Fabric and method of manufacture

Abstract

A method of printing and processing a fabric having first material yarns forming a technical front, and second material yarns forming a technical back, first and second material yarns being held together by a ground; carding and polishing the technical front to increase the permeability of the fabric; printing an image on the technical front of the fabric, so that ink from the printing process penetrates to the ground of the fabric; brushing and napping the technical back, after the printing process, so that ink from the technical front is pulled through the ground to the technical back, so that a mirror image of the image from the technical front is formed on the technical back.

Claims

1. A method of printing and processing a fabric, the method comprising the steps of: providing a fabric comprising first material yarns forming a technical front, and second material yarns forming a technical back, first and second material yarns being held together by a ground; carding and polishing the technical front to increase the permeability of the fabric; printing an image on the technical front of the fabric, so that ink from the printing process penetrates to the ground of the fabric; brushing and napping the technical back, after the printing process, so that ink from the technical front is pulled through the ground to the technical back, so that a mirror image of the image from the technical front is formed on the technical back.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the printing is in the form of heat transfer printing.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the heat transfer printing is performed at about 205 C for about 56.8 seconds transit time.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the printing utilizes a high concentration ink, and the printing is performed at 205 C.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of, after printing, performing further carding and polishing on the technical front, to further enhance penetration so that the ink penetrates to the technical back.

6. A method of printing and processing a fabric, the method comprising the steps of: providing a fabric comprising first material yarns forming a technical front, and second material yarns forming a technical back, first and second material yarns being held together by a ground; carding and polishing the technical front to increase the permeability of the fabric; printing an image on the technical front of the fabric via heat transfer printing at a temperature of about 205 C, for at least 50 seconds, so that ink from the printing process penetrates to the ground of the fabric; brushing and napping the technical back, after the printing process, so that ink from the technical front is pulled through the ground to the technical back, so that a mirror image of the image from the technical front is formed on the technical back; and performing further carding and polishing on the technical front, after printing, to further enhance penetration so that the ink penetrates to the technical back.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The accompanying drawings illustrate the present invention. In such drawings:

(2) FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a fabric according to one embodiment of the present invention;

(3) FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view thereof; and

(4) FIG. 3 is a sectional view thereof taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(5) The above-described drawing figures illustrate the invention, a method of printing and processing a fabric that results in ink applied to the front side being pulled through the ground to the back side, so there is mirror image of an image printed on the front side formed on the back side.

(6) FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a fabric 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of the fabric 10, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view thereof taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 2.

(7) As shown in FIGS. 1-3, in a first embodiment the fabric 10 comprises first material yarns forming a technical front 20, and second material yarns forming a technical back 30. The technical front 20 and the technical back 30 are held together by a ground 40, as shown in FIG. 3. The materials are selected to receive a printing process, in this embodiment a heat transfer printing, onto the technical front 20. This enables a unique manufacturing process wherein the fabric 10 is printed on the technical front 20, and then processed so that the technical back 30 receives the coloring from the technical front 20.

(8) In one embodiment, the process includes, first, providing the fabric 10, which may be knitted of manufactured in any other manner known in the art. Second, there is preferably an initial processing of the fabric 10, including stentering, carding, polishing, and drying the fabric 10, and in particular the front 20, so that the fabric 10 is softened and the yarns are opened up to receive the ink. After initial processing, the printing occurs, in this case a heat transfer printing. The printing process is performed on the technical front 20 of the fabric 10 to form an image 24.

(9) Following printing, there are multiple post-printing steps, including brushing and napping the technical back 30. Only after printing, and after ink from the printing process penetrates to the ground 40, is the technical back 30 then brushed and napped. This results in the ink from the technical front 20 being pulled through the ground 40 to the technical back 30, so there is mirror image 32 of the technical front 20 on the technical back 30. Other steps may follow the printing, such as polishing the printed technical front 20, and polishing the technical back 30. This may be followed by further stentering.

(10) For purposes of this application, the term ink is defined to include any form of ink, dye, colorant material known in the art for use in coloring or forming images on fabrics. In the preferred embodiment, the ink used may be in the form of highly concentrated ink. The term highly concentrated is a term of art known in the field of printing that refers to a particular form of ink. For purposes of this application, the term highly concentrated is defined to refer to this particular known type of ink, and not just to any ink that is simply of greater concentration. The paper used is high absorption paper, also a term of art known by those skilled in the art, that refers to paper that absorbs an amount of ink that is greater than normally used, for greater ink transfer capacity. Both of these are important to have deep penetration to the ground 40 of the fabric 10.

(11) The preprinting process of the carding and polishing before printing, will open up the fiber to increase its permeability, and further increases the fluffiness of the fabric 10. This is one of the key processes which allow the maximum ink/dye penetration required for the present invention. This softening process performed before heat transfer printing will reduce the fabric's resistance to the diffusion of the ink and dye.

(12) The transfer process must have a suitable combination of temperature, pressure, and transit time through the press (thereby increasing total pressure applied). Through months of testing it has been found that there are several factors that are essential to the success of this method. First, it should be heated to between 195-215, preferably about 205 C, which is significantly higher than standard 180 C heating processes. Second, the transfer time should be at least 50 seconds, preferably about 56.8 seconds. This is about 3 times the normal speed of operation; however, the increased time results in greater total pressure being applied, which results in the required diffusion and penetration of the ink required by the current process.

(13) After heat transfer printing, the fabric will go through the carding polishing on the printed side first, to further enhance penetration so that the ink/dye penetrates to the back side to achieve mirror images/colors on the back side.

(14) As used in this application, the words a, an, and one are defined to include one or more of the referenced item unless specifically stated otherwise. The terms approximately and about are defined to mean +/5%, unless otherwise stated. Also, the terms have, include, contain, and similar terms are defined to mean comprising unless specifically stated otherwise. Furthermore, the terminology used in the specification provided above is hereby defined to include similar and/or equivalent terms, and/or alternative embodiments that would be considered obvious to one skilled in the art given the teachings of the present patent application.