Improvements in the treatment of textile filaments with liquids

摘要

A tow of continuous textile filaments, e.g. cellulose ester filaments, is subjected to a liquid treatment, e.g. to treatment with an alkaline saponifying liquid, by feeding the tow in the direction of its length into and through a bath of the liquid, and separating the filaments of the tow from one another immediately before they enter the liquid in the bath so as to facilitate the wetting of the filaments as they enter the bath. Preferably the tension in the tow as it passes through the bath is maintained at a value sufficiently low to avoid the filaments being drawn tightly against one another. The filaments may be separated by means of a fluid stream acting on them before they enter the bath. This fluid may be air or other gas, or water. The treatment may be a partial or complete saponification treatment of cellulose ester filaments or it may be a dyeing treatment. As shown in Fig. 1, a tow 34 of cellulose ester filaments is guided several times round a metering roll 27 and then through a tow-opener 35 and into a saponification liquid contained in compartment 14 of tank 11. As shown in Fig. 4, the tow-opener 35 comprises a funnel-shaped entrance passage 36, flattened along its surface 37 so that it may fit closely to the metering roll 27. The funnel 36 leads to conduit 38 which is screwed into the fitting 41. This fitting 41 comprises a chamber 42 which is provided with a supply tube 43 through which compressed air may be supplied. Chamber 42 leads to a conduit 44 which is of larger diameter than the tow. As the tow 34 passes through the tow-opener 35, the individual filaments are separated one from the other by the action of the compressed air flowing from chamber 42 to and through conduit 44. The tow is guided through compartment 14 (Fig. 1) by rollers 46, 47, and on leaving the bath passes over guide-roll 48. It then passes through squeeze rolls 51, 52. Roll 51 is positively driven by motor 54. Roll 52 is mounted in plates 55 which are pivoted to standards 53. A hydraulic cylinder 56 may be operated to lift roll 52 to facilitate threading of the tow at the start of the operation. The tension on the tow is kept at a minimum by adjusting motors 31, 54 so that the peripheral speed of roll 27 is greater than that of roll 51 and that some slippage of the tow occurs on roll 27. The tow passes on through the wash compartment 15 and then over a dancer-roll assembly 58 comprising dancer-roll 59, arms 61, 62, and weight 63. Arms 61, 62 operate a speed control rheostat 64, connected by leads to motor 54. The assembly 58 thus serves to maintain a uniform tension on the tow 34. From roll 59, the tow passes through squeeze rolls 66, 67, into and through another wash compartment 16, and over a dancer-roll assembly 74 which controls the speed of motor 69. The tow then passes through further squeeze rolls and on to devices for crimping, lubricating, stapling and drying.ALSO: A tow of continuous textile filaments is subjected to a liquid treatment by feeding it in the direction of its length into and through a bath of the liquid, and separating the filaments of the tow from one another immediately before they enter the liquid in the bath so as to facilitate the wetting of the filaments as they enter the bath. The filaments may be separated by means of a fluid stream acting on them before they enter the bath. The fluid is preferably a gas. The liquid treatment may be a dyeing, saponifying, or other treatment. As shown in Fig. 1, a tow 34 of cellulose acetate filaments is guided round a metering roll 27 and then through a tow-opener 35 and into a saponification liquid contained in compartment 14 of tank 11. A shown in Fig. 4, the opener 35 comprises a funnel-shaped entrance passage 36, flattened along its surface 37 so that it may fit closely to the roll 27. The funnel 36 leads to conduit 38 which is screwed into fitting 41. This fitting 41 comprises a chamber 42 with supply tube 43 for compressed air. Chamber 42 leads to conduit 44 which is of larger diameter than the tow. As the tow passes through opener 35, the filaments are separated from each other by the action of the compressed air. The tow is guided through compartment 14 (Fig. 1) by rollers 46, 47, and on leaving the bath, passes over roll 48. It then passes through squeeze rolls 51, 52, roll 51 being positively driven by motor 54. Roll 52 is mounted in plates 55 which are pivoted to standards 53. A hydraulic cylinder 56 may be operated to lift roll 52 to facilitate threading of the tow at the start of operation. The tension on the tow is kept at a minimum by adjusting motors 31, 54 so that the peripheral speed of roll 27 is greater than that of roll 51 and that some slipping of the tow occurs on roll 27. The tow passes on through the wash compartment 15 and then over a dancer-roll assembly 58 comprising dancer-roll 59, arms 61, 62, and weight 63. Arms 61, 62, operate a speed-control rheostat 64, connected by leads to motor 54. The assembly 58 thus serves to maintain a uniform tension on the tow 34. From roll 59, the tow passes through squeeze rolls 66, 67, into and through another wash compartment 16, and over a dancer-roll assembly 74 which controls the speed of motor 69. The tow then passes through further squeeze rolls and on to devices for crimping, lubricating, stapling and drying.