More specifically, the present invention relates to a machine of the type comprising a combination of: a path of travel for the fabric to be treated; a device to feed the fabric and a device to remove the fabric; along said path of travel a plurality of rotating drums inclined in relation to the horizontal, through which said fabric is made to travel to be subjected to a continuous treatment process; and between adjacent drums means to transfer the fabric from a drum upstream to a drum downstream.

A machine for continuous treatment of fabric of the type mentioned above, comprising a plurality of drums in series along the path of travel of the fabric in the Italian patent application n. PR99A00002, filed on 12.1. 1999.

The present invention relates to improvements to a machine of the type mentioned above in order to optimize the characteristics and solve some technical problems.

In particular, an object of the present invention is to produce a machine of the type mentioned, in which transfer of the fabric from one drum to the other is more simple and efficient.

This and other objects and advantages, which shall become clear to those skilled in the art by reading the text below, are in substance attained with a machine of the type mentioned above, in which consecutive drums are positioned so that the outlet of the upstream drum (in relation to the direction of travel of the fabric) is side by side with the inlet of the downstream drum. In this way the path of travel of the fabric through the machine is substantially reduced when it is transferred to the unloading zone of one drum to the loading drum of the subsequent drum. This improves transfer efficiency of the fabric between one drum and the next.

The same inventive concept may be applied to machines for discontinuous treatment, that is in which a bolt of fabric is closed in a ring

joining the two ends of the bolt and is made to circulate along a closed path of travel for a certain period of time, after which the bolt is opened again and removed from the machine. In this case according to the invention a machine is provided comprising: a path of travel for the fabric to be treated; along said path of travel a plurality of rotating drums, inclined in relation to the horizontal, through which said fabric is made to travel to be subjected to a treatment process, each rotating drum having an inlet and an outlet ; and, between adjacent drums, means to transfer the fabric from a drum upstream to drum downstream, characterized in that consecutive drums are positioned so that the outlet of the upstream drum, in relation to the direction of travel of the fabric, is swde by side with the inlet of the drum downstream. In this case the fabric, closed in a ring, is made to circulate along a path of travel which successively and repeatedly travels through two or more drums positioned along this path of travel, rather than be fed and removed continuously in an open path of travel.

Advantageously, transfer of the fabric may be performed entirely or partly pneumatically, by means of a flow of air inside a duct, preferably although not necessarily with a closed cross section. This is per se known and described in PR99A00002.

Nonetheless, in the prior art machine, the air flow was not improved and caused a certain amount of loss of energy in addition to increased unwanted tightening of the fabric.

The object of an enhanced embodiment of the present invention is to further improve the efficiency of the machine, overcoming the drawbacks of the prior art machine from this viewpoint. For this purpose, the pneumatic duct to transport the fabric from one drum to the successive one is made to lead into the inside of the drum through the inlet for the fabric. In this way the air used for transport enters the drum. This normally has controlled conditions of temperature and humidity, to act thermally on the fabric during transport. By making the duct lead into the drum, this conditioned air is further utilized to treat the fabric also in the drum, contrary to what happens in the prior art machine, in which the air is substantially dispersed at the duct outlet. This

saves energy and improves the quality of treatment.

Further advantageous characteristics of the machine according to the invention are described hereunder with reference to an example of embodiment and are set forth in the attached claims.

The invention shall be better understood by reading the description hereunder and with reference to the attached drawings, which show practical non-limiting embodiments of the invention. More specifically, they show: Fig. 1 a plan view of a machine according to the invention; Fig. 2 a section according to ll-ll in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 a section according to lil-lil in Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 a plan view, of a machine according to the invention in a second_ embodiment.

With initial reference to Figs. from 1 to 3, the machine has an inlet 1 for continuously feeding a fabric T, by means of a feed device 1, constituted in the example shown by a reel. The fabric T is made to travel through a series of machine sections, indicated with 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, each of which comprises a respective rotating drum 3A-3D. The sections 2A-2D and the rotating drums are positioned along a feed path of the fabric. In the example shown four sections are provided with four respective drums substantially the same as one another, positioned side by side. One of the sections and more specifically section 2A with the drum 3A is shown in greater detail in Figs. 2 and 3 and will be described hereunder. It must be understood that the number of sections and drums may vary according to the complexity and dimension of the machine.

The fabric T which has travelled through the various sections 2A-2D and therefore the various drums 3A-3D in sequence, is removed from the machine by a removal device generically indicated with 5 and constituted (in the example shown) by a further reel. In each drum 3A-3D, through which the fabric travels along the feed path, the fabric T is subjected to mechanical and, where required, heat treatment, of a type substantially per se known and similar to the treatment described in the aforesaid patent application PR99A00002.

With reference to Figs. 2 and 3, in the section 2A (and similarly in the remaining sections 2B, 2C, 2D) the rotating drum 3A is positioned with its axis A-A inclined in relation to the horizontal, for example by about 5-20° and preferably about 5-15°, without these values being considered binding. The cord fabric T is fed inside the drum 3A by transfer means 6 which comprise, in the example shown, a reel 7 motorized by a motor only shown schematically in Fig. 2 and marked therein with 7M. In addition to the reel 7 the transfer means 6 are provided with a duct 9 inside which, through an annular distributor 9A or equivalent means, a flow of air is fed which comes from a blower and if necessary a heating battery, not shown. In substance, the assembly 9,9A forms an ejector for drawing the fabric. The air blown into the duct 9 draws the fabric T mechanically fed by the reel 7 or in any case facilitates its running along the duct 9 until it reaches the inside of the rotating drum 3A. In the example shown the duct 9 has a curvilinear form and leads into the drum 3A through an inlet 11 in the drum, positioned on the side of the section 2A in which the transfer means 6 are positioned.

The inlet 11 of the drum 3A is located at the highest end of the drum 3A, which is equipped, at the opposite and lower end, with an outlet 12, through which the fabric T is delivered from the rotating drum 3A to drop into a collection tub 13. From this collection tub 13 the fabric is picked up by the reel 7 of the subsequent section 2B to be fed into the rotating drum 3B. A similar device is provided in sections 2B, 2C. As can be seen in Fig. 1, in the last section 2D of the machine, vice versa, the fabric is taken from the respective tub 13 by a reel 7B which transfers the fabric to the removal device 5.

The drum 3A (and similarly the other drums 3B-3D) are supported at the highest end by means of a hinge with horizontal axis 15, in the plan projection the axis of the hinge is at 90° in relation to the axis A-A of the drum 3A. At the opposite lower end, the drum 3A is hung on a pair of rods 17A, 17B approximately vertical, each of which is connected, by a joint 19A, 19B to an actuator 21 A, 21 B. The actuator 21A, 21 B is represented in the form of a mechanical jack, but may also be a piston-cylinder actuator or any other type of suitable mechanism. Similarly, the rods 17A, 17B may be replaced by other

mechanical parts, for example by chains or cables. In this case the actuators 21 A, 21 B may be constituted by respective winches or even by a single winch.

At the opposite end in relation to the joints 19A, 19B each rod 17A, 17B is hinged in 23A, 23B to a supporting frame 25 of the rotating drum 3A. With this layout inclination of the axis A-A of the rotating drum 3A may be modified by adjusting the rods 17A, 17B by means of the actuators 21 A, 21 B for the purposes described in greater detail hereunder.

The supporting frame 25 of the rotating drum 3A has a shaft 27 parallel to the axis A-A of the rotating drum 3A, keyed on which are two toothed wheels 28 meshing with corresponding toothed ring_gears 29 integral with the drum 3A. The drum also rests on the frame 25 by means of rollers or wheels not shown, substantially in the same manner described in the Italian patent application PR99A00002. Alternatively to the toothed wheels friction wheels may be used, with surfaces in material suitable to transmit motion by simple friction. In this case, the ring gears may be omitted. In general, rotating movement may be provided with any suitable means. The shaft 27 receives rotating movement from a motor shaft 31 controlled by a motor 33 (Fig. 2), through a universal joint 35 interposed between the shafts 27 and 31. The universal joint 35 is substantially in line with the axis 15 of oscillation of the drum 3A, so that inclination of the drum 3A can be varied without this being prevented by the mechanical transmission between the motor 33 and the drum 3A.

The motor 33 makes the drum 3A rotate around its axis A-A. The rotating movement may be a continuous, intermittent or alternate rotating movement, or a combination of these movements, according to the requirements of the work cycle and according to the settings made by the operator on a specific control unit, indicated schematically with 37 (Fig. 2).

Other systems to transmit rotating motion to the drums may be used, as only their suitability to allow inclination of the drum to be modified is relevant.

The mechanical parts relative to supporting the drums and their rotation are substantially the same for the different sections and are omitted in the

plan view in Fig. 1 to simplify the drawing.

The tub 13 is resting in an tilting manner on the supporting frame 25 of the drum 3A, so that it can oscillate around an axis 39 parallel to the axis 15 of oscillation of the drum 3A. At the opposite end in relation to where it rests on the frame 25, the tub is attached to a tie rod 41, the top end of which is connected to a bracket 43 integral with the fixed frame 45 of the machine, to which the actuators 21 A, 21 B are also connected. A sensor, for example a load cell 47, is interposed between the bracket 43 and the tie rod 41, to detect the tractive force applied to the tie rod 41, due to the weight of the fabric in the tub 13, for the purposes described below in greater detail.

The load cell 47 is interfaced with the control unit-37 just as the actuators 21A, 21 B are interfaced with it.

The tie rod 41, the relative bracket 43 and the load cell 47 may be double, just as the rods 17A, 17B for the drum 3A, although this is not absolutely necessary as the tub has a smaller mass than the drum 3A.

The layout described with reference to Figs. 2 and 3 for the section 2A is repeated for the other sections 2B, 2C, 2D and the control unit 37, unique for all the sections, is interfaced with the actuators and sensors of each section.

Operation of the machine described above is as follows.

By means of the feeding device 1 of the fabric T, the latter is fed to the reel 7 of the section 2A and through of the duct 9 it is fed into the drum 3A.

Here it is subjected to mechanical treatment through the continuous or alternating rotary movement of the drum, the inside of which may be equipped with suitable ribbing or similar. The fabric T moves gradually along the drum 3A, thanks to its inclination on the horizontal and is delivered through the outlet 12 into the tub 13 of section 2A. From here the fabric is picked up by the reel 7 of the successive section 2B where the fabric is subjected to similar treatment in the drum 3B and so on until it is unloaded into the tub 13 of section 2D, from which the completely treated fabric T is removed by the reels 7B and 5.

The speed of each reel 7, of the feeding device 1 and of the removal

device 5 must be controlled in order to obtain gradual advance of the fabric through the various drums and to prevent excessive accumulation of fabric in each tub 13. For this purpose, the quantity of fabric (in weight) accumulated in each tub 13 is detected by the load cells 47. On the basis of this information the control unit 37 controls the speed of the reels 7. Moreover, when the unloading speed of the fabric T from each drum 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D requires to be modified, the inclination of each drum may be individually registered by means of the respective actuators 21 A, 21 B, which raise or lower the rods 17A, 17B according to the double arrow F17 (Figs. 2 and 3). By increasing inclination of the axis A-A of each drum 3A-3D in relation to the horizontal there is an increase in the speed with which the fabric is unloaded from the drum into the tub 13. The opposite occurs by decreasing the angle of inclination in relation to the horizontal.

According to a modified embodiment of the invention, a load cell or a pair of load cells may be provided (in addition to or to replace the load cell 47) associated with the rods 17A, 17B, for example positioned in the joints 19A, 19B, and indicated with 48. In this way, it is possible to detect the load on the rods 17A, 17B, which is proportional to the weight and therefore to the quantity of fabric T which is found in the drum at that moment. This information can be used directly, alone or in combination with information from the load cell 47, to control the actuators 21 A, 21 B and hence to modify inclination of the drum. For example, if an excessive quantity of fabric is detected in the drum, inclination of the drum can be increased to increase the speed with which the fabric T is unloaded from the drum. The speed of the reel 7 downstream of the drum will be increased correspondingly to prevent excessive accumulation of fabric in the tub 13. Alternatively, instead of being interlocked directly to the signal from the load cell associated with the rods 17A, 17B the speed of the reel 7 may be interlocked to the signal coming from the load cell 47 (if provided in combination). The signals coming from the load cells on the tie rod 41 and/or on the rods 17A, 17B may also be used to regulate, by means of the control unit 37, the air flow in each duct 9 as a function of the transfer speed of the fabric T from one section to the other.

Fig. 4 shows a second embodiment in a schematic plan view. In this case each section 2A-2C (three in the example) is aligned according to a rectilinear layout. The layouts and operations of the means to control inclination of the drums of each section remain unvaried.

It is understood that the drawing merely shows a non-limiting example of embodiment of the invention, the forms and layouts of which may vary without however departing from the conceptual scope of the invention. Any reference numbers in the attached claims are provided merely for the purpose of facilitating reading in the light of the description above and the attached drawings and do not limit the scope of protection in any manner.