GB1604034A

GB1604034A - Decoration of articles of clothing and the like

Info

Publication number: GB1604034A
Application number: GB3742577A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: FLORIDAN GROUP Ltd
Current assignee: FLORIDAN GROUP Ltd
Priority date: 1977-09-07
Filing date: 1977-09-07
Publication date: 1981-12-02
Also published as: DE2838814A1

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO DECORATION OF ARTICLES OF CLOTHING AND THE LIKE (71) We, FLORIDAN GROUP LIMITED, formerly known as Ahead of Hair Limited, a British company, of 55 St. Thomas Street, Oxford OXI 1JP, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: THIS INVENTION relates to a transfer for use in applying a pattern or design to an article, for example an article of clothing, and to a method of making such a transfer and also relates to a method of applying a pattern or design to an article using such a transfer and an article having a pattern or design so applied.

The term "pattern" and "design" as used herein are intended to include, as well as purely decorative devices and markings, such things as written matter, representations, maps, diagrams, etc.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide an improved method of applying to an article a decorative pattern or design which affords a novel visual effect, to provide simple means, in the form of a transfer, by which such a pattern or design may readily be applied to an article such as an article of clothing, and to provide a method of forming such a transfer.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a method of forming a transfer for the application of a pattern or design to an article which comprises the steps of adhesively securing flock on one face of a backing sheet so that the flock is weakly connected with the backing sheet, then printing the flocked side of the backing sheet with a desired design or pattern, and then applying adhesive to predetermined flocked regions on the flocked surface of the backing sheet, said adhesive being capable of forming, with the flock, a bond which at least in certain conditions is stronger than the connection of the flock with the backing sheet, whereby a pattern or design, corresponding to said regions over which adhesive is applied can be applied to an article of clothing or the like by applying the transfer so formed to the article of clothing or the like with the adhesive coated regions in contact with the article, causing the adhesive to adhere to the article and thereafter removing the backing sheet from the article when the flock in said regions is more strongly bonded, by said adhesive, to the article than to the backing sheet, thereby leaving the pattern or design affixed to the article.

Preferably the adhesive is a heat fusible thermoplastic material which is insoluble in water, while the flock is attached to the backing sheet by a water-soluble adhesive.

A plurality of different flocked regions of the backing sheet may be printed in respective different colours in said printing prior to the application of said adhesive.

The backing sheet preferably has said flock applied to said one face thereof by attracting flock electrostatically to the previously gummed and tacky surface of the backing sheet and allowing the gum to dry before printing and applying said adhesive to said predetermined regions.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a transfer formed by the method according to the first mentioned aspect of the invention.

According to yet another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of applying a pattern or design to an article comprising applying a transfer according to the previously noted aspect to the article, with said adhesive coated regions in engagement with the article, causing said adhesive to adhere to the article and stripping the transfer from the article leaving the flock over said predetermined regions bonded to the article by said adhesive to form the desired pattern or design.

According to yet another aspect of the invention there is provided an article of clothing or the like having a design or pattern applied thereto by the last-mentioned method, or using a transfer according to the invention.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention a transfer is formed using a sheet of paper having one face thereof coated with white flock comprising fibres 0.6 mm, 0.8 mm or 1 mm in length, stuck weakly to the paper.

The flock coated paper may be produced, for example by attracting flock electrostatically to a previously gummed and still tacky face of a sheet of paper. The flock is preferably stuck to the paper by means of a water soluble adhesive or gum.

In this preferred embodiment, the flocked paper is printed with the desired design or pattern on the flocked side thereof, in reverse, for example in up to four colours and, when the ink is dry, the desired areas of the flocked and printed surface of the sheet are coated with a heat fusible thermoplastic adhesive.

In general, it will not be desired to have an an article of clothing or the like to which a pattern or design is to be applied an area, entirely covered in flock, corresponding to the entire area of the transfer sheet, but it win be desired to have discrete flock-covered area distributed in a desired configuration on a background formed by the surface of the material from which the garment or the like is formed.To this end, the thermoplastic adhesive is applied only over those areas of the flocked and printed sheet which correspond to regions which are to be covered in flock in the finished design or pattern as applied to an article of clothing or the like, those areas of the flocked and printed sheet which correspond to regions which are to be formed by the material of the article of clothing or the like in the finished design as applied to that article being left uncoated with the thermoplastic adhesive. To this end, the thermoplastic adhesive is applied to the flocked and printed sheet by a printing process, such as by silk-screen printing, in a printed pattern or design corresponding to and in appropriate register with the colour printed pattern.

The application of the thermoplastic adhesive in the desired pattern or design to the flocked and colour printed paper completes the manufacture of the design.

To apply the design or pattern to an article comprising natural or synthetic fibres, the transfer is placed upon the article with the surface coated with thermoplastic adhesive lying on the article and the transfer sheet is pressed on to the article while applying heat.

As a result the thermoplastic adhesive fuses, i.e. melts, and incorporates the adjacent fibres of the garment, subsequently solidifying when allowed to cool so that the flock is thereafter securely bonded to the garment, in the appropriate areas of the pattern or design, by the thermoplastic adhesive. The transfer sheet is then stripped from the garment, the flock bonded to the garment by the thermoplastic adhesive being thereby mechanically separated from the paper backing sheet while the flock not so bonded remains stuck to the paper backing sheet, the pattern or design, corresponding to the pattern or design in which the thermoplastic adhesive was applied to the transfer sheet, being thus transferred to the garment.

Naturally, the thermoplastic adhesive used should be selected so as to fuse at a temperature lower than that at which damage to the material of the garment or the like to which the transfer is to be applied will ensue, but higher than that likely to be encountered in normal washing etc.

By the method and means described it is possible to apply to an article of clothing a pattern or design having the appearance of being constituted by pieces of fine felt or velvet secured to the article and of various colours, since, of course, the colour printing of the flock-coated backing sheet is so performed, using appropriate inks or dyes, that each flock fibre, in a region so printed, is effectively dyed the appropriate colour, by such printing, substantially in its entirety and substantially over its whole length.

The description given above of the preferred embodiment is, of course, given by way of example only, and variation is possible, for example, in the mode of preparing the pre-flocked paper, the mode of applying the adhesive to the flocked and printed sheet, the nature of the adhesive used, and the like.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A method of forming a transfer for the application of a pattern or design to an article which comprises the steps of adhesively securing flock on one face of a backing sheet so that the flock is weakly connected with the backing sheet, then printing the flocked side of the backing sheet with a desired design or pattern, and then applying adhesive to predetermined flocked regions on the flocked surface of the backing sheet, said adhesive being capable of forming, with the flock, a bond which at least in certain conditions is stronger than the connection of the flock with the backing sheet, whereby a pattern or design, corresponding to said regions over which adhesive is applied, can be applied to an article of clothing or the like by applying the transfer so formed to the article of clothing or the like with the adhesive coated regions in contact with the article, causing the adhesive to adhere to the article and thereafter removing the backing sheet from the article when the flock in said regions is more strongly bonded, by said adhesive, to the article than to the backing sheet, thereby leaving the pattern or design affixed to the article.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein said adhesive applied to said predetermined flocked regions on said flocked surface is a heat fusible thermoplastic material which is insoluble in water and wherein the flock is attached to the backing sheet by a

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

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. or 1 mm in length, stuck weakly to the paper. The flock coated paper may be produced, for example by attracting flock electrostatically to a previously gummed and still tacky face of a sheet of paper. The flock is preferably stuck to the paper by means of a water soluble adhesive or gum. In this preferred embodiment, the flocked paper is printed with the desired design or pattern on the flocked side thereof, in reverse, for example in up to four colours and, when the ink is dry, the desired areas of the flocked and printed surface of the sheet are coated with a heat fusible thermoplastic adhesive. In general, it will not be desired to have an an article of clothing or the like to which a pattern or design is to be applied an area, entirely covered in flock, corresponding to the entire area of the transfer sheet, but it win be desired to have discrete flock-covered area distributed in a desired configuration on a background formed by the surface of the material from which the garment or the like is formed.To this end, the thermoplastic adhesive is applied only over those areas of the flocked and printed sheet which correspond to regions which are to be covered in flock in the finished design or pattern as applied to an article of clothing or the like, those areas of the flocked and printed sheet which correspond to regions which are to be formed by the material of the article of clothing or the like in the finished design as applied to that article being left uncoated with the thermoplastic adhesive. To this end, the thermoplastic adhesive is applied to the flocked and printed sheet by a printing process, such as by silk-screen printing, in a printed pattern or design corresponding to and in appropriate register with the colour printed pattern. The application of the thermoplastic adhesive in the desired pattern or design to the flocked and colour printed paper completes the manufacture of the design. To apply the design or pattern to an article comprising natural or synthetic fibres, the transfer is placed upon the article with the surface coated with thermoplastic adhesive lying on the article and the transfer sheet is pressed on to the article while applying heat. As a result the thermoplastic adhesive fuses, i.e. melts, and incorporates the adjacent fibres of the garment, subsequently solidifying when allowed to cool so that the flock is thereafter securely bonded to the garment, in the appropriate areas of the pattern or design, by the thermoplastic adhesive. The transfer sheet is then stripped from the garment, the flock bonded to the garment by the thermoplastic adhesive being thereby mechanically separated from the paper backing sheet while the flock not so bonded remains stuck to the paper backing sheet, the pattern or design, corresponding to the pattern or design in which the thermoplastic adhesive was applied to the transfer sheet, being thus transferred to the garment. Naturally, the thermoplastic adhesive used should be selected so as to fuse at a temperature lower than that at which damage to the material of the garment or the like to which the transfer is to be applied will ensue, but higher than that likely to be encountered in normal washing etc. By the method and means described it is possible to apply to an article of clothing a pattern or design having the appearance of being constituted by pieces of fine felt or velvet secured to the article and of various colours, since, of course, the colour printing of the flock-coated backing sheet is so performed, using appropriate inks or dyes, that each flock fibre, in a region so printed, is effectively dyed the appropriate colour, by such printing, substantially in its entirety and substantially over its whole length. The description given above of the preferred embodiment is, of course, given by way of example only, and variation is possible, for example, in the mode of preparing the pre-flocked paper, the mode of applying the adhesive to the flocked and printed sheet, the nature of the adhesive used, and the like. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A method of forming a transfer for the application of a pattern or design to an article which comprises the steps of adhesively securing flock on one face of a backing sheet so that the flock is weakly connected with the backing sheet, then printing the flocked side of the backing sheet with a desired design or pattern, and then applying adhesive to predetermined flocked regions on the flocked surface of the backing sheet, said adhesive being capable of forming, with the flock, a bond which at least in certain conditions is stronger than the connection of the flock with the backing sheet, whereby a pattern or design, corresponding to said regions over which adhesive is applied, can be applied to an article of clothing or the like by applying the transfer so formed to the article of clothing or the like with the adhesive coated regions in contact with the article, causing the adhesive to adhere to the article and thereafter removing the backing sheet from the article when the flock in said regions is more strongly bonded, by said adhesive, to the article than to the backing sheet, thereby leaving the pattern or design affixed to the article.

water soluble adhesive.

3. A method according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein in said printing prior to the application of said adhesive, a plurality of different regions of the flocked side of the backing sheet are printed in respective different colours.

4. A method according to any preceding claim wherein said flock is connected with the backing sheet by applying gum to said one face of the backing sheet, attracting flock electrostatically to the gummed surface of the backing sheet while the last-mentioned surface is tacky, and allowing the gum to dry before printing and applying said adhesive to said predetermined regions.

5. A method according to any preceding claim wherein said adhesive applied to said predetermined flocked regions on the flocked surface of the backing sheet is applied by a printing technique.

6. A method according to claim 5 wherein said adhesive is applied by silk screen printing.

7. A transfer formed by the method of any of claims 1 to 6 and comprising a backing sheet having, on one face thereof, flock weakly connected with the backing sheet, and printed with a pattern or design, regions of the flock being coated with an adhesive.

8. A method of applying a pattern or design to an article comprising applying a transfer according to claim 7 to the article, with said adhesive coated regions in engagement with the article, causing said adhesive to adhere to the article, and stripping the transfer from the article leaving the flock over said predetermined regions bonded to the article by said adhesive to form the desired pattern or design.

9. A method according to claim 8, wherein the transfer has been made by the method of claim 2, the heat fusible thermoplastic adhesive being selected so as to fuse at a temperature lower than that at which damage to the article to which the pattern or design is to be applied will ensue but higher than that likely to be encountered in normal washing, and wherein said adhesive is caused to adhere to the article by pressing the transfer against the article whilst applying heat to the transfer.

10. An article having a design applied thereto by the method of claim 8 or claim 9.

I 1. A method of forming a transfer substantially as hereinbefore described.

12. A transfer formed by the method of claim 11 and substantially as hereinbefore described.

13. A method of applying a pattern or design to an article, substantially as hereinbefore described.

14. An article having a design or pattern applied thereto by the method of claim 13.