CA1261108A - In-register printed and embossed carpet - Google Patents

Abstract

IN-REGISTER PRINTED AND EMBOSSED CARPET
Abstract of the Disclosure A carpet material is printed with a decorative pattern.
The ink formulation used for printing will for some portions of the pattern contain a solvent for the fiber of the carpet.
The carpet is passed through a series of printing stages all prior to the time the carpet is steamed. After printing, the carpet is steamed. This causes the fibers which have been printed with a solvent to shrink and/or dissolve to produce an embossed effect. The other printed areas will have the dye in the ink set in the carpet. The carpet is then washed and dried.
There is produced a carpet having an embossed pattern effect with a natural fibrous appearance.

Description

Normally, all embossed carpet is of one color, and there is no attempt made to provide a -two-color effect. It has been only recently that embossed coloring effects have been provided on carpeting.
Summary of the Invention The process herein involves the printing of a plurality of pattern components in register on a carpet. The carpet may pass through a dye ~ath to provide it with background color. The carpet then passes through a series of printing stations which apply a pattern to the carpet due to dyes in the printing inks.
At some of the printing stations, the inks which provide the pattern components to the carpet also contain a solvent which will cause shrinkage of the carpet fibers to get an embossed effect to the carpet. After the carpet has been totally printed with all o its pattern component, it is passed to a steam chamber where the steaming effects the embossing of the carpet and the setting of the dyes. Finally, the carpet material is washed and then dried to remove the wash water. There is now provided a carpet with a pattern having embossed areas and non-embossed design areas in registration. All operations wereperormed in a single pass operation through the printer with only the need fvr a single steaming operation. Consequently, the above process provides a simplioity of operation and a reduction in cost along with a guarantee of registry in the pattern.
Brief Description of the Drawing The Figure of the drawing is a representation of the process u~ilized herein.

3~

t,~ ~

~6~

Description of the Pxeferred Embodiment Referring to the Figure, the process herein involves the printing of a carpet or any type pile fabric with dyes and solvents for the fibers. The carpet material 2 may initially be fed through a conventional dye tank 4 and dip dyed to color it.
The dye in the tank would be any conventional dye capable of dyeing the fabric of the carpet and would provide the carpet wi-th background color for the subsequently prin-ted pattern components.
While the dyed carpet material is still in its wet state, it is fed on to subsequent printing stations.
A plurality of subsequent printing stations may be provided to provide the pattern configuration to the carpet. The number of printing stations involved will depend upon the complexity of the pattern and the degree of embossing. For illustration purposes, three printing stations have been shown in the Figure,. At the firs-t printing station 6, the carpet would be printed with a decorative pattern componen-t using a conventional printing ink containing a carpet dye. The carpet would then pass on to a second printing station 8 which would put on another portion of the pattern. Finally, the carpet would pass on to station lO which would provide the third phase of the carpet pattern. Here, the printing ink may contain a solvent plus a dye(s) for the fiber of the carpet or just simply a solvent for the carpet fibers; a number of solvent printing steps may be used. The sequence of printing -the dye and solvent may be varied.
Normally -the printing stations would be flatbed screen printers such as are conventional in the art. Rotary screen printers or other suitable devices may be used. The carpet would move with an intermittent operation being indexed from one station to the next and would be inherently held in registry. Machines capable of this work are similar to thos-e set forth in the Zimmer U.S. Patent No. 3,495,285. After all the printing and dyeing operations are performed, the carpe-t then passes to a steam chamber 12 in which steam in a temperature range of 212 -to 220~F.
is applied to the carpet. Under -the effec-ts of the steam, the dye will develop or set on the fiber. In addition, and of par-ticular importance, is that under the effects of the steam, the fibers in the area treated with t~e solvent will shrink and to a degree dissolve to produce an embossed effect in -the prin-ted area. The carpet then passes on to a conventional wash tank 14 through which the carpet passes to remove the residue printing ink and any other residue chemicals which may remain in the carpet.
The carpet then passes on to conven~ional drying s-tructure 16 which evaporates the wash water from the carpet in the usual manner.
The carpe-t coming ou-t of -the drier has a good hand, and the appearance ob-tained in -the embossed areas is that of a fibrous material. The loft of the carpet pile is maintained, the embossed areas are particularly pleasing in appearance, and the pattern components are in complete register.
In one typical embodiment of the invention, an acrylic fiber carpet material is fed through a dye bath 4 containing the following carpet dye: Basic Yellow 11 --C (CH3)2 ~ C--CX = CH--H~

Cl~

The carpet -then passed on to the first prin-ting station 6 wherein the printing ink contained the following materials:

water, modified locust bean gum thickener and the water soluble dye - Basic Blue 25 (H5c2)2 N ~ - ~ (C~l3)2 The carpet then passed on to the second printing station which contained the same basic materials as the first station except that the dye was Basic Orange 21 C ' (CH3,~,2 ~ ~C - CH = CH - C

H C / ~ H3C
Cl Finally, the carpet passed on to station 10 wherein the printing ink is basically a thickened aqueous solution of ethylene carbonate. Obviously, the solvent employed will change depending upon the fiber type of the carpet being treated.
Also, the dyes will change, depending upon the color desired, the type of fibers used and the availability of dyes. No invention lies in the selection of the particular dyes and solvents. Of primary importance herein is the fact that the total treatment of the carpet to provide the pattern is provided in a series of sequential steps which are readily controlled in register prior to the time that the carpet passes to the stea~
chamber to cause the embossing and to set the dyes.
As used herein, the term "pattern" means a composite of embossed and non-embossed design elements. The non-embossed design elements are provided with a decorative coloring. The embossed areas may or may not have added coloring.

5~
". . ~

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. Process for producing a carpet having a pattern printed thereon and the pattern having embossed areas and non-embossed design areas in registry, comprising the steps of: printing the carpet with at least one pattern component, using only a dye to provide the pattern component, moving the carpet to a second printing station wherein the previously printed pattern component is in register with the second pattern component to be printed, printing the second pattern component in register with the first pattern component and using a printing ink con-taining a solvent for the carpet fibers, then after all the pattern components have been printed on the carpet, applying steam to the carpet to shrink the fibers affected by the solvent to produce an embossed effect in the printed areas and to set the dyes in the carpet, washing the carpet, and then drying the carpet to remove the wash water wherein the carpet is dyed to provide a background effect for the pattern components prior to the time the carpet moves to the different printing stages for printing the pattern component thereon and the carpet is printed while the dye is still wet.