Continuous device for impregnating, in a single step, strands or ribbons of natural fibers, in particular of linen

A continuous device (1) for impregnating, in a single step, strands or ribbons of natural fibers (100), in particular of linen, with a specific aqueous polymer dispersion in order to consolidate the fibers at the core of the fiber bundle and to improve their mechanical strength without any need for twisting, comprising the following means:

• means (10) for elongating by the strand or the ribbon of natural fibers by stretching in order to give them the required yarn count,
• means (20) for impregnating the fibers with the aqueous dispersion in order to ensure the complete impregnation of the filaments with same,
• means (30) for shaping/calibrating the wrung fibers,
• means (40) for drying the shaped/calibrated fibers, and
• means (50) for conditioning the dried fibers to transform the dried fibers into yarn or ribbon,
• said aqueous polymer dispersion including at least one amorphous polymer with a Tg between approximately 50° C. and 175° C., or a semi-crystalline polymer with a melting temperature between approximately 70° C. and 220° C., said dispersion including a content by weight of said polymer between approximately 5% and 50% with dispersed particles having a number average size of less than 10,000 nm.