GB2067614A

GB2067614A - A method of and apparatus for uniformly arranging the nap or pile of a cloth

Info

Publication number: GB2067614A
Application number: GB8101936A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Sando Iron Works Co Ltd
Current assignee: Sando Iron Works Co Ltd
Priority date: 1980-01-23
Filing date: 1981-01-22
Publication date: 1981-07-30
Also published as: JPS56107062A; DE3101386A1

Abstract

A long hair or fibre nap or pile of a cloth is arranged to lie uniformly in a particular direction by applying a treating solution, which may be a dye or pretreatment solution, to at least the nap surface of the cloth to enable the naps easily to lie down, and then brushing or combing the nap surface of the cloth to arrange the fibre or hair nap uniformly. Finally, the cloth is subjected to a wet-heat treatment to set the nap or pile. Suitable apparatus may include a treating solution tank 1 through which a cloth 2 is continuously passed, and a brush roll 7 to brush the hairs or fibres 2' of the cloth to lie uniformly directed along the length of the cloth. The treating solution content of the cloth is controlled by squeeze rolls 9 and 9' before the cloth is passed into a high pressure steamer (not shown) to set the nap. Alternatively, Fig. 2 (not shown), the treating solution is applied in the form of foam (11) by rolls (12, 12') before brushing and, if required, by further rolls (13, 13') after brushing. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A method of and apparatus for uniformly arranging the nap or pile of a cloth This invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for arranging the relatively long fibres or hairs of the nap or pile of a cloth such as a blanket or a carpet so that those fibres or hairs lie uniformly in a particular direction.

In the continuous dyeing or pretreating of a cloth having a long hair or fibre nap or pile, such as a blanket or a carpet, it is usual to soak the cloth with a treating solution such as a dye solution or a pretreating solution, to squeeze the cloth with a squeeze roll for controlling the content of the treating solution and then to subject the resultant cloth to a prescribed wet-heat treatment.

However, when the cloth has a relatively long hair or fibre nap, the nap (or pile) is ordinarily irregularly oriented so that the steps of applying a treating solution to the cloth, squeezing the cloth with the use of a pair of squeeze rolls and then wet-heat treating the cloth, the cloth is heat-set with the irregular nap or pile. This lowers the commercial value of the end product.

Furthermore, when the nap or pile of such a cloth is in a state of irregular orientation, since the hairs or fibres overlap one another irregularly, squeezing of the cloth becomes uneven, causing irregularity in the dyeing and pretreatment.

According to one aspect of this invention, there is provided a method for arranging relatively long hairs or fibres, of a nap or pile of a cloth so as to lie uniformly in a particular direction, comprising applying a treating solution to at least the nap or pile of the cloth, combing or brushing the nap or pile of the cloth to arrange the hairs or fibres thereof to lie in a particular direction, and then subjecting the cloth to a wet-heat treatment to set the nap or pile of the cloth in a uniform direction.

According to another aspect of this invention, there is provided apparatus for arranging relatively long hairs or fibres of a nap or pile of a cloth so as to lie uniformly in a particular direction, comprising means for applying a treating solution to at least the nap or pile surface of the cloth, a comb or a brush arrangement for brushing the nap surface of the cloth so as to cause the fibres or hairs to lie uniformly in the same direction, and a high pressure steamer for wet-heat treating the brushed cloth to set the hairs or fibres of the cloth in a uniform direction.

It will be appreciated that in this invention, a treating solution -- which may be a dye solution or some other solution such as a caustic alkali, as well as water-is applied to at least the nap or pile of the cloth so that the hairs or fibres constituting the nap or pile can easily be made to lie down momentarily, whereafter the nap surface is brushed or combed so as to arrange all the hairs or fibres uniformly. Then, the cloth is subjected to a heat treatment to set the nap or pile. Preferably, the treating solution content of the cloth is controlled, for instance by squeezing the brushed or combed cloth between two rolls.

Preferably the treating solution is applied to the cloth when in the form of a foam, and for such a case squeezing may be unnecessary. Indeed, further treating solution also in the form of a foam may be applied to the cloth following the brushing or combing thereof.

Since the long hair nap or pile of a cloth is arranged uniformly in this invention, treatment of the cloth such as dyeing or a pretreatment can simultaneously be performed to produce a product of excellent quality and uniformity.

By way of example, two specific embodiments of this invention will now be described, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which.

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic vertical crosssectional view through the first embodiment of apparatus of this invention for arranging long hair of a cloth uniformly into a particular direction; and Figure 2 is a similar view of a second embodiment of apparatus of the invention.

Referring to Figure 1, there is shown apparatus comprising a solution tank 1 filled with a treating solution 3 for soaking a cloth 2 having a pile or nap of relatively long hairs or fibres 2, a guide roll 4 being provided in the solution tank 1 to guide the cloth 2 therethrough. A guide roll 5 is provided above the solution tank 1 adjacent the inlet thereof, and a guide roll 6 is provided above the solution tank 1 adjacent the outlet thereof, the cloth passing in sequence over the rolls 5,4 and 6.

A brush roll 7 is provided close to the guide roll 6, the brush roll 7 having bristles 8 which may be of a fine wire. Alternatively, the brush roll 7 may be a type of air brush. In either case, the brush should have bristles which can contact the cloth without damaging the long hairs of the cloth. The brush roll 7 may be driven in the opposite sense to the direction of advancement of the cloth, or may be held stationary. Of course, when the brush roll 7 is not rotatable, there is no need to use a brush in the form of a roll, and the brush roll 7 may be substituted by an air brush or a comb. A pair of squeeze rolls 9 and 9' are provided above the brush roll 7. Cloth leaving the squeeze rolls is advanced to a high pressure steamer (not shown in the figure) for further treatment therein.

In arranging the long hairs or fibres of a cloth uniformly in a particular direction by using this apparatus, the cloth 2 to be treated having a nap 2' is firstly fed through the solution tank 1 filled with a treating solution 3. The treating solution may simply be water if the sole aim is the arrangement of the long hairs in a uniform direction, but other solutions such as a dye solution or a caustic alkali solution may instead be employed if dyeing or a pretreatment is to be performed simultaneously with the hair or fibre arrangement. On leaving the tank 1, the cloth is brushed with the brush roll 7. Initially, the fibres constituting the nap or pile are oriented in various different directions.The cloth, or at least the fibres, are wetted by the solution in the tank to an extent sufficient to soften the nap or pile, so that when brushed the hairs or fibres of the pile lie down and become arranged all in a uniform direction -that is, downwardly in Figure 1. Once the nap or pile has been arranged in a uniform direction in this way, the cloth is squeezed on passing through the nip between the squeeze rolls 9 and 9'; to squeeze excess treating solution from the cloth and to fix the nap or pile in a uniform direction. This squeezing stage may be omitted, under certain circumstances. The cloth is finally wet-heat treated on being passed through a high pressure steamer (not shown in the figure) having internal conditions of high temperature and pressure, to set the nap or pile of the cloth.In this way, the long hairs or fibres of the cloth are highly uniformly arranged in a particular direction, and further, by using a dye solution or a caustic alkali solution as the treating solution, such other treatments as dyeing or the pretreatment of the cloth can be performed simultaneously as the arrangement of the fibres or hairs of the nap or pile.

In the second embodiment of this invention, illustrated in Figure 2, a treating solution is applied to the cloth in the form of a foam. In Figure 2, nozzles 10 supply a treating solution foam to both sides of a cloth 2 by means of foam applying rolls 12 and 12', suitably disposed to coat the cloth or at least the nap surface thereof with sufficient foam to moisten the cloth or said surface. If required, the foam could be of a dye solution or a pretreating solution, to allow other treatments to be given to the cloth. The thus-moistened cloth is brushed with a brush roll 7, as in the preceding example, to cause the hairs or fibres 2' to lie down and be arranged in a uniform direction. In this embodiment, the cloth is further transferred to a pair of liquid applying rolls 13 and 13' where a foam 15 of a treating solution supplied from nozzles 14, are applied to the cloth. In a case where sufficient treating solution foam is applied to the cloth by the foam applying rolls 12 and 12', the further step of applying foam by the liquid applying rolls 13 and 13' may be omitted. The cloth is finally wet-heat treated by being passed through a high pressure steamer (not shown in the figure) having internal conditions of high temperature and high pressure, to set the nap or pile of the cloth. As in the first embodiment, a cloth having a nap or pile of relatively long hairs or fibres can excellently be treated by the apparatus of Figure 2.

Claims

1. A method for arranging relatively long hairs or fibres of a nap or pile of a cloth, so as to lie uniformly in a particular direction, comprising applying a treating solution to at least the nap or pile of the cloth, combing or brushing the nap or pile of the cloth to arrange the hairs or fibres thereof to lie in a particular direction, and then subjecting the cloth to a wet-heat treatment to set the nap or pile of the cloth in a uniform direction.

2. A method according to claim 1, in which the hairs or fibres are brushed by means of a brush roll.

3. A method according to claim 1 or claim 2, in which the treating solution is applied to the cloth in the form of a foam.

4. A method according to claim 3, in which further treating solution is applied to the cloth after the nap or pile has been combed or brushed to cause the hairs or fibres thereof to lie in one direction.

5. A method according to any of claims 1 to 3, in which the cloth after combing or brushing is squeezed to control the treating solution content of the cloth.

6. A method according to any of the preceding claims, in which a long web of cloth is advanced continuously, and the hairs or fibres of the nap or pile are combed or brushed to lie along the direction of advancement of the cloth.

7. A method for arranging relatively long hairs or fibres of a nap or pile of a cloth to lie uniforly in a particular direction substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

8. Apparatus for arranging relatively long hairs or fibres of a nap or pile of a cloth so as to lie uniformly in a particular direction, comprising means for applying a treating solution to at least the nap or pile surface of the cloth, a comb or a brush arrangement for brushing the nap surface of the cloth so as to cause the fibres or hairs to lie uniformly in the same direction, and a high pressure steamer for wet-heat treating the brushed cloth to set the hairs or fibres of the cloth in a uniform direction.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8, wherein means are provided to advance a long web of cloth continuously through the treating solution applying means, past the comb or brush arrangement and to the high pressure steamer.

10. Apparatus according to claim 8 or claim 9, wherein the treating solution applying means comprises a liquid tank together with guide rolls for the cloth to cause the cloth to pass through the tank.

1 Apparatus according to claim 8 or claim 9, wherein the treating solution applying means comprises a pair of foam applying rolls to apply the treating solution in the form of a foam to the cloth.

12. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein further foam applying rolls are provided to apply treating solution in the form of a foam to the cloth following the brushing thereof by the comb or brush arrangement.

13. Apparatus according to any of claims 8 to 10, wherein squeeze means is provided to squeeze the cloth following the brushing thereof by the comb or brush arrangement.

14. Apparatus for arranging relatively long hairs or fibres of a nap or pile of a cloth substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figure 1 or 2 of the accompanying drawings.