FI56983C - FOER FARING OCH ANORDING BEHANDLING AV TYGARTIKLAR FOER ATT FOERBAETTRA DERAS NON-IRON EGENSKAPER - Google Patents

Description

FSS ^ l [B] (11) ANNOUNCEMENT CCQOo lJ 1 'UTLÄGGNI NGSSKRIFT öObö ό C (45) Patent granted 1C 05 1030 Patent msddelat VV (51) Kv.ik.' / Int.ci. * D 06 B 21/02 FINLAND —FINLAND (21) PttMttlh.k.mut-Ptttt.t.nrtknlng 2516/72 (22) HtkamltpUvl - Ara & knlngtdkg 13 * 09 * 72 (23) AlkupUvl — Glltlghttsdig 13 * 09 * 72 (41) Has become swept - Bull lU.03 * 73 _. . . (44) Date of issue of the competition. -, 0.

Patent * och registerstyrelsen '' Ansttktn utlagd och utUkriftun publlcurad 31 * 01.00 (32) (33) (31) Requested prefix * —Begird priorltet 13 * 09 * 71 USA (US) 179781 Toteennäetty-Styrkt (71) McGraw-Edison Company, 333 West River Road, Elgin, Illinois, USA (72) John Howard Forg, Cincinnati, Ohio, George Louis Payet, Cincinnati,

Ohio, USA (US) (7 * 0 Oy Borenius & Co Ab (5I +) Method and apparatus for improving the smoothness of fabric products - Förfarande och anordning för behandling av tygartiklar för att förbättra deras non-iron egenskaper to treat their fabric products to improve their smoothness, which can be done efficiently and economically on a commercial scale with substantially good results.

The invention therefore relates to a method for improving the smoothness of cotton-containing fabric products, in which method the fabric products are suspended in a closed treatment chamber into which sulfur dioxide and formaldehyde gases and steam are introduced to cause the gases and steam to penetrate the fabric products.

The method according to the invention provides the desired moisture content to the fabrics without affecting the initial smoothness of the products.

The invention also relates to an apparatus for carrying out this method in the handling of fabric products, the apparatus comprising a box comprising a treatment chamber and means for hanging the products from the chamber roof along its length, doors for transporting the products in and out of the box, and an air duct running from the bottom to the top of the chamber, and a fan for circulating air into the chamber via a line, wherein the heat exchanger is arranged in the line for heating the air which is blown 56983 into the chamber 2.

The prior art is described in U.S. Patent 3,257,739, which discloses a treatment chamber for treating air, which air is used in a drying chamber through which garments are continuously fed. The above patent does not comprise or even suggest a method according to the present invention known for introducing gases and steam into a chamber without any polymer-forming precondensates at elevated temperature, shutting off the steam supply below a predetermined value and then heating the air to at least 121 ° C. Such a method for impregnating and drying clothes is not previously known. The method according to the invention provides a fairly even handling of the garments.

U3 patent publication 3,102,796 discloses a garment handling device which also has an air duct running from the bottom of the chamber to its upper part and a fan blowing air from the upper part of the chamber, as well as a heat exchanger fitted to the line. However, previously known devices do not show m.m. spraying water according to the invention against the walls of the treatment chamber to cool the chamber. The combination of the parts of the device according to the invention provides an advantageous and uniform handling of the garments.

The method according to the invention is characterized in that the gases and steam are introduced into the chamber without any polymer-forming precondensates at an elevated temperature until the temperature reaches a predetermined value, the steam supply is cut off to lower the chamber temperature below this predetermined value, and then heated air is blown into the chamber. at least 121 ° C.

The device according to the invention, on the other hand, is characterized in that the box has means for introducing steam and chemical treatment gases into the chamber, means for circulating both hot and cold air in the chamber, the air line being connected to an exhaust pipe and fresh air inlet, and the box having means for spraying water against the treatment chamber walls. , when the heat exchanger is turned off and that a suspended ceiling is perforated in the chamber at a distance from the box roof.

The objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description.

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Our invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings; in which; Fig. 1 is a plan view of a processing device according to the invention, Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a partial sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is a partial sectional view showing a double seal, Figs. Fig. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view similar to that shown in Fig. 2 showing various basic steps used in the method of the invention to treat fabric products to self-iron, and Fig. 9 is a graph showing a typical temperature-time cycle of this treatment.

This device comprises an elongate box 10 which is rectangular in cross-section and has double walls 11 (Fig. 2) for effective insulation of the elongate treatment chamber 12. At opposite ends of the box (Fig. 1) there are doors 13 on hinges 14 and fastened by suitable latches 15. A two-door system is used to make it possible to fill the chamber at one end and unload finished products from the other end at the same time.

Each door 13 is connected to the edge 16 of the box by a double sealing device running around the door opening shown in Fig. 4, in order to prevent the escape of gases during the treatment cycle. This double seal comprises a notch 17 on the edge 16 of the box, to which a strip of silicone rubber 18 is attached. The edge of each door has a similar notch 19 slightly outwardly of the notch 17 and has a silicone rubber strip 20. With the door closed, the flange 21 on the outside of the door notch 19 presses against the yoke rubber strip 18 and the box flange 22 on the inside of the notch 17 presses against the yoke rubber strip 20 to double lock the flanges 21 and 22. and sponge-like strips 18 and 19 trapping air therebetween. This enclosed air space can effectively prevent gases from leaking out of the treatment chamber.

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At some distance from the roof of the box there is a perforated ceiling 23 with holes, which forms an air diffusion chamber or a second layer 24 extending over the length of the treatment chamber 12. The middle stages of the box 10 have a side compartment 25 in the longitudinal direction with an air duct 26 running from the bottom of the chamber 12 to the upper floor 24. This air duct has a fan 27 at the lower end and a heat exchanger 28 at the point where it opens to the upper floor. The fan circulates air through the chamber 12 from top to bottom. Starting from the line 26, at a distance in the direction of rotation, there is an outlet line 29 and an air inlet line 30. The outlet line 29 has a pull flap 31 supported at 32 to open and close the line (Figures 6 and 8). Also, the inlet line 30 has a flap 33 supported at 34 between the two lines for movement between the closed position (Figure 5) and the open position (Figure 6) of the hose wall, where the flap closes the tube 26 between the two lines to force air to circulate from outside the line 30, heat exchanger 28, through the upper layer 24, the treatment chamber 12, the fan 27 and the exhaust pipe 29 back to the outside air.

The cabinet roof has three equally spaced plate fans 35 (Figures 1 and 2) that circulate air through the space 36 between the double walls 11 and then out through a simple central exhaust line 37 (Figure 1). Between the double walls 11 there are also suitable spray heads 38 which can be connected to a source of cooling water (not shown) for conducting water against the walls of the treatment chamber to reduce its temperature to room temperature after the treatment cycle.

At the bottom of the treatment chamber 12 there are openings 39 for injecting steam upwards onto the garments 40, which are attached by hangers 41 to the longitudinal tracks 42 of the chamber. At the bottom of the treatment chamber 12 there is also an opening 43 for conducting sulfur dioxide gas. In addition, near the bottom of the chamber is a heating plate 44 for receiving paraformaldehyde from the hopper 45, which enters through a pipe 46 by means of a piston, screw or pusher, generally indicated at 47.

The perforated ceiling 23 comprises two rows of spaced apart plates 48 which are inclined from the center line of the width of the chamber 12 towards opposite sides thereof. The plates are all U-shaped and have a relatively short upturned flange 49 at its distal edge from the central plane L of the chamber and a higher flange 50 along the opposite edge closer to the plane L, from which the upper part of the latter flange 50 is turned horizontally at 51

B 56963 5 over a shorter flange 49 in an adjacent plate closer to and at a distance from the plane L equal to the distance between the plate and the next adjacent plate. Further, the spacing of the plates increases by one degree from the central plane 1 towards the ends of the chamber. Thus, larger degree portions 52 are formed from the plane 1 toward the ends of the chamber to receive air into the second layer 24, which air flows from the central conduit 26, and direct it downward into the chamber 12. Further, since each plate is inclined downward toward the sides and shaped in the shape of an upward U-channel, it retains condensing water and causes it to flow downward to the side walls of the chamber to reduce the possibility of dripping of the garments 40 to be treated.

In carrying out the treatment method according to the invention, the garments 40 are placed at regular intervals along the length of the treatment chamber 12 and the doors 13 are closed. If the relative humidity of the outside air is less than 20%, three initial steps are first performed to apply a suitable amount of moisture to the garments without affecting the corrugation or finishing with which the garments are pretreated, 1) by injecting steam into the treatment chamber 12 through orifices 39 for about 20 seconds with the inlet flap 33 closed and the heat exchanger off, to raise the chamber temperature from about 35 ° C to about 49 ° C (Figure 5); 2) by stopping the steam injection to soak the garments 40 in steam for about two minutes, allowing the temperature to drop to about 43 ° C; and 3) allowing air to circulate from the outside through the inlet line 30, the treatment chamber 12 and the outlet pipe 29 for about three minutes with the inlet shutter 33 open (Figure 6) to lower the treatment chamber temperature back to the starting point of about 35 ° C.

The next step 4) - which could be the first step of the treatment cycle if the relative humidity of the outside air is higher than 20% - involves injecting chemicals into the treatment chamber 12 with the plate fans 35 still on, the outlet flap 31 open, the inlet flap 33 closed and the fan 27 and heat exchanger 28 both off (Fig. 5) a) heating the paraformaldehyde fed to the hot plate 44 until it has evaporated and dispersed over the treatment chamber 12, h) injecting steam through the openings 39, and c) injecting sulfur dioxide gas through the opening 43, all in about 45 seconds, which allows the chamber temperature to rise from 49 ° C to 63 ° C. According to a preferred example, the measured amount of sulfur dioxide is injected by filling a tank which could contain the correct amount of gas at ambient pressure to two atmospheres and continuing to conduct until the pressure drops to atmospheric. More broadly, the gas can be stored at a certain higher pressure when only the vapor pressure has not been reached, and is then passed until a predetermined lower pressure is reached.

The next step 5) is carried out by switching off the steam supply in order to allow the temperature to drop, and preferably the injection of sulfur dioxide gas and formaldehyde gas is continued. Typically, the garments may thus be allowed to wet in the treatment steam for about 5 minutes until the chamber temperature drops to at least 5.5 ° C and as much as 17 ° C, depending on the temperature to which the chamber was heated by the steam (Figure 5).

This step 5) is the most important step of the invention, as it makes it possible to achieve self-lubricity in an efficient manner.

The exhaust heating step 6) is performed next, keeping the plate fan 35 off, the main fan 27 on, the exhaust flap 31 open, the inlet flap 33 open, and the heat exchanger 28 on (Fig. 7), but all steam and chemical injection into the chamber now closed so that only heated air circulates from the outside to the treatment chamber, whereby steam, as well as all free chemicals, escapes from the garments over a period of about two minutes; during this step, the temperature is typically allowed to rise to about 82 ° C (Figure 9). Next, a closed loop heating step 7) is performed for about five to seven minutes, which differs from the previous heating step in that the inlet shutter 33 and the outlet shutter 29 are closed (Fig. 8) to circulate the air internally through the heat exchanger 28 to raise the air temperature to about 138 ° C. as shown in Figure 9, for the purpose of heating the garments to be treated to at least 121 ° C. The final step in the treatment cycle is to perform exhaust cooling (Figure 6) for about thirty seconds to bring the temperature to about 93 ° G.

Finally, the garments are subjected to a series of cleaning steps to remove residual odors and reduce the temperature to room temperature as follows: the first cleaning step 9) is performed in three to seven minutes by injecting steam with the plate blower 35 off, heat exchanger 28 off, shutter 33 closed and outlet shut off the main fan 27 off (Fig. 5) »until the internal temperature rises to about 105 ° C; the next cleaning step 10) is performed in about five minutes by turning the plate fan 35 over, opening the inlet

Claims (13)

56 983 7 shutter 33 and rotating the main fan 27 on, until the temperature has dropped to about 82 ° C, and the last filling-emptying step (11) is carried out by continuing the previous step for about one - half a minute, during which the water is injected into the partition space 36 of the heating chamber 12 against the wall of the openings 38 for cooling the walls of the treatment chamber to an initial temperature of about 35 ° C. The application of our invention described herein is intended to be illustrative only and is not intended to limit the invention, as various modifications may be made within the scope of our invention as set forth in the following claims. A method for improving the smoothness of cotton-containing fabric products, comprising hanging the fabric products in a closed treatment chamber into which sulfur dioxide and formaldehyde gas and steam are introduced to penetrate the fabric products into the fabric products, characterized in at a temperature until the temperature reaches a predetermined value, the steam supply is cut off to lower the chamber temperature below this predetermined value, and then heated air is blown into the chamber to raise the temperature of the products to at least 121 ° C. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that steam is first injected into the chamber to wet the garments and then air is circulated from outside the chamber through the chamber to pre-cool the products before treating the products with sulfur dioxide and formaldehyde gases. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the chamber is cleaned of steam and free gases after the steam supply has been stopped and then the chamber is heated to raise the temperature of the products to at least 121 ° C. A method according to claim 3, characterized in that the heating of the chamber comprises a first exhaust heating operation in which air from outside the chamber is circulated through the chamber while heating the air entering the chamber, and a second closed circuit heating step of circulating chamber air through the side line and heated during its passage through the conduit until the fabric products reach a temperature of at least 121 ° C. A method according to claim 3, characterized in that air from outside the chamber is circulated through the chamber after the heating steps to lower the temperature in the chamber, steam is injected into the chamber to achieve a temperature rise in the chamber, and then steam is cut off and air is recirculated from outside the chamber. A method according to claim 3, characterized in that water is sprayed against the walls of the heating chamber after the temperature in the chamber reaches a value of about 121 ° C to cool the walls substantially to room temperature, A method according to claim 4, characterized in that the temperature in the chamber is raised to 49-63 ° G by injecting steam into the chamber and then the temperature is allowed to drop to at least 5.5 ° C after the steam supply has stopped and before the last month. the heating step is started, and the temperature is raised to about 82 ° C at the end of the exhaust-heating step and is raised to at least 121 ° C at the end of the closed loop heating step. Apparatus for performing a method of handling fabric products according to any one of claims 1 to 7, comprising a box (10) comprising a treatment chamber (12) and means (42) for hanging products from the chamber roof along its length, doors (13) for transporting products (40) into and out of the box, and an air duct (26) running from the bottom of the chamber (12) to its upper part, and a fan (27) for circulating air into the chamber (12) through the duct (26), the heat exchanger (28) being arranged in the duct (26). ) for heating the air blown into the chamber (12), characterized in that the box (10) has devices for introducing steam (39) and chemical treatment gases (43, 44, 45, 46, 47) into the chamber (12), devices for both hot and cold for circulating air in the chamber, the air line (26) being connected to an exhaust pipe (29) and a fresh air inlet pipe (30), and that the box (10) has means (38) for injecting water against the walls of the treatment chamber (12) to cool the chamber; n after the heat exchanger (28) has been turned off, and that the intermediate ceiling (23) is perforated in the chamber (12) at a distance from the roof of the box (10). 56983 9 Device according to Claim 8, characterized in that the treatment chamber (12) is elongate and extends along the length of the box (10) and the air duct (26) is located midway between the box (10) and leads to the air layer (24) above the return air circulation. to disintegrate through the bulkhead (23) into the chamber (12), the bulkhead (23) comprising a series of inclined plates (48) transversely and longitudinally spaced apart from the box (10), each plate (48) having flanges (49, 50) turned up at the sides which form a channel for condensing water and lead to the side walls of this chamber (12) to prevent water dripping onto the products. Device according to claim 9, characterized in that the flange (49) on the side of each plate (48), the side furthest from the center of the box (10), has a lower height than the flange (50) of the same plate closer to the center of the box (10), and the latter flange (50) of each plate has turned from its upper part towards the center of the box (10) over and at a distance from the shorter flange (49) of the next adjacent plate, forming an opening (52) for receiving air flow from the air duct (26) and directing air down to the treatment chamber (12); ). Device according to Claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the distance between the successive plates (48) and the distance between the upper flanges (50) and between the adjacent shorter flanges (49) increases as it travels from the center of the box (10) to each end. Device according to Claim 8, 9, 10 or 11, characterized in that the outlet pipe (29) and the fresh air inlet pipe (30) lead away from the line (26) and in that order at points spaced apart in the direction of the air flow. through a conduit (26), each tube having a flap (31, 33) and a device (32, 34) for changing the position of the flap so that it either closes or opens the corresponding tube and the other flap in its open position closes the conduit (26) between the tubes forcing air to circulate from outside the chamber (12) to the treatment chamber (12) through the inlet pipe (30) and back out through the outlet pipe (29), and that the walls (11) of the box (10) are hollow. Device according to claim 12, characterized in that the fan (27) is located in the bottom part of the box close to the outlet of the treatment chamber (12), said outlet and inlet pipes (29, 30) taking out and entering the box (26). (10) at the top, and the heat exchanger (28) is located in said conduit between the inlet pipe (30) and the treatment chamber (12). Patentkray