Rinsing station for spray dyeing system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9758912-B2
Application number	US-201414296033-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 4, 2014
Priority date	Jun 23, 2003
Publication date	Sep 12, 2017
Grant date	Sep 12, 2017

Abstract

A rinsing station for removing residual materials from a fabric being dyed or bleached. The rinsing station includes a first pair of rinse spray nozzles. One of the first pair directed to spray a rinse fluid downwardly onto incoming dyed fabric. The other of the first pair directed to spray the rinse fluid upwardly onto the incoming dyed fabric. The rinsing station also includes a pair of nip rollers downstream for the first pair of rinse spray nozzles for extracting the rinse fluid.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A rinsing system for removing residual materials from a dyed or bleached flat tubular fabric, the rinsing system comprising:
a first rinsing station comprising:
a first pair of rinse spray nozzles, one of the first pair of rinse spray nozzles being configured to spray a rinse liquid downwardly as a jet of finely divided liquid onto a first technical face of the fabric, and the other of the first pair of rinse spray nozzles being configured to spray the rinse liquid upwardly as a jet of finely divided liquid onto a second technical face of the fabric;
a first pair of nip rollers downstream from the first pair of rinse spray nozzles for extracting the rinse liquid from the fabric; and
a first rinse liquid collector configured to collect the rinse liquid;

a second rinsing station, upstream of the first rinsing station, the second rinsing station comprising:
a second pair of rinse spray nozzles, wherein one of the second pair of rinse liquid spray nozzles is directed angularly downward as a jet of finely divided liquid onto the first technical face of the fabric, and the other of the second set of rinse spray nozzles is directed angularly upward as a jet of finely divided liquid onto the second technical face of the fabric; and
a second pair of nip rollers downstream of the second pair of rinse spray nozzles, the second pair of rinse spray nozzles being angled toward the second pair of nip rollers; and

a fluid recirculation circuit in fluid communication with the first rinse liquid collector and the second pair of rinse spray nozzles, wherein the second pair of rinse spray nozzles is configured to spray recirculated rinse liquid collected by the first rinse liquid collector.

2. The rinsing system of claim 1 , wherein the first pair of rinse spray nozzles sprays at least water as the rinse liquid, the water having a temperature of from about 100 to about 180 degrees Fahrenheit.

3. The rinsing system of claim 2 , wherein the first pair of rinse spray nozzles sprays the rinse liquid at a pressure of about 1,800 pounds per square inch.

4. The rinsing system of claim 2 , wherein the rinse liquid further comprises a neutralizing agent.

5. The rinsing system of claim 2 , wherein the rinse liquid further comprises a peroxide scavenger.

6. The rinsing system of claim 2 , wherein the rinse liquid further comprises at least one of a fragrance, a stain repellant component, and a water repellant component.

7. The rinsing system of claim 1 , wherein the rinse liquid has a predetermined pH level, the predetermined pH level being selected so that the rinse liquid adjusts a pH of the fabric so that the pH of the fabric is slightly acidic.

8. The rinsing system of claim 1 , wherein one of the first pair of rinse spray nozzles is directed downwardly perpendicular to the fabric, and the other of the pair is directed upwardly perpendicular to the fabric.

9. The rinsing system of claim 1 , further comprising a third pair of rinse spray nozzles positioned so that the third pair of rinse spray nozzles is downstream of the first pair of rinse spray nozzles and upstream of the first nip rollers.

10. The rinsing system of claim 9 , wherein one of the third pair of rinse spray nozzles is directed angularly downward onto the fabric toward the first nip rollers and the other nozzle of the third pair of rinse spray nozzles is directed angularly upward onto the fabric toward the first nip rollers.

11. The rinsing system of claim 1 , wherein the first pair or nip rollers extracts the rinse liquid from the fabric so that the fabric has a moisture level of from about 20 percent to about 60 percent.

12. The rinsing system of claim 1 , further comprising a pair of guide rings through which the fabric is drawn by the first pair of nip rollers.

13. The rinsing system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a third rinsing station downstream of the first rinsing station, comprising a second rinse liquid collector configured to collect the rinse liquid; and
a second fluid recirculation circuit in fluid communication with the second rinse liquid collector and the first pair of rinse spray nozzles, wherein the first pair of rinse spray nozzles is configured to spray recirculated rinse liquid collected by the second rinse liquid collector.

14. The rinsing system of claim 1 , wherein
the first pair of nip rollers of the first rinsing station and the second pair of nip rollers of the second rinsing station each have a rotation speed, and
the rotation speed of the first pair of nip rollers of the first rinsing station differs from the rotation speed of the second pair of nip rollers of the second rinsing station.

15. The rinsing system of claim 14 , wherein the first pair of nip rollers of the first rinsing station rotate at a faster speed than the second pair of nip rollers of the second rinsing station.

16. A method for rinsing fabric being run through a fabric dying or bleaching system, the method comprising:
accepting taut, flat tubular fabric into a first rinsing station;
providing water collected at a second rinsing station to the first rinsing station;
spraying the provided water as a jet of finely divided liquid downwardly onto a first technical face of the fabric with a first nozzle;
spraying the provided water as a jet of finely divided liquid upwardly onto a second technical face of the fabric with a second nozzle;
extracting at least some of the water from the sprayed fabric with a first pair of nip rollers;
accepting the fabric into the second rinsing station;
spraying water as a jet of finely divided liquid downwardly onto the first technical face of the fabric with a third nozzle;
spraying water as a jet of finely divided liquid upwardly onto the second technical face of the fabric with a fourth nozzle;
extracting at least some of the water from the sprayed fabric with a second pair of nip rollers;
collecting at least some of the water extracted by the second pair of nip rollers.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
spraying the first technical face of the fabric with a fifth nozzle, the fifth nozzle being downstream of the first nozzle and upstream of the first pair of nip rollers, the fifth nozzle being angled downwardly towards the fabric and toward the first nip rollers; and
spraying the second technical face of the fabric with a sixth nozzle, the sixth nozzle being downstream of the second nozzle and upstream of the first pair of nip rollers, the sixth nozzle being angled upwardly toward the fabric and toward the first nip rollers.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein spraying with the fifth nozzle and the sixth nozzle push knitted loops of the fabric against the first pair of nip rollers to reduce subsequent residual shrinkage in the fabric and apparel formed therefrom.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein collecting at least some of the water extracted by the second pair of nip rollers further comprises:
adding a neutralizing agent to the collected water before providing the water to the first rinsing station;
adjusting, by the neutralizing agent, the pH of the collected water to a predetermined pH level selected so that the collected water adjusts a pH of the fabric so that the pH of the fabric is neutral or slightly acidic after being sprayed by the first rinsing station.

20. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
accepting the fabric into a third rinsing station;
spraying water downwardly onto the first technical face of the fabric with a fifth nozzle;
spraying water upwar

Assignees

• Hbi Branded Apparel Entpr Llc

Inventors

• Abbott Michael D
• Miller Iii Robert A
• May Ruth E

Classifications

• Y10S8/916

  Natural fiber dyeing · CPC title

• Y10S8/92

  Synthetic fiber dyeing · CPC title

• D06B19/0029

  by steam · CPC title

• D06B23/20 Primary

  Arrangements of apparatus for treating processing-liquids, -gases or -vapours, e.g. purification, filtration or distillation · CPC title

• D06B21/00

  Successive treatments of textile materials by liquids, gases or vapours · CPC title