Drying and gas or vapor contact with solids – Process – With nondrying treating of material
Patent
1997-03-18
1998-09-29
Bennett, Henry A.
Drying and gas or vapor contact with solids
Process
With nondrying treating of material
34422, 34430, 34446, 34452, 34477, 34542, 34115, 34649, F26B 700
Patent
active
058131353
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to apparatus and a process for rapidly conditioning textile fabrics that consist of or contain hydrophilic or hygroscopic material, for example such as wool. It will be convenient to hereinafter describe the invention with particular reference to the conditioning of wool fabrics or wool containing fabrics, but it is to be understood that the invention can be used for conditioning fabrics containing other types of fibres of known thermodynamic properties.
BACKGROUND
The conditioning of a textile fabric involves treating the fabric to increase its moisture content to a desired uniform level. The desirability of controlling the moisture content of fabrics to enhance processing operations and properties (for example look and feel) of final products is well known. For example, to enable wool containing fabric to be efficiently treated in a pressure decatiser requires the wool fibres to contain at least 15% regain moisture.
Known fabric conditioning processes include leaving the fabric spread out within an air conditioned room with the correct humidity for over twenty four hours to allow it to come to equilibrium with the ambient air, or, more usually, treating the fabric with a water spray or steam. The former method is slow and thus not cost efficient and the latter method, although more rapid, produces very variable results insofar as the moisture may reside on the outside surfaces of the fibres and not be incorporated within their structure, the moisture may not be uniformly distributed across a fabric (which problem is exacerbated if the moisture content of a fabric prior to the addition of water is unknown and not uniform), and the stability of the moisture content is not ensured.
Consequently a conditioning process which involves equilibrating a fabric with an atmosphere of known humidity and temperature, as in the former of the abovementioned known processes but which is much more rapid, is desirable. One proposal for such a process is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,604,124 in the name of Medley et al. This proposal involves providing a supply of air of closely controlled temperature and humidity, including ensuring that the total moisture content of the air is gaseous, and forcing it through a fabric. In the Medley et al process a relationship for the velocity of the air stream is given which includes the weight of the fabric as a factor. The patent also discloses apparatus for performing the process which includes a humidifying device. The Medley et al disclosure in relation to this humidifying device states "Air is humidified to controlled conditions by evaporation of water from a large surface area or by some other humidifying device such as mixing steam with the air . . . It is important that the total moisture content of the air is gaseous . . . This is achieved by temperature control by means of heating heat exchange surfaces . . . or by means of cooling heat exchange surface . . .".
The researchers involved in commercialising the Medley et al process were not able to develop apparatus to control the process variables with a sufficient degree of accuracy and consistency as to be cost effective for use in the textile industry. Consequently an apparatus as disclosed in the Medley et al patent has never been manufactured commercially.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The present invention offers an apparatus for performing a process similar to the Medley et al process (but in which there is not any relationship between the velocity of an air stream and the weight of a fabric being conditioned, as will be described herein below) in which the processing conditions are readily controllable.
According to the invention apparatus is provided for conditioning textile fabrics including, a chamber including means for transporting a fabric through the chamber, fan means having an inlet connected to draw an air stream through a fabric as it is transported through the chamber and an outlet connected to direct an air stream into the chamber, said inlet also being connected t
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patent: 5301521 (1994-04-01), Bertoldo
patent: 5383289 (1995-01-01), Webb et al.
Michie Neville A.
Tester David H.
Bennett Henry A.
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
Gravini Steve
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