US3415185A

US3415185A - Method of penetration printing a fabric utilizing impact forces

Info

Publication number: US3415185A
Application number: US500696A
Authority: US
Inventors: James G T Paterson; Ashley P Smith; Bobby R Thrasher
Original assignee: Monsanto Co
Current assignee: Monsanto Co
Priority date: 1965-10-22
Filing date: 1965-10-22
Publication date: 1968-12-10
Anticipated expiration: 1985-12-10
Also published as: CH467675A; FR1497322A; DE1635391A1; NL6614943A; GB1166049A; IL26673A; LU52152A1; CH1529066A4; BE688434A

Description

Dec. 10, 1968 J. G. T. PATERSON ET AL 3,415,135

,METHOD OF PENETRATION PRINTING A FABRIC UTILIZING IMPACT FORCES Filed 001:. 22, 1965 FIG. 2.

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United States Patent Oflice 3,415,185 Patented Dec. 10, 1 968 3,415,185 METHOD OF PENETRATION PRINTING A FABRIC UTILIZING IMPACT FORCES James G. T. Paterson, Ashley P. Smith, and Bobby R.

Thrasher, Decatur, Ala., assignors to Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 500,696 8 Claims. (Cl. 101211) This invention relates to methods of printing and more particularly to methods of printing fabrics and other materials where a deep penetration of the coloring agent into the material is desired.

In some printing operations, a fabric to be printed is passed between a pair of embossed rolls which carry a coloring agent, the rolls being embossed in such a manner as to imprint a pattern of the coloring agent on the fabric. One of the disadvantages of this type of process is that the coloring agent is merely applied to the surface of the fabric, This is satisfactory in many cases, since in many fabrics only the surface of the fabric is visible. However, in the printing of carpeting material, this prior art process is not entirely suitable for the reason that color uniformity is not obtained unless the dye penetrates downward through the carpet pile. This result is very difiicult to obtain with embossed rollers. Further, the use of embossed rollers results in disarrangement of the carpet pile. In another type of printing, a thin screen is utilized, this screen having open spaces through which a coloring agent is applied by a roller or blade. The primary disadvantages of this system is that the coloring agent cannot be made to penetrate into the fabric and that for each color a different screen and an additional printing step must be used. With this in mind, one of the objects of this invention is to provide a novel and improved printing process.

Another object of this invention is to provide a process for dyeing a fabric or other material wherein the coloring agent penetrates deeply into the material.

A further object of this invention is to provide a printing process where a supply of coloring agent is subjected to an impact force to drive the coloring agent into material to be printed.

Another object of this invention is to provide a process for simultaneously printing several colors side by side to form a multi-colored pattern.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a process for dyeing a carpet wherein the dyeing agent is driven by impact downward through the carpet pile onto the carpet backing.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a process which is capable of pattern dyeing several layers of fabric simultaneously.

A further object of this invention is to provide a process for pattern dyeing a pile carpet without overly compressing or disarranging the carpet pile.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a process for printing a fabric in a pattern having several colors side-by-side on only one pass of the fabric through a printing zone.

Generally objects of the present invention are accomplished by positioning a supply of coloring agent in close proximity to a fabric to be dyed and then applying an impact force to the supply of coloring agent to drive it deep into the fabric.

In greater detail, a coloring agent is held by capillary attraction in a porous material which is placed in contact with the fabric or other porous material to be dyed. An impact force applied to the back side of the porous material drives the coloring agent deep into the fabric to be dyed. The fabric is then steamed and dried in a conventional manner. The porous material is made up of a plurality of small three-dimensional cells, each of which holds a small supply of the coloring agent. The cells are separated by flexible, impervious partitions, so that the coloring agent cannot move laterally under the impact force but is driven out of the cell and into the fabric.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent when the following detailed description is read in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which FIGURE 1 is a vertical cross sectional view showing in general one type of apparatus which can be used to carry out the process of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the dye-carrying portion of the screen used in the process of the present invention;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the face of a complete printing screen used in the present process;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view showing the arrangement of anvils which are used to apply impact forces to the back of the screen, and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged cross sectional view of a portion of carpeting material showing the results obtained by the process of the present invention.

Referring now in detail to the drawings there is shown in FIGURE 1 a carpet 11 having a backing 12 and a tufted pile 13 being supported on and advanced by an intermittently moved belt or table 14. A screen 17 rests on and is carried by or advanced with the moving carpet 11. The screen 17 is made of a porous material such as hard wool felt which is capable of receiving and holding by capillary attraction a supply of a coloring agent. This screen is disclosed and claimed in co-pending application Ser. No. 502,007, filed Oct. 22, 1965, in the names of James G. T. Paterson, Ashley P. Smith and James K. Sams of Printing Screen.

An anvil 18 loosely mounted for vertical movement in a plate 20 is positioned above the screen 17. Each time the carpet 11 stops in its intermittent movement the plate 20 is lowered to move the anvil 18 into contact with the screen 17 and then a hammer 19 applies a sharp impact blow to the anvil 18. The impact blow of the hammer 19 is transmitted through the anvil 18 to the screen 17. The impact force literally shoots the coloring agent from the screen 17 downwardly into the carpet 11.

The impact force applied to the screen 17 will drive the coloring agent through several layers of thinner fabric, if it is desired to print fabrics. The pattern on the bottom layer of fabric is substantially as clear and distinct as the pattern formed on the top layer of fabric.

The screen 17 is made up of a dye-impervious backing layer 21 to which is attached a plurality of porous, threedimensional cells 22. The backing layer 21 may be made of a rubber-like elastomeric material. The cells 22 are isolated from each other by dye-impervious partitions 23, these partitions being provided for preventing lateral movement of a liquid coloring agent from one cell to another.

It will be noted that the thickness of the cells 22 is substantial compared to the conventional printing screen where the coloring agent is merely applied through open spaces in the screen. The cells may be of any shape 1n cross section. However, it is easier to make the screen if a square or rectangular cross section is used. A preferred cell is x /s" in cross section. These dimensions may be varied but if a square cross section is used the cross sectional dimensions should, for best results, be kept under about /2". The reason for this is that lateral flow of the coloring agent (as it moves into the carpet) increases with cell size. Too large a cross sectional dimension will result in a blurred pattern. If pattern blurring presents no problem the cells may be made larger than /2".

The inertia of the screen 17 and the anvil 18 is such that when the impact load is applied by the hammer 19 there is. very little downward movement of the screen 17 and the anvil 18. This insures that the carpet pile is disarranged to a minimum extent. However, there is some downward movement of the screen and both the screen and the pile 13 are compressed to some extent by the impact force. The impact force may be applied to either the back of the screen or the back of the carpet.

FIGURE 3 shows a complete screen 17. This particular screen will print three colors on one pass through the impact zone. The screen is provided with

color areas

26, 27 and 28, each of these color areas being broken into three parts. Each part of each color area is made up as illustrated in FIGURE 2, all of the parts being held together by the backing layer 17.

In using the screen shown in FIGURE 3, the cells in each color area are filled with a liquid coloring agent. The screen is then placed face down on the carpet as illustrated in FIGURE 1. Impact forces are then applied to the screen 17 to drive the coloring agents into the carpet.

This results in a clear distinct pattern of three colors. Of course, any number of colors may be used. All of the colors will be printed on one pass through the printing zone.

FIGURE 4 is a plan view showing one arrangement of the anvils 18 which may be utilized to impact the entire back surface of the screen 17. It will be noted that, as the screen 17 and the carpet 11 are advanced intermittently past the anvils 18, the entire area of the screen 17 will be subjected, small portions at a time, to impact forces. The amount that the screen and carpet are moved on each movement is less than the width (along the line of travel) of the anvil 18. The depth of penetration of the coloring agent and the distinctness of the printed pattern has been found to vary inversely with the cross sectional area of the anvil l8 and directly with the intensity of the impact force. Thus, superior results are achieved by making the cross sectional area of the anvil 18 fairly small and by utilizing a large impact force.

Inasmuch as lateral flow of the coloring agent from one cell 22 to another is prevented by the partitions 23, it is not necessary to use gums or other thickeners in the color agent. However, gums, thickeners and other dyeing adjuncts may be used if desired.

The amount of wet pickup resulting when the present process is used is about 40% by weight of the carpet. In conventional systems the wet pickup is about 200%. It can readily be seen that this will result in lower costs in the subsequent processing of the fabric.

From the above it can readily be seen that this invention provides a process for penetration printing of carpets and other thick substrates as well as fabrics in several layers. The printed pattern is clear and distinct and extends from one side of the fabric clear through to the other side. By placing coloring agents of different colors in the ditferent cells 22, a color design of several colors can be printed side-by-side on one pass through a single printing zone.

It is to be understood that this embodiment may be amended or altered and that numerous other embodiments can be contemplated without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. The process of penetration printing a fabric, comprising positioning a plurality of supplies of a coloring agent of a predetermined color in close proximity to each other to thereby form a color area, said supplies being isolated from each other, said supplies each having a cross-sectional area no greater than /2 square inch, positioning said color area in contact with a fabric to be printed, and applying impact forces to the coloring agents to drive said coloring agents deep into the fabric.

2. The method of penetration printing a fabric, comprising assembling a plurality of supplies of a coloring agent of a predetermined color in close proximity to each other to form a color area, said supplies being isolated from each other, said supplies each having a cross-sectional area no greater than /2 square inch, positioning the color area in contact with a fabric to be printed, advancing the fabric and the color area along a predetermined path, and applying impact forces to said supplies as said supplies pass a predetermined point on said path.

3. The process of penetration printing a fabric, comprising positioning a plurality of supplies of liquid coloring agents in close proximity to form a color area having a predetermined pattern, said supplies each having a threedimensional configuration, said supplies each having a cross-sectional area no greater than /2 square inch, said supplies being laterally confined and isolated from each other, positioning the color area in contact with a fabric to be printed and applying impact forces to said supplies to drive the coloring agent deep into the fabric.

4. The process of penetration printing thin fabrics, comprising assembling a plurality of fabrics into contiguous layers, positioning a plurality of supplies of a coloring agent in close proximity to each other to form a color area, said supplies being isolated from each other, said supplies each having a cross-sectional area no greater than /2 square inch, positioning the color area in contact with the layers of fabric, advancing the color area and the fabric layers along a path, and sequentially applying impact forces to the supplies of coloring agent at a predetermined point on said path to drive said agent through the layers of fabric.

5. The process of penetration printing thin fabrics, comprising assembling a plurality of fabrics into contiguous layers, positioning a plurality of supplies of a coloring agent in close proximity to each other to form a color area, said supplies being isolated from each other, said supplies each having a cross-sectional area no greater than /2 square inch, positioning the color area in contact with the layers of fabric, advancing the color area and the fabric layers along a path, and sequently applying impact forces to the supplies of coloring agent at a predetermined point on said path to drive said agent through the layers of fabric.

6. The process of penetration printing a fabric, comprising positioning a plurality of supplies of coloring agent in close proximity to each other to form a color area, said supplies having three-dimensional configurations and being isolated from each other, said supplies each having a cross-sectional area no greater than /2 square inch, positioning the color area in Contact with the fabric, advancing the color area along a path, and applying impact forces to said supplies throughout a zone extending laterally across said path, each of said impact forces being applied in a small area of said zone, said small areas completely covering said zone.

7. The process of claim 6 wherein the color supplies are held my capillary action in a porous sheet, the supplies being separated by impervious portions extending through the porous sheet, said sheet having an impervious backing layer.

8. The process of claim 7 wherein the impact forces are applied to the backing layer of the sheet.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 351,355 10/1886 Bigelow 101-327X 659,535 10/1900 Lankford. 1,732,017 10/1929 Jenkins 101-327 X 2,339,199 1/ 1944 Smith. 3,180,256 4/1965 Kramer et al 101327 X 3,199,448 8/1965 Jaffa et al 101-423 3,280,740 10/1966 Balamuth et a1. 10l335 ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.

Claims

1. THE PROCESS OF PENETRATION PRINTING A FABRIC, COMPRISING POSITIONING A PLURALITY OF SUPPLIES OF A COLORING AGENT OF A PREDETERMINED COLOR IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO EACH OTHER TO THEREBY FORM A COLOR AREA, SAID SUPPLIES BEING ISOLATED FROM EACH OTHER, SAID SUPPLIES EACH HAVING A CROSS-SECTIONAL AREA NO GREATER THAN 1/2 SQUARE INCH, POSITIONING SAID COLOR AREA IN CONTACT WITH A FABRIC TO BE PRINTED, AND APPLYING IMPACT FORCES TO THE COLORING AGENTS TO DRIVE SAID COLORING AGENTS DEEP INTO THE FABRIC.