Patent ID: 7367094

Claim:
An apparatus for a treatment of a fabric which comprises: a heat and pressure application means, a transport means for effecting relative movement between the heat and pressure application means and the fabric, whereby passage of the fabric through the apparatus results in yarns substantially across a width of the fabric being forced closer together, thus imparting semi-permanent ease or stretch into the fabrics, an upstream fabric speed control means employed on an input side of the apparatus upstream of the transport means for maintaining a fabric input speed at the predetermined level, and a downstream fabric speed control means employed downstream of the transport means for maintaining a fabric output speed at a predetermined level, wherein parameters of the throughput of the fabric through the upstream and downstream fabric speed control means and heat and pressure of the heat and pressure application means are set to achieve a minimum desired fabric shrinkage consistent with a difference in speed between the upstream and downstream fabric speed control means such that the downstream fabric speed control means stretches any over shrunk fabric back to a desired fabric shrinkage.