Patent Publication Number: US-2013247804-A1

Title: Sharp three-dimensional embroidery and method for manufacturing the same

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a Divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/042,619 entitled “SHARP THREE-DIMENSIONAL EMBROIDERY AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME,” filed Mar. 8, 2011, which claims priority to and the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2010-0021789 filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Mar. 11, 2010 the contents of both of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (a) Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to sharp three-dimensional embroidery and a manufacturing method thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to sharp three-dimensional embroidery that can express various designs in detail, provide a sharp three-dimensional effect, and save time for a residue eliminating process by completely covering the residue of a sheet used for expressing the three-dimensional effect, and a manufacturing method thereof. 
     (b) Description of the Related Art 
     In general, embroidery provides esthetic beauty by embroidering various designs such as brand names, text, numbers, or figures using threads of various colors on a fabric panel including resin, leathers, or sheets. 
     However, an embroidery design embroidered by a typical embroidering machine does not have a three-dimensional effect. 
     Thus, various embroidering methods for realizing three-dimensional embroidery have recently been suggested. 
     For example, methods for expressing the three-dimensional effect by overlapping an embroidery thread multiple times or forming a design corresponding to an embroidery design and then attaching the design to the fabric panel have been used. 
     However, when the embroidery threads are overlapped several times, the desired embroidery may be insignificant or blunt and the embroidered portion may be unclean or hardened, causing difficulty in the next embroidering process and increasing labor. 
     In addition, when a design is separately manufactured and attached using an adhesive or a fixing member, the design may be easily detached due to frequent laundering, or the design may contaminate or damage the fabric panel so that the product quality may be deteriorated. 
     In order to solve the problem, a method for providing the three-dimensional effect by disposing a soft or semi-rigid sheet or film on the fabric panel and stitching along a predetermined embroidery design and removing the residual sheet or film has been recently suggested. 
     However, this method cannot provide sharp and various three-dimensional effects and the embroidery design may be damaged during sheet or film elimination. Furthermore, the time for eliminating the sheet or film residue may be increased when the residue is exposed outside the embroidery design, and much more time is consumed for the residue eliminating process. 
     The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention has been made in an effort to provide three-dimensional embroidery that can provide a detailed and sharp three-dimensional effect with ease while overcoming an expression limit, that is variously expressed without any problem in productivity and workability, that can remove sheet or film residue with ease, and that can save time for a sheet or film residue elimination, and a manufacturing method thereof. 
     Three-dimensional embroidery according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes at least two sheets layered on the upper surface of a fabric panel, at least two layers of embroidery layered on the at least two sheets, and a covering member covering the at least two sheets and the at least two layers of embroidery with a predetermined design. 
     A manufacturing method of three-dimensional embroidery according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes disposing a first sheet on the upper surface of a fabric panel, embroidering first embroidery on the first sheet, removing a separable portion of the first sheet at the circumference of the first embroidery, disposing a second sheet on the upper surface of the first embroidery, embroidering second embroidery inside the outer edge of the first embroidery on the second sheet, removing a separable portion of the second sheet at the circumference of the second embroidery; and covering the first and second embroidery with a predetermined design. 
     As described, above, according to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the three-dimensional embroidery is not insignificant or blunt so that a sharp three-dimensional effect can be accomplished, and embroidery can be easily performed because a soft or a semi-rigid sheet is provided on the portion to be embroidered even though multiple layers of embroidery are performed. In addition, working hours can be saved. 
     Further, according to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the original looks can be maintained even though it is washed several times, and the product quality can be enhanced because the sheet or multiple layers of embroidery are not externally exposed. 
     In addition, according to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the embroidering is performed along the inside of a predetermined design, and the sheet or film residue is covered by the final covering member, so that less time for a sheet or film residue cleaning process can be consumed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1A  and  FIG. 1B  are perspective views of three-dimensional embroidery according to an exemplary embodiment and a modified exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of  FIG. 1  taken along the line I-I. 
         FIG. 3  is a flowchart of a manufacturing method of the embroidery according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4A to 4G  are photographs of the manufacturing method of the embroidery according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Hereinafter, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in further detail with the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, explanatorily irrelevant portions are omitted to clearly describe the present invention, and like reference numerals designate like elements throughout the specification. Furthermore, in case it is judged that the detailed description of the well-known function or structures relevant to the embodiments may needlessly obscure the gist of the present invention, such a description will be omitted. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1A  to  FIG. 2 , three-dimensional embroidery according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described. 
     Three-dimensional embroidery  100  according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a fabric panel  110 , at least two sheets  120  arranged with a predetermined gap therebetween on an upper portion of the fabric panel  110 , at least two layers of embroidery  130  embroidered on the respective layer of the at least two sheets  120  with a predetermined gap therebetween, and a covering member  141  that covers the at least two sheets  120  and the at least two layers of embroidery  130  along the external circumferential lines thereof. 
     In further detail, a first sheet  121  with a design that is smaller than a predetermined embroidery design  101  remains within the edge of the predetermined embroidery design  101  on the fabric panel  110 , and first embroidery  131  is formed by wrapping the first sheet  121  along the smaller design than the predetermined embroidery design  101 . 
     In addition, a second sheet  123  is located on the first embroidery  131 . 
     As described, the set of sheets  120  including at least two sheets (i.e., first and second sheets) reduced in size and the at least two layers of embroidery formed while surrounding the set of sheets  120  are covered by the covering member  141  that is embroidered along the predetermined embroidery design  101 . 
     The covering member  141  is formed along the external circumferential line of the at least two layers of embroidery  131  and  133  containing the first and second sheets  121  and  123 , so that sharp three-dimensional embroidery can be provided, and the covering member  141  covers all of the sheets  121  and  123  and the two layered embroidery  131  and  133 , so that less time for a sheet or film remnants cleaning process that is performed after the final embroidery process can be consumed. 
     In addition, since the embroidery  130  and the covering member  141  are sequentially formed inside and along the predetermined embroidery design  101 , preventing duplication or overlapping of the embroidery, and accordingly, the embroidered area is not hardened and the process speed can be improved. 
     Thus, as shown in  FIG. 1A , the covering member  141  can cover the embroidery even through the embroidery is formed of multiple layers, and as shown in  FIG. 1B , the covering member  141  can be formed of an appliqué covering member  143 . The appliqué covering member  143  can be formed by cutting a material that can cover the embroidery  130 , such as a fabric panel, a non-woven fabric, or leather into a predetermined design and attaching the cut material by sewing or adhesive. 
     Hereinafter, a manufacturing method of the embroidery according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4A  to  FIG. 4G . 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , a manufacturing method of the embroidery according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes: disposing the fabric panel  110  (S 10 ); disposing the first sheet  121  on the top surface of the fabric panel  110  (S 20 ); embroidering the first embroidery  131  on the first sheet  121  along the inside of the outlines of the predetermined embroidery design  101  (S 30 ); removing a separable portion  125  of the first sheet  121  around the first embroidery  131  (S 40 ); disposing a second sheet  123  on the top portion of the first embroidery  131  (S 50 ); embroidering for forming the second embroidery  133  to be smaller than the first embroidery  131  on the second sheet  123  (S 60 ); removing a separable portion  125  of the second sheet  123  around the second embroidery  133  (S 70 ); determining whether to repeat disposing a sheet, embroidering, and removing a separable portion of the sheet until a sharp three-dimensional effect can be provided (S 80 ); and covering at least two layers of embroidery along the outer edge of the predetermined embroidery design  101  (S 90 ). 
     When it is determined that the sharp three-dimensional effect is sufficiently expressed in step S 80 , the covering (S 90 ) is performed, and when it is determined that the sharp three-dimensional effect is not sufficiently expressed in step S 80  (S 81 ), the sheet disposing, the embroidering, and the removing of the separable portion are sequentially repeated. 
     Before or after disposing the fabric panel  110  in step S 10 , at least two sheets  121  and  123  are prepared with at least one of a soft or semi-rigid elastic sheet or a synthetic resin film, and punching holes  125   a  may be sequentially formed along a predetermined design of the first embroidery  131  or the second embroidery  133  in the inner edge of the predetermined embroidery design  101 . 
     The set of sheets  120  may be formed of, for example, an ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) resin film having excellent chemical resistivity and elasticity and less slipperiness when in contact with the fabric panel  110 . Thus, when the set of sheets  120  is formed with the EVA resin film, the punching holes  125   a  can be preferably formed by embroidering without using an embroidery thread. In addition, when the second sheet  123  is formed to be transparent, the first embroidery  131  can be seen therethrough when the second embroidery  133  is in process. As previously described, when the punching holes  125   a  are formed with a predetermined gap therebetween, the separable portion  125  of the sheet is easily separated when the embroidery  130  is embroidered on the sheet  120  between the punching holes  125   a  so that the sheet separable portion  125  can be clearly separated. 
     The manufacturing process will now be sequentially described with reference to  FIG. 4A  to  FIG. 4G . 
     As shown in  FIG. 4A , the first sheet  121  is disposed on the fabric panel  110 . Preferably, the first sheet  121  is disposed on a front panel of a cap when the first sheet  121  is used in a cap. The first sheet  121  is formed with transparent EVA resin having excellent chemical resistivity and durability to prevent deformation due to frequent laundering, and has a thickness of about 2 mm for ease in sewing using a general embroidery machine. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4B , the first embroidery  131  is embroidered along the inside rather than the outer edge of the desired embroidery design  101  on the first sheet  121  disposed on the fabric panel  110 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 4C , when the separable portion  125  is removed from the fabric panel  110  by lifting the first sheet  121  with predetermined force, the first sheet  121  is primarily covered by the first embroidery  131 . 
     As stated above, the first sheet  121  can be punched with a predetermined hole by an embroidery needle so that the first sheet  121  can be easily separated during embroidering for forming the first embroidery  131 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 4D , the second sheet  123  is disposed on the first embroidery  131 . When the second sheet  123  is transparent, the location of the first embroidery  131  can be easily determined. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4E , the second embroidery  133  is formed at the upper center of the first embroidery  131  by embroidering inside the outer edge of the first embroidery  131  on the sheet  120  such that a sharp three-dimensional effect can be provided. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4F , the separable portion  125  of the sheet is removed by lifting it with predetermined force from the second embroidery  133 . In this case, the second sheet  123  is primarily covered by the second embroidery  133 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 4G , the covering member  141  is formed by embroidering along the desired embroidery design  101  covering the external circumference of the first embroidery  131 . 
     In this case, since the covering member  141  covers the external circumferential line of the first embroidery  131  and the external circumferential line of the second embroidery  133 , the residue of the first and second sheets  121  and  123  remaining in the external circumferential lines of the first and second embroidery  131  and  133  can be completely covered. 
     Accordingly, the manufacturing method of the three-dimensional embroidery according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention can save time for determining a product failure or cleaning the sheet residue, and can provide high quality with sufficient aesthetic sensibility and three-dimensional effect. 
     While this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Those skilled in the art can understand from the above description that the present invention may have various changes and modifications without departing from the scope of the present invention. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by the description preceding them, and all changes and modifications that fall within the bounds of the claims, or equivalencies of such bounds, are therefore intended to be embraced by the claims. 
     DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 
     
         
           110 : fabric panel 
           101 : embroidery design 
           120 : sheets or a set of sheets 
           125 : separable portion 
           121 : first sheet 
           125   a : punching hole 
           123 : second sheet 
           141 : covering member 
           130 : embroidery 
           131 : first embroidery 
           133 : second embroidery 
           141 : embroidery covering member 
           143 : appliqué covering member 
       
    
     Thus, the present invention is well adapted to carry out the objectives and attain the ends and advantages mentioned above as well as those inherent therein. While presently preferred embodiments have been described for purposes of this disclosure, numerous changes and modifications will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Such changes and modifications are encompassed within the spirit of this invention as defined by the claims.