FABRIC PRODUCTION METHOD WITHOUT USING WATER Technical Field

The present invention relates to a fabric production method without using water during production. Previous Art

Today, cellulose based textile materials undergo different phases before they are transformed from fiber into fabric during fabric production. These phases include yarn, sizing, de-sizing, boiling, mercerizing, blanching, dying, washing, drying, finishing, sanforizing (to avoid haul-off) and finished product inspection.

The warp yarns are generally sized in order to protect the warp yarns against mechanical forces and minimize warp breakages. As a result of sizing, the fibers better stick to each other and become stronger and more slippery. The sizing substances are starch, CMC (carboxymethylsecucose), PVA (polyvinylalcohol), polyacrylate, etc.

The sizing materials should be then removed from the fabric to obtain a proper dying and printing from the sized fabrics. Although some sizing materials are removed dissolving in water, some others (starch, carboxymethyl starch, etc.) are removed enzyme. In both cases, the fabric is washed.

The cotton should be treated with diluted hot sodium hydroxide solution to remove the impurities contained in it. As a result of this process, the oils and waxes are transformed into soap, pectin into pectic acid salts and proteins decomposed into simple amino acid salts and dissolved in water. The waxes machine oils are suspended in the bath. The process in question is called boiling.

The threads are treated with high-concentration sodium hydroxide solution to give the fabric brightness, fracture strength, dimensional stability, better dyeability, etc. This process is called mercerizing.

Bleaching is defined as the process in which whiteness is obtained even in light and bright colors by removing the color components within the cellulose. Sodium chlorite, sodium hypochlorite and more widely hydrogen peroxide are used for this purpose.

The thread is dyed after bleaching. Washing is also applied in order to remove the dyes not sticking on the material.

Sizing, de-sizing, boiling, bleaching, mercerizing, dying and washing processes described above are pretreatment and dying processes in fabric production, and excessive water consumption is involved in these processes. These processes contribute water pollution and decreases available water resources on the earth.

The international patent application WO2009045183 describes a sizing / de-sizing process consisting of an 80-100% organic cotton fabric and 20-0% colored fabric without using any chemicals and/or synthetic agent and a method in which the fabric is finished by using water vapor not containing any chemicals or synthetic agent used in production of environmentally friendly fabrics and textile products. The Chinese patent document CN101602299 sayih describes use of plasma technolgy in pretreatment of the fabric surface before dying phase. The plasma ensures surface treatment without use of water. By this virture, water is not consumed, and unnecesary liquid consumption is avoided thereby ensuring environmental protection and product safety. Brief Description of Invention

The objective of the present invention is to provide a cellulose based fabric production method in which use of water is not required in any phase of production and technical specifications of the fabric are not degraded.

Detailed Description of Invention

The fabric production method intended to achieve the objective of the present invention is shown in the figures attached hereto where;

Figure 1 - shows the flowchart for the fabric production method under the present invention. The components are numbered in the figure having corresponding descriptions below

100. Fabric production method A fabric production method (100) in which no water is used in any phase of production for the purpose of protecting the natural water resources consisting of the following steps:

- Warp drawing from the yarns (101),

- Obtaining fabric by weaving the yarn (102),

- Burning the fabric (103),

- Steam treatment of fabric (104),

- Ink dying of fabric (105),

- Condensation of fabric (106),

- Finishing of fabric (107),

- Sanforization of fabric (108)

(Figure 1). The first phase in the fabric production method (100) under the present invention is drawing of warp (101). The warp yarns forming the fabric are placed in the creel of warping machine according to the fabric weaving report. The width of the warp beam where the warp yarns are wound is adjusted to set the length of the warp to be drawn. Determination of winding tension of the coils and band number and uniform winding on the warp beam are important factors. Wax is preferably used in warp drawing.

After completion of warp drawing (102), the yarns are woven to obtain the fabric (102). The preferred embodiment of the present invention uses high RKM yarn (yarn having high breakage kilometer value) to achieve required weaving efficiency in the fabric production method (1) under present invention. Another embodiment of present invention uses duplex yarn to achieve the required weaving efficiency. The strength of these yarns is high and they are resistant to breakage. By this virtue, unwanted downtimes during production are minimized thereby increasing the production efficiency. De-sizing process is not required in the fabric production method (100) under present invention since these yarns do not undergo sizing. The fabric production method (100) under present invention does not require boiling, blanching, mercerizing as pre-treatment processes.

The fabric undergoes burning (103) after the yarns have been transformed into fabric. The fabric passes through a heavy flame in burning machines at a high velocity in this process. This prevents pilling of fibers within the fabric by rising and gathering above the fabric surface. There are three settings on the burning machine. The burning intensity is decreased by three different settings as direct contact with fabric, 90 °C contact and tangent respectively. The settings are selected depending on the degree of pilling of the fabric, and if required, double burning may also be applied. The fabric wound around the duck is brought in front of the continuous machine and one or both sides of the fabric contacts the flame at a velocity of 100-130 m/min. The fabric should be free of wrinkles and properly wound in order to achieve a uniform burning as it takes place at a high speed. The burnt fabric is then subjected to steaming process (104). One of the tests to be carried out on the finished fabric is dimensional stability. For this purpose, the fabric width should be adjusted to the required width based on the fabric construction. Steaming is carried out for this purpose. The fabric widthwise conveyed to the steaming unit through the forward transfer cylinders is passed through 120 °C steam. The steam relaxes the yarns forming the fabric, and finished with adjustment of fabric width. The weft (width) dimensional stability of the fabric is checked after steaming.

The fabric, having been subjected to steaming then undergoes ink dying (105). The dying agent used in this dying process does not form any chemical bonding with hydroxyl groups within the fabric yarn. The dying agent in question has a nano volume, and is in the form of water based pigment creating a softer touch compared to other pigment structures. Washing is not required after the dying process with said dying agent. The fabric production method (100) under present invention does not require use of water since not only pretreatment processes are not required but also washing is not required after dying.

The dye used in the fabric production method (100) under present invention consists of 10-20 g/1 anti-migration, 5-10 g/1 wetter and 5-15 g/1 binder. The anti- migration agent is intended to prevent unwanted migration of dye particles on the fabric surface during drying. The anti-migration agent in question does not affect binding of the dye on the fabric. The wetting agent increases the dye affinity of the fabric to ensure a uniform wetting throughout the fabric surface. The binder ensures condensation of the dye on the fabric surface by the effect of heat to provide a permanent adhesion. By this virtue, the required color fastness standards are achieved after washing. The yarns consisting of cellulose fibers are preferably used in the fabric production method (100) under present invention. The cellulose content of this yarn is 85-95%. The yarn in question consists of other substances, in addition to cellulose, such as pectin, wax, ash, etc. The state of the art embodiments require removal of substances other than cellulose from the yarn to achieve a proper performance of dying process. All of such removal processes require washing. The fabric production method (100) under present invention does not require washing since the dying agent used forms a film layer on, and is bound with, the fabric surface. The fabric having been subjected to dying is then subjected to condensation (106) to ensure binding with the fabric. In post-dying drying, the fabric is passed through the radian unit to decrease the moisture of the fabric, and then dried in hot flue at 110-120 °C. Condensation of nano sized dye particles bound with the fabric surface is carried out by subjecting the fabric to a temperature of 170 °C for 1-2 minutes. In this process, the fabric is subjected to heat treatment only to ensure migration of dye particles into the texture through the fabric surface to fix with the fabric. The fabric should be exposed to heat uniformly in condensation process. After condensation, finishing (107) is applied to the fabric to ensure adhesion of dye on the fabric. All textile fabrics are subjected to finishing processes such as softness, hardness, quickness, non-flammability, water tightness, etc. to provide them with different features. Stenter having impregnation bath, expression rollers and drying function is widely used for this purpose. The finishing chemicals are added in the impregnation bath in dissolved condition and in required quantity (x g/1) depending on the required feature, and refilled from the tank as it gets lower in concentration. The penetrated fabric is passed through the expression rollers to partly recover the moisture. The moisture content of the fabric is about 55-75% after it passes through the expression rollers depending on its construction. The fabric is dried by passing it through the cabins in which air at a temperature of 130-150 °C is circulated. In this way, the fabric may be given different features by changing the finishing chemical and its quantity.

The last phase in fabric production method is the sanforization process (108). This process prevents dimensional changes due to washing of clothing product during use. The main purpose of sanforization is to ensure dimensional stability of the fabric, i.e. to ensure non-haul off during use. For this purpose the fabric is treated on the machine under the same name. The fabric is brought just in front of the blanket in extremely proper position. It passes between the steel roller at a temperature of 120-130 °C and blanket under a pressure of 3-7 bars, and adjusted under that pressure. That is, it is pre-sanforization tested to ensure post- sanforization non-haul off by adjusting by length by percent haul off identified. The pre-blanket moisturizing of the fabric and sanforization speed are important factors. The process is confirmed by dimensional test after sanforization.

The fabric production method (100) under present invention does not require use of water in any phase of production. Use of water is used in trace amounts only for dissolving / diluting the dying agent. The state of the art techniques consume about 140-200 1 of water for 1 kg of fabric, whereas the fabric production method (100) under present invention consumes only about 1.5-2 1 of water.

The fabric production method (100) under present invention does not cause any degradation of fastness of the finished fabric.

It is possible to develop various applications of the fabric production method (100) under present invention under these basic concepts, and the invention may not be limited to the examples given here. It is principally as described in the claims.