US2282169A - Decorated fabric - Google Patents

Description

May 5, 1942 G. R. CUNNINGTON I 2,282,169.

DECORA'I'ED FABRIC Filed Aug. 1, 1938 FIGA, 3i 0 s2 H m m w km FIGJI. 42

INVENTOR GEORGE R. CUNNINGTON A TTORNEYS disclosed herein.

Patented May i942- arren STATE-S PATENT names 1 I 2,282,169 I v I DECOBATED FABRIE George R. Cunnington, Grosse- Pointe Park,

Mich assignor to National Automotive Fibres, Erna, Detroit, Mich a corporation of Delaware Application August 1, 1938, Serial No. 222,552

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to a decorated fabric and more particularly to one which comprises a ply of flexible sheet-material and a ply of rubberous material permanently bonded thereto. 1

It is an object of the present invention to Provide a decorated material comprising a sheet of flexible material, such for example as a suitable fabric having a strip or area of predetermined outline of rubberous material attached to th dress face of said flexible material.

It is a further object of the present invention to decorate a fabric, or other flexible material,,

- material and simultaneously imparting a decorative effect to the exposed face of the rubberous material. 1

It is a further object of the present invention to provide decorated trim panels in which thin strips or areas of rubberous material are permanently bonded to the exposed face of the trim fabric. I

It is a further object of the present invention to form decorated material by the novel steps Other objects of the invention will be apparent as the description proceeds and when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, and wherein Fig. 1 is a view showing the initial or preliminary arrangement of parts employed in decorating an area of fabric;

Fig. 2 is a view corresponding to Fig. '1 in which the die member has been moved into engagement with the material;

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the trim panel manufactured according to the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a section indicating the initial or preliminary relationship of parts in the manufacture of trim panels according to the present invention;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail section illustrating the operation of the die member in trim panel decoration;

Figs. 5 to 9, inclusive, are detailed elevations illustrating various decorative eflects to be obtained by the present invention;

Fig. is a section on the line Iii-l0, Fig. 9;

Fig. 12 is a view of the elements shown in Fig. 11 after embossing and vulcanizing.

In my copending application Serial No. 210,034, filed May 25, 1938, I have disclosed a decorated fabric in which a decorative efiect is imparted claimed in the application above identified, al-- though it employs the same materials; namely,

a strip or area of rubberous material in combination with the fabric or other flexible material to be decorated.

I have illustrated the present invention both as applied to decorating sheet material, as for example a fabric, and as applied to decorating the upholstery fabric of an automotive trim panel. It will be apparent that in its broadest aspects this invention has a wide field of application, and in fact the field is limited only by the field of usefulness of the various fabrics or other materials which may be thus decorated. i have illustrated a decorated fabric in combination with a trim panel only as an illustration of one of the many applications of the present invention.

Referring now'to Figs. 1 and 2, I provide a flat table III which may be of any suitable material and may, for example, be formed of metal. In juxtaposition to the table I0, I provide a die member provided with a plurality of recesses l2 formed in-its generally flat forward face l3 and provided at its edges or around its periphery Fig. 11 is a fragmentary section illustrating I with short .knife edges l4. ll; have illustrated the 'die member II as attached to a suitable supportl5 which may take any convenient form.

The die member H is provided with suitable means for heating the same. These means may take any well known form, for example, electric resistance elements or, for example, the the II may be provided with a central conduit for the passage of steam or other heating fluid. The particular means for heating the die element form a part of the present invention, and in order to simplify the disclosure and because such heating means are familiar to those skilled in the art, none are illustrated.

In the manufacture of my improved decorated material, I place a sheet of material i6 on the table It. This sheet of material may be either a pile fabric or a fabric of any other desired dicated the material it as a fabric.

characteristics, or it may beartiiicial leather, or various compositions. Perhaps the widest field of application of the present invention is to use a flexible sheet material, but it w.ill be understood that decorations of the nature disclosed herein maybe imparted to various other materials, such, for example, as substantially rigid 'sheet material or, under proper circumstances,

to solid oblects- For purposes of illustration, however, I have in- In upholstery fabric ordinarily the fabric has a dress face which is intended to. be exposed in the upholstered article, and a reverse face. According to the teachings of the present invention, the dress face of the fabric, if the fabric is such that it has a dress fade, orinany event the face of the material which is to be exposed, is placed upwardly. Over this exposed or dress face of' the fabric is, I place a piece of rubberous material ll of sufiicient area and shape to cover the design tobe vulcanized and preferably to extend slightly therebeyond. This strip may be very varied between wide limits. The limiting factors normally as will further appear as the description proceeds are: The material must be of sufficient'thickness to permit complete filling of the recesses l2 in the die member; and the material should not be of excessive thickness due to cost restrictions. It may be stated at ous material i? may be selected from a large number of rubber stocks of various grades and colors, the requirements being that it be of a good grade of material, and preferably should 1 be a quick curing composition.

With the parts assembled in. the, relationship I illustrated in Fig. 1, the rubberous material and the die member H are brought into engagement 1 as by elevating the table it or depressing the support l5, or both. The die it is heated to a temperature sufiicient to cure the rubberous material I! in a relatively brief interval and atthe same time to insure vulcanization between the matej rial l1 and the fabric it. As illustrated in Fig. 2,

the knife edges M substantially sever the proj jecting portions of the strip or area 'of rubberous material. The application of heat and pressure f causes the 'ruberous. material l1 between the knife 3 edges to mold and flow, as indicated, so as to completely fill the recesses I2 of the diememher; The pressure is sufllciently greatand the face of the die member H and the rubberous material I1 imparts a glossy finish to the exposed The application face of the rubberous material. of heat and pressure, as above stated, is contained for suflicient time to insure substantial this time that the rubberthin, as, for example, on the order of .030 inch. However, as will be readily understood, the thickness of the ply of rubberous material Il may be heat is chosen so that the contact between the v vulcanization between the rubberous material and the fabric between the knife edges It.

The portions 18 of the rubberous material which are substantially severed by the knife.

edges M are not vulcanized to the fabric since there is no substantial application of heat or pressure to the-material. when the die is removed from the rubberous material the strips l8 may bedrawn away from,

the decorative design and due to the action of the knifeedges 14 this will leave the decorative del sign with a clear-cut ruled boundary.

As a result of this,

., decorated.

involves removing the padding material in long it will be evident that the action of the die member will force the rubberous material-down intov the pile, the pile will be forced-into the rubberous material, or forced down. In either case the pile adjacent to the rubberous material is not affected and the result of this, as will be apparent without illustration, will be that the pile will extend upwardly above the plane of the rubberous material. This imparts a richness to the decorated fabric and creates the illusion of padding back of the fabric.

In Fig. 3 I have illustrated an automotive trim panel 20 of conventional design which is' covered with an upholstery fabric 21, the fabric being decorated by vertical strips 22 of rubberous material.

The trim panel 20 illustrated in Fig. 3 is producedby a method very similar to that illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. However, the method is further illustrated in detail in Figs. 4 and 5., In these figures, a panel board 23' which may be of any suitable composition-is precut.to the form shown in Fig. 3. The face of this panel board which is to be exposed in use may-be covered if desired with padding material 26 which may take the form of cotton, blue wadding or any suitable resilient and preferably fibrous padding material. The'padding material is removed from areas of the panel board corresponding to the areas of the upholstery fabric which are to be In the illustrated embodiment this strips, as indicated by the numeral25 in Fig. 4, which corresponds to the strips 22. to be applied to the padding material, This padding material may be removed by any convenient method, or inthe event the padding material is of a selfsustaining form, such for example as blue wadding, the padding material may be precut to cover the separated areas shownin Fig. 3.

ing thedecorated upholstery trim panel is to I place upholstery fabric 27, which is preferably precut to a form corresponding to the form of the panel board, over the padding material 26 and reflecting the edges 25' about the edges of thepanel board. The edges 25' are then permanently secured to the back of the panel board 'as by a suitable adhesive-by tacking or the like.

. Following this, strips or areas of rubberous material 2 8 are placed on the exposed face of the upholstery material 21 in conformity with the areas to be decorated and hence in conformity with the areas from which padding material has been removed. For convenience in handling, if desired, this rubberous material may v be temporarily attached to the fabric as by separated spots of adhesive, or the like. This step may, of course, be omitted if desired. The panel board. and assembled elements are placed on a fiat table 29 indicated in Fig. 5, which is in juxta- In the event that the fabric |6 to whichthe rubberous material I1 is applied is a 'pile fabric,

position to a heated die element 3!) corresponding in all respects to the die member II shown in Fig. 1. As previouslydescribed, the die member may be heated by any convenient means. The table 29and support 3! for the diejmembe'r 30v are caused to approach with the result that the die 30 is forced against the rubberous mae trasting to the color of the fabric.

to obtain rubberous material for this purpose in tinued for a suiiicient time to cure the rubberous material 28 andto cause vulcanization between the rubberous materialand the fabric 21. Due to the fact that the rubberous material 28'is in surface'eontact with the die over its entire face, the surface of the strip 28 will be glazed so as to have, when completed, an attractive glossy appearance.

As in the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1-

and 2, the projecting substantially severed edge portions are not vulcanized to the fabric and may be removed with the result that a very accurately ruled edge is formed along the decorative rubberous material.

If the material 26 previously referred to, is also a rubberous composition, the application of heat and pressure will be continued long enough to insure vulcanization between the fabric and the material 26. If a suitable adhesive is used, the application of heatand pressure by the die member 30 need not be so long continued.

In both of, the embodiments just described it will be understood that the rubberous material may take any desired shape or form. For simplicity, I have illustrated merely straight parallel strips of material. However, it will be appreciated that the die members may be formed into any predetermined design so that the finished article may present various geometrical forms, pictures or indicia. It is desired to emphasize at this time the extreme flexibility of the method disclosed. In the past, decorative designs-have been imparted to fabric by sewing or the like. The cost of sewing fabric to decorative designs is prohibitive unless the sewing is a limited to straight line jobs. According to the teachings of the present invention the design imparted to thefabric may be of any size and shape, either regular or irregular, and the expense in time consumed in its manufacture will not thus be increased.

I have found that very attractive results are obtained when a rubberous material which is attached to the exposed face of the fabric is of a color either harmonizing with or strongly con- It is possible practically every color, and itis also possible to obtain various combinations of colors, such for example as a mottled rubber.

Due to the fact that according to the teachings of the present invention the rubberous material is forced firmly into recesses inthe die member, it will be apparent that the decoration will be characterized by extremely sharp delineations.

In Figs. 11 and 12 I'have illustrated a somewhat difierent embodiment of my invention which offers important advantages in economy. Since in the present invention the rubberous material is exposed to view and itself formsprimarily a decorative element, it is necessary that desired to obtain relatively large ridges in the completed design it would, according to the embodiments of the invention shown. in Figs. 1 and 4, be necessary to employ a relatively thick ply of rubberous material. I have found that equivalent results may be obtained by the following method: A relatively thick ply 40 of rubberous material may be positioned against the rear surface of a fabric or the like 4|, and a relatively thin ply 42 of high grade rubberous material may be placed against the exposed or dress face of the fabric 4|. The rubberous materials 40 and 42 will be preformed into areas corresponding to the decorative design desired and will be placed in registering relation relative to the fabric 40.

In order to increase the economy of the embodiment now being described, the rubberous material 40 may, if desired, contain a substantial quantity of filler. This filler may be of any suitable material, and simply by way of example I call attention to the fact that certain fibrous materials may advantageously be employed.

The parts assembled as shown in Fig. 11 may then be placed between a table and die exactly as shown in Fig. 1. The table and die will then be moved together to cause deformation of the exposed rubberous face in the predetermined design. This will result in a deformation of the parts, as best indicated in Fig. 12, where it will be observed that a substantial portion of the molding of the rubber takes place in the backing element 40 with the result that the exposed area of rubberous material 42 may be extremely thin. In this last embodiment, it may be desirable to apply heat to the material being acted upon si multaneously from the die and from the table member.

By way of example, I have found that entirely satisfactory results maybe obtained by employing a facing area of rubberousv material of a thickness of .010 inch in combination with a back ply of rubberous material having a thickness of .030 inch. Where a relatively expensive rubberous material is employed for the facing areas, .the

economy resulting from this arrangement is this rubberous material be of a good grade. If

obvious.

In Figs. 6 to 10 I have illustrated a number of different designs merely for the purpose of emphasizing the flexibility of my improved method. InFig. 6 I have shown a fragment of fabric 60 to which is vulcanized a strip 6| of rubberous material having a plurality of ridges or elevations 62 spaced by corresponding grooves or elevations 63. This figure illustrates the decorative appearance of the straight ruled edges 63 of the rubberous strip resulting from the present process.

In Fig. 7 I have illustrated a fragment of fabric 70 which has astrip of rubberous material "H vulcanized thereto. The strip H is bounded at its 'edges by ridges or ribs l2 separated by a generally flat area 73. The decorative effect is further enhanced by a plurality of circular ridges or risers it formed to project above the flat surface 13.

In Fig. 8 I have illustrated a fragment of on;

ric to which a strip of rubberous material 8! is vulcanized. The strip 8! has at its edges'upstanding ribs 32, a generally flat circular area 83 and circular upstanding rib 84, the circular rib 04 being connected to. the edge ribs 82 by diagonal ribs 85.

In Fig. 91 have illustrated a portion of fabric having a strip of rubberous material 9| vulcanized thereto. The strip of rubberous material 9| has at itsedges upstanding ribs 92 and intermediate its edges a multiplicity of sharp small projections as indicated at 93.

' In the designs illustrated in Figs. 6 to 9, the

' .exposed face of the rubberous material is in all instances smooth and lossy.

I have found that decorative materials formed according to the teachings of the present invention exhibits attractive decorative effects, and in addition, is characterized by the fact that the rubberous material is not easily soiled and, when soiled, may be readily cleaned.

The present disclosed method of decorating material, due to its flexibility, lends itself to schemes of decoration which have hitherto been impractical. In' the case of the decorated fabrics made according to the process illustrated in Figs.

, 1 and 2, thefabrics may be employed for'substantially any purpose. Among the many possible applications of this fabric are upholstery fabric for automobile cushions, covers for cushions, covering fabric for luggage, draperies, and many others which will sug'gest'themselves .to those skilled in the art. v

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness and understanding only,,and

no unnecessary limitation should be understood therefrom, but the appended claims should be construed as broadly as permissible in view of the prior art. 4 What I claim as my invention is: 1

l. The method of imparting a decorative eifect c to'a limited area of a fabric which comprises: applying a relatively thick ply of uncured rubber to the rear surface of said fabric opposite to the limited area to be decorated, applying a relatively thin ply; of uncured rubber to the front surface.

of said fabric over the limited areato be decorated and in registry with'said relatively thick ply of uncured rubber, subjecting said rubber to vulcanizing temperatures while applying pressure at a plurality of closely'spaced zones to the front face of said relatively thin ply of rubber suflicient to displace the rubber of said relatively thickply into raised risers intermediate the zones of pressure application thereby formingthe fabric be decorated and in registry with said relatively thick ply of uncured rubber, subjecting said rubber' tovulcanizing temperatures whilemolding the composite assembly with a die having a plurality of adjacent, closely spaced, shallow recesses from the front face thereof to mold the rubber of said relatively thick ply into risers, the said risers and their cover of fabric and thin rubber filling the shallow recesses of said die, thereby forming the fabric and thin ply of rubber into a relief design, and maintaining said pressure until vulcanization of said rubber is substantially effected.-

GEORGE R.-CUNNINGTON.

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