WO2003035397A1

WO2003035397A1 - Apparatus for bonding two textile materials

Info

Publication number: WO2003035397A1
Application number: PCT/IT2002/000518
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ardenzo Cianchini; Gualtiero Innocenti
Original assignee: Accoppiatura Sima S.R.L.
Priority date: 2001-08-10
Filing date: 2002-08-06
Publication date: 2003-05-01
Also published as: ITFI20010155A1

Abstract

The apparatus is designed to bond two textile materials by different procedures, by deflecting the path of a hotmelt adhesive film (P), with feeders (45) of adhesive enriching materials either on or off, and with flame melting units (17, 19) either on or off.

Description

APPARATUS FOR BONDING TWO TEXTILE MATERIALS

DESCRIPTION The subject of the invention is an apparatus for bonding fabrics that is highly versatile in how the bonding can be carried out, depending on the properties of the fabrics being bonded and on other requirements. The apparatus is based on a structure capable of carrying out the conventional bonding system and makes it possible, by appropriate simple changes and adjustments to the equipment, to carry out other types of bonding thereby achieving the abovementioned high degree of versatility.

Very briefly the apparatus in question is designed to bond two textile articles by various different procedures, by deflecting the path of a hotmelt adhesive film, with adhesive enriching material feeders being turned either on or off, and with flame melting units being turned either on or off. Also included are modifications to the position, that is the setup, of the hotmelt film feeder and/or of the feeders of the textile articles that are to be bonded.

A conventional apparatus comprises, between two mutually spaced apart feeders of the two textile articles that are to be bonded, a bonding unit comprising two deflecting rolls operating in conjunction with two respective flame burner devices and two respective backing rolls; two feeders of textile articles are arranged either side of said bonding unit, and a feeder of hotmelt film, is also provided. According to the invention, this conventional apparatus also comprises, at a higher level than said bonding unit, an enriching system with sprayers for spraying enriching material toward the hotmelt film, and first guide means for guiding said film toward the bonding unit along a direct path and second guide means for guiding said film along a path through said enriching system, said first and second guide means being switchable and both being able to convey the hotmelt film, enriched or otherwise, to a first deflecting roll of said deflecting rolls; and the burner devices are able to be turned off individually.

Said enriching system may be positioned above the bonding unit. Said sprayers of enriching material may operate with jets of hot air. In one possible arrangement of the apparatus, the burner device of said first deflecting roll reached by the hotmelt film, where the backing roll presses the hotmelt film and one of the textile materials against said deflecting roll, may be turned off; while on the other hand the burner device of the second deflecting roll remains active on the hotmelt film and said second deflecting roll and its backing roll remain active for bonding of the fabrics (or the like).

In another arrangement of the apparatus, the enriching system is turned on in order to spray one of the fabrics, and both of said burner devices are turned off; also, said bonding unit is turned on for bonding without flame heating. The positions of the two feeders of textile material may be switched about said bonding unit for bonding the fabrics (or the like).

A clearer understanding of the invention will be gained from the description and accompanying drawing, the latter showing a practical, non- restrictive example of said invention. In the drawing: fig. 1 shows diagrammatically an apparatus of basically conventional type; and figs. 2 and 3 show two alternative aspects of the apparatus, in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 1 shows at number 1 a feeder supplying hotmelt film P, which can be delivered by any one of said three reels set up in the feeder structure 1. The hotmelt film passes through a festoon 3, which allows swapovers without stopping the machine, and comes to a set 5 comprising a bonding unit 7. On either side of this bonding unit 7 are two feeders 9 and 11 supplying the two fabrics (or other textile materials) which are to be bonded in the bonding unit 7. These two feeders are both of a type known per se, one supplying a fabric T1 and the other a fabric T2 to said bonding unit 7.

The bonding unit 7 comprises two deflecting rolls 13 and 15, each with its own flame burner device 17, 19. The deflecting rolls 13 and 15 also act against two respective backing rolls 21 and 23. Beneath the unit described above is a large turn cylinder 25 which redirects the bonded fabric TA toward an edge trimming assembly bearing the general reference 27, then through a festoon 29 and finally on to the winding or accumulating reel 31 or other system by which the bonded fabric TA is to be further processed. The fabric T1 is deflected by the backing roll 21 while the film P reaches the turn roll 13 and is heated by the burner 17 before being bonded to the fabric T1 , as the deflecting roll 13 and the backing roll 21 act against each other. The resulting bonded fabric reaches the deflecting roll 15 and the film P is again heated by the flame burner device 19 on the side which was not heated by the burner device 17, so as to bond the fabric T2 arriving on the backing roll 23, so that the assembled fabric T1 and T2 and film P are compressed in the passage between the deflecting roll 15 and the backing roll 23, after which it moves on to the turn cylinder 25 and so eventually to the reel 31.

This arrangement is essentially known per se and can be operated only as described, possible with the option of modifying the functionality of the burner devices 17 and 19, one of which could even be turned off.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved apparatus capable of bonding fabrics in a number of different ways to obtain a multiplicity of bonding processes, including also the conventional process described above, and also including the process disclosed in application PCT/IT01/00090 filed on February 26, 2001 , which offers numerous advantages.

Fig. 2 is a diagram of the apparatus according to the invention which is improved over the conventional arrangement seen in fig. 1 , so as also to obtain the results described in the abovementioned PCT application. The arrangement is substantially equivalent to that described above, but also provides for the addition of an enriching system 41 which is placed at a higher level than the set 5 containing the bonding unit 7. This enriching system 41 comprises film P deflecting means to give this film a path which, rather than corresponding to that of fig. 1 , is instead deflected as indicated at P1 through an enriching appliance 43. This appliance 43 comprises enriching material sprayers 45 that spray onto the film P1 a material - such as reactive polyurethane or equivalent - that increases the bonding characteristics of the hotmelt film P1. These sprayers operate by hot air with pasty material (initially in the solid state, but then made molten by preheating) which is atomized by the air, or maybe of some other type known per se. In particular, the hotmelt film is in this way enriched generally with reactive polyurethane which is sprayed hot at an operating temperature of around 80-90°C, and with hot-air jets which can be blown simultaneously at higher temperatures, for example of around 180°C. Thus the hotmelt film P1 coming from the feeder 1 is enriched in this arrangement shown in fig. 2, with the enriching material as it passes through the enriching appliance 43, when the film P is deflected into the path P1 before returning as before to the deflecting roll 13 to be taken through the bonding unit 7, with the variant in which the burner device 17 is turned off while the burner device 19 is kept on; the flame of this device 19 therefore heats the enriched film P1 before bonding it to the fabric T2. The bonded fabrics T1 and T2 are deflected by the turn cylinder 25 toward the accumulating reel 31.

This arrangement produces a bonding of a particular type that differs from that obtained in the conventional apparatus described with reference to fig. 1.

The enriching appliance 43 may advantageously comprise an endless belt 43 A, which accompanies, from the opposite surface to that on which the enriching material sprayers 45 act, the film P1 at a slightly inclined angle. The hotmelt film P1 (whether or not enriched) is then passed to the deflecting roll 13 on a more or less vertical trajectory tangential to said deflecting roll.

The enriching material, which is a hotmelt adhesive, in practice reactive polyurethane, reacts at room temperature and humidity within 24 hours of being sprayed. This product enriches the hotmelt film P1 - which is a sheet of polyurethane - but this sheet in turn enriches the reactive polyurethane. In essence, the combination described above enables the bonded pieces to be handled immediately, which is impossible with a single adhesive. Adopting the solution described above with enriched hotmelt leads to other advantages also. In particular it improves the bonding without affecting the "hand", i.e. the quality of softness, which is essential for wearability of the resuiting bonded fabric. It should also be noted that while the expanded polyurethane melted by the burners enables the bonded fabrics to be processed continuously (as is essential for voluminous fabrics), the reactive polyurethane later (after about 12 to 24 hours) makes it possible to guarantee wash resistance, which the expanded polyurethane on its own does not give in all bonded fabrics.

When the modified apparatus in accordance with fig. 2 is to operate in the same way as the conventional apparatus shown in fig. 1 operates, all that is required is that the hotmelt film P not be deflected along the path P1 to the set 41 and through the enriching appliance 43, but rather sent along the trajectory P3 which essentially corresponds to the trajectory followed by the hotmelt film in the conventional solution shown in fig. 1 , with limited modifications. The fabric T1 maintains the path described with reference to fig. 1 and likewise the fabric T2. The apparatus described, particularly that shown in fig. 2, can also be used for a bonding procedure which involves a basically cold operation, using a setup as shown in fig. 3. In this setup the two fabrics are bonded without the intervention of the burner devices 17 and 19, which are turned off, while the enriching apparatus 43 is used to treat not the hotmelt film but one T11 of the two fabrics, which is fed in by a feeder 101 replacing the hotmelt film feeder 1. The fabric T11 is sent along a trajectory similar to that provided earlier for the hotmelt film, and passes into the enriching apparatus 43 (as can be seen clearly in fig. 3). The fabric T11 coming from the feeder 111 follows a basically equivalent trajectory to that described in respect of the hotmelt film P1 in the setup shown in fig. 2, and runs through the enriching system made up of the apparatus 43 and enriching material sprayers 45. After passing through the system 43, 45, the fabric T11 therefore arrives on a vertical trajectory at the deflecting roll 13 and is bonded to a second fabric T13 fed in by a feeder 47, which can be in the same position as feeder 9 in the setups shown in figs. 1 and 2, and which can be either of the same type as the feeder 9 or of the same type as the feeder 11 in the setups shown in figs. 1 and 2, which in this case is moved to the position 47 shown in fig. 3. The fabric T13 reaches the backing roll 21 and is bonded to the fabric T11 enriched with the adhesive material, before travelling around the deflecting roll 15 to undergo a further compression, such that the bonded fabric TA1 deflected by the turn cylinder 25 can be accumulated on a reel 49 or accumulated in some other manner for the bonding process, which is slower than that achieved with the procedures corresponding to the apparatuses shown in figs. 1 and 2 because the burner devices 17 and 19 are not active in fig. 3.

As is clear from the above account, the setup of the apparatus shown in fig. 3 is practically the same as that in fig. 2 and is based on that in fig. 1 , but results in another type of bonding different from those obtainable with the fig. 1 setup and from the fig. 2 setup, but with very simple, very fast modifications.

It will be clear from the above that the results indicated at the beginning of the description are achieved. It will be understood that the drawing shows only an example provided purely as a practical demonstration of the invention, and that the invention may be varied in its shapes and arrangements without thereby departing from the scope of the concept on which the invention is based. The presence of any reference numbers in the appended claims is for the purpose of facilitating the reading of the claims with reference to the description and drawing, and does not limit the scope of protection represented by the claims.

Claims

1. Apparatus for bonding two textile or similar articles by means of adhesives, characterized in that it is designed to bond two textile articles by various different procedures, by deflecting the path of a hotmelt adhesive film, by turning adhesive enriching material feeders either on or off, or turning flame melting units either on or off, respectively.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 , characterized in that it comprises modifications to the positions of the feeders of the hotmelt film and/or of the textile articles that are to be bonded.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, comprising between two spaced apart feeders of the two textile articles that are to be bonded a bonding unit (7) comprising two deflecting rolls (13, 15) operating in conjunction with two respective flame burner devices (17, 19) and two respective backing rolls (21, 23), two feeders of textile articles (9, 11) either side of said bonding unit (7), and a feeder (1) of hotmelt film (P), the apparatus being characterized in that it comprises, at a higher level than said bonding unit (7), an enriching system (43) with sprayers (45) for spraying enriching material toward the hotmelt film (P1), and first guide means for guiding said film toward the bonding unit along a direct path (P3) and second guide means for guiding said film along a path (P1) through said enriching system (43, 45), said first and second guide means being switchable and both being able to convey the hotmelt film, enriched or otherwise, to a first deflecting roll (13) of said deflecting rolls (13, 15), the burner devices (17, 19) being able to be turned off individually.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that said enriching system (43, 45) is positioned above the bonding unit.

5. Apparatus according to at least claim 3, characterized in that said sprayers (45) of enriching material operate with jets of hot air.

6. Apparatus according to at least claim 3, characterized in that the burner device (17) of the first deflecting roll (13) reached by the hotmelt film

(P1), where the backing roll (21) presses the hotmelt film and one of the textile materials (T1) against said deflecting roll (13), is turned off; the burner device (19) of the second deflecting roll (15) being active on the hotmelt film and said second deflecting roll (15) and its backing roll (23) being active for bonding (fig. 2).

7. Apparatus according to at least claim 3, characterized in that: said enriching assembly (43, 45) is fed with one of the two fabrics (T11); both of said burner devices (17, 19) are turned off, and said bonding unit (7) is turned on for bonding without flame heating (fig. 3).

8. Apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that the positions of the two feeders (11 , 9) of textile material are switched about said bonding unit (7).

9. Apparatus for bonding two textile articles by a plurality of different procedures; the whole as described above and as illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawing.