Patent Publication Number: US-10309054-B1

Title: Fabric and method of manufacture

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application for a utility patent claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/519,248, filed 14 Jun. 2017. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates generally to fabrics, and more particularly to a method of manufacturing and printing fabrics so that an image printed on the front is drawn through to the back so that an image is formed on both sides of the fabric. 
     Description of Related Art 
     Using prior art methods, a fabric (e.g., blanket, towel, or similar product) is first prepared for printing. The back side is brushed and napped. The front side is then printed via heat transfer printing, and the back side remains white. 
     It is desirable to provide a fabric formed using a unique method of manufacture that includes printing a front side, and then processing a rear side so that printing from the front side is drawn to the rear side. This is accomplished by first printing the front side of the blanket, before brushing and napping the back side. Only after printing, and after the ink/dyes penetrates to the ground, is the back side then brushed and napped. This results in the fibers from the front side being pulled through the ground to the back side, so there is mirror image of the front side is drawn to the back side. 
     There are many particular details in the execution of this method that must be performed correctly for this method to work, and it has required significant experimentation to determine the exact parameters of this method that result in a functional method. The details of this process are described in greater detail below. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention teaches certain benefits in construction and use which give rise to the objectives described below. 
     The present invention provides a method of printing and processing a fabric, the method comprising the steps of providing a fabric comprising first material yarns forming a technical front, and second material yarns forming a technical back, first and second material yarns being held together by a ground; carding and polishing the technical front to increase the permeability of the fabric; printing an image on the technical front of the fabric, so that ink from the printing process penetrates to the ground of the fabric; brushing and napping the technical back, after the printing process, so that ink from the technical front is pulled through the ground to the technical back, so that a mirror image of the image from the technical front is formed on the technical back. 
     A primary objective of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing and printing fabrics, the method having advantages not taught by the prior art. 
     Another objective is to provide a manufacturing and printing fabrics so that an image printed on the front is drawn through to the back so that an image is formed on both sides of the fabric. 
     A further objective is to provide a method of printing that reduces costs and improves printing results. 
     Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings illustrate the present invention. In such drawings: 
         FIG. 1  is a top perspective view of a fabric according to one embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a bottom perspective view thereof; and 
         FIG. 3  is a sectional view thereof taken along line  3 - 3  in  FIG. 2 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The above-described drawing figures illustrate the invention, a method of printing and processing a fabric that results in ink applied to the front side being pulled through the ground to the back side, so there is mirror image of an image printed on the front side formed on the back side. 
       FIG. 1  is a top perspective view of a fabric  10  according to one embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 2  is a bottom perspective view of the fabric  10 , and  FIG. 3  is a sectional view thereof taken along line  3 - 3  in  FIG. 2 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1-3 , in a first embodiment the fabric  10  comprises first material yarns forming a technical front  20 , and second material yarns forming a technical back  30 . The technical front  20  and the technical back  30  are held together by a ground  40 , as shown in  FIG. 3 . The materials are selected to receive a printing process, in this embodiment a heat transfer printing, onto the technical front  20 . This enables a unique manufacturing process wherein the fabric  10  is printed on the technical front  20 , and then processed so that the technical back  30  receives the coloring from the technical front  20 . 
     In one embodiment, the process includes, first, providing the fabric  10 , which may be knitted of manufactured in any other manner known in the art. Second, there is preferably an initial processing of the fabric  10 , including stentering, carding, polishing, and drying the fabric  10 , and in particular the front  20 , so that the fabric  10  is softened and the yarns are opened up to receive the ink. After initial processing, the printing occurs, in this case a heat transfer printing. The printing process is performed on the technical front  20  of the fabric  10  to form an image  24 . 
     Following printing, there are multiple post-printing steps, including brushing and napping the technical back  30 . Only after printing, and after ink from the printing process penetrates to the ground  40 , is the technical back  30  then brushed and napped. This results in the ink from the technical front  20  being pulled through the ground  40  to the technical back  30 , so there is mirror image  32  of the technical front  20  on the technical back  30 . Other steps may follow the printing, such as polishing the printed technical front  20 , and polishing the technical back  30 . This may be followed by further stentering. 
     For purposes of this application, the term “ink” is defined to include any form of ink, dye, colorant material known in the art for use in coloring or forming images on fabrics. In the preferred embodiment, the ink used may be in the form of “highly concentrated” ink. The term “highly concentrated” is a term of art known in the field of printing that refers to a particular form of ink. For purposes of this application, the term “highly concentrated” is defined to refer to this particular known type of ink, and not just to any ink that is simply of greater concentration. The paper used is high absorption paper, also a term of art known by those skilled in the art, that refers to paper that absorbs an amount of ink that is greater than normally used, for greater ink transfer capacity. Both of these are important to have deep penetration to the ground  40  of the fabric  10 . 
     The preprinting process of the carding and polishing before printing, will open up the fiber to increase its permeability, and further increases the fluffiness of the fabric  10 . This is one of the key processes which allow the maximum ink/dye penetration required for the present invention. This softening process performed before heat transfer printing will reduce the fabric&#39;s resistance to the diffusion of the ink and dye. 
     The transfer process must have a suitable combination of temperature, pressure, and transit time through the press (thereby increasing total pressure applied). Through months of testing it has been found that there are several factors that are essential to the success of this method. First, it should be heated to between 195-215, preferably about 205 C, which is significantly higher than standard 180 C heating processes. Second, the transfer time should be at least 50 seconds, preferably about 56.8 seconds. This is about 3 times the normal speed of operation; however, the increased time results in greater total pressure being applied, which results in the required diffusion and penetration of the ink required by the current process. 
     After heat transfer printing, the fabric will go through the carding polishing on the printed side first, to further enhance penetration so that the ink/dye penetrates to the back side to achieve mirror images/colors on the back side. 
     As used in this application, the words “a,” “an,” and “one” are defined to include one or more of the referenced item unless specifically stated otherwise. The terms “approximately” and “about” are defined to mean +/−5%, unless otherwise stated. Also, the terms “have,” “include,” “contain,” and similar terms are defined to mean “comprising” unless specifically stated otherwise. Furthermore, the terminology used in the specification provided above is hereby defined to include similar and/or equivalent terms, and/or alternative embodiments that would be considered obvious to one skilled in the art given the teachings of the present patent application.