US1495141A - Blanket and process of manufacturing blankets - Google Patents

Description

Patented May 20, 1924.

UNITED STA ES PA 1 O FIC ROBERT AMORY, nrL'rom'iunssllofiusn'rrs, Asswiv'oa To 'NASHUA nalivnrno'run- I me COMPANY, OF NASHUA, NEW HAMJPSHIRE, A CQRIQRATION on NEW; HAMIP- SHIRE.

No Drawing.

trade as woolen blankets 'but which includea substantial percentage of cotton. I

It is the general commercial practice to produce designs in blanketsentirelyby the weaving process, using yarns madeixfrom dyed cotton or wool or'yarns'which have been dyed in the yarn. "Designs consisting essentially of checks and stripes are produced economically by "this process, but other designs involving irregular figures of any kind, such as the so-called Indian or floral designs, and infants blankets bearing figures or rabbits, chickens,"k ittens, etc., must be'made through the use of the jacquard mechanism or dobby attachment. Consequently, such blankets-are much more expensive blankets to manufacture.

It has always been considered impossible to print designs o'nblankets'for the reason that the fabric has been considered ftoo heavy to print' through and the"dup lex printing machine, which "prints"onfb'oth sides, is a very difficult, and expensive machine to operate, besides being tremendously expensive to build in the size I that itqwould be necessary for a blanket. Furthermore,

it has been considered impossible to obtain a satisfactory registration of the designby duplex printing ona blanket fabric due to the peculiar nature of this material." still further objection to the printing of cotton blankets has been the obvious difficulty in making the printingink penetrate the heavy blanket I fabric uniformly especially without first giving the fabric some special treatment, such as bleachingfto-promote penetration. This treatment spolls the feel of the blanket and reduces the heat insulation value due to'the matting offibers.

BLANKET AND rnoonss or MnNUrAcrUnINe B ANKE'rs. Y

Application filed June 11, 1923. Serial in; 144,803.

Usually blankets are not given such treatment; the plain white blankets being Woven in the gray, i. e;, from stock which has not been bleached and which does not'present a pure White color: but has a creamy or grayish tint. This color is entirely satis-,

factory for blankets although it would not be suitable vfor making other goods. The

bleachingor other treatment of the fabric to facilitatepenetration of .the ink or color would further be objectionable because of the increased-expense of manufacture and the additional equipment that would be required. 1 l

1 It is the chief object of' the present invention todevise an entirely ractical process of manufacturing printed 'la'nkets. The invention also involves a nb-velblanket.

1 The nature of'the invention will be readily understood from the followingdescrip- -tion, and thenovel features will be-particul'arly pointed out in the appendedclai ms. Preliminary to adetailed description of "the present process it should be noted that not be strong enough to standthe process of weaving? Therefore, the characteristics of the cotton-blankets are determinedv largely by the natureof "the materials which is napped; the warp yarn being simply aframe work to hold the napped filling together. In blankets:composedlargely of wool the warpiyarn can be looselytwisted and, ow

ing" to the longer .fibers of' wool, be strong enough to stand' weaving so that the nap 7 occurs both on warpand filling.

No change whatever in theusualprocess of manufacturing 'a plain blanket is required by'the present invention up to the point of completion of the weaving operation.

"Usually" plain white/blanket fabric is woven, the stock of :which the blanket is made being unbleached or Thewebof blanket fabric, whileunnapped, is next printed on one side with the aid of any convenient "form of printing apparatus, the 1 design? being .applied,-'however,- 1 through in the gray.

5 After the printing 'operation'ahas the use of an' unusu ally l-argequantity v of ink .so*th at the ink'will penetrate vdeeply into the fabric. This printing operation preferablyis performed in a rotary machine Y sothat the" operation is continuous, the design being engraved on a roll to which ink is supplied in the usual manner, and the fabric being pressed against the engraved roll or printing roll by a suitable pressure roll. No change is requireddn the usual printing machines for this purpose except that the mach.ines=-must =-be unusually large in order' to handle fabric; of theregular blanket Width; the printing :roll mustbe equal in circumference to the lengthof a blanket if acomplete individual design for each blanket: is required, and the engraving should be cut'unusually deep so that a 'much greater quantity 'of ink :Wlll be applied to the goodsithan 'is usual in the ordinary printing processes. Thei'nk, of course. may be ofEany' suitable characterm 7 been completed the-fabric isdried and'the color 1s set in any usual or convenient manner,

no change ini'tlie regular'printingpractice being re'quiredin this respectexceptthat a somewhat longer drying period. may-be necessary since the fabric isyery' heavy.

'a After 'these operations 'havey'beenxcompletedthe ffabric presentsa'very good appearance ony-the"printed sidef the design being 1 clear and distinct, but the unprinted side presents an exceedingly unsatisfactory appearance since the ink zdoes not-penetrate through to theda'tter side-evenly and; consequentl'y, this side of the goods has a very blotchy appearance. I have *foundyhowever, that:if the-pririted fabri'd'is how napp'ed on both sides; this'napping operation produces the "surprising resultofdrawing through to? the unprinted side. of the fabric sufficient fibers which have: been' col- :ored-by the printing ink to: reproduce the 'desi-gn clearlyfion this side :of' the goods.

Consequently, when; the napping operation has'been completed the blanket presents sub- 'stantially the "same 'appear-ance f onboth iSlClS." I 9' i -rJa' This processthus -prod-uces a; blanket which isespleasing in appearance andqas "serviceable as blankets made by prior ,processes; but at a substantial reduction in manu facturing eXDense-QThis is =particularly true of figured designs, such as those hereiii'be- 'forementioned." and which must be produc'ed according'to prior processes through the use of ajacquard mechanism or dobby' attachment. It isobvious that an endless'varie'ty of designs can be made according .to this process, and "that color-effects can'befiproduced a Whicliit would be sveryftdilficultrfor Y impossible toi'o'btain byweavingprocessesm' In the manufacture of'totton' blankets I have found it preferable rto; maketheifilling :types are IIIHChISl'lOItGI in staple-than the American type while the Peruvian is long but has the same curly-and harsh characteristics r 'Ij-fil'ld'llhtll] this Asiatic cotton has the property of" absorbinginkmore' readily than unnappd blanket fabricpin which-Asiatic cottonpredominates, is printedain the. manner .abovedescribed. the -i'iikfi'penetrates "ufell through? the fabric and a cleaner, cutdesign American cottons Consequently, when "an 1 is'iproducedion the unprinted sidevot the blanket and much more satisfac'tory"resul ts are obtained than when American -01" Egyptian cotton predominates lll bllGz'COIIlposition of the blanket. t

I have found that. the printing be'cut much more deeply so asvtohold a very great amount of inkbec'arise the soft twist Asiatic cotton absorbs; the ink so readily It is entirely feasible' however to manufacture blankets according to this proci essfrom .the Americantype of cotton.

' Ihavewfound it entirely practical to manufacture'blanltets on a commercial scale by the process above described, andqto produce goods which please-the'trada The; design on one side of the blanket must register accurately with. that on the other side dueto .the fact thatthe blanket is printed originally on one 'sidewonly, the design-"then being rolls can Q-ii reproduced 7 on 'the other side fbydfawing through colored fibers .to the unprinted side in the napping" of-the goodsf -Results which have heretofore been considered utterly impossibleby any printingv process'thus are rprod'ucedby. the process above described,

andthe blankets compare very favorably in every respect with those which couldbe produced heretofore -only' through the use .of jacquard mechanisms. blanket fabric'or;

Eblanketingis sometimes used. for otherpurposes thanrforsbla'nkets, but the particular use-made of the fabric-is immaterial so fair as theipresent invention is concerned'and such fabrics are herein designated as blankets.-

Having thus described my That improveme'nt'i'n'the' process of inanu'facturi'ng :blankets gWl'l'lClI consists in weaving a blanket fabric, printing a design 011'? one" side onlyof saidwfabricfibefore the oppositesi'ol'e ofs'aid fabric has been napped,

applying sufficient quantityof: ink to-the fabricin-performing said printing operation .t0- .cau$ the ink; toi p n ra h fa rict ainvention, What such a depth that upon napping the fabric on the unprinted side, fibers colored by the ink will be drawn through to the unprinted side in such abundance as to reproduce the design clearly on said unprinted side, and subsequently napping the printed fabric on 7 said unprinted side.

2. That improvement in the process of manufacturing blankets which consists in weaving a plain blanket fabric in the usual.

4 forming said printing operation to cause the ink to penetrate the fabric to such a depth that upon subsequently napping'the fabric on the unprinted side, fibers colored by the ink will be drawn through to the unprinted side in such abundance as to reproduce the design clearly on'the unprinted side, and subsequently napping the printed fabric on both sides. 7 i

3; That improvement in the process of manufacturing cotton blankets which consists in weaving a blanket fabric from a stock, the greater part of which consists of Asiatic cotton, printing a design on one side only of said fabric, applying a sufficientquantity of ink to the fabric in performing said printing operation to cause the ink to penetrate the fabric to such a depth that upon napping the fabric on the unprinted side, fibers colored by the ink will be drawn throughto the unprinted side in such abundance as to reproduce the design clearly on said unprinted side, and subsequently nap,

ping the printed fabric on both sides.

4:. That improvement in the process of manufacturing blankets which consists in weaving a blanket fabric, printing a design on one side only of said fabric, performing said printing operation continuously, applying a sufiicient quantity of ink to the fabric in performing said printing operation to cause the ink to penetrate the fabric to such a depth that upon napping the fabric on the unprinted side, fibers colored by the ink will be drawn through to said unprinted side in such abundance as to reproduce the design ,1

clearly on said unprinted side, drying the fabric after'it has been printed, and then napping the printed fabric on both sides.

5. A blanket consisting of a heavy napped fabric bearing a design printed on one side thereof only but reproduced on the opposite side of the blanket by fibers of the nap colored during the printing of the first side and drawn through to the unprinted surface of the fabric. 7

6. A cotton blanket consisting of a heavy woven fabric, the filling of which consists mainly of Asiatic cotton, said fabric being napped on both sides and having a design printed on one side only thereof, said design being reproducedon the unprinted side by fibers of the nap which have been colored by the printing ink and drawn through to the unprinted side of the fabric.

ROBERT AMORY.