US3708262A - Method and apparatus for scouring raw loose wool - Google Patents

Abstract

A METHOD FOR WASHING AND SCOURING LOOSE WOOL WHICH HAS BEEN SUBJECTED TO A PRELIMINARY WASHIG CARRIED OUT IN A FLOATING DOWN TYPE WASHING BATH TO SEPARATE AT LEAST A PART OF OIL AND DIRT FROM THE LOOSE, WOOL, WHICH METHOD COMPRISES CONVEYING LOOSE WOOL IN A LAYER PLACED BETWEEN TWO NET CONVEYORS MOUNTED IN PARALLEL AND MOVABLE ALONG A GIVEN PATH THROUGH A LIQUOR SCOURING BATH, SAID PATH BEING PREFERABLY AT A LEVEL OF ABOUT 40-60 MM. BENEATH THE LIQUID SURFACE, SUPPLYING SAID BATH WITH SCOURING LIQUID UNDER SUBSTANTIALLY NO PRESSURE FROM A SCOURING LIQUID FEEDING DEVICE WHICH IS POSITIONED ABOVE SAID PATH AND DRAWING THE SCOURING LIQUID BY AN UPTAKE SUCTION MEANS POSITIONED BELOW THE SAID PATH, WHEREBY

STEADY AND GENTLE DIFFUSION FLOW PASSES DOWNWARDLY ENTIRELY THROUGH THE FIBER LAYER. AN APPARATUS SUITABLE FOR PERFORMING THE ABOVE MENTIONED METHOD HAS BEEN ALSO PROPOSED.

Description

Jan. 2, 1973 I MASAQ WATANABE ETAL 3,708,262

' METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SCOURING RAW LOOSE WOOL Filed 001;. 15, 1970 V 4 4 Sheets-Sheet 'Fla/ INVENTQRS M45344 W 74 45! Jan. 2, 1973 MASAO WATANABE ETAL 3,708,262

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR scounme RAW LOOSE WOOL 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 15, 1970 INVENTORS MAJ/M MIDI/V455 a My mw mm A ORNEYS 1973 MASAO WATANABE ET AL 3,708,262

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SCOURING RAW LOOSE WOOL FiledOct. 15, 1970 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 4

INVENTORS Jan. 2, 1973 MASAO WATANABE ET L' 3,708,262

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SCOURING RAW LOOSE WOOL 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. 15, 1970 & x V 3 O o 0 oo 0 0 o 000 Q Dw 0 4 Q a n WU MU ooed. v Q w M- Q D W5 w? J Wd% 0% My K United States Patent Ofice 3,708,262 Patented Jan. 2, 1973 3,708,262 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SCOURING RAW LOOSE WOOL Masao Watanabe, Nishinomiya, and Hidekazu Mizoguchi and Makio Hoshikawa, Kyoto, Japan, assignors to Kanegafuchi Boseki Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, Japan Filed Oct. 15, 1970, Ser. No. 81,043 Claims prion'ty, application Japan, Oct. 20, 1969, 44/ 83,693 Int. Cl. D01c 3/00 US. Cl. 8-139 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method for washing and scouring loose wool which has been subjected to a preliminary washing carried out in a floating down type washing bath to separate at least a part of soil and dirt from the loose wool, which method comprises conveying loose wool in a layer placed between two net conveyors mounted in parallel and movable along a given path through a liquor scouring bath, said path being preferably at a level of about 40-60 mm. beneath the liquid surface, supplying said bath with scouring liquid under substantially no pressure from a scouring liquid feeding device which is positioned above said path and drawing the scouring liquid by an uptake suction means positioned below the said path, whereby steady and gentle diffusion flow passes downwardly entirely through the fiber layer. An apparatus suitable for performing the above mentioned method has been also proposed.

The present invention relates to an improvement in a method for washing and scouring loose raw wool and to an apparatus used therefor, more particularly, to a method and an apparatus for scouring loose wool, wherein the scouring liquid passes evenly through the fiber mass, whereby a homogeneous scouring effect is attained and felting of loose fibers can be prevented.

Heretofore, it has been known to wash and scour loose wool by conveying it in a layer placed on a net conveyor or between two net conveyors, along a given path through a liquor bath and projecting onto the wool, while it travels along the path, jets of liquid such as water or washing liquor, extending transversely of the path of travel of the wool, from above to below. However, it has been very difiicult, in general, for the loose fiber to be formed into a lap having an even thickness, so that there is formed an uneven thick and thin lap on the net conveyor or between the two net conveyors. This fact has often led to the drawback that the scouring liquid passes unevenly through the lap, whereby uniform scouring is hindered or the scouring effect is lowered. In order to eliminate such drawback and to improve the scouring effect, there has been proposed a method of applying a suction, from below, to the lap i.e., fiber layer, when jets of liquid are projected thereonto from above.

However, a method as described above comprising projecting or spraying a scouring liquid onto the wool and concurrently drawing the liquid by suction from the opposite side results in the scouring effect being limited to narrow spots, even if it has an increased effect due to jet pressure, and further causes relative movement of the fiber between the nets, unless the fiber is compressed or nipped by a pair of press rolls. Thus such a conventional method has a drawback that the repeated movement gives rise to a felting phenomenon of the fiber mass, thereby degrading the quality of the fiber. Moreover, when the flow rate of the jet stream is too high, soil and dirt which have been precipitated at the bottom of scouring bowl rise and float in the liquid under circulation and not only contaminate the scouring liquid, but also inhibit the washing effect of raw wool.

In view of the above, the present invention provides an excellent method for scouring raw Wool and an apparatus suitable for conducting said method, which can be advantageously carried out on an industrial scale and which does not cause degradation in the quality of the fiber.

Thus, the principal object of this invention is to provide an effective method for scouring raw loose wool by conveying it in a layer placed between two conveyor nets, wherein the scouring liquid passes evenly through the layer and homogeneous scouring is effected.

Another object of this invention is to avoid relative movement of fibers placed between the two conveyor nets thereby preventing degradation in fiber quality due to felting phenomenon of the fiber.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method for performing homogeneous scouring by forming a fiber layer of a relatively low apparent specific gravity, not too compressed, and thus permitting the scouring liquid to pass smoothly through the layer.

A still further object of the invention is to enhance the above-described effective scouring, by separating from loose wool foreign matter e.g., soil and dirt, contained therein, immediately after loosening the raw Wool and thereafter feeding the fiber in a homogeneous layer to a scouring bowl.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a scouring apparatus suitable for accomplishing said method.

In order to attain the above objects, one of the essential features of the present invention resides in a method for washing and scouring loose wool, which comprises conveying raw loose wool from which at least a part of the soil and dirt has been separated beforehand by washing, in a layer placed between two net conveyors mounted in parallel and movable along a given path through a liquor scouring bath, supplying said bath with scouring liquid under substantially no pressure from a scouring liquid feeding device which is positioned above said path and drawing the scouring liquid by an uptake suction means positioned below the said path, whereby diifusion flow of the scouring liquid occurs as it passes entirely through the fiber laver from above to below.

Another feature of the invention relates to an apparatus for performing the said washing and scouring, characterized by comprising a scouring bowl containing a scouring liquid, a pair of endless net conveyors mounted one above the other for conveying a continuous lap of raw loose wool placed therebetween along a path through the scouring liquid, said path being preferably at a level of 40-60 mm. beneaths the liquid surface, a scouring liquid supply means of the overflow type positioned above said path and an uptake suction means arranged below said path in the liquid.

A further feature of the present invention is a method for washing and scouring raw loose wool which further comprises, in addition to the above mentioned steps, a preliminary washing carried out prior to the above mentioned steps, comprising letting raw loose wool fall into a washing bath, floating the wool down towards the rear of the bath by the action of liquid flow, separating from the wool foreign matters such as soil and dirt contained therein through a perforated plate at the bottom of the liquid bath while the wool is travelling along the surface of said plate, and forming the loose wool into a layer having a uniform thickness which is thereafter subjected to the subsequent method.

All other objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the description of. the specification hereinafter.

The present invention will be illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevational view of a preferred embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention which is used for the preliminary washing of loose wool prior to scouring;

FIG. 2 is a plan view corresponding to FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic side elevational view of an em bodiment of the apparatus of the invention which is suitably used for the scouring method;

FIG. 4 is a plan view corresponding to FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view on an enlarged scale showing the washing bath in FIG. 1.

In FIG. 1, the raw wool to be washed W is scatteringly supplied and falls down through a hopper feeder H into a washing bath 1, where foreign matter contained in the wool is separated. When the loose wool is fed into the hopper, a circulated washing liquid is jet-sprayed through the circulation pipes 3 while decreasing the water jet pressure by shelter plate 2, whereby the raw wool W is forcibly fed into the washing bath 1 from the bottom of the hopper. Since the row wool W and the washing liquid are successively fed into the bath 1, the raw wool W flows slowly into the bath 1 and travels towards the rear of the bath, during which time the washing liquid is sprayed through a spray pipe 4 which are arranged above the bath 1 thereby diffusing and floating smoothly the raw wool W and at the same time, separating from the wool soil and dirt contained therein. The loose fiber floating in the washing liquid which has reached the rear end of the washing bath 1 is floated over a baflie plate 5 and is moved onto an adjacent net conveyor 6 and is depositing thereon.

In this case it has been ascertained by the inventors through experiments that the most suitable ratio of the flow rate of the washing liquid to velocity of the net conveyor 6 is in a range of 2.5-3.5:1.

The loose Wool to be scoured thus deposited and piled on the net conveyor 6 forms a layer of a uniform thickness saturated with washing liquid.

As the conveyor 6 moves, the layer of wool is squeezed slightly by an intermediate press roll 7 into a uniform lap. A spray pipe 8 is provided for preventing the fiber from winding around the intermediate roll 7.

The raw wool conveyed by the net conveyor 6 is subsequently transferred by a sponge roll 9 onto a feed net conveyor 10, and then is fed into the nip of squeeze roll 11 where it is squeezed under pressure. Thus the loose wool in a homogeneous layer W is subsequently transferred to the scouring bowl 18 without any unevenness by means of a delivery conveyor 12.

The method of separating at least a part of the impurities from the raw wool in the washing bath 1 as above will be further explained hereinafter in more detail.

In order to facilitate the charging of the raw wool through the hopper H into the washing bath 1 along with the circulated washing liquid and in view of the long path of fall, it is preferred to form the hopper wall inclined steeply so that the raw wool can slide down smoothly along the slope of wall. The charged wool is then pushed by the pressure of liquid sprayed from the pipes 3 and shifted to a gently inclined plane with liquid flow, while foreign matter such as soil and dirt contained in the raw wool falls to the bottom of the washing bath. The deposited amount is usually largest at the inlet portion and gradually decreases as the baflle plate 5 is approached where it is smallest. For instance, there could happen a case in which the height of the deposit is 60 mm. at the inlet portion and 20 mm. adjacent to the bafile plate after an eight hour run. In view of the above fact, the inventors have succeeded in improving the washing effect by adopting a double bottom system for the Washing bath wherein as the upper bottom, a perforated plate 13 is employed to permit only foreign matter to pass through the perforations thereof and the foreign matter deposited on the lower bottom is discharged intermittently by means of mud discharge valve 14.

On the other hand, when the capacity of the washing bath is comparatively small, it is impossible to make the foreign matter deposit completely because of the high circulation rate of the washing liquid. Accordingly, a further improvement of the washing effect is attainable by substituting a precipitation bath of a big capacity for the washing bath and installing subsidiary tank 16, as shown in FIG. 2, provided with filters 17 and connected with the precipitation bath by conduits and with the spray pipe 3 :by pipes 15 attached with a circulation pump.

As described before, the raw loose wool conveyed by the conveyor net 6 is delivered by the sponge roll 9 and the feed net conveyor 10 to the squeeze roll 11. After squeezing, it is fed into the scouring bowl by the delivery conveyor 12 and thereafter subjected to scouring. Needless to say, the construction and design may also be altered in such a manner that washing can be repeated on a successively installed conveyor net similar to the conveyor net 6, without used the sponge roll 9, feed net 10, etc.

When soapy water is employed, the washing effect is more enhanced and grease, soil and dirt can be removed.

Thus, the raw wool is washed sufliciently by a washing liquid and transferred to the following scouring step. The method for separating from raw wool at least a part of inpurities contained therein by Washing as described above is most effective and preferred as a preliminary washmg.

In the present invention, however, a washing and scouring method of a conventional fork type may also be employed, as a preliminary washing. In that case, the washing bath which is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is replaced with a fork type washing bowl.

The method for scouring raw wool which is the essential part of the invention will be illustrated concretely hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, in a scouring bowl 18, a pair of net conveyors 19 and 22 are mounted one above the other, and these conveyors carry a layer of wool W washed previously in the preceding process and placed between the net conveyors, along a path through scouring liquid in the bowl 18 and delivers the layer to squeeze rolls 31, 31 mounted at the back or discharge end of the bowl 18. The path of the layer through scouring liquid is preferably at a level of approximately 40-60 mm. beneath the liquid surface. Tension rolls 30 are arranged transversely to the net conveyors under the wool holding part of the conveyor. An overflow type diffusion channel 25 for supplying the scouring liquid is positioned above the path, in the liquid, of the wool layer. Uptake suction means 28 for drawing scouring liquid are arranged under the above mentioned path of the wool layer in the liquid. Said overflow type diffusion channel 25 is provided with the feeding pipe 26 encased therein having a slit 27 at its bottom. The scouring liquid fed out through the slit 27 into the diffusion channel 25 is flowed over the side wall thereof and falls down into the scouring bowl 18.

It is preferred that the position of the channel 25 is the same or slightly above the liquid level, and a plurality of the channels are arranged spaced apart an appropriate distance. Three diffusion channels 25 are mounted in the apparatus shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, but the number is non-limitative and may be determined appropriately depending on the length of the net conveyors 19, 22 and period of the treatment time. The uptake suction means 28 under the path of the wool layer through the liquid has the suction slit 29 at its bottom, so that the scouring liquid is sucked upwardly from below. This uptake suction means 28 is preferably positioned below and midway between adjacent diffusion channels, not right below the diffusion channel 25, whereby the liquid is permitted to permeate homogeneously through the wool layer over a Wide range.

The number of the suction means 28 may be determined to conform to the number of the diffusion channels 25. The feeding pipe 26 and the suction means 28 are connected with each other so that the scouring liquid may be circulated. An example of the connected circulation route is illustrated in FIG. 4, wherein the subsidiary tank 32 is equipped at one side of the scouring bowl 18 and the scouring liquid circulating through the bowl 18 and tank 32 is drawn by the suction means 28 and fed into the subsidiary tank 32 through a pipe 34. The liquid in the subsidiary tank 32 is then fed into the diffusion channel 25 through the slit 27 of the feeding pipe 26. During the operation, grease and soil separated from the raw wool layer W are gradually precipitated and deposit on the bottom of the subsidiary tank 32 as well as that of the souring bowl 18, and then are discharged outside by suitable means. In order to prevent a decrease of scouring ability due to an increase of grease contained in the scouring liquid and to maintain a sufficient scouring ability, fresh scouring liquid is successively supplied into the circulation route.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the feeding means 26 is a manifold comprising a main pipe 33 and branched pipes 33a, 33b, 33c; the last suction pipe 34a at the farthermost end of travelling layer is independently connected to the subsidiary tank 32 and the other suction pipes are connected by a feedback pipe 34 to the subsidiary tank 32. The circulation system to be employed in the present invention is not limited to such a system as described above, but any other circulation system can be adopted at ones discretion,

In FIGS. 3 and 4, driving rolls 20, 23 drive the upper net conveyor 19 and the lowest net conveyor 22 respectively, and guide rolls 21, 24 are provided for the upper and lower net conveyor respectively. Thus the scouring of the homogeneous raw wool layer W which has been roughly washed and then placed in the scouring bowl 18 is carried out by diffusion and fiuidization of the liquid which is caused when the scouring liquid is flow over the diffusion channel 25 having the feeding means 26 near the water level in the bowl 18 and then the liquid is drawn by the uptake suction means 28 from below. The overflow stream is poured with substantially no pressure into the bath, which is different from jet flow, so that the fiuidization is mainly caused only by suction force of the lower uptake suction means 28. Further, since the suction means 28 is provided at its bottom with the slit 29, it is possible to cause a homogeneous flowing of liquid over a wide range of the bath without any localized flowing as occurs in the conventional arrangement in 'which a suction nozzle faces a jet nozzle.

It will be noted that by arranging alternately the suc tion means 28 and the feeding means 26, scouring liquid flows in a slightly oblique stream which passes homogeneously and smoothly through wool layer.

As described above, in the present invention, since scouring is carried out by means of a steady vertical flow of the scouring liquid, there is caused substantially no relative movement of raw wool fiber being conveyed, which prevents felting of the fiber mass. The thickness and apparent specific gravity of the raw wool placed between conveyor nets are preferably such that the scouring liquid is permitted to pass smoothly through the layer and accordingly, it is not necessary to compress strongly the wool layer by and between conveyor nets, wherefor it is possible to make the fiber under relatively free condition with a proper thickness.

The flowing stream which permeates through the raw wool W and is drawn into the suction means 28 is so gentle and steady that there is no possibility for the impurities of the raw wool precipitated and deposited on the bottom of the bowl to rise and float in the circulating stream liquid, so that according to the present invention, an effective scouring can be accomplished.

What is claimed is:

1. A method of scouring washed raw wool, utilizing upper and lower, opposed, net conveyor belts movable in parallel paths through a liquid scouring bath, said paths each including a substantially horizontally extending portion submerged in said bath, and suction means disposed in said bath below said horizontally extending portion of said lower belt, the method comprising the steps of:

placing loose raw wool between said belts to form a substantially uniform thickness, loose wool layer confined between said belts and then moving said belts through said bath so that said layer is moved through and is submerged in said bath;

continuously feeding fresh scouring liquid to the upper portion of said scouring liquid bath above said belts, the fresh scouring liquid being under atmospheric pressure and being distributed substantially uniformly above the substantially horizontally extending portions of said belts;

continuously drawing spent scouring liquid upwardly into said suction means from the bottom of said bath in a region below the substantially horizontally extending portions of said belts, and discharging said spent scouring liquid from the bath, thereby to effect a substantially uniform, steady and gentle downward flow of the scouring liquid through the wool layer and the belts over substantially the entire length of the substantially horizontally extending portions of said belts.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the raw loose wool has been formed, in advance, into a layer having a substantially uniform thickness.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the layer placed between two net conveyors has a low apparent specific gravity.

4. A method according to claim 1, in which said substantially horizontally extending portion of said layer is below the upper surface of said scouring liquid bath a distance in the range of from about 40 mm. to about 60 mm.

5. A method according to claim 1, in which the fresh scouring liquid is fed into said scouring liquid bath by feeding the fresh scouring liquid into open-topped receptacle means and overflowing the fresh scouring liquid from said receptacle means onto the upper surface of said bath.

6. A method according to claim 1, in which said spent scouring liquid is removed from said scouring liquid bath from a series of zones spaced apart along substantially the entire length of said horizontally extending portions of said belts.

7. A method according to claim 1, including the preliminary process of washing raw wool prior to placing same between said belts, comprising the steps of feeding References Cited loose raw wool downwardly into a washing bath, retain- UNITED STATES PATENTS ing the wool on a perforate member at the bottom of the 2 183 142 12/1939 M k 8 139 washing bath and passing the washing liquid through the 2724955 11/1955 1 2253 I X perforate member, and then formlng the loose wool into 5 3205207 8/1965 Poncelet a layer of uniform thickness.

8. A method according to claim 7, in which streams of washing liquid are directed downwardly into the wash- MAYER WEINBLATT Primary Exammer ing bath thereby to force the wool toward the bottom 7 s CL 0f the bath. 10 139 1; 44

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