JPH04173287A - Image printed and copied cloth - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an extremely sharp image or sufficient image density by printing or copying the image of a discrimination mark, a character, a picture or a photograph recorded in an optically readable manner on the surface of cloth mainly composed of two or more kinds of extremely fine fibers specifically different in shrinkage factor and having a sufficiently dense and smooth surface. CONSTITUTION:Image printed/copied cloth is formed by printing or copying the image of a discrimination mark, a character, a picture or a photograph recorded in an optically readable manner on the surface of cloth mainly composed of two or more kinds of extremely fine fibers with 1-0.001 denier having at least different shrinkage factors and having a sufficiently dense and smooth surface. The difference between the shrinkage factors of the extremely fine fibers is desirably at least 3% or more and, by providing different shrinkage factors, the cloth is easy to take the closest packing structure when shrinking treatment is applied to the cloth after formation to densify the same and the extremely dense cloth can be obtained without hardening the feeling of the cloth and special spaces are generated between mutual extremely fine fibers in spite of an extremely slight degree and the individual extremely fine fibers act each other effectively and the sharpness of an image can be enhanced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to image-printed/copied fabrics on which optically readable identification marks or images such as letters, pictures, photographs, etc. are printed or copied.

More specifically, the present invention mainly relates to a fabric having an optically readable identification mark recorded thereon or a sewn product to which the fabric is attached. Further, other fields of use mainly relate to fiber cloths on which images such as letters, pictures, photographs, etc. are clearly reproduced.

[Prior Art] It has already been proposed to copy letters, pictures, photographs, etc. onto fabrics such as woven or knitted fabrics.

For example, there is a method in which a sheet with a smooth surface is interposed between the non-printed surface of the fabric and the transfer electrode to directly transfer and print a toner image onto the fabric (Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-59547), and a method using sublimation dyes. A method of retransferring the sublimated dye onto the fabric by placing the transfer surface on a fabric and heating it above the sublimation temperature of the dye (Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-36771), Carrier Sea!・A method of applying static electricity to the fabric to bring the carrier sheet and the fabric into close contact with each other to transfer the print (Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 5
2-23939), improved toner for electrostatic images,
A product that can be dyed well on fabrics (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1983
--103433 Publication), and a device that considered the supply state of the fabric to be copied (Utility Model Publication No. 60-1
28354 Publication, Utility Model Publication No. 6: L-85465)
etc. have been proposed.

However, all of these proposals concern improvements to transfer methods, colorants, or post-processing of fabrics, and the fabric structure itself, which is the subject of copying, is generally not used as an optical recording medium at present. It was not an attempt to inspect and improve the images in order to obtain clear images similar to those obtained by copying onto paper or film. Therefore,
Such conventional techniques require extremely complicated processes and naturally limit the transfer efficiency of toner onto fabrics, which is the most problematic issue when copying images onto fabrics, resulting in images that are unclear. There have been problems such as problems such as high image density or not being able to obtain sufficient image density.

On the other hand, for example, PO3 (Point of 5ale
) In the distribution industry centered on systems, barcode symbols for identifying individual items are widely used. for example,
At stores, by reading the barcode, the need for manpower to enter the register can be omitted, and it is also used for inventory management or sales performance management to quickly grasp sales trends.

However, when trying to print identification barcodes on fabrics or sewn products such as clothing or bedding, there are problems with conventional fabrics such as unclear prints or low print (optical) density. There is a clear difference in the patterns obtained compared to paper or film, which are currently the most commonly used optical recording media. Since such print quality greatly affects the reading accuracy and/or reading error rate of optical reading devices, fabrics with optically readable identification marks have not yet been put into practical use. This is the actual situation.

There have also been proposals to obtain such identification marks by sewing or embroidering them into a desired pattern using embroidery thread (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 64-1-3575). In this method, the shape of the pattern edge is determined by the fineness of the embroidery thread, so there is a problem that the fineness must be made thinner, and furthermore, the equipment becomes complicated and the processing process takes a long time, which reduces productivity. There is a very big problem in this respect. Also, at each stage of distribution, tags are sometimes added to sewn products such as fabrics, clothing, and bedding that record the manufacturer, brand name, quality of materials, price, etc., but this is a very complicated process. It involved work.

Furthermore, as one type of business, for example, tags with identification barcodes etc. may be used for customer management, handling agency management, etc. in the cleaning industry or uniform rental industry, but in this case, the barcode If the tag could be used repeatedly, it would be extremely useful as it would eliminate the need for the complicated work of attaching the tag each time the tag is sent for cleaning.

As a solution to this problem, the present inventors have already proposed a fabric mainly composed of ultrafine fibers of 1 denier or less. By using such a fabric, it is possible to provide images such as letters, pictures, photographs, etc. clearly and stably, and furthermore, it is possible to obtain an optically readable mark recording medium that can be accurately read with almost no errors. It has reached this point. However, the demand for quality improvement is endless, and this is not enough. It is still desired to further improve the clarity and image density of such fabrics.

"Problems to be Solved by the Invention" In view of the problems of the prior art as described above, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a copying medium that has copying performance equal to or superior to paper and film conventionally used as copying materials. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image copying fabric having extremely clear images and sufficient image density.

Yet another object is to provide an optically readable identification mark-printed fabric having good print quality that can be read accurately with almost no errors.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The inventors of the present invention have conducted extensive studies on methods for improving the above-mentioned problems, and as a result, have finally completed the present invention. The present invention is achieved by having the following configuration.

That is, the image printing/copying fabric of the present invention has a
Identification marks or images such as letters, pictures, photographs, etc. recorded optically on the surface of a fabric that is mainly composed of two or more types of ultrafine fibers of at least 0.01 denier and having different shrinkage rates, and has a sufficiently dense and smooth surface. is printed or copied.

In addition, the image printing/copying fabric of the present invention preferably has two or more types of ultrafine fibers having different shrinkage rates, each of which does not form a group (i.e., is randomly dispersed and arranged to form a fabric). This is a characteristic feature.

Alternatively, the image printing/copying fabric of the present invention described above is
Preferably, the ultrafine fibers are made of at least two types of ultrafine fibers: a polyamide component and a polyester component.

In addition, the image printing/copying fabric of the present invention has an identification mark that is
It is characterized by being at least partially encoded in a barcode type.

Alternatively, the image printing/copying fabric of the present invention may include characters,
It is characterized by being a copy of an image such as a picture or photograph.

[Function] The image printing/copying fabric of the present invention will be explained in more detail below.

The image printing/copying fabric of the present invention is characterized by being mainly composed of two or more types of ultrafine fibers having at least 1 denier and different shrinkage rates, and having a sufficiently dense and smooth surface.

As a method for manufacturing ultrafine fibers made of two or more components with different shrinkage rates, ultrafine fibers with different shrinkage rates are manufactured separately using various conventionally known ultrafine fiber manufacturing techniques, Thereafter, by using various blending methods, the fibers may be mixed to form a fabric before being made into a fabric, or, for example, a split-release type fiber consisting of two components, A component and B component, may be manufactured, and then , divided by physical and chemical methods,
It can also be manufactured by peeling. In addition, for example, by using a three-component composite spinneret described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-49653, a method using polymeric mutual array fibers, which are sea-island type composite fibers, and in which the island component is It may be produced by a method using polymeric mutual array fibers composed of two or more components A, B. According to this method, spinning is easy, and the ultrafine fibers made of two components can be randomly dispersed and arranged without forming groups, and is the most preferred method.

In addition, 1 to 0 as used in the present invention. '00]-denier ultrafine fibers are not limited to circular cross-sectional shapes, but may be triangular, square, elliptical, polygonal, or irregular.

In the present invention, it is desirable that the difference in shrinkage rate of such ultrafine fibers is at least 3% or more. By creating a difference in the shrinkage rate of two or more types of ultrafine fibers, when the fabric is formed and densified by shrinkage, etc., the fabric tends to take on a close-packed structure, and the texture of the fabric becomes hard. A very dense fabric can be obtained without any problems. In addition, a special space is created between the ultra-fine fibers, although very small, and the fabric surface is configured not as an aggregate of ultra-fine fibers in close contact (contact), but as a non-integrated aggregate of ultra-fine fibers each having gaps. This allows each ultra-fine fiber to interact more effectively,
Image clarity can be improved.

The polymers constituting such ultrafine fibers may be a combination of polymers of the same type or a combination of polymers of different types. Among such polymer combinations, a combination in which one is polyester-based and the other is polyamide-based is particularly preferable because a soft and clear image can be obtained.

The fabric of the present invention is preferably composed mainly of such ultrafine fibers and has a denser and smoother fabric surface, but the fabric structure may be either woven or knitted. . Any conventional method may be used to form the woven or knitted fabric. For woven fabrics, plain weave, twill weave, satin weave, double weave or variable textures of these can be used, and for knitted fabrics, various knitting structures such as horizontal knitting and warp knitting can be used. can be used as appropriate.

In order to manufacture such a fabric, for example, in terms of fabric density, it is preferable that the fabric has a density of 80% or more of the close-packed structure. It is best to weave it as tightly as possible.

The density depends on the yarn used (total fineness of warp and weft yarns)
Although it is difficult to generalize, for example, in the case of using yarns of 50 denier for both warp and weft yarns, it is preferable that the weaving density area is 1°000 threads/cm2 or more, and more Preferably 2,000 trees/cm
2 or more, particularly preferably 3,000 or more lines/cm2. In addition, the total fineness of warp and weft yarns is 1-
00 denier or less, more preferably 75 denier or less. If the total fineness value is too large, it will generally be difficult to obtain a fabric with a dense and smooth surface.

After weaving such a fabric, by subjecting it to a shrinkage treatment, and more preferably to a multi-step shrinkage treatment, the printing efficiency of the colorant on the woven or knitted fabric becomes very good, resulting in a more extremely practical optical density and identification mark pattern. It is possible to obtain sharpness of boundaries, etc.

In the present invention, as mentioned above, ultrafine fibers of 1 to 0°001 denier are mainly used, and more preferably,
By using ultrafine fibers of 0.3 to 0.01 denier as the main material, and using two or more types of ultrafine fibers with different shrinkage rates, and then applying a shrinkage treatment, it is possible to create a fabric that is flexible but yarn-like. A fabric with very dense spacing, a cross-sectional structure with no visible gaps, and a smooth surface can be obtained. Furthermore, by applying appropriate external pressure treatment, such as press treatment, to the surface of the fabric, the arrangement of each ultrafine single fiber is flattened, resulting in more denseness and smoothness, and the effective transfer of the colorant. This is preferable because it provides a good surface condition.

Now, the identification mark recorded in an optically readable manner as used in the present invention is a bar code, OCR (Opfi-cal), etc.
The standards are particularly limited as long as it includes symbols such as Character + Recognition) or characters that display names, etc., and can be optically read and processed by any suitable reading device. isn't it.

Methods for recording such identification marks include electrophotography,
It may be a printing method such as a thermal transfer method, an inkjet method, or an electrostatic method, or it may be a printing method using a stamp or various plate materials (in the present invention, these are collectively referred to as printing), and ordinary printing methods may be used. It is much superior to fabrics using fibers, and can achieve printing quality that is equal to or superior to paper or film, which are currently the most commonly used optical recording media.

The fabric of the present invention may have an identification mark recorded on a small portion of the fabric, and may be used as a sewn fabric in which the fabric itself forms part or all of clothing products, bedding products, or various textile products. For example, it may be a narrow tape-like material that can be sewn onto sewn products such as clothing, bedding, etc., or attached by appropriate means such as fusing or needle-clamping. It may be in the form of a small piece that is used as a sewn product, or it may be used as a sewn product identification mark tag having the above-mentioned characteristics attached to an appropriate item.

In particular, by using a process-resistant transfer agent or ink, it can be usefully used, for example, as a tag for customer management or store management in the clothing or bedding cleaning industry, rental uniform industry, etc. It is also possible to bring about major changes in form.

In addition, copying as used in the present invention refers to the use of a colored sheet made of substantially solid powder to place letters, pictures, photographs, etc. on the object in addition to the above-mentioned identification marks. print or transfer the image (original image), or
In addition to copying the original image onto another object, it also includes electronic copying, such as printing data images and character data from a computer onto the object to be copied.
The term "electronic copying" includes all types of electronic printing methods such as electrophotographic methods, thermal transfer methods, and sublimation transfer methods.

In addition, when obtaining the image-printed/copied fabric of the present invention, when copying images (original images) such as letters, pictures, and photographs, the fabric is too flexible and may have poor runnability when subjected to the copying process. If there is a problem, use a cloth with a dense and smooth surface made of two or more types of ultrafine fibers as the copying surface, and use a composite with paper and/or film via an adhesive layer to fix the shape. integrated or coated and/or impregnated with a glue to form a composite structure;
Preferably, it is treated. In such cases, the paper and/or film may be removed from the fabric at an appropriate point after the copying process.
It may be separated, but in some cases it may be used as is.

In addition, the image printing/copying fabric of the present invention may be subjected to water/oil repellent treatment such as silicone-based or fluorine-based treatment, dyeing finishing treatment, coating or bonding treatment, impregnation treatment, or sewing before or after the printing/copying process. Of course, processing, water absorption, hydrophilic processing, etc. may be performed alone or in combination. Furthermore, patterns such as applying a resin with a low refractive index or making the surface uneven may be applied.

[Examples] Examples are shown below, but the validity of the invention and the scope of rights of the present invention are not limited or restricted by these Examples. Rather, it brings about the next application and development.

Example 1 A copolymerized polyester easily soluble in alkali was used as the sea component, polyethylene terephthalate was used as the first island component, and nylon-6 was used as the second island component.
By using a three-component composite cap as shown in Publication No. 49653, the island/sea component ratio is 90/10 and the number of islands is 7.
0 (36 prime numbers consisting of 1 island component, 34 prime numbers consisting of 2 island components, island 1 and island 2 are arranged alternately), 10 filaments, and a total fineness of 50 denier. Then, the yarn is made into a warp yarn,
Used for weft threads, 63 vertical threads/cm.

A high-density taffeta having a greige density of 41 pieces/cm was obtained.

Next, the sea component is dissolved and removed, and a shrinkage treatment is applied.
A dense fabric with an ultrafine single yarn fineness of 0.06 denier was obtained.

Thereafter, the fabric was treated under dry heat at 180° C. for 1 minute, then immersed in water and dried. Fabrics made of ultra-fine fibers have become even more dense.

The weaving density of the fabric is 80 threads/c each in the vertical and horizontal directions.
m, 52 lines/cm, density product 4.16Q lines/cm2
It has a very dense and smooth surface.

Next, the fabric was printed with J using an inkjet printer.
JAN (Japanese Ar
A barcode was printed.

For comparison, a fabric made of one component of ultrafine fiber was obtained by performing the same treatment as in the example except that polyethylene terephthalate was used as the second island component, and a barcode was printed in the same manner as in the example. A similar barcode was also printed on PPC paper (high-quality paper) used as general copy paper. The printing performance was evaluated by magnifying these printing results using a stereomicroscope.

The prints on the fabric of the present invention, which is made of two components of ultrafine fibers with different shrinkage rates, were very clear and were much better than the fabric made of a single ultrafine fiber. Furthermore, the clarity was equal to or better than that printed on high-quality paper.

Furthermore, there were no problems in reading inspection using a code symbol verifier.

In addition, when both island 1 and island 2 components are polyethylene terephthalate components (in this case, ultrafine fibers containing polyethylene terephthalate component alone are obtained), and when island 1 and island 2 components are both nylon-6 component alone, each When composite fibers obtained by spinning under the same conditions as in the above example were treated with a high-temperature weak alkaline aqueous solution to dissolve and remove sea components and to form ultrafine fibers, the shrinkage rate of each fiber in boiling water was 8. ，
The shrinkage rates were 5% and 15%, and the shrinkage rates were significantly different between the polyethylene terephthalate ultrafine fiber and the nylon-6 ultrafine fiber.

Example 2 A thermoadhesive film was layered on a fabric obtained in the same manner as in Example 2, and the fabric and film were laminated and integrated by heat pressing using a calendar roll at -4-5°C. .

EC manufactured by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. using the color test chart created by the Institute of Image Electronics Engineers as the original image.

Copies were made using a 10-inch color copier. After copying, the film and fabric were separated.

The fabric and PPC paper used as a comparison in Example 1 were also subjected to the same copying operation.

A comparative evaluation of the copying processability and copying performance of these copying materials revealed that the image clarity and image density were several orders of magnitude better than those made of single microfiber fabric, and the copying performance surpassed that of PPC paper. Met.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, by making the fineness of the constituent fibers sufficiently thin and forming a high-density, precise, and smooth surface, it is possible to achieve accurate results with almost no errors. can be read by an optical reader,
It is possible to achieve an optically readable mark recording fabric with excellent durability, and it also has copying performance that is equivalent to or superior to conventional paper or film in terms of clarity and image density for images such as text, pictures, and photographs. We were able to achieve image printing/copying fabric with the same characteristics.

If the image printing/copying fabric of the present invention is used, for example, as an optically readable mark recording fabric, it can bring about a major change in all textile-related distribution industries. Inventory and sales performance management for all sewn products such as clothing or bedding that records classification classification in the processing process, manufacturing date, manufacturer, product item, color pattern, size, washing method, store code, price, etc. Alternatively, it can be effectively used for customer management in the cleaning industry or uniform rental industry. In particular, it can be preferably used for customer management in the cleaning industry and the uniform rental industry because it does not cause misrecognition and has excellent durability.

In addition, as another example, since various pictures, letters, photographs, etc. can be easily and stably copied, for example,
Personal items such as patches, handkerchiefs, wrapping cloths, maps, flags, posters, leaflets, magazines, dictionaries, handicraft cloth, general clothing such as T-shirts, polo shirts, sportswear, blouses, suits, and dresses, as well as curtains and walls. It can be effectively used as an indoor and outdoor decorative material such as a covering material.

Patent applicant Higashi Shikikai Co., Ltd.

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) Identification marks or characters recorded optically on the surface of a fabric that is mainly composed of two or more types of ultrafine fibers of 1 to 0.001 denier and having at least different shrinkage rates, and has a sufficiently dense and smooth surface. An image-printed/copied fabric characterized by printing or copying images such as , pictures, photographs, etc. (2) The image printing method according to claim 1, characterized in that the fabric is composed of two or more types of ultrafine fibers having different shrinkage rates, which are randomly dispersed and arranged without forming groups. Copy fabric. (3) The image printing/copying fabric according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the ultrafine fibers are composed of at least two types of ultrafine fibers: a polyamide component and a polyester component. (4) The image printing/copying fabric according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the identification mark is at least partially encoded in a barcode type. (5) The image-printed/copied fabric according to claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein an image such as a character, a picture, or a photograph is copied.