Method of hardening a clothing wire for processing textile fibres, and apparatus system therefor

Abstract

A method of hardening a clothing wire for processing textile fibers and to an apparatus system therefor. The clothing wire has a succession of teeth arranged in its longitudinal direction, and the clothing wire is guided through a heating region in a pass-through direction for contact with at least one open flame. The heating region is followed by a quenching bath having a quenching liquid and by a subsequent tempering apparatus. The clothing wire moving in the pass-through direction is flushed around with a protective medium in a transition region between the region of contact with the open flame and the entry into the quenching liquid.

Claims

1. A method of hardening a clothing wire for processing textile fibres, the clothing wire having a longitudinal direction and a succession of teeth arranged in the longitudinal direction, the method comprising: guiding the clothing wire through a heating region in a pass-through direction for contact with at least one open flame; following the heating region, guiding the clothing wire through a quenching bath having a quenching liquid; subsequent to the quenching bath, guiding the clothing wire through a tempering apparatus; and flushing the clothing wire moving in the pass-through direction around with a protective medium comprising the quenching liquid in a transition region between a region of contact with the open flame and an entry into the quenching bath, including bringing the quenching liquid, with a flow movement in a flow direction from the quenching bath as far as the heating region, the flow direction being opposite to the pass-through direction of the clothing wire.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the flushing includes flushing the clothing wire around in the transition region with nitrogen, which constitutes the protective medium.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the flushing includes surrounding the transition region by a protection chamber and introducing the protective medium into the protection chamber.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the introducing the protective medium into the protection chamber increases a pressure in the protection chamber to greater than atmospheric pressure and further including flowing the protective medium through an entry aperture, through which the clothing wire runs into the protection chamber, and out from the protection chamber into the heating region opposite to the pass-through direction.

5. The method according to claim 1, including bringing the at least one open flame in the heating region to the clothing wire from above the clothing wire.

6. An apparatus for hardening a clothing wire for processing textile fibres, the clothing wire having a succession of teeth arranged in a longitudinal direction of the clothing wire, the apparatus comprising: a heating region with an open flame through which the clothing wire is arranged to be guided in a pass-through direction; a quenching bath having a quenching liquid following the heating region; a tempering apparatus following the quenching bath; and a transition region arranged between a region of contact with the open flame and an entry into the quenching liquid wherein the transition region is constructed for flushing around the clothing wire with a protective medium comprising the quenching liquid, and wherein the transition region includes a wire conduit tube or a wire conduit channel, through which the quenching liquid is arranged to be conveyed in the direction of the heating region.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the transition region comprises a protection chamber filled at least partly by a protective medium.

8. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the protective medium comprises nitrogen.

9. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the at least one open flame is arranged to be brought to the clothing wire in the heating region from above or from below the clothing wire.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Further measures which improve the invention are described in greater detail with reference to preferred examples of embodiments hereinbelow together with the description of a preferred example of an embodiment of the invention, referring to the Figures, wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 shows, in a diagrammatic view, a first example of an embodiment of an apparatus system for hardening a clothing wire and for carrying out the method according to the invention;

(3) FIG. 2 shows a view, to an enlarged scale, of the heating region and, following on therefrom, the transition region with a modified variant of the transition region; and

(4) FIG. 3 shows a further view, to an enlarged scale, of the heating region and, following on therefrom, the transition region, wherein the open flame is arranged above the clothing wire.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(5) FIG. 1 shows, in a diagrammatic view, a first example of an embodiment of an apparatus system 100 for carrying out the method of hardening a clothing wire 1 having the features of the present invention. The clothing wire 1 is made available on a reel 30 and is unwound therefrom in order to be introduced into the apparatus system 100. When the hardened clothing wire 1 re-emerges from the apparatus system 100, it is re-wound onto a further reel 31. Usually, a lateral face of the clothing wire 1 therein faces downwards, and the opposite lateral face of the clothing wire 1 faces upwards. However, it can also be expedient for the teeth to be arranged upside-down facing the burner orifice, which means that the clothing wire 1 has to be rotated through 90 along the wire running direction 20 after and before the reels 30, 31. The residual heat from the teeth can then pass into the tooth foot, which can be exploited in the process for the purpose of increasing the toughness of the tooth feet.

(6) When the clothing wire 1 runs off the reel 30, it is first directed into a washing chamber 25 serving to clean the clothing wire 1. The clothing wire then runs out of the washing chamber 25 and enters a heating region 11 basically formed by one or more flames 10. The clothing wire 1 therein runs above the flames 10 through the heating region 11, for example with a spacing of about 6 mm from a lateral surface to the burner orifice. Above the clothing wire 1 there is located an extractor hood 24 in order to draw off, under suction, gases produced in the heating region 11. The flames 10 are produced by a plurality of burners, which are fixed on a mounting (not shown) and fed with a fuel gas such as, for example, natural gas or propane gas. The burners therein are not encapsulated within the apparatus system 100 or arranged in a burner chamber or oven, but rather they are freely accessible and are fed by way of the ambient air and possibly with additional oxygen.

(7) In accordance with the invention, following on from the heating region 11 there is a transition region 15, the front of which can be formed by a partition wall 28, an entry aperture 18 having in that case been introduced into the partition wall 28, followed on the rear side of the partition wall 28 by a protection chamber 17. The illustration shows the open flames 10 in merely diagrammatic form, it being possible for the open flames 10 and consequently the heating region 11 to be provided adjacent to the partition wall 28.

(8) The protection chamber 17 is filled with a protective medium 16, for example nitrogen. The protection chamber 17 can be constantly replenished, by way of a feed line, with the protective medium 16, which passes out again from the entry aperture 18. Following on from the transition region 15 in the pass-through direction 20 there is a quenching bath 12, which is filled with a quenching liquid 13, and following on from the quenching bath 12 is a tempering apparatus 14. Finally, the clothing wire 1, after passing through the tempering apparatus 14, also runs into a cooling apparatus 26, from which the hardened clothing wire 1 re-emerges cooled, so that the clothing wire 1 can be re-wound onto a further reel 31.

(9) In accordance with the invention, between the heating region 11 and the quenching bath 12 there is located a transition region 15, which is provided in order to create a spacing between the heating region 11 and the quenching bath 12. The purpose thereof is especially to avoid the quenching liquid 13 of the quenching bath 12 being heated at the open flame 10. The transition region 15 is formed by the protection chamber 17, which is flushed with the protective medium 16 so that the clothing wire 1 after emerging from the open flame 10 does not come into contact with oxygen before entering the quenching bath 12. As a result, scale formation is avoided; in addition, as a result of the protective medium 16 flowing out from the entry aperture 18, oxygen is prevented from reaching the clothing wire 1.

(10) Over the route section of the open flame 10, as a result of the contact with the open flame 10, the clothing wire 1 also cannot come into contact with oxygen because oxygen residues burn together with substances adhering to the surface of the clothing wire 1, as a result of which scaling on the clothing wire 1 is avoided. As a result of the construction, in accordance with the invention, of a transition region 15 having a protective gas atmosphere, there is consequently made available by simple means an apparatus system 100 which makes possible scale-free hardening of a clothing wire 1 of an all-steel clothing for processing textile fibres. It is therefore no longer necessary to flush a heating or hardening chamber with nitrogen at above atmospheric pressure, which makes the method considerably cheaper in terms of operating costs and makes retro-fitting easier.

(11) FIG. 2 shows a modified example of an embodiment of the apparatus system 100 in the heating region 11 together with the quenching bath 12, which follows on therefrom. The open flames 10 are located beneath the clothing wire 1, which has a tooth structure 21 which can also be directed downwards, that is to say towards the open flame 10, as shown in the inset view to an enlarged scale. Alternatively, the clothing wire 1 can also be arranged in the uncoiled direction, that is to say a lateral face of the clothing wire faces the flame 10 and the opposite lateral face faces away therefrom.

(12) Following on from the heating region 11 is the transition region 15, which creates a spacing formed in the pass-through direction 20 between the heating region 11 and the quenching bath 12. In order to avoid contact of the clothing wire 1 with oxygen, there extends out from the quenching bath 12 a wire conduit tube 22, through which quenching liquid 13 runs in a flow direction 19. The flow direction 19 is arranged contrary to the pass-through direction 20, and the clothing wire 1 enters the wire conduit tube 2 by way of a tube entry aperture 29, while quenching liquid 13 flows out from the tube entry aperture 29 and into a collecting apparatus 27. The quenching liquid 13 can be pumped back into the quenching bath 12 by way of a pump 32.

(13) The wire conduit tube 22 is brought so far up to the heating region 11 that the emerging quenching liquid 13 makes possible the direct transfer of the clothing wire 1 from the region of the open flames 10 into the quenching liquid 13. As a result, all contact with oxygen is avoided, and the clothing wire 1 can emerge from the heating region 11 without scaling and can be quenched in the quenching bath 12 in order to subsequently enter the tempering apparatus 14.

(14) Finally, FIG. 3 shows the arrangement of a further example of an embodiment of the transition region 15, by means of which a spacing is created between the quenching bath 12 and the heating region 11 having the open flame 10 without the clothing wire 1 being able to come into contact with oxygen. The heating region 11 has open flames 10, which burn upside-down from top to bottom. The clothing wire 1 therein can be so guided through the heating region 11 that the tooth structure 21 faces the open flames 10, as shown in the inset view to an enlarged scale. Alternatively, the clothing wire 1 can here too be arranged in the uncoiled direction, that is to say a lateral face of the clothing wire faces the flame 10 and the opposite lateral face faces away therefrom.

(15) Immediately following on from the region of the open flames 10, the clothing wire 1 enters the quenching liquid 13, which runs through a wire conduit channel 23. In so doing, the clothing wire 1 runs into the wire conduit channel 23, which is of open construction to the top, that is to say in the direction of the open flames 10. This means that the open flames 10 can extend as far as the quenching liquid 13 or even slightly overlap it. The clothing wire 1 runs, in the pass-through direction 20, out from the open flames 10 into the quenching liquid 13 so that all contact with oxygen is avoided.

(16) The quenching liquid 13 runs out from the quenching bath 12 into the wire conduit channel 23 and completely surrounds the clothing wire 1. At the end of the wire conduit channel 23, the quenching liquid 13 spills over and enters a collecting apparatus 27, from which the quenching liquid 13 can be pumped back into the quenching bath 12 by way of a pump 32.

(17) As a result of the quenching liquid 13 running out from the quenching bath 12, the quenching liquid 13 has a flow in a flow direction 19 which is contrary to the pass-through direction 20. As a result of the continuous replacement of the quenching liquid 13 in the wire conduit channel 23, the quenching liquid 13 does not heat up substantially in the region of the wire conduit channel 23 either as a result of contact with the hot clothing wire 1 or as a result of the contact with the open flame 10. As a result, a transition region 15 can be formed by simple means which makes possible a spacing between the open flames 10 and the quenching bath 12 without the clothing wire 1 being able to come into contact with oxygen.

(18) The invention is not limited in its execution to the preferred examples of embodiments described hereinbefore. Rather, many variants are feasible, which make use of the described solution even in the case of embodiments of fundamentally different form. All features and/or advantages, including structural details and spatial arrangements, arising out of the claims, description or drawings can be essential to the invention both on their own and also in the widest variety of combinations.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

(19) 100 apparatus system 1 clothing wire 10 open flame 11 heating region 12 quenching bath 13 quenching liquid 14 tempering apparatus 15 transition region 16 protective medium 17 protection chamber 18 entry aperture 19 flow direction 20 pass-through direction 21 tooth structure 22 wire conduit tube 23 wire conduit channel 24 extractor hood 25 rinsing chamber 26 cooling apparatus 27 collecting apparatus 28 partition wall 29 tube entry aperture 30 reel 31 reel 32 pump