US1733938A - Method of making printed fabrics - Google Patents

Description

Oct. '29, 1929.

A. BURNS 1,733,938 I METHOD OF MAKING PRINTED FABRICS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 10, 1929 Fig.2.

lnvenTor. AlFred Burns byWwkM ATTys.

Patented Oct. 29, 1929 UNITED STATES PATEN'IF' orr cn ALFRED iBURNS, OF EASTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO WEST BOYIISTON MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF EASTI-IAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS METHOD OF MAKING PRINTED FABRICS This invention relates to the making of printed textile fabrics in which the des gn is printed on the warp prior to the draw ng of the warp into the loom, and 1t has forits general object to provide a novel method by which a one-piece fabric of substantially any desired width can be made from a single warp.

One familiar way of prlntmg a warp (the term warp in the textile art is commonly,

used as descriptive of a web of warp threads such as is drawn into a loom for the weav ng operation) is by means of a printing machine through which the warp is carried and which has printing rollers arranged to print the design on the warp as it passes through the machine.

For various reasons it is not considered practical to print a warp wider than about fifty inches and in order to weave a one-plece fabric wider than this from printed warps it has been proposed to print two warps and then arrange them side by side and wind them onto a warp beam in this relation. In doing this more or less difficulty is experienced in keeping the two warps properly matched so that when the wide fabric is woven from the combined warps the figure or design will be properly matched along the line where the two warps meet.

The present invention provides a novel method by which a single warp may be printed on an ordinary warp printing machine, and then manipulated so as to form a warp for a one-piece fabric of substantially any width. p One, way of carrying out the invention is to arrange the number of ends required to make a onepiece fabric of the desired width in the form of a warp which has a width such that it can be printed in the ordinary warp-printing machine designed for this purpose, and then to print on this warp a design which is distorted with relation to the final design which is to appear on the woven fabme.

After the warp has thus been printed with the distorted design or pattern the .ends or threads comprising the warp are rearrange-'1 warp of a width suitable for weaving a onepiece fabric of the desired width, durin which operation the distorted design whicfi has been printed on the warpthreads is restored to its normal shape and appearance. The warp in this condition is beamed and then drawn into the loom and a fabric woven therefrom in the usual way.

- By means of this invention it is possible to print at one operation a single warp which in its normal condition, that is, when it is beamed ready for the loom, is considerably wider than could be printed with any of the warp-printing machines now in common use.

In order to give an understanding of the invention I have illustrated in the drawings more or less diagrammatically some of the steps involved in the method.

F g. 1 is a diagrammatic view'illustrating a single warp which has been condensed transversely from its normal width and on which is printed the pattern in distorted shape, said figure showing said warp being restored to its normal width; and wound on a beam ready for the loom.

Fig. 2 is a side view of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 illustrates the appearance of the printed warp after it has been restored to its normal width and as it is ready to be drawn intothe loom. V

In the drawings 1 indicates a beam adapted to receive a wide warp 2, that is, a warp which is considerably wider than it would be possible to print at one operation in any of the warp printing machines now in common use. This eam might be either the war beam of a wide loom or any beam adapte to receive a warp.

I In carrying out my invention in accordance with the method illustrated in the drawing I first form a warp of the desired number of ends to make a one-piece wide any of the ordinary warp printing machines as to print on t now in common use.

In printing this transversely condensed warp the pattern is printed thereon in distorted form. In other words, the printing element of the printer, whether in the form of rolls or in the form of ablock, is so engraved or made that thedesign which is printed on the con densed warp is reduced in a direction transversely of the warp but not in a direction 1ongitudinally of the warp. A warp having a design of this nature prmted thereon is shown at 3 and is illustrated as being carried by a beam 4.

In order to illustrate this manner of printinfilthe warp we will assume that the design w 'ch is to. appear in the woven fabric comprises a series of circles 5 in the body of the warp and a border on each side comprising the V-shaped portions 6 connected by straight line portions 7. When this desgn is condensed transversely of the warp'the circles 5 will appear as ellipses while the V-shaped portions 6 will still appear as V-shaped portions but of less height. I

The printing1 element will be so designed e condensed warp the ellipses indicated at 8 and the distorted-V-sha'ped portions indicated at 9 in Fig. 1. The figures 8, shown as ellipses. in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, have the same dimension longitudinally of the warp as the circles 5 but their dimension transversely of the warp 'is, of course, less than the diameter of the circles. These elli ses thus represent circles distorted. Similar y, the V-shaped portions 9 1 of the transversely condensed warp 3 repre sent the V-shaped portions 6 distorted.

After the fabric is rinted with this distorted pattern the threa s or ends of the warp are then re-arranged so as to restore the pattern to its correct roportion and shape. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention this is accomplished by expanding the condensed warp 3 back to its normal width and then winding the warp when thus expanded onto the beam 1. As herein shown the warp in its condensed condition as shown at 3 is passed throu h suitable feedrclls 10 and then is carried t rough a comb or reed 11 which is so constructed as to give the ends of the warp their proper separation relative to each other. In other words, this'comb or reed 11 is such as to maintain the warp at the desired width.

The normalized warp is then/wound on the beam 1 which may be the warp beam of a loom or may be any other beam adapted to hold the warp. After the warp has been brought back into normal condition and has been wound on the beam 1, then it may be used for weaving a one-piece wide fabric in any usual way. The result is a wide one-piece fabric which is made from a single printed warp that has been printed on a warp-printprinting operation over what is involved in making a wide fabricfrom two warps separately printed and then arranged side byv side to produce the wide fabric.

A further advantage resulting from m improved method is ing operations. Where the entire warp for the wide fabric is handled as a single un1t rather than in sections there is obviously a savingin the beaming operations as well as in other textile operations.

In its broadest aspect my invention includes the printing on a warp a pattern in distorted form and subsequently re-arranglngthe threads of the warp to present the attern in correct or non-distorted form and t en beaming the warp with the threads in thelr rearranged normal condition with the pattern therein undistorted or normal.

While I have herein illustrated this method as being carried out by printing on a warp a pattern which is distorted in a direction transversely of the warp but not longitudinally of the warp and then expanding the warp transversely to bring the pattern back to its normal condition before the warp is finally wound on the loom beam, yet I do not wish to be limited to this particular aspect of the invention as 1 consider the invention broad enough to cover the idea of rinting a distorted pattern on a warp and t en re-arranging the threads of the-warp in any way necessary to present the design or pattern in non-distorted or normal condition and the subsequently weaving a fabric from the warp with the normalized pattern thereon.

The invention is adapted for use in making one-piece bedspreads, one-piece table covers, one-piece wide portieres, draperies or the like, or any other w1de one-piece fabric.

I claim:

1. The ste s in the process of making a printed fabric which consist in printing on the warp a design which is distorted in a dlrection transversely of the warp by having shortened transverse dimensions, re-arranging the ends of the warp so as to restore s'ald design to its normal transverse dimension and then weaving a fabric from said warp.

2. The steps in the method of weaving a printed fabric which consist in printing on a warp a pattern which is shorter in a direction transversely of the war than the normal pattern desired for the abric. expanding the warp transversely to bring the pattern back the saving in the beam- 4 to normal shape and then weaving a fabric from the expanded warp.

3. The steps in the process of weaving a printed fabric which consist in arranging a given number of warp threads in web form and in closer relation than is desired in the completed fabric, printing on said web a design which is distorted in a direction transversely of the web, expandin the web transversely to bring the design %Jack to normal shape and then weaving a fabric from said we 4. The steps in the method of making a printed fabric which consist in printing on v a warp a pattern in distorted form, rearranging the ends of the warp relative to each other to present the pattern in correct form, winding the rearranged ends onto a warp beam and subsequently weaving a fabric from said warp in any usual way.

5. The steps in the method of weaving a one-piece printed fabric which consists in providing a printing element which is constructed to print a design that is distorted with relation to the design desired in the completed fabric, printing a warp with said printing element, rearranging the threads or ends of the warp relative to each other so as to present the design in its normal shape, beaming the warp after the ends have been thus rearranged and then weaving a fabric from the warp in usual way.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

ALFRED BURNS.

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