GB2304676A

GB2304676A - Woven heat adhesive tape

Info

Publication number: GB2304676A
Application number: GB9517663A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David Halstead
Original assignee: Cash Ltd J & J
Current assignee: Cash Ltd J & J
Priority date: 1995-08-30
Filing date: 1995-08-30
Publication date: 1997-03-26
Anticipated expiration: 2015-08-30
Also published as: GB2304676B; GB9517663D0

Abstract

A woven heat adhesive tape 10 suitable for producing garment labels comprises selvedges 12 which define heat meltable bands extending along each side of the tape. Each selvedge 12 contains a plurality of heat meltable warp yarns which are woven so as to be exposed on the rear face 36 and isolated from the front face 34 of the tape. One method of isolating the heat meltable yarns from the front face 34 is to form each selvedge in a two-ply tubular construction 30 and 31 wherein only the lower ply 31 incorporates heat meltable yarns. In this construction each lower ply warp end 41 may consist of a plurality of heat meltable yarns (51) and a plurality of non-heat meltable warp yarns (50), the non-heat meltable yarns may be of the same composition as those (50) in the upper ply warp end 40. In each lower warp end 41 the combined weight of the heat meltable yarn (51) may be less than that for the non-heat meltable yarn (50).

Description

HEAT ADHESIVE TAPE The present invention relates to a heat adhesive tape which in particular, but not exclusively, is suitable for use as a garment label.

Heat adhesive garment woven tapes are known in which heat meltable yarns are incorporated into the tape either as warp and/or weft yarns. It is desirable with a tape intended for use as a label for the tape when applied to a garment to lay flat against the garment and for the label to be applied to the garment by the use of a domestic hot iron.

Accordingly, it is necessary that the front face of the label be isolated from the heat meltable yarn, otherwise the label front face is likely to stick to the hot iron during application of the label to the garment.

In known woven tapes the heat meltable yarn may be floated as a weft yarn across the back face of the tape continuously along its length.

Whilst such a construction isolates the heat meltable yarn from the front face of the tape, it uses a large quantity of heat meltable yarn and produces large float loops which can be snagged. Weaving of such a tape is also relatively slow due to the need to make additional weft insertions to incorporate the heat meltable yarn.

It is also known to provide a tape construction having heat meltable regions spaced longitudinally along the tape and located on the front face of the tape. Each label when cut from the tape has a heat meltable region at each end and prior to application, the ends of the label are folded over so that the heat meltable region faces the garment. This is necessary to prevent the label from fraying and also isolate the front face of the label from the hot iron during application. With such a construction the applied label is not secured to the garment along its length.

A general aim of the present invention is to provide a woven heat adhesive tape suitable for producing garment labels which enables the label to be secured along its length to the garment.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a woven heat adhesive tape suitable for producing garment labels, the tape comprising selvedges which define heat meltable bands extending along each side of the tape, each of the selvedges containing a plurality of heat meltable warp yarns which are woven so as to expose the heat meltable yarns to the rear face of the tape and isolate the heat meltable yarns from the front face of the tape.

In this specification heat meltable yarn indicates a synthetic yarn which on application of a predetermined amount of heat to the tape melts before the other yarns making up the remainder of the tape. Thus, the non-heat meltable yarns making up the remainder of the tape may be synthetic yarns having a higher melting point than the heat meltable yarns or may be natural yarns which retain their integrity above the melting point of the heat meltable yarns.

Preferably each selvedge comprises a two-ply tubular woven construction wherein only the lower ply which is contiguous with the rear face of the label incorporates heat meltable warp yarns.

Preferably one or more of the warp ends for the lower ply comprises at least one non-heat meltable yarn and at least heat meltable yarn. Preferably each of said warp ends for the lower ply includes at least two heat meltable yarns.

Preferably each warp end for the upper ply of the selvedge comprises a non-heat meltable yarn which is preferably of the same composition and weight as the non-heat meltable yarn end used in the lower ply.

Preferably each heat meltable yarn comprises a low melt polyamide yarn preferably having a melting point in the range of 170 - 210 C, more preferably in the range of 180 - 205"C.

Preferably each selvedge is constructed from a weave having at least eight warp ends, the upper and lower plies each including four warp ends.

Various aspects of the present invention are hereinafter described with reference to the accompany drawings, in which : Figure 1 is a schematic plan view showing the rear face of a portion of tape according to one embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a diagrammatic section along line II-II in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a more detailed sectional view of one selvedge shown in Figure 2.

Referring initially to Figure 1, there is shown a woven tape 10 including a body portion 11 having selvedges 12 extending along each side 14 of the tape 10.

Each selvedge 12 comprises a two-ply tubular weave having an upper ply 30 contiguous with the front face 34 of the tape 10 and a lower ply 31 contiguous with the rear face 36 of the tape 10.

As shown more clearly in Figure 2, the central body portion 11 is preferably a single ply weave of conventional construction and preferably incorporates pattern wefts for creating a desired woven pattern on the front face 34. When used for garment labels, the woven pattern would compres suitable indicia, such as wording, a bar code, etc which would be repeated at predetermined intervals along the length of the tape.

Each selvedge 12 preferably includes eight warp ends, four warp ends 40 being used to form the upper ply 30 and four warp ends 41 being used to form the lower ply 31.

Preferably alternate warp ends in each selvedge ply are moved to upper and lower shed positions for each pick, and then changed to the opposite shed position for successive insertions of weft yarn 60. In this way a simple weave is created for each ply.

The warp ends for the upper ply 30 of each selvedge each preferably comprise a single yarn 50 (Figure 3) such as a multi-filament polyester yarn of say 100 denier.

The warp ends forming the body 11 are preferably also formed from a single yarn of the same composition and weights as the warp yarn used for upper ply 30.

The warp ends forming the lower ply 31 preferably comprise the same yarn 50 as used for the upper ply 30 plaited with one or more heat meltable yarns 51. Preferably, the number of heat meltable yarns 51 plaited with each yarn 50 and the weight of yarns 51 is chosen such that on application of heat for melting yarns 51 a sufficient coating of molten yarn is provided for adhering the lower ply 31 to the substrate to which the label is to be attached. Preferably, the combined weight of the heat meltable yarns is less than the weight of the non-heat meltable yarn and preferably several heat meltable yarns are plaited with each non-meltable yarn so as to be spaced about the periphery of the heat meltable yarn and thereby facilitate spread of the molten yarn.

It has been found that two 20 filament 35 dtex yarns 51 of a low melting point nylon 6 (RTM) provide satisfactory results when plaited with a multi-filament 100 denier polyester yarn.

The yarn 50 used in the lower ply 31 acts to balance the selvedge construction and helps to maintain the flatness of the tape emerging from the loom.

It is preferred that the number of warp ends used to form each selvedge is at least six and that preferably all the warp ends 41 for forming the lower ply comprise heat meltable yarns plaited with a nonheat meltable yarn. However, it is envisaged that some of the warp ends 41 may comprise non-heat meltable yarns only, if desired.

It has been found that a tape according to the present invention can be used successfully in an uncontrolled environment, eg. a domestic environment, to attach labels to a garment using a domestic iron. In addition, the tape according to the present invention uses only a relatively small movement of heat meltable yarn and yet provides positive securance of the label along its length. Since the heat meltable yarn is incorporated within the warps, weaving speeds are unaffected by its incorporation.

Claims

1. A woven heat adhesive tape suitable for producing garment labels, the tape comprising selvedges which define heat meltable bands extending along each side of the tape, each of the selvedges containing a plurality of heat meltable warp yarns which are woven so as to expose the heat meltable yarns to the rear face of the tape and isolate the heat meltable yarns from the front face of the tape.

2. A tape according to claim 1 wherein each selvedge comprises a two-ply tubular woven construction wherein only the lower ply which is contiguous with the rear face of the label incorporates heat meltable warp yarns.

3. A tape according to claim 2 wherein one or more of the warp ends for the lower ply comprises at least one non-heat meltable yarn and at one least heat meltable yarn. Preferably each of said warp ends for the lower ply includes at least two heat meltable yarns.

4. A tape according to claim 3 wherein each of said warp ends for the lower ply includes at least two heat meltable yarns.

5. A tape according to claim 3 or 4 wherein each warp end for the upper ply of the selvedge comprises a non-heat meltable yarn which is preferably of the same composition and weight as the non-heat meltable yarn end used in the lower ply.

6. A tape according to any of claims 2 to 5 wherein each selvedge is constructed from a weave having at least eight warp ends, the upper and lower plies each including four warp ends.

7. A tape according to any of claims 3 to 5 wherein for each warp end in the lower ply, the combined weight of the heat meltable yarns is less than the weight of the non-heat meltable yarn.

8. A tape according to claim 7 wherein several heat meltable yarns are plaited with each non-meltable yarn so as to be spaced about the periphery of the heat meltable yarn.

9. A woven heat adhesive tape substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.