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(11) | EP 2 955 261 A1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | Up-inclined coveyor-driving fabric dyeing machine |
| (57) An up-inclined conveyor-driving fabric dyeing machine includes a machine body that
is arranged in a front-high-and-rear-low up-inclined configuration. A liquid storage
tank is mounted to a bottom of a rear end of the machine body to receive dye liquid
falling down from a rear end of a dyeing tube. Thus, the amount of the dye liquid
used can be greatly reduced. Further, with such an up-inclined configuration of the
dyeing machine, the dyeing tube can be arranged in a horizontal or slightly inclined
manner to reduce the heights of a fabric guide roller and the conveyor and thus reduce
the distance between the fabric guide roller and the conveyor device, thereby reducing
the stretching force and tensile force applied to the fabric during the dyeing process.
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(a) Technical Field of the Invention
[0001] The present invention generally relates to a dyeing machine for dyeing fabrics, and more particularly to a dyeing machine that remarkably reduces water consumption so as to reduce the use of stream, chemical agents, and dye stuff, making the cost of fabric dyeing more economic and better meeting the need for environmental conservation, and also helping protect the fabric from being damaged by excessive stretching forces during the dyeing process.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
[0002] In a conventional fabric dyeing machine, when a fabric is circulated and thus dyed in a machine body thereof, since the fabric, in moving frontward from a rear end of the dyeing machine, is assisted by the flotation of the dye liquid and the driving force of the dye liquid, the rear end of the machine body is generally designed to be horizontal or relatively high, while the front end is made lower so as to show a front-low-rear-high inclined configuration. Thus, the conventional dyeing machine has the following disadvantages in respect of the conveyance of the fabric:
- (1) The fabric is moved (forward) by being driven by the dye liquid with the fabric immersed in or floating on the dye liquid, so that the liquor ratio must be extremely large, requiring a great amount of dye liquid to enable circulation and movement of the fabric; the amount of water used is relatively great; the fabric may move irregularly with the dye liquid, making it hard to control the circulation and susceptible to entangling; and the circulation speed of the fabric is unstable and variable, making the cycle time of circulation differ greatly.
- (2) Although the fabric is afloat with the flotage of the dye liquid, most of the fabric still sinks down to the bottom of dyeing bath, so that the fabric may get pilling and scraped during the conveyance thereof due to abrasion between the fabric and the wall of the dye bath and the fabric may be further damaged in respect of the construction and characteristics thereof due to the stretching forces induced in driving the fabric.
- (3) The dye liquid that is applied to dye the fabric and then falls down in the rear end of the dye tube must flows from the rear end of the machine body to the front end that is at a relative lower position and the dye liquid must be then drawn and pumped by a pump to a nozzle for further driving the fabric to circulate, so that a great amount of liquid is needed in the dye bath of the machine body and thus a great consumption of the dye liquid may result.
- (4) Since the fabric is conveyed with the dye liquid, in addition to the great consumption of water, the liquor ratio may get varying greatly when the actual loading of fabric applied is less than the minimal loading capacity, whereby, besides the great consumption of water, other shortcomings, such as poor reproductivity, batch deviation, and color mismatching, may occur.
[0003] Further, since the rear end of the machine body of the conventional dyeing machine is set at a location higher than the front end, the fabric guide roller must be set at a higher location inside the machine body, making the stretching force or tension force that the fabric guide roller applies to the fabric or the fabric self weight increased, leading to the problem of damaging the construction and characteristics of the fabric.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide a dyeing machine that greatly reduces the amount of the dye liquid (namely the amount of water) used as compared to a conventional fabric dyeing machine so as to further reduce the cost of dyeing fabrics and to promote the effect of environmental protection.
[0005] Another object of the present invention is to provide a dyeing machine that reduces the height distance between a fabric guide roller and a conveyor device in order to allow the fabric that is driven by the fabric guide roller and the conveyor device to subject to a decreased stretching force and thus protecting the fabric from damage of the construction and characteristics thereof.
[0006] A feature of the present invention is that a liquid storage tank is mounted to a bottom of a rear end of a fabric dyeing machine so that the dye liquid contained in the machine body, after dyeing a fabric within a nozzle and a dyeing tube, can be all collected and accumulated in the liquid storage tank except the fraction of the dye liquid that is contained in the fabric, allowing a pump to directly suck the dye liquid from the liquid storage tank and pumping it through a heat exchanger to be conveyed to the nozzle to complete a dyeing cycle. Further, since the pump is allowed to directly suck the dye liquid from the rear end of the machine body, the water consumption for the dye liquid to flow from a rear end of the machine body to the front end can be eliminated. Further, a liquid storage tank, which receives and preserves the dye liquid therein, has a planar surface area that is smaller than the dyeing bath so that the liquid level can be heightened, facilitating the pumping operation of the pump, preventing vacuum induced through evacuation, reducing the amount of liquid required for the circulation, thereby greatly reducing the amount of dye liquid used, reducing fabric dyeing expense, and being more environmentally conservative.
[0007] Another feature of the present invention is that the bottom of the rear end of the machine body of the dyeing machine is set at a lower position, while the front end is set a higher position to show an up-inclined configuration so that besides reducing the height of the fabric guide roller inside the machine body, the distance between the fabric guide roller and the conveyor device is also shortened to reduce the stretching force applied to moving the fabric by the fabric guide roller and the own weight of the wetting fabric.
[0008] The technical solution of the present invention is that within a machine body of a dyeing machine, a dyeing tube is arranged in a horizontal or slightly inclined configuration and a conveyor device is set up in the machine body of the dyeing machine to be substantially parallel to the machine body and showing a front-high-and-rear-low up-inclined configuration. The conveyor device can be made up of a single conveyance belt or a plurality of conveyance belts according to the needs of applications. A nozzle and a fabric guide roller are arranged in the front end of the machine body. The conveyor device conveys a fabric from the rear end of the machine body to the front end to pass through the fabric guide roller to enter the nozzle and the dyeing tube for interacting with the dye liquid to accomplish dyeing. The machine body is arranged to have the front end thereof higher than the rear end so that the machine body shows an up-inclined configuration with the front end higher than the rear end. A liquid storage tank is mounted to the bottom of the rear end of the machine body. The liquid storage tank has a bottom that is connected via piping, a pump, and a heat exchanger to the nozzle. The pump sucks and pumps the dye liquid from the liquid storage tank to pass through the heat exchanger to reach and be ejected from the nozzle, whereby the dye liquid is allowed to subsequently return from the rear end of the dyeing tube to directly fall back into the liquid storage tank so as to complete circulation of the dye liquid.
[0009] In a preferred embodiment, the present invention comprises a filter mounted in the liquid storage tank to filter off the fluff from the fabric or impurities, which entrain the dye liquid, in order to eliminate the water consumption for installation of an additional filtration tank.
[0010] The present invention provides a liquid storage tank that is arranged at the rear end of the machine body, has a relatively small capacity, but provides a liquid level difference that is relatively higher than the machine body to serve as a container for collecting and accumulating the dye liquid, so as to eliminate the problem of consuming a great amount of dye liquid. Further, the up-inclined machine body of the dyeing machine also helps reduce the height of the fabric guide roller that is located at a high position and thus shortening the distance between the high-position fabric guide roller and the low-position conveyor device, thereby reducing the stretching force and the own weight of the fabric that the fabric guide roller applies to move the fabric.
[0011] The foregoing objectives and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.
[0012] Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013]
FIG 1 is a schematic view showing the structure of a dyeing machine according to the present invention.
FIG 2 is a schematic view showing the structure of a dyeing machine according to another embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0014] The following descriptions are exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
[0015] As shown in FIG 1, the present invention provides an up-inclined conveyor-driving fabric dyeing machine, which comprises a dyeing tube 12 that is arranged at the top portion of a machine body 1 to in a horizontal or slightly inclined configuration to allow a fabric to pass therethrough. Mounted inside the machine body 1 at high locations are a nozzle 5 and a fabric guide roller 4. An idler 41 is mounted below the fabric guide roller 4. The machine body 1 is set in an inclined configuration with a front end at a higher location and a rear end at a lower location, so that an angle θ is present between a bottom of the machine body 1 and the horizon. The angle θ can be varied according to practical needs. A liquid storage tank 6 is arranged at the bottom of the rear end and a bottom of the liquid storage tank 6 is connected by piping to the nozzle 5. The piping comprises a pump 7 and a heat exchanger 8 mounted thereto. The pump 7 is further connected by piping to a chemical tank11. Arranged inside a lower portion of the machine body 1 under the dyeing tube 12 is a conveyor device 2 that shows an up-inclined configuration with a higher front end and a lower rear end. The conveyor device 2 may be made up of a single conveyance belt or multiple conveyance belts according to the needs of applications. Preferably, the liquid storage tank 6 may comprise a filter 61 mounted therein. The control of a dyeing process and the control of the dyeing machine can be controlled with a control box 9.
[0016] The fabric 3, after being deposited into the machine body 1, passes through the idler 41 within the machine body 1 and is driven the fabric guide roller 4 into the nozzle 5 to enter the dyeing tube 12 and then drops down onto the conveyor device 2 to be conveyed in a circulating manner. During the circulating conveyance of the fabric 3, the pump 7 pumps dye liquid L that is accumulated in the liquid storage tank 6 and the machine body of the dyeing machine to first pass through the heat exchanger 8 and then ejected through the nozzle 5 to assist driving the fabric 3 forward. The dye liquid L also interacts with and thus dyes the fabric 3 within the nozzle 5 and the dyeing tube 12. The dye liquid L that falls down from a rear end of the dyeing tube 12 returns to the bottom of the machine body with a major portion of the dye liquid L dropping directly into the liquid storage tank 6.
[0017] Fullfs that detach from the fabric 3 during conveyance and dyeing are filtered off by the filter 61 when the dye liquid L flows into the liquid storage tank 6.
[0018] Further, since the machine body 1 of the present invention is set in an up-inclined configuration, the height of the fabric guide roller 4 is reduced, meaning the distance between the fabric guide roller 4 and the conveyor device 2 is shortened, allowing the stretching force applied to the fabric 3 passing over the fabric guide roller 4 to be reduced, thereby preventing the potential risks of damaging the construction and the characteristics of the fabric.
[0019] FIG 2 is a schematic view showing an up-inclined dyeing machine according to another embodiment of the present invention. The dyeing machine is equipped with a fabric guide roller 4, a nozzle 5, a conveyor device 2, a dyeing tube 12, a pump 7, a heat exchanger 8, a liquid storage tank 6, a filter 61, a control box 8, and a chemical tank 11 similar to those of the machine body 1 of the previous dyeing machine. A major difference between them is that in the previous up-inclined dyeing machine, the dyeing tube 12 is arranged above the conveyor device 2, while in the instant embodiment, the dyeing tube 12 is located under the conveyor device 2.
[0020] The dyeing machine of the present invention as described above provides at least the following advantages:
- (1) Since the fabric is not driven by the dye liquid (namely water quantity) to move in the machine body, the liquor ratio can be made extremely low so as to greatly save dyes, chemical agents, energy, and expenditure for waste water treatment.
- (2) Since the machine body is of an up-inclined configuration, the dye liquid is concentrated at the rear end of the machine body to be directly pumped by the pump from the rear end of the machine body, eliminating the water consumption for the dye liquid to flow from the rear end of the machine body to the front end of the machine body.
- (3) Since the machine body is of an up-inclined configuration, the height of the fabric guide roller is reduced thereby shortening the distance between the fabric guide roller and the conveyor device, so that the stretching force applied to the fabric passing over the fabric guide roller is reduced to prevent the potential risk of damaging the construction and characteristics of the fabric.
- (4) Since the fabric is moved by being supported on the conveyance belt of the conveyor device, getting pilling and scraped due to abrasion with the surface of the bath are avoided; the fabric is not subjected to stretching force that may damage the construction of the fabric; and due to the fabric is separated from water, knotting and entangling of the fabric can be eliminated, allowing the fabric to be circulated in a smooth and stable manner with constant speed.
[0021] It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.
[0022] While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.
1. An up-inclined conveyor-driving fabric dyeing machine, comprising a machine body inside
which a conveyor device is arranged, characterized in that:
the machine body is arranged in an up-inclined configuration with a front end at a high position and a rear end at a low position, the machine body comprising a dyeing tube that is arranged in a horizontal or slightly inclined configuration, whereby the front-high-and-rear-low configuration of the machine body helps reduce the height of a fabric guide roller with respect to the conveyor device so as to reduce a stretching force applied to the fabric.
2. The up-inclined conveyor-driving fabric dyeing machine according to claim 1, wherein
a liquid storage tank is arranged at a bottom of the rear end of the machine body
and the liquid storage tank has a bottom that is connected via a pump to a nozzle,
whereby the pump directly draws and pumps dye liquid received in the liquid storage
tank to the nozzle and the dyeing tube to dye a fabric and then directly drop down
back to the liquid storage tank.
3. The up-inclined conveyor-driving fabric dyeing machine according to claim 1, wherein
the liquid storage tank comprises a filter mounted therein.
4. The up-inclined conveyor-driving fabric dyeing machine according to claim 1, wherein
the conveyor device is arranged at an inclination angle corresponding to the machine
body and the conveyor device comprises a single conveyance belt.
5. The up-inclined conveyor-driving fabric dyeing machine according to claim 1, wherein
the conveyor device is arranged at an inclination angle corresponding to the machine
body and the conveyor device comprises multiple conveyance belts.
6. The up-inclined conveyor-driving fabric dyeing machine according to claim 1, wherein
the dyeing tube is arranged above the conveyor device.
7. The up-inclined conveyor-driving fabric dyeing machine according to claim 1, wherein
the dyeing tube is arranged under the conveyor device.
Amended claims in accordance with Rule 137(2) EPC.
1. An up-inclined conveyor-driving fabric dyeing machine, comprising a machine body inside
which a conveyor device is arranged, characterized in that:
the machine body is arranged in an up-inclined configuration with a front end at a high position and a rear end at a low position, the machine body comprising a dyeing tube that is arranged in a horizontal configuration, a fabric guide roller being arranged to drive fabric into a nozzle to enter the dyeing tube, the nozzle ejecting dye liquid to assist driving the fabric forward, whereby the front-high-and-rear-low configuration of the machine body in combination with the horizontal configuration of the dyeing tube helps reduce the height of the fabric guide roller with respect to the conveyor device arranged inside the machine body so as to reduce a stretching force applied to the fabric.
2. The up-inclined conveyor-driving fabric dyeing machine according to claim 1, wherein
a liquid storage tank is arranged at a bottom of the rear end of the machine body
and the liquid storage tank has a bottom that is connected via a pump to a nozzle,
whereby the pump directly draws and pumps dye liquid received in the liquid storage
tank to the nozzle and the dyeing tube to dye a fabric and then directly drop down
back to the liquid storage tank.
3. The up-inclined conveyor-driving fabric dyeing machine according to claim 1, wherein
the liquid storage tank comprises a filter mounted therein.
4. The up-inclined conveyor-driving fabric dyeing machine according to claim 1, wherein
the conveyor device is arranged at an inclination angle corresponding to the machine
body and the conveyor device comprises a single conveyance belt.
5. The up-inclined conveyor-driving fabric dyeing machine according to claim 1, wherein
the conveyor device is arranged at an inclination angle corresponding to the machine
body and the conveyor device comprises multiple conveyance belts.
6. The up-inclined conveyor-driving fabric dyeing machine according to claim 1, wherein
the dyeing tube is arranged above the conveyor device.
7. The up-inclined conveyor-driving fabric dyeing machine according to claim 1, wherein
the dyeing tube is arranged under the conveyor device.