US2080133A - Textile printing machine - Google Patents

Description

May 11, 1937. w. T. JENKINS TEXTILE PR INTING MACHINE Filed May 26, 1936 b R an R Q k0 m R. R.

m-wk M5 a 1 .lllllllllllllnlll I I l l l I ll g a (Q Q Q R mw R R Patented May 11, 1937 PATENT OFFICE 2,080,133 TEXTILE rnm'rmc. m'cnmr:

Walter '1. Jenkins, Rock Hill,

S. 0., assignor to Rock Hill Printing & Finishing Company, Rock Hill, S. C., a corporation of South Carolina Application May 26, 1936, Serial No. 81,819

6 Claims.

This invention relates to textile printing machines.

It is customary in cloth or web printing machines to use a back grey or back cloth in back of the cloth being printed. The back grey serves as -a cushion and also somewhat in the nature of a blotter to take up excess ink .or coloring material which passes through the white cloth or web being printed. In cloth printing machines now in common use the back grey during the printing operation picks up color and is then dried at the printing machine and it is run through the machine again picking up further color which is also dried in.

After running the back grey through the machine in this manner two or three times it is necessary to take it to the back grey washer and drier, a separate machine, to remove as much color as possible. After such repeated absorption and drying it is difiicult to wash out the color and get the back grey clean and in condition for further use. Furthermore, the removal of a back grey for washing and cleaning and the replacement thereof with a clean back grey necessitates a slowing down or interruption of the normal operation of the printing machine, thus materially reducing or curtailing the production of the machine.

Moreover, the clean back grey is sewed to the used back grey and is thus lead through the printing machine, thus forming a seam which causes double edges and mark-offs, producing a poor print on the web being printed.

In the past, attempts have been made to overcome the dimculties above noted by the elimination of the back grey and the substitution'therefor of an endless blanket formed of elastic, nonabsorptive material, such as rubber or a rubber composition. In some instances the rubber blanket has been run through a washer and the ink or color on the surface of the blanket has been removed. Such blankets, however, have not been satisfactory as substitutes for the back greys since it is necessary for a sharp well defined print on the cloth to provide for the absorption of excess ink or color that permeates and passes through the cloth web being printed. Moreover, rubber blankets of the size and length required are expensive and are easily injured and broken or torn.

This invention has for its salient object to provide a method of and apparatus for washing and drying back greys in a cloth printing machine so constructed and arranged and so carried out that the back grey will be washed, rinsed and dried before the color has dried in and after each printing operation, thus keeping the cloth clean and increasing the life of the back grey.

Further objects of the invention will appear from the following specification taken in connection with the drawing which form a part of this application, and in which Fig. 1 is an elevational diagrammatic view illustrating apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view also diagrammatic of the structure shown in Fig. l.

The invention briefly described consists of a cloth printing machine having means for guiding a back grey and cloth web to be printed around a cylinder and between the cylinder and printing rolls and furthermore, comprises washing, rinsing and drying apparatus and means for leading the back grey from the printing mechanism successively through the washer, rinsing, water removing means and drying means and back to the printing mechanism and to a position in backing relation to the web being printed. The back grey is in the form of an endless web of cloth and the driving mechanism for the back grey withdrawing means and for the printing mechanism are so coordinated that the web will be withdrawn at the same rate as it passes around the cylinder and through the printing mechanism.

Further details of the invention will appear from the following description.

In the particular embodiment of the apparatus shown in the drawing, there is illustrated a machine comprising printing mechanism consisting of a cylinder l0 and printing rolls H disposed around the periphery of the cylinder 10 and operating in the usual well known manner to print a plurality of colors or designs on the cloth web which passes between the rolls and the cylinder.

The white cloth or web 12 to be printed is carried in a supply roll l3 and is led around suitable guide rolls H to the printing mechanism. After being printed the web 12 is led upwardly to drying cans and suitable reels on which it is wound up.

The back grey in the form of an endless web 20 is led around the cylinder in and between the cylinder and the white cloth or web 12 being printed. From the cylinder the back grey passes upwardly around a roller 2| and over ,a guide roller 22, beneath rollers 23 and 24 and around a roller 25 and between this roller and a roller 26 and thence downwardly to a cloth scray 21. The

roller 25 is termed in the art a nip" roller and 25 and 26, the speed of rotation of these rollers being synchronized with the speed of operation of the printing mechanism in a manner hereinafter described in order to withdraw the web from the printing mechanism at the same rate as the rate at which it is fed around the cylinder I 0.

The slack collects in the scray 21 and is withdrawn therefrom passing around tension bars 30 and 3| and thence upwardly around a roller 32 and through guide rollers 33 and 34 to a washer 35.

The washer 35 contains hot water and soap for washing the coloring matter from the web and the material passes successively around guide rolls 36, 31, 38, 39 and 40 and thence through squeeze rolls 4| and 42 which are positively driven and squeeze the soapy water from the web.

From the squeeze rolls 4! and 42 the web passes downwardly to a rinsing tank 45 and is led through this tank around guide rolls l5 and out of the tank, and through another set of squeeze rolls 41 and 48 which are also positively driven.

From the squeeze rolls 41 and 48 the web passes beneath a guide roller 43 over a suction extractor 55 and thence through an expander 5| which stretches the cloth laterally to its full width. From the expander 5i the web passes around drying cans 52 and, if desired, around a second set of drying cans 53 from which it is led around guide rollers 54 and 55 and back to the printing mechanism.

Any suitable driving mechanism may be employed but it should be borne in mind that the feed rolls which withdraw the endless back grey web from the printing mechanism should be driven at the same speed as the printing mechanism or, in other words, that these two drives should be synchronized.

Fig. 2 illustrates diagrammatically one form of driving connections. In this figure the main drive shaft is shown at and the printing cylinder is driven from this shaft. by means of a sprocket 5!, chain 52 and sprocket 53 mounted on the shaft of the cylinder l0.

A second sprocket 64 is also carried by. the shaft 60 and is connected by a chain 55 to drive a sprocket 65 mounted on a shaft 61. This shaft has a second sprocket 58 mounted thereon which is connected by a chain 89 to drive a sprocket 10 on a shaft 1i. Shaft 1! has also secured thereto a sprocket 12 which operates through a chain 13 to drive a sprocket 13 carried by-a shaft 15. The shaft 15 drives the drying cans or cylinders in any suitable manner and both sets of drying cans are driven from this shaft.

A variable speed driving mechanism 80, such as a Reeves drive, is provided for driving the other driven parts of the apparatus, this mechanism being driven in any suitable manner and from any suitable source of power. The drive for the feed rollers 25 and'23 is taken from a shaft 8! of the variable speed drive which is connected by a belt 82 to drive a shaft 83. Shaft 83 is in turn connected by a belt 84 to drive the shaft 85 of the nip roller 25.

A shaft of the variable speed mechanism so is connected by a belt 3! to drive a shaft 92 of a second variable speed mechanism or transmission 93. This mechanism drives a shaft 34 which is connected by a chain 95 to drive shaft 96 of the feed roll 41;

From the foregoing description it will be evident that the back grey in the form of an endless web is led continuously from the printing mechanism through the washing, rinsing and drying mechanisms and thence back to the printing mechanism and in this manner the color absorbed as the back grey passes beneath the printing rolls is washed out without being permitted to dry in. Thus, a. clean back grey is always in .use during the printing operation which results in a printed web on which the designs are clearly defined and sharply brought out, the web having no blurred or smeared prints thereon, such as result from dirty back greys or from the use of a rubber blanket in the place of a back grey. It will be understood, of course, that the back grey may be backed up by a rubber blanket in the usual well known manner, as shown at B in Fig. 1.

Although one specific form of apparatus has been particularly shown and described it will be understood that changes in the construction and in the arrangement of the various parts and in the particular method or process outlined may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as expressed in the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. The process of printing cloth which consists of leading the web to be printed and a back grey of absorbent textile material under printing rolls and continuously leading the back gray from the printing rolls through washing means, rinsing means and drying means and again into backing engagement with the web being printed.

2. In combination, a cloth printing machine comprising printing rolls, a cylinder, means for leading a cloth web to be printed and a back grey of absorbent textile material beneath said rolls, washing means for said back grey, drying means for said back grey and means for continuously leading the back grey from the printing mechanism through the washing means, from the washing means through the drying means and from the drying means to a position behind the cloth web and to the printing rolls.

3. In combination, a cloth printing machine comprising printing mechanism for printing a cloth web, means for leading a cloth web to be printed to and through the printing mechanism, means for leading an endless web of back grey cloth through the printing mechanism in back of the web being printed, means for withdrawing the back grey web from the printing mechanism, washing mechanism, drying mechanism. and means for leading the endless back grey from the withdrawing means through the washing and drying mechanisms and back to the printing mechanism.

4. In combination, a cloth printing machine comprising printing mechanism for printing a cloth web, means for driving the printing mechanism, means for leading a cloth web to be printed to and through the printing mechanism, means for leading an endless web of back grey cloth through the printing mechanism in back of the web being printed, means for withdrawing the back grey web from the printing mechanism, variable speed means for driving the withdrawing means whereby the speed of the latter can be synchronized with the speed of the printing mechanism, washing mechanism, drying mechanism, and means for leading the endless back grey from the withdrawing means through the washing and drying mechanisms and back to the printing mechanism. a

5. In combination, a cloth printing machine comprising printing mechanism for printing a cloth web, means for leading a cloth web to be printed to and through the printing mechanism, means for leading an endless web of back grey cloth through the printing mechanism in back of the web being printed, means for withdrawing the back grey web from the printing mechanism, washing mechanism including washing means and rinsing means, squeeze rolls intermediate the washing and rinsing means for removing water from the web, drying mechanism, means intermediate the rinsing and drying means for removing water! from the web, and

means for leading the endless back grey from the withdrawing means through the washing and drying mechanisms and back to the printing mechanism.

6. In combination, a cloth printing machine comprising printing mechanism for printing a cloth web, means for leading a cloth web to be printed to and through the printing mechanism, means for leading an endless web of back grey cloth through the printing mechanism in back of the web being printed, means for withdrawing the back grey web from the printing mechanism, a receptacle for receiving the back grey cloth from the withdrawing means. washing mechanism, drying mechanism, and means for leading the back grey web from the receptacle through the washing and drying mechanisms and back to the printing mechanism.

WALTER 'r. annxms.

Images