Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
1~6~7
RCA 70,286
1 Background of the Invention
Field of the Invention
_
The present invention relates to apparatus and
method for dyeing textiles.
Description of the Prior Art
One apparatus for textile dyeing known in the
industry is a TAK dyeing apparatus and process. This
apparatus is described in detail in Patents 3,731,503;
3,683,649 and 3,800,568. This process disperses droplets
of dyes onto a tufted carpet surface producing an
irregular pattern having a uniform irrégularity or
randomness and not appearing as a repetitive or regulated
pattern. This appearance is known in the art as "space
dyeing".
~5 Other apparatus for space dyeing include
randomly applying dyes of different colors to a single
yarn along the length thereof. Multiple spools of such
colored yarns are then tufted into a carpet wherein the
colors appear in random order in the finished product.
This last-mentioned process is rather complicated and
expensive and thus greatly increases cost of the finished
product. The former process while attempting to duplicate
the effect produced by the multicolor yarn does in fact
produce a somewhat harsher toning, that is, more con-
trasting than desirable. What these different processes
attempt to achieve is a multi-tone finish in a textile
material which while irregular and non-repetitive has a
unified irregularity that is smooth, unbroken and pleasing
to the eye with gradual shadings intermixed among the
colors. ~ ~.
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RCA 70,286
1 Summary of the Invention
An apparatus for dyeing textiles includes means
for applying a glassy-smooth sheet of a viscous dye resist
- to the surface of the textile material to be dyed, the
S sheet having the same thickness throughout. Means are
coupled to the dyeing means for dispensing a liquid dye
on the applied dye resist. Means are provided for fixing
the dye to the textile ma~erial.
A method of dyeing a textile material includes
covering a surface of the material with a sheet of a
viscous dye resist having uniform thickness and substan-
tially unblemished surface, applying a liquid dye medium
on the covered surface, and fixing the dye medium to the
textile material.
A feature of the invention is an apparatus for
forming a continuous sheet of a viscous fluid, the apparatus
comprising means for providing a body of fluid having a
glassy-smooth surface. A rotating cylindrical member is
provided partially submerged in the fluid. Blade means
are provided slideably engaged with the cylindrical surface
of the member for forming a moving sheet of the fluid as
the member rotates.
Brief Descri tion of the Drawing
._. . , P
FIGURE l is an elevational view of an apparatus
2S constructed and operated in accordance with an embodiment
of the present invention,
FIGURE 2 is an enlarged side sectional view of
the dye resist applicator of Figure l,
FIGURE 3 is a front sectional view of the dye
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~CA 70,286
1 resist applicator of Figure 2 showing a distribution of
the dye resist to the well portion thereof.
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment
. . ~
In Figure 1, textile material 10 to be dyed
can be a tufted carpeting. The carpeting is initially
processed through a suitable dyeing pad 12 which is a
conventional dyeing apparatus for applying a uniform
base color to the material 10. The use of the dyeing
pad 12 for dyeing carpeting in accordance with the
10 present invention is optional. As will become apparent
later, the textile material 10 need not have a specially
applied base color. However, the pad 12 provides an
enhanced, pleasing uniform coloring to the carpeting for
certain colori~ng effects. Textile material 10 is con-
15 veyed in the direction 14 by suitable drive roller 16and other rollers (not shown) in the system. Means for
conveying the carpeti~ng through the system are conventional.
Texti~le material 10 is passed through a printing head 18
which is also optional. Printing head 18 may optionally
20 provide a preprinted pattern on the carpeting to achieve
a multitude of colori`ng effects as may be desired. It is
to be understood that both the printing head 18 and the pad
12 merely provide enhancement colorings to the special
effects provi~ded by the apparatus 20. In accordance with
25 the present invention apparatus 20 provides a dye to the
textile material 10 producing an effect that is comparable
to space dyeing but less expensive than space dyeing of
yaxns with a much smoother, subtler toning than the prior
art TAK dyeing.
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61(;~7
RCA 70,286
1 Textile material 10 is first passed beneath a
dye resist applicator 22. Applicator 22 is shown in
detail in Figures 2 and 3. Applicator 22 provides a
continuous film or sheet of a suitable dye resist 24
such as a vegeta~le gum. The dye resist 24 has a syrupy
viscosity preferably in the order of 400 to 4000 centi-
poise. Dye resist 24 is applied to the upstanding tufted
surface 25 of the textile material 10 which tufts face
the dye resist. The sheet of dye resist 24 has a sub-
lQ stantially unblemished surface and is unbroken whenapplied to the textile material 10 along the breadth of
the textile material in and out of the drawing and as the
material 10 progresses in direction 14.
The dye resist coated textile material 10 is
moved forward in the direction 14 so that the textile
material is in a substantially horizontal position before
the resi~st 24 is applied and while the textile material
10 is passed through the TAK dyeing machine 26. TAK
dyei`ng machine 26 is a conventional machine described in
the aforementIoned patents. In particular, machine 26
is a dye applicator for forming one or more dyes into a
plurality of drops which form a uniform, but irregular
pattern on tne tu~ted material 10. Material 10 is then
~oxmed ;nto a downwardly disposed loop 28 with respect to
the roller 16 over which the textile material 10 is driven.
Textile material 10 is then passed upwardly and thence into
a conventional steamer 30. Steamer 30 fixes the dye on
the textile material to the material, washing away the
dye resist that has been coated on the material by the
apparatus 22 in a conventional manner.
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RCA 70,286
1 The TAK machine 26 as shown includes a plurality
of dye applicators 32 and 32' which apply dyes of the same
or different colors in droplet form to the carpeting
passing below. Droplets for the applicator 32 are shown
at 34 and the droplets for applicator 32' are shown at 34',
respectively. The detailed construction of the machine 26
and steamer 30 are well known and need not be further
described herein.
As provided in accordance with the apparatus
constructed and operated with the present invention, the
dye resist applicator 22 provides the sheet of dye resist
24 in a unique arrangement with respect to the apparatus
26 to provide enhanced coloring effect on the material lO
not heretofore possible with prior art apparatus. In
Figure 2, dye resist applicator 22 includes an elongated
tub 36 (elongated in and out of the drawing) which extends
in and out of the drawing along the breadth of the
carpeting of textile material lO. The tub 36 has a first
channel-like well 38 which forms a first storage well for
the dye resist 40. Dye resist 40 is a suitable viscous
vegetable gum having a long chemical chain having a
syrupy consistency which does not easily separate when
caused to flow. This is an essential characteristic of
the dye resist. While the viscosity of the gum (resist)
is preferably in the range of 400 to 4000 centipoise, a
preferred value is about 1050 centipoise ~CPS). The
resist may be formed of a vegetable gum comprising any one
of the conventional materials including borax, acid,
ground beans or a grain material. In the preferred
embodiment, the gum is provided at 2 grams per liter up
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RCA 70,286
1 to 15 grams per liter with the remaining portion being
water. This gum is known as a manno-galactan vegetable
gum. It will occur to those skilled in the art that other
dye resist materials having the described viscosity and
consistency may also be used. The resist 40 is applied to
the well 38 via suitable inlet conduits 42. Well 38 and
conduits 42 are best illustrated in Figure 3.
In Figure 3 suitable storage tank 44 stores a
quantity of the vegetable gum dye resist. The resist
is fed via a connecting pipe 46 through a valve 48 to a
; "Y" conduit 50. Conduit 50 is connected to pipe 46 to
provide a uniform distribution of the resist as indicated
by the arrows 52 and 54. Pipe 50 distributes the resist
to an additional conduit 56 at two connections 58 and 60.
The connections 58 and 60 are each uniformly spaced from
opposite ends of the conduit 56. That ist the connections
58 and 60 are each respectively centrally disposed between
the corresponding adjacent end of conduit 56 and the
center of conduit 56. The purpose of these connections is
to provide a substantially uniform distribution of the
relatively thick viscous resist into the well 38. The
conduit 56 has a centrally disposed exit aperture 62 and
two end apertures 64 and 66. These three apertures 62, 64
and 66 uniformly distribute the resist 40 into the well 38
; 25 along the breadth thereof in the direction 68. This is
essential to the present invention as will become apparent
later. Should the thickness of gum dye resist 40 be
applied merely at the one end of well 38 or some other
single location, then the resist 40 will tend to overfill
the well at that location while failing to flow completely
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RCA 70,286
1 to the other location in the well due to the relatively
high viscosity of the material. This non-uniform fill
is to be avoided in the apparatus 22 as will be explained.
Uniform distribution of the resist via apertures 62, 64
and 66 permits the oozing resist 40 to flow together and
form a relatively uniform level body of resist 40. The
flow of the resist 40 from the storage 44 through valve
48 and conduit 46 is by gravity. Other means of applying
resist to conduit 46 such as a pressurized supply or the
like may also be utilized.
The well 38 of Figure 2 generally is an elongated
U-shaped channel as shown. One upstanding wall 70 of
the well 38 is topped or crowned with a longitudinally
extending pipe 72 which extends between the sidewalls 74
and 76, Figure 3. Pipe 72 is horizontally disposed (with
respect to earth) parallel with the horizontally disposed
well 38 to permit a uniform overflow of the dye resist 40
over pipe 72 into a second well 78 via gravity. The
rearmost upstanding wall 80 extends upward to the same
height as walls 74 and 76 to contain the resist 40
therebetween.
Well 78 is formed by a pan having a flat,
horizontally disposed bottom wall 84 connected to wall 70
and a pair of upstanding side walls formed by the con-
tinuation of walls 74 and 76 extending across the width
of the tub 36 joined with a forward wall 88 which slopes
upwardly and forwardly from bottom wall 84. Disposed
between walls 76 and 74 and extending the breadth of the
tub 36 parallel to pipe 72 is a baffle 90 which forms the
tub 36 between wall 88 and wall 70 into two wells 78 and 92.
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RCA 70,286
1 Baffle 90 is L-shaped, having a lower flat horizontally
extending leg 93 which extends forwardly in a direction
toward wall 88 parallel to the bottom wall 84. Leg 93
is spaced from wall 84 to permit the flow of the gum or
~ye resist from well 78 to well 92. Baffle 90 has an
upstanding wall 9l which extends about the same height
as the walls 74 and 76 above the level of the resist
overflowing pipe 72. Wall 9l is sufficiently high to
prevent overflow over the uppermost edge thereof. As a
result, the only means for flowing the resist 40 from
well 78 to well 92 is between the leg 93 and bottom wall
84 as shown by arrows 94.
Disposed spaced from and adjacent each of the
sidewalls 74 and 76 is a pair of overflow conduits 98
(one of which is shown in Figure 2) which cooperate with
level control device 97 to maintain and control the level
of the resist in well 92. Any excess resist that is
flowing into well 92 overflows into the overflow tube 98
and is discarded. To prevent waste of the material and to
maintain the level of the resist in well 92 substantially
constant, level control device 97 is also provided. Device
97 includes a hollow conduit 99 having its open end
terminating at the level at which resist 40' is to be
maintained in well 92. Pressurized air is forced through
2S the conduit 99 in the direction lO0. This action
provides a backpressure in the conduit 99 in accordance
with whether or not the end of the conduit 99 is blocked
by the resist 40'.
It will be apparent that as the resist fills
up the well 92 and covers the exposed end of tube 99 the
g
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RCA 70,2~6
pressure in the conduit ~9 rises. As the resist f]ows
out of well 92 and uncovers the end of conduit 99, the
pressure in the conduit falls. A suitable pressure
switch 102 is sensitive to the pressure differential
present in conduit 97 and as the pressure builds up,
sends a signal to a conventional control device 104
indicating that the level of the resist 40' has risen to
a point where it has blocked the end of conduit 99.
Control device 104 then sends a signal to valve 48,
shutting the valve in response to the signal received
from switch 102. This cuts off the flow of additional
resist into well 38 until once again the level of the
resist in well 92 lowers to a point where the open end of
conduit 99 is open to the atmosphere, reducing the pressure
therein, activating switch 102 and causing the control
104 to again open the valve 48 to permit the flow of
resist 40.
Disposed in the well 92 adjacent the sloping
wall 88 is a resist pick-up roller 106. Roller 106 is
a cylindrical, smooth surfaced roller which extends the
breadth of the tub 36 between walls 74 and 76 as best
seen in Figure 3. As the roller 106 rotates in the
direction 108 the gum resist adheres to the surface of
the roller due to the gluey consistency of the gum
resist 40'. As provided in accordance with the present
invention, the resist 40' at surface 110 is smooth and
glassy in appearance which can easily be observed by eye.
While the level control 97 and overflow tubes 98 may
cause some bubblin~ in the resist 40, these bubbles are
extremely minute, in the order of about 1/16th inch in
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11(~6107
RCA 70,286
diameter and are insubstantial in affecting the desired
process results.
Secured to wall 88 outside well 92 is a doctor
blade 112. Blade 112 slopes upwardly and rearwardly
S toward roller 106 and slideably engages the surface of
roller 106 along the upper forward surface thereof. The
d~ctor blade 112 picks off and separates the resist
adhering to the surface of roller 106. Gravity causes
the resist to slide down the sloping surface of the doctor
blade, forming a continuous flowing sheet of resist 24.
Doctor blade 112 is a conventional device and may be made
of a suitable material such as fiberglass. Textile
material 10 with its pile facing the sheet 24 is disposed
horizontally when receiving the sheet 24. Textile material
lO is pulled past and over the idler roller 114. Textile
material 10 with the dye resist coated on the tufted
upstanding surface thereof is then passed through the TAK
machine 26 of Figure 1 as explained above herein.
The purpose of the apparatus 22 is to provide
a glassy-smooth and level surface 110 in the body of
resist 40' while the resist 40' is removed from the tub
by roller 106. The glassy-smooth surface is provided by
first filling well 38 with the resist 40 and causing the
resist to flow over pipe 72 uniformly along the length
thereof. The resist flows into well 78. Because of its
thick, gummy, gluey consistency, the resist has a tendency
to have a greater level adjacent the pipe 72 and wall 70
than at baffle 90 which is spaced therefrom. In addition,
the flow of the resist into well 78 causes ripples in the
surface thereof and an unevenness which must be removed.
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RCA 70,286
I The removal of the unevenness of the surface of the resist
and the ~aintenance of the level thereof is achieved by
the baffle 90, the overflow conduits 98 and the level
control 97. The baffle 90 prevents the fluid in well
78 at the surface thereof from flowing directly into
well 92 surface. As a result, all resist flowing into
well 92 is flowing from the bottom of well 92 upwlardly.
This assures a minimum effect of the surface of the
resist in well 78 on the surface 110 of resist 40' in
well 92. As the resist flows upwardly in well 92 it is
also distributed uniformly along the length thereof into
the drawing as it flows beneath the leg 93. This flow
is very gradual. The surface 110 of the resist in well
92 by means of the baffle 90, leg 93 and pipe 72 is made
lS extremely smooth and has a glass-like finish.
Roller 106 is spaced remote from leg 93 and
adjacent wall 88 to assure further levelling and smoothing
of the surface 110 of the resist. By maintaining the level
of the surface 110 substantially constant a substantially
uniform thickness of resis~ is picked up by roller 106
as it rolls at a constant rate. Preferably, the film of
resist adhered to roller 106 is about 1/4" thick. As an
example, the flow rate of the resist on doctor blade 112
can be about 800 cubic centimeters (cc.) per square yard.
By way of example only, the speed of the roller 106 can
be about 28 RPM for a roller about 6 inches in diameter.
The roller 106 preferably has a speed of about 20-31 RPM
and rotates at that rate which corresponds to the rate of
travel of the textilç material 10. The surface 110 being
smooth, glassy and level ensures that the film of the
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RCA 70,286
l viscous resist that adheres to the roller 106 is smooth
and uniform throughout. This smooth, uniform film is
transferred to the doctor blade 112 and thence into
sheet of resist 24 as a continuous sheet on a continuously
moving material 10.
It is to be understood that it is essential for
the present invention that the thickness of the sheet 24
be uniform throughout. Any change in thickness such as
might be caused by large bubbles or differences of levels
of the surface 110 during the process will result in a
difference of thickness of the resist as it is applied to
the textile material 10 and thus can cause a change in
the coloring affect. This difference of thickness and
coloring is undesirable. Carpeting usually is exposed
to an observer's eye almost simultaneously over the
entire area. Any slight changes of coloring to darker
or to lighter hues are readily noticeable and are highly
undesirable. While the coloring is random in shades, the
randomness is uniform providing a uniform variation in
shading and producing a heather effect. Minute changes
in shading are readily noticeable even by an untrained
observer.
Once the dye droplets at 34, 34' impinge upon
the resist coated textile material 10, the resist spreads
the dyes around and prevents them from soaking immediately
into the textile material. As a result, the droplets are
permitted to spread themselves thin and also form a
concentrated dye effect where the dyes impinge upon the
material. This reduces the contrastyness or harshness
such as exhibited by the prior art dyeing processes.
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RCA 70,286
1 The amount of time permitted before the carpet or textile
material is fixed in a steamer 30, Figure l, depends on
the overall effect desired. A multitude of dyeing
effects may be achieved once the dye resist sheet 24 is
applied to the textile material in the uniform consistent
smooth surface film. In essence, three successive
serially disposed wells 38, 78 and 92 are shown and
described for forming a viscous slow moving material
(resist 40) into a relatively quiet body of material having
a controlled surface (resist 40').
It will occur to those skilled in the art that
various modifications may be made to the apparatus of
Figure 2 to achieve the desired effect, i.e., a glassy-
smooth resist having a controlled level. These may
include providing different devices for controlling the
feed of the resist into the tub and the maintenance of
the level thereof. For example, knowing the feed rate
of the sheet of resist 24, a suitable resist supply
mechanism can be provided which automatically feeds the
resist into the well 38 so that a level control 97 and
overflow tube 99 may not be necessary. However, such
changes are more complex and costly.
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