Continuous water washing apparatus for cloth

A continuous water washing apparatus for cloth, includes first multi-layer guide rolls which pull up the cloth being processed and shift it in the horizontal direction, over the guide rolls which are provided in a staggered and opposing manner above a pre-washing tank containing a set of second multi-layer guide rolls and pressurized air blow out pipes. A water receptacle is provided for each of the first guide rolls arranged in a pair of spaced vertical columns, and a cleaning water supply mechanism is connected to the uppermost water receptacle. A sag prevention mechanism holds the cloth in a horizontally shifting manner and includes a tension detection mechanism. Further, a shifting speed detection mechanism is provided for the cloth, and includes a cloth width detection mechanism and a water filling up volume adjusting mechanism for the water receptacles operated by the cloth width detection mechanism.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a water washing apparatus which can save 
on water consumption and can continuously conduct effective water washing 
of the cloth. 
Heretofore various kinds of continuous water washing apparatus for cloth 
have been developed because a cloth which has been dyed, scoured, 
bleached, and resin processed, etc., needs to be washed in a continuous 
manner. However, in such water washing apparatus, generally speaking a 
large volume of water is used, therefore it cannot meet the requirement 
for conserving water resources now considered to be a worldwide necessity. 
When it is tried to save on water in a conventional water washing 
apparatus there is the problem that the processing agent used in a 
preceding process remains in the cloth after the water washing process 
leaving mottled spots in the finished product, thus a large amount of 
cleaning water is used to avoid the problem. 
The present inventors have developed a water washing apparatus which meets 
the requirement for saving water resources and have applied for a patent 
for such a water saving type of washing apparatus which includes a liquid 
tank having its upper end open, and multi-layer guide rolls in two 
opposing columns, in a staggered arrangement are provided above the liquid 
tank for continuously pulling up the cloth upward in a zigzag manner. 
Water receptacles are provided below the guide rolls so that a lower plane 
of each guide roll is dipped in the water. Further, a cleaning water 
supply tank provides cleaning water to the uppermost water receptacle so 
that cleaning water is supplied, in turn to each water receptacle, flowing 
down by gravity. 
However, in the water washing apparatus of the previous patent application, 
cleaning water stagnates on the cloth being processed as it is shifted 
upwardly from the liquid tank and is placed around the oppositely disposed 
guide rolls in a staggered manner for horizontal shifting. A sag is 
generated on a horizontally shifting portion of the cloth due to the 
weight of the stagnating water, and the sag causes creases in the cloth as 
it is shifted around the guide rolls, forming obstacles for uniform water 
washing and causing an unsightly finished product. 
Further, the present inventors have observed such insufficiency or 
shortcoming in the above mentioned water washing apparatus in the previous 
patent application for avoiding the waste of water, since each water 
receptacle is completely filled with water, when the width of the cloth 
being processed is considerably narrower than the total width of the water 
receptacle, the cleaning water in the side portions of the water 
receptacle not occupied by the cloth does not serve for cleaning process 
and flows out to the next lower water receptacle uselessly. Accordingly 
the inventors have felt a need for further improvement to ensure the water 
preservation. 
Moreover, in the water washing apparatus of the previous patent 
application, since cleaning water is supplied without any relationship to 
the shifting speed of the cloth being processed, for example when the 
amount of cleaning water flows out is not in balance with the shifting 
speed of the cloth, cleaning water will be wasted or the cleaning process 
will be incomplete, thus an effective cleaning may not be done. That is, 
the amount of water flowing out needs to be adjusted so that it is not in 
excess nor in short supply considering the shifting speed of the cloth. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
An object of the present invention is to provide continuous water washing 
apparatus for a cloth, which eliminates the shortcomings of conventional 
apparatus and of the above mentioned water saving type of washing 
apparatus of the previous application by providing an improvement for the 
apparatus of the previous application and includes a mechanism for 
removing any sag caused in the cloth by the gravity action of water, a 
mechanism for automatically adjusting the volume of water to fill a water 
receptacle so that the width of water in the receptacle is filled 
according to the width of the cloth being processed, and a mechanism for 
automatically adjusting the amount of cleaning water flowing out 
corresponding to the shifting speed of the cloth. The improved apparatus 
of the present invention can achieve the object of fundamental water 
saving and can simultaneously conduct an effective water cleaning process. 
In the continuous water washing apparatus for cloth according to the 
present invention, multilayer guide rolls are provided in a staggered and 
an opposing manner within a pre-washing tank for shifting the cloth being 
processed in a parallel manner, and air blow out pipes are provided in a 
horizontal row between paths of the cloth in adjacent parallel columns and 
at intermediate positions between upper and lower rows of guide rolls. 
Further other multi-layer guide rolls are vertically arranged in a 
staggered manner above the pre-washing tank to pull the cloth upwardly and 
to shift it in a horizontal manner. Water receptacles are provided below 
the guide rolls in each stage so that the lower plane of each guide roll 
is dipped into the cleaning water. Moreover a cleaning water supply 
mechanism, connected to the uppermost water receptacle is provided so that 
the cleaning water consecutively flows by gravity into the water 
receptacle at each stage. A mechanism is provided including a shifting 
speed detection mechanism and a tension detection mechanism for the cloth 
along with the sag prevention member for a horizontal shifting portion of 
the cloth. Further, a mechanism with a width detection mechanism for the 
cloth, adjusts the width of the water in the water receptacles. 
When a cloth mixed spinned with 65% of Tetron polyester and 35% cotton was 
subjected to a cleaning process in the above mentioned water washing 
apparatus by adjusting the amount of cleaning water flowing according to 
the shifting speed of cloth, the relationship between the shifting speed 
of the cloth and the amount of cleaning water supplied is made clear by a 
graph shown in FIG. 1.

Next, the details of the continuous water washing apparatus for cloth 
according to the present invention will be explained. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
In an example of a continuously operating water washing apparatus for cloth 
according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side elevation showing 
only important component members, omitting such component members as a sag 
prevention mechanism for retaining the cloth during horizontal shifting, a 
tension detection mechanism and a cloth width detection mechanism, etc., 
to avoid complication in the drawing. 
In FIG. 2 guide rolls (3) are arranged in an oppositely disposed staggered 
manner within a pre-washing tank (1) positioned at the lower part of the 
FIGURE so that a cloth (2) to be processed, introduced into the tank from 
the outside, is shifted in an up and down vertical and zigzag manner. 
Pressurized air blow out pipes (4) are provided in a horizontal row 
between adjacent vertically extending portions of the cloth (2) which runs 
over the guide rolls (3) and the pipes are located at intermediate 
positions between the guide rolls opposingly provided in upper and lower 
rows. 
Above the pre-washing tank 1 other multi-layer guide rolls (5) are 
staggered in a pair of laterally spaced vertical columns for guiding the 
cloth 2 upwardly and horizontally in a zigzag manner. Further, a water 
receptacle 6, having water flow out holes 7 perforated in its bottom, is 
positioned below each of the guide rolls. A cleaning water supply 
mechanism is connected to the uppermost guide roll 5. The cleaning water 
supply mechanism consists of a water supply pipe 8 having a water supply 
outlet placed close to the uppermost guide roll stage, a flow meter 9 is 
connected to a source of water supply (not shown in the drawing) through a 
valve 10, follower rolls 11 rotate following the shifting of the cloth, a 
speed detector 12 receives the rotation power of the follower rolls 11, a 
prescribed output converter 13 converts the output from detector 12, and a 
motor 14 operates the valve 10 through the converter 13. 
In the above mentioned system, first, the shifting speed of a cloth 2 being 
processed is detected by the follower rolls 11 and the speed detector 12, 
and the degree of opening of the valve 10 is adjusted by the driving motor 
14 corresponding to the output from the detector 12, thus an optimum 
amount of cleaning water for the automatically adjusted shifting speed of 
the cloth 2 is supplied from the water supply pipe 8 into the receptacle 6 
containing the uppermost roll 5. 
When the degree of opening of the valve, corresponding to the shifting 
speed of the cloth, is set beforehand so that the amount of cleaning water 
supplied from the water supply pipe has a relationship shown by the 
oblique line a in FIG. 1 against the shifting or traveling speed of the 
cloth, useless outflow of cleaning water can be prevented. Further when 
feeding of the cloth is stopped, the water supply is automatically stopped 
reducing the amount of water supplied to zero, thus efficient water 
washing can be done, and the requirement for conserving water resources 
can be met, which is an object of the present invention. Further, with 
converter 13, the adjustment of unit volume of water supplied can be set 
beforehand, according to the thickness of cloth to be processed. 
In addition to the important above described mechanism, another mechanism 
is provided for preventing any sag in the cloth caused by the weight of 
cleaning water when the cloth is shifted horizontally. 
FIG. 3 shows the said sag prevention mechanism, which consists of touch 
rolls 15 provided at almost centrally between the multi-layer guide rolls 
5 oppositely disposed in a staggered manner in two columns, left and 
right, an attaching frame 16 commonly supports each of the touch rolls 15 
in a freely rotatable manner, a tension detector 17 having a pair of a 
light emitter and a light receiver, contacts with both edges of the 
shiting cloth, and a motor 18 is driven by the output from detector 17, 
further, a roll supporting frame 19 axially supporting the multi-layer 
guide rolls in one row out of the two rows, and is shifted in the lateral 
direction by a handle 20 to adjust the mutual distance beween the two rows 
of the guide rolls 5. 
By providing a sag prevention mechanism for the cloth, when the cloth is 
placed around the guide rolls 5 during the washing process and is shifted 
horizontally, cleaning water having its volume adjusted flows from the 
water supply pipe 8 and flows against the shifting of the cloth and is 
stored in the uppermost water receptacle 6, then the stored water further 
flows downwardly through the water outlet holes 7, and a portion thereof 
flows consecutively into the lower water receptacles while the other 
portion thereof is shifted or carried by cloth 2. As a result pressure is 
applied to the cloth and the guide rolls 5, but the horizontal portions of 
the cloth positioned between left and right rows of guide rolls 5, 5 have 
a tendency to sag because of the weight of water therein, and as the sag 
develops, the tension detector 17 detects the sag in the cloth and the 
motor 18 is driven by the detection output, shifting the above mentioned 
attaching frame 16 up and down by the driving power of the motor, and the 
touch rolls contact the cloth positioned between the left and right rows 
of guide rolls 5, 5 to control the tension, thus automatically eliminating 
the sag. 
Therefore, with the sag of the cloth, caused by the gravity force of the 
water acting on the cloth during the washing process, automatically 
eliminated, such as creases in the cloth which are apt to take place 
during the process and washing spots caused by the generation of creases, 
etc., are eliminated. Thus uniform and effective continuous water washing 
can be achieved which is particularly advantageous for water washing of a 
woven fabric which is easily expandable such as a knitted material. 
Furthermore, the above mentioned example has a mechanism for automatically 
adjusting the volume of water within the water receptacle as it is filled 
so that the width of water within the receptacle corresponds to the width 
of the cloth being processed. 
FIG. 4 is a side elevation illustrating the mechanism for adjusting the 
volume of water within the water receptacle as it is filled and FIG. 5 is 
a front elevation showing the structure of mechanism, partially in 
cross-section, wherein the important component members shown by the 
numbers 1 to 8 were already explained, therefore, further explanation is 
not provided here. The adjusting mechanism includes a pair of movable side 
plates 21 provided on the opposite sides of each water receptacle 6 and a 
screw bar 22 for each pair of side plates. Each screw bar has oppositely 
threaded portions engraved on the opposite end portions and in engagement 
with the pair of movable side plates 21. A screw bar 22' is located below 
the lowest screw bar 22 and has cloth guiders 23 and cloth width detectors 
24 threadedly engaged with the threaded portions thereof. Each of the 
screw bars 22, 22' and a driving axle of a motor 25 have one or two at one 
end thereof with the pulleys arranged in one or two rows. Belts are placed 
around the pulleys P between the screw bars 22, 21 which are adjacent to 
each other vertically and between the screw bar 22 and the lowest screw 
bar 22' which has cloth guiders threaded thereon, and further between the 
screw bar 22' and the motor 25. The detector 24 senses the position of 
edges of the cloth and is coupled to the driving motor 25. The motor 25 is 
driven by the output of the detector 24, and each of the screw bars 22 
rotates through the belt spanned on the pulleys P in a synchronized 
manner. Then each pair of movable side plates 21, 21 within each water 
receptacle 6 slide in opposite directions for adjusting the volume of 
water within the receptacle as it is filled to the water receiving width 
corresponding to the size of the cloth being processed, while the cloth 
guiders 23 are shifted in opposite directions by the rotation of the screw 
bar 22' for detecting the width of the cloth. That is, each pair of 
movable side plates 21, 21 and the cloth guiders 23 are simultaneously 
shifted for matching the cloth width. Further, while each water receptacle 
(6) has a number of water flow outlets 7 perforated therein as shown in 
FIG. 6a, a slit 7' could be provided as shown in FIG. 6b. 
As the above mentioned water filled up volume adjusting mechanism is 
provided in the example of an apparatus according to the present 
invention, movable side plates 21, 21 positioned at both ends of each 
water receptacle 6 move in opposite directions one another to thus the 
water receiving width, that is, the water filled up volume of the water 
receptacle 6, can be automatically adjusted as somewhat larger than the 
width of the cloth depending on the actual width of the cloth, therefore, 
the water receptacles have a water receiving width suited to the width of 
the cloth being processed, thus water can be saved yet water washing 
effectively carried out on the total width of the cloth. Further, the 
invention can be applied to an already installed washing apparatus or an 
improvement can be made thereon in a simple manner.