US3559317A - Method and apparatus for applying fabric finishes to garments - Google Patents

Abstract

A METHOD OF APPLYING FABRIC FINISH TO FABRICATED ARTICLES SUCH AS GARMENTS IS DISCLOSED IN WHICH THE ARTICLE IS TREATED WITH A CHEMICAL BY BEING PLACED WITHIN A CLOSED LIQUID IMPREVIOUS BAG CONTAINING A POROUS MATERIAL TO WHICH THE CHEMICAL HAS BEEN APPLIED, EITHER DIRECTLY IN THE CASE OF LIQUID CHEMICALS, OR TOGETHER WITH A SUITABLE LIQUID CARRIER IN THE PRESENCE OF WHICH THE CHEMICAL WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO THE ARTICLE WHEN IT IS PLACED ADJACENT TO THE POROUS MATERIAL IN THE CLOSED BAG. STEPS ARE DISCLOSED BY WHICH A PERMANENT PRESS FINISH MAY BE APPLIED TO GARMENTS USING THE ABOVE DESCRIBED METHOD. A GARMENT TREATING BAG IS ALSO DISCLOSED HAVING A LINING OF POROUS MATERIAL WHICH MAY BE SATURATED WITH LIQUID CHEMICALS FOR TREATING FABRIC GARMENTS IN THE PRACTICE OF THE METHOD OF THIS INVENTION.

Description

Feb. '2',- 1971 METHCID AND APPARATUS FOR APPLYING FABRIC FINISHES TO GARMENTS INVENTORS Lillian L. Knight Julie A. Laphum BY Q 4 6 A TORNEY Filed June 30, 1969 WITNESS= United States Patent 3,559,317 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR APPLYING FABRIC FINISHES T0 GARMENTS Lillian L. Knight, Morris Plains, and Julie A. Lapharn,

Denville, N.J., assignors to The Singer Company, New

York, N .Y., a corporation of New Jersey Filed June 30, 1969, Ser. No. 837,486 Int. Cl. D06f 67/04 US. Cl. 38-144 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method of applying fabric finish to fabricated articles such as garments is disclosed in which the article is treated with a chemical by being placed within a closed liquid impervious bag containing a porous material to which the chemical has been applied, either directly in the case of liquid chemicals, or together with a suitable liquid carrier in the presence of which the chemical will be transferred to the article when it is placed adjacent to the porous material in the closed bag. Steps are disclosed by which a permanent press finish may be applied to garments using the above described method. A garment treating bag is also disclosed having a lining of porous material which may be saturated with liquid chemicals for treating fabric garments in the practice of the method of this invention.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to the art of applying to a fabric finish such as a dye, a water or stain repellent, a flame retardant, or a permanent press treatment. More particularly, this invention relates to a method and to equipment useful in practicing a method of treating assembled garments with chemicals such as permanent press chemicals.

Description of the prior art The modes of fabric treatment which are known in the prior art are by and large those which are useful only in a commercial environment. It is known, for instance, to apply a chemical finish such as a permanent press treatment to fabric or to a completed garment by immersing the fabric or completed garment in a chemical bath. Such a mode of treatment is wholly unsuitable for home use where the training, experience and skill of the user varies within wide limits and where the controls which can be instituted in a commercial environment cannot be maitained.

When the permanent press chemicals have been applied to the fabrics and the treated fabrics have been dried, then heating of the treated fabrics to a predetermined temperature as by ironing or by tumbling in a heated dryer will effect a cure of the chemicals, for all practical purposes irrevocably setting the creases or the absence of creases.

In a commercial environment the loss of all creases, folds and the like by immersion of a garment in a liquid bath of chemicals may not be of great detriment because an employee skilled at pressing that particular garment will perform the ironing operation which will initiate the cure of the permanent press chemicals, and the amount of spoilage because of mistakes in ironing can easily be minimized.

In home use, however, the very prospect that a garment might be spoiled by an improperly placed crease or an inadvertently ironed flat section can cause dissatisfaction and reluctance on the part of many persons to use known methods of applying permanent press finishes.

Patented Feb. 2, 1971 "ice It is an object of this invention to provide a novel method of applying a fabric finish to a completed garment which method is ideally suited to performance in the home by persons unskilled in the art of fabric finishing or ironing. In the novel method of this invention, a garment is first pressed in the absence of any application of chemical to the fabric so that misalignment of creases, tucks, pleats and the like may be corrected as many times as is necessary for the user to become completely satisfied with the total garment shape.

The chemicals are then applied to the garment in such a way that the desired creases, tucks, pleats, etc. are not removed and folds or creases are not added to those areas which are intended should remain flat. Such application of the chemicals is preferably accomplished by carefully positioning the pressed garment in close proximity of a chemical laden absorbent liner within a liquid proof container. The chemical will be transferred to the fabrics of the garment evenly and without removing or adding to the previous placed creases. Thereafter, when the chemical has dried on the garment, the user need only reiron the garment and tumble the garment in a heated dryer during reironing using the previously placed creases as a guide so that the permanent press chemicals can be cured or set in the garment with practically no risk of spoilage because of inadvertent error in ironing.

In the accompanying drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a container for treating garments in accordance with this invention showing the container being opened.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross sectional view of an unopened portion of the container of FIG. 1 taken along line 22 of FIG. 1 and illustrating one form of construction for opening and rescaling the container.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the container completely opened and showing a garment positioned therein for treatment,

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the container closed and sealed with a garment therein undergoing treatment,

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross sectional view similar to that of FIG. 2 but illustrating the container after being opened and then rescaled, and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross sectional view similar to that of FIG. 5 but illustrating a modified arrangement for resealing the container during treatment of the garment.

In the accompany drawings a container is illustrated in which a fabric article may be treated with a liquid chemical in accordance with this invention. The container preferably comprises a bag indicated generally at 11 and including a top ply 12 and a bottom ply 13 of material such as synthetic plastic material which is chosen so as to be impervious to the liquid chemical with which the fabric article is to be treated. Preferably the edges of the bag 11 are sealed all around so that the top and bottom plies 12 and 13 provide a completely closed liquid tight container. Arranged inside the bag and preferably secured interiorly thereof, as by any suitable adhesive, is a liner 14 of liquid absorbent material such as felt, paper, or high nap fabric such as flannel. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5 the liner 14 may take the form of separate plies, one ply 14 being applied to the bottom ply .13 of the bag and another ply 14 being adhered to the top ply 12 of the bag with the liner plies 14 and 14' terminating slightly inwardly of the periphery of the bag 11.

Although the liquid absorbent material is illustrated as comprising one or more plies 14, 14' secured to the bag plies 12 and 13 in the preferred embodiment of the drawings, it will be understood, particularly after reading the complete disclosure of applicants novel method and apparatus, that the liquid absorbent material may assumeother forms such as loose absorbent material within the bag, or sheets of absorbent material which are not secured-precisely as illustrated.

The liquid absorbent material of the liner plies 14 and 14' is saturated with the liquid chemical to be applied to the fabric article or it may be saturated with a chemical which is dissolved in a suitable liquid carrier. Since the material from which the bag 11 is fabricated is chosen so as to beinert to the particular chemical with which the liner plies 14, 14' are saturated, the resulting sealed bag within which the chemically saturated liner plies are disposed provides for a conveiently handled product which moreover can be stored for a considerably length of time without dissipation of the chemicals which are involved. The chemicals with which the liner plies are impregnated may be fabric dyes, water or stain repelling agents, flame retardants, or chemicals providing a permanent press finish for the fabric article. For providing a permanent press characteristic to fabric articles the chemicals which have been successfully employed utilizing the container described above are: a methylol derivative of cyclic urea, in particular dimethylol ethyleneurea, together with a catalyst such as amine hydrochloride.

Inside one of the plies, 12, .13 of the bag 11, a separating filament 15 is secured along a line indicated at 16 in FIG. 1 along which it is desired to sever the bag ply to provide an access opening 17 for insertion of a fabric article. Preferably, the filament 15 is chosen so as to be stronger than the area of the bag ply 12 or to which it is adhered and at the extremity such as at 18 in FIG. 1, the filament project through the bag ply to the exterior thereof for access by the user. The container 11 is opened by the user simply by pulling upwardly upon the filament 15 after which the major portion of the ply 12 to which the filament had been secured may be folded back as shown in FIG. 3 exposing the liner 14 on the bottom ply and the liner 14' on the top ply 12.

As shown in FIG. 2, a flap 20 which may be formed of material identical to that of the top and bottom plies 12 and 13 may be secured as by a suitable adhesive to the interior surface of the ply v12 to which the separating filament 15 has been secured. The flap 20 is provided with a layer of adhesive material 21 which may be protected by a cover strip 22 of paper or plastic material so that the bag 11 may be closed and resealed after the fabric article is placed therein simply by pressing the flap 20 against the exterior of the top ply 12 as shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 6 illustrates a modified form of bag indicated at 31 having, as in the previously described construction, a top ply 12 and a bottom ply 13 of material impervious to the liquid chemical and a liner 14 of absorbent material applied interiorly of the bottom ply 13 and a liner 14' of absorbent material adhered interiorly of the top ply but without a flap 20 for resealing the bag. In FIG. 6, 32 illustrates the line of severance of the top ply 12 to provide for an access opening and a resealing strip 33 of adhesively coated tape which may be prepackaged with or included within the sealed bag 31, is shown applied to reseal the severed line 32.

In FIGS. 3 and 4 is illustrated a fabric article 40 which, for instance, may comprise an article of wearing apparel such as a dress or the like formed with portions 41 which are intended to remain Hat and to be without creases, and also formed with portions such as the pleats 42 which are intended to have sharp creases.

The steps will now be described whereby a fabric article such as the dress 40 may be treated using the apparatus above described for the purpose of applying permanent press characteristics to the garment.

' It is recommended that the fabric article when it is acquired or when fabrication has been completed should be laundered in a conventional fashion so as to remove sizing, surface finishing chemicals, and the like which it may contain. During such initial laundering, softening and wetting agents may be applied to the fabric to enhance receptivity to the permanent press chemicals. The garment is then pressed into shape using conventional techniques and iron temperatures commensurate with the particular fabric involved so as to provide well-set creases where desired in the garment such as at the pleats 42, and so as to provide fiat wrinkle-free surfaces such as the surface 41 where they are desired in the garment. Since no permanent press chemicals have been applied at this stage, any errors in ironing may be corrected without any permanent indication of such errors remaining in the garment, and such correction may be made over and over again until the desired shape and condition of the garment is attained. A container 11 as described above including liner plies 14 and 14 of absorbent material impregnated with the permanent press chemicals such as described above is then opened by pulling upwardly on the separating filament 15 thereof and folding back the major portion of the upper ply 12 as shown in FIG. 3. The ironed garment is then placed carefully upon the bottom ply of impregnated absorbent material 14 within the bag 11. The garment is adjusted to insure the integrity of the creases which have heretofore been ironed into the garment and to eliminate wrinkles and folds in the flat creaseless portions 41 of the garment. The top ply 12 of the bag 11 is replaced over the garment, and the bag is resealed using either the flap 20 or a strip of adhesive material 33.

Using cotton fabrics in the garment to be processed and the permanent press chemicals described above, the garment should be permitted to remain in the bag for approximately four hours. The liquid chemical in the absorbent material 14, 14' will in this period of time be transferred to the fabric in the bag. The effectiveness of the transfer of chemicals to the fabric may be enhanced if the bag is turned over during this period, and such effectiveness may also be enhanced if a pressure is applied to force the bag against the article, as for instance, by placing a weight or a heavy object on the resealed bag.

After the time has elapsed for transfer of the liquid chemical to the fabric article, the bag is again opened by removing the adhesive strip 33 or by peeling back the flap 20 and turning back the top ply 12 to the position shown in FIG. 3. The fabric article 40 is then carefully withdrawn from the bag and allowed to dry in air preferably without any unnecessary movement thereof, and without any appreciable deviation from room temperature. As a result, the chemical will be applied and will dry onto the fabric without materially destroying the creases and flat wrinkle-free portions which had previously been ironed into the garment.

Where a cotton fabric is used the garment is then reironed using an iron temperature of 375 F. to 400 R, which corresponds on most conventional household irons to a cotton steam setting, taking pains to allow the iron at least ten seconds contact at each point on the fabric article. The reironing step after the permanent press chemicals have air dried on the fabric serves to initiate the cure of the permanent press chemicals and therefore permanently establishes creases and the absence of creases in the fabric. Thereafter, the garment is tumbled in a clothes dryer for one hour set at the maximum heat setting of approximately 225 P. which completes the cure or cross linking of the permanent press chemicals.

This completes the permanent press treatment but it is recommended that the garment be laundered and drip dried prior to wearing to avoid any possible irritation to the wearer because of possible residue of the permanent press chemicals thereon.

Having thus set forth the nature of this invention, what is claimed herein is:

1. A container for treating a fabric garment with a liquid chemical for imparting permanent press characteristics to said garment comprising an outer sheath formed entirely of material impervious to said liquid chemical,

closure means at least as impervious to said liquid chemical as said outer sheath material completely closing said outer sheath, a liquid absorbent material disposed within said sheath and saturated with said liquid chemical, a filament of higher strength than said sheath material adhesively secured interiorly of said sheath along the margin of a desired access opening in said sheath, for insertion into close contact with said liquid absorbent material is said sheath of a fabric garment to be treated, and means stored within said completely closed sheath and arranged adjacent to said margin of the desired access opening for adhesively securing said access opening closed.

2. The method of applying a permanent press finish to a fabric article comprising:

(a) providing a container impervious to a liquid chemical for imparting permanent press characteristics to said fabric article,

(b) placing in said container a liquid absorbent material impregnated with said liquid chemicals for imparting permanent press characteristics to said fabric 1 article,

(c) placing said fabric article in said container closely adjacent to said absorbent material,

(d) maintaining said fabric article in said 'close physical relationship with said liquid absorbent material until at least some of said permanent press chemicals will transfer to said fabric article, and

(e) curing said permanent press chemicals which have been transferred to said fabric article.

3. The method of applying a permanent press finish to a fabric article as set forth in claim 2 including the steps of:

(a) pressing the untreated fabric article to establish the flat surfaces and creased surfaces that are desired therein,

(b) maintaining the integrity of said fiat and said creased surfaces while placing said fabric article in said container closely adjacent to said absorbent material, and

(c) curing said permanent press chemicals which have been transferred to said fabric article by applying heat and pressure to said fabric article using the previously established creased and flat surfaces thereof as a guide.

4. The method of applying a permanent press finish to a fabric article'as set forth in claim 2 in which the permanent press chemicals which are impregnated in said liquid absorbent material comprise a mixture of dimethylol ethyleneurea and amine hydrochloride.

5. The method of applying a permanent press finish as set forth in claim 2 which includes the steps of providing a plastic bag and placing therein a liquid absorbent material in the form of at least one ply of material impregnated with liquid chemicals and secured as a lining inside of said plastic bag.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,952,382 3/ 1934 MacGregor 229-5 1S 1,954,577 4/ 19,34 Rcddin.

2,707,352 5/ 1955 Fischer 20610X 2,247,346 7/ 1941 Blair 68200 2,987,906 6/ 196 1 Bourland 68213 3,453,757 7/1969 DeLoach 38-141 PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner G. V. LARKIN, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 150; 68200, 213; 20646, 117-1395,

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