US2038457A - Fabric drier - Google Patents

Description

pril 21, i935. G VENTURlNl 2,938,457

FABRIC DRIER Filed De. 23, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 2 J @gig 5 5 w F 5 T In u1u nun lul f6 l1 unl HHH un lling, @6,

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FABRIC DRIER Filed Dec. 25, 1932 2 sheets-sheet 2 n y 4r- ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 21, 1936 PATENT OFFICE;

FABRIC DRIER George Venturini, Carlstadt, N. J.

Application December 23, 1932, Serial No. 648,672

4 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in driers, and more especially to those of the class adapted to be employed for the drying of long or continuous strips of textile fabrics, such as silk, cloth and the like, during the course of manufacture or treatment thereof, as for example, after such fabrics have been dyed by any usual or known process.

One of the primary objects of the invention is to provide a novel and improved drier of this general class which is capable of drying the fabric effectively and uniformly without the necessity of forming the fabric into a number of loops as heretofore practised, the improved drier being smaller and more compact than such looping driers, and

the improved drier may be attached to a silk, cloth or other fabric finishing machine and thus enable the` operations of drying and finishing to be combined into one operation or process.

Another object is to provide a drier of this class which is capable of operating on a single strip of fabric or of operating simultaneously upon a plurality of strips of fabric.

Another object is to provide a drier of this class whereby heated air or drying medium is forced through the strip of fabric successively and alternately from opposite sides thereof while the moisture-laden fabric advances, thereby thoroughly and rapidly removing the moisture therefrom so that the fabric will be completely and uniformly dried by its passage through the drier.

Another object is to provide, in a drier of the class stated, means whereby the width of the outlets for the dischargeof the heated air or-drying medium upon the fabric may be varied to conform with strips of fabric of different widths, thus avoiding waste of heated air or drying medium in the treatment of relatively narrow fabrics kand enabling fabrics of great Variations in width to be dried effectively and economically.

A further object of the invention is to provide a combination drier of this class which may operate either by electric or steam heat, or by both, and which, in any case, is capable of effecting a rapid and thorough drying of the fabric.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in certain improvements and combinations and arrangements of parts all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the features of novelty being pointed out particularly in the claims at the end of this specication.

In the accompanying drawingszm Fig. l is a Vertical section taken longitudinally 'through a drier constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken through the machine on the line 2--2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the drier as viewed from the left in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on the line 4-4 5 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a detail perspective View showing portions of the air chambers and the outlets and receiving channels thereof;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing a portion 10 of one of the air chambers and of the outlets thereof, together with reducers fitted into the outlets to vary the width of the discharge openings therein and also showing electrical heaters for the reducers; and l5 Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing in section an end of one of the reducers.

Similar parts are designated by the same reference characters in the different figures.

The improved drier, in its preferred form and as shown in the present instance, comprises a suitable frame, composed preferably of side members I and 2 having upper and lower chambers 3 and 4 mounted between them. These chambers, which may be of any suitable length and are preferably of a width equal to that of the widest fabric to be dried, are located one above the other between the frame members I and 2. and in the preferred construction, the upper chamber 3 is bolted, vwelded or otherwise xed in 30 stationary position between said frame members, while the lower chamber 4 is movable vertically between said frame members so that it may be raised and lowered or adjusted vertically with respect to the upper chamber, the lower chamber being, for example, slidable vertically between the frame members I and 2 and thus guided laterally, and'having plates 5 fixed to its ends and embracing the frame members I and 2 and thus preventing displacement of this lower cham- 40 ber in a direction longitudinally of the frame.

The chambers 3 and 4 are closed but the bottom 6 of the upper chamber and the top 'l of the lower chamber are provided with outlets through which heated'air or other drying medium from 45 the chambers is forced against and through a. stripof fabric extending longitudinally between the outlets. As shown in the present instance, the bottom 6 of the upper chamber is formed, at intervals in its length, with depending walls or flanges 8 which extend throughout the width of the upper chamber but are closed at the sides thereof by the side walls of such chamber, the elongated passageway formed between each pair of fianges being open at the bottom to form an outlet which communicates with the interior of this chamber. The outlets thus formed in a row extending longitudinally at the under side of the chamber 3 have intervening channels 9 which are open at the bottoms thereof and also at the ends thereof so that air or other heating medium received by these channels will be discharged freely at the sides of the chamber 3. The channels 9 intervening the outlets between the flanges 3 are preferably of equal dimensions as said outlets, measured in a direction longitudinally of the chamber 3. The top or upper wall 'I of the lower chamber 4 is similarly provided with pairs of flanges I0 which project upwardly therefrom and extend throughout the width of the lower chamber 4, these flanges forming passageways between them which are open at their tops to constitute outlets which communicate with the lower chamber 4, these passageways being closed at the sides of the chamber 4 by the side walls thereof, and the row of outlets thus provided and spaced longitudinally on the upper side of the chamber 4 have receiving channels I I interposed between them, these receiving channels extending the full width of the chamber 4 and being open at the sides thereof so that they may freely discharge air or other heating medium received by them. These receiving channelsV II are preferably of the same dimension as that of the outlets which they intervene, measured in a direction longitudinally of the chamber 4.

The outlets provided between the flanges 8 of the upper chamber 3 and the outlets formed between the flanges IU of the lower chamber 4 are oifset or staggered in relation to one another, so that the outlets of the upper chamber will be positioned opposite to the receiving channels I! of the chamber 4 and the outlets of the latter chamber will be opposite to the receiving channels 9 of the upper chamber 3.

Suitable means is provided for supporting the lower chamber 4 so that a strip of fabric a to be dried may extend longitudinally between the rows ofoutlets of the upper and lower chambers, such means as shown in the present instance comprising a pair of toggles I2 and I3 the links of which are pivotally connected to cross members I4 and I5 of the frame and to the under side of the lower chamber 4 near its ends, the middle pivots I6 and I'I of these toggles being operatively connected by links I8 and I9 to the ends of a cross arm 2D which is xed on a crank vshaft 2| so that its ends project at opposite sides 'ing a crank 23 by means of which it may be rotated, this crank being hollow and having a pin 23a movable axially therein so that it may engage one or another of a series of locking apertures 22a in the adjacent bearing 22 when the lower chamber is raised to an operative position. By this arrangement, rotation of the crank 23 in one direction will bring the cross arm 23 on the shaft 2| toward or into alinement with the links I8 and I9 and the latter, acting on the toggles, will act to straighten them, the toggles then acting on the lower chamber 4 to lift it into operative relation with the upper chamber 3 and supporting the chamber 4 in such position, and engagement of the pin 23a in the appropriate hole 22a will lock the lower chamber in adjusted operative position, and rotation of the crank 23 in the opposite direction, while the locking pin 23a is withdrawn, will cause the cross arm 2U to move the links I8 and I 9 in the opposite direction and thereby flex the toggles and lower the chamber 4 from its operative position, it then resting on suitable brackets 5EL xed to the corners of the frame. When the chamber 4 is in its raised or operative position, the upper edges of the flanges I0 which define the outlets of the chamber 4 will all lie in the same plane with the lower edges of the flanges 8 which dene the outlets of the upper chamber 3, or substantially so, so that a passageway is formed between the rows of outlets of the upper and lower chambers through which the strip of fabric a may be stretched and may travel longitudinally. This strip of fabric may be guided to travel between the rows of outlets of the upper and lower chambers by rollers 24 and 25 which may be journalled in suitable brackets on the respective ends of the frame members I and 2, the fabric in its moist condition being received by the roller 25 from a suitable guide roller 26 and the roller 24 delivering the dried fabric to a suitable draw roller 2I.

In order to vary the width o-f the outlets to conform with the varying widths of fabrics to be dried, each outlet is adapted to receive a reducer 28, each reducer comprising a box-like casing which is open at its inner side or the side thereof toward the respective chamber and is provided in its opposite side with an outlet opening 29. The outlet openings 29 in all the reducers used at any one time for the drying of a fabric of a given width are of the same lateral length or dimension to conform with the width of such fabric, the reducers of one set being interchangeable with other sets of reducers having respectively outlet openings of different lengths or lateral extents to conform with fabrics of different widths. By using such reducers in the outlets of the upper and lower chambers, the outlet openings through which the heated air or other drying medium is discharged is confined to the width of the particular fabric being dried, thereby insuring greater efficiency in the drying operation and avoiding loss of heated air or drying medium. These reducers will be held in operative position within the respective outlets by frictional engagement of their walls with the flanges 8 and I0 which form the outlets. Each of the reducers, as shown in the present instance, is provided with electrical heating units 30 of a suitable number, three being shown in the present instance, and these heating units, which may be composed of resistance wire as commonly used in electrical heaters, are of a length corresponding substantially with the length or lateral dimension of the respective outlet opening 29, it being understood that reducers having relatively short outlet openings 29 will employ correspondingly short heating units while reducers having long outlet openings will be provided with correspondingly long heating units. These heating units may be supported within the respective reducer by insulators 3I attached to the respective end walls thereof, electrical energy being sup-plied to the heating units by conductors 32 and 33 connected to the respective ends thereof. Preferably, the heating units in each reducer are separate or independent of one another and the conductors are individual thereto, and these conductors are connected individually to separate electrical feed wires 34 which may be provided with switch means 35 by means of which electrical current may be supplied to either one heating element of each reducer, as when relatively Flets of the respective chambers.

low heat is required, or to two of the heating elements of each reducer, as when medium heat is required, or to all three of the heating elements of the reducers when relatively high heat is required. In order to enable the reducers to be readily removed from the outlets of the respective chambers and replaced by others having outlet openings of a different size for the drying of a fabric of a different width, the current supply conductors 33 of the reducers are provided with detachable plug connections 36 for connecting them to the feed wires 34, and the conductors 32 may have similar detachable plug connections 31 for connecting them to the return wires 38. Fig. 4 shows one o-f the reducers having an outlet' opening of substantially the full width of the outlet of the lower chamber and heating elements of a length corresponding to such length of outlet opening, while Fig. 6 shows reducers having outlet openings of reduced size to be used in the drying of a relatively narrower fabric, and heat- .ing elements of correspondingly reduced length.

The electrical heating elements in the reducers tted into the outlets of the chambers 3 and 4 will heat air supplied to the outlets from the respective chambers 3 and 4, but each of the chambers 3 and 4 is provided with a steam coil 39 or 4B adapted to receive steam from a suitable source, these steam coils acting to heat air contained in the respective chambers prior to its discharge therefrom through the respective outlets. 'Ihe electrical heating elements in the outlets may thus be used alone, or the steam coils 39 and 49 may be used alone, or both of such electrical heating elements and the steam coils may be used conjointly. Air is forced into the chambers 3 and 4 by a suitable number of blowers, the chamber 3 being shown provided with a pair of electrically driven air'blowers 4I which receive air from the atmosphere and force it into the respective end -of said chamber above the steam coil 39 and the lower chamber 4 being shown provided with a pair of electrically driven air blowers 42 which also receive air from the atmosphere and force it into the respective endsof said chamber below the steam coil 48 therein. The air thus forced into the respective chambers ows past the steam heated coils 39 and 40 respectively and thus becomes heated, and such heated air is discharged from these chambers through the respective outlets or reducers.

In some instances, it may be desirable to simultaneously dry two different strips of fabric, and to enable this to be accomplished, the upper chamber 3 is provided at its ends with slots 43 below the steam coil 39 therein and above the outlets in the bottom of suchchamber, and the chamber 4 is provided at its ends with slots 44 located below the outlets in the top of this chamber and above the steam heating coil 40 therein.

Guide rollers 45 and 46 are mounted on the frame in positions to guide a strip of fabric b so that it will travel in the space between the steam heating coil 39 in the chamber 3 and the outlets in the bottom of this chamber, and other rollers 41 and 48 are mounted on the frame of the machine to guide another strip of fabric c so that it will travel in a path beneath the outlets in the top of the chamber 4 and above the steam heating coil 40 in such chamber, these strips of fabric being thus in the path of the heated air owing from the steam heating coils to the out- The moist strip of fabric b may be guidedto the roller 46 by a guide roller 49 and this strip, after being dried,

may be delivered by the roller 45 to a suitable draw roller 50, and similar guide rollers may be provided for directing a strip of fabric c to the guide roller 48 and for receiving this strip from the roller 41. The guide rollers by which the strip or strips of fabric to be dried are directed into the drier may be located to receive such fabric strips directly from a silk or cloth finishing machine, thus enabling the finishing and drying of the fabric to be accomplished by a single operation. When a single fabric strip a only is being dried by passing it between the outlets of the chambers, the slots 43 and 44 may be closed or sealed in any suitable way to avoid escape o-f air therethrough, as by sealing plates one of which is shown in Fig. 5, each of these plates |00 being removably held in position to cover the respective slot by thumb-screws IDI and lugs |92 rotatable thereon so as to overlie the plate and clamp it in slot closing position.

The operation of the improved drier constructed as herein shown and described is as follows:

Assuming a single strip or line of silk, cloth or other textile fabric a is to be dried, such fabric strip is passed from a silk or cloth finishing machine or from any other source over the roller 2S and under the roller 25 and then extended longitudinally between the rows of outlets of the upper and lower chambers 3 and 4, thence under the roller 24 and over the take-off roller 21. The threading of the strip of fabric between the chambers is facilitated by operating the crank 23 to flex the toggles I2 and I3 into the dotted line positions shownn Fig. l, the lower chamber 4 being thereby lowered to separate the outlets of this chamber from those of the upper chamber sufciently to enable an operator to reach between the chambers and thereby thread the fabric strip therebetween, and after threading of the fabric strip between the outlets of the chamber, the crank 23 is operated tostraighten the toggles I2 and I3, as shown by the full lines in Fig. 1, thereby raising the lower chamber 4 and bringing the upper edges of the row of outlets thereon into contact or close relation with the under side of the strip of fabric, the upper side of this strip of fabric contacting with or lying in close relation with the lower edges of the row of outlets at the bottom of the upper chamber 3. The vertical dimension of the passageway'formed between the outlets of the upper and lower chambers and through which the strip of fabric passes may be adjusted or varied to insure contact of the surrounding edges of the outlets with the upper and lower sides of the fabric, notwithstanding different thicknesses thereof, by adjusting the toggles I2 and I3 by the crank 23 to bring the lower chamber 4 to the proper height to accomplish this result, and engaging the locking pin 23a in the appropriate aperture 22a. Also assuming that one, two or all three of the electric heating elements 30 contained in the reducers 28 in the outlets of the upper and lower chambers are supplied with electric current through the feed wires 34 and 38, depending upon the degree of heating effect desired, or that steam is supplied to the steam heating coils 39 and 40 contained within the chambers 3 and 4, or that both the electric heating elements and the steam heating coils are put into operation, the strip4 of fabric a is advanced longitudinally between the outlets of theV upper and lower chambers, the take-oir roller 21 for example serving to draw the fabric strip continuously through the drier, for which purpose the take-off roller 21 may be belted to and driven from an electric motor 5|. During the operation of the drier, the air blowers 4I and 42 are also in operation, they taking air from the atmosphere and forcing it into the respective chambers 3 and 4, this air being heated by passing the steam heated coils 39 and 40, if such are in operation, and by passing the electric heating elements 3l] carried by the reducers contained in the outlets of the upper and lower chambers. The air thus forced by these blowers through the outlets and the reducers therein of the upper and lower chambers, is forced through the strip of moisture-laden fabric travelling longitudinally between them, the currents of heated air from the outlets 8 of the upper chamber 3 being forced downwardly through the strip o-f fabric from the upper side thereof into the air receiving channels Il at the upper side of the lower chamber 4 and the currents of air from the outlets IB of the lower chamber being forced upwardly through the strip of fabric from its under side and into the air receiving channels 9 at the under side of the upper chamber 3, the air after thus passing through the fabric and entering the receiving channels 9 and H discharging freely at the ends o-f these channels which are open at the sides of the chambers 3 and 4. The alternating or staggered relationship of the outlets of the upper and lower chambers causes the heated air currents therefrom to pass alternately in opposite directions thro-ugh the strip of fabric at intervals in its length, and the travelling movement of the fabric strip causes the direction of of flow of the air currents therethrough to be successively reversed, it being noted that each portion of the fabric strip as it passes beneath an outlet of the upper chamber will flow downwardly therethrough and the advancing movement of the fabric strip will bring such portion thereof above the next adjacent outlet of the lower chamber, thereby causing the heated air current therefrom to ilow upwardly through such portion of the fa'bric strip, this alternating and reversing direction of flow of the air currents through the moisture-laden fabric strip at it travels through the drier effecting rapid, uniform and complete drying thereof, so that the fabric strip will be completely dried when it leaves the drier.

When it is desired to simultaneously dry two strips of fabric, such as the strips b and c, the fabric strip b is passed under the guide roller 46, through the slots 43 in the ends of the upper chamber 3, beneath the guide roller l5 and over the take-off roller 5i) which may also be driven from the motor 5l, and the fabric strip c is passed beneath the guide roller 48, through the slots 44 in the lower chamber and beneath the guide roller 4l and may be withdrawn from the drier by any suitable take-off means, such for example as that employed for the strip b. In drying fabric strips passed through the drier in this manner, the electric heating elements in the outlets of the Lipper and lower chambers are not put into operation but steam is supplied to the steam coils 39 and 4Q, and the air blowers 4| and 42, which are operated during the drying of such strips, force air past the steam coils 39 and 4i! and past the portions of the fabric strips b and c which extend adjacent thereto, before the air is discharged from the chambers 3 and 4 through the outlets therein. Y

The present invention provides an improved drier and drying process whereby a strip of moisture-laden .abric may be rapidly, uniformly and thoroughly dried without the necessity of forming a long length of the fabric into loops in a drying chamber, as has been heretofore practised, the forcing of the heated air currents or drying medium through the fabric alternately from its opposite sides at intervals in its length during the longitudinal travel of the fabric strip removing the moisture from the strip very rapidly and effectively and during the travel of the strip through the drier, and this novel construction and process enable the drier to be very compact so'that it occupies very little floor space as compared with the looper type of drier.

The provision of electrical heating means and steam heating means for the air or drying medium enables the drier to be operated either bly electrical Iheating means or by steam heating means or by a combination of both electrical and steam heating means, and as described, the drier may be operated to dry either a single fabric strip or to simultaneously dry a plurality of such strips.

By providing interchangeable sets of reducers for the outlets of the upper and lower chambers, the different sets of reducers having outlet openings of different lengths corresponding with different widths of fabrics to be dried, high efciency in the drying operation and economy in the use of heated air are attained since, by selecting the proper reducers according to the width of the farbic to be dried, the outlet openings in the reducers will be covered by the width of the fabric, thus insuring the forcing of all of the heated air through the fabric strip and avoiding loss of heated air at the longitudinal edges of the fabric strip.

The drier may be constructed relatively inexpensively, it being preferably constructed of metal, the air chambers 3 and 4 and the outlets thereof and also the reducers being preferably made of sheet metal.

I claim as my invention:

1. A drier comprising a pair of chambers having rows of spaced outlets, the outlets o-f one row being offset in relation to those of the other row, said rows of outlets providing a passageway between them for a strip of material to be dried, toggles supporting one of said chambers, and means for operating said toggles to raise or lower the chamber supported by them relatively to the other chamber.

2. A drier comprising a row of outlets having orifices located in a common plane for the discharge of a drying medium therefrom, each of said outlets embodying parallel walls forming an elongated passageway, means for advancing a strip of fabric in said plane past the orifices of said outlets, and a casing removably tted within and conforming in shape with the parallel walls of said passageway of each outlet and having an outlet opening of less length than the orifice thereof but lying in the same plane therewith.

3. A drier comprising a row of outlets for the discharge of a drying medium therefrom, each of said outlets embodying walls forming an elongated passageway, a casing removably fitted within the walls of said passageway and having an outlet opening of less length than said passageway, and heating elements in said casing of a length corresponding to the length of the outlet opening therein.

4. A drier comprising a pair of elongated chambers having rows of outlets in a longitudinal wall thereof, the outlets of` each row having receiving passages between them which discharge exteriorly of said chambers, and the outlets of one row being opposite to the receiving passages of the other row, the outlets of said rows having orices lying in approximately a common plane for the travel of a fabric strip past them and between the rows of outlets, heating means in each chamber extending Iparallel to the wall thereof having the outlets therein, and means for forcing a drying medium into 4.opposite ends of each of said chambers along the respective heatin g means therein and through the respective rows of outlets to act on a fabric strip travelling 5 between the outlets.v

GEORGE VENTURINI.

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