Adjustment and cleaning mechanisms for compressive shrinkage apparatus

Abstract

A mechanical compressive shrinkage machine, especially for tubular and open width knitted fabrics, and of the type comprising feeding and retarding rollers cooperating with entry side and exit blades forming a compressive shrinkage zone between the rollers, is provided with novel and improved adjusting mechanisms. For each of the blades, there is a separate adjusting mechanism, each comprising, at each side of the machine, an in-line fluid cylinder, a technician-accessible independent adjustment, and a rotatable eccentric. The rotatable eccentrics on each side are carried by a common shaft, which is accessible externally and provides an operator-controlled adjustment. After initial setup of the machine by a skilled technician, adjustment of the machine by the production operator is effected by rotation of a control shaft, effecting simultaneous movement of the control linkage at opposite sides of the machine. The limits of production operator control, even with full rotation of the control shaft, are such, by design of the eccentric portions of the shaft, as to be within a safe range, to avoid damage or destruction of delicate critical parts of the equipment through careless operator action. The in-line fluid actuators, incorporated into the adjustment linkage, enable rapid, gross movement of the elements for the purpose of reconfiguring the machine in a wide open condition for cleanout. Such reconfiguration is carried out by a predetermined sequence to avoid damage to the components.