GB2333107A - Making yarn with colour varying along its length : garments therefrom - Google Patents

Abstract

To form a yarn with colour varying along its length, loose-dyed, differently- coloured, fibres are weighed out in varying proportions to form equal amounts with varying colour blends in boxes 14. The amounts are then fed in a smooth progressively-varied colour blend sequence to be carded at 16, condensed into sliver at 26, spun into yam at 28, and twisted at 30. The yarn can have a smooth gradation of different colours, or of shades of one colour. Using the yarn, a textile piece can have a smoothly progressive colour change from top to bottom. A kit for making a garment composed of such pieces comprises lengths of the varying-colour yarn.

Description

"Yarn Manufacture and Products" This invention relates to a method of manufacturing yarn, yarn so manufactured, textile pieces produced from such yarn, garments incorporating such pieces, and kits for producing such garments.

It is known to produce knitted garments exhibiting a rough colour gradation or a random colour variation by either joining short lengths of differently coloured yarn or using a single length of yarn manufactured with intermittent abrupt colour changes. It is also known to produce garments exhibiting a smooth gradation in shades of one colour by subjecting them or at least part of them to so-called space dyeing techniques after the basic production thereof.

The object of the present invention is to facilitate the production of garments or other textile pieces exhibiting a smooth colour gradation.

According to one aspect of the invention, a method of manufacturing a single length of yarn comprises carding successive amounts of loose-dyed constituent fibres, said amounts being progressively smoothly varied as to their colour blends.

Preferably, said method further comprises varying the colour blends in said amounts by weighing out varied proportions of differently-coloured constituent fibres thereof.

According to another aspect of the invention, a method of manufacturing a single length of yarn comprises making up amounts with varied colour blends by weighing out loose-dyed differently-coloured constituent fibres in varied proportions, feeding said amounts to a carding machine in a smooth progressively varied colour blend sequence, condensing the carded fibres into slivers, and spinning the slivers into yarns.

Preferably, said method comprises the further step of twisting the spun yarns.

Preferably, also, said amounts are made equal.

The rate of change of the colour blends in said amounts may be varied in direct relation to variations in the dimensions of a textile piece to be produced from the length of yarn.

The delay factor inherent in the carding process may be employed to assist in controlling the rate of change of smooth gradation along the length of yarn.

A further aspect of the invention comprises yarn with a smooth colour gradation along its length.

The yarn may have a smooth gradation in shades of one colour along its length.

Alternatively, the yarn has a smooth gradation of different colours along its length.

The yarn is preferably produced by any one of the methods defined above.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, a textile piece has a smoothly progressive colour change from top to bottom or side to side, said change being imparted by yarn from which the piece is produced having a smooth colour gradation along its entire length.

The gradation may be provided at a varied rate of change directly related to variations in the dimensions of the piece occurring as it is produced.

Preferably, said piece is produced from a single length of yarn.

Preferably, also, said piece is knitted.

Yet a further aspect of the invention comprises a garment at least part of which is a textile piece defined in any one of the preceding three paragraphs.

According to yet a further aspect of the invention, a kit for producing a garment assembled from a plurality of textile pieces comprises lengths, sufficient to produce the respective pieces, of yarn according to any one of the four foregoing definitions.

The invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawing which is a plan view of means with an initial manual phase for manufacturing yarn with a smooth colour gradation along its length.

Referring now to the drawing, bales 10 of fibres loose-dyed in selected colours are brought from a raw material store (not shown) to the vicinity of a manually-operated electronic balance 12. This is used to weigh out equal amounts each totalling, say, 200 grammes of constituent fibres with varied colour blends by varying the relative weights of the component colours in each amount. There are typically between forty and sixty such amounts in one batch from which, for example a hundred lengths of yarn are to be manufactured simultaneously.

Starting with 200 grammes of black fibres one can end up with 200 grammes of white fibres by changing, say, 5 grammes of black for white in each subsequent amount. A smooth gradation in shades of grey ranging from black to white can thus be achieved using a carding process to even out the colour variation into a general controlled change of colour. To prevent simple copying using space dyeing techniques one can include, say, 2 to 3 per cent of, for example, pink and mauve and perhaps also navy blue fibres to give some "life" to the colour grey. The amounts are placed manually in open-ended boxes 14 stacked, say, fifteen wide and four high adjacent to the input end of a conventional carding machine indicated generally at 16 and having a feed sheet 18, guards 20, a scribbling section 22, a carding section 24, and a condenser 26. Fibres are thereby carded into slivers (or slubbings) and wound onto bobbins in well-known manner, and the slivers are then passed for conventional processing by spinning machinery 28 to impart strength to the yarn for subsequent processing, assembly winding machinery 30, and twisting machinery 32. The amounts are transferred manually from the boxes 14 evenly onto the feed sheet 18 in the correct sequence to enable yarn with a smooth gradation in shades of "enlivened" grey to be manufactured by normal operation of the carding machine and the spinning, winding and twisting machinery 28, 30 and 32. To obtain a smooth gradation in shades of, for example, green only two basic colours of constituent fibres, which may range from dark green and white to the lightest and darkest shades of green required in the finished yarn are needed. A smooth gradation of basically different colours can equally well be obtained, for example from red through orange to yellow or indeed through all of the colours of the spectrum if desired. The weight of each batch, that is to say the combined weights of the individual amounts which make up such batch, and thus the length of the finished yarn, is arranged to be sufficient to produce a complete textile piece having a smoothly progressive change in colour from top to bottom or side to side. Such a piece can be produced from a single length of the yarn by hand or machine knitting, tatting or the like.

Although in hand knitting a single length of yarn is normally used, it will be appreciated in machine knitting it is possible in modern knitting machines to use two or more lengths of yarn simultaneously, for example, four lengths of yarn. However, where more than one length of yarn is used, at least one length of yarn has a smooth colour gradation along its length.

Alternatively, such a piece can be produced by weaving using a single length of the yarn as the weft and/or using single lengths of the yarn as the warp threads. A garment can be assembled from textile pieces such as backs, fronts and sleeves at least one of which is produced in accordance with the invention with a smoothly progressive colour change. A do-it-yourself kit for the hand or machine knitting of a garment can be made up for sale, comprising a pattern and/or other instructions together with a number of lengths of the yarn sufficient to produce the respective pieces from which the garment is assembled.

Where, as is frequently the case in knitted garments, a textile piece forming a part (for instance a sleeve or a front) or the whole of a garment is required to vary in dimensions as it is being produced, the smooth colour gradation of the yarn is provided at a varied rate directly related to such dimensional variations by appropriately varying the rate of change of colour blends in the measured equal amounts of fibres fed successively to the carding machine for manufacturing a given length of yarn. The requisite varying rate of change of the colour blends can be calculated mathematically.

It should be noted that in the carding process there is always present a well-recognised inherent delay factor between feeding fibres to and removing properly carded fibres from the carding machine. This delay factor produces initial wastage for which due allowance must be made, but it can also be usefully employed to assist in controlling the rate of change of smooth colour gradation in a length of yarn manufactured in accordance with the present invention.

In a modification, where a varying rate of change in the smooth colour gradation of the yarn is required it can be effected by having a fixed rate of change of the colour blends throughout the measured amounts of fibres fed successively to the carding machine, but having a varying rate of change in the respective weights of said amounts which, then being unequal, must be fed to the machine at appropriately varying intervals of time.

Whilst the foregoing description is confined to blending and feeding the amounts of loose-dyed constituent fibres manually, it is within the scope of this invention to perform the blending and/or feeding operations automatically by mechanical, electro-mechanical, electronic or like control means to effect the same smooth repeatable colour gradation along the length of the yarn.

Claims (23)

1. Claims:1. A method of manufacturing a single length of yarn including carding successive amounts of loose-dyed constituent fibres, said amounts being progressively smoothly varied as to their colour blends.
2. 2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising varying the colour blends in said amounts by weighing out varied proportions of differently-coloured constituent fibres thereof.
3. 3. A method of manufacturing yarn comprising making up amounts with varied colour blends by weighing out loose-dyed differently-coloured constituent fibres in varied proportions, feeding said amounts to a carding machine in a smooth progressively-varied colour blend sequence, condensing the carded fibres into slivers, and spinning the slivers into respective lengths of yarn each having the same smooth colour gradation along its length.
4. 4. A method according to claim 3, comprising the further step of twisting the spun lengths of yarn.
5. 5. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising making said amounts equal.
6. 6. A method according to claim 5, further comprising varying the rate of change of the colour blends in said amounts in direct relation to variations in the dimensions of a textile piece to be produced from the length of yarn.
7. 7. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the delay factor inherent in the carding process is employed to assist in controlling the rate of change of smooth gradation along the length of yarn.
8. 8. Yarn with a smooth colour gradation along its length.
9. 9. Yarn with a smooth gradation in shades of one colour along its length.
10. 10 Yarn with a smooth gradation of different colours along its length.
11. 11. Yarn manufactured by any one of the methods claimed in claims 1 to 7.
12. 12. A textile piece having a smoothly progressive colour change from top to bottom or side to side, said change being imparted by yarn from which the piece is produced having a smooth colour gradation along its entire length.
13. 13. A textile piece according to claim 12, wherein the gradation is provided at a varied rate of change directly related to variations in the dimensions of the piece occurring as it is produced.
14. 14. A textile piece according to claim 12 or claim 13, produced from a single length of yarn.
15. 15. A textile piece according to claim 14, produced by knitting.
16. 16. A garment at least part of which is a textile piece according to any one of claims 12 to 15.
17. 17. A kit for producing a garment assembled from a plurality of textile pieces comprising lengths, sufficient to produce the respective pieces, of yarn according to any one of claims 8 to 11.
18. 18. A method of carding enabling the manufacture of a single length of yarn having a smooth colour gradation along its entirety, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated by, the accompanying drawing.
19. 19. A method of manufacturing yarn, substantially as hereinbefore described.
20. 20. Yarn when manufactured substantially as hereinbefore described.
21. 21. A textile piece when produced substantially as hereinbefore described.
22. 22. A garment when produced substantially as hereinbefore described.
23. 23. A kit substantially as hereinbefore described for use in the production of a garment.