GB2069554A - Treatment of Textile Products - Google Patents

Abstract

Continuous treatment of textile products 13 in a high pressure steamer 1 wherein within the steamer, the textile product is alternately and repeatedly subjected to immersion in a treating solution and to steaming, as the textile product is advanced along a zigzag path defined by rolls 6 and 7. Tank 8 contains treating solution, and tank 9 contains washing water, so that following the initial treating, pre-washing may be performed. The amount of liquid absorbed by the cloth may be controlled by squeeze bars 10, following each immersion in treating solution and in washing water, respectively in tanks 8 and 9. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Treatment of Textile Products This invention relates to methods for the continuous treatment of textile products as well as to apparatus therefor.

In subjecting a textile product-for instance a cloth or yarns-to a treatment, such as a refining or bleaching pre-treatment, or dyeing, a high pressure steamer is commonly employed. The present Applicants have themselves developed steamers suitable for use on a continuous basis-rather than a batch basis-as well as treatment methods for such steamers. To outline a way in which a batch-type of high pressure steamer may be used, a textile product to be treated is soaked with a pretreating solution or with a dye solution, and the resultant textile product is wet-heat treated in a reaction tower saturated with steam.

In a continuous method using a high pressure steamer, a textile product may be immersed in treating solution contained in a liquid seal tank provided at an inlet seal mechanism of the steamer, whereafter the product is wet heat treated in the steamer body.

However, in the above-described methods, the textile product is only once soaked with a treating solution, so that it is quite likely the amount of applied treating solution is insufficient, and the distribution thereof is uneven, depending upon the kind of the textile product to be treated. When using a batch-type of high pressure steamer, there is the further problem that since the application of the treating solution is done outside the apparatus, the temperature of the treating solution to be applied will vary dependent upon the ambient temperature, and consequently the amount of the treating solution applied to the textile product will also fluctuate to cause uneven treatment.

For the dyeing of a textile product, a flowing liquid method may be used, in which a dye solution is allowed to flow through the textile product to be treated. This method has been adopted in some instances, but it has the drawbuck that the dyestuff adhering to the textile product tends to be washed away by the liquid flowing through the textile product, and uniform dyeing can therefore hardly be expected.

Due to the increasing demand for high quality textile products in recent years, mixed-spinned, woven and knitted cloths composed of various kinds of fibres have been produced on a large scale. For the treatment of such various kinds of cloth, including pretreatments and dyeing, aimed at producing high-quality products, it is necessary to subject the textile product to a sufficient amount of water and humidity. In view of this, relatively high speed treatments are difficult to achieve, but nevertheless, production efficiency requires the treatment to be conducted at a high speed.

This invention aims at providing a method and apparatus for the continuous treatment of a textile product, which may efficiently carry out the required treatment at a relatively high speed.

Accordingly, one aspect of this invention provides a method for the continuous treatment of a textile product in a steamer, comprising subjecting the textile product alternately and repeatedly to immersion in a treating solution and to steaming while the textile product is advanced through the steamer body the interior of which is maintained at conditions of super-atmospheric pressure above 1 00 C It is preferable to squeeze the textile product each time it has been immersed in the treating solution, so as to control the amount of the treating solution absorbed by the textile product.

Pre-washing of the treated textile product can also be done effectively in a manner similar to the treatment of the textile product, whilst the product is still within the steamer.

According to a second aspect of this invention, there is provided apparatus for the continuous treatment of a textile product, comprising a steamer body provided with inlet and outlet seal mechanism allowing the continuous passage of the textile product therethrough, means to maintain the steamer body internal pressure and humidity at super-atmospheric values and the temperature above 1 000C, rolls defining a zig-zag path for the textile product to advance through the steamer body, and at least one tank arranged to contain treatment liquid, the tank and rolls being disposed so that a textile product being advanced is subjected alternately and repeatedly to immersion in liquid in the tank and t9 steaming.

By way of example only, one specific embodiment of this-invention will now be described, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic sectional view of an apparatus arranged for the treatment of a cloth according to the method of this invention; and Figure 2 is a detail view on an enlarged scale of the apparatus of Figure 1.

Referring to Figure 1 , there is shown a steamer body 1 having a cloth inlet 2 and a cloth outlet 3. The cloth inlet 2 and outlet 3 are provided respectively with an inlet seal mechanism 4 and an outlet seal mechanism 5 for the purpose of allowing the passage of a cloth freely therethrough, whilst the interior of the steamer body 1 is maintained at a high temperature, pressure and humidity without allowing substantial leakage.The inlet seal mechanism 4 comprises a pair of rubber seal rolls 4, pressed together to define a nip, a generally Jshaped liquid seal tank 42 provided between the rubber seal rolls 4, and the steamer inlet 2, and squeeze bars 43 for squeezing excess liquid out of the cloth on leaving the liquid seal tank 42 Liquid supply pipes 44 are arranged to supply treating solution, such as a caustic alkali solution or a dye solution, to the liquid seal tank 42 and guide walls 45 are disposed to cause the treating solution supplied from the liquid supply pipes 44 to contact the rubber seal rolls 4,.This is done in the first place to cool the rubber seal rolls 44 and secondly to supply the treating solution to the liquid seal tank 42 The arrangement of the liquid supply pipes 44 and the guide walls 45 are shown in detail in Figure 2. A packing 48 is provided to absorb relative movement of the steamer body 1 and the seal mechanism 4 on thermal expansion and contraction thereof.

The outlet seal mechanism 5 is similar to the inlet seal mechanism 4 and comprises a pair of rubber seal rolls 5, defining a nip, a generally Jshaped slow cooling liquid tank 52 liquid supply pipes 53 for supplying cooling water to the slow cooling liquid tank 52 and guide walls 54 to cause supplied cooling water to contact the rubber seal rolls 5, and then to pass into the slow cooling tank 52 A packing 55 is arranged between the steamer body 1 and the mechanism 5, again to absorb thermal strains. The slow cooling tank 52 serves both for slowly cooling treated cloth and for washing the cloth.

A plurality of cloth guide rolls 6 are provided within the steamer body 1 so as to define a path for cloth material 13 passing continuously therethrough from the inlet to the outlet, the path being of zig-zag form with the runs extending generally up and down. A number of tension control rolls 7 are included amongst the cloth guide rolls 6. Liquid tanks 8 and 9 are suitably disposed so that the lowermost guide rolls 6 including the tension control rolls 7 lie therewithin, the liquid tank 8 being arranged to hold a treating solution, and the tank 9 to hold washing water. The liquid tanks 8 and 9 may be divided into several distinct sections, if required.

Squeeze bars 10 are provided to control the amount of the treating solution remaining on the cloth each time the cloth comes out of the liquid tank 8 or 9, but in some circumstances, the squeeze bars may be necessary. A steam jet pipe 11 extends into the steamer to maintain the interior thereof at prescribed conditions of high temperature, pressure and humidity, and a plate 12 is mounted in the upper part of the steamer to prevent water droplets falling on cloth being transported through the steamer body 1.

The continuous treatment of a long cloth 13 for instance a pretreatment or dyeing, using the apparatus as above described will be performed, for example, as follows.

In the first place, the interior of the steamer body 1 is maintained at a prescribed temperature above 1 000C to give a wet-heat atmosphere, the liquid seal tank 42 and the liquid tank 8 are filled with the appropriate treating solution such as a caustic alkali solution or a dye solution, the liquid tank 9 is filled with wahing water, and the slow cooling tank 52 is filled with cooling water. Then, the clock 13 to be treated is fed through the inlet seal mechanism to enter the steamer body 1. The cloth is soaked with the treating solution contained in the liquid seal tank 42, squeezed appropriately by means of the squeeze rolls 43, and then steamed in the steamer body.Shortly after entering the body 1, the cloth is passed through the liquid tank 8, where the cloth is soaked again with the treating solution, the amount of the treating solution applied to the cloth being controlled by the squeeze bars 10, and the cloth is steamed again. As mentioned above, the use of the squeeze bars 10 may be dispensed with under some circumstances. These processes are repeated successively as the cloth is advanced along the zig-zag path within the steamer body.

The last few steps of the process, after finishing the treatment, are utilized for washing the cloth, by repeatedly immersing the cloth in the washing water in the liquid tank 9 and drying the cloth, so as to perform effectively a pre-washing of the cloth.

As described above, the apparatus provides one or more treating solution tanks 8 in a steamer body 1 the interior of which is maintained at conditions of high temperature, pressure and humidity. A textile product 13 to be treated is subjected alternately and repeatedly to soaking with the treating solution (such as a pretreating solution or a dye solution) and to steaming, on being continuously advanced along the zig-zag path defined by rolls 6 and 7. In this way, the textile product is soaked uniformly and sufficiently with the treating solution and consequently the textile product can satisfactorily be treated to produce a finished product of excellent quality.

The pre-washing of a treated cloth can similarly be done effectively, by employing a second tank 9 The interior of the steamer body 1 including the solution tanks 8 and 9 can be maintained at the prescribed conditions of about 1 000C and under pressure, so that the textile product to be treated is immersed repeatedly in the treating solution and the washing water both of which are at a high temperature above 1 00 C in the steamer body 1.

In this way, the textile product is soaked with the treating solution and washing water completely and uniformly right to the cores of the fibres thereof, and consequently the continuous treatment of a textile product (such as a pretreatment or a dyeing) can be done uniformly and effectively.

In controlling the amount of treating solution carried by the textile product with the aid of the squeeze bars 10 after the textile product has been immersed in the treating solution, migration of the treating agent-which may be a caustic alkali or a dye-can be prevented completely in steaming the textile product, with no occurrence of the excess treating agent peeling off. Instead, the treating agent adheres surely and more uniformly to the textile product, and thus the treatment of the textile product can be done more reliably. The washing efficiency can also be increased by using squeeze bars 10, as shown in Figure 1.

Claims (9)

Claims

1. A method for the continuous treatment of a textile product in a steamer, comprising subjecting the textile product alternately and repeatedly to immersion in a treating solution and to steaming while the textile product is advanced through the steamer body the interior of which is maintained at conditions of super-atmospheric pressure above 100 C.

2. A method for the continuous treatment of a textile product according to claim 1, in which the amount of the treating solution absorbed by the textile product is controlled by squeezing the textile product immediately after each time the textile has been immersed in treating solution.

3. A method for the continuous treatment of a textile product according to claim 1 or claim 2, in which the treated textile product is subjected alternately and repeatedly to immersion in washing water and to steaming before the textile product leaves the steamer body, so as to effect pre-washing of the treated textile product.

4. A method for the continuous treatment of a textile product according to any of the preceding claims, in which the textile product is pre-soaked with treatment solution on entering the steamer body.

5. A method for the continuous treatment of a textile product substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

6. Apparatus for the continuous treatment of a textile product, comprising a steamer body provided with inlet and outlet seal mechanisms allowing the continuous passage of the textile product therethrough, means to maintain the steamer body internal pressure and humidity at super-atmospheric values and the temperature above 1000 C, rolls defining a zig-zag path for the textile product to advance through the steamer body, and at least one tank arranged to contain treatment liquid, the tank and rolls being disposed so that a textile product being advanced is subjected alternately and repeatedly to immersion in liquid in the tank and to steaming.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a second tank is provided within the steamer body to contain washing water, the second tank being disposed so that the treated textile product is subjected alternately and repeatedly to immersion in the water and to steam-drying, so as to effect pre-washing of the treated textile product.

8. Apparatus according to claim 6 or claim 7, wherein squeeze bars are provided to squeeze excess liquid from the textile product following immersion thereof.

9. Apparatus for the continuous treatment of a textile product according to claim 6 and substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.