Textile Article Having A Surface For Receiving Removable Indicia And A Method Of Manufacture

Abstract

An article that facilitates individual expression includes a textile material having an outer surface, and at least one markable portion on the outer surface treated such that the at least one markable portion removably receives indicia marked upon the surface. The markable portion comprises one or more layers of inks that are successively applied to the textile material. A method of making an article that facilitates individual expression includes applying at least one first layer that is at least one of a reducer/base material or a plastisol ink onto at least a portion of a surface of a textile material, and applying at least one layer of plastisol ink onto at least a portion of the first layer.

Claims

1. An article that facilitates individual expression, comprising: a textile material having an outer surface; and at least one markable portion on the outer surface treated such that the at least one markable portion removably receives indicia marked upon the surface.

2. The article of claim 1, wherein the at least one markable portion comprises one or more layers of ink successively applied to the textile material.

3. The article of claim 2, wherein the one or more layers comprise at least one of: a curable reducer; a curable base; or a plastisol ink.

4. The article of claim 1, further comprising: at least one raised portion concomitant with or proximate to the at least one markable portion.

5. The article of claim 4, wherein the at least one raised portion defines at least a portion of a border surrounding the at least one markable portion.

6. The article of claim 1, further comprising at least one of a marking device, an erasing device, or a stencil.

7. The article of claim 6, wherein the at least one marking device or erasing device is operatively coupled with the textile material.

8. The article of claim 1, wherein the textile material defines a patch configured to be coupled with a separate object.

9. The article of claim 8, wherein the patch is configured to be coupled with the separate object by at least one of sewing or heat transfer.

10. A method of making an article that facilitates individual expression, the method comprising: applying at least one first layer onto least a portion of a surface of a textile material, the first layer comprising at least one of a reducer/base material or a plastisol ink; and applying at least one second layer onto at least a portion of the of the at least one first layer, the second layer comprising plastisol ink.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising curing at least one of the first layer or second layer after application.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein applying the at least one first layer or the least one second layer comprises moving the reducer/base or plastisol ink through a mesh screen having a screen size in the range of 80 to 400.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein applying the at least one reducer/base layer comprises moving the reducer/base through a mesh screen having a screen size of 110.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein applying at least one layer of plastisol ink comprises moving the plastisol ink through a mesh screen having a screen size of 158.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein applying at least one layer of plastisol ink comprises moving the plastisol ink through a mesh screen having a screen size of 110.

16. The method of claim 10, further comprising heat pressing the article.

17. The method of claim 10, further comprising: applying indicia to the at least a portion of a surface of a textile material; and selectively removing at least a portion of the indicia.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] FIG. 1 is an exploded, cross-sectional, schematic illustration depicting an exemplary article in accordance with the principles of the present invention (not to scale).

[0023] FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional, schematic illustration of the exemplary article of FIG. 1.

[0024] FIG. 2 is a plan view of another exemplary embodiment of an article in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

[0025] FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view illustrating a raised border of the article of FIG. 2.

[0026] FIGS. 3A-3D illustrate an exemplary method of using the article in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] FIGS. 1 and 1A illustrate a process for making an article 10 in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure, wherein one or more layers of material are applied to the surface of a substrate 12 to create at least one markable portion on the substrate that can erasably receive indicia. In one embodiment, the substrate 12 may be a textile material such as an article of clothing, an item of furniture, or any other item made from or including textile material. While the substrate 12 has been shown and described herein as being a textile material, it will be appreciated that the methods in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure may be used to create a markable portion on various other substrates, in particular flexible or porous substrates.

[0028] In the exemplary embodiment shown, at least one first layer 14 of reducer/base material is applied to the desired surface of the substrate 12. Good results have been obtained using a curable reducer/base such as NPT Chino Base and Reducer, available from Rutland Plastic Technologies, Pineville, N.C., and applying the layer 14 using conventional screen printing procedures, either manually or automatically, and a mesh screen size of 110. After the at least one layer 14 of reducer/base material has been applied to the surface of the substrate 12, the reducer/base layer 14 is allowed to cure. In one embodiment, the reducer/base layer 14 may be flash cured using a flash drier. As a non-limiting example, the reducer/base layer 14 may be cured using a flash drier at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 4 seconds.

[0029] After the reducer/base layer 14 has cured, one or more second ink layers may be applied to at least a portion of the reducer/base layer 14. In the embodiment shown, first and second ink layers 16, 18 of plastisol ink (e.g., plastisol chalkboard ink) are applied generally onto the reducer/base layer 14 using traditional screen printing methods or procedures and a mesh screen size of 158. An exemplary plastisol ink is EF Chalkboard Plastisol, PLFE-CK800 Chalkboard Black, available from Union Ink of Pineville, N.C. After the first plastisol chalkboard ink layer 16 is applied, the applied layer 16 is allowed to cure such as by using a flash drier. After the second, or final, plastisol chalkboard ink layer 18 has been applied, the substrate 12 may be cured in a conveyor tunnel dryer. As a non-limiting example, the substrate 12 may be cured using a conveyor tunnel dryer at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes to 20 minutes. After the final curing step, the entire article 10 may be heat pressed if desired.

[0030] While the exemplary method described above has been shown and described as applying a single layer 14 of reducer/base material and two layers 16, 18 of plastisol chalkboard ink, it will be appreciated that various other numbers of layers of reducer/base and/or plastisol chalkboard ink may alternatively be used to produce a suitable markable portion on the surface of a substrate 12. As a non-limiting example, an alternative process for making an article 10 in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure may include applying plastisol ink onto the substrate 12 as the first layer instead of a reducer/base material. The article 10 may thereafter be processed as described above. In addition, various other types of inks, such as, but not limited to, water-based inks or discharge inks, for example, may be used to produce a suitable markable portion on the surface of a substrate 12. Moreover, various other mesh screen sizes may be used to apply the reducer/base layer 14 and/or the plastisol chalkboard ink layers 16, 18. As non-limiting examples, the plastisol chalkboard ink layers 16, 18 may alternatively be applied using a mesh screen size of 110 or various other suitable mesh screen sizes. In another embodiment, the applied layers may be screen printed onto the substrate using mesh screen sizes in the range of 80 to 400. Moreover, while the application of layers 14, 16, 18 of material to the substrate 12 has been described above with respect to screen printing, it will be appreciated that various other methods for applying the layers 14, 16, 18 of material to a substrate 12 may alternatively be used, such as but not limited to, application by paint brush, roller, spraying, sponging, air brushing, squeegeeing without a screen, and various other suitable methods. While curing of the applied layers has been described above using flash dryers and conveyor tunnel dryers, it will be appreciated that various other methods and apparatus suitable for curing the applied layers may alternatively be used.

[0031] FIGS. 2 and 2A illustrate an exemplary article 20 in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure, wherein at least one markable portion is provided on an outer surface of a substrate 22, such as a textile material. In the embodiment shown, the article 20 includes first and second markable portions 24, 26 generally in the form of a heart-shaped design. The article 20 further includes at least one raised portion integrated with the markable portions 24, 26 to provide an aesthetically pleasing appearance and/or to define borders associated with the markable portions 24, 26 which may also serve functional purposes. In the embodiment shown, the article 20 includes first, second, and third raised portions 28, 30, 32 defining borders between the first and second markable portions 24, 26 and at least one portion 34 of the substrate 22 that is not intended to receive indicia. Specifically, the first raised portion 28 defines an enclosed heart-shaped area defining a border around the first markable portion 24. The second raised portion 30 has a shape generally similar to the first raised portion 28 and is spaced outwardly therefrom to define the portion 34 that is to remain mark free. The third raised portion 32 has a shape generally similar to the second raised portion 30 and is spaced outwardly therefrom to define an area corresponding to the second markable portion 26 of the article 20. The raised portions 28, 30, 32 of the article 20 may be created by varying the thickness of the layers 14, 16, 18 of material applied to the substrate 22 (as described above), or by applying additional layers of material to selected portions of the article 22. Alternatively, the raised portions 28, 30, 32 of the article 20 may be created by various other methods or materials applied to the substrate 22.

[0032] FIGS. 3A-3D illustrate a method of using an article 40 in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure. In FIG. 3A, the article 40 is in the form of a T-shirt and may be placed on a flat surface to facilitate applying indicia to the at least one markable portion 42 of the article 40. In FIG. 3B, desired indicia 44, 46 is applied to the markable portion 42 of the article 40 using limestone chalk or liquid chalk marker, for example. After the desired indicia 44, 46 has been applied to the markable portion 42, the article 40 is ready to be worn. When it is desired to remove or modify the previously applied indicia 44, 46, the markable portion 42 may be wiped using a cloth dampened with water to remove some or all of the previously applied indicia 44, 46, as illustrated in FIG. 3C. Alternatively, the entire article 40 may be washed using a conventional washing machine, for example, to remove the previously applied indicia 44, 46 during laundering of the article 40. Once the previously applied indicia 44, 46 is removed as depicted in FIG. 3D, the article 40 is ready to receive other indicia which may be applied as described above.

[0033] While the present invention has been illustrated by a description of various embodiments, and while these embodiments have been described in considerable detail, it is not intended to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. The various features shown and described herein may be used alone or in any combination. Additional advantages and modifications will readily appear to those skilled in the art. The invention in its broader aspects is therefore not limited to the specific details, representative apparatus and method, and illustrative example shown and described. Accordingly, departures may be made from such details without departing from the spirit and scope of the general inventive concept.