The present invention relates to a fabric-softening machine.

As well known, some typical fabric-treating processes such as sizing, preshrinkage, calendering, drying by rameuse, mercerizing, and the like, have a main drawback of stiffening the fabric, so that a further softening treatment is needed for loosening the fabric fibres.

Machines are known which perform this kind of treatment upon the fabric, however such machines are very sophisticated as well as expensive, so that they are unconvenient to be used mainly in small-size and average-size fabric-treating plants.

Therefore, a main object of the present invention is to provide a fabric-softening machine which is capable of giving the fabric a desired softness and bulke, as well as softening its texture, and which is easier and less expensive to manufacture with respect to the known machines.

Said object, as well as other aims and advantages which will better appear below, are achieved by the fabric-softening machine having the features recited in claim 1, while the other claims state other advantageous, non-essential features of the invention.

The invention will be now described in more detail with reference to a preferred, no exclusive embodiment, shown by way of non-limiting example in the attached drawings wherein:

• Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the fabric-softening machine accroding to the invention;
• Fig. 2 is a front view of the machine of Fig. 1;
• Fig. 3 is a cross-section view, made along line III-III of Fig. 2, of the machine of Fig. 1 in a first operative configuration;
• Fig. 4 is a cross-section view similar to Fig. 3 of the machine, in a second operative configuration;
• Fig. 5 is a transversal, cross-section view showing a detail to an enlarged scale of the machine of Fig. 1.

With reference to the above figures, a fabric-softening machine 10 according to this invention comprises a bedplate 12 on which are pivotally supported a pair of horizontal, parallel, motorized rolls 14, 16. Each roll is provided with four longitudinal rows of cylindrical, equally-spaced bosses such as 20, 22 arranged along its cylindical surface. The rows of bosses are mutually spaced at 90° around the circumference of the roll.

Bosses 20 on one of the rolls 14 are longitudinally shifted with respect to bosses 22 on the other roll 16, so that the former engage the longitudinal gaps between the latter during rotation of the rolls.

As shown in Fig. 5, bosses 20, 22 are in form of flat cylinders each having an uppermost convex surface B filleted in R to the lateral surface C of the boss.

Although in the figures the bosses are shown as aligned along the generatrices of the rolls, other arrangements are possible, e.g., in order to achieve different effects upon the fabric. In particular, according to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the bosses are arranged helically around the rolls, so that adjacent rolls will apply transverse forces to the fabric in opposite, and therefore mutually compensating, directions. Accordingly, the fabric will be subjected tu an uneven, transverse stretch giving rise to a correspondingly uneven bulking effect.

Rolls 14, 16 are supported at their ends on a pair of drums 24, 26 which are pivotally supported on respective head supports 28, 30 rising at the ends of bedplate 12. The angular position of drums 24, 26 is adjustable by a handweel 32, via driving means (not shown) such as, e.g., a bevel pinion/crown gearing, in a known way for the person skilled in the art.

Rolls 14, 16 are operated by a motor 34 mounted on one of the head supports (head support 28 in the figures) via coupling means (not shown). As shown in Fig. 5, the rotation of the rolls is synchronized so that, during rotation of the rolls, the bosses on one of the rolls engage the angular gaps between the bosses on the other roll.

The operation of the machine is shown in Figs. 3, 4. Fabric T from the treating plant runs between rolls 14, 16, which are preferably operated to rotate in opposition to the feeding direction of the fabric. By tilting drums 24, 26, the action of the bosses upon the fabric is adjusted, thereby achieving a variable creasing action, also in consideration of the properties of the fabric. For example, in case of weaker fabrics, it will be advisable to reduce the incidence of the bosses upon the fabric, as shown in Fig. 3, in order to prevent tearing of the fabric by friction. In case of tougher fabrics, the incidence of the bosses upon the fabric can be increased, as shown in Fig. 4.

The machine according to this invention can be used, e.g., downstream of a calender to give "bulk" the fabric, as well as downstream of the "rameuse", to soften its texture. In a mercerizing process, machine 10 gives the fabric an uneven look, and in a washing vat the machine is capable of enhancing the washing effectiveness, as well as of increasing it.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been described herein, but of course many changes may be made by the person skilled in the art within the scope of the inventive concept. For example, although in the preferred embodiment the bosses are cylindrical with a convex uppermost surface, they could also be oval or squared.