Loading patent…
AssigneeSamcoe Holding Corporation
InventorsEdmund A. Diggle, Jr., Andrew P. Cecere
Estimating the term…
A process and apparatus for treatment of continuous lengths of tubular knitted fabrics, involving wet processing, drying and then moisture conditioning of fabric. The fabric web is impregnated with a finishing resin in a wet processor, and is passed through a dryer to both eliminate the water of the processing solution and to cure the residual resin. The fabric emerging from the dryer is both extremely hot and, typically, bone dry, a condition considered unsatisfactory for gathering and further processing. In the disclosed invention, fabric enters a moisture conditioning chamber, in the lower portion, passes under a condensation guard, and then is guided vertically upward between opposed sets of finely atomizing spray nozzles. The fabric continues an upward course for a distance, and then is guided to a folder or roll up device. A wetting agent is utilized to assure thorough penetration of the spray, and advantageously this is introduced by way of incorporating a so-called re-wetting agent in the resin processing material introduced in advance of the dryer. Alternatively, a wetting agent can be incorporated in the water supply leading to the spray nozzles. A cotton fabric can have its moisture content increased by 5% or more in the conditioning process, which significantly enhances the fabric for further processing and also improves subjective characteristics of the fabric, such as hand and feel.
The process of finish treating tubular knitted fabric, which comprises the steps of
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.