CA1039938A - Production of bulked and/or crimped yarn - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for bulking and/or crimping multifilament yarns by driving the yarn in a stream of gaseous fluid through a passage containing a constriction is cleaned by introducing periodically upstream from the constriction a quantity of non-gaseous material in the form of discrete particles into the fluid stream. Apparatus for performing the cleaning action includes means arranged to introduce the non-gaseous material into the fluid stream in the form of discrete particles. The non-gaseous material may be a solid material or a liquid material.

Description

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This inven-tion relates to the method of and apparatus ~or production o~ textured, i.e. bulked and/or crimped yarn in which a jet of gaseous fluid is arranged to `-pass through a constriction along with the yarn. ~his method ~;
and this apparatus are often referred to as a ~et texturing method and apparatus. The constriction is often referred to as a nozzle, but cons~riction is a more accurate term.
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In the production of bulked and/or crim~ed yarn it is`
always the aim to cause the quality of the yarn to remain as nearly constant as possible. By constancy of quality is meant mainly a constancy of bulk dens ty of the yarn along the - `
yarn. The bulk density influ~nces a number of characteristics of the yarn and particularly ~he ability of the yarn to take up dye. In operation of ev-ery jet texturing process and app~ratus lS the cross sectional area oE the const~iction tnrough which the jet of fluid and yarn pass is a parameter having a ~ `
considerable e~fect in determining dire~tly or i~directly certain important characteri~tics o~ the bulked ~d/or crimped yarn leaving the apparatus and also a considerable ef~ect on the operating characteristics of the ap~aratus itself.
Most yarns contain quantities of various types of material int~ ded to enhqnce particular characteristics of the yarn such a~ lustre and smooth~ess. These materials, de~radation pro~ucts thereof and oligomer produce debris which collects as a graduall~
~5 accumulating deposit in the constriction. An oligomer is a ` short chain polymer which under certain conditio~s is forced to the surface of a filament containing long chain polymers. The growing deposit continuously alters the effective cross sectional area of the constr~ction resulting in '`~.: ' ~' .

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-, : . ~ ; ,: . -a continuous alteration in those characteristics of yarn passing through the constri~ction which are dependent on the cross sectional area of the constriction Heretofore at the - high rates of throughput possible using a jet texturing method the build up of the deposit in the constriction although -gradual is rapid, so rapid in fact that the apparatus can in - `
some circumstances be operated for only two or three h~u~
before it has to be taken out of service and the débris removed or the part of the apparatus containing the constr~ction replaced by a clean part. This is the usual practice to save -- time. Theæ cleaning or replacemen~ operations are time ~onsuming in a multi-head machine treating several yarns ~ -~
simultaneously, c~use loss of output and add considerably to the ; cost of operation of the machine since often at least o~e technician is employed full time on the operation.
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It should he here remarked that the invention which i8 the subject o~ our ~ x~ patant no. 975941 dèscribes a method and apparatus which compensa~es for, inter alia, considerable variation in the cross-section area of the .t : ' ' -"' '; , '' ' constriction in the gaseous ~luid passage of a jet tex~uring -.-~ ... .
:` apparatus but the invention o~ patent no. 975941 -~ ~
` t~ " ' -inso~ar as it compensates for, among other things, a r~duction in the effective cross sectional area of the constriction does not prevent the reduction in e~ective , ~ . , ~i. .
cross sectional area of the constriction. ~hus what happens is ~, that the effec~ive cross sectional area of the constr~ction ,`
ultimately becomes so small that the compensation provided ~
- re~uires the use o~ operating conditions which ara damaging -~ 3~

~03~938 to the fibre and/or cause operating difficulties e.g. the temperature of the operating fluid may become high enough by operation of the compensating apparat~s to damage the fibre and/or there may be diminished ~luid ~low through the constriction sufficient to cause an unacceptable raduction in the aspiration capacity of the apparatus, i.e. the capacity of the apparatus to draw yarn into the apparatus for treatment.
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Heretofore the removal of the deposits of debris has been such a costly factor in the operation of jet texturing apparatus that in uncontrolled je~ texturing apparatus i.e. an apparatus not including a co~persating device compensating ~or change in operating characteristics such as that which is the subject of our prior patent no. 975941 the deposits of débris cannot be economically removed as often as they should be to keep the quality of the output yarn within the limlts o~ variation which are normally substantially undetectable. ~he usual practice i~3 then to open the apparatus and remove the débris only as often as can be done economically . .
and accept a larger than desirable variation in quality, r-mainly dye-uptake ability. This causes a low-frequency variation in quality the undesirable effect of which is discussed more ~ully in the specification of patentapp. no.
232203 and although the in~ention which is the ~ ~
sub3ect o~ patent app. no. 232203 ~ ;
performs what it sets out to do the task of that invention is made the more difficult by the change occurring in the cross sectional area o~ the constriction by the accumulation .~ - , ~ therein o~ oligomer and yarn dressing material and ~. . . ..
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products thereof. ! ~;

It would obviously be of considerable advantage in any jet texturing apparatus as well as in apparatus employing the invention described in the speciflcation of patent no. 975941 to be -able to perform on e~ch apparatvs without dismantling the apparatus a cleaning operation which is su~ficiently effective to render possible an appreciable extension of the time the apparatus can remain in service before it ~--~
has to be dismantled for examination and possibly more thorough cleaning.

It i~ an object o~ the present invention to produce by the ~t texturing process a bulked yarn which can be maintained with a quality which is more regular than it has been heretofore possible to obtain by an uncontrolled jet texturing apparatus i.e. an apparatus not including a compensating device as previously defined, and with the ;~
expenditure of less maintenance cost and with less loss of output because of the longer operating periods possible between successive dismantling operations.

` It is also an object of the invention to provide amethod of removing deposits of débris from a jet texturing ;
apparatus in situ.
It is also an object of the invention to provide an ; 25 apparatus for performing the method.

~` A method of producing bulked and/or crimped yarn in a ..' ;' ' .
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jet texturing apparatus comprises entraining multifilament yarn in a stream of gaseous fluid,reducing the cross sectional area of the stream of yarn and gaseous fluid at one position in the stream by passing the stream through a constriction and introducing periodically a quantity of non-gaseous material into the stream of gaseous fluid at a point Up3 tre~m from the constriction.

The invention also includes a method of removing débris from a iet texturing apparatus incorporati~g a pass~ge connectible to a supply of gaseous fluid ana containin~ a constriction c~nd means for guiding yarn into the passage at a point upstream from the constriction by introducing periodically into the passage at~a point upstream ~rom the constrLction a quantity of non-gaseous material in the Eorm of discrete particles.
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~he non-gaseous material ~nd ~he ~a8eous fluifl ~ay be the ~ame material in di~ferent physical states or may be ., . :
different materials.
~, ~ere the opera-ting fluid is stea~ the non-gaseous material is preferably water in the form of droplets.

The non-gaseous material may be a solid in powder form, ~or example, carbonundum or sand or aluminium oxide ~ or chalk, or m~y be one of the dressing materials or of at - least one constituent o~ the dressing material with which the particular yarn being bulked and/or crimped is impregnated to improve its qualities.

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~)3993~3 The invention also includes apparatus ~or producing bulked and/or crimped yarn incorporating a passage connectible ~ -to a supply of gaseous fluid, means for bulking and/or crimping yarn located in the passage, said means including a constr~ction in the passage, means for conducting yarn into the passaO~e at a point upstream from the constri.ction, and means capa~le of introducing non-gaseous material in the form of discrete particles into the passage at a point upstream from the constriction.

The means for introducing the non-gaseous material-where this is a liquid may include an injector connectible to a supply of li~uid under pressure.
A timing device may be arranged to con-trol autom~tically the introduction of the non-gaseou~ material at predetermined intervals and for a predetermined length of time. ',~here it is considered necessar~ or.desirable to intenupt the winding of the bulked and/or crimped yarn durin~ the debri~ removing. . ..
operation the timing device may be operative to divert the yarn . from the winding app~ratus. . -.
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It is to be understood that the method and apparatus of the inven-tion are inten,~ea ~or application to all types of jet texturing apparatus whe-ther or not they are -fitted with any form of compensating apparatus such.as that which is the subject of our prior patent ..
. -Practical embodiments of the invention are illustrated .~ .

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in the accompanying di~grammatic drawings in which Fig. 1 illustrates the invention applied to the form of bulking device which iB the ~bject of our prior~patent no. 975941 and Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate other known types of jet bulking apparatus showing the invention applied thereto.

In the arawings and referring first to Fig. 1, the bulking and/or crimping device is denoted generally by the numeral 1 and includes a passage having three portions 2, 3 and 4 of which the portion 4 represents a constriction. ;
5 denotes anentry for gaseous fluid into the portion 2 o~ the passage, i.e. upstream from the constriction 4. Yarn 6 is guided into the portion 2 of the passage throu~s,h the yarn ~uide passa~e 7 which iB located upstream from the constriction 4. In operation o~ the device the yarn 6 on entering the passage portion 2 through the guide passage 7 is ~ntrained by the gaseous fluid entering through the entr~ 5 ~nd is carried into the passage portior~ 3 con~tituting an chamber inte-mediate pressure/where the yarn ~ilaments are separated by the expansion of the gaseous fluid as indicated at 8. The -yarn is thsn carried forward into the constriction 4 and into the stu~er tube 9. It is at the entry end of the constriction 4 that the troublesome debris is deposited as indicated at 10.
$he means for introducing the non-gaseous material includes . ~ . .
a closed container 11 containïng liquid 12 which is under pressure of gas confined in the space 13 above the liquid.
The container 11 is connected to a distributer 14 which contains .
a rotatable member 15 formed with a passagel6 which on rotation : ` ` ~ ` " ' ' ` ' ` ~"`,.' `, '': ` ~' '".`';` ``` ` "; ~ ;

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~Q39938 of the member 14 is brought into communication with discharge ` ' passages leading to individual bulking and/or crim~ing heads of the bul~ing ~nd/or crimping machine, such a machine ' nor~ally being fitted with several bulking heads although only one is illus~rated for convenience. 17 and 18 denote `-two such passages. The passage 17 is shown as leading into the portion 2 of the passage for gaseous fluid, i.e. at a point '' upstream from the constriction 4. The passage 18 and other pa~ages leading from the distributer 14 but not illustrated '~
are similarly connected to other bulking and/or crimpin~
head~. The rotatable member 15 is rotated by a dri-ring device '`- -19 to bring the passage 16 and thus the co~tainer 1] into comm~nication with each bulking and/or crimping head in turn.
Therefore the pressurized gas in the space 13 ~orces some of the liquid 12 in the form of a spray of discrete particles ,' through the respective passages 17 as illus-trated as an example, into the stream of gaseous fluid on it~ way towards `' the constriction 4 and the deposi~'of debrie 10. ~he stream ,`
of gaseous fluid carries the partic:Les of liquid with it. The ~, cleaning action is believed to be performed partly by impact '~
of the particles against the deposit similar to a sho~
blasting operation and partly by flashing o~ the particles of liquid into vapour in the vicinity of the deposit thus , ', providing an explosive effect. Whatever,the action the deposit ~ .
10 is found to be removed almost instantaneously leaving the constriction 4 completely clean and restoring the original ~ -, operating conditions. The cleaning ac~on requires to be ~ , ~erformed usually at intervals of several hours althol~gh the actuaj~

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interval depends ~o a large extent on the type of yarn being bulked and/or crimpe~ and the materials with ~rhich the yarn has been impreg~ated. A timing device 20 is arranged to ~.
connect the ~assa~e 16 of the distributer to each head 10 autom~tically a-t intervals found to be appropriate for the ~ ~.
particular yarn being bulked. Where it is considered desirable to interrupt winding of the bulked and/or crimped yarn during the cleaning operation the tin~ng device 20 may also be arranged to divert the yal~ leaving the stuffer tube 9 while the container 11 is connected to the bu.lking and~or Grimping head assoc.iated wi~h thzt stuf~er tube.

With reference to tha construction illustrated in Fig. 2 the bulking and/or crimping head i~ denoted generally by the numeral 21 and includes a body member 22 formed w~th a passa~e having two portions 23 and 24 of..~hich the portion 24 represent~ a constrictioxL. 25 denote~ an entry for gaseous fluid into the portion 23 i.e. at a point upstream from the constriction 24 and 26 denotes guide means for g~liding yarn 27 into the portion 23, i.e. also upstream ~
of the constriction 24, from which portion 23 the yarn is propelled through the constrictio~ 24 and into a stuffer -tube 28. In this bulking and/or crimping head the deposit builds up in the constriction 24 as is indicated at 29. 30 denotes a force pump the inlet line 31 of which is connected to a supply of liquid and 32 denotes a discharge ~ .
nozzle ~/hich opens into the gas entry line 25. The plunger 33 .~ ' .. .... . . . . ~ ~ ~
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o~ -the pump i~ connected to the armature 34 of a solenoid coil 35 connected electrically to a switch or to a timing device.

In operation of this device tha solenoid 35 is energi~ed when it is desired to clean the constriction -24. The arm~ture 34 is pulled into the coil 35 and thereupon .
dri~es the plunger 33 into the pump cylinder thus expelling ~- -~ quantity of liquid in a spray of droplets through -the discharge nozzle 32 into the gas entry line 25, the liquid -droplets being carried along by the gaseous fluid into the portion 23 and from there into the constriction 24, in its ' passa~e removing the deposit 29 from the constriction 24. `

Referring to Fig. 3 the ~ulking and/or crimping head is indicated generall~ b~ the numeral 36 and includes a passage which ha~ing three portions 37, 38 and 39 of/the portion 39 represents a con~triction. 40 denotes a line for bringinO gaseous fluid into the portion 39, i.e. upstream from the constriction 39. Yarn 41 is guided into the portion ~9, i.e. ups-tream from -the `
constriction 39 and carried by gaseous fluid issuing ~rom the portion 37 into the constriction 39 when it is crimped and to some extent ex-tent bulked and carried ~'orward into the stuffer tube 42. In this particular construction the deposit , ~ -indicated at 43 tends to form around the entry to the portion ~ ~ ~
39. The cleaning part of the apparatus include~ a solid - : -particle iniector incorporating a body 44 form2d with a chamber ; `
45 and debouching into the gaseous fluid line 40 through a `-~
nozzle 46. A hopper 47 containing a solid in finely divided . . ~ . - , ' ' ,:` ,':

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is arranged to discharge into the chamber 45O A gas noz~.le 48 the flow o~ gas to.which is controlled by a valve 49 is arranged to discharge into the chamber 45 in a position to entrain gr~lated or po~r~dered solid matter lying in the chamber 45 and project it fPrwardly into the gaseous fluid line 40. The valve 49 is operatively connectea to an operatin~ mechanism 50 connectea to a switch or a timing device. 57 denotes a valve ~or isolatlng the chamber 45 from tha gaseous fluid llne 40.

In operation of the construction of ~ig. 3 solid material in finely divided form e.g. in the form o~ powder or fine granule3 is admitted to the cha~ber 45. When gas is admitted to the chamber 45 throug~ the nozzle 48 by openin~
o~ the valve 49 the gas ~tream projects the solid ma-terial into the gaseous fluid line 40 and the material is carried forwardly by tha ~aseous stream to th~ con~triction 39 when it removes the deposit 43 as previously described.
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To reduce the number of illustrations nece~sary in t'ne speci~ication each bulking and/or crimpin~ head illustrat~d-~as been sho~n a~sociated with a speci~ic lorm ol mech~nism .~.
~or injecting solid or liquid particles. It is to be ~mderstood~
however, that any of the solid or li,quid injecting mechanism shown can be operated with any o~ the bulking ~nd/or crimping heads illustra-ted and it is also to be understood th~t any other known type of mechanism ~or i~jecting solid or liquid particles can be used within the scope of the invention and tha-t the invention can be used with any type o~ jet bulking ~nd/or ', ~ 12-'- '' . ` . .:
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` 1(}39~38 head using gaseoui3 f]uid where deposits are likely to form.
. -The deposit removing operations described last only a fe~J seconds and there is no need to dismantle any part of the apparatus or to interrupt the actual operation ol the machine even ~here it is considered desirable to interrupt temporarily the feed of bulked ~nd/or crimped yarn to the winding apparatus.
. .: -, An additional saving apart from the great saving in labour cost and increase in production time lies also in ~he smaller number of spare pærts carrying the constrlctio~ which require to be kept. In a mach_ne in which the const~ictions require to be cleaned frequently it has been found necessa~y to provide about three of such parts per head so that there is a par ~n use, a spare part ~or replacement and a par~ being cleaned. In a twenty-four head machine this requires the provision of seventy-t~vo such parts. By the use o~ the present in~ention the interv~ls between cle~ling times are greatly extended and it is possible -to o~erate the machine with only a few spare p~rts. ~or example it has been found practicable ~ ~ -to operate a t~enty-~our head machina Y~ith as lew as six spare ; parts carrying the constriction. ~hese parts are precisio~
m~de pieces of equipment and the cost saving is thus considerable. Cleaning of the constriction is a labour intensive operation and the consequent savings in labour costs - ~
are also very signl~icant. Also of course each head spends ~ ~ ;
much higher ~roportio~ of its time in actual production since the loss of time is reduced during each cleanin~ operation to `~ only a ~eN seconds and there is no requirement to rethread the .,~ ~ ' .
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~03S~38 head after cleaning as is required with the normal procedure.

~here the non-gaseous cleaning materiai used does not require interruption of the winding operation there is of course no loss of output during the cleaning operation and the labour cost of diverting the yarn from the winding apparatus and reconnecting the yarn to the winding appara~us which would otherwise be incurred is saved.

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Claims (14)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A method of producing bulked and/or crimped multifilament yarn in a jet texturing apparatus by entraining yarn in a stream of gaseous fluid, reducing the cross-sectional area of the stream of yarn and gaseous fluid at one position in the stream by passing the stream through a constriction and introducing periodically a quantity of non-gaseous material in the form of discrete particles into.
the stream of gaseous fluid at a point upstream from the constriction.

2. A method of removing debris from a jet texturing apparatus incorporating a passage connectable to a supply of gaseous fluid and containing a constriction and means for conducting yarn into the passage at a point upstream from the constriction consisting of introducing periodically into the passage at a point upstream from the constriction a quantity of non-gaseous material in the form of discrete particles.

3. A method as claimed in claim 2 in which the non-gaseous material and the gaseous fluid are the same material in different physical states.

4. A method as claimed in claim 2 in which the non-gaseous material and the gaseous fluid are different materials.

5. A method as claimed in claim 3 in which the gaseous fluid is steam and the non-gaseous material is water in the form of droplets.

6. A method as claimed in claim 2 in which the non-gaseous material is a solid material in granular form.

7. A method as claimed in claim 6 in which the non-gaseous material is one of the materials with which yarn is customarily impregnated to improve its qualities.

8. A method as claimed in claim 6 in which the non-gaseous material is a material forming at least one constituent of the particular dressing material with which the particular yarn being bulked and/or crimped is impregnated.

9. Apparatus for producing bulked and/or crimped multifilament yarn incorporating a gas passage connectible to a supply of gaseous fluid and formed with a constriction, means for conducting yarn into the passage at a point upstream from the constriction and means capable of introducing non-gaseous material in the form of discrete particles into the passage at a point upstream from the constriction.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 9 in which the means for introducing non-gaseous material into the passage includes an injector connectible to a supply of liquid under pressure .

11. Apparatus as claimed in claim 10 in which the injector is connected to a closed container arranged to contain liquid and a compressed gas.

12. Apparatus as claimed in claim 9 for producing several bulked and/or crimped multifilament yarns simultaneously incorporating several passages each with its associated constriction therein, means for conducting yarn into the gas passage and an injector for injecting liquid into the gas passage including a distributing valve connected to a supply of liquid under pressure and having outlet passages connected individually to the injectors in the respective gas passages, the distributing valve being operative to conduct liquid under pressure to chosen injectors.

13. Apparatus as claimed in claim 9 incorporating timing means operative to control the introduction of the non-gaseous material into the passage at chosen intervals of time and for chosen periods of time.

14. Apparatus as claimed in claim 13 in which the timing valve is also operative to control the feed of the bulked and/or crimped yarn to winding mechanism and to discontinue the feed of yarn to the winding mechanism when it is operative to initiate the introduction of non-gaseous material into the passage.