Decorative element

The invention makes it possible for a traditional decorative element for expensive embroidered luxury materials namely fine bugle beads, i.e. very small tubes of glass or glass-like other materials, which are conventionally either sewn on directly using complicated hand work or in the form of pre-formed fine bugle beads strung on a thread which is stitched in time-consuming manner, for example using single-head Lorraine sewing machines, to the supporting material, to be manufactured with virtually the same quality but in a simple manner without involving manual work. For this method use is made of a narrow film formed from a multiple layer laminate of different synthetic or natural materials in such a way that during a subsequent treatment, e.g. a heat treatment, the material starts to curve in a pre-determined direction bends up and finally curls and assumes the shape of a bugle bead. The narrow film is applied to the substrate by conventional sequin embroidery techniques.

The invention relates to a method for the manufacture of a decorative 
element for use on textiles, as well as semi-manufactured decorative 
elements made by such method which can be starting materials for 
corresponding decorative elements for textiles, and the final decorated 
textile products made therefrom. It more particularly refers to an 
improved means of making beads, particularly hollow beads and the like, 
and their use in connection with textile fabrics. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
A traditional decorative element for expensive embroidered luxury textile 
materials is constituted by a suitable fabric substrate having small glass 
tubes, known as bugle beads, finely stitched thereon. Conventionally, the 
very small bugle beads are directly stitched on to the fabric substrate 
either by means of complicated hand work, or the fine bulge beads, which 
have previously been strung up on a thread, are stitched on to the 
supporting textile material in a time-consuming manner using a single-head 
Lorraine sewing machine. This makes the final product, which is a 
composite of the decorative bead materials and the textile substrate, 
expensive and labor intensive due, in particular, to the required hand 
work. 
The problem occasioned by this state of the art is to provide a method by 
means of which, in a simple and largely mechanical manner, bugle bead-like 
decorative elements with a very high esthetic effect can be created. In 
particular, the improvement of this invention permits and encourages the 
use of existing mechanical means and knowledge in the field, so that the 
method of manufacturing such materials can be easily accomplished and 
widely disseminated, and therefore is not bound to special machines which 
must be acquired beforehand. 
Since 1966 certain sequin units have been available, which are used on 
automatic Schiffli embroidery machines. Since that time, these units and 
machines have become used throughout the world. In all these sequin supply 
units, pre-punched narrow films are brought, by fine advance cam wheels, 
upstream of the needles of the Schiffli embroidery machine. Following the 
first needle penetration through these films, the sequins are separated 
from the film by a cutting knife, which is synchronously associated with 
the multiple advance units, and are then embroidered onto the base textile 
material as individual sequins. This has become a standard commercial 
procedure for applying sequin embroidery. 
OBJECTS AND GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a novel method for 
forming beads, or the like, decorative embellishments for use in 
connection with textile substrates. 
It is another object of this invention to provide the novel beads, or the 
like, made by such method in finished condition, adapted to the applied to 
a suitable substrate, such as a textile material. 
It is a further object of this invention to provide a finished textile 
material, or the like, having the novel beads, etc. of this invention 
applied thereto. 
Other and additional objects of this invention will become apparent from a 
consideration of this entire specification including the drawing hereof. 
In accord with and fulfilling these objects, one aspect of this invention 
resides in a novel method of forming decorative elements such as beads, or 
the like, especially those beads which are known as bugle beads. The 
instant invented method for creating a novel decorative element which is 
adapted to be applied to a textile substrate, inter alia, can use this 
same type of embroidery procedure that is per se known in the art for 
applying sequins to textile substrates, with the modification that the 
above mentioned cutting knife is not actuated in all cases following the 
first needle penetration through the film or the sequin because this 
invention is not exclusively concerned with embroidering sequins or 
anything else onto textile substrates. 
According to one aspect of this invention, use is made of a narrow film, 
which is suitably formed from a laminate of multiple layers, each layer 
being composed of one or more materials having different coefficients of 
expansion and contraction, in such a way that the multi-layered material 
is caused to curve in upon itself during a subsequent treatment. The 
downstream, or subsequent, treatment causes the multi-layer material to 
start to curve in a predetermined direction, with the sides bending up and 
curling inwardly, until the curled material assumes the shape of a small 
tube, or bugle bead. It is an important aspect of this invention that at 
some point during the curving of the multi-layered material, the curled 
shape is stabilized and fixed so that it will not unroll, nor will it roll 
further. The curling process preferably takes place from the sides 
defining the width of the narrow film (i.e., not from the ends, or 
lengthwise of said narrow film) so that following the treatment there is a 
longitudinal bugle bead which has become stitched (attached) to the 
substrate. 
The decisive directional stability, that this process applies to the 
elements which are being attached to the supporting material, is achieved 
such that the advance unit does not embroider each sequin, but instead, as 
desired, two, three, four or five, etc. sequins may be cumulatively 
attached to the substrate before the cutting knife is activated. The thus 
fixed sequins can no longer rotate in an arbitrary manner around the 
thread penetrating perforation therein, as is the case in conventional 
sequin embroidery. Instead they are kept on the supporting material with 
their length or tube axis being generally fixed This fixing is oriented in 
a desired direction, namely at 90.degree. to the desired tube forming 
curling direction. It is also within the scope of this invention to 
achieve directional stabilization by the pre-punching of sequin forms with 
two or more perforation holes, preferentially longitudinally disposed 
multiple perforations, through which thread or other affixing means can be 
applied. 
When using multi-layer material, which will form bugle beads from circular 
or oval shaped sequins as a result of the downstream treatment which 
causes the material to curvingly bend up or curl, an optically pleasing 
effect can be obtained. The edges of the sequin remains visible as the 
curled edges of the formed bugle bead. If the two or more layers or sides, 
of the multi-layer laminate material of the original narrow film, have 
different colors, a two, or more, color edge effect(s) can be achieved 
which can lead to very attractive additional patterning. However, if such 
a visible edge effect of the curling is to be avoided, then in place of 
the circular or oval standard sequin, a narrow film can be so pre-punched 
that the necessary fine cut neck is replaced by a laminate punched to 
within a few fractions of a millimeter precisely matched with the 
conveying holes required by the advance apparatus. The plates on or of the 
film are preferably, but not necessarily, rectangular. Here again there is 
no cutting of the plates, but instead, as desired, two or more laminated 
plates are pre-cut in order to ensure flexible patterning. When the 
sequin-like applique is rectangular, the inwardly curling operation 
enfolds the upper surface of the topmost laminate layer. In this form the 
original top of the sequin is completely trapped within the hollow 
interior of the bugle bead that has been formed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS OF THIS INVENTION 
With reference to the aforementioned adaptability of the method of this 
invention, and to better illustrate the same, at this point a preferred 
operating unit, which is adapted for cooperation with a known Schiffli 
embroidery machine, is shown. FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. 6 which show the 
general construction of the unit, are described in detail in patent 
application EP-219,971 with respect to applying sequins to a substrate 
fabric, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
Referring now to FIGS. 1, and 2 of the drawing, the applique machine to be 
used in this invention comprises erect support frame members having 
extended therebetween a substantially horizontal support frame supporting 
a plurality (16 are shown in the instant drawing, but this number is not 
in any way limiting) of needle assemblies. In spaced relationship between 
the frames 10, the needle axis 11 (see FIG. 2) is regularly spaced along 
the needle support bar (not shown). The erect frames 10 are in spaced 
relationship with the plane 12 of a fabric which is intended to have 
decorations applied thereto by this machine. The fabric 13 is maintained 
in the plane 12 by being supported in a frame (not shown) which is adapted 
to move with respect to the needle axis in order to enable the desired 
stitching pattern to be applied. The frames 10 further support a pair of 
vertically spaced cylindrical rods 14, suitably made of hardened steel, 
which are bolted and fixedly secured thereto. 
Each rod 14 carries a pair of spaced sleeves 15 each of which is secured to 
a carriage body 16, with the sleeves being capable of axial sliding 
movement along the hardened steel rods 14. The carriage body 16 carries a 
substantially horizontally disposed module mounting plate 17 which is 
fixedly secured to the carriage body 16. Sleeves 15 are incorporated in 
the carriage body 16. The module mounting plate 17 carries a plurality (in 
the depicted embodiment. 16 are shown) of feeder modules 20 as will be 
hereinafter described. 
As seen in FIG. 2, each feeder module is adapted to supply a strip 21, 
comprising a plurality of materials to be applied to the fabric substrate. 
In the cited European patent, the applied materials are sequins. According 
to this invention, these applied materials are the precursors of the 
formed bugle beads. These materials, joined end to end to comprise a 
strip, are fed to a stitching station, which is indicated generally at 22, 
with a hole in each individual material element being presented at the 
stitching station(s) in registry with the needle axis 11 of the needle 23 
in juxtaposition with the module 20. The needles 23 are fixed with respect 
to the frame 10, whereas the modules 20 are carried by the carriage body 
16 which is slidable with respect to the fixed rods 14 and hence is 
moveable laterally with respect to the fixed needle axes. 
On the side of the frame 10, remote from the fabric plane 12, there is 
provided an indexing mechanism 24 comprising a base plate and a support 
frame 25 fixedly secured with respect to the frame 10 (see particularly 
FIG. 1). The indexing mechanism support frame 25 has along its edge which 
is juxtaposed rods 14, a pair of spaced abutment members 26 and 27, and 
further supports three (3) solenoids 28, 29, and 30, each of which has an 
armature coil 31 which is moveable between a retracted and an extended 
position. The arrangement of these elements is such that the diameter of 
each abutment 26 and 27, and each core 31 of the solenoids 28, 29 and 30, 
respectively, are of the same diameter and further such that the axes are 
equally spaced apart to correspond precisely with the spacing between 
adjacent needles on the needle frame. This provides five abutment stops 
for control of the movement of the carriage 16. 
The carriage 16 is driven by means of a pneumatic ram 3 which is supported 
on one of the frames 10 by means of inter-engaging trunnions 33 and 34, 
which are secured with respect to each other by means of a securing pin 
35. The ram 32 is provided, at the other end with a ram rod 36 having at 
its extremity, an annular stop 37. It carries intermediate of its length, 
an arm 38 which is fixedly secured to the rod 36 by means of a pin 39 and 
is fixedly secured to the carriage body 16. This arrangement permits 
movement of the ram 36 to be transmitted to the carriage body 16. The 
portion of the ram rod 36' disposed between the annular stop 37 and the 
arm 38 carries a sleeve 40 having a central flange 41 defining first and 
second abutment surfaces 42 and 43, respectively. The sleeve 40 is capable 
of sliding between a position in which its first end face 44 abuts the 
adjacent surface of the arm 38, and a second position in which the second 
sleeve end face 45 abuts the adjacent annular surface of the annular stop 
37. 
In operation, with all of the solenoids disabled so that the core 31 of 
each solenoid is in a withdrawn position, actuation of the ram to extend 
the ram rod 35 results in the ram, and correspondingly the carriage 16, 
moving until the second abutment surface 43 of the annular flange 41 
engages with the extremity of the first abutment member 26. The lost 
motion of the sleeve 40 permits continued movement of the ram rod until 
the first end face of the sleeve 44 is in abutment with the corresponding 
surface of the arm 38. In this position, the carriage 16 will be at the 
extremity of its travel and the modules 20 will be in alignment with 
corresponding needles 23 whereby allowing a stitching operation by at 
least some of the needles 23 to stitch a material element(s), presented at 
the stitching station 22, to the fabric 13. Throughout the stitching 
operation, air is supplied under pressure to the ram in order to maintain 
the ram in firm abutting relationship with the end stop 26 through the 
mechanism of the lost motion sleeve 40 to ensure accurate registration of 
the needle 23 with a material element presented at the stitching station 
22 by means of a module 20 on the carriage 16. 
Release of the pressure in the ram 32 and the application of pressure to 
withdraw the ram in a left direction, relative to the positions shown in 
FIGS. 1 and 2, will result in disengagement of the flange 41 from the 
member 26 until continued movement of the ram brings the first abutment 
surface 42 of the central flange 41 into engagement with the second 
abutment member 27. Continued withdrawal of the ram will result in further 
movement of the ram rod 36 with respect to the sleeve 40, which is being 
held stationary by the second abutment member 27 until the annular stop 37 
engages the second end face of the sleeve whereby preventing further 
leftward movement of the ram producing movement of the carriage 16 
corresponding to five (5) module places with respect to the needle bank, 
thus permitting a second type or color of material element to be brought 
into registration with the needles. Registration is insured because the 
lost motion of the sleeve 40 corresponds precisely to the diameter of the 
abutments 26 and 27. Intermediate positions between the one and tile five 
positions, namely two, three or four positions, for the module may be 
effected by activating one of the solenoids 28, 29 or 30 to extend its 
core, as shown by the coil 29 in FIG. 1, to engage with the flange 41 thus 
producing alignment of the third or middle module within the group for 
operation in combination with a given needle. The lost motion sleeve 40 
provides the means of positive location of the module with the needle axis 
irrespective of the direction of throw of the ram. If the ram is moving 
toward the right, as shown in FIG. 1, then the contact between the core 31 
of the coil or solenoid 29 will be between the second abutment face 43 of 
the flange 41 via the first end face 44 and the arm 38, whereas leftward 
movement of the ram rod 36 will cause the abutment to be on the other side 
of the core or armature 31 of the coil 29 between the first abutment 
surface 42 of the central flange 41 via the second end face of the sleeve 
40 and the annular stop 37. 
The feeder module 20 comprises a housing 51, suitably formed of an 
injection moldable material such as for example glass filled nylon, 
having, in an exterior surface, a tape path 52 extending about a tape 
drive 53 to a dispensing and indexing area 54. The housing 51 accommodates 
on the side thereof adjacent the module mounting plate 17, a coil 55 
having a central armature 56 which is cranked at 57, toward the needle 
axis, which latter part 57 carries at its distal end a further cranked 
portion 58 extending from the axis of the armature 56 toward the needle 
axis 11. The extremity 59 of the further cranked portion 58 carries a pin 
60, the axis of which is in spaced parallel relationship with the needle 
axis 11 which is adapted to extend into the tape path 52 to engage with 
the central hole of a tape passing along the path 52 to hold the 
penultimate material element on the tape relative to the module 20, thus 
aligning the hole of the end element with the axis 11 of the needle 23. 
The inner extremity of the cranked portion 58 is provided with a pawl 61 
while the armature 56 is spring loaded to a datum position with the pin 60 
extending into the tape path 52 in its engaging position. 
The housing 51 carries a tined wheel 62 having a plurality of tines 63 
adapted to engage with the central hole of each element whereby movement 
of the tined wheel 63 will produce corresponding arcuate movement of the 
tape along the tape path 52 where the tines 63 interact with the path. The 
tined wheel 62 is journalled for rotation about an axle 64 which also 
carries, for rotation with the tined wheel with a ratchet 65 for 
engagement with the pawl 61. The pawl 61 is suitably spring loaded (not 
shown) into engagement with the ratchets on the wheel 65. 
The housing further includes a spring strip 70 which is secured to one 
surface of the housing 51 and which carried at its outer extremity a 
friction pad 71 which is adapted to bear against the side face of either 
the tined wheel 63 or the ratchet wheel 65 to damp the motion of the wheel 
upon operation of the solenoid 55. A second pawl member 72 is spring 
loaded into engagement with the ratchet wheel 65 to prevent any movement 
of the tined wheel 62 which might tend to reverse the movement of the tape 
along the tape path 52. The lower portion of the housing accommodates a 
microswitch 73 having an actuating arm 74 which is adapted to engage the 
lower extremity of the armature 56 of the solenoid 55. 
It is pointed out here that the starting position for the manufacture of 
the decorative element according to this invention is substantially the 
same as is the starting position required for embroidering sequins onto a 
textile material substrate. Thus, the invention can be performed with 
limited additional capital costs which ensures the technical 
transferability of this technology which enables achieving a widespread 
use of the inventive method hereof. 
From a myriad of possible different sequin shapes which are useful in this 
invention, FIGS. 3 to 5 show a few of these as the means of illustrating 
the basic principle. For ease of understanding, rectangular starting 
elements are shown as examples which are useful for the manufacture of 
bugle beads according to this invention. These require a specially 
configured narrow film. When using a narrow film which has been cut for 
sequin shapes and therefore is in the shape of a circular starting 
element, according to the inventive treatment described herein the curving 
in, bending up and finally curling a highly decorative, tubular structure 
is obtained with inclined cut tube ends. If in place of individual 
elements multiple elements are used, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, then in 
the case of rectangular basic elements, a series of bugle beads are 
obtained over the entire element length. In the case of the circular or 
elliptical basic elements, bugle beads are obtained with sloping 
longitudinal end indentations, which can have a very attractive appearance 
and through which the original top surface of the laminated multi-layer 
forming material is visible. 
Embroidering or sewing on of the basic elements that is the film or tape , 
takes place according to techniques which are per se known in the prior 
art for application of sequins, and requires no special measures, apart 
from the special control and activation of the conventional cutting knife. 
The special measures which form a significant part of this invention occur 
in connection with the manufacture of the narrow film starting element, 
and the subsequent treatment of the basic elements after they have been 
affixed to the substrate. 
Great significance and care should be attached to the direction in which 
the narrow film is cut with respect to the direction in which the material 
finally curves (its bending up or curling direction). Using the example 
shown in FIG. 3b, it is possible to choose a rectangular basic element in 
such a way that two opposite ends bend towards one another, while the 
other two opposite ends do not curl up to any significant effect. 
Similarly, with a circular or elliptical starting element, two facing 
"sides" are so constructed that they will bend towards one another, while 
the other two facing "sides" do not appreciably curl tip. With the 
circular basic element shown in FIG. 3a, due to the greater degree of 
freedom afforded by the circumference rather than distinct sides as shown 
in the starting element of FIG. 3b, it is possible to choose the curling 
elements in such a way that two peripheral points at the end of a first 
diameter approach one another on bending up and curling, while points at 
the ends of a second diameter which is normal to the first diameter tend 
to remain uncurled. The bending up and curling of circumferential points 
located at ends of a segment lead to a bag-like upward bending of the 
basic element as they approach each other. With embroidery of a 
longitudinally joined together, cohesive multiple basic element, as shown 
in FIGS. 4 and 5, it is only possible to bend the longitudinal sides or 
edges which are not connected to each other as are the lateral edges, 
towards one another. 
The special shaping treatment of this invention takes place after the 
fixing of the decorative material to the substrate. This multi-layer 
material may for example comprise a laminate of different polyester films, 
such as are sold under the Mylar trademark and name, e.g. a Mylar 36 layer 
and a Mylar PET film layer 23. Each of these layers may or may not be dyed 
and may or may not be vacuum metallized or otherwise coated. The different 
colors and metallic effects which can thus be applied by using additional 
decorative factors not further discussed here. The lamination of the two 
or more individual layers can be accomplished in known manner. The pairing 
of the layers is intended to permit or cause a subsequent treatment, e.g. 
a subsequent heat treatment, to effect a greater shrinkage of one layer 
with respect to the other layer(s). This differential thermal expansion or 
contraction forces one layer to move further than its neighboring layer, 
so that a curvature of the combined layers is obtained, which in the case 
of appropriate pairing of suitable layer materials leads to complete 
curling of the laminate. 
In one specific embodiment of this invention, the laminated multi-layer 
material is sewn onto a textile substrate through appropriate holes 
(perforations) as in sequin attachment, and then the heating of the 
laminate of the aforementioned multi-layered material proceeds as follows: 
1) heating of the material at approximately 220.degree. C. for no longer 
than about minutes, 
2) maintaining the material at that temperature for about 30 seconds, 
during which the multi-layer material is annealed and the thermal dynamics 
in the two materials are calmed, 
3) lowering the temperature e.g. with the aid of assisting infrared, for 
about 60 seconds to a "shaping temperature", e.g. between about 150 and 
100.degree. C. during which the material curves and starts to upwardly and 
inwardly bend, and on reaching the desired shape 
4) a sudden cooling to a temperature of at most about -10.degree. C. for 
stabilizing or setting the shape obtained. 
As a function of the particular materials from which the layers of the 
laminate are formed, other temperature controls are required and the 
specific temperature regimen that is suited to use in each case be 
determined. The choice of the laminates and the resulting subsequent 
treatment by heat irradiation gases, vapors, etc. is also dependent on the 
textile substrate to which the decorative elements are fixed. Care must be 
taken not to deform of damage the textile substrate by excessive 
application of heat. Thus, the materials of the layers of the laminate and 
the materials of the textile substrate must be coordinated with each other 
to ensure thermal stability. 
This invention is not limited to post thermal treatment in order to cause 
the laminated multi-layer starting material to curl into the desired bugle 
bead, or other, form. Other subsequent treatments are possible, and will 
occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. These treatments are all 
intended to be embraced by the scope of this invention provided they lead 
to a planned warping of laminates and which can be used to achieve further 
effects. Of course, care must be taken to choose a textile substrate, a 
starting element composition and a post (subsequent) treatment regimen 
that are mutually compatible. 
The method can be used for modifying decorative single elements. Whereas up 
to now sequins of any shape are constituted by planar plates, the method 
according to the invention can give said plates a convex or concave shape 
and which, e.g. in convex form, can produce a marked optical effect. With 
the use of different materials for the films, laminates or single-layer 
structures the most varied effects can be obtained, such as mixed forms of 
curved, curled, concave, convex and other arrangements.