Garment emblem

This involves a laminate having preferably a 15 mil layer of cloth such as especially a 65-35% blend of polyester and cotton, a 2.5 mil layer of non-creped paper tissue, and in between them an 8 mil layer of low density polyethylene which has penetrated into the paper just short of appearing on its face, and a corresponding amount into the cloth. It will preferably be bonded together by ten seconds bonding time at 435.degree. F under ten psi platen pressure. The laminate is especially useful as an inexpensive non-curling product for use as emblems, especially where it is intended to be put into a Merrow sewing machine for special stitching and then sewn onto the garment on which it is intended to be displayed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a laminate. 
It is a purpose of the invention to provide such a laminate which is 
notable for not curling but maintaining a flat condition even in 
circumstances where other materials often have a great tendency to curl. 
It is a further purpose to do this with a material that is decidedly 
inexpensive, especially as compared to other materials that might be 
thought of as possibilities for similar uses. 
It is a further purpose to provide a material which is especially suitable 
and valuable for use as emblems, and has a highly desirable appearance and 
"feel" for such use. 
It is a further purpose to provide a material for emblems which can readily 
be removed from one garment without substantial impairment of either 
garment or emblem, and sewn on another garment with the aid of the 
ordinary facilities available for such a purpose in the home.

MORE SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION 
Describing this in illustration, and not in limitation, in the preferred 
embodiment there is outermost layer 10, shown at the top, of cloth such as 
especially a 65%--35% blend of polyester and cotton respectively, an 
intermediate layer 12 of low density polyethylene, and an inner layer 14 
of uncreped paper. In the portion 16 of the cloth layer nearest the 
polyethylene layer, the polyethylene has penetrated into the cloth. The 
polyethylene also has penetrated into the paper tissue, preferably to a 
place just short of where it would appear on the outer face of that paper 
layer. 
This penetration will be secured preferably by having the laminate at 
435.degree. F under 10 psi bonding pressure for 10 seconds. A variation of 
5.degree. F in either direction in the temperature, 1 psi in either 
direction in the pressure and one-half second in either direction in the 
time, is not to be expected to substantially affect the result as far as 
substantial achievement of the optimum is concerned. If desired, different 
and especially lower temperatures such as 400.degree. F for example could 
be used, but other factors such as especially the time under pressure 
would then have to be adjusted, - for example to 40 seconds. There is a 
practical limit to adjustment of the temperature upward which is imposed 
by the danger of burning the material, so that 500.degree. F for example 
should be avoided. 
The cloth layer 10 will preferably be 15 mils (thousandths of an inch) 
thick, but may as a practical matter be as little as 12 mils or as much as 
25 mils. 
The cloth layer, which as indicated will most preferably be a blend of 65% 
polyester and 35% cotton, may also for example be a 50-50 blend of the two 
or 80% polyester and 20% cotton, to mention two other commercial blends of 
the two which would be suitable, and instead can also be entirely of some 
natural fiber such as cotton. 
The paper tissue layer will preferably be 2.5 mils thick, but may be as 
little as 1 mil or as much as 4 mils. As indicated, it will preferably be 
uncreped paper tissue, but if desired, paper tissue with what is known in 
the trade as "minimum crepe" can be used. 
The intermediate layer of low density polyethylene will preferably be 8 
mils thick, but may be as little as 6 mils or as great as 10 mils, 
considering merely what there is as a layer of such polyethylene, while 
including what is merely impregnated with it as a part of the other layers 
whose thickness has already been discussed previously. As indicated this 
penetration in the case of the paper will preferably be just short of 
appearing on the outside surface, and in the case of the cloth an 
approximately corresponding amount as the case may be. Where the paper 
tissue layer is the preferred 2.5 mils in thickness, this penetration in 
the case of the cloth might be around 2 mils. 
Preferably the low density polyethylene should be such a material having a 
specific gravity of about 0.916, but any such material having a specific 
gravity of 0.940 or below would be considered a low density polyethylene 
and might be used. Also, while low density polyethylene is preferable, 
other low density polyolefins could also be used, including especially low 
density polypropylene. 
The laminate of the present invention is useful especially for making 
emblems to be worn on garments. 
In the making of these emblems, it is usual to employ a Merrow sewing 
machine, to provide a rather complex stitch which gives a good appearance 
to the emblem. For such an operation, a flat material is required, whereas 
many materials which might otherwise be tried in such a connection have a 
pronounced tendency to curl, especially if their manufacture has called 
for the employment of a relatively high temperature, after which they 
cool. 
The material of the present invention holds its flatness extrememly well 
and does not curl even in cooling down from a reasonably high temperature 
such as is employed in this connection. 
Furthermore, the material of the present invention is relatively 
inexpensive, as compared to the sort of thing which the trade feels 
impelled to go to, in order to get the other qualities that it wants in a 
material for emblems. 
Also, the material of the present invention has the other qualities desired 
of such a material, and has them to an outstanding degree. For example, 
its appearance and "hand" or "feel" are especially good for this purpose. 
What is more, the material of the present invention is especially long 
lasting, standing up without impairment under about fifty commercial 
launderings, with no indication in the test which went to this point that 
their limit of wearability in this respect was at all being approached. 
This is in contrast for example to starched buckram which is often used 
for this purpose, which does not last nearly as well and starts to lose 
its starch with the very first washing, despite the relative overall 
expense of the material in question. 
Also, the material of the present invention lends itself to relatively 
inexpensive automatic operations which can be done at high rates of speed 
by the personnel involved, whereas the starching of the buckram above 
mentioned is an enormously slower, more tedious operation requiring much 
more time and expense of labor employed, the time required to turn out a 
certain amount of the finished material being as much as ten or more times 
as great in the case of the starching operation as in the automatic 
laminating operation involved in the present invention. 
Another special value of the present material in its proposed use is that 
the emblem does not tend to stick to the garment on which it is used, 
unlike the type of emblem which is intended to be pressed into place upon 
the garment. Thus an emblem of the present material lends itself to being 
sewed upon the garment, and when its usefulness on that particular garment 
is ended, can be removed without impairing either the emblem or the 
garment, which is not true where the two have been pressed together in 
reliance on this causing adhesion between them. Thereafter it will be 
possible to sew the emblem upon another garment as may be desired, 
employing nothing more in this than will be found in the ordinary home -- 
no unusual automatic machinery likely to be found only in some industrial 
establishment. Thus the present material lends itself especially well to 
such things as boy scout or girl scout emblems, which can be sewed by the 
mother of the family onto the garment of the oldest brother or sister and 
later removed by her and sewed on what the younger brother or sister is 
wearing when the older member of the family grows up and the younger 
brother or sister joins the same organization. 
In view of my invention and disclosure, variations and modifications to 
meet individual whim or particular need will doubtless become evident to 
others skilled in the art to obtain all or part of the benefits of my 
invention without copying the material shown, and I, therefore, claim all 
such insofar as they fall within the reasonable spirit and scope of my 
claims.