METHOD OF IRONING ARTICLES OF CLOTHING AND APPARATUS CARRYING OUT THE METHOD

Abstract: A method of ironing articles of clothing by means of opposite hot air jets directed from top to bottom onto both sides of the articles, preferably by an angle of incidence of about 45° to the plane thereof, said hot air jets causing the treated articles to be put in vertical tension. An apparatus for ironing articles of clothing by this method includes, in particular, a plurality of fans (9) each of which draws in hot air and discharges it into a pair of opposite hollow bulkehads (11), these opposite bulkheads (11) evenly conveying the hot air through associated conveying nozzles (12) so that it impinges from top to bottom upon both sides of the articles to be treated.

Description: This invention relates to a method of ironing articles of clothing, such as jackets, shirts, overcoats and the like, preferably by continuous operation, and to an apparatus for carrying out the method, wherein hot air jets are directed symmetrically from top to bottom onto both sides of the articlesthrough a plurality of superimposed nozzles which are inclined downwardly about 45° to the plane of movement of the articles. Ironing of articles of clothing, in particular those made on an industrial scale, is at present performed by pressing operation, more specifically by means of two opposite conveniently heated plates which are closed on the article while suspended on a hanger, put on a dummy, or lying in spread condition. This method has a number of disadvantages. In a first place, the two opposite plates can usually only iron the front and back of a garment, whereas it is desirable that the sleeves thereof should be ironed separately. Moreover, the article of clothing has to be put with care on its support in order to prevent formation of folds which may cause creases to appear on the ironed articles after pressing. These ironing machines are, obviously, of a discontinuous-operation type, in that a single article is fed at a time between the opposite press plates, so that their working rate is rather low. From AT-A-370790 an apparatus is known by which a method of ironing articles of clothing is carried out, wherein opposite hot air jets are directed onto the two larger sides of the articles which are suspended on hangers and which have been previously wetted. The opposite air jets act to impinge upon the article in a direction from top to bottom so as to maintain the article in a state of vertical tension during the treatment. The object of this invention is a method and an apparatus to ensure through ironing of an entire article of clothing by a very rapid process. This object is achieved according to the invention which provides a method of ironing articles of clothing by means of hot air jets which are directed from top to bottom towards the treated article so as to evenly impinge upon it, thereby to keep the article in a stretched state on its hanger or any other support means on which it is suspended, said air jets being directed so towards the two opposite sides of a previously wetted article as to be inclined through substantially 45° to the plane of said article. At the end of the ironing operation, the article is cooled by means of cool air jets that are orientated in the same direction as the preceding hot air jets. The process is, with preference, carried out continuously, that is with the articles being moved on at constant speed during the treatment. The apparatus for carrying the method into effect is, preferably, one of a linear type and is comprised of modular sections each having a centrally disposed tunnel through which the articles suspended on corresponding hangers carried on a conveyor chain, are fed. In a first of said sections the articles are wetted by means of an air-water atomizing system comprising a series of adjustable atomizing heads arranged on both longitudinal sides of this section. Following said wetting section is a drying-ironing section comprising an array of radial fans which draw in hot air and discharge the hot air symmetrically towards the two sides of the articles moving in the section, through downwardly oriented nozzles that are inclined about 45° to the plane of movement of the articles. In this way, the hot air jets impinging in an evenly distributed manner upon a garment, in addition to drying it, also achieve thorough ironing thereof due to the tension exerted from top to bottom upon the article by said hot air jets. Provided at the ironing section is an exhausting conduit for removing moisture and changing air. Finally, a cooling-stabilizing section is provided and has, in turn, fans that are arranged to direct on the ironed articles cool air drawn in from the outside. Further features of the invention will be better understood when reading the following detailed description of one embodiment thereof shown, by way of example only, in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of an ironing line using the method according to the invention; Figure 2 is a longitudinal, part cutaway view showing the initial wetting section of the ironing line in figure 1; Figure 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the section in figure 2 taken on the line III-III in figure 1; Figures 4 and 5 are a longitudinal, part cutaway view and a top plan view, respectively, of the central drying-ironing section of the ironing line in figure 1; Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of the ironing section in figures 4 and 5, taken along VI-VI in figure 1; Fig. 7 shows , on a larger scale, the detail designated at A in figure 6; Figure 8 is a longitudinal part cut-away view showing the terminal cooling section of the ironing line in figure 1; and Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view of the cooling section in figure 8 taken on the line IX-IX in figure 1. Referring now to the above figures and, more specifically, to figure 1, an apparatus, or more particularly, a line for ironing articles of clothing according to the invention will be described herein after. This ironing line is composed of three distinct sections :- an initial wetting and preparing section 1, an intermediate drying and ironing section 2 and a terminal cooling and stabilizing station 3 for the articles of clothing to be treated. The different sections consist of modular blocks 4 making for an easy construction and assembling of the line. Centrally provided in each section is a tunnel 5 for permitting continuous supply therethrough of the articles to be treated, which articles are suspended on respective hangers 6 carried by an endless conveyor chain 7 moved at constant speed in the direction of arrow F (figure 1). While the ironing apparatus according to the invention is shown to be of a linear type in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that it could take other configurations, when viewed in plan, and, for example, a circular configuration. The articles of clothing to be treated are moved through the tunnel 5 with the large part thereof being oriented in the direction of the tunnel axis. In the initial wetting section 1, the articles are wetted and prepared for the next ironing step by means of an air-water atomizing system comprised of a series of adjustable atomizing heads 8 (see figures 2 and 3) arranged along the two opposite longitudinal sides of section 1. The thus wetted articles attain the drying-ironing section 2 which includes a series of radial fans 9 disposed with their axis in a vertical direction in the upper part of section 2. Each fan 9 acts to draw in hot air -which has been previously heated by known means- from a tank 10 mounted on a wall inside the section 2, and to discharge the drawn hot air into a pair of oppositely arranged hollow bulkheads 11 which,in turn, direct said hot air onto the articles that are moving therebetween. In particular, the hollow bulkheads 11 are provided with air discharging, uniformly distributed nozzles 12 (figure 7) which are arranged to direct a respective hot air jet onto an article to be treated in a direction from top to bottom which is preferably inclined about 45° to the moving plane of the articles. Thus, an article to be treated is subjected to a downwardly directed tension by the opposite hot air jets from nozzles 12 thereby to be thoroughly ironed while being dried. By this ironing method, which has proven very effective, the risk of any crease being formed on the treated article, even when this should be put carelessly on its hanger 6, is entirely avoided due to the fact that no pressing action is involved. Also provided in the ironing section 2 is an exhausting stack 13 for removal of moisture and change of air. The thus ironed articles will then pass to the final cooling-stabilizing section 3 where at least one radial fan 9′ is provided to draw in cool air from the outside and to discharge it through opposite hollow bulkheads 11′,and associated nozzles, towards the article being treated. The cool air jets in cooling section 3 impinge upon the articles in the same way as do the hot air jets in drying-ironing section 2. Some dimensioning values for the machine according to this invention are given below by way of example only. By assuming a chosen working speed of 12.5 meters per minute and a spaced relation between the articles to be treated of 1.25 meters, there will be obtained 10 treated articles per minute or 600 per hour, which is a rather high rate. The time the articles remain in the wetting-preparing section 1 is 15 sec. so that this section will be 3 m long. The time the articles will spend in the drying-ironing section 2 is 60 sec. which corresponds to this section 2 being 12 m long. The temperature in the ironing section 2 is held at about 100-120°. The radial fans 9 in this section 2 have a volume delivery of 18,000 m³/h and a head of 90 mm H₂O. In order to change air in this section, a centrifugal fan is provided which has a volume delivery of 9,000 m³/h and a head of 150 mm H₂O. Finally, the time during which the articles remain in the terminal cooling-stabilizing section 3 is 7.2 sec., so that this section 3 will be 1.5 m long. By having the three sections spaced 0.5 m apart, the whole length of the ironing line according to this invention will be 17.5 m. Moreover, during the process a disinfectant may be used, for example, in admixture with the water to be sprayed on the articles in the wetting section 1, or with the hot air to be directed onto the articles in the ironing station 2, thereby to have the articles sterilized while being treated. It should be apparent that the invention is not restricted to the particular embodiment that has been described herein before and shown in the accompanying drawings, and many changes as to the construction details may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims: 1. A method of ironing articles of clothing, wherein the articles to be treated are suspended on corresponding support means, such as hangers (6), and comprising the step of directing opposite hot air jets onto the two large sides of a previously wetted article, the opposite hot air jets acting to impinge upon the treated article in a direction from top to bottom so as to maintain the article in a state of vertical tension during the treatment, characterized in that the hot air is directed symmetrically onto both sides of the moving articles through a plurality of superimposed nozzles which are inclined downwardly about 45° to the plane of movement of the articles. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein an article is moving at constant speed during the treatment. 3. The method according to any of the claims 1 to 2, wherein a disinfectant is used during the treatment in order to sterilize an article. 4. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the method includes the step of cooling the ironed articles by means of opposite cool air jets directed from top to bottom onto the articles, preferably at an angle of 45° to the plane thereof. 5. An apparatus for ironing articles of clothing, wherein the articles are suspended on respective hangers (6) carried by a conveyor chain (7) and are moving through a tunnel (5) with a large part thereof being oriented in the direction of the axis of the tunnel, and wherein the apparatus comprises an initial wetting section (1), an intermediate drying-ironing section (2), and a terminal cooling-stabilizing section (3), the intermediate ironing section (2) having means (9), (11), (12) provided therein by which opposite hot air jets are directed from top to bottom onto the two sides of the articles, said opposite air jets acting to put in vertical tension the articles being treated, characterized in that said hot air directing means are a plurality of radial fans (9) disposed with their axis in a vertical direction at the top of section (2), each fan (9) drawing in hot air from a tank (10) mounted inside the section (2), and each fan (9) discharging said hot air into a pair of opposite hollow bulkheads (11) by which the hot air is symmetrically directed onto both sides of an article to be treated via discharging nozzles (12) whose axes are inclined about 45° to the plane of articles. 6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein an exhaust pipe (13) is provided in the ironing section (2) and permits the air in said section to be changed by means of a centrifugal fan. 7. The apparatus according to any of the claims 5 and 6, wherein an air-water atomizing system is provided in said wetting section (1) and comprises an array of adjustable atomizing heads (8) arranged on both longitudinal sides of said section. 8. The apparatus according to any of the claims 5 to 7, wherein said terminal cooling section (3) comprises at least one fan (9) which draws in cool air from the surrounding atmosphere and discharges it into a pair of opposite hollow bulkheads (11′) through which the air is evenly directed from top to bottom onto the ironed articles. 9. The apparatus according to any of the claims 5 to 8, wherein said conveyor chain (7) is driven at constant speed so that the articles are continuously fed at that constant speed in the tunnel (5) centrally extending through said sections (1, 2 and 3). 10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the speed at which the conveyor chain (7) is moved and which corresponds to the working speed of the system, is 12.5 meters per minute, the time the articles spend in the wetting section (2) is 15 sec., in the ironing section (2) 60 sec., in the cooling section (3) 7.5 sec. 11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the temperature in the ironing section (2) is maintained at about 100-120°, the fans (9) having a capacity of 18,000 m³/h and a head of 90 mm H₂O. 12. The apparatus according to any of the claims 5 to 11, wherein the apparatus has a linear, circular or other type of configuration as viewed in plan. 13.The apparatus according to any of the claims 5 to 12, wherein said sections (1, 2, 3) are comprised of modular blocks (4).

Inventors: INGHIRAMI, FABIO AVV
Applicants: REGGIANI TESSILE S.P.A.
Application year: 1988
Main classification: D06F73
IPC codes: D06F73, D06F58, D06B3