Treatment unit of cloth and treatment apparatus

Abstract

 There is provided a treatment unit of cloth comprising a box-shaped housing having an entrance for carrying a cloth in on one side and an exit for carrying the cloth out on the other side, a guide roller on which the cloth is put and transferred from said entrance to the exit, and a treatment section for performing a required treatment by supplying the cloth with saturated steam, superheated steam, heated air, cool air, etc; a plurality of guide rollers forming several pairs and each serving as an electrode are provided in the housing of the treatment unit. A treatment apparatus of cloth comprising a plurality of the treatment units is also disclosed.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention:

[0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus for treating a cloth and a treatment unit of cloth forming the apparatus, for use in dyeing process of a cloth, for example, in which dyestuff or pigment is fixed to the cloth by steaming or heating after printing on the cloth, otherwise a cloth is dipped in a solution of dyestuff, resin or other chemicals to be impregnated therewith, or dyestuff, resin or chemicals are physically or chemically fixed to the cloth by steaming or heating after drying or without drying, thereby changing the characteristics of the cloth.

2. Description of prior art:

[0002] In the dyeing process of an elongated cloth, for continuously carrying out such treatment as fixing of dyestuff, pigment or resin to the cloth, or reforming the cloth with chemicals, it has been popular to employ such a device as continuous steamer using saturated steam or superheated steam, heat setter using heated air, etc.

[0003] Any of those conventionally used devices comprises a box-shaped housing in which every essential element is incorporated. That is, incorporated in this housing are a plurality of guide rollers for guiding and carrying a cloth to be treated, steam supply means and heated air supply means each for application of a required treatment by providing saturated steam, superheated steam, heated air, etc. It may be said that housing of the conventional apparatus is very large in dimensions and scale to be capable of performing a treatment at high speed or a treatment for a long time.

[0004] In the mentioned known continuous steamer, heat setter, etc. used as a treatment apparatus of cloth, steam or heated air is supplied to the housing so that a cloth may be treated with such steam or air with which the whole housing is filled. As mentioned above, the conventional apparatus comprises a housing whose internal part forms a single chamber, and moreover the housing is very large in dimensions. Therefore, some cloths are treated with excessive energy given from steam or heated air which is more than required. More specifically, for treating a thin cloth or a cloth of light material, or for finishing a cloth dyed with light color, actually such treatment can be sufficiently achieved by rather gentle treatment condi­tions. Nevertheless, the entire housing should be filled with steam or heated air just for uniform distribution of energy, which is a disadvantage from the economical point of view.

[0005] Since the conventional treatment apparatus is formed into one box-shaped housing as a whole and the box is large in dimensions to be capable of performing mass treatment as mentioned above, such conventional apparatus is not suitable for treatment of varieties of products devided into small lots. More specifically, there exist disadvantages such that it takes a long time for rising the apparatus to start or for changing some treatment condition to a different one, eventually resulting in poor efficiency of the operation of the apparatus.

[0006] Further, in the treatment of fixing by steaming a deystuff to a printed cloth composed of cotton, rayon or mixture thereof or to a cloth preliminarily dried after dyestuff padding treatment, it is necessary for such cloth to contain a certain extent of moisture. In addition to the moisture contained in the cloth before putting it in a steamer, a further moisture is given to the cloth in the form of a condensed water which is transformed from steam in the steamer and condensed on the cloth surface due to temperature of the cloth lower than that in the steamer. In this manner, latent heat of the steam is radiated thereby increasing the temperature of the cloth to accelerate the steaming. However, if temperature of the cloth is high at the time of carrying the cloth in the apparatus due to heat residual and kept over from the printing process of dyestuff pading process, amount of the mentioned condense moisture to be given to the cloth at the stage after carrying the cloth in is reduced and moisture contained in the cloth is deficient, which eventually results in undesirable poor coloring on the product after the treatment. To avoid such a problem, it has been conventional to employ a device separate from the steamer by which cool air is blown against the cloth or water is sprayed on the cloth as a preliminarily step. Thus, cooling of the cloth or supplying the cloth with moisture has been a necessary step previous to the steaming. This is because the conventional steamer can perform its function only on one uniform condition. It is very troublesome to carry out the mentioned preliminary step separately from the steaming, and moreover the separate device requires its installation space. In the steamer wherein moisture is partially discharged from the cloth, because of large dimensions of the housing forming a single chamber, a situation not easy to control treat­ment conditions may sometimes come out in the housing including a portion where steamn is dry, a portion where temperature is high due to heat generated by reaction of chemicals contained in the cloth. As a result, it is often the case to bring about irregular coloring, which is a further problem from the viewpoint of quality.

[0007] Also in the conventional heat setter using heated air, treatment conditions in the housing is set to an uniform one, and therefore temperature of cloth is obliged to increase little by little taking a long time. That is, temperature of the cloth can reach a required level just after passing a certain time after carrying the cloth in the housing, which is a further aspect of poor efficiency.

[0008] Generally speaking, it take a long time for a treat­ment apparatus of large dimensions to be manufactured, installed and put into operation. Furthermore, since the conventional apparatus is formed into a box-shaped housing forming a single chamber, operation of the whole apparatus must be stopped even if some trouble occur only in a part of the apparatus, resulting in reduction in rate of operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] The present invetion was made to ovecome the above-­discussed problems and has an object of providing a treatment apparatus of cloth which is not formed into one box-shaped housing forming a single chamber but formed by a plurality of treatment units combined one another.

[0010] To accomplish the foregoing object, the treatment unit of cloth in accordance with the present invention comprises: a box-shaped housing having an entrance for carrying a cloth in on one side and an exit for carrying the cloth out on the other side; a guide roller on which the cloth is put and transferred from said entrance to the exit; and treatment means for performing a required treatment by supplying the cloth with saturated steam, superheated steam, heated air, cool air, etc.

[0011] It is preferabe that a plurality of guide rollers forming several pairs and each serving as an electrode are provided in the housing of each treatment unit, and wherein each electrode is connected to a power source so that a positive voltage is applied to one of each pair of said guide rollers while a negative voltage is applied to the other of each pair, and a current is applied to a cloth dipped in a treating solution (electrolytic solution) to be impregnated therewith and bridged over between said pair of guide rollers by way of the solution to exnibit a current effect such as heat generation thereby performing a required treatment.

[0012] It is also preferable that a pularity of treatment units of above construction forming a treatment apparatus are arranged side by side in such a manner that, in the treatment units adjacent each other, a side having an exit for carrying a cloth out joins to a side having an entrance for carrying a cloth in thus each treatment unit being able to be recombinated.

[0013] It is preferable that a plurality of treatment units in which nature and conditions of treatment are common are combined to form a treatment apparatus. It is also that a plurality of treatment units in which nature and condi­tions of treatment are different are combined to form a tretment apparatus.

[0014] In the treatment unit of above construction, during a period of time when a cloth carried in through the entrance provided on one side of the housing is guided by the guide rollers and sent out through the exit provided on the other side of the housing, the cloth is subject to a required treatment while being exposed to saturated steam, superheated steam, heated air, cooling air, etc.

[0015] In the treatment unit in which a plurality of guide rollers forming several pairs and each serving as an electrode are provided in the housing of the treatment unit so that a positive voltage is applied to one of each pair of said guide rollers while a negative voltage is applied to the other of each pair, and that a current is applied to a cloth dipped in a treating solution (electro­lytic solution) to be impregnated therewith and bridged over between said pair of guide rollers by way of the solution, chemical reaction is accelerated by the current applied to the cloth impregnated with the solution, thus a required treatment being performed.

[0016] In the treatment apparatus of cloth comprising an optimum number of combined treatment units in which nature and conditions of treatment applied to a cloth are common considering kind, nature and characteristic of a cloth to be treated and with positions of their entrance and exit cincident in the adjacent treatment units as mentioned above, an energy required for the intended treatment is appropriately given by steam or heated air supplied into the housing. If time necessary for rising the apparatus to start or other condition of treatment is to be changed, time necessary for transition to a changed condition of treatment is minimized by adjusting the number of treatment units arrranged side by side.

[0017] In the treatment apparatus of cloth comprising a plurality of combined treatment units in which nature and conditions of treatment applied to a cloth are different from each other, a series of treatments including pre-­treatment can be continuously carried out by a single treatment apparatus. Since the treatment apparatus is formed of plural box-shaped compartments of small dimen­sions, treatment condition can be controlled by each compartment (housing), which permits exact control over each section of the apparatus. Because temperature condition can be set for each housing forming a treatment unit, it is now possible to increase largely the tempera­ ture of cloth at once to obtain a required temperature in short time just by a treatment unit located at the head of the apparatus.

[0018] Since the treatment apparatus of cloth of above construction can be disassembled into each compartment of treatment unit, manufacturing and installation of the unit are easy. In the event of breakdown or trouble, only the unit involved in the trouble can be released from opera­tion so as to leave the cloth just passing from the entrance to exit of the unit without stopping the opera­tion of the entire apparatus.

[0019] Since the present invention is constructed and pexhibits its function as mentioned above, when applying a treatment such as steaming, baking, etc. to a cloth using the treatment apparatus comprising plural treatment units according to the invention, energy of steam or heated air can be more effectively and economically utilized. Rate of operation is satisfactory since the apparatus can suitably meet treatment of variety of cloths in small lot. A series of necessary treatments can be performed by a single apparatus thereby not only installation space is saved but also uniformity in quality of treated cloth is improved.

[0020] Since the it is possible to add one or more treat­ment unit to the apparatus, the scale of the apparatus can be increased little by little according to the expansion of operation.

[0021] Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent in the course of the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] In the drawings forming a part of the present appli­cation,

Figure 1 is a front sectional view showing the whole treatment apparatus of cloth in accordance with an embodi­ment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a front view showing another treatment apparatus;

Figures 3 to 5 are front sectional views respec­tively showing an example of the treatment unit forming the treatment apparatus;

Figure 6 is a front sectional view of a further embodiment of the treatment apparatus;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of a treatment unit; and

Figure 8 is a front sectional view showing a part of the treatment apparatus in accordance with a further embo­diment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0023] Several preferred embidments are described herein­ after with reference to the drawings.

[0024] Referring to Figure 1 showing a front sectional view of a treatment apparatus of cloth in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the treatment apparatus is formed of four treatment units 10, 12, 12′, 14 arranged side by side. Another treatment apparatus shown in Figure 2 is formed of five treatment units 10, 12, 12′, 12˝, 14.

[0025] As shown in the front sectional view of Figure 3, in the first unit 10, an entrance 18 for carrying a cloth in is provided on one side of a box-shaped housing 16. The opposite side provided with a flange 20 is an opening side 22 on which an exit 24 for carrying the cloth out is formed. Vertically disposed in the internal part of the housing 16 are six rotatable guide rollers 26 on the upper part and another six rotatable guide rollers 26 on the lower part on all of which a cloth C to be treated is put in order, so that the cloth C is guided moving up and down by the twelve guide rollers 26 from the entrance 18 to the exit 24. Disposed near the entrance 18 of the housing 16 is a leakage prevention device 28 for preventing leakage of atmospheric steam or atmospheric air from inside the housing 16. Further disposed in the housing 16 are steam supply pipe 30 for supplying saturated steam or heated steam, heater 32 and heat exchanger 34 for heating air in the housing 16. The saturated steam, superheated steam or heated air is drawn by a circulating fan 36, then, passing through a duct 38, is blown through upper and lower outlets 40 into the internal space of the housing 16. The steam or heated air blown into the housing 16 ot and from which the cloth C is carried in and out is circulated in the housing 16, and a part of them is exhausted through an exhaust cylinder 42. Combution exhaust gas of the heater 32 is exhausted through an exhaust pipe 44 after heat exchange at the heat exchanger 34. Water spray pipes 46 for cleaning the internal part of the housing after the operation are also disposed in the housing 16, and drain pipe 48 is disposed at the bottom wall of the housing. As shown in Figure 2, a torque motor 50 for rotationally driving the guide rollers 26 is disposed outside the housing 16. Numeral 52 denotes a manhole door and numeral 54 denotes a view port in Figure 2.

[0026] As shown in the front sectional view of Figure 4, in the treatment units 12, 12′ in the intermediate part of the apparatus, the entrance 58 for carrying a cloth in is provided on one side of the housing 56. A flange 60 is formed on peripheral edge of the one side. The other side is an opening side 62 on which flange 60′ is provided. An exit 64 for carrying a cloth out is provided on the other side. As shown in the front sectional view of Figure 5, in the treatment unit 14 located on the end section of the apparatus, a flange 70 is formed on peripheral edge of the housing 66. An entrance 68 for carrying a cloth in is provided on a bulkhead on one side of the housing, while an exit 74 for carrying the cloth out is provided on the other side. Disposed near the exit 74 is a leakage prevention device 28′ for preventing leakage of atmospheric steam or atmospheric air from inside the housing 66. The other arrangement in each treatment unit 12, 14 located in the middle and the end sections is the same as the treatment unit 10 at the head section.

[0027] Shown in Figure 6 is a treatment unit 10′ in which six guide rollers 26 on the upper part of the housing as well as further six guide rollers 26 on the lower part are connected to a power source to utilize those guide rollers 26 as electrodes in such a manner that a positive voltage is applied to either upper or lower six guide rollers and a negative voltage to the remaining six guide rollers. In this treatment unit 10′, the croth C to be treated which is preliminarily dipped in a solution (electrolytic solution) to be wet and put on the guide rollers 26 is subject to a required treatment such as chemical treatment with heat generated by an electric current passing through the solution with which the cloth is impregnated.

[0028] A treatment apparatus of cloth is formed by a plurality of treatment units of above construction by four treatment units, for example, in the apparatus shown in Figure 1. For connection of one treatment unit to the other, as illustrated in the perspective view of Figure 7 showing an intermediate treatment unit 12, the flanges 60, 60′ are provided with a pluraity of boltholes 78, 78′. For connecting adjacent two treatment unit, positions of boltholes of one flange are coincided with those of another flange, then a bolt is inserted through each pair of boltholes and the two flanges are secured to each other by a nut mated with the bolt. A seal ring is interposed between one flange and the other to prevent leakage of steam or heated air. It is also preferable that adjacent treatment units are connected by utilizing concave and convex portions formed on the side section of each treatment unit to engage closely with each other. Any other connection manner is available so far as firm connection is securssured.

[0029] Nature of treatment to be peformed by the treatment untis 10, 12, 12′, 14 thus connected side by side or treat­ment conditions such as temperature, humidity, etc. can be either common in all of the units or different.

[0030] Thus, in the treatment apparatus of cloth assembled in such a manner that each housing of the treatment unit forming the apparatus is partitioned with a bulkhead, and that position of the exit 24 of the treatment unit 10 coincides with that of the entrance 58 of the unit 58, position of the exit 64 of the unit 12 coincides with that of the entrance 58 of the unit 12′, and position of the exit 64 of the unit 12′ coincides with that of the entrance 68 of the unit 14 as illustrated in Figure 1, a cloth C to be treated is first carried in the first treatment unit 10 through the entrance 18, then is subject to a required treatment while being carried into the housings 16, 56, 56, 66 of the treatment units 10, 12, 12′, 14 in order, and finally sent out through from the exit 74 of the unit 14.

[0031] It is not always necessary that entrance and exit of each treatment unit are positioned near the bottom section as is illustrated in Figure 1, but exits 24′, 64 and entrance 58′ may be located respectively at positions illustrated in Figure 8. It is not always necessary to form a fixed bulkhead on every side of the treatment units, but it may be satisfiable to interpose a detachable partition plate between the connecting sections of the housings of adjacent two treatment units when required. In this modification, volume of treatment space set to be a common treatment condition can be optionally changed to flexibly meet the situation, which sometime favorably results in easy control of the apparatus.

[0032] A specific example of treatment using the treatment apparatus of cloth of above construction is now described hereinafter. For performing a steaming of a cellulose cloth using this apparatus formed of seven or ten treatment units, for example, a cool air is supplied into housings of the first two units to reduce temperature of the cloth, a large amount of saturated steam is supplied to the housing of the third unit to increase condensed moisture on the cloth, and the similar saturated steam is supplied to each housing of the remaining units.

[0033] For baking a cloth with resin using heated air, temperature of the first treatment unit is set higher than that of the succeeding units to that temperature of the cloth increases to a required level in short time, thereby improving efficiency of the treatment.

[0034] While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodi­ments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and other changes and modifica­tions can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
The features disclosed in the foregoing description, in the claims and/or in the accompanying drawings may, both, separately and in any combination thereof, be material for realising the invention in diverse forms thereof.

Claims

1. A treatment unit of cloth comprising: a box-­shaped housing having an entrance for carrying a cloth in on one side and an exit for carrying the cloth out on the other side; a guide roller on which the cloth is put and transferred from said entrance to the exit; and treatment means for performing a required treatment by supplying the cloth with saturated steam, superheated steam, heated air, cool air, etc.

2. A treatment unit of cloth according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of guide rollers forming several pairs and each serving as an electrode are provided in the housing of each treatment unit, and each electrode is connected to a power source so that a positive voltage is applied to one of each pair of said guide rollers while a negative voltage is applied to the other of each pair, and a current is applied to a cloth dipped in a treating solution (electrolytic solution) to be impregnated therewith and bridged over between said pair of guide rollers by way of the solution to exnibit a current effect such as heat generation thereby performing a required treatment.

3. A treatment apparatus of cloth, wherein a plurality of treatment units set forth in claim 1 or 2 are arranged side by side in such a manner that, in the treatment units adjacent each other, a side of one unit having an exit for carrying a cloth out joins to a side of another having an entrance for carrying a cloth in, thus each treatment unit being able to be recombinated.

4. A treatment apparatus of cloth according to claim 3, wherein a plurality of treatment units in which nature and conditions of treatment are common are combined to form a treatment apparatus.

5. A treatment apparatus of cloth according to claim 3, wherein a plurality of treatment units in which nature and conditions of treatment are different are combined to form a treatment apparatus.

Drawing