US 5,293,891 AGranted

Procedure and facility for dispatching agent from at least one holding point to at least one processing point

AssigneeThen Maschinen- und Apparatebau GmbH

InventorsCarl P. Cordes, Victor Thamburaj

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

To dispatch a treatment agent, such as a reagent, process promoter, dye, softener and the like used in textile finishing from a specific holding station (1) to a processing point (2), a control unit (140) is provided to selectively open and close valves (8, 11) to respectively block and release branch lines and establish at least one of several possible flow itineraries from each holding point through a selected branch (6) and then to at least one header (3; 300), them from the header or headers through a trunk line (5) to at least one distributor (4; 400) and, then, from the distributor or distributors through at least one other branch (9) to the selected processing point or points; once the communication line or itinerary is established, the treatment agent is released from the holding point or points to the selected processing point or points.

Claims24

Dependent claims

A method for dispatching agent or agents from at least one of a plurality of holding points (1) to at least one of a plurality of processing points (2), each of said holding points communicating with at least one header (3) through respective header input branches, each of said header input branches having a controllable input flow regulator (8), said at least one header (3) communicating with at least one distributor (4) through at least one long trunk (5), said distributor or distributors (4) communicating with each of said processing points (2) through respective distributor output branches, and each of said distributor output branches having an output controllable flow regulator (11), said method comprising:

selectively opening and closing individual input flow regulators (8), one at a time for said header or for each of said headers (3) to selectively open and block respective header input branches to establish first portions of flow itineraries from at least one of said plurality of holding points (1) to said at least one header (3);
selectively opening and closing individual output flow regulators (11) to open and block respective distributor output branches to establish second portions of flow itineraries from said at least one distributor (4) to at least one of said plurality of processing points (2);
dispatching each type of said agent or agents over an individual itinerary comprising one of said first and one of said second portions and said at least one long trunk (5) from a holding point (1) to a selected processing point (2) and
selectively introducing a rinse fluid into at least one of:
said at least one header and said at least one distributor selectively, before or after, or before and after agent has traveled through them.

2 more elements

An apparatus for dispatching agent or agents over a selectively controllable individual itinerary, said apparatus comprising:

a pipeline system having a plurality of branches (6,7;
9, 10);
a plurality of input flow regulators (8) each respectively coupled to one of said plurality of branches (6, 7) forming header input branches for selectively opening and closing each of said plurality of branches;
at least one header (3);
a plurality of holding points (1) each communicating with the at least one header (3) through respective header input branches (6, 7), each controlled by a respective input flow regulator (8) of said pipeline system;
at least one distributor (4);
a plurality of processing points (2), each communicating with the at least one distributor (4) through respective other (9, 10) branches forming distributor output branches of said pipeline system;
a plurality of output flow regulators (11), each respectively coupled to another one (9, 10) of said plurality of distributor output branches for selectively opening and closing each of said distributor output branches;
at least one long trunk (5) for communicating said at least one header (3) with said at least one distributor (4);
control means (140) for individually controlling said flow regulators (8, 10) to selectively open and close branches of said pipeline system to establish an individual itinerary for the flow of each type of said agent or agents, one at a time for each header (3), from at least one of said plurality of said holding points (1) to said at least one header, from said at least one header through a said at least one long trunk (5) to said at least one distributor (4), and from said at least one distributor to at least one of said plurality of processing points (2) via a respective one of distributor output branches;
and
means (25, 26) for controllably introducing rinse fluid into at least one of said at least one header (3) and said at least one distributor (4).

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.