Drying and gas or vapor contact with solids – Apparatus – Chamber seals
Patent
1993-10-18
1995-07-11
Gromada, Denise L.
Drying and gas or vapor contact with solids
Apparatus
Chamber seals
68 5E, F26B 2500
Patent
active
054309557
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an improved sealing device for feeding fabrics into a continuously decatizing autoclave.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is known to submit fabrics, for a better finish thereof, to a so-called decatizing operation wherein the fabric, coupled with a support element, called "back cloth", is subjected to steam action in association with a determined mechanical behaviour. There are various types of decatizing, above all according to the mechanical action exerted, e.g. of either compression or drawing, or depending on the fact that decatizing is made freely or in autoclave.
It is also known that the best results of decatizing are obtained in an autoclave at the inside of which the fabric piece is fed in subsequent batches, being wound on a perforated cylinder. The decatizing operation in the autoclave has been tentatively made continuous, and affords remarkable advatanges by eliminating the need of opening the autoclave, taking off the treated fabric roll therefrom and introducing the subsequent roll with consequent dead times and reduction of productivity, as well as the generation of transient periods at each cycle before reaching the value of normal working pressure within the autoclave.
With the Italian Patent No. 1.202.577 in the name of the same applicant has been proposed an autoclave continuously decatizing apparatus which solved most of the difficulties that in the past had prevented adequate development of this technology. However there still remained certain unsolved problems relating mainly to the steam tightness in the zone where the fabric with the back cloth is fed and the so-called "sandwich" gets off from the autoclave. As a matter of fact in the continuos autoclave decatizing a zone of communication with the outside cannot be avoided which, even if reduced to a slot only, provides for leakage of the pressurized steam.
Therefore it is an object of the present invention to provide a device for feeding a fabric into an autoclave and for the withdrawal therefrom such as to show an efficient seal action against steam under pressure in spite of having a particularly simple structure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The device according to the invention comprises a cylinder which substantially occupies the whole space of the autoclave inlet and outlet slot, as it is rotatably mounted about its longitudinal axis positioned at a transverse direction to the fabric forward movement. A first resilient sealing means is provided at two opposite generatrices of the cylinder, suitable to improve adherence between feeding cylinder and fabric, as well as to avoid steam leakages. A second lateral sealing means is also provided, of resilient character, at both ends of the cylinder with respect to the side walls of said slot.
According to a preferred embodiment said first sealing means comprises inflatable tubes under pressure and in an even more preferred way between said sealing means and the fabric there is placed an anti-friction material sheet to reduce wear.
According to another preferred embodiment said second lateral sealing means comprises resilient disk components of the cylinder being suitable to press the end elements of the cylinder, formed of anti-friction disks, towards the side walls of the slot, these latter being possibly movable and in this case there being provided means for elastically biasing in turn said movable walls from opposite sides against the ends of said cylinder.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and additional objects, advantages and characteristics of the device according to the present invention will become clearer from the following description given by way of example with reference to the drawings in which:
FIG. 1 shows a cross-section view of a continuous decatizing autoclave provided with the improved seal feeding device according to the invention; and
FIG. 2 shows a view, in an enlarged scale, of only the detail relating to the feeding device as viewed in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIO
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patent: 4301665 (1981-11-01), Lopata
patent: 4622758 (1986-11-01), Lehtinen et al.
patent: 5301521 (1994-04-01), Bertoldo
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