GB654178A - Method and means for the automatic regulation of the continuous application of specified amounts of solids or liquids to a moving sheet of material - Google Patents

Abstract

654,178. Coating webs. BRITISH COTTON INDUSTRY RESEARCH ASSOCIATION. Dec. 30, 1947, No. 34554. [Class 140] In a method of applying a substance to a moving sheet of textile material, paper, filament, or assemblage of filaments, &c. wherein the substance applied is a neat fluid or a solid or liquid dissolved, dispersed or emulsified in a liquid phase to obtain a fluid, and wherein the amount of fluid taken up by the material varies with the nature of the material, the properties of the fluid &c. the fluid is applied to the material from a reservoir and any change in weight of fluid in the reservoir resulting from a variation in the rate of application is utilized to alter some property of the fluid in the reservoir so as to correct said deviation. The change of weight of the fluid in the reservoir may be detected directly, or indirectly as by change of volume, depth or pressure, and the property of the fluid which is altered thereby may be its viscosity varied by temperature control or its concentration varied by adding a diluent. A web of warps 4b, Fig. 1, passes around rollers 4a, 17 in a sizing reservoir 3. Size of predetermined concentration is fed from a storage vessel 1 to the reservoir 3 by a metering pump 2 at a rate proportional to the speed of the web. The pump 2 is driven from the shaft 4 of roller 4a through a mechanism including adjustable gear boxes 9 and 10 which may be calibrated in the percentages of solids required on the warp. A diluent is pumped to the reservoir from a vessel 20 by a pump 21 driven by a motor 22. A floating roller 11 in the reservoir 3 is connected to a pivoted lever 12 and a diminution of volume of fluid in the reservoir causes the lever 12 to close a contact 15 to operate the pump motor 22 to supply diluent to the reservoir. The diluent and stock size enter the reservoir through adjacent horizontal pipes 19 and 18 respectively and are mixed by the agitation caused by the roller 4a. A baffle 23 prevents unmixed size and diluent being taken up by the warp. In a modification, Fig. 2, both diluent and size are continuously supplied to the reservoir at a speed proportional to the speed of the web, the diluent being pumped by a variable throw pump 25 driven from the roller shaft 4. In this embodiment the reservoir is supported by a spring 24 and an increase in the weight of the fluid therein depresses the spring, and a rack 26 attached to the reservoir rotates a pinion 28 altering the stroke of the piston in the pump 25 to decrease the amount of diluent supplied. Correspondingly, a decrease in weight causes an increase in the supply of diluent. When compensation is made by altering the viscosity in response to a temperature control, the means for supplying a diluent are omitted or held inoperative. In the Provisional Specification it is stated that the reservoir may contain a steam heating coil and that the applied fluid may be supplied to the reservoir as a powder and solvent separately.