TEXTILE PRODUCT HAVING LATENT IMAGE THAT SLOWLY APPEARS FOLLOWING REPEATED WASHINGS

Abstract

A textile product is disclosed having a latent image created from water-based ink which is applied using a screen printing process. The image is thereafter hidden underneath a second image created from a plasticizing emulsion such as plastisol ink which is partially cured. The partial cure causes a portion of the plasticizing emulsion to be removed from the textile product during washing and after repeated washings, the latent image becomes revealed.

Claims

1. A textile article having a first image created by a screen printing process using water-based inks and dried at a sufficiently high temperature to permanently cure the first image to the textile article, wherein the improvement comprises: a second image created on the textile article by a screen printing process using plastisol ink upon the textile article wherein at least a portion of the first image is obscured by the second image, the textile article thereafter dried in a dryer at between 220-240 F for between 35 to 45 seconds to partially cure the second image, so that the second image is susceptible to partial removal when washed and that the first image will become progressively more visible each time the textile article is subsequently washed, until the second image has been completely removed.

2. The textile product of claim 1 where the plastisol ink is a non-phthalate screen ink.

3. The textile product of claim 1 where a layer of transparent plasticizing emulsion is applied directly upon a least a portion of the first image, using a screen printing process and thereafter fully cured prior to the second image being applied to the textile article.

4. The textile product of claim 1 being a garment and the textile article being an article of clothing.

5. A garment comprising: a first image applied to an article of clothing using a screen printing process with water-based ink and permanently dried; a second image applied directly upon at least a portion of the permanent first image using a screen printing process and plasticizing emulsion wherein: a first application of a layer of plasticizing emulsion applied directly upon a portion of the first image and thereafter dried at about 240 F for about 40 seconds to achieve a partial cure of the first layer of plasticizing emulsion; and, a second application of a layer of plasticizing emulsion applied upon a remaining portion of the first image not covered by the first application, and where the second application is thereafter dried at a temperature between 220 F and the pre-determined temperature of the first application for about 40 seconds to achieve a partial cure that will be susceptible to removal at a faster rate from the garment when washed than will be the partially cured first application.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0039] FIG. 1 is a prior art representation of a T-shirt having a first image created using a screen printing process;

[0040] FIG. 2 illustrates the appearance of the T-shirt of FIG. 1 having a second image applied to obscure the first image using a screen printing process;

[0041] FIG. 3 illustrates the appearance of the T-shirt of FIG. 2 following a second wash; and,

[0042] FIG. 4 is illustrates the appearance of the t-shirt of FIG. 3 after a third wash.

[0043] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a process 100 for creating a textile product having a permanent first image and a wash-removable second image.

[0044] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a method for removing the wash-removable second image.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0045] The textile product described in this section is a garment and the textile article is an article of clothing, namely a T-shirt.

[0046] FIG. 1 is a representation of a T-shirt TS having a first image 10 created using a screen printing process.

[0047] A screen printing machine (not shown) is used to create first image 10 upon T-shirt TS. Water-based inks (CCI Boost Pigment Concentrate+water) are used and after the image is applied, T-shirt TS is passed thru a tunnel dryer (not shown) at about 420 deg F. For purposes of illustration, first image 10 is that of a dinosaur although any image can be created using this well-known prior art screen printing process.

[0048] A second image 12, opaque in appearance and oval in shape to represent an egg, is applied to T-shirt TS to obscure first image 10. A representation of the appearance of the T-shirt after application and partial cure of second image 12 is illustrated in FIG. 2. Following application and partial cure of second image 12, T-shirt TS, first image 10 and second image 12 are collectively referred to as garment G.

[0049] For determining the optimum partial cure temperature for the plastisol second image 12, multiple all-cotton T-shirts were used; each of which had a first image 10 depicting a dinosaur as described above.

[0050] The next step was to apply the plastisol second image to each T-shirt TS but partially cure the T-shirts separately at different temperatures.

[0051] After the T-shirts TS were printed with the dinosaur first image using the screen printing process and thereafter permanently dried using a tunnel dryer and thereafter allowed to cool, the screen printing process was used again to apply the second image using plastisol. In the example described herein, first image 10 is completely covered by second image 12 which is of an egg and the second image was comprised of silver plastisol (Wilflex Epic Silver Shimmer, manufactured by PolyOne, Inc.).

[0052] The following partial cure temperatures were evaluated: 180, 190, 200, 210, 220, 225, 230, 240, and 250 deg F. The objective was to determine how many washings would be required before the latent dinosaur image would come into view.

[0053] The T-shirts were thereafter repeatedly washed in a home washing machine. T-shirts were separated and washed separately. Some were washed on a normal cycle (59 min total; warm water wash; with one Tide 4-in-1 detergent pad added) and dried in a home drier on normal cycle (59 min).

[0054] Table 1 is a comparison of the number of washings required to reveal the latent image using various partial cure temperatures for a second image made from PolyOne 15370 PFX Epic Silver Shimmer Plastisol. Each partial cure was at the stated temperature in a tunnel dryer for 40 seconds:

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 PolyOne 15370 PFX Epic Silver Shimmer Plastisol Cover Partial Cure # of Washes For # of Washes For Temperature 50% Image Reveal Full Image Reveal 180 F. N/A (too gummy) N/A (too gummy) 190 F. N/A (too gummy) N/A (too gummy) 200 F. 1 1 210 F. 1 1 220 F. 1 to 2 5 to 6 225 F. 3 to 4 7 to 8 230 F. 4 to 5 9 to 10 240 F. 6 to 7 >10 250 F. >10 >10

[0055] For 180 and 190 deg F., the temperatures were insufficient to obtain an adequate partial cure. The plastisol was gummy to the touch prior to washing, and separated from the T-shirts and formed chunks in the washer as well as stained the T-shirts.

[0056] At the higher temperature levels of 240 and 250 deg F., the partial cure to the garment resulted in the plastisol adhering to the T-shirts so well that the second image remained intact after 10 washes.

[0057] At 200-210 deg F., substantially the entire first image was viewable after one wash.

[0058] At 220 deg F., some coloration of the dinosaur image appeared after one wash, but the outline of the first image remained somewhat obscured. After the second wash, between approximately 25-50% of the dinosaur image 10 was viewable in FIG. 3; and 75% or greater of the dinosaur image 10 is viewable after the third wash as illustrated in FIG. 4. There was little further development of the image after the fourth and fifth washes.

[0059] At a slightly higher temperature of 225 and 230 deg F., the plastisol image washed off more slowly, such that after three washes about 33% of the dinosaur image was visible.

[0060] Thus, the working temperature range for plastisol for achieving a desired partial cure to all-cotton T-shirts occurs between 200 deg F. and 230 deg F.

[0061] Based on the above, a partial cure temperature of about 220 deg F. for plastisol will cause the first image to become mostly visible after between about 4-6 washes.

[0062] With the top layer comprising silver plastisol alone, it was noted that, when orientating the T-shirt into certain positions under a light source, the reflectivity allowed portions of the dinosaur outline to be somewhat discernible. It then was determined that the addition of mottled brown or yellow plastisol spots to the silver plastisol would adequately cover the latent image. The removal characteristics of the brown, yellow, and silver plastisol were similar to those of the silver plastisol alone at the temperatures tested (200, 210, 220, 225, and 230 deg F.).

[0063] It also was determined that the wash-water temperature affected the removal of the plastisol. T-shirts with a dinosaur image and overprinted with silver plastisol partially cured to 230 deg F. were washed repeatedly on normal cycle in cold, warm, and extra-hot water (59 minutes total; one Tide 4-in-1 detergent pad added) and dried on normal cycle (59 min).

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Wash Temperature (Normal Cycle, 59 min); Plastisol Cured at 230 F. # of Washes For 50% # of Washes For Full Temperature Image Reveal Image Reveal Cold 5 to 6 >10 Warm 4 to 5 9-10 Extra Hot 2 to 3 8-9

[0064] For the dinosaur to be discernible it required approximately 5 to 6 washes using cold water, 4 to 5 washes using warm water, or 2 to 3 washes using hot water. Wash-water temperature thus affected the rapidity of plastisol removal, the slowest occurring in cold wash, and the greatest occurring in extra hot wash.

[0065] Preferably, TS is air dried, because dryers set to higher temperatures could continue to cure the plastisol and require more washings than if higher temperatures were not used.

[0066] Based on the above, about 220 to 240 deg F. is believed to be an optimum temperature range to partially cure the second image made of plastisol, because a higher cure temperature will require an unreasonably high number of washings to reveal the hidden image and thus may discourage the wearer. Consequently, a lower cure temperature will require fewer washings, and the novelty of the product may be lost if the hidden image is shown after only a couple of washings.

[0067] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a process 100 for creating a textile product having a permanent first image made with water-based inks and at least partially covered by a wash-removable second image consisting of partially cured plastisol in which the second image can be progressively removed by repeated washings to reveal the underlying portion of the first image.

[0068] A first image 10 using water-based ink, is deposited on TS by a screen printing process (102) and then permanently dried using a tunnel dryer (104). TS is allowed to cool and then TS undergoes a second screen printing process to receive a second image 12 covering at least a portion of first image 10 using a plasticizing emulsion such as plastisol (106). TS is then dried a second time using a tunnel dryer set at a temperature lower than the temperature used to dry the first image, preferably between 220-240 deg F. for about 40 seconds to partially cure second image 12 to made garment G (108).

[0069] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a process 200 for a method for making a latent image appear on a textile product initially covered by a coating of a partially cured plasticizing emulsion.

[0070] Providing garment G made by the process described in FIG. 5 for a third party to use (202).

[0071] Thereafter, garment G is washed thereby removing a portion of the wash-removable second image 12 (204).

[0072] The step of washing the textile product is repeated to remove additional portions of the wash-removable second image 12 to progressively reveal a greater portion of the first image (206).