Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 5
Claim 1
Independent Claim
315 words
An apparatus for the sequential evacuation and impregnation of a textile web, including: a vacuum chamber defined by a pair of opposed side walls and first and second sets of rollers disposed between said side walls with the end faces of each roller in sealing relationship with respective ones of said side walls and in each set adjacent rollers being in sealing contact with one another, each set of rollers comprising a first and a second roller and at least one roller intermediate said first and second rollers and spaced from the path of a web through said vacuum chamber, first and second rollers of said first set being disposed adjacent first and second rollers, respectively, of said second set to provide, respectively, inlet and outlet pairs of rollers for guiding a textile web into and out of, respectively, said vacuum chamber, at least one roller of said sets being arranged as a driven roller for longitudinally moving a textile web through said vacuum chamber, at least one roller in each set being journalled in bearings movable in a direction transverse to the roller axis whereby the sealing force on the roller is adjustable, and at least one of said side walls comprising a member movably mounted for movement in the direction of the roller axes whereby the sealing force between said one side wall and the adjacent end faces of said rollers is adjustable; automatic control means for moving said movable bearing and said movable side wall member, said control means being responsive to the pressure in said vacuum chamber to adjust the aforementioned sealing forces in dependence thereon; and an impregnation vessel at least partially defined by surface portions of said pair of outlet rollers external of said vacuum chamber and adjacent portions of said side walls whereby a textile web leaving the nip of said outlet rollers passes into said impregnation vessel.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
315 words
An apparatus for the sequential evacuation and impregnation of a textile web, including: a vacuum chamber defined by a pair of opposed side walls and first and second sets of rollers disposed between said side walls with the end faces of each roller in sealing relationship with respective ones of said side walls and in each set adjacent rollers being in sealing contact with one another, each set of rollers comprising a first and a second roller and at least one roller intermediate said first and second rollers and spaced from the path of a web through said vacuum chamber, first and second rollers of said first set being disposed adjacent first and second rollers, respectively, of said second set to provide, respectively, inlet and outlet pairs of rollers for guiding a textile web into and out of, respectively, said vacuum chamber, at least one roller of said sets being arranged as a driven roller for longitudinally moving a textile web through said vacuum chamber, at least one roller in each set being journalled in bearings movable in a direction transverse to the roller axis whereby the sealing force on the roller is adjustable, and at least one of said side walls comprising a member movably mounted for movement in the direction of the roller axes whereby the sealing force between said one side wall and the adjacent end faces of said rollers is adjustable; automatic control means for moving said movable bearing and said movable side wall member, said control means being responsive to the pressure in said vacuum chamber to adjust the aforementioned sealing forces in dependence thereon; and an impregnation vessel at least partially defined by surface portions of said pair of outlet rollers external of said vacuum chamber and adjacent portions of said side walls whereby a textile web leaving the nip of said outlet rollers passes into said impregnation vessel.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
112 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein each set of rollers includes an intermediate roller sealingly contacting said second, outlet roller of the set and having a diameter greater than said second roller, the axes of said outlet rollers and said intermediate rollers being in a common plane, portions of said intermediate rollers external of said vacuum chamber cooperating with said side walls to provide a further part of said impregnation vessel, said impregnation vessel being in the form of an open-topped trough the nip between said outlet rollers being at the bottom of the trough and said external surface portions of said intermediate rollers providing said portions of the trough.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
45 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said control means includes a jack mechanism coupled to each movable roller and to said side wall member to effect the controlled movement thereof, each jack mechanism being a hydraulic or pneumatic jack having a double-acting piston.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
96 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein each roller in said sets is journalled in bearings movable in a direction transverse to the roller axis whereby the sealing forces between adjacent rollers are adjustable, and each side wall comprises a member movably mounted for movement in the direction of the roller axis whereby the sealing forces between each side wall member anD the adjacent end faces of said rollers is adjustable, the apparatus further comprising control means being responsive to the pressure in said vacuum chamber to adjust the aforementioned sealing forces in dependence thereon.