Carpet scouring and blooming apparatus

United States Patent

[”J 3,589,147

<td> [72]</td><td> Inventors</td><td> Herman H. Price, Jr.; George H. Youse, both of Wilmington, Del.</td>

<td> [21]</td><td> Appl. No.</td><td> 792,990</td>

<td> [22]</td><td> Filed</td><td> Jan. 22,1969</td>

<td> [45]</td><td> Patented</td><td> June 29,1971</td>

<td> [73]</td><td> Assignee</td><td> Hercules Incorporated</td>

Wilmington, Del.

[54] CARPET SCOURING AND BLOOMING APPARATUS

Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S.C1........................................................68/5,68/13,

68/20,68/62

[5'1 ^l“^tCI......................................................... D06c 1/00

[50] Field of Search............................................ 8/149.3·

68/13, 20, 62,5 D; 15/40, 306 A

[56] References Cited

UNITED STATES PATENTS

500,915 7/1893 Leonhard..................... 68/62

<td> 1,791,248</td><td> 2/1931</td><td> Schwartz......................</td><td> 68/62 UX</td>

<td> 1,988,519</td><td> 1/1935</td><td> Shaw...........................</td><td> 68/5 D</td>

<td> 2,071,922</td><td> 2/1937</td><td> Drobile et al................</td><td> 68/13 (R)X</td>

<td></td><td colspan="2"> FOREIGN PATENTS</td><td></td>

<td> 1,167,365</td><td> 7/1958</td><td> France ........................</td><td> 68/198</td>

<td> 435,180</td><td> 9/1935</td><td> Great Britain...............</td><td> 68/20</td>

Primary Examiner—Daniel Blum Attorney—William F. Smith

ABSTRACT: An apparatus for scouring and blooming carpet comprising a convex carpet engaging surface of a fluid-treating member over which the laterally spread carpet is passed endwise and which has a channel in its carpet engaging surface that is connected at spaced points to the bore of the member by ducts through which fluid is delivered to the channel and thus to the carpet. The apparatus is adapted to be used in conjunction with the usual wet-out box of a carpet drying operation and includes carpet washing sprays directed onto the carpet and draining into the wet-out box.

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PATENTED JUN291971

3,589,147

SHEET 1 OF 2

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ATTORNEY

PATENTED JUN 2 91971

3'589,147

SHEET 2 CF 2

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FIG. 2

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GEORGE H. YOUSE HERMAN H. PRICE. JR.

INVENTORS

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BY

ATTORNEY

3,589,147

CARPET SCOURING AND BLOOMING APPARATUS

This invention relates to a carpet scouring and blooming apparatus or more particularly, to an apparatus for removing from the yam the finish that may be used during the processing and handling of the yarn, and for blooming or opening the pile yarn, which may involve physically separating the filaments of the individual tufts as well as heat treating them such as by the usual steaming operation that is commonly applied to synthetic yams to relieve the stresses frozen in the filaments.

The objects of this invention are to provide a carpet scouring and blooming apparatus that is simple and inexpensive, is essentially compatible with existing carpet processing equipment in order to minimize the required investment, will effectively scour and bloom carpet with a minimum of materials, requires a minimum of attention during operation, and is trouble-free and durable.

The above objects have been achieved by an apparatus adapted to be used at the usual wet-out box that is normally provided at the input of a carpet dryer to insure a uniform wetness of the carpet as it enters the dryer. The present apparatus comprises essentially a fluid-treating member, preferably in the form of a pipe, over which the carpet is angled and at which a heated fluid, e.g., steam, is passed through the carpet from the backing side thereof. From the fluid-treating member, the carpet is angled under a guide in the wet-out box to a pair of successive fresh water rinsing sprays, and eventually to the usual vacuum extractor. The fluid-treating member acts primarily to bloom the pile but also initiates the scouring action which is later completed by the rinsing sprays. The lead of the carpet and the location of the rinsing sprays is designed so that the excess water at this point is drained into the wet-out box from which it is removed. The fluid-treating member comprises a convex carpet engaging surface over which the carpet passes, an axial bore for receiving and distributing the fluid along the member and a plurality of ducts spaced along the fluid-treating member and interconnecting the bore and a groove endwise of the carpet engaging surface, which groove acts to distribute the fluid uniformly along the carpet and thus to provide a uniform exposure of the carpet to the fluid.

With the above and other objects in view, the preferred embodiment of the present invention is hereinafter defined with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view transversely of an apparatus embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a detail sectional view of the fluid-treating member of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 and taken substantially along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view longitudinally of the rinsing means of the apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary elevational view of the rinsing means of FIG. 4.

In the drawings, there is illustrated an apparatus in accordance with this invention for scouring and blooming a carpet, which apparatus comprises a frame 1 fabricated for example from channel members and including a base 2 that is rectangular in outline, upright corner members 3, intermediate crossmembers 4, upper crossmembers 5 and a tie member 6 extending between the upper crossmembers 5.

Mounted on the base 2 is a tank 7 having a length that is dimensioned relative to the width of the carpet to be processed whereby the carpet can be passed endwise through the same in a laterally opened or flat condition. A guide roll 8 is journaled freely for rotation in the bottom of the tank 7, for example, by bearings 9 secured to the end walls of the tank 7. The guide roll 8 is arranged longitudinally of the tank 7 substantially midway between the front and rear walls thereof and is disposed adjacent and parallel to the bottom wall thereof. The liquid level in the tank 7 is determined by a drain pipe 10 upstanding from the bottom wall of the tank 7 to an open end of the desired level. The drain pipe 10 extends through the bottom wall of the tank 7 and is designed to discharge into a floor drain (not shown) or to be joined to appropriate drain connections (not shown).

An input guide roll 11 is journaled at the front of the frame 1 on the intermediate cross braces 4, and an output guide roll 12 is journaled, as by bearings 13 (FIG. 2), on the intermediate cross braces 4 at the rear of the frame 1. The output guide roll 12 may be driven to pull the carpet C from the supply, over the input guide roll 11 and the guide roll 8 in the tank 7 and thus to pull the carpet through the tank 7. For driving the roll 12 there may be for example a chain 14 that is run about a sprocket 15 on the end of a shaft 16 extending axially from the roll 12, the chain 14 being driven in turn by a sprocket 17 on the shaft of a motor 18 mounted on the adjacent upright corner members 3.

From the output guide roll 12, the carpet C passes over a pair of idler rolls 19 and 20 that, as illustrated, may be journaled respectively on the intermediate crossmembers 4 and the upper crossmembers 5. The carpet C then passes over a conventional vacuum extractor 21 which comprises a pipe 22 mounted on the upper crossmembers 5 with the axis thereof parallel to the axis of the rolls 8, 12, etc. For mounting the pipe 22 on the crossmembers 5 and for securing the same against turning, there are provided straps 23 bolted to the crossmembers 5 and cooperating with tubular end sections 24 extending axially from each end of the pipe 22. The tubular end sections 24 are adapted to be connected as by conduits 25 to a vacuum source (not shown). The pipe 22 is formed with a relatively narrow slot 26 through the wall thereof, which slot extends longitudinally of the pipe 22 at substantially the midpoint of the surface or arcuate area of the pipe engaged by the carpet, which area in the illustrated apparatus is at the uppermost portion of the pipe. The slot 26 is thus in effect closed by the carpet C as it passes over the pipe and the loose water is extracted from it by the air drawn through the carpet by the vacuum applied internally of the pipe 22.

The carpet runs from the extractor 21 to an output roll 27 which may also be driven to pull the carpet C from the roll 12, over the idler rolls 19 and 20, and extractor 21, and to deliver the same from the apparatus. The roll 27 may be driven for example by a motor 28 (FIG. 1) supported by a bracket 29 on the upper crossmember 5 and connected to the roll 27 by a chain 30. In lieu of the drives on the rolls 12 and 27, the carpet may be pulled through the apparatus by the usual conveying and/or tenter mechanism of the dryer, or by other suitable means.

The structure thus far described comprises the usual wetout box that is normally provided in a carpet drying operation for wetting the carpet uniformly before passing the same through the dryer. This wetting operation is provided to compensate for any uneven wetness in the carpet that may occur because of stacking the carpet in a hand truck for moving the carpet from one operation to the next, which stacking squeezes the water from the carpet folds that are at the bottom of the truck, or because the carpet is stored on the truck over a period of time and there is therefore some drying at the exposed surfaces thereof. Uniform wetness is desired to produce uniform drying of the carpet with a uniform residual moisture content and also to avoid scorching the carpets where the temperature in some sections of the dryer is sufficiently high to scorch the dry carpet.

In accordance with this invention, the above wet-out box is provided with a steaming means 31 and a rinsing means 31α for scouring and blooming the carpet.

The steaming means 31 comprises a tubular fluid-treating member, which in the illustrated form is a relatively thickwalled pipe 33, that is disposed in an elevated position transversely of the path of the carpet at the front of the apparatus. The pipe 33 has end walls 34 to which are secured tubular end sections 35 that, like the end sections 24 of the extractor pipe 22, are arranged axially of the pipe 33 and are open into the

3,589,147 bore 36 of the pipe. The end sections 35 are supported by brackets 37 on the front pair of upright members 3 and are secured thereon by straps 38. To minimize the drop in the fluid pressure along the pipe 33, both of the end sections 35 are connected to a source of steam by conduits 39 and are 5 preferably connected to a common header (not shown).

The steamer pipe 33 is arranged relative to the path of the carpet C from the supply or input to the guide roll 8 so that the carpet is bent or directed over the pipe 33 in contact with the external surface thereof over an area that is herein termed the ¹⁰carpet-engaging surface. This surface is convex so that when a carpet is bent thereover with its backing B in contact with the carpet-engaging surface of the pipe 33, the pile P of the carpet is opened up. While the cylindrical pipe 33 constitutes a convenient and inexpensive shape for the fluid-treating member, ¹⁵it will be apparent that cross sections other than cylindrical would be suitable so long as the selected shape includes a convex carpet-engaging surface.

Steam outlets are formed longitudinally of the carpet-engaging surface of the steamer pipe 33. In the illustrated form, the steam outlets comprise a pair of angularly spaced parallel grooves 32 milled in the wall of the pipe 33 and open at the periphery thereof. The grooves 32 are connected to the bore 36 of the pipe 33 by a plurality of relatively small and closely ₂j spaced ducts 41 drilled through the wall of the pipe between the bottom of the grooves 32 and the bore 36. The pipe 33 is also provided with a drain opening 42 in the bottom thereof for draining condensate. The grooves 32 extend along the pipe 33 for a distance substantially equal to the width of the carpet 30 for which the apparatus is designed, or in other words, for substantially the entire length of the pipe 33 that is engaged by the carpet.

The steamer pipe 33 is preferably small and for example may be about 3 inches in diameter so that the carpet C is bent 35 relatively sharply over the carpet-engaging surface. Accordingly, the resistance of the carpet C to steam passing therethrough from the channels 32 is reduced and the steam can more readily penetrate the carpet to lift from it the lint and other materials. At the same time, the steam impinges 40 upon and passes through the pile and thus opens or blooms the same physically as well as heats the pile in the nature of the usual steaming operation to relieve stresses frozen into the filaments, and initiates the scouring action for removal of the finish on the yarn. 45

While relatively small in diameter, the steamer pipe 33 has a thick sidewall to provide for grooves 32 of some depth. The grooves 32 serve to space the discharge end of the ducts 41 from the carpet so that the steam issuing from the ducts will not impinge as jets upon the carpet and thereby have a nonu- ⁵⁰niform action upon the carpet. With the steam pressures herein used, which may be about 4 p.s.i.g., the jets issuing from the ducts 41 are dissipated in the grooves 32 to provide a uniform supply of steam along the grooves 32 and thus a ' uniform exposure of the steam to the carpet. The grooves 32 thus function in substantially the same manner as if they were slots but do not have the disadvantage of weakening the circumferential strength of the pipe 33 which would create the problem of maintaining a uniform gap over the length of the pipe, which may for example be 15 feet long.

There is also the problem of maintaining uniform steam pressure along the length of the pipe 33, which is only partially reduced by introducing steam from a common header simultaneously into both ends of the pipe. The pressure drop along 65 the steamer pipe 33 is a function of the open area provided by the ducts 41 relative to the cross section of the pipe. At the same time, the volume of steam consumed is a function of the open area and the steam pressure. With the relatively small diameter pipe desired to produce the bend in the carpet, and 70 with the relatively low steam consumption involved, a slot would necessarily be so fine that it would present a manufacturing problem, and would still require a groove such as the grooves 32 to avoid a jet effect upon the carpet. On the other hand, with a plurality of spaced ducts 41, the individual ducts 75 can be relatively large and thus easily formed, and are spaced such that there is provided a uniform steam pressure in the grooves 32.

By way of example, in processing a conventional carpet, it has been found that the steamer pipe 33 may be, as above noted, about 3 inches in diameter. With such a pipe, the wall thereof is preferably about three-eighths to one-half of an inch thick and the grooves 32, which may be about three-sixteenths of an inch wide, are about one-quarter of an inch deep. The ducts 41 are about one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter and, with a pair of grooves 32 as shown, are spaced along the grooves 32 at intervals of about three-eighths of an inch, with the ducts in the two grooves 32 being arranged in a staggered relation. Steam is supplied at about 4 p.s.i.g.

The rinsing means 31α comprises a pair of parallel-arranged water tubes 43 both of which are connected at their ends to common supply connectors 44 which are in turn connected to fresh water supply lines 45. The tubes 43 are carried by the connectors 44 which are in turn supported on the intermediate crosspieces 4 of the frame and are secured thereto by straps 46. The tubes 43 are provided with a plurality of spray nozzles 47 which are spaced along the tubes at uniform intervals. Each of the nozzles 47 has a spray head 48 adapted to discharge a diverging spray that at the point of contact with the carpet is wider than the spacing of the nozzles 47 along the tubes 43. The nozzles 47 are also angled relative to the centerline of the tubes 43 as illustrated in FIG. 5, whereby the spray line of adjacent nozzles on the carpet will overlap.

The water tubes 43 are supported relative to the adjacent length of the carpet C so that the nozzles are spaced from the pile surface of the carpet by a distance of for example 2 inches.

To avoid the possibility of streaks in the carpet because of the malfunctioning of any one of the spray nozzles 47, as for example by clogging, the water tubes 43 and thus the spray nozzles 47 may be oscillated endwise. The nozzles when moved in this manner, spray zigzag pattern laterally of the carpet as the carpet moves by and thus, the spray from any one nozzle will not impinge upon the carpet in a line endwise of the carpet.

In operation, the water tubes 43 are supplied with fresh water, preferably heated, at a relatively high pressure, e.g., 50 to 90 p.s.i.g., so that a flood of hot water is sprayed onto the carpet C, with some force. The water thus penetrates the pile P of the carpet and washes out the yarn finish. The water discharged by the nozzles 47 drains down the carpet into the tank 7. While scouring is provided essentially by the rinsing means 31α, the scouring is initiated at the steaming pipe 33 and significant scouring can be achieved in the tank 7 by maintaining the level of the rinsing liquid sufficiently high relative to the guide roll 8 that the carpet will be completely immersed. While the level of the liquid in the tank 7 is preferably maintained at a level to immerse the carpet completely, it will be obvious that the present invention also contemplates running the tank 7 empty so that it functions merely as a catch for the rinsing liquid.

From the rinsing means 31α, the carpet passes over the extractor 21 which removes the excess or loose water, and is then delivered from the apparatus, as for example, directly to a dryer in a uniformly wet condition, and with the finish removed or washed-out and the pile bloomed in the manner normally provided by a steaming operation.

Accordingly, it will be apparent that, by this invention, the usual wet-out box of a carpet drying apparatus is adapted to be converted to a carpet scouring and blooming apparatus by the addition of the steaming means 31 and the rinsing means 31α.

The apparatus of this invention is particularly useful with a yarn of synthetic filaments such as polypropylene which is normally provided with a relatively high level of finish that serves as a lubricant and to hold the yarn together during processing, and which is also usually precolored. With other materials, the pile may be easier to bloom or may require less blooming, or the yarns may be held together by a high twist

3,589,147 level or may not require a high finish level to have sufficient cohesion for processing and, with yarns that are dyed, for example, after the carpet is made, the dyeing operation may be adequate to impart the desired bloom to the pile and to remove whatever finish was used. A further advantage of the 5 present apparatus is that it avoids the necessity for a separate steaming operation in those cases where steaming is desired.