Patent Publication Number: US-7222505-B2

Title: Dying or bleaching apparatus for yarn wound on reels or similar packages

Description:
The present invention refers to a dying or bleaching apparatus for yarn wound on reels or similar packages. Traditional dying or bleaching apparatuses for yarn wound on reels or similar packages are made of stainless steel resistant to corrosive chemicals, and operate at a high temperature and under static pressure. 
   Substantially, the apparatuses in question consist of a cylindrical treatment boiler with a convex base and cover, of which this cover can be locked with a closing device using superposed teeth or the like, which can be flipped over through a pneumatic cylinder. The boiler is equipped with a pump for the reversible circulation of the dying liquid and with a heat exchange group for heating or cooling the liquid. 
   The heat exchange group, by indirect steam, consists either of an inner coil, generally arranged on the base of the boiler, or of an outer heat exchanger arranged on the piping connecting the pump to the boiler. In particular, in the solution with the coil, the heating takes place by the passage of steam in it, whereas the cooling is obtained with the passage of cold water. 
   The apparatus is completed by various accessories, such as a small pump for the static pressure, an expansion tank outside of the bath which also functions as a recipient for the introduction of the dying ingredients, and command and control equipment which play no part in the present invention and which will therefore be ignored hereafter. 
   Inside the boiler the removable material holder can be arranged carrying a plurality of shafts upon which the reels to be treated are mounted. 
   These apparatuses work with a soaking ratio which varies from 1/10 to about 1/13, that is they use from 10 to 13 liters of water for every kg of material treated, with a variable number of water changes for each dying cycle. 
   The number of water changes in a treatment cycle of course varies according to the type of textile material to be treated and to the class of dyes used. 
   This number of water changes can be quantified from a minimum of two up to a maximum which can even exceed ten, of which most are with hot liquid. From this it is clear that in dying processes there is a large water and steam consumption. 
   The complete operative cycle foresees the load of reels slotted one on top of the other on the material holder shafts, the insertion of the material holder into the boiler, the dying treatment in the boiler, the removal of the material holder from the boiler, the removal of the reels from the shafts, the insertion of the reels in a centrifugal water draining machine, the water draining treatment for the maximum possible removal of water from the reels, the removal of the reels from the water draining machine, the loading of the reels onto the shafts of the trolley of the drier, the introduction of the trolley into the drier, the drying of the reels, the removal of the trolley with the final discharge of the treated and dried reels. 
   If one considers the problems regarding the environment, it can be clearly seen that the modern dying industry requires machinery which reduces all forms of atmospheric and environmental pollution. Then considering both the energy and workforce costs, ever more apparatuses are needed which reduce consumption and energy costs per production unit, and which allow a reduction, if not elimination, of the manipulations of yarn in some steps of the aforementioned productive cycle, simplifying it with a consequent reduction in the production costs. 
   Another requirement, which is urgently demanded by the market, should be added to the above, that being an ever more flexible use of these apparatuses, understood in the sense of being able to use them not just at full capacity but also, according to requirements, partly full, and this, of course, with a virtually constant soaking ratio. 
   The purpose of the present invention is that of realising a dying or bleaching apparatus for yarn, on reels or similar packages, which allows the manipulations to be carried out to be minimised as far as possible. 
   Another purpose of the present invention is that of realising a dying or bleaching apparatus for yarn wound on reels or similar packages, which uses a very short soaking ratio, reducing atmospheric and environmental pollution and energy costs accordingly. 
   Another purpose of the present invention is that of realising a dying or bleaching apparatus which allows a good flexibility of use, maintaining a constant soaking ratio as the load of material to be treated varies. 
   A further purpose of the present invention is that of realising a particularly simple and functional dying or bleaching apparatus at a contained cost. 
   These purposes according to the present invention are achieved by realising a dying or bleaching apparatus for yarn wound on reels or similar packages, as outlined in claim  1 . 
   Further characteristics are foreseen in the dependent claims. 

   
     The characteristics and advantages of a dying or bleaching apparatus for yarn wound on reels or similar packages, according to the present invention shall become clearer from the following description, given as an example and not for limiting purpose, referring to the attached schematic drawings in which: 
       FIG. 1  is a side elevational section view of a boiler having an annular treatment section in closed configuration of a dying or bleaching apparatus for yarn wound on reels, according to the present invention, in which reel holder shafts have been inserted through a moving device for all of the reel holder shafts, shown above the boiler with a side view, where, for the sake of simplicity, just two shafts are represented with a broken line; 
       FIG. 2  shows an enlarged side elevational section view of a device for moving all of the reel holder shafts, carrying just two shafts for the sake of simplicity; 
       FIGS. 3   a  and  3   b  show an enlarged side elevational section view of a detail of a cover of a small boiler of the apparatus of  FIG. 1 , in a step prior to closing and in closed position, respectively; 
       FIG. 4  shows a plan view from above of the single boiler of the apparatus of  FIG. 1  filled with reel holder shafts and wedge-shaped profiles; 
       FIGS. 5   a ,  5   b ,  5   c  and  5   d  show four plan views from above of the single boiler of the apparatus of  FIG. 1  filled with four different loads of reel holder shafts and cylindrical liquid reduction buffer lungs; 
       FIG. 6  shows a front view of the dying apparatus of  FIG. 1 , inserted in an embodiment of a dying line, upstream of a centrifugal water-draining machine with hoists having a beehive section and of a drier with a chamber having a circular section; 
       FIGS. 7   a ,  7   b  and  7   c  show three different plan views from above of three productive embodiments of a dying line, with respective trolleys, specifically in  FIG. 7   a  the line of  FIG. 6  is schematised, in  FIG. 7   b  a line with a traditional drier having a chamber with a rectangular section can be seen, and finally in  FIG. 7   c  a line with a traditional water draining apparatus and a traditional drier is shown; 
       FIG. 8  shows a plan view from above of the single boiler in open configuration of the apparatus of  FIG. 1 , where two series of inner and outer teeth for clamping a cover to close the boiler and seats for the reel holder shafts can be seen. 
   

   Before anything else it must be said that only those parts of a dying apparatus which are essential for a complete understanding of the invention are illustrated in the drawings and shall be described hereafter, whereas all accessories which can be realised in a traditional manner which are well known in the prior art have been left out. 
   Moreover, reference shall always be made to a dying apparatus, but it is to be understood that it could also concern apparatuses for bleaching or for other treatments. 
   With reference to the figures, a dying apparatus, equipped with an annular section boiler, is shown wholly indicated with  10 . 
     FIG. 1  represents a cylinder-shaped treatment boiler  15  with a vertical axis, having a circular crown section, with a base rested upon bearings  22 , which is equipped with an inner heat exchange chamber  16  and with an outer heat exchange chamber  17 . The boiler  15  is closed with a cover  11 , pivoted on a pin  43 , and actuated by a flip-over cylinder  20  and by a lowering cylinder  21  of the cover  11 . 
   A device for circulating dying liquid, according to two opposite directions indicated by arrows  46  and  47 , is foreseen consisting of an outer pump  100  connected to the boiler  15  with a lateral piping  18  and with a lower piping  19  which carries an annular collector  49 . 
   Above the collector  49  inverted cone-shaped seats  25 ′ are foreseen. Such seats host a conical lower end  25 , which can be seen in  FIG. 2 , of reel holder shafts  13 , on which reels  12  to be treated are slotted. In the case of  FIG. 2  the reels  12  are wound on conical perforated supports and are separated by spacer disks  26 . In the case of reels  12  wound on special cylindrical perforated supports the disks  26  can also be left out. 
     FIG. 2  shows a circular device  14  for moving all of the shafts  13  arranged around the circumference, comprising a structure  32  which carries attachments for locking all the shafts  13 , each consisting of a pair of small pistons  27 , or of other known systems, which push two pincers  28  in correspondence with a grooved upper end  23 —which can be seen in  FIGS. 3   a  and  3   b —of the shaft  13 . 
     FIGS. 3   a  and  3   b  show a detail of a lock of a cover  11  on a boiler  15 , which takes place between an inner edge  44  and an outer edge  45  of an upper end of the boiler  15 , and an inner edge  44 ′ and an outer edge  45 ′ of a lower end of the cover  11 . On the cover  11  locking and centring devices are foreseen, one for each shaft  13 , consisting of a pin  30 , equipped with a spring  31 , which terminates with a conical seat  29 , to receive the shaft  13  which terminates on top with a countersink  24 . 
   In  FIG. 4  wedge-shaped profiles  33  for reducing the amount of dying liquid can be seen, whereas in  FIGS. 5   a ,  5   b ,  5   c  and  5   d  cylindrical buffer lungs  34 , also for reducing the dying liquid, are shown. 
   Said profiles  33  have a shape such as to occupy, inside the boiler  15 , space which is not used by the reels  12  with the maximum outer diameter, which are slotted into the shafts  13 . Thus most of the dead zones inside the boiler  15  are eliminated. 
   A buffer lung  34  has a cylindrical shape and occupies the same space as that of the shaft  13  loaded with reels  12  with a maximum outer diameter. 
   At an upper end, the buffer lung  34  is equipped with a grooved end and with a countersink (not shown but identical with respect to those of the shaft  13 , which are respectively indicated with the reference numerals  23  and  24 ). In the same way, the buffer lung  34  is equipped, on the opposite side, with a conical end (not shown but identical with respect to the one of the shaft  13 , which is indicated with the reference numeral  25 ). In this way a buffer lung  34  is interchangeable with a shaft  13 . 
     FIG. 6  shows, under a crane  35 , a dying line consisting of a trolley  36  which carries a series of shafts  13 , arranged on a circumference, of a dying apparatus  10 , of a centrifugal water draining machine with beehive hoists or perforated tubes  37  and of a drier with a chamber having a circular section  38 . 
   In  FIGS. 7   a ,  7   b  and  7   c  other embodiments of the dying line are shown, in which one should note, in addition with respect to  FIG. 6 , a traditional drier with a chamber having a rectangular section  40 , a traditional water draining machine  41 , and a rectangular trolley  42  which carries a series of fixed axes. 
     FIG. 8  illustrates a double mechanical and airtight closing system of the inner  44  and outer  45  upper edges of the boiler  15  on the inner  44 ′ and outer  45 ′ lower edges of the cover  11 , for such a purpose, as seen in  FIGS. 3   a  and  3   b , the boiler  15  is equipped with series of inner  60  and outer  61  inner upper teeth, and the cover  11  is equipped with inner  60 ′ and outer  61 ′ inner lower teeth, which, when closed, superpose the inner  60  and outer  61  inner teeth. 
   The reels  12  to be dyed, wound on conical perforated supports, are slotted into the shafts  13 , separated by disks  26 , and these shafts  13  are positioned onto the trolley  36  to then, all together, through the device  14 , be loaded into the dying apparatus  10 . 
   In particular, said shafts  13  are positioned in the boiler  15 , which, as can be seen in  FIGS. 1 and 4 , is sized so that its circular crown-shaped section has a thickness slightly greater than the maximum diameter of the reels  12 . 
   The boiler  15  has, formed internally towards the bottom, on a circumference which passes through the centre of the circular crown of the boiler  15 , a series of seats  25 ′. Said seats  25 ′ are sized to receive the conical lower ends  25  of the shafts  13 . 
   Advantageously, a series of shafts  13 , in the example in  FIG. 4  there are twenty, can be positioned simultaneously, to fill all the circular crown, by using the moving device  14 . 
   Such a device  14  has a circular structure  32  which comprises a series of pairs, one for each shaft  13 , of small pistons  27 , or other known means, arranged along the same circumference as the central one of the circular crown of the boiler  15 . The small pistons  27  can be actuated to clamp or release the grooved upper end  23  of the shafts  13  themselves, through the pincers  28 , mounted at the end of the small pistons  27 , which can engage in the grooved ends  23 . 
   As can be seen in  FIG. 6 , the device  14  clamps all of the shafts  13  arranged around the circumference for example on the trolley  36 , on the same circumference as the central one of the circular crown of the boiler  15 , and lowers them from above into the dying apparatus through the crane  35 . 
   Once the shafts  13  are inserted in the seats  25 ′, the cover  11  is closed with two distinct movements, actuated by the two cylinders  20  and  21 . 
   The cylinder  20  actuates a flip-over of the cover  11  about the pin  43 , into the position indicated in  FIG. 3   a . This takes place thanks to an arm, carrying at one end the cover  11 , which is pivoted, in an outer zone near to an outer edge  45  of the boiler  15 , through the pin  43 , and which is connected at the other end to the cylinder  20 , in turn hinged on an outer surface of the boiler  15 . 
   Then the cylinder  21  carries out the lowering of the cover  11  and in this step the locking of the shafts  13  in their positions also takes place. This is carried out through devices formed by pins  30 , which terminate with conical seats  29 : in locking, which can be seen in  FIG. 3   b , said conical seats  29  are forced by the compressed springs  31  towards the upper countersinks  24  of the shafts  13 , thus obtaining the locking and also the centring, thanks to their conical shape. 
   The mechanical and airtight locking of the boiler  15  is carried out by locking the cover  11  with the double system of inner  60  and  60 ′ and outer  61  and  61 ′ superposed teeth. 
   As can be clearly seen in  FIG. 4 , the inside of the boiler  15 , equipped with wedge-shaped profiles  33 , has practically no dead zones when the shafts  13  are arranged in it. 
   Alternatively, partial loads of the dying apparatus  10  are possible, using the cylindrical buffer lungs  34 , which fill the space which would be occupied by the shafts  13  loaded with reels  12  having the maximum outer diameter. In  FIGS. 5   a ,  5   b ,  5   c  and  5   d  four different partially loaded situations can be seen. 
   After the quoted closing of the covers  11 , the boiler  15  is filled with the dying liquid. 
   Through the outer pump a circulation of the liquid is promoted, also with the possibility of inverting the direction of the flow. According to the direction indicated by the arrows  47 , the liquid circulates from the piping  19 , through the annular collector  49  and the reels  12 , up to the piping  18 . By inverting the flow, one gets the circulation indicated by the arrows  46 , from the piping  18  to the piping  19 . 
   The dying liquid is heated through the inner heat exchange chamber  16 . Vice-versa, the cooling of the liquid takes place through the outer heat exchange chamber  17 . 
   With the dying apparatus  10  it is also possible to rationalise production. Regarding this, in  FIG. 6  and  FIG. 7   a  a dying line is represented which foresees a trolley  36  where the shafts  13  are circumferentially arranged with the reels  12  to be treated. These shafts  13  are picked up by the crane  35  which lowers them, through the moving device  14 , into the dying apparatus  10 . After the cycle in the apparatus  10 , the series of shafts  13  is picked up by the moving device  14  and is lowered into the centrifugal water-draining machine  37 , which can be with a beehive hoist or with perforated tubes, of a suitable size to host the circumferential series of shafts  13 . At the end of this step, the moving device  14  picks up the series of shafts  13  and lowers them into the drier  38 , which has a chamber with a circular section of a suitable size for hosting the circumferential series of shafts  13 , where the process is completed. 
   Alternatively, in  FIG. 7   b  the production line includes, with respect to  FIG. 7   a , instead of the drier with a chamber having a circular section  38 , a traditional drier  40  with a chamber having a rectangular section, for which reason, at the exit from the centrifugal water draining apparatus  37 , the circumferential series of shafts  13  is picked up by the moving device  14  and is rested on a trolley  36 , which is then taken into the drier  40 . 
   In another alternative, in  FIG. 7   c  the production line includes, with respect to  FIG. 7   a , a traditional water draining machine  41  and a traditional drier  40  with a chamber having a rectangular section, for which reason, at the exit of the dying apparatus  10 , the circumferential series of shafts  13  is picked up by the moving device  14  and is rested upon a trolley  36 . From the trolley  36  the individual reels  12  are withdrawn from the shafts  13  and are positioned, manually or mechanically, in the traditional water-draining machine  41 . At the end of the water-draining step the individual reels  12  are picked up and arranged, manually or mechanically, on a trolley  42 , which is then taken into the traditional drier  40  with a chamber having a rectangular section, to conclude the treatment process. 
   It should be noted that the engineering solution realised in  FIG. 7   a  is of course the optimal one, because it reduces the manipulations of the reels  12  in the production cycle to the minimum. 
   The advantage which characterises this particular embodiment of the dying apparatus, with a boiler having an annular section, is that of receiving the reels to be dyed on individual removable reel holder shafts, arranged on a single circumference, which can all be removed simultaneously through a circular device with pneumatic pincers, or another known means, and which can therefore be positioned, without intermediate manipulations, firstly in the centrifugal water draining machine with a beehive hoist or perforated tubes and then in the drier with a circular chamber. 
   For this last drying operation, it is very important that the residual humidity of the yarn after the water draining is uniform in all the reels and this, in the case of the apparatus of the present invention, is guaranteed by the fact that the reel holder shafts are arranged on a single circumference, a thing which is not possible in traditional apparatuses. 
   A further advantage is the rationalisation of production, since the manual transfer operations of the reels from the dying apparatus to the water draining apparatus, and from here to the drier are eliminated. 
   In practice, therefore, the entire batch is dyed, centrifuged and dried without intermediate manipulations of the reels. 
   Regarding this, the arrangement of the reel holder shafts on a single circumference simplifies enormously the possible automation with robots of the initial loading operation and of the final unloading of the individual reels from the shafts. 
   Moreover, the adoption, in the dying apparatus, of reducer buffer lungs instead of the same number of reel holder shafts allows the treatment of partial loads still with a constant soaking ratio: the operative flexibility is therefore at its maximum. 
   Finally, to treat large batches, apparatuses constructed with a modular structure can be realised, combining or twinning many dying apparatuses according to the present invention. 
   Moreover, the dying apparatus object of the present invention, still keeping the essential special characteristics of traditional apparatuses, that is working totally full and with inversion of the direction of the circulation liquid, not only substantially reduces its soaking ratio, but furthermore improves its dying capability. 
   This has been made possible thanks to the innovative shape of the dying boiler having an annular section, possibly completed with wedge-shaped reducer profiles, which not only has practically no dead zones, but also has allowed the one usually created by the heating coil arranged on the base of traditional apparatuses to be eliminated. 
   In fact, this new boiler has, instead of the inner coil, two heat exchange chambers, consisting of two annular interspaces outside of the body of the boiler, one used to heat and the other used to cool the dying liquid, which, moreover, allow a greater cleanliness and safety of management of the apparatus. Moreover, thanks to the large heat exchange surface available, there is an excellent heating and cooling speed and efficiency. 
   The reduction of the soaking ratio leads to the simultaneous reduction in water, energy, steam and chemical product consumption and of the atmospheric and environment polluting discharges. 
   Moreover, the treatment times are reduced since, with the same flow rate of the pump and with the same heat exchange surface with respect to traditional apparatuses, due to the substantial reduction in the bath volume, increase its cycles per minute as well as its temperature rise gradient, and thus in theory, and compatibly with the characteristic lifetime curves of dyes, the treatment times reduce. Moreover, the increase in the cycles per minute also involves an improvement of the dying capabilities. 
   The dying apparatus thus conceived is susceptible to modifications and variants, all covered by the invention; moreover, all of the details can be replaced by technically equivalent elements. In practice, the materials used, as well as the sizes, can be whatever according to the technical requirements.