US3422512A

US3422512A - Method of modifying the appearance of a pile fabric

Info

Publication number: US3422512A
Application number: US532690A
Authority: US
Inventors: Marvin A Law
Original assignee: Fieldcrest Mills Inc
Current assignee: Fieldcrest Mills Inc
Priority date: 1966-03-08
Filing date: 1966-03-08
Publication date: 1969-01-21
Anticipated expiration: 1986-01-21

Description

M. A. LAW 3,422,512

METHOD OF MODIFYING THE APPEARANCE OF A FILE FABRIC Jan. 21, 1969 Filed March 8. 1966 SHEARMQ +kamsmq bkvmq COMPRESSM Pl LE- PASTE- Pmwrmq MARVIN A. LAW. B MJWWM A'I'IORNEYS United States Patent 3,422,512 METHOD OF MODIFYING THE APPEARANCE OF A PILE FABRIC Marvin A. Law, Spray, N.C., assignor to Fieldcrest Mills, Inc., Spray, N.C., a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 8, 1966, Ser. No. 532,690 US. Cl. 26-16 2 Claims Int. Cl. D06c 23/00; D06c 23/02 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method of enhancing the appearance of a pile fabric wherein a printing paste is applied thereto in a decorative pattern, with the printing paste containing an adhesive constituent for restraining the printed portions of the pile at a lower level than the remaining pile upon the fabric being subjected to a pile compressive force in conjunction with the printing thereof. Thereafter the non-printed portions of the pile fabric extending above the printed portions are sheared, after which the adhesive constituent is removed permitting the non-sheared printed areas to extend above the sheared portions to form a colored pattern in relief.

This invention relates to pile fabrics and, more particularly, to a novel method of modifying the appearance of a conventionally formed pile fabric, such as terry fabric, to obtain design areas.

In certain pile fabric products, such as towels of terry fabric, it has been desirable to produce clearly defined intricately configured design areas, which include for example low cut pile and high loop pile. Methods to produce fabrics including such design areas and the products of those methods are known, but have relied upon the use of special weaving methods or special characteristic yarns woven into the pile fabric at the time of formation. Production of fabrics having a design defined by areas of different colors of pile congruent with a design defined by areas of high :and low or loop and sheared pile has been particularly difficult.

It is an important object of this invention to provide a method of economically modifying a conventionally formed or produced pile fabric having at least one pile surface to obtain Jacquard-type decorative motifs defined by areas of high or 100p pile and areas of low or sheared pile in the modified pile surface or surfaces of the fabric. More particularly, the method of this invention may be applied to a conventional pile fabric, such as a terry fabric, to produce thereon an intricately configured design including areas of pile as described which is congruent with a design including areas of pile of different colors.

A more specific object of this invention is to provide a method of modifying a pile fabric to produce thereon a decorative pattern of the type described wherein certain groups of piles of the pile surface are subjected to the application of a paste having an adhesive characteristic and to the application of a pile compressive force to reduce the height of the certain piles so that those piles define the decorative pattern and are adhesivcly restrained or held at reduced height by the paste during the shearing of protruding upper end portions of other piles on the pile surface. The groups of piles subsequently are permitted to extend higher than they did during the shearing to produce high pile, by being released upon being subjected to a treatment which modifies the adhesive characteristic of the paste.

Some of the objects and advantages of this invention having been stated, other will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which- FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of one pile surface of Patented Jan. 21, 1969 "ice a towel exemplifying one form of pile fabric produced in accordance with the method of this invention;

FIGURES 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D and 2B are schematic sectional views representing successive stages or steps in the method of the present invention, and being taken substantially along the line 2E-2E in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a schematic perspective view of an apparatus useful in practicing the method of this invention; and

FIGURE 4 is a flow chart diagram of certain steps of the method of this invention.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, the fabric of the towel shown in FIGURE 1 and indicated generally at 10 is exemplary of a pile fabric having a decorative pattern thereon which may be produced in accordance with the present invention, as described in greater detail hereinafter. The fabric is originally formed from pile yarn or yarns which are conventional, and which preferably are susceptible to receiving colored printing paste.

Terry pile fabric has been chosen as a suitable form of pile fabric to be used for illustrative purposes, and a terry pile fabric having pile surfaces on both sides thereof has been chosen as such a fabric is usually employed in the manufacture of towels. Terry fabrics :are usually, but not always, woven with terry pile of uniform height and, therefore, this invention is important for obtaining variable height pile surfaces on terry fabrics which are woven with piles of uniform height. It is to be understood, however, that the method of the present invention is not limited solely to terry pile fabrics or to pile fabrics having pile surfaces on both sides thereof, but that the method of this invention may be applied to pile fabrics of various types and constructions.

The terry fabric used in the towel 10 (FIGURE 1) provides an aesthetic effect in that a decorative motif appears in the pile surface which includes areas of high loop pile and areas of low sheared or cut pile. In accordance with the method of this invention, a terry pilefabric having pile surfaces on both sides thereof may have decorative motifs appearing on the two pile surfaces which are dissimilar or similar as may be chosen and as will be pointed out in greater detail hereinafter. The decorative motif for the exposed pile surface of the towel 10 is a pattern of diamonds 11 appearing against a background 12, although it is to be understood that the decorative motif may take any of a variety of other configurations. As indicated, the decorative motif on the pile surface of the fabric (FIGURE 1) is defined against a background 12 of low cut pile by areas of high loop pile defining the diamonds 11.

The steps of modifying a conventional pile fabric to produce the fabric used for the towel 10 may best be described with reference to sectional views of the fabric in various stages of manufacture (FIGURES 2A-2E), taken looking in the Warpwise direction of the fabric of the towel 10 (FIGURE 1).

In modifying a pile fabric in accordance with the method of this invention, and particularly in producing a terry pile fabric such as used for the towel 10 of FIG- URE 1, a base fabric 20 (FIGURES 2A2E) is formed by interweaving ground warp and filling yarns while simultaneously interweaving pile yarns with the base fabric to project from the two sides thereof and form surfaces of pile 21. As stated above, the yarns used may be any conventional yarns, and it is preferred that the pile yarns be susceptible to coloring agents which may be a constituent of a colored printing paste. As shown in FIGURE 2A, the fabric preferably is woven with terry pile 21 of uniform height.

In order to develop a decorative pattern, such as the diamonds 11 on the towel 10 of FIGURE 1, certain groups of piles or pile areas of one pile surface of the fabric are subjected to an application of paste having an adhesive characteristic, and the certain piles are selected to define the chosen decorative pattern. In producing fabric for the towel 10, groups of piles define the diamonds 11 (as indicated by bracketed areas in FIGURES 2A-2E). Where a printing apparatus such as for screen printing is employed in practicing the method of this invention, as is preferred, the groups of piles are determined by the permeable areas of a screen 22 through which paste 24 is pressed or extruded by a squeegee means 25 during the printing operation while other piles (such as those in the background 12) are shielded or protected against the application of paste by the masked or impermeable areas of the screen (FIGURE 28).

The groups of piles are also subjected to the application of a pile compressive force, to substantially uniformly reduce the height of those piles. Due to the adhesive characteristic of the paste on the groups of piles, those piles are adhesively retained or held at reduced height by the paste subsequent to the removal of the force and will define at this intermediate stage of the method the chosen decorative pattern appearing (FIGURE 2C) as pasted down low piles 11 against a background of high piles 12, the upper end portions of which, not having been subjected to an application of the paste, protrude above the reduced height of the certain piles.

Where a screen printing apparatus is used for the application of paste, as preferred, the aparatus may employ either a blade or roller squeegee means 25 to force the paste 24 through the screen 22 having permeable and impermeable areas which determine the decorative pattern. Apparatus employing a roller type squeegee typically operates with a relatively high force being applied to the roller squeegee to force the paste through the printing screen, and such a force will serve to substantially uniformly reduce the height of the piles during the ap plication of paste. Thus, in such apparatus Where a high force is applied, the application of pile compressive force to one group of piles occurs concurrently with the application of paste to that same group.

Inasmuch as the downward force required and typically employed with the blade-type squeegee is less than the downward force applied to a roller-type squeegee, the force applied to the group of piles during the application of paste with an apparatus employing a blade-type squeegee is not always such as to substantially uniformly reduce the height of the piles. Accordingly, where a blade squeegee apparatus is employed, or where a roller squeegee apparatus is employed with low force being applied to the squeegee, an adequate pile compressive force must be otherwise provided for. This may be done by subsesuent application of an adequate force, and preferably is done by passing the fabric having paste thereon through the nip of a suitable pair of rolls, as will be further described hereinafter. Where the fabric is thus passed through a pair of rolls, the application of force to one group of piles is subsequent to the application of paste thereto. Should such a pair of rolls be used in conjunction with a roller squeegee, force is applied both concurrently with and subsequent to the application of paste to one group of piles.

In accordance with this invention, a decorative pattern on the pile surface of a fabric, such as the towel 10 of FIGURE 1, may be defined not only by high and low piles or loop and sheared piles but be further defined by color variation between the groups of piles and other piles, with the pattern defined by colors being congruent with that defined by other pile appearance variations. To produce such congruent patterns, the paste applied to the groups of piles is a colored printing paste. In any event, the paste applied has an adhesive characteristic by virtue of the inclusion therein of an adhesive constituent, suitable for holding or adhesively restraining the groups of piles 11 at reduced height subsequent to the removal of the pile compressive force (FIGURE 2D) to cause the piles to define a decorative motif while upper end portions of other piles 12 protrude above the groups of piles 1 1. Suitable materials for use as an adhesive constituent include polyvinyl alcohol and methylcellulose, but other adhesive materials may be satisfactory for use as an adhesive constituent provided that certain requirements are met as hereinafter described in greater detail.

In order to modify the fabric to provide areas of varying pile appearance, the pile surface including the groups of pile 11 which are held at a reduced height by the paste while upper end portions of other piles 12 protrude above the groups of piles is thereafter sheared in any suitable manner to remove the protruding upper end portions and form sheared pile. The fabric, or at least the certain piles, is then subjected to treatment to release the groups of piles and permit those piles to extend to a higher level than they did during the shearing, preferably to a higher level than the low other piles. The treatment to which the groups of piles are subjected may be any treatment which will modify the adhesive characteristic of the paste applied to the groups of piles '11 and thereby releasethe piles from adhesive restraint. Where polyvinyl alcohol is used as an adhesive constituent in the paste, a suitable treatment may be obtained by Washing the fabric or at least the groups of piles with water at a temperature of at least F., to remove the polyvinyl alcohol. Where the paste includes methylcellulose as an adhesive constituent, the adhesive characteristic thereof may be modifled by wetting the fabric or at least the groups of piles with ethyl acetate to remove the methylcellulose.

While the method of this invention may suitably be practiced with a variety of apparatus or equipment, one type of apparatus found satisfactory has been schematically illustrated in FIGURE 3. There, an indeterminate length of conventional terry fabric 30 as described above may be fed to a printing, and compressing apparatus, indicated generally at 31, from a suitable source such as a supply roll 32. The fabric 30 may be supported upon a work table 34, and transported or indexed through one or more printing work stations. At each printing work station, such as the station indicated generally at 35, a design carrying silk screen 36 may be lowered in contact with the upwardly facing pile surface of the fabric 30, and a paste as described above applied through matrix openings in the screen by means of a squeegee 38. The screen may then be lifted, and the fabric 30, including groups of piles 39 to which paste has been applied, further transported or indexed to be passed through the nip of a pair of rollers 40, 41. The rollers 40, 41 are resiliently urged together to apply a pile compressive force to the piles of the fabric 30, to substantially uniformly reduce the height of at least the groups of piles 39 to which paste has been applied at the printing work station 35. As briefly outlined above, where the printing work station 35 includes a roller squeegee 38 which applies paste at relatively high pressure, the pile compressive force developed and applied by the roller squeegee 38 may be adequate to substantially uniformly reduce the height of at least the groups of piles as required by the method of this invention. In such an instance, the pair of compressive rolls 40, 41 are not required may be dispensed with.

Subsequent to the applications of paste and pile compressive force, and While the certain piles are held at a reduced height by the paste, fabric 30 is passed to a shearing work station, indicated generally at 42, at which the protruding upper end portions of the other piles 12 of the pile surface are removed. The shearing work station 42 includes suitable means for guiding the fabric over a relatively sharp turn, bend, or edge, such as a support member 44 and guide rod 45. Adjacent the sharp turn made by the fabric is positioned a suitable shearing means 46, which may take any of a number of forms generally known and available. The fabric 30, including the reduced height groups of piles 39, is passed over the relatively sharp turn or bend in order to cause the other piles, Which are to be sheared, to tend to project outwardly and be more easily contacted and sheared by the shearing means 46.

In order to aid in maintaining the groups of piles 39 at reduced height during shearing of the upper end portions, the fabric 30 is preferably passed from the printing, and compressing apparatus 31, to a suitable drying or heating apparatus, such as an oven 48, to dry the paste applied to the groups of piles. Where the paste includes a coloring agent, such drying may be required to set the color in the piles. Upon being passed through the oven 48 and heated to dry the paste, the fabric 30 may be guided adjacent the shearing station 42 and wound into a roll or package 49, otherwise prepared for handling for the next subsequent step.

Thereafter, the fabric, or at least the groups of piles 39, is subjected to a treatment as described above to modify the adhesive characteristic of the paste to render the same ineffective to hold the certain piles at the reduced height, thereby releasing the certain piles to permit them to extend higher than they did during the shearing of the protruding of the upper end portion, and to produce high piles.

The length of fabric 30 thus subjected to processing of the apparatus of FIGURE 3 may then be severed into towel lengths for marketing. The successive steps of the method of this invention are summarized in the flow diagram of FIGURE 4.

While the method has here been described and illustrated with reference to modifying one pile surface of a pile fabric, it is readily apparent that decorative patterns may be formed in both surfaces of a pile fabric having two pile surfaces by repeating the steps of the method of this invention in operations on each pile surface. Inasmuch as the perforate and imperforate portions of a silk screen printing apparatus may easily be changed and varying colors of printing paste may be used, the patterns developed on the two surfaces may be entirely unrelated as to both configuration and color if so desired. Further, multiple printing stations may be provided to apply multiple colors of paste to one surface as is well known.

It is considered apparent that a method of modifying the appearance of a pile fabric has been disclosed and illustrated by which a conventional pile fabric may be provided with decorative patterns defined by variations or contrasts in pile appearance through subjecting certain groups of piles of a pile surface to applications of paste and of force to define a decorative motif and hold those piles at a reduced height during the shearing of protruding upper end portions of other piles to produce low or sheared pile areas of the decorative pattern. Thereafter, the piles which had been temporarily held at reduced height may be released to permit them to extend higher and define high or loop pile areas of the decorative pattern. The paste applied may be a colored printing paste to further define the decorative pattern by color contrast.

In the drawing and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention and, although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims:

I claim:

1. A method of modifying the appearance of a woven pile fabric, such as terry fabric, having at least one substantially uniform =length loop pile surface, to produce thereon a decorative pattern, said method comprising:

applying a pile compressive force to the fabric to reduce the height of the pile thereon while screen printing a colored printing paste having polyvinyl alcohol as an adhesive constituent therein to certain groups of piles, while shielding the other piles from the printing paste to define 'a colored decorative pattern with the colored groups of pile being adhesively restrained by the printing paste at a reduced height relative to the other piles,

thereafter applying a further pile compressive force to the fabric to ensure that the height of all the printed groups of pile is uniformly below a predetermined level relative to the other piles, thereafter subjecting the fabric to a drying operation to dry the printing paste to aid in maintaining the groups of pile at reduced height, then shearing the upper end portions of the other piles, and subjecting the fabric to a wetting treatment with water at a temperature of at least F. to remove the polyvinyl alcohol adhesive constituent from the printing paste on the printed groups of pile to thereby release the groups of pile from adhesive restraint to permit them to extend above the sheared pile and thereby form a colored pattern in relief, with the relief portion of the pattern being formed .by loop pile and the remaining portions by cut pile. 2. A method of modifying the appearance of a woven pile fabric, such as terry fabric, having at least one substantially uniform length loop pile surface, to produce thereon a decorative pattern, said method comprising:

applying a pile compressive force to the fabric to reduce the height of the pile thereon while screen printing a colored printing paste having methylcellulose as an adhesive constituent therein to certain groups of piles, while shielding the other piles from the printing paste to define a colored decorative pattern with the colored groups of pile being adhesively restrained by the printing paste at a reduced height relative to the other piles, thereafter applying a further pile compressive force to the fabric to ensure that the height of all the printed groups of pile is uniformly below a predetermined level relative to the other piles, thereafter subjecting the fabric to a drying operation to dry the printing paste to aid in maintaining the groups of pile at reduced height, then shearing the upper end portions of the other piles, and

subjecting the fabric to a wetting treatment with ethyl acetate to remove the methylcellulose adhesive constituent from the printing paste on the printed groups of pile to thereby release the groups of pile from adhesive restraint to permit them to extend above the sheared pile and thereby form a colored pattern in relief, with the relief portion of the pattern being formed by loop pile and the remaining portions by cut pile.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,192,297 3/1940 Brown et al. 154 2,764,568 9/ 1956 Hawkins 154 605,710 6/1898 Goodall 2616 1,718,409 6/ 1929 Brett 2669 2,110,867 3/1938 Castles 161-63 2,160,827 6/ 1939 Cheney et a1. 117 2,225,497 12/ 1940 Greiser 1174 2,732,608 1/1956 Richardson 26-15 3,008,212 11/1961 Hadley 2615 3,184,367 5/ 1965 White 16163 FOREIGN PATENTS 494,929 11/ 1938 Great Britain. 5,902 of 1883 Great Britain.

ROBERT R. MACKEY, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.