Fabric drying apparatus having means for selectively supplying drying and cooling medium

Jan. 27, 1959 f. h. richterkessing 2,870,545

FABRIC DRYING APPARATUS HAVING MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY

SUPPLYING DRYING AND COOLING MEDIUM .

Filed May 24, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1

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FIG.2

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INVENTOR.

FRANK H. RICHTERKESSING

BY

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Jan. 27, 1959 f. h. richterkessing 2,870,545

FABRIC DRYING APPARATUS HAVING MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY

SUPPLYING DRYING AND COOLING MEDIUM

Filed May 24, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2

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2,870,545

Patented Jan. 27, 1959

United States Patent Office

2,870,545

FABRIC DRYING APPARATUS HAVING MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY SUPPLYING DRYING AND COOLING MEDIUM

Frank H. Richterkessing, Louisville, Ky., assignor to W. M. Cissell Manufacturing Company, Louisville, Ky., a corporation of Kentucky

Application May 24, 1955, Serial No. 510,794

Claims. (Cl. 34—63)

This invention relates to drying apparatus employing one or more perforated rotatable drums into which damp fabric articles, such as apparel, are placed for drying while under agitation.

More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in the type of apparatus disclosed in my Patent 2,742,710, issued April 24, 1956 and especially as regards the flow control of the incoming air and the heat insulating of one air stream from the other as they enter the respective drying compartments of the apparatus.

An object of this invention is to provide apparatus for expeditiously drying damp fabric articles, such as apparel, by the employment of one or more perforated rotatable drums into which the articles are placed for treatment in response to forced circulation of heated and/or unheated air through the drums while under rotation and concurrently expelling from the apparatus the air that has absorbed moisture from the said articles.

Another object of this invention is to provide apparatus that can be operated efficiently by unskilled operators for supplying heated or unheated air, or a mixture thereof to the articles under treatment for the attainment of the correct temperature in accordance with the kind or nature of the articles in order to complete the operation in the shortest possible time, thereby improving the efficiency of the apparatus.

For drying apparatus employing two independent drums rotatably mounted in separate ducts, usually one above the other, in a casing having a superimposed air supply chamber equipped with heating means for each duct and a comon exhaust chamber at the bottom of the housing, a further object consists of constructing the apparatus so that the temperature of the air supplied to each duct in response to a suction fan operatively disposed in relation to the common exhaust chamber can be more effectively varied in either duct, independently of the other duct than heretofore attainable.

Other and subordinate objects are also comprehended by my invention, all of which together with the precise nature of my improvements will be readily understood when tire succeeding description and claims are read with reference to the drawings accompanying and forming part of the specification.

In said drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a complete drying apparatus embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a schematic vertical elevational drawing, partially in section, illustrating the manner in which partitions are employed to divide a unitary housing or casing having two individual air supply chambers at the top thereof with a heating unit in each chamber so that there will be two individual ducts extending down- wardly to and discharging into a common discharge chamber located at the bottom of the housing. A fabric drying drum is indicated in each duct, likewise an exhaust fan is shown associated with the discharge chamber.

Figure 2A is a section of Fig. 2 on line 2A, 2A.

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of Figure 1 with parts broken away and parts in section.

Figure 4 is a schematic vertical view of a drying apparatus, partially in section, showing a single rotatively mounted drum in a casing having a heating unit and a pair of cooperating dampers constructed and operable to admit air to the heater or unheated air taken from below and away from the influence, of the heating unit similar to that shown in Fig. 2.

Figure 5 shows a fragment of the drying apparatus on an enlarged scale, embodying the principle outlined for Fig. 4, having two independent dampers simultaneously operable by a linkage that likewise controls the air supply for a single drum.

Figure 6 shows a fragment of the drying apparatus on an enlarged scale, also embodying the principle outlined for Fig. 4, having three dampers operable by a linkage that likewise controls the air supply for a single drum.

The apparatus for drying fabrics disclosed in Richterkessing Patent No. 2,687,578 successfully overcame the unsatisfactory operations and/or results encountered in the use of earlier apparatus disclosed in Patent No, 2,351,429 by providing means for equal dryirfg time for like materials in each of the drums. However, when using such apparatus for drying materials in the separate drums that differed either in moisture content or in response to heated air for surrendering said moisture; entirely satisfactory results were not obtainable. Hence; completely separate ducts and heating units were developed as of record in Richterkessing application Serial No. 327,251, now Patent No. 2,742,710. Through extensive commercial use of drying apparatus embodying the teachings of both of the above mentioned Richterkessing contributions it was discovered that the time periods of the drying cycles were being unnecessarily delayed. Stated in other words, the ultimate desideratum had not been attained. Hence, this presented a new problem which has been resolved through refinements, as presented herein.

For specific disclosure of the structure and principles involved in the present invention, attention is directed first to Fig. 2 in which numeral 10 designates an upright casing surmounted with an air supply unit 11 equipped with a pair of duplicate steam radiators 12, 12A disposed between a sheet metal bottom plate 13, 13A and a cover 14, so that incoming air indicated by waved lined arrows will be heated, and spaced so that duplicate air passages 16, 16A will be established by partition 15. Numerals 26, 26A designate openings or throats to admit unheated air indicated by arrows having unwaved lines.

As a significant part of this invention, means are provided for controlling the supply of either heated air,, unheated air, or a mixture thereof, to the drying drums and for assisting in this control both a suitable insulation in partition 15 and a suitable leakage proof mounting for the dampers are incorporated in the structure. As will be noted, the casing is equipped with independent ducts 17 and 18 defined by the respective pairs of partitions 19, 20 and 20, 21; each duct being constructed

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to accommodate a drum rotatively mounted therein so that unheated air indicated by unwaved arrows, heated air, indicated by arrows having waved lines or a mixture thereof, indicated by arrows having dot-dash lines, when air drawn in at the top by suction produced by fan 22, will flow through the ducts, drums, common delivery chamber 23, and lint trap 24 before being expelled from the apparatus at exhaust opening 25. The drums are individually carried and rotatable by motor driven worm gear units DD (Fig. 3).

The air supply unit 11 is equipped with a pair of swingable blade type dampers 27, 27A, entirely independent of each other, hinged below the heaters respectively on rods 28, 28A, the ends of which are mounted, preferably, in the end walls of the unit, as shown best in Fig. 2A, and indicated as fixed into operating levers 29, 29A in order that the dampers can be manually operated to and lodged at different positions since the outer end of each lever is equipped with a spring actuated pin which may mesh into any one of the related holes HH. When either damper is set as shown in full lines and the fan is pulling air through the drums, all of it will traverse the associated heating unit to supply the maximum of heat. When set at the position shown by broken lines, only unheated air will be supplied, since in this latter position no air can flow through the heaters. Here, it should be noted that there is an upper inlet for air to the heaters and an entirely free independent lower one for delivering unheated air. Since heated, even warm air ascends, only a stream of unheated air can be supplied through the lower inlet when either damper is set at the broken line position. The dampers have been located below the heaters in order to avoid definitely the influence thereof when either damper is set at the broken line position. By setting either damper at any of the medial positions heated and unheated air are mingled as it enters the duct associated therewith.

It is generally understood when using double drum apparatus that immediately after the drying period has been completed in one side of the apparatus and the latter is subjected to ambient air for quickly cooling the processed fabrics for removal, there is a transfer of residual heat from the other side of the apparatus, particularly when heat from the heater of the latter has an influence on the air flowing into the side that is being subjected to the cooling cycle. When it was observed that batches of fabrics in drying apparatus, of the type referred to herein, required a longer cooling period than in single drum dryers, especially when the conditioning cycle in one drum terminated in advance of the other drum, steps were taken to eliminate this impairment. Investigations and experimentation resulted in the present construction wherein central partition 15 is constructed as an effective insulator, either in the form of a double walled structure as shown or similar element. Thusly, it will be perceived from a practical aspect that the main source of heat from an actively employed side of this drying apparatus for the heating or drying cycle will not impede the cooling cycle in the other side when simultaneously operated.

In order to minimize leakage of incoming air at the junctures of dampers 27, 27A with the casing, adjustable blades 30, 30A for securement thereto by screws 31, 31A and serving as a seal against leakage of cool air while the dampers are in a position to admit only heated air, are provided. This adjustment procedure consists of lodging the dampers as shown in Figs. 2, 2A, then sliding the blades across the top faces of perches 32, 32A for effecting close engagement; screws 31, 31A are then made fast to maintain this relation during service. At the hinged side of these dampers the same feature is shown. However the adjustable blade is secured to the damper blade per se. This feature has been provided since conventional fabrication of sheet metal failed to provide the desired precision. It is to be understood that this feature to minimize leakage can be employed at all corresponding junctures.

Apparatuses having only one drum, as shown in Fig. 4, are employed for processing large batches of fabrics. As adverted to above, the damper construction developed for double drum apparatus also has been adapted for single drum dryers to expedite the cooling cycle. Numerals designating similar elements in both disclosures have been employed. Fig. 5 shows the linkage for manipulating both dampers simultaneously from handle 33.

For handling very large batches of fabrics, three dampers are employed in relation to the heater units as schematically illustrated for simultaneous operation in Fig. 6. They are shown in full lines lodged for the heating cycle and in broken lines for the cooling cycle. The center damper 34 completely closes the heated air inlet 35 when set in the broken line position while the dampers for admitting the unheated air are also in their broken line position. Here, it should be noted that these dampers reach out horizontally well beyond the heater units, thereby, even more effectively guiding the incoming unheated air away from the influence of the heaters.

In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As many changes could be made in carrying out the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.