Hydroentangling Drum Spacing With Angled Wires for Drainage

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing devices for hydrodynamic bonding of fleece, woven, or knitted fabrics are complex and costly to manufacture, with issues of fiber jamming and inadequate liquid drainage, leading to inefficient processing and potential damage to the structure drum.

Innovation Solution

A device featuring a base drum with multiple bores and wires or pins that create a distance for the structure drum, allowing for flexible and inexpensive production, effective liquid drainage, and preventing fiber jamming by maintaining an open space between the drums for easy removal of fibers and dirt.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Length of stationary object

If grooves or indentations are milled into a solid base drum to create spacing, then the structure drum is kept at a distance from the base drum, but the manufacturing complexity and cost increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedistance between base drum and structure drumVSAvoidmanufacturing complexity of base drum
Core Design Contradiction:
Length of stationary objectVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The base drum is segmented by adding discrete wires wrapped around it, rather than milling continuous grooves into a solid cylinder. These wires create the necessary spacing zones without requiring complex machining of the entire drum structure, thus reducing manufacturing complexity while maintaining the required distance.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Wires are introduced as intermediary elements between the base drum and structure drum to maintain the necessary spacing. These wires act as mediators that create the gap without requiring direct modification of the base drum's solid structure, simplifying manufacturing while achieving the spacing function.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Productivity

If a thin structure drum is used to strengthen fibers, then the device can effectively bond materials, but the structure drum becomes susceptible to damage from fiber jamming

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveeffectiveness of fiber bondingVSAvoiddurability of structure drum
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The spacing function is segmented into discrete wire elements rather than a continuous structure, creating open gaps that prevent fiber accumulation. This segmentation allows the thin structure drum to remain effective for bonding while reducing the risk of jamming-induced damage.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The harmful function of fiber accumulation and jamming is extracted from the system by designing the wire-based spacing structure that prevents fibers from reaching the structure drum surface. This extraction protects the thin structure drum from damage while maintaining its bonding effectiveness.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

3Productivity

If large holes are created in the base drum for water drainage, then liquid drainage is improved, but fibers can block the holes reducing drainage efficiency

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveliquid drainage efficiencyVSAvoidconsistency of drainage function
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The wires wrapped around the base drum act as intermediary elements that guide and distribute water flow across multiple smaller drainage openings. This mediation prevents fiber blockage of individual large holes while maintaining overall drainage efficiency through distributed flow paths.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

The solution enables efficient and reliable hydrodynamic bonding of nonwovens, wovens, and knitted fabrics with improved liquid drainage and reduced production costs, ensuring durable connections and preventing fiber blockages during the process.

Implementation Method 1

a base drum (1) with a large number of bores (4)... which ensure a large-volume drainage of water

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectDrainage:

Implementation Method 2

the distance between the base drum and the structure drum being able to be produced by a plurality of wires (5)... or by at least one pin (7) with a head (7a)

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectMechanical spacing:

Implementation Method 3

During the hydrodynamic consolidation of tiles or fabrics, the fibers are swirled in that the fibers are at least partially pressed into the finely perforated openings by means of water jets

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectHydrodynamic consolidation:

Implementation Method 4

a structure drum (6)... to strengthen the fibers, but can also give the material to be processed a surface structure in the form of a pattern

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectFiber bonding:

Data Source

PatentEP2888394B1Device for hydrodynamically strengthening nonwovens, wovens or knitted fabrics
Publication Date: 2018.06.27 TRUETZSCHLER GMBH & CO KG
  • EP2888394B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2888394B1 patent drawingFigure 2~2a
  • EP2888394B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

The invention relates to a device for hydrodynamically strengthening nonwovens, wovens or knitted fabrics, comprising a base drum (1), which has a plurality of bore holes (4) and on which a structural drum (6) is arranged at a spacing, wherein the distance between the base drum (1) and the structural drum (6) can be produced with a plurality of wires (5, 5', 5", 5"',...) that are arranged on the surface of the base drum (1) and are at least partially integrally joined to the base drum (1), the wires (5, 5', 5", 5"',...) being arranged parallel to each other on the surface of the base drum (1), characterised in that the wires (5, 5', 5", 5"',...) are arranged on the surface of the base drum (1) at an angle α of 5° to 45°, preferably 15° to the longitudinal axis of the base drum (1).