DYEING APPARATUS

Abstract: A low-liquor-ratio dyeing apparatus comprising a perforated cylindrical beam (2) rotatably supported within a horizontal vessel (l) for supporting on its periphery materials (S) to be dyed, a liquid flow circulation system (9) for forcing dying liquid through the materials (S) radially outwardly of the beam (2), a sprinkler chamber (l7) mounted on the ceiling of the vessel (l) for spraying the liquid over the upper portion of the beam (2), the ceiling of the vessel (l), and inner side walls of the vessel (l), and a liquid supply bypass pipe (l6) branched from the supply side of the circulation system (9) and connected to the sprinkler chamber (l7).

Description: The present invention relates to a low-liquor-ratio dyeing apparatus for dyeing textile materials with dyeing liquid, comprising: a horizontally extending cylindrical vessel for containing the dyeing liquid; a perforated cylindrical beam rotatably supported within said vessel concentrically thereof for supporting on and around said beam the textile materials to be dyed; a liquid flow circulation system for forcing the dyeing liquid into the interior of said beam so as to pass through the textile materials radially outwardly; a sprinkler chamber counted on a ceiling of said vessel and having a multiplicity of openings for spaying the dyeing liquid over an upper portion of said beam and a liquid supply bypass branched from a supply side of said circulation system and connected to said sprinkler chamber. A dyeing apparatus of this type is disclosed in JP-U59.9034 and in GB-A-1447 857. In these prior art apparatuses the sprinkler chamber has no further openings in addition to those for spraying the dyeing liquid over an upper portion of the beam. It turned out, however, that a small amount of dyeing liquid is jetted out along the inner surfaces of oppo-site side rims of the beam and is struck thereagainst to scatter and that bubbles are developed on the liquid surface due to the surface active agent as an additive. These phenomenons have the effect that dyeing liquid is attached to the wall surface of the vessel which wall surface is exposed to air, so that dyes and assistants contained in the liquid become cohered. Also, the low-molecular-weight materials eluted from the textile materials containing synthetic resin and synthetic fibers are attached to the wall surface of the vessel to become cohered. This cohesion of the dyes and assistants as well as the low-molecular-weight materials makes the wall surface of the vessel dirty. Further, these cohered materials easily fall on the textile materials to stick together, thus impairing the dyeing of the textile materials. Therefore it is an object of the invention to improve these conventional apparatuses by preventing the dyes and assistants as well as the low-molecular-weight materials eluting from the textile material from being attached to the vessel's ceiling and its opposite side walls. A low-liquor-ratio dyeing apparatus satisfying this requirement is characterized in claim 1. In the dyeing apparatus according to the invention not only the outer surface of the textile materials wound on the perforated beam is covered with a thin layer of the dyeing liquid as sprayed from the sprinkler chamber but also the inner side walls of the vessel are covered with a layer of the liquid so that the lowering of the temperature of the materials and parts can be prevented. During that time by the liquid as sprayed from the sprinkler chamber the foreign matter is prevented from being struck to the materials and parts to cohesion. Consequently, with the apparatus according to the invention, low-liquor-ratio dyeing can take place efficiently and neatly. The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to an exemplifying, non-limiting embodiment thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevational view, partly in cross section, of a dyeing apparatus embodying the present invention; Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B of Figure 1; and Figure 4 is a perspective view of a sprinkler chamber. Figure 1 shows a low-liquor-ratio dyeing apparatus for dyeing textile materials S. The apparatus includes a cylindrical vessel 1 having a generally circular cross section (Figures 2 and 3) and extending along a generally horizontal axis. The vessel 1 is covered at one or front end tightly by an openable front lid plate 2O and at the other or rear end by an annular rear lid plate 10 to which a heat-exchanger-type heater 11 is attached. A perforated cylindrical beam 2 having a substantially circular cross section (Figures 2 and 3) is supported within the vessel 1 cocentrically thereof. The beam 2 is adapted to support the materials S to be, dyed, the materials S being wound on the periphery of the beam 2. The beam 2 has a multiplicity of holes formed in the periphery of the beam and distributed uniformly therearound, allowing the liquid to flow into and through the layers of the materials S wound on the beam 2. As shown in Figure 2, the beam 2 is supported at each end by a truck 31 movable on and along a pair of parallel spaced rails 32, 32 secured to and extending longitudinally of the vessel 1, the truck 31 having a pair of rollers 30, 30. The beam 5 rests on the two pairs of rollers 30, 30; 30, 30 so that the beam 2 is rotatable about a shaft 4 extending axially thereof. As the beam 2 is rotated clockwise, i.e. in the direction of an arrow by a motor 5 via a reducer 6, the rollers 30, 30 roll on the periphery of the beam 2, during which time each roller 30 is rotated counterclockwise. As shown in Figure 1, a pusher disk 21 is rotatably mounted on centrally the front lid plate 20 and is axially movable toward and away from the beam 2 by an air cylinder 22, thus closing and opening the front end opening of the beam 2. The peripheral edge of the front lid plate 20 is fluidtightly fastened to the front peripheral edge of the vessel 1 by means of an annular clasp 13. The apparatus also includes a liquid flow circulation system 9 composed of a pump 13, a main supply pipe 14 communicating with the pump 13 and connected to the heater 11, and a pair of return pipes 12, 12 connected to the bottom portion of the vessel 1 and communicating with the pump 13. Most important, a liquid supply bypass pipe 16 is branched from the main supply pipe 14 and opens to a sprinkler chamber 17 mounted on the ceiling of the vessel 1 and extending longitudinally thereof. A valve 15 is mounted in the supply bybass pipe 16 for regulating the amount of liquid flowing to the sprinkler chamber 17. A heat-exchanger-type heater may be connected to the supply bypass pipe 16 as desired. As better shown in Figures 3 and 4, the sprinkler chamber 17 has a multiplicity of openings 18 distributed thereover for spraying the liquid over the upper portion of the beam 2, the ceiling of the vessel 1, and the front and rear lid plates 20, 10 of the vessel 1, as indicated by arrows. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, a drive arm 7 is fixedly mounted on the distal front end of the shaft 4 and extends radially outwardly and terminates short of the inner surface of the beam 2. The beam 2 has a projection 8 mounted on the inner surface of the beam 2 for engagement with the free end of the drive arm 7. Thus the rotation of the shaft 4 is transmitted to the beam 2. Designated by the numeral 25 is an elongate dummy cylinder supported within the vessel 1 concentrically thereof in order to reduce the volume within the vessel 1 and communicating with the air at the upper portion of the vessel 1 via a pressure equalizing pipe 26. 27 designates a safety valve, 28 a pressure gauge and 29 a deaerator, respectively connected to the top of the vessel 1. The pump 13 of the liquid flow circulation system 9 is operatively connected to a motor (not shown) via a suitable reducer (not shown) such as a frequency converter for regulating the amount of the liquid flow. Connected to the return pipes 12, 12 are a water-suction and medical-liquid-injection pipe 23, and a drainage pipe 24. The heater 11 may be connected to the return pipes 12, 12 instead of the inlet side of the vessel 1. In operation, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, with the liquid surface maintained at a level L₁ where only a limited portion of the layers of the textile materials S is soaked in the liquid, or even at a level L₂ where most of the layers of the textile materials S is remote off the liquid surface and hence is not soaked in the liquid, the liquid is forced into and through the layers of the textile materials S radially outwardly, while the outer surface of the textile materials S which surface is exposed to the air within the vessel 1 is covered with a thin layer of the liquid as sprayed from the sprinkler chamber 17. Thus the textile materials S can be adequately wetted throughout the layers, irrespective of the level of the liquid surface. At the same time, the ceiling of the vessel 1, and the inner side walls of the vessel 1 are also covered with a layer of the liquid as sprayed from the sprinkler chamber 17, so that the lowering of the temperature of the materials and parts can be prevented. During that time by the jetted liquid, the foreign matter is prevented from being struck to the materials and parts to cohesion. Consequently, with the apparatus, low-liquor-ratio dyeing can take place efficiently and neatly. Following are the results of experiments conducted under the direction of the inventor: In the prior dyeing apparatus, for dyeing 40 kg of slide fastener chain (including tapes of polyester fibers and fastener elements of polyester or nylon) on the beam with 850 ℓ of dye liquid, the amount of circulated liquid must be 30 ℓ/s, while the rotation of the pump must be 3,500 r.p.m. On the other hand, in the present apparatus, the same amount of slide fastener chain were dyed with 400 ℓ of dyeing liquid, where the amount of circulated liquid were 18 ℓ/s as the rate of rotation of the pump was reduced to 2,000 r.p.m., where of 18 ℓ/s, 2 ℓ/s (about a tenth) of the liquid were sprayed from the sprinkler chamber, where the liquid surface in the vessel were kept at the level L₂ of Figures 2 and 3, and where the rate of rotation of the beam was 3 to 4 r.p.m. As a result, the amount of dye and assistants, the amount of vapor, and the amount of operating power were saved or reduced by about 20%, about 50% and about 50% respectively. And good dyeing were achieved. Secondly, in the same apparatus of the present invention, 25 kg of fastener chain were dyed with 300 of dyeing liquid, where the rate of rotation of the pump were reduced 1,500 r.p.m., where the amount of circulated liquid were 10 ℓ/s, where of 10 ℓ/s, 1.7 ℓ/s of liquid were sprayed from the sprinkler chamber, and where the liquid surface were kept at the level L₁ of Figures 2 and 3. As a result, like in the first experiment, good dyeing were achieved.

Claims: A low-liquor-ratio dyeing apparatus for dyeing textile materials (S) with dyeing liquid, comprising: a horizontally extending cylindrical vessel (1) for containing the dyeing liquid; a perforated cylindrical beam (2) rotatably supported within said vessel (1) concentrically thereof for supporting on and around said beam (2) the textile materials (S) to be dyed; a liquid flow circulation system (9) for forcing the dyeing liquid into the interior of said beam (2) so as to pass through the textile materials (S) radially outwardly; a sprinkler chamber (17) mounted on a ceiling of said vessel (1) and having a multiplicity of openings (18) for spraying the dyeing liquid over an upper portion of said beam (2); and a liquid supply bypass pipe (16) branched from a supply side of said circulation system (9) and connected to said sprinkler chamber (17), characterized in that said sprinkler chamber (17) further has a multiplicity of openings (18) for spraying the dyeing liquid over the ceiling of said vessel (1) and opposite inner side walls of said vessel (1). A low-liquor-ratio dyeing apparatus according to claim 1, said sprinkler chamber (17) extending longitudinally along the effective length of said beam (2). A low-liquor-ratio dyeing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 further including a valve (15) mounted in said supply bypass pipe (16) for regulating the amount of the dyeing liquid to be supplied to said sprinkler chamber 17.

Inventors: NAKAYAMA, KIYOSHI
Applicants: YOSHIDA KOGYO K.K.
Application year: 1986
Main classification: D06B5
IPC codes: D06B5