GB1572789A

GB1572789A - Application of motifs to textiles

Info

Publication number: GB1572789A
Application number: GB1057978A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1978-03-17
Filing date: 1978-03-17
Publication date: 1980-08-06
Also published as: HK32082A

Description

(54) APPLICATION OF MOTIFS TO TEXTILES (71) I, ERNEST HENRY WORTH, a British subject of Edwalton Lodge, Edwalton, Nottinghamshire do hereby declare the invention for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me and the method by which it is to be performed be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to a method of applying visual devices such as motifs to textile substrates. Such visual devices may, for example, comprise a trade mark, trade name, logo or other symbol which may or may not indicate the origin of the substrate to which it is applied.

It is known to apply motifs to textile substrates, e.g. articles of clothing such as sports shirts by applying heat to a preformed motif having a backing of hot-melt adhesive. Such a process, however, requires special equipment to handle the preformed motifs and the type of motif which can be applied by this method is limited.

It has also been proposed in U.K. patent specification No. 1,244,407 to bond a decorative layer to a substrate with an intermediate layer of compressible resilient padding using a die shaped to sever the decorative layer along a contour line of the desired design and to compress the resilient padding material and bond the layer to the substrate in zones inward of said contour line.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method of applying visual devices to textile substrates.

According to the present invention a method of applying a motif or other visual device to a textile substrate comprises assembling a laminate with the textile substrate, said laminate comprising at least one layer of decorative material and a layer of hot-melt adhesive adhered thereto, and applying heat to said assembly via a shaped die which is shaped to correspond to the desired motif, whereby the hot-melt adhesive is activated at least in the peripheral regions of said motif to adhere said decorative material to said textile substrate in said regions, removing said die and substantially stripping said sheet of material from said substrate whereby only the motif defined by the die remains adhered to said substrate.

The layer of decorative material may be a layer of flocked material which may be attached to a backing layer provided with a layer of hot-melt adhesive adhered to its opposite face. Alternatively the layer of flocked material may be carried by a layer of film-forming adhesive which also constitutes a hot-melt adhesive or alternatively is provided with an additional layer of hot-melt adhesive.

According to yet a further aspect of the present invention we provide, in a method as defined above, a die comprising a projecting die form defining the motif to be applied to the substrate, said projecting die form having welding zones, the faces of said projecting die form adjacent said welding zones which are disposed adjacent areas where material is required to be adhered to the substrate to define the motif being arranged at an acute angle to a plane extending through said welding zone and parallel to the axis of said die, and the faces of said projecting die form adjacent areas where material is required not to be adhered to the substrate being provided with faces which are substantially parallel to said axis of said die.

Preferably the angled surface of the projecting die form is at an angle of between 30 and 60 to the axis of the die, advantageously about 45".

The projecting die form may be produced by engraving a solid die block or may be produced by any other suitable method.

Conveniently, the portions of the die form which define areas where material is required not to be adhered to the substrate are recessed to a greater extent than the portions of the die form defining areas where material is required to be adhered to the substrate, and/or said areas are provided with a layer of relatively heat-insulating material.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view with part cut-away of one form of die according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of a motif produced on a substrate by the die shown in figure 1; Figure 3 is a cross-section on the lines 3-3 of figure 2; Figure 4 is a perspective view with part cut-away of an alternative die to that shown in figure 1; Referring to figure 1 the die is an engraving of the form of the motif on a block of heat-conducting material such as copper, brass or steel. In order to illustrate the invention a motif in the form of a hollow circle has been indicated and the depth of the engraved form of the die is greatly exaggerated.

The die comprises a base 10 having an engraved form comprising a circular inner form 11 and a circular outer form 12 of larger diameter than the inner form 11. The die is designed to produce an annular motif as shown in figure 2 and to this end the walls of the form which are adjacent areas where motif material is to be attached to a substrate are arranged at an acute angle. These walls are designated 13.

The extremities of the die form comprise heating zones 14 and on the side of said welding zone adjacent areas to where motif material is not desired to adhere to the substrate the walls 15 are arranged substantially parallel to the axis of the die.

In the method of the invention a substrate 16 is provided with a sheet of motif-forming material (not shown) which material comprises an upper layer of flocked material and a lower layer of hot-melt adhesive and will be described in more detail below. The die is then pressed into contact with the laminate and causes, due to the heat of the die, the hot-melt adhesive to adhere to the substrate 16 in the regions 17. After adhesion has been effected the die is removed and the sheet of motif-forming material can be stripped from the substrate leaving the motif 18 secured thereto. In the embodiment shown the outer part is stripped from the zone 19 and the inner disc is stripped from the zone 20.

It will be seen from figure 3 of the drawings that the motif-forming material which remains secured to the substrate 19 presents an embossed apprearance without the use of a compressible resilient padding the backing layer of the motif-forming material being shown at 21 and the flocked portion being shown at 22.

A modified form of die is shown in figure 4 of the drawings. This die is similar to that shown in figure 1 except that a layer of relatively heat-insulating material 24 is provided in the central portion of the die form where material is required not to be adhered to the substrate.

Whilst in the foregoing description the use of hot dies has been described it will be appreciated that alternatively high frequency heating can be employed.

The motif-forming material comprises an upper layer of flocked material and a lower layer of hot-melt adhesive. The hot-melt adhesive may be a film-forming adhesive which has sufficient cohesive strength to withstand handling and to support the upper layer of flocked material. Alternatively the upper layer of flocked material may be applied to a film-forming adhesive and the film-forming adhesive subsequently coated with a hot-melt adhesive. In a further alternative a backing layer may be employed, one face of said backmg layer being provided with a flocked layer and the other face being provided with a coating adhesive.

A motif applied to a substrate by means of the present invention has a particularly pleasing appearance in that the embossed nature gives the impression that it is embroidered on the substrate. Furthermore the method is extremely convenient in use as it does not require the production of the preformed motifs and as the motifs are produced in situ from a sheet of motif-forming material.

Furthermore the present invention enables a much wider range of motifs to be produced since motifs which are discontinuous and would not hold together in the preformed state can be applied by means of this method.

WHAT I CLAIM IS: 1. A method of applying a motif or other visual device to a textile substrate comprising assembling a laminate with the textile substrate, said laminate comprising at least one layer of decorative material and a layer of hot-melt adhesive adhered thereto, and applying heat to said assembly via a shaped die which is shaped to correspond to the desired motif, whereby the hot-melt adhesive is activated at least in the peripheral regions of said motif to adheresaid decorative material to said textile substrate in said regions, removing said die and subsequently stripping said sheet of material from said substrate whereby only the motif defined by the die remains adhered to said substrate.

2. A method according to claim 1 in which the laminate comprises a layer of flocked material and a layer of hot-melt adhesive.

3. A method according to claim 2 in which the flocked material is attached to one face of a backing layer and the hot-melt adhesive is applied to the other face of said

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. material is required to be adhered to the substrate, and/or said areas are provided with a layer of relatively heat-insulating material. Referring now to the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view with part cut-away of one form of die according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of a motif produced on a substrate by the die shown in figure 1; Figure 3 is a cross-section on the lines 3-3 of figure 2; Figure 4 is a perspective view with part cut-away of an alternative die to that shown in figure 1; Referring to figure 1 the die is an engraving of the form of the motif on a block of heat-conducting material such as copper, brass or steel. In order to illustrate the invention a motif in the form of a hollow circle has been indicated and the depth of the engraved form of the die is greatly exaggerated. The die comprises a base 10 having an engraved form comprising a circular inner form 11 and a circular outer form 12 of larger diameter than the inner form 11. The die is designed to produce an annular motif as shown in figure 2 and to this end the walls of the form which are adjacent areas where motif material is to be attached to a substrate are arranged at an acute angle. These walls are designated 13. The extremities of the die form comprise heating zones 14 and on the side of said welding zone adjacent areas to where motif material is not desired to adhere to the substrate the walls 15 are arranged substantially parallel to the axis of the die. In the method of the invention a substrate 16 is provided with a sheet of motif-forming material (not shown) which material comprises an upper layer of flocked material and a lower layer of hot-melt adhesive and will be described in more detail below. The die is then pressed into contact with the laminate and causes, due to the heat of the die, the hot-melt adhesive to adhere to the substrate 16 in the regions 17. After adhesion has been effected the die is removed and the sheet of motif-forming material can be stripped from the substrate leaving the motif 18 secured thereto. In the embodiment shown the outer part is stripped from the zone 19 and the inner disc is stripped from the zone 20. It will be seen from figure 3 of the drawings that the motif-forming material which remains secured to the substrate 19 presents an embossed apprearance without the use of a compressible resilient padding the backing layer of the motif-forming material being shown at 21 and the flocked portion being shown at 22. A modified form of die is shown in figure 4 of the drawings. This die is similar to that shown in figure 1 except that a layer of relatively heat-insulating material 24 is provided in the central portion of the die form where material is required not to be adhered to the substrate. Whilst in the foregoing description the use of hot dies has been described it will be appreciated that alternatively high frequency heating can be employed. The motif-forming material comprises an upper layer of flocked material and a lower layer of hot-melt adhesive. The hot-melt adhesive may be a film-forming adhesive which has sufficient cohesive strength to withstand handling and to support the upper layer of flocked material. Alternatively the upper layer of flocked material may be applied to a film-forming adhesive and the film-forming adhesive subsequently coated with a hot-melt adhesive. In a further alternative a backing layer may be employed, one face of said backmg layer being provided with a flocked layer and the other face being provided with a coating adhesive. A motif applied to a substrate by means of the present invention has a particularly pleasing appearance in that the embossed nature gives the impression that it is embroidered on the substrate. Furthermore the method is extremely convenient in use as it does not require the production of the preformed motifs and as the motifs are produced in situ from a sheet of motif-forming material. Furthermore the present invention enables a much wider range of motifs to be produced since motifs which are discontinuous and would not hold together in the preformed state can be applied by means of this method. WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. A method of applying a motif or other visual device to a textile substrate comprising assembling a laminate with the textile substrate, said laminate comprising at least one layer of decorative material and a layer of hot-melt adhesive adhered thereto, and applying heat to said assembly via a shaped die which is shaped to correspond to the desired motif, whereby the hot-melt adhesive is activated at least in the peripheral regions of said motif to adheresaid decorative material to said textile substrate in said regions, removing said die and subsequently stripping said sheet of material from said substrate whereby only the motif defined by the die remains adhered to said substrate.

backing layer.

4. A method according to claim 2 in which the flocked material is attached to a layer of film-forming adhesive.

5. A method according to claim 4 in which the film-forming adhesive also constitutes the hot-melt adhesive.

6. A method of applying a motif or other visual device to a textile substrate substantially as herein described with reference to figure l to 4 of the accompanying drawings.

7. In a method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5 the use of a die comprising a projecting die form defining the motif to be applied to the substrate, said projecting die form having heating zones, the faces of said projecting die form adjacent said heating zones which are disposed adjacent areas where material is required to be adhered to the substrate to define the motif being arranged at an acute angle to a plane extending through said heating zone and parallel to the axis of said die, and the faces of said projecting die form adjacent areas where material is required not to be adhered to the substrate being provided with faces which are substantially parallel to said axis of said die.

8. In a method according to claim 7 the use of a die in which the angled surface of the projecting die form is at an angle of between 30 and 60 to the axis of the die.

9. In a method according to claim 8 the use of a die in which the angled surface of the projecting die form is at an angle of about 45" to the axis of the die.

10. In a method according to any of claims 7 to 9 the use of a die in which the portions of the die form defining areas where material is not required to be adhered to the substrate are recessed to a greater extent than the portions of the die form defining area where material is required to be adhered to the substrate.

11. In a method according to any of claims 7 to 10 the use of a die in which the portions of the die form which define areas where material is required not to be adhered to the substrate are provided with a layer of relatively heat insulating material.

12. In a method according to any of claims 1 to 5 the use of a die substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in figure 1 or figure 4 of the accompanying drawings.

13. A textile article having a motif or other visual device applied thereto by a method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 12.