US3546901A

US3546901A - Apparatus for the continuous treatment of thick,voluminous textile materials

Info

Publication number: US3546901A
Application number: US681616A
Authority: US
Inventors: Heinz Fleissner
Original assignee: Vepa AG
Current assignee: Vepa AG
Priority date: 1966-11-09
Filing date: 1967-11-09
Publication date: 1970-12-15
Anticipated expiration: 1987-12-15

Description

1970 H. FLEISSNER ,546,901

APPARATUS FOR THE CONTINUOUS TREATMENT OF THICK, VOLUMINOUS TEXTILE MATERIALS Filed Nov. 9, 1967 Inventor:

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United States Patent f 3,546,901 APPARATUS FOR THE CONTINUOUS TREATMENT OF THICK, VOLUMINOUS TEXTILE MATERIALS Heinz Fleissner, Egelsbach, near Frankfurt am Main, Germany, assignor to Vepa AG, Basel, Switzerland Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 662,084, Aug. 21, 1967. This application Nov. 9, 1967, Ser. No. 681,616 Claims priority, application Germany, Nov. 6, 1966,

Int. Cl. D06f 31/00, 39/04 US. Cl. 685 27 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for the selective treatment of thick, voluminous textile materials such as needled felts or tufteds, and the like, made, for example, of wool, polyamides and polyacrylonitrile fibers. More particularly, the present disclosure is directed to an apparatus for dyeing or printing large widths of needled felts or tufteds which comprises a means for selectively impregnating needled felts of tufteds with dyestoutfs and auxiliary agents, a steaming chamber for dyestutf fixation including a heating-up zone containing at least one sieve drum subjected to a suction draft, a washing means, a final dryer containing at least one sieve drum subjected to a suction draft and a drive and control means which provides for joint speed variation of all of the units and speed variation between the individual units.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 662,084, filed Aug. 21, 1967.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for the continuous treatment, especially dyeing and/ or printing of thick voluminous textile materials of large widths, preferably tufted carpets, plushes and needled felts. These textiles can be made from natural and synthetic fibers such as wool, polyamides and polyacrylonitrile fibers. According to the present invention the needled felts, tufteds, and the like are selectively impregnated with dyestuffs and auxiliary agents and then passed continuously through several individual units, that is through a steamer, a washing device and a dryer.

In application Ser. No. 662,084, a process and apparatus for the continuous dyeing or printing of thick voluminous textile materials such as tufted carpets and needled felt carpets is described. Comprehensive tests using tufted carpets and needled felt carpets have shown that in order to obtain the desired dyeing or printing results with these carpets the impregnating and/or printing device is of particular importance. Advantageously, the liquor absorption should be as small as possible in order to ensure maximum economy. When treating needled felt carpets, a good squeezing effect can be obtained in the dyeing padder if the rollers are relatively hard. The squeeze rollers for needled felt should have a Shore hardness of about 7580 to achieve a favorable squeez ing effect. However, if hard rollers are used when treating tufted carpets there is the danger that the pile will be compressed and subsequently fixed in the steamer. With tufted carpets much better results are obtained if the padder is provided with relatively large, soft rollers with a Shore hardness of about 20 and or if the sqceeze rollers are provided with a soft, rubber coating. Thus it can be seen that the requirements for treating, that is for dyeing and/or printing tufted carpets and needled felt carpets are inconsistent with each other. In the past, if a padder with relatively hard rollers is used, when 3,546,901 Patented Dec. 15, 1970 treating tufted carpets care has to be taken not to compress the pile of the carpets by squeezing too much. This creates the results that the carpets are fed to the steamer with a high moisture content thus incorporating into the process the substantial disadvantages of higher chemical costs and higher steam consumption in the steamer. On the other hand, if a padder with soft rollers is used, the liquor quantity absorbed when treating needled felt carpets is also quite high and thus the disadvantages of costs of chemicals and steam consumption are again present.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to avoid the prior art disadvantages in the treatment of materials, for example the dyeing or printing of thick, voluminous textile materials, such as tufteds and needled felt materials.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus for continuously dyeing and/or printing tufted carpets or materials with a relatively long and soft pile as well as needled felt carpets with a maximum economy, that is with a minimum consumption of chemicals and energy.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus for the continuous treatment of thick, voluminous textile materials wherein means are provided for selectively impregnating the textile materials depending upon the particular material to be treated.

Other objects and further scope of applicability of the present inventon will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter; it should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

In accordance with the present invention it has been found that compromise of an impregnating or printing device suitable for tufteds and needled felt materials results in a product of inferior quality of both material types as well as a loss of economy. Therefore, such a compromise for impregnating both tufted and needled felt materials should be avoided. According to the present invention it is suggested to provide at the beginning of the treatment apparatus, that is in front of the steamer, one impregnating or printing device for tufteds and one impregnating or printing device for needled felts. Conveying elements are associated with both of the impregnating devices to render it possible to by-pass either one of the impregnating devices by passing the material being treated either above or below one of said devices before said material is introduced into the steamer. In this way it is possible to use either a padder or a printing device designed for the treatment of tufteds or a padder or printing device designed for the treatment of needled felts. Thus, depending on which material is being treated, one or the other impregnating or printing device is used. For both material types, the same steamer, wash bowls and dryer areu sed. According to the present invention it is possible to improve the quality of tufteds as well as needled felt materials.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, it is also possible to provide only one impregnating or printing device which is provided with two squeeze heads, one of which is suitable for treating tufteds and the other one being suitable for treating needled felts. Depending on the particular material being treated, one or the other squeeze head is used. The material being treated may be either passed through the two squeeze heads, in which case the pressure is applied 3 to only one of these squeeze heads, or one of the squeeze heads may be by-passed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawing which are given by way of illustration only and thus are not limitative of the present invention and wherein:

The drawing shows a longitudinal section of the apparatus of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawing wherein like reference numerals are used throughout the drawing to designate like parts, the apparatus of the present invention comprises a padder 1 provided for impregnating needled felt materials. This padder has relatively small, hard squeeze rollers 2 with a Shore hardness of about 75-80 and a roller diameter of about 20-25 cm. Another padder 3 which is provided with relatively large, soft squeeze rollers 4 is associated with padder 1 for the treatment of tufted carpets and plush materials. Both padders are provided with rolls 5 which render it possible to pass the material length to be treated over the padder not being used and therefore not through the padder. A steamer 6 is provided with a sieve drum 7 subjected to a suction draft and with driven rollers 8 over which the material is passed in loops. That portion of the steamer containing the sieve drum 7 is known as the heating-up zone whereas that portion containing the rollers 8 is known as the dwell zone. At the inlet of the steamer a heated roller 9 with an exhaust box 10 is provided and at the discharge end of the steamer a water lock 11 is located. The exhaust box extends over the working width of the material and is provided with heat suction lips 19 which define suction slits for removing the air contained in the material. At least one steam nozzle means 20 is provided between the heated lips for blowing a steam barrier against the material. These elements ensure an air-free atmosphere in the steamer. Behind the steamer suction drum bowls 12 with appertaining squeezer 13 are arranged. A following sieve drum dryer 14 is only used for drying need-led felt materials. When handling tufted carpets the dryer is bypassed by means of a roller conveyor 15. For bonding the needled felts and/or for the application of the bonding agents solution another padder 16 is used. Drying and curing is effected in a sieve drum dryer 17 with a giant drum 18. The sense of rotation of the giant drum 18 can be changed. Thus it is possible to dry needled felt carpets with their upper side resting on the sieve drum and to achieve a reduction of the bonding agent concentration at the upper side, and to dry tufted carpets with their underside resting on the sieve drum so that the pile is not compressed in the hot atmosphere. The same applies to printing, Also with printing a suitable squeezing of the material is of decisive importance.

A tenter zone comprising a roller conveyor 22 between the tenter chains 21 is provided for conveying the material to the second dryer means at the level of the drum shaft. Conveying elements 23 are arranged in the second dryer means near the housing above and behind the sieve drum means, said elements providing a curing passage for the material being treated. Conveying elements 24 are also arranged in the second drum dryer means near the bottom of the housing underneath the sieve drum. At the point where the material is discharged from the sieve drum, two axially adjustable needle disks 25 are provided for the bilateral holding and deflection of the textile material being treated. Finally, 'bafile means 26 are provided inside the sieve drum of the second dryer means between the point. where the needled felt is discharged 4 from the sieve drum and the point where tufted carpet is discharged from the sieve drum.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.

It is claimed:

1. An apparatus for continuously dyeing or printing large widths of thick voluminous needled felts or tufteds which comprises, in combination, a means for selectively impregnating needled felts or tufteds with dyestuffs and auxiliary agents, a steaming chamber for dyestuff fixation containing a heating-up zone containing at least one sieve drum subjected to a suction draft and a dwell zone, and a washing means, a final dryer containing at least one sieve drum subjected to a suction draft.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means for selectively impregnating needled felts or tufteds comprises a first and second padder means, said first padder means provided with hard squeeze rollers for squeezing needled felts after impregnation and said second padder means provided with soft squeeze rollers for squeezing tufteds after impregnation.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein by-pass means are associated with the first and second padder means for selectively by-passing either said first or said second padder means.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means for selectively impregnating needled felts or tufteds comprises a padder means containing hard and soft squeeze rollers, said hard squeeze rollers being suitable for squeezing needled felts and said soft squeeze rollers being suitable for squeezing tufteds, said padder means also containing means for selectively by-passing either the hard squeeze rollers or the soft squeeze rollers depending upon which material is being processed.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein additional dryer means and padder means are provided after the washing means and before the final dryer means, said additional dryer means and padder means also being associated with the drive and control means.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein by-pass means are provided for by-passing the additional dryer and padder means, and said sieve drum in the final dryer means is capable of reversible rotation.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the steaming chamber is provided with a sump means for the generation of steam and the dwell zone contains drive rollers for unilaterally guiding the material in loops therethrough.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the dwell zone contains a plurality of driven rollers over which the material is passed in loops.

9. An apparatus for continuosly dyeing or printing large widths of thick voluminous needled felts or tufteds which comprises, in combination an impregnating means consisting of first and second padder means, said first padder means provided with hard squeeze rollers for squeezing needled felts after impregnation and said second padder means provided with soft squeeze rollers for squeezing tufteds after impregnation, a steaming chamber for dyestulf fixation containing a heating-up zoneand a dwell zone, said heating-up zone containing at least one sieve drum subjected to a suction draft, at least one sieve drum wash bowl means, a first dryer means containing at least one sieve drum means subjected to a suction draft, a second padder means and a second dryer containing at least one sieve drum subjected to a suction draft, said sieve drum being capable 2f reversible rotation.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the hard squeeze rollers are relatively small and have a Shore hardness of about 8'0.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the soft squeeze rollers are relatively large and have a Shore hardness of about 20.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the soft squeeze rollers are squeeze rollers provided with a rubber coating.

13. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein by-pass means are associated with the first and second padder means for selectively by-passing either said first or said second padder means.

14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein by-pass means are; provided for by-passing the first dryer means and the second padder means.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the by-pass means is a roller conveyor.

16. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein exhaust means are provided at the inlet of the heating-up zone of the steaming chamber, said exhaust means being associated with heated roller means which conveys the material into the heating-up zone.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the exhaust means extends over the working width of the material and is provided 'with heated suction lips which define suction slits for removing the air contained in the material.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein at least one steam nozzle means is provided between the heated lips for blowing a steam barrier against the material.

19. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein a heating means is associated 'with the fan of the sieve drum in the steaming chamber for superheating the saturated steam generated in the sump.

20. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein a tenter zone comprising a roller conveyor between the tenter chains is provided for conveying the material to the second dryer means at the level of the drum shaft.

21. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the dwell zone contains drive rollers for unilateral guidance of the material being treated.

22. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the dwell zone 6 contains guidance means comprising at least one sieve drum subjected to a suction draft.

23. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein squeezer means are correlated to each sieve drum wash bowl.

24. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein conveying elements are arranged in the second dryer means, near the housing above and behind the sieve drum means, said elements providing a curing passage for the material being treated.

25. The apparatus of claim 9, in which conveying elements are arranged in the second dryer means, near the bottom of the housing underneath the sieve drum wherein at the point where the material is discharged from the sieve drum two axially adjustable needle disks are provided for the bilateral holding and deflection of the textile material being treated.

26. The apparatus of claim 9, adapted to treat both needled felt and tufted carpets wherein baflle means are provided inside the sieve drum of the second dryer means between the point where needled felt is discharged from the sieve drum and the point where tufted carpet is discharged from the sieve drum.

27. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means for selectively impregnating needled felts or tufteds comprises a first and second printing means, said first printing means provided with hard squeeze rollers for squeezing needled felts after impregnation and said second printing means provided with soft squeeze rollers for squeezing tufteds after impregnation.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,199,233 4/1940 Williams 8151X 2,367,730 1/ 1945 Masland 2d 815-1X 2,417,916 3/1947 Dow '8151X 2,785,042 3/1957 Grajeck et a1. 68-5X WILLIAM I. PRICE, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 68-l 9.1