Cloth

Abstract: A cloth composed of first and second threads (1), (2), the first threads (1) being dyeable by a first dye and being much more exposed on a front surface of the cloth than a back surface thereof, the second threads (2) being not dyeable by said first dye and dyeable by a second dye and being much more exposed on the back surface than the front surface.

Description: The present invention relates to a cloth for ribbons, scarves or slide fasteners which can have patterns dyed onto it. Conventional cloth for ribbons, scarves or slide fasteners is usually dyed the same color on both sides. The cloth used with these kinds of garments is considered to be decorative. The fact that conventional slide fastener tape used in sweaters, for example, is the same color on both sides will therefore cause the following two problems. Although sweaters, for example, may have slide fasteners which go all the way up to the collar, people will often wear them with the slide fastener not fully done up and the collar open. This means that the color of the neck cannot be varied, although whether or not this is a hindrance depends on the personal preference of the wearer. Also, this kind of garment can also often be worn either way out. However, the selection of colors for the garment is greatly restricted by the fact that whichever way out the garment is worn, the color of the slide fastener tape will remain the same. BE-A-538 930 discloses a fabric in which yarns having different dying properties are woven in a pattern. In particular, certain colored yarns may be woven with undyed yarns, and the fabric is dyed in a dye that colors only the undyed yarns. The object underlying the present invention is to provide a cloth which can be dyed a different color on each side. As claimed, there is provided a method of producing a cloth using first and second threads, wherein the first threads and the second threads have different dying properties, the first threads being dyeable by a first dye, and the second threads being not dyeable by the first dye and being dyeable by a second dye having a different colour. The cloth made of these threads is dyed using the second dye, whereby the cloth has different colours corresponding to the colour of the first threads and of the second dye. According to the present invention the first threads are much more exposed on a front surface of the cloth than a back surface thereof, and the second threads are much more exposed on the back surface than the front surface. Alternating warp threads are made of the first or the second threads, respectively and the cloth formed of these threads is dyed in subsequent steps using the first and second dyes respectively for obtaining a cloth having a different colour on either side. Further, according to the invention a cloth is provided composed of first and second threads produced by the above mentioned method. The first threads are dyeable by a first dye and are much more exposed on a front surface of the cloth than a back surface thereof. The second threads are not dyeable by the first dye and able to be dyed by a second dye having a different colour and are much more exposed on the back surface than the front surface. Further, alternating warp threads are made of the first or the second threads respectively, and the cloth comprising these threads is dyed using the first and second dyes respectively for obtaining a cloth having a different colour on either side. This cloth can then be made suitable for use as a slide fastener tape. Further, the slide fastener tape may have a belt-shaped portion in which the second thread is much more exposed on a part of the front surface than the back surface longitudinally thereof. In the following the invention is further described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which FIG. 1 is a view showing the woven structure of the cloth according to the invention; FIG. 2 is a large-scale sectional view of the arrangement of individual threads in the cloth; FIG. 3 is a front view of the cloth employed as a slide fastener tape; and FIG. 4 is a view showing the woven structure of the portion A in FIG. 3 A more detailed description of this invention will now be given by referring to one part of the twill woven structure in FIGS. 1 and 2. A warp thread W1 indicated by the hatching lines runs over weft threads F1, F2 and F3 and then runs under the weft thread F4. Next, the warp thread W2 indicated by the dot pattern runs under the weft thread F1, over the weft thread F2 and then under weft threads F3 and F4. The warp thread W3 then runs under the weft thread Fl and over weft threads F2, F3 and F4. Then, the warp thread W4 runs under weft threads Fl and F2, over the weft thread F3 and under the weft thread F4. The warp threads W1 and W3 are made of the same thread and are out of step with each other by one pitch. The warp threads W2 and W4 are also made of the same thread although this thread is different to the thread used for the warp threads W1 and W3 and are also out of step with each other by one pitch. As the warp threads W1 and W3 are more prominent on the first side and the warp threads W2 and W4 are more prominent on the second side, the cloth has two distinct sides, and is therefore reversible. In this woven structure the first threads 1 which make up every second warp thread W1 and W3 are made from rayon and the second threads 2 which make up every other second warp thread W2 and W4 are made from polyester. The weft threads F1, F2, F3 and F4 are all made from polyester. This example takes advantage of the properties of the materials rayon and polyester. If using disperse dyes, for example, one kind of dye could be used which would dye the polyester threads but would not dye the rayon threads. These rayon threads could then be dyed using a further kind of dye. When weaving, a choice could also then be made between using a dyeable fiber thread and a non dyeable fiber thread for one system, thus giving two distinct kinds of thread. There are many well known dyes by which a pattern could then be dyed onto the rayon. These include direct dyes, basic dyes, vat dyes, sulfur dyes and sulfur vat dyes. FIG. 3 shows an example of a slide fastener. Here, a belt shaped portion 3 runs down both outside edges of the slide fastener tape T, with E being fastener elements. This belt shaped portion 3 is woven using the system shown in FIG. 4 from a warp thread W5 and a weft thread F5, which are made from polyester having the same material properties as the aforementioned second thread 2. The material used in this belt shaped portion 3 could also be used to form a pattern on, for example, scarves or ribbons. If the cloth formed using the above method is now soaked in a bath of, for example, disperse dye, only the second threads 2 made from polyester will be dyed. As these second threads 2 are more prominent on the second side, only this second side, along with the belt shaped portion of the first side in which these second threads are also prominent, will be dyed. The first threads 1 which are more prominent on the first side will remain their original color. This first surface could then be dyed using the spray or ink jet dying methods, or could have a pattern put onto it by using the ink jet dying method. In the cloth in the present invention there are first threads 1 which can only be dyed by using a dye for a first system of dying, and second threads 2 which can be dyed using a dye for a second dying system but cannot be dyed by the dye from the first system of dying. These first threads are more prominent on the first side of the cloth while the second threads are more prominent on the second side of the cloth. This system differs from other systems in that the dying process is carried out twice, but rather than the whole of the cloth being dyed in one go, each side of the cloth can actually be dyed to a desired color. With, for example, a reversible sweater, either side of any slide fastener tape used could be dyed so as either side of the slide fastener tape would match with the color of the sweater. This would improve the quality and increase the value of any goods made. If the cloth in this invention is used as slide fastener tape, the belt shaped portions at the edges of the first surface can act as sewing margin guides, thus making it very easy to attach.

Claims: A method of producing a cloth using first and second threads (1), (2), wherein the first threads (1) and the second threads (2) have different dying properties, the first threads (1) being dyeable by a first dye, and the second threads (2) being not dyeable by the first dye and being dyeable by a second dye having a different colour, the cloth made of these threads (1; 2) is dyed using the second dye, whereby the cloth has different colours corresponding to the colour of the first threads (1) and of the second dye, characterised in that the first threads (1) are much more exposed on a front surface of the cloth than a back surface thereof, the second threads (2) are much more exposed on the back surface than the front surface, alternating warp threads (W1, W3; W2, W4) are made of the first or the second threads (1; 2) respectively, the cloth formed of these threads (1, 2) is dyed in subsequent steps using the first and second dyes respectively for obtaining a cloth having a different colour on either side. A cloth composed of first and second threads (1; 2) produced by the method of claim 1, wherein the first threads (1) are dyeable by a first dye and are much more exposed on a front surface of the cloth than a back surface thereof, the second threads (2) are not dyeable by the first dye and able to be dyed by a second dye having a different colour and are much more exposed on the back surface than the front surface, alternating warp threads (W1, W3; W2, W4) are made of the first or the second threads (1; 2) respectively, the cloth comprising these threads (1; 2) is dyed using the first and second dyes respectively for obtaining a cloth having a different colour on either side. The cloth as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that it is provided in the form of a slide fastener tape. The cloth of claim 3, characterised in that the slide fastener tape (T) has a strip-shaped portion (3) extending longitudinally adjacent the slide fastener tape (T) in which the second threads (2) are much more exposed on part of the front surface longitudinally thereof.

Inventors: YAMAKITA YOSHIMICHI, YAMAKITA, YOSHIMICHI
Applicants: YKK CORP, YKK CORPORATION
Application year: 1993
Main classification: D03D15
IPC codes: D06P3, A44B19, D03D11, D03D15