gas and which is reinforced on both sides by the ends disks 12.

A conveyor band 13 (FIG. 1) may be provided for the feeding of the material to be treated and a conveyor band 14 may be provided for the removal of this material after completing the pressing-out operation, as indicated in FIG- URE 1 in dash and dot lines. The drives of the

rollers

4 and 7 and of the conveyor band 13 are thereby appropriately so matched to one another that the latter runs somewhat slower than the rate of travel between the

rollers

4 and 7. In this manner, an additional distribution of the fed material takes place.

For purposes of further improving the uniform pressing action, the rollers 7 may be surrounded with a further jacket or envelope 15 of elastic material, as schematically indicated in dash and dot lines in FIGURE 2. For the same reason, it is appropriate with different embodiments to construct the rollers 4 and/or 7 so as to be heatable. The heating can take place in any conventional manner, for example, electrically or by heated steam, heated water, or heated air. In FIGURE 2, continuous axial bores 16 are indicated in the shaft 3 for the supply and discharge of the heating medium which carry connecting pieces 17 for the supply and discharge lines, respectively.

Depending on the intended application, one or several rollers 4 and/ or 7 may be used in the installation according to the present invention. For example, FIGURE 4 illustrates an arrangement with one heated roller 4 and two elastic rollers 7 disposed laterally above the heated roller 4 whereas in the embodiment according to FIGURE 5, the two elastic rollers 7 are provided laterally below the heated roller 4. For purposes of improving the guidance of the material passing through the press installation, a continuous conveyor band 18 may also be provided which, together with the material, travels between the

rollers

4 and 7. Of course, other combinations with additional rollers 4- and '7 are also possible within the scope of the present invention in order to obtain, for example, as long as possible and as intensive as possible a contact with the heated roller 4. With several heated rollers 4, these rollers may possibly be heated to different temperatures whereas the rollers 7 may be subjected to differently high pressures and may eventually be used with or without additional elastic jackets 15. Furthermore, the exclusive use of elastic rollers 7 is also possible within the concept of the present invention it a particularly high elasticity is desired. The entire installation is appropriately accommodated within a housing 19 of conventional construction.

A different construction of the elastic roller 7 is illustrated in FIGURES 7 and 8. The modified roller 7 of FIGURES 7 and 8 comprises a casing 20 which essentially consists of a hose spirally wound about the roller 7 in the longitudinal direction thereof. This hose 21 is disposed in several layers radially one above the other so that approximately the thickness of the casing 20 is formed and is embedded in elastic material 22, for example, is vulcanized into a rubber-like mass. The elastic material has externally the shape of the roller 7. The two ends of the hose 21 may be sealed off in the usual manner whereby a connecting device is provided at one end for the supply of the pressure medium. In the embodiment of FIGURES 7 and 8, the two ends are coordinated to a common connection 21 which is in communication by way of bores 23 within the shaft 8 with a pressure medium source or is adapted to be brought into communication with the same. It may be readily seen from these two figures that a high degree of yieldings is achieved by the pressure prevailing on the inside of the hose 21 in conjunction with the elastic material 22 of the casing 20.

In the embodiment of FIGURE 9', the roller 7 consists exclusively of the casing 20 with the hose embedded in the elastic material 22 and rests only on hearing rollers 24 without axial guidance, i.e., is freely floating, whereby the roller 7 remains in its proper position and in driving connection with the roller 4 by rolling off on the bearing rollers 24. It may be readily seen from FIGURE 9 that with this embodiment, the entire diameter of the roller 7 is available as spring and therewith an increased elasticity is present whereby a central, continuous bore 25 may be additionally provided within the core of the roller. An elastic body 26 in a manner of a rubber spring may be provided in this bore 25 as indicated in FIGURE 11. This body 26 may again be equipped with continuous or nearly continuous bores 27 or may also be equipped with differently shaped hollow spaces. It is further possible to construct the roller 7 without axial guidance and having a rigid core piece.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGURE 10, a number of ring-shaped hoses 28 are provided as hollow spaces for aocommodatnig or receiving the pressure medium which are embedded adjacent one another and in several layers radially above one another in the elastic material 22. The individual hoses 28 may be so connected with each other that they form a common pressure system which is provided with a connecting device for a pressure medium source. Of course, hoses 28 of certain areas may also be combined into separate pressure systems which are set under pressure independently from one another whereby eventually differently high pressures may be provided.

In the embodiment of FIGURE 11, the hoses 28' have a very large interior dimension so that only a relatively small number are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the roller 7 adjacent one another within the elastic material 22. Also, these hoses 28 are preferably connected with each other for the pressure equalization.

It is further within the scope of the present invention to provide hoses or the like in the casing 20 whose longitudinal axes are disposed approximately parallel to the axis of the roller 7. For example, a single hose could also be used with such an arrangement which is embedded approximately in a meander-like manner within the elastic material 22.

The roller according to FIGURES 12 and 13 forms an elastic hose-shaped hollow body in which the wall 29 consists of the elastic material. This wall 29 forms essentially a cylindrical or approximately cylindrically shaped external surface 30 and end surfaces 31 decreasing to a smaller diameter at both ends in a conical manneriConnecting pieces 32 are provided at both ends which are connected with the wall 29 in a pressure-tight manner. In this manner, a single pressure chamber is formed within the interior space 33 of the roller 7 into which is admitted the pressure medium. For that purpose, a continuous bore 34 is provided in one of the connecting pieces 32 with which is connected a pressure medium source by way of a corresponding connecting device. Also, the roller of FIGURES 12 and 13 is appropriately installed without axial guidance in the manner already described above.

As pressure medium, there may be used, generally speaking, a gas and/or a liquid which additionally may be heated for increasing the pressing effect.

While I have shown and described several embodiments in accordance with the present invention, it is understood that the same is not limited thereto but is susceptible of numerous changes and modifications as known to a person skilled in the art; and I, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the details shown and described herein, but intend to cover all such changes and modifications as are encompassed by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An installation for pressing out elastic materials containing liquid, especially wet textile materials, comprising: at least two substantially parallel rollers having axes; at least one of said rollers having a highly elastic tubular casing forming the external walls along the entire contact surface, and means forming a hollow gas pressure chamber within said casing; said casing consisting essentially of a highly resilient material readily deformable inwardly toward the axes a substantial distance through out the entire axial extent of said contact surface; the opposite axial ends of said one roller consisting essentially of said casing freely extending radially unsupported by additional means for at least one half the radius of said one roller; said opposite axial ends each extending conically radially inwardly and axially outwardly to constitute means for resiliently axially and radially supporting said casing in the vicinity of its contact surface; means providing the sole radial support for said one roller consisting essentially of a plurality of back-up rollers supportingly engaging said one roller in a freely floating fashion without axial guidance on the opposite side of said one roller from the other of said parallel rollers.

2. The device according to claim 1, said one roller includes means closing the opposed axial ends of said casing forming a completely hollow interior consisting essentially solely of gases radially inward of said contact surface.

3. The device according to claim 2, including means for heating the other of said parallel rollers.

4. The device of claim 3, wherein said parallel rollers are vertically arranged with said one roller being the bottom roller; said back-up rollers engaging beneath said one roller and consisting of three rollers.

5. The device of claim 4, including means for supplying heated gas under pressure to the interior of said one roller.

6. The device of claim 1, including conveyor means for feeding the material to be treated to said installation; driving means for driving said parallel rollers and said conveyor means so that the rate of travel between the rollers is greater than the rate of travel of said conveyor means.

7. The device of claim 1, including means for heating the other of said parallel rollers.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein said parallel rollers are vertically arranged with said one roller being the bottom roller; said back-up rollers engaging beneath said one roller and consisting of three rollers.

9. The device of claim 1, including means for supplying heated gas under pressure to the interior of said one roller.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS TWohy 29113 Leist 38-52 Shattuck 29--113 X Morin 68-268 X Christensen 68-244 Czefra 68-267 X 10 Cohen 241-102 Johnson 29113 X A1lison 29113 X Nelson 10093 Jonghe 100-96 FOREIGN PATENTS Australia.

LOUIS O. MAASSEL, Primary Examiner.