Continuous steaming machine for developing colors of a printed or dyed fabric comprising device for picking-up and re-positioning rods on continuous transport means of the machine
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- EP · EP
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-05-30
- Publication Date
- 2026-04-08
AI Technical Summary
Existing continuous steaming machines for developing colors of printed or dyed fabric cannot adjust the pitch between rods, leading to potential fabric contact or rubbing, causing contamination and damage.
A device for picking-up and re-positioning rods on continuous transport means that allows adjustable pitch between rods, enabling manual or semi-automatic loading and unloading to change the rod spacing without interrupting the steaming process.
Enables adjustable rod spacing, preventing fabric contact and damage, improving color development quality and productivity by allowing pitch adjustment without machine shutdown, thus enhancing the quality and repeatability of the finished fabric.
Smart Images
Figure IB2024055247_05122024_PF_FP_ABST
Abstract
Description
[0001] CONTINUOUS STEAMING MACHINE FOR DEVELOPING COLORS OF A
[0002] PRINTED OR DYED FABRIC COMPRIS ING DEVICE FOR PICKING-UP
[0003] AND RE-POS ITIONING RODS ON CONTINUOUS TRANSPORT MEANS
[0004] OF THE MACHINE
[0005] The present invention refers to a continuous steaming machine for developing colors of a printed or dyed fabric comprising device for picking-up and re-positioning rods on continuous transport means of the machine .
[0006] Continuous steaming machines for developing colors of a printed or dyed fabric are known in the state of the art .
[0007] A continuous steaming machine comprises a closed chamber comprising an entry slot and an exit slot . The chamber comprises in its inside a first continuous transport means adapted to mount a plurality of cylindrical supports referred to as rods which are adapted to support the lap- folded fabric that inside the chamber are exposed to a steam so that the color of the printed or dyed fabric develops .
[0008] In the state of the art , the rods mounted with the first continuous transport means are spaced 100 or 200 mm apart .
[0009] The chamber comprises in its inside also a second continuous transport means adapted to transport the rods arrived at the route end towards the start of the route of the first continuous transport means .
[0010] The Applicant ' s Italian patent number 0001298612 describes a device for automatically picking-up, storing and re-positioning rods on continuous transport means of the continuous steaming machine for developing colors of the printed or dyed fabric . The device comprises a closed chamber in communication with the inside of the chamber of the continuous steaming machine .
[0011] The device comprises a picking-up arm adapted to interfere with said second continuous transport means and an accumulation chain . The picking-up arm alternately picks up one or more rods in a predetermined succession from the second continuous transport means and places them in the accumulation chain . Conversely, the picking-up arm picks up rods from the accumulation chain and returns them onto the second continuous transport means .
[0012] Disadvantageously, the device for picking up, storing and automatically re-positioning the rods while allowing to change the pitch between rods during the operation of the continuous steaming machine , provides the same pitch for all the rods without the possibility of changing at will the pitch between one rod and the next one , otherwise referred to as the pitch between each pair of rods , since once the pitch between rods has been provided, the device maintains the pitch for all the rods . It is not possible to change the pitch of each pair of rods at will and this results in the possibility of contact or rubbing between laps of the fabric that causes contaminations or damage to the fabric .
[0013] WO 2018 / 207144 Al and EP 3095906 Al show examples of state-of-the-art continuous steaming machines .
[0014] The obj ect of the present invention consists in reali zing a device for picking-up and re-positioning rods on continuous transport means of a continuous steaming machine for developing colors of a printed or dyed fabric capable of changing pitch between each pair of rods at will avoiding the possibility of contact or rubbing between laps that causes contamination or damage to the fabric .
[0015] In accordance with the invention this obj ect is achieved with a device for picking-up and re-positioning rods on continuous transport means of a continuous steaming machine for developing colors of a printed or dyed fabric according to claim 1 .
[0016] Other features are provided in the dependent claims .
[0017] The features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description, which is to be understood as non-limiting example , with reference to the appended schematic drawings , wherein :
[0018] Figure 1 is a sectional view of a continuous steaming machine according to the present invention;
[0019] Figure 2 is an enlarged view of a detail of Figure 1 showing a device for the manual picking-up or loading of a rod with closed door ;
[0020] Figure 3 is an enlarged view of a detail of Figure 1 showing a device for the manual picking-up or loading of a rod with open door ;
[0021] Figure 4 is a view of the machine showing an alternative and semi-automatic device for the picking- up or loading of rods with open door and rotating arm interfering with a continuous transport means for rods ;
[0022] Figure 5 shows a view of the device of Figure 4 in the passage configuration;
[0023] Figure 6 shows a view of the device of Figures 4 and 5 in the configuration interfering with the door .
[0024] With reference to the cited figures , a continuous steaming machine 100 for developing colors of a printed or dyed fabric compris ing a closed chamber 150 is shown .
[0025] The machine 100 comprises an entry slot 151 and an exit slot 152 . The slots 151 , 152 have dimensions adapted to allow the fabric to enter inside and to exit from the chamber 150 .
[0026] The chamber 150 comprises in its inside a first continuous transport means 130 adapted to mount a plurality of cylindrical supports referred to as rods 80 which are adapted to support the lap- folded fabric .
[0027] The machine 100 comprises a second continuous transport means 140 adapted to transport a plurality of rods 80 from a route end 133 of the first continuous transport means 130 to a route start 132 of the first continuous transport means 130 . The route 131 is identi fied by an outbound route of the first continuous transport means 130 .
[0028] The first continuous transport means 130 is mounted to the inside of the chamber 150 , in particular to the inside of an upper part of the chamber 150 so that the fabric laps drop by gravity to the inside of the closed chamber 150 .
[0029] The distance between rods 80 mounted with the first continuous transport means 130 is referred to as the pitch and corresponds to a distance between laps of the fabric .
[0030] Steam is inputted into the chamber 150 which is dispersed between the laps of the printed or dyed fabric by means of fans 160 of the machine 100 , so that the color of the printed or dyed fabric develops by contact with the steam .
[0031] The steam, once saturated with residues of the fabric color development , is sucked from the closed chamber 150 by means of an aspirator 170 of the machine 100 and expelled from the continuous steaming machine 100 .
[0032] The continuous steaming machine 100 picks up the fabric through the entry slot 151 and a first rod intercepts the fabric, where the first rod is a rod of the plurality of rods 80 mounted with the first continuous transport means 130 which is present at the route start 132 . The fabric is arranged in the form of a lap over the plurality of rods 80 . The fabric arrived at the route end 133 is picked up from a last rod of the plurality of rods 80 and is made to exit from the closed chamber 150 through the exit slot 152 . The last empty rod present at the route end 133 is trans ferred from the first continuous transport means 130 to the second continuous transport means 140 . Empty rod means a rod without fabric .
[0033] Preferably, the rods 80 are able to rotate on their own axis once mounted with the first continuous transport means 130 .
[0034] The chamber 150 comprises in its inside also the second continuous transport means 140 which transports the rods 80 arrived at the route end 133 towards the route start 132 of the first continuous transport means 130 .
[0035] Preferably, the second continuous transport means 140 comprises a mounting element 138 , otherwise referred to as a rod carrier rail .
[0036] Each rod 80 is mounted with the second continuous transport means 140 by means of a respective mounting element 138 . Preferably each mounting element 138 is a vertically arranged fork that is adapted to mount the rods 80 free from the fabric .
[0037] A pitch between rods 80 mounted with the second continuous transport means 140 corresponds proportionally to a pitch between rods 80 mounted with the first continuous transport means 130 based on the speed di f ference between the first 130 and the second continuous transport means 140 .
[0038] For example , i f the pitch between rods mounted with the first transport means was 100 mm, then the pitch between rods mounted with the second transport means 140 would be 1000 mm.
[0039] The second continuous transport means 140 comprises a second route 141 .
[0040] Said rods 80 are transported along said second route 141 from the upper portion of the chamber 150 to a lower portion of the chamber 150 , wherein said second route 141 is arranged along a containment wall 110 of the chamber 150 of the machine 100 .
[0041] As shown in the figures , the containment wall 110 is preferably a vertical wall and the second route 141 is vertical because it must be parallel at least for a stretch with the containment wall 110 to allow an extraction or loading of rods 80 .
[0042] The second continuous transport means 140 preferably has a higher speed than the first continuous transport means 130 , so as to be able to transport the unladen rods 80 of the fabric faster .
[0043] Preferably the first 130 and the second continuous transport means 140 are continuous transport chains .
[0044] The continuous steaming machine 100 comprises a device 10 for picking-up rods 80 from the second continuous transport means 140 and re-positioning the rods 80 on the second continuous transport means 140 at a predefined pitch .
[0045] The device 10 is mounted with the containment wal l 110 . The containment wall 110 comprises a through opening 115 in communication with the inside of the closed chamber 150 of the continuous steaming machine 100 .
[0046] The device 10 comprises a first door 11 and a second door 12 which close an access to the through opening 115 of the containment wall 110 .
[0047] The first door 11 is mounted above the second door 12 and the first door 11 is arranged towards the outside of the machine 100 , while the second door 12 is in direct contact with the inside of the closed chamber 150 of the machine 100 .
[0048] The second continuous transport means 140 passes from a moving configuration to a stationary configuration .
[0049] The moving configuration of the second continuous transport means 140 provides that said second continuous transport means 140 moves .
[0050] The stationary configuration of the second continuous transport means 140 provides that said second continuous transport means 140 stops to unload a rod 80 from said second continuous transport means 140 whenever a rod 80 is situated in front of said through opening 115 or stops to load a rod 80 on said second continuous transport means 140 when the predefined pitch has been reached with respect to a previous rod 80 mounted on the second continuous transport means 140 .
[0051] The first door 11 is preferably insulated . The first door 11 is advantageously opened only during these operations of loading and unloading rods 80 while it must be kept closed during the normal working phases of the machine 100 limiting a steam dispersion .
[0052] By opening the first door 11 it is possible to access the second door 12 , through which the rod 80 will be unloaded or loaded, making it possible for it to be picked up or loaded by the operator .
[0053] Advantageously, the second door 12 allows protection of the operator as there are potentially dangerous conditions inside the chamber 150 , i . e . the presence of steam and high temperatures , where high temperatures are understood to mean temperatures of the order of 100 degrees Celsius or higher than 100 degrees Celsius .
[0054] Advantageously, the second door 12 comprises a sensor which makes it impossible to resume the movement of the second continuous transport means 140 i f the second door 12 is not completely closed .
[0055] Still more advantageously, the second door 12 closes automatically when the first door 11 is opened for safety reasons .
[0056] According to a first embodiment example illustrated in Figures 1-3 , the device is manual and the second door 12 is preferably with double gate .
[0057] According to said first embodiment example , once the second transport means 140 is in a stationary configuration, an operator decides whether or not to open the first door 11 and then the second door 12 in order to load a rod 80 on the second continuous transport means 140 or to unload a rod 80 from the second continuous transport means 140 based on the predefined pitch between one rod 80 and the other .
[0058] Advantageously, the predefined pitch between rods 80 can be decided from time to time because the operator is able to insert or not a rod 80 on the second continuous transport means 140 or to unload the rod 80 from the second continuous transport means 140 .
[0059] Once the pick-up position of the rod 80 is established in front of the through opening 115 , the second continuous transport means 140 automatically stops in the pick-up position at each restart thereof , until completing a complete turn of all the rods 80 , so as to be able to fix a new pitch between rods 80 loaded on the second continuous transport means 140 . The same pitch will also be maintained even when the rods 80 are unloaded from the second continuous transport means 140 to be loaded onto the first continuous transport means 130 .
[0060] Advantageously, the machine 100 is more compact and cheaper than automatic devices of the state of the art .
[0061] A second embodiment example is illustrated in Figures 4- 6 where an alternative semi-automatic device 10 also comprises a loading and unloading chamber 15 . The operation is essentially the same as that of the first embodiment example .
[0062] The loading and unloading chamber 15 of the alternative device 10 is arranged in front of the through opening 115 of the containment wall 110 .
[0063] The loading and unloading chamber 15 is in communication with the chamber 150 of the machine 100 .
[0064] The loading and unloading chamber 15 comprises containment walls 20 which mount the first 11 and the second door 12 . The device 10 comprises a rotating arm 30 arranged inside the loading and unloading chamber 15 . The rotating arm 30 is pivoted with the device 10 .
[0065] Preferably, the rotating arm 30 comprises a chain 31 which continuously rotates from one end to the other of the rotating arm 30 .
[0066] The rotating arm 30 passes from a configuration interfering with the second continuous transport means 140 shown in Figure 4 to a passage configuration shown in Figure 5 to a configuration interfering with the second door 12 shown in Figure 6 .
[0067] The configuration of the rotating arm 30 interfering with the second continuous transport means 140 provides that an end of the rotating arm 30 is positioned in interference with the second continuous transport means 140 so as to unload or load a rod 80 .
[0068] The passage configuration of the rotating arm 30 provides that the rod 80 is moved by the rotating arm 30 to the inside of the loading and unloading chamber 15 .
[0069] Preferably the rod 80 is guided by a guide 40 of the device 10 . The guide 40 is arranged inside the loading and unloading chamber 15 and is adapted to more safely guide the rod 80 transported by the rotating arm 30 during the passage configuration of the rotating arm 30 . The guide 40 therefore has at least one curvilinear section that follows the route of the rod 80 transported by the rotating arm 30 inside the loading and unloading chamber 15 .
[0070] The configuration of the rotating arm 30 interfering with the second door 12 provides that the rod 80 leaves the rotating arm 30 in the unloading phase or is taken by the rotating arm 30 in the loading phase . During the unloading phase , the rotating arm 30 near the second door 12 leaves the rod 80 so that it can be unloaded out of the machine 100 .
[0071] During the loading phase , the rod 80 leaves the second door 12 and is loaded on the rotating arm 30 to be then loaded on the second continuous transport means 140 .
[0072] Preferably, the second door 12 comprises a housing 128 for the rod 80 which is positioned by the rotating arm 30 in a configuration interfering with the second door 12 .
[0073] The housing 128 of the second door 12 is provided turned towards the inside of the loading and unloading chamber 15 .
[0074] Advantageously, when an operator activates a loading or unloading procedure , it does not provide for the execution thereof in a totally automatic manner until the end of the cycle of all the rods 80 . The procedure for loading or unloading rods 80 continues according to a step-by-step mechanism and must therefore be manually reactivated after each unloading of the single rod 80 by means of a command .
[0075] Preferably, for any embodiment example , the procedure for loading or unloading the rod 80 from or on the second continuous transport means 140 is concluded when the first door 11 is closed which comprises sensors arranged on the ends of the first door 11 . These latter sensors allow the second continuous transport means 140 to be restarted safely when the first door 11 is closed . In fact , said first door 11 comprises at least one sensor which makes it impossible to resume a movement of the second continuous transport means 140 i f the first door 11 is not completely closed .
[0076] Still more preferably, for any embodiment example , it is provided that a siren alerts the operator of the occurred loading or unloading of the rod 80 .
[0077] Advantageously, the continuous steaming machine 100 according to the present invention allows to guarantee a greater quality and repeatability of the resulting color on the finished fabric, allowing to perform the steaming without having to switch of f the machine 100 to adj ust the pitch between the rods 80 , being able to adj ust the pitch between each pair of rods 80 , that is , to adj ust the pitch between one rod and the next one .
[0078] Preferably the machine 100 allows to position a rod and the next one at 100 mm distance , or at 200 mm distance from each other .
[0079] Advantageously, the machine 10 allows to avoid entering the chamber 150 to change the pitch between the rods 80 , resulting in a considerable waste of productivity, energy and time .
[0080] In practice , the materials used, as well as dimensions thereof , can be of any type according to the technical requirements .
Claims
CLAIMS1. Continuous steaming machine (100) for developing colors of a printed or dyed fabric comprising a closed chamber (150) adapted to contain a steam, a first continuous transport means (130) arranged inside an upper portion of the closed chamber (150) and adapted to mount a plurality of cylindrical supports referred to as rods (80) which are adapted to support the lap-folded fabric, wherein a plurality of rods (80) is mounted with the first continuous transport means (130) , wherein the rods (80) are spaced to each other of a pitch corresponding to a distance between laps of the fabric, a second continuous transport means (140) arranged inside the closed chamber (150) and adapted to transport said plurality of rods (80) from a route end (133) to a route start (132) of the first continuous transport means (130) , wherein said second continuous transport means (140) comprises a second route (141) , wherein said rods (80) are transported along said second route (141) from the upper portion of the chamber (150) to a lower portion of the chamber (150) , wherein said second route (141) is arranged along a containment wall (110) of the chamber (150) of the machine (100) , characterized in that it comprises a device (10) for picking-up rods (80) from the second continuous transport means (140) and re-positioning the rods (80) on the second continuous transport means (140) according to a predefined pitch, wherein the device (10) is mounted with said containment wall (110) comprising a through opening(115) in communication with the inside of the closed chamber (150) of the machine (100) , wherein the device (10) comprises a first door (11) and a second door (12) which close an access to the through opening (115) of the containment wall (110) , wherein said second continuous transport means (140) passes from a moving configuration to a stationary configuration, wherein said moving configuration provides that said second continuous transport means (140) moves, wherein said stationary configuration of the second continuous transport means (140) provides that said second continuous transport means (140) stops to unload a rod (80) from said second continuous transport means (140) whenever a rod (80) is situated in front of said through opening (115) or stops to load a rod (80) on said second continuous transport means (140) when the predefined pitch has been reached with respect to a previous rod (80) mounted on the second continuous transport means (140) .
2. Continuous steaming machine (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that said second door (12) comprises at least one sensor which makes it impossible to resume a movement of the second continuous transport means (140) if the second door (12) is not completely closed .
3. Continuous steaming machine (100) according to any one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that said second door (12) closes automatically when the first door (11) is opened.
4. Continuous steaming machine (100) according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that said device(10) comprises a loading and unloading chamber (15) which is arranged in front of the through opening (115) of the containment wall (110) and is in communication with the chamber (150) of the machine (100) , wherein said loading and unloading chamber (15) comprises containment walls (20) which mount the first (11) and second door (12) , a rotating arm (30) arranged inside the loading and unloading chamber (15) , wherein said rotating arm (30) is pivoted with the device (10) , wherein said rotating arm (30) passes from a configuration interfering with the second continuous transport means (140) to a configuration interfering with the second door (12) , wherein the configuration of the rotating arm (30) interfering with the second continuous transport means (140) provides that an end of the rotating arm (30) is positioned in interference with the second continuous transport means (140) so as to unload or load a rod (80) , wherein the configuration of the rotating arm (30) interfering with the second door (12) provides that the rod (80) leaves the rotating arm (30) in the unloading phase or is taken by the rotating arm (30) in the loading phase .
5. Continuous steaming machine (100) according to claim 4, characterized in that the rotating arm (30) comprises a chain (31) which continuously rotates from one end to the other of the rotating arm (30) .
6. Continuous steaming machine (100) according to any one of claims 4 or 5, characterized in that said second door (12) comprises a housing (128) for the rod(80) .
7. Continuous steaming machine (100) according to any one of claims 4-6, characterized in that the device (10) comprises a guide (40) arranged inside the loading and unloading chamber (15) .
8. Continuous steaming machine (100) according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that said first door (11) is insulated.
9. Continuous steaming machine (100) according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that said first door (11) comprises at least one sensor which makes it impossible to resume a movement of the second continuous transport means (140) if the first door (11) is not completely closed.