US2718773A - Apparatus for the continuous washing of cloth - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 27, 1955 APPARATUS FOR THE CONTINUOUS WASHING 0F CLOTk I Filed March 21 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet l Har ow E. W 319 NM Md Sept. 1955 H. R. WILCOX 2,718,773

APPARATUS FOR THE CONTINUOUS WASHING OF CLOTH Filed March 21 1951 s Sheets-Sheet 2 Iawezaioa'h Wold 12. Wiicoac,

flior ney Sept. 27, 1955 H. R. WILCOX APPARATUS FOR THE CONTINUOUS WASHING OF CLOTH 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 21 1951 Irweiaio .H'aHoZdE. W as,

flfiior iae u Sept. 27, 1955 H. R. WILCOX 2,713,773

APPARATUS FOR THE CONTINUOUS WASHING OF CLOTH Filed March 21 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Fig.8.

Har ow E. Wz'icoac,

Sept. 7, 1955 H. R. WILCOX 2,718,773

APPARATUS FOR THE CONTINUOUS WASHING OF CLOTH Filed March 21 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Sept. 27, 1955 H. R. WILCOX 2,713,773

APPARATUS FOR THE CONTINUOUS WASHING 0F CLOTH 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed March 21 1951 United States Patent APPARATUS FOR THE CONTINUOUS WASHING OF CLOTH Harold R. Wilcox, Maynard, Mass., assignor to Riggs &

Lombard, Inc., Lowell, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application March 21, 1951, Serial No. 216,694

Claims. (Cl. 68-27) This invention presents a novel and improved apparatus for the continuous washing or liquid treatment of cloth particularly in the manufacture and finishing processes where such treatment is repeatedly required. Preferably the lengths of cloth are fed through the apparatus in rope form. In this type of apparatus a continuous series of tanks is usually required through which the cloth successively passes with the first tanks of the series supplied with soap or other detergent and the latter tanks with rinsing water and it is desirable to feed the liquid into the last tank of theseries and cause it to pass therefrom successively into and through the preceding tanks therefor in a direction opposed to the travel of the cloth.

The object of the invention is to provide such an apparatus in which all the tanks of the series are mounted on the same level and dependence upon the gravity flow of liquidfrom each tank to the next preceding tank is eliminated. i

The object of the invention is further to provide means for securing and maintaining any desired levelof the liquid through which the cloth travels in each tank.

The object of the invention is further to provide the tank with a main washing chamber through which the cloth travels and an auxiliary chamber from which the liquid is pumped to the preceding tank.

' The object of the invention is further to secure the flow of the liquid from each tank by pumping means and more particularly by a series of independently driven pumps. 7

C These and other objects and features of the invention will appear more fully from the description and drawings and are defined in the claims.

The apparatus, the preferred form of which is illustrated in the drawings, comprises a series of units of the general type employed for such purposes. The number of the series may vary considerably in accordance with requirements and usually ranges from four to nine, with the first units using soap or suitable detergent and the latter units a rinsing water. Since the construction of each unit is substantially the same it is not necessary to illustrate the entire series and consequently a portion of the series has been broken away.

Each unit is of that type in which the cloth is fed between a pair of squeeze rolls. The cloth after first passing through the squeeze rolls is guided down into the bottom of the tank, thence up between the usual separating and stop motion fingers, again between the squeeze rolls downinto the tank and then back again in spiral form and'discharges from the unit through a speed controlling mechanism to the next unit.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevation, and Fig. 2 a plan view, in more or less schematic form, of the apparatus with an intermediate portion of the series of units broken away;

' Fig. 3 is a detail in transverse section of a portion of the base shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a view on a larger scale in side elevation of one unit and a portion of the preceding unit;

"ice

Fig. 5 is a view in elevation, looking toward the left of the complete unit shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a detail in vertical cross section taken on the line 6--6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a view in horizontal cross section taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a view, partially in vertical transverse cross section, taken on the line 88 ,of Fig. 9, of a portion of one of the units illustrating the partition;

Fig. 9 is a view in vertical cross section of the construction shown in Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a side elevation, and Fig. 11 an end elevation, of a portion of a unit equipped with another form of means for controlling the speed of the feed of the cloth;

Fig. 12 is an end elevation with the middle portion broken away, and Fig. 13 is a side elevation partially broken away of a portion of one of the tanks on a larger scale than Fig. 4.

The several units of the series, as shown in Fig. 1, are preferably arranged in a longitudinal series and in accordance with this invention all on the'same level. The first two units and a portion of the third unit and the last unit of the series are illustrated resting upon a suitable base 1. This base is conveniently located in a depression below the main floor level 2, and suitably drained.

The cloth 3, which is preferably handled in rope form, is shown as taken from a truck 4 on the main floor, and after passing through the series of units discharged into a receiving truck 5 also placed on the main floor.

The cloth in its travel leads over a guide roll 6 between the squeeze rolls 7 and 8 of the first unit, over a driven guide roll 9, and thence down on to the curved bottom 10 of the tank, thence upward over a guide roll 11, again through the squeeze rolls, and repeats its path in spiral form, finally emerging from the squeeze rolls and passes through a suitable mechanism, indicated generally at 12,

for controlling the feed of the cloth, and then continues in a similar manner through the other units of the series and discharges directly from the squeeze rolls of the last unit into the truck or other receptacle.

Each unit of the series is of similar construction and comprises a suitable tank framework 13 with the usual curved bottom 10 of the liquid receptacle portion. The guide roll 11 is journaled in bearings 14 mounted on the inclined portions of the wall at the entering end of the tank. The shaft 15 of the lower squeeze roll 8 is journaled in bearings 16 mounted on the side walls of the frame, while the shaft 17 of the upper squeeze roll 7 is journaled at each end in a lever 18. One end of these levers is pivoted at 19 in supports 20 mounted on the frame, and the other end is pivoted at 21 to a piston 22 mounted in a cylinder. 23 secured to the frame. Thus by introducing or exhausting air through or from the pipes 24 connected to the ends of the cylinder the upper squeeze roll may be held with any required degree of pressure against the lower squeeze roll.

In this construction the lower squeeze roll 8 and the guide roll 9 are driven to feed the cloth. The roll 9 is preferably of a ribbed construction comprising a series of bars 25 extending between its heads. For thus feeding the cloth there is provided an electric motor 26, shown as mounted on a base 27, supported from the main floor 2. This motor is shown driving a chain 28 extending to a large sprocket 29 on the shaft 15 of the lower squeeze roll, while the roll 9 is shown as driven by a chain 30 from a sprocket on the shaft 15.

The cloth in its repeated passage from the roll 9 down into the tank, up over the guide roll 11, and through the squeeze rolls in spiral form, is maintained separated by the usual separating and stop motion fingers 31 shown pivotally mounted at 32 and raised by clogging of the cloth to break an electric contact at 33. or make an elec 3 tric contact at 3'4, and thereby effect the stopping of the feed;

As already noted the most important feature of the invention, results in thepositioning of the. several units of the series all on the samelevel, thus eliminating the. disadvantages of a gravity feed of. the liquid fromone tank to the other. liquid in each tank to be maintained as desired and, under ordinary conditions, a continuous flow. of the liquidto. and from the last unit through all the preceding. units of the serles.

The tank in each unit is divided by an adjustable-vertical partition into a main washing chamber andan auxiliary chamber. A preferred form of this construction is shown in Figs. 8 and 9 where is shown the vertical lefthand wall 35 of the metal tank and one of the sidewalls 36. A vertical metal plate 37 extends across, between and is united to these side walls, and forms the lower portion ofrthe partition, dividing the tank into the auxiliary chamber 38 at. the left of the partition and the main washing chamber at the right. The upper portion of the partition is a vertically adjustable section shown as a plate 39 having a top horizontal flange 40. This plate at each edge slides in a groove formed by angle irons 41v and 42 secured to the side walls of the tank. The adjustable section 39 is held in desired vertical position by suitable means, such as pins 43, passing through holes in the angle'irons and the plate. The pin 43 preferably is bent to form a handle and a small cross bar 44 is mounted diametrically in the pin. When the pin is in place this bar extends behind theflange of the angle iron 42 to prevent the pin from slipping out. The top edge or flange portion 40 of the vertically adjustable section determines the level of the liquid in the main washing chamber of the tank. Preferably the upper portion of this adjustable section 39 is provided as shown with a plurality of holes 45 so that, if the feed of the cloth.

is stopped and the flow of water into the tank continues, there will be a discharge of the water through these holes sufficient to prevent the cloth from being carried over the top edge 40 of the section.

The water or washing liquid is supplied to the main washing chamber of each tank from a box 46 mounted at the upper edge and flows therefrom over the upper edge 47 of the metal bottom of the tank against a batfle 48 into the main washing chamber 49. This liquid is supplied to the box 46 of the last unit of the series from any suitable source.

A pipe 50 connects the lower portion of the auxiliary chamber of each tank of the series to the main washing chamber of the preceding tank and suitable pumping means connected to each of these pipes maintains the flow through the entire series. Each pipe 50 with its interposed pump 51 runs from the lower portion of the auxiliary chamber 38 of each tank up to the water box 46 of the preceding tank. The pump. employed in each case is, preferably of the low head impeller type andindependently driven by its own motor. As shown in Fig. the motors 52 for the pumps are mounted upon supports 53 n turn mounted on the floor 2 at the side of the unit and are connected by a suitable belt 59 or other drive to the shaft 55 of the pump. With this type of pump water flowing into the auxiliary chamber from the main washing chamber is readily pumped into the preceding unit and even when water is exhausted in the auxiliary chamber there is little wastage of power. This type of pump re.- quires little change or adjustment after once set up. If the head at the suction side becomes very low the pump will simply rotate harmlessly. If this head builds up the net head, of course, decreases and the capacity of the pump correspondingly increases. Thus any rate of flow is taken care of by the pump.

Means are provided for supplying additional liquid whenever needed to any one. of the units and for that purpose cold water pipes 56 and hot water pipes 57 are The invention also enables the level of the:

shown located in the base 1, see Fig. 3, with risers 58 extending up to the water boxes 46.

The auxiliary chamber is provided at the outer wall with an overflow conduit 64 opening into the auxiliary chamber at the required level and discharging at the bottom into the base. In addition, at the side of the auxiliary chamber there is provided a controllable overflow to enable any desired amount of water to be drained out, see Figs. 5, 6, and 7, consisting ofa conduit 65 secured to the side wall opening near its top and bottom into the auxiliary chamber and provided at the, bottom with a discharge opening 66 normally closed by a valve 67 secured to a vertical rod 68 connected at the top to a manually operated lever 69 by means of which the discharge opening 66 may be opened and closed as desired.

Each unit, or at least the earlier units of the series, is provided with a suds box 70 attached to the side of the frame to collect the soap or cleansing solution extracted from the cloth by the squeeze rolls. A trough formed by the plates 71v and 72 is mounted beneath the squeeze rolls, slopes toward and opens into the suds box at 73. The suds box is provided with an opening 74 at the bottom and at its side opens into a conduit 75 connected to the overflow conduit 65. A damper 76 operated by a handle 77 enables the solution entering the suds to be diverted either into the conduit 75 or through the opening 74. In the latter case the solution is drained away while in the former case it enters the overflow conduit and from there the auxiliary chamber and is consequently pumped back into the preceding unit for reuse.

The invention also provides for. controlling the speed of the cloth at various stages in the operation. With. a series of units with a motor for each unit acting to feed the cloth therethrough, one of these motors is a leading motor, and the motors of the other units are synchronized therewith. This leading motor may be either that for the first unit, or for the last unit, or even, under certain circumstances, that for an intermediate unit. Consequently the speed of the cloth delivered from any one unit may regulate either the speed of the feed of that unit or the speed of the feed of the succeeding unit. In the arrange, ment illustrated it is assumed that the leading motor is that for the last unit and consequently that the speed of the cloth leaving each unit is regulating the speed of feed of the unit it is leaving.

In this invention the vertical position of the cloth after it leaves a unit is utilized to. control the speed of the feed. This control may be effected in various. ways, two of which are disclosed.

In the main form, generally illustrated at 12 in Fig. 1 and more in detail in Figs. 4 and 5, a freely vertically movable roll rests in a loop of the cloth and as this loop rises and falls with the roll from a predetermined nor.- mal position suitable mechanism operated by the roll acts. correspondingly to increase or decrease the speedand thus restore it to the normal required speed.

In another form illustrated in Figs. 10 and 11 a. pair of separated electric contacts are. mounted beneath the loop of cloth without any roll or other weight resting on the loop. If the cloth is feeding too fast this loop of wet cloth sags against the contacts completing a very weak electric circuit which then acts through suitable electronic means to effect a momentary reduction in the feeding speed. This mechanism is so adjusted that the loop of wet cloth is constantly closing and opening the contacts. and thus maintaining they required normal speed.

r the roll 83 and thence over the roll 82; to the, next. unit.

At the top of the framework is journaled at 86 a rotarily mounted rheostat 87 preferably of the single plate type. This rheostat has secured thereto a sprocket wheel 88 connected by a sprocket chain 89 to a sprocket wheel 90 on a shaft 91 journaled in the framework 80 and carrying pulleys 92. Counterweights 93 for the roll 83 are connected thereto by belts or chains 94 running over the pulleys 92. Thus as the loop of cloth running around the roll 83 rises and falls as the speed increases or decreases the angular position of the rheostat changes. The motor 26, as is common in textile mills, is a direct current motor and the rheostat through suitable connections, indicated diagrammatically at 95, by varying the resistance regulates the field strength of the motor and thus controls its speed. V

In the construction shown in Figs. and 11 a framework is provided connecting adjacent units having the uprights 100 and 101 and the supported platform 102. A roll 103 is journaled at 104 and driven by a belt or chain 105 from the driven roll 9. A second roll 106 is journaled at 107 on the platform. The cloth 1 after leaving the squeeze rolls of the tank passes over the roll 103 and thence over the roll 106 sagging in a loop between as indicated and then passes to the next unit. As the speed of the feed varies from the normal the loop of cloth rises and falls. The platform is provided with a pair of spaced electric contacts 108 and 109 with a space between located opposite the center of the loop of cloth. These contacts are in circuit with a very weak source 110 of electric energy and an electronic controlling mechanism 111 which in turn controls a resistance 112 in the field circuit 113 of the motro, the latter elements being indicated diagrammatically in Fig. 10. The sagging loop of cloth is, of course, Wet, and when it sags to engage both contacts 108 and 109 it completes the circuit and momentarily acts to reduce the speed of the motor. As the speed decreases the loop of cloth moves away from and separates the contacts, the resistance is changed, and the motor speeds up. Thus there is a continual making and breaking of the circuit by the engagement and disengagement of the cloth with the contacts and the consequent maintaining of the required normal speed of the motor. The advantage of this is that no strain or weight is placed upon the cloth and as the electric circuit through the contacts is very weak there is no danger of injury to the cloth.

While, in the two constructions described for controlling the speed of feed of the cloth by the vertical position of the loop of cloth, a resistance in the field circuit of a direct current motor is employed, the invention in its broader aspects is not restricted to the latter feature nor even to the employment of a direct current type of motor and other suitable means electrical, mechanical or a combination of both may be employed for controlling the speed of the motor.

With the form of control illustrated in Figs. 10 and 11 the cloth after leaving the roll 106 is preferably subjected to a light tension before entering the next unit. A construction for this purpose is illustrated in Figs. 10 and 11. The tension device is shown as a pair of disks 114 connected by pins 115 and journaled in the uprights 101 and provided with an operating handle 116. The cloth after leaving the roll 106 passes between the pins 115 around a suitable guide roll 117 at the bottom of the uprights 101 and therefrom enters the next unit. By rotating the disks 114 by means of the handle 116 any desired degree of tension may be placed upon the cloth. A graduated plate 118 is mounted on the upright 101 and the handle 116 is provided with a plunger to engage this graduated plate and hold the tension device in the desired rotary adjusted position.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is:

1. An apparatus for the continuous washing of cloth comprising a series of similar open tanks mounted on the same level, a vertical partition located within each tank and extending transversely thereof and dividing it into a main washing chamber located at one end of the tank and an auxiliary chamber located at the other end thereof, said partition determining the level of the liquid in the main chamber, a box at the first named end of each tank exterior thereto and opening into the main chamber the reef above the water level therein, pipes connecting the lower portion of the auxiliary chamber of each tank of the series to the box of the preceding tank, pumping means connected to each of said pipes, means for supplying hot water to each box, means for supplying cold water to each box, and means for continuously feeding the cloth successively through the tanks of the series beginning with the first.

2. An apparatus for the washing of cloth comprising a tank, a vertical partition dividing the tank into a main washing chamber and an auxiliary chamber, squeeze rolls for the cloth mounted above the main chamber, a pipe extending from the lower portion of the auxiliary chamher for connection to a preceding tank, pumping means connected to said pipe, a suds box having a drainage opening, means for directing the liquid expressed by the squeeze rolls into the suds box, a conduit connecting the suds box to the auxiliary chamber, and a damper in the suds box movable to direct the liquid entering the suds box either to the drainage opening or into the conduit.

3. An apparatus for the washing of cloth comprising a tank, a vertical partition dividing the tank into a main washing chamber and an auxiliary chamber, squeeze rolls for the cloth mounted above the main chamber, a pipe extending from the lower portion of the auxiliary chamber and connecting to a preceding tank, pumping means connected to said pipe, a suds box on the exterior of the tank and having a drainage opening, a trough beneath the squeeze rolls leading to the suds box and adapted to receive the liquid expressed from the cloth by the squeeze rolls and deliver said liquid to the suds box, a conduit connecting the suds box to the auxiliary chamber, and a damper in the suds box movable to direct the liquid entering said box either to the drainage opening or into the conduit.

4. An apparatus for the washing of cloth comprising a tank, a vertical partition located interiorly of the tank and dividing it into a main washing chamber and an auxiliary chamber, said partition being composed of a lower fixed section and an upper vertically adjustable section to adjust the liquid level in the main chamber, means for feeding cloth through the main chamber, and means for feeding liquid into the main chamber, said adjustable section of the partition being perforated to prevent the cloth from being carried thereover by the liquid when the feed of the cloth through the main chamber is stopped and liquid continues to be fed into said main chamber.

5. An apparatus for the washing of cloth comprising a tank, a vertical partition located interiorly of the tank and dividing it into a main washing chamber and an auxiliary chamber, said partition being composed of a lower fixed section and an upper vertically adjustable section to adjust the liquid level in the main chamber, means for feeding cloth through the main chamber, means for feeding liquid into the main chamber, a vertically extending overflow conduit exterior to the tank and opening into the auxiliary chamber both near its top and near its bottom, said overflow conduit having a discharge opening at lts bottom, a valve for said discharge opening and means for operating the valve.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 300,010 Riley June 10, 1884 978,883 Heberlein Dec. 20, 1910 1,687,339 Lewellen Oct. 9, 1928 1,698,778 Clark Jan. 15, 1929 1,825,478 Rowley Sept. 29, 1931 1,965,694 Drum et al July 10, 1934 2,157,287 Furbush May 9, 1939 2,521,440 Bannon Sept. 5, 1950

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