Patent ID: 7913524

Claim:
An apparatus for dyeing a traveling textile fabric substrate, comprising: a housing having an interior chamber through which said substrate travels from an entrance through which said substrate enters said chamber to an exit through which said substrate exits said chamber; an entry roller assembly for feeding said traveling substrate to said entrance; an exit roller assembly for drawing said traveling substrate from said chamber; a plurality of spaced foam applicators in said chamber having applicator faces extending transversely of the traveling substrate for applying dye in foam form onto the surface of the substrate in increments, said applicators being spaced apart to permit at least partial collapse of foam between applicators; a plurality of laterally extending holddown elements members in said chamber extending transversely of the traveling substrate between said applicators and extending below the level of said applicator faces to guide said substrate and hold said substrate down against said applicator faces; said holddown members gradually decreasing in depth between applicators in the downstream direction of travel of the substrate to reduce the angle of inclination of the substrate as it travels over successive applicator faces to minimize the increase in tension of the substrate as it travels across successive applicator faces through the apparatus.