Patent GB-868415-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to the printing and dyeing of pile fabric
IPC: B41F15/36
Filed: 1957-11-01
Abstract: 868,415. Printing on pile fabrics. C.S.C.M. Ltd. Nov. 1, 1957 [Aug. 13, 1957], No. 34235/57. Class 100(2) A process for applying a coloured design to a pile fabric comprises pressing the fabric with the pile face downwards against a flat receptacle having a thin upstanding wall with free edges defining the design so that an area of the pile enters the receptacle and is separated from the remainder, supplying a measured quantity of colouring agent, and compressing the pile within the receptacle to absorb all the colouring agent. Printing surfaces:-The flat printing-plate 25, Fig. 2, supported on a base 26 comprises a top wall 37 on which a pattern is formed by a number of upstanding strips 38 embedded therein, these strips serving to form receptacles for liquid dye or colour 28 into which the fibres 47 of a carpet are pressed by an upper platen 44. The liquid colour 28 is supplied to receptacles by tubes 42 leading to one or more compartments arranged below the wall 37 and forming part of the printing-plate 25. As shown, there are three compartments for different colours, each supplied with liquid by a pipe 43. The design strips 38 are made of rubber, resilient plastic, or other resilient and compressible substance. The tubes 42 may be omitted, and the liquid 28 then flows through a series of holes drilled at various angles through the composite plate 25 to the several liquid compartments. Inking &c. apparatus:-Liquid colour or dye 28 is supplied to the interior of the printing plate through pipes 43 each connected to a metering cylinder 64, Fig. 10, and these cylinders are each connected to a storage tank 61. As the platen 93 rises to part the carpet 98 from the printing forme, it trips a limit switch which not only causes the metering cylinders 64 to discharge a fresh quantity of colour into the printing forme but also causes the carpet web to be fed forward. The pipes 43 may be flexible, and during the actual printing operation these pipes may be squeezed flat to prevent movement of liquid therein. Platen machines:-The fixed bed 26, Fig. 2, supports the printing plate 25 to which liquid colour 28 is supplied in various colours to the receptacles arranged on the top portion 37 of the plate, and the pile carpet 47 is temporarily secured by suction to a sheet 46 of rubber, felt &c. arranged on the platen 44 which is vertically reciprocated by hydraulic means. The platen 44 is hollow, is connected by a pipe 48 to a source of vacuum, and is secured to three hydraulic rams 45. The pile of the carpet 47 is pressed into the liquid colours 28, the resilient upstanding ribs 38 on the printing plate 25 being slightly compressed in the process. In apparatus for printing on individual small carpets, the platen 76, Fig. 7, includes a hollow perforated member 77 connected to a source of vacuum, and provided with rollers adapted to run along rails 79 secured to the platen 76. The member 77 can slide from beneath the platen to a position above a table 84 to pick up a carpet 86, move beneath the platen for the printing operation, and then slide to the right to deliver the printed carpet. The rails 79 move down with the platen 76 as it descends towards the printing plate 83. The table 84 is moved upwardly by a hydraulic ram 85 when the suction member 77 is disposed thereabove, to feed the carpet 86 into contact therewith. A machine for printing on carpet in web form comprises a printing plate 91, Fig. 10, on a fixed bed 92, and a platen 93 adapted to be reciprocated along vertical posts 94 by a hydraulic ram 95. The carpet supporting and feeding assembly is mounted on the movable platen 93 and comprises a reel 96 from which the carpet is unrolled, an idler pin roller 97a provided with a slipping clutch or other torque resisting device, a pin roller 100 driven intermittently by a motor 104, and a take-up reel 101 for the printed carpet. In order to counteract the suction effect on the carpet as it is peeled off the printing plate 91, the carpet can be released between the pin rollers by allowing the latter to move towards each other after each printing operation, and by providing lateral air slots leading to the back of the platen 93. In a modification (Fig. 9, not shown), this suction effect between the carpet and plate 91 is overcome by making the movable platen in two parts, a fixed upper part and a lower part hinged at one end to the upper part and connected at the opposite end to a piston or plunger whereby, when the platen rises after a printing operation, at first the lower part only rises from the printing plate at one end. Specification 868,416 is referred to.