Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~~~~~~6
SPECIFICATION
Optically readable mark recorded cloth,
and a production process thereof
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to fiber cloth such as
woven fabric, knitted fabric and nonwoven fabric, respec-
tively with an identification mark optically readably
recorded.
The information to be recorded as an identification
mark in the present invention includes various data such
as ~a maker name, commodity item code, processing method,
washing method, handling method, size, color and date of
manufacture respectively stated by the maker concerned, or
such data as dealer code, price and other purchase data
respectively stated by the dealer concerned, or identifi-
cation data concerning customers, etc. Furthermore, other
information useful for respective business areas can also '
be stated.
Moreover, the mark may represent the information to
identify the owner, holder or depositee, etc. of the fiber
cloth concerned or of the clothing, bedding or any other
commodity to which the fiber cloth is attached by bonding '
Or SeWlrig, etC.
- 1 -
As can be seen from the above description, the
optically readable identification mark in the present
invention is typically a bar code, but is not limited
thereto or thereby.
In the present invention, woven fabrics, knitted
fabrics, nonwoven fabrics, etc. are generally called
"fiber cloth". The present invention relates to fiber
cloth with an optically readable mark recorded, with such
features that the optically readable mark like a bar code
can be accurately read without any error and that even if
the fiber cloth is repeatedly subjected to washing and
wearing, the mark can highly durably remain to allow
reading and identification, without immediate loss of such
capabilities. The present invention also relates to a
production process thereof.
BACKGROUND
The distribution industry now resorting to the POS
(point of sales) system widely uses bar code symbols for
identifying individual articles.
For example, as dealers, bar codes are read to avoid
the key entry into registers or to promptly identify sales
tendencies for inventory control and sales results
control, etc.
However, if identification bar codes are printed on
fabrics, clothes, sewn products of beddings, etc., the
conventional fiber cloth allows only deformed printing,
unclear printing or printing low in optical density, to
inconveniently lower the resolution for reading by bar
code readers. Thus, the patterns obtained by printing bar
codes on fiber cloth are apparently different from those
obtained by printing on paper and films now mostly
frequently used as optical recording media.
The reading accuracy and/or reading error rate of an
optical reader significantly depends on the printing
quality, and so, fiber cloth with any optically readable
mark recorded has not yet been practically used because of
such disadvantages as unclearness, low density and low
resolution.
It is proposed to coat cloth with a polymer or to use
a film, but these methods have a serious defect that the
cloth becomes hard. Furthermore, generally fiber cloth is
often washed 50 to 70 times, and the washing causes the
coating to peel or leaves wrinkles, making the printed bar
codes unreadable by bar code readers any more.
The conventional fiber cloth has such a disadvantage
that the bar code cannot be clearly printed unlike paper
and so cannot be instantaneously or accurately read by an
optical reader.
Therefore, at present, bar codes are popularly used
for printing on paper and films.
- 3 -
L C1
Thus, bar codes are now mainly used for disposable
goods. For example, in the laundry industry, it is
practised to use tags with identification bar codes for
laundry name identification, customers control, laundry
agents control, etc. Concretely it is practised that a
laundry agent attaches a piece of paper with a bar code
recorded to any part of every article submitted by a
customer for cleaning, so that the article cleaned by the
laundry located at any other place may be correctly
returned to the laundry agent concerned. The piece of
paper with a bar code recorded is used only once and torn
away after one time of use, since the article to be
cleaned does not have such paper attached originally and
is not required. However, it is troublesome to attach a
piece of paper with a bar code recorded whenever an
article to be repeatedly cleaned is submitted to a laundry
agent.
Therefore, if a piece of fiber cloth can be provided
with a bar code which can be accurately read and endure
frequent cleaning, then it is very useful.
If a piece of fiber cloth with a bar code recorded is
attached at a proper place like a label, it is not
necessary to attach a bar code recorded medium made of
paper whenever the article is submitted for cleaning.
Pieces of fiber cloth are softer to touch, more durable
- 4 -
~0~3~~?~
and stronger in cleaning and easier to be attached to
clothes, etc. than pieces of paper and films.
Furthermore, as general practice in the respective
steps of distribution, fabrics, clothes and sewn products
of beddings, etc. have bar code labels attached to
identify maker names, brands, material qualities, prices, ,
etc., and the attaching work is also very troublesome.
Also in this case, if bar code labels once attached can be
used permanently to some extent, the troublesome work can
be eliminated.
From this viewpoint, research has been conducted to
practically print bar codes on fiber cloth.
Fox example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No.
89-13575 proposes to constitute an optically readable mark
pattern by sewing or emboridering a desired pattern
readable by an optical reader using a thread with a color
different from that of the fabric. However, in this
method, since the pattern edge form is decided by the
fineness (thickness) of the emboridery thread itself, the
thread must be made smaller in diameter, and to realize
it, a complicated apparatus must be used with a long time
taken for making the fine thread. Furthermore, sewing or
emboridering is disadvantageous in view of productivity.
Moreover, this method can little provide a very fine
pattern, to limit the volume of information which can be
- 5 -
expressed as a mark.
Bar codes are generally used for control of large
quantities of articles, and these areas are not prepared
at all to accept any method of low productivity like
emboridery.
If there are labels with identification bar codes
recorded, which can be repeatedly used, they will be able
to be used valuable in also other industries and areas.
However, so far we did not have such identification bar
code labels that can be repeatedly used, are high in
legibility accuracy and low in reading error rate, and can
contain a large volume of information.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The technical problem to be solved by the present
invention is to realize a mark recorded medium which can
be used permanently to some extent even if repeatedly used
through cleaning or so frequently used as threatening to
be "crumpled" and is good in productivity without
slighting the intention to reduce the cost by using the
mark.
The object of the present invention to overcome the
above various problems is to provide optically readable
mark recorded media with good printing quality which allow
various identification codes to be clearly printed for use
in respective industries, can be used very durably and
- 6 -
r
allow accurate reading by optical readers without few
errors.
The optically readable marks in the present invention
refer to bar codes and other codes for OCR (optical
character recognition), etc. which can be optically read
by corresponding optional readers, and are not especially
limited in standards.
The object of the present invention described above
can be achieved by optically readable mark recorded cloth,
comprising fiber cloth mainly composed of very fine fibers
of 1 to 0.00001 denier and with an optically readably
recorded identification mark.
In the optically readable mark recorded cloth of the
present invention, the identification mark is preferably a
bar code. A. bar code has information recorded by thick
black lines, thin black lines, white lines between them,
etc. in a narrow range, and to make the code legible, it
is especially important that the mark is good in clear-
ness, resolution, etc. So, bar codes are very suitable
for exhibiting the effect of the present invention.
In the present invention, since the fibers constitut-
ing the fiber cloth are sufficiently fine, the fiber cloth
is uniform, flat and compact in the surface structure, and
.so, an identification mark can be printed clearly and can
be accurately read by an optical reader. '
CA 02093436 1998-03-18
Furthermore, if the cloth is pressed to be flattened
on the surface, it becomes more uniform and flat in the
surface structure, to be more suitable as identification mark
recorded fiber cloth to be read by an optical recorder.
The present invention also provides the following
process for preparing an optically readable mark recorded
cloth, as a second aspect.
The process for preparing an optically readable mark
recorded cloth of the present invention comprises the step of
printing an optically readable mark on a surface of a fiber
cloth composed essentially of very fine fibers of 1 to 0.00001
denier.
In one preferred embodiment, the process for
preparing an optically readable mark recorded cloth of the
present invention comprises the steps of treating a filter
cloth composed essentially of very fine fibers of 1 to 0.00001
denier by water jet punching; and printing an optically
readable mark on a surface of the fiber cloth.
In another preferred embodiment, the process for
preparing an optically readable mark recorded cloth of the
present invention comprises the step of printing an optically
readable mark by an ink jet method on a surface of a fiber
cloth composed essentially of very fine fibers of 1 to 0.00001
denier.
In still another preferred embodiment, the process
for preparing an optically readable mark recorded cloth of the
present invention comprises the steps of printing an optically
readable mark on a port ion of a surface of a f iber cloth
_ g _
76199-86
CA 02093436 1998-03-18
composed essentially of very fine fibers of 1 to 0.00001
denier; and covering the portion printed with the optically
readable mark, with a triazine derivative-based resin and/or a
melamine derivative-based resin.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 (ay is an expanded schematic longitudinal
sectional model view showing optically readable mark recorded
cloth formed by a highly dense woven fabric composed of very
fine fibers of 1 denier or less in single fiber fineness. A
state that many very fine fibers are compactly assembled and
that the surface of the woven fabric is very flat is shown as
a model.
Fig. 2 (a) is an expanded schematic longitudinal
sectional model view showing a woven fabric made of ordinary
thick fibers and low in density. A state that the surface of
the fabric is very undulating is shown as a model.
Fig. 3 is an expanded schematic longitudinal sectional
model view showing fine quality paper such as copy paper used
for a copier or heat transfer paper used for a heat transfer
printer. The surface is of course
_ g _
76199-86
~a9~~~~
very smooth compared to fiber cloth.
Figs. 1 to 3 (b) are plan views showing the mark
recorded portions of the fabric shown in Figs. 1 to 3 (a)
respectively, as models.
THE BEST EMBODIMENT FOR EXECUTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is described below in detail.
In the optically readable mark recorded cloth of the
present invention, the method for preparing fibers of 1
denier or less is not especially limited, and can be
selected from conventional various very fine fiber produc-
tion techniques. For example, composite fibers formed by
two mutually arranged high polymers,. which are generally
called island-in-sea type composite fibers can be used to
form the cloth, or furthermore composite fibers, in which
the islands are furthermore formed by island-in-sea type
composite fibers, can also be used. Tn this case, the sea
component used may be able to be separated away by a
solvent or decomposing agent, or may be splittable fibers
consisting of two components. Moreover, the very fine
fibers can also be prepared directly by spinning under
appropriate conditions.
Several methods are already known to prepare such
fibers of 1 to 0,00001 denier, and for example, the
methods described in "Chemistry and Manufacturing Industry
(in Japanese), vol. 36, F.521-523" (1983, issued by
- 10 -
Japanese Chemistry Association) can be properly used in
the present invention.
The very fine fibers of 1 to 0.00001 denier in the
present invention are not limited to circle in cross
sectional form, and can be of any form selected from
triangle, square, ellipse, polygon, etc. Flat forms such
as ellipse and rectangle as cross sectional forms are
rather preferable under the same single fiber fineness
since surface flatness can be improved.
A preferable fineness range of the very fine fibers
is 0.5 to 0.001 denier in view of production convenience,
cost and the intended effect of the present invention, and
according to findings by the inventors, a more preferable
range is 0.2 to 0.005 denier, the best range, being 0.1 to
0.01 denier.
The very fine fibers can be made of a polyester,
polyamide, acrylate or polyphenylene sulfide, etc.
Considering durability, and the printing method such as
ink jet method, impact print method or heat transfer
method as described later, polyester fibers, polyamide
fibers and acrylic fibers are preferable. Above all,
polyester fibers are especially preferable in view of high
color fastness, dimensional stability, etc.
The optically readable mark recorded cloth of the
present invention is only required to be fiber cloth which
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2~~~~~~
can be any of woven fabric, knitted fabric and nonwoven
fabric. It is not hard or stiff unlike copy paper.
However, any paper--like finished nonwoven fabric, woven
fabric or knitted fabric can also be used if it is soft to
some extent, not being hard or stiff.
The fabric can be prepared by any conventional
method. In the case of woven fabric, the weave can be
plain weave, twill weave, satin weave, or double weave or
derivative weave of the foregoing. In the case of knitted
fabric, the knit can be any of warp knit, weft knit, etc.
Furthermore, a raised fabric can be included. In the case
of nonwoven fabric, it can be prepared by general spun
bond method, flash spinning method or melt blow spinning
method, etc., and furthermore, a raised nonwoven fabric
can also be used.
When the optically readable mark recorded cloth of
the present invention is a woven or knitted fabric, the
numbers of warp and weft threads, and the numbers and
density of component fibers are essential factors to
obtain the preferable effect of the present invention.
The product of the numbers of the component fibers for
warp and weft should be preferably 5,000,000 fibers/cm2 or
more, and the product of the numbers of warp and weft
threads woven or knitted should be preferably 1,000
threads/cm2 or more, more preferably 2,000 threads/cm2 or
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~~~~_..~~~
more. Especially when these values are satisfied, the
printing efficiency of a coloring agent on the woven or
knitted fabric is very high, and a very practical optical
density and clear pattern boundaries of the identification
mark can be secured.
Similarly also in the case of nonwoven fabric, it is
preferable to have a very compact and flat surface struc-
ture, and concretely, according to the findings by the
inventors, a nonwoven fabric of 0.15 g/cm3 or more in
apparent density is preferable, though not limited to this
range. If the apparent density is in this range, any
ordinary spun bond nonwoven fabric, calendered short-fiber
nonwoven fabric or nonwoven fabric treated by water jet
punching can be favorably used. A nonwoven fabric with a
very rugged surface formed by extreme embossing is
suitable for the present invention.
The apparent density in the present invention is
expressed by the following equation:
Apparent density (g/cm3)
- Unit weight (g/cm2)/Thickness (cm)
The reason for the above is described below in detail
in reference to drawings for a case of woven fabric.
Fig. 1 (a) is an enlarged schematic longitudinal
sectional model view showing optically readable mark
recorded cloth formed by a high density woven fabric
- 13 -
~3
a ~' ':i e> iJ
composed of very fine fibers of 1 denier or less in single
fiber fineness in conformity with the present invention.
It shows, as a model, a state that many very fine fibers
are assembled and that the surface of the woven fabric is
very flat.
Fig. 2 (a) is an enlarged schematic longitudinal
sectional model view,showing a woven fabric using ordinary
fibers thick in single fiber fineness and coarse in
density not in conformity with the present invention. It
shows, like a model, a state that the surface of the woven
fabric is very rugged.
Fig. 3 (a) is an enlarged schematic longitudinal
sectional model view showing tine quality paper such as
copy paper used for a copier or heat transfer paper used
for a heat transfer printer. The surface is, of course,
very smooth compared to fiber cloth.
Figs. 1 to 3 (b) are respectively model plan views of
mark recorded portions.
In the drawings, symbol 1 denotes the warp of the
woven fabric; 2, the weft; 3, fine quality paper; and 4,
4', colored portions.
As shown in Fig. 2 (a), in the case of a woven fabric
using fibers thick in single fiber fineness and coarse in
density, the rugged surface produces voids 5 in the
colored portions and spots 6 in the portions not to be
- m -
~~3~~~~;~
pm:.. ~: ~7
colored, as shown in Fig. 2 (b), not allowing optical
reading.
On the other hand, the optically readable mark
recorded cloth of the present invention using very fine
fibers has a peculiar flat surface structure as shown in
the model of Fig. 1 (a), which is a smooth surface close
to that of the generally often used fine quality paper as
shown in Fig. 3, and almost satisfactory printing as shown
in Fig. 1 (b) can be achieved.
In addition, if paper is bent and creased by a force
acting from outside, the print at the crease is liable to
come off disadvantageously, and so paper cannot be said to
be highly durable. However, the cloth composed of very
fine fibers of the present invention is flexible and the
individual fibers are colored, to form a mark. Therefore,
the deterioration of printing quality by bending can be
inhibited, and even if some fibers are damaged or removed,
they less affect the entixe mark, to ensure high
durability.
If cloth is formed by using mainly very fine fibers
of 1 to 0.00001 denier, the fibers are very compactly put
together in a sectional structure showing little clear-
ances. Furthermore, if the fiber cloth has a proper
external pressure applied on the surface (for example by
pressing), the very fine single fibers are arranged to be
- 15 -
~~9~ ~:
further flat and more compact, to make the surface
structure of the fiber cloth flat and densely packed, and
a coloring agent can be effectively transferred onto the
surface. A pattern with a density and boundaries
practically close to those of fine quality paper can be
obtained.
To enhance the compactness, the woven or knitted
fabric or nonwoven fabric as described above can be, for
example, heat-shrunken if the fabric is composed of highly
heat-shrinkable yarns, or treated by the liquid columnar
flow jetted at a high pressure from pores, so-called water
jet punching, or any chemical such as benzyl alcohol,
phenolic acid or methylene chloride, or a combination of
these methods. However, to make the cloth structure more
compact is also an effective means. Especially water jet
punching can make the cloth structure more compact and
make at least some of very fine fibers intertwined each
other structurally, for inhibiting the deformation of the
fiber cloth, and therefore preferable for obtaining a
fabric excellent in form stability. The fabric treated by
water jet punching is less liable to be deformed in
printed lines and remains clear for a long time, and since
the fibers are single filaments, the fabric is advantage-
ously less liable to be disordered in texture and
selvedge, being preferable to achieve the intended object
- 16 -
2fl~~
of the present invention.
Pressing the fiber cloth from top or from top and
bottom is preferable since the surface can be made
flatter, as described before. The pressing can be
effected, for example, using an iron or a calendar roll
machine, etc. For effective pressing, it is also prefer-
able to heat the fiber cloth to a temperature lower than
the melting point of the cloth material. For example, if
the material is polyester fibers, it is preferable to
treat at a temperature lower than 200°C.
As described above, the present invention has been
completed based on the new finding that fiber cloth
sufficiently small in the fineness of its member fibers,
and high in density and compactness is, preferably if
pressed on the surface, uniform in surface structure, very
flat and very compact, being optimum as fiber cloth for
recording optically readable marks.
Thus, the optically readable mark recorded cloth of
the present invention is high in density and very effec-
tive in directly obtaining a pattern clear at edges, like
fine quality paper and films popularly used as conven-
tional optical recording media, and is also very excellent
in durability. Furthermore, since the fiber cloth mainly
composed of very fine fibers is very soft, it can be
applied not only to personal belongings but also to
- 17 -
n
general clothes, etc., to greatly affect future living
culture and clothing culture.
The optically readable mark recorded cloth of the
present invention can be applied to various identification
mark recording methods such as electrophotography, heat
transfer method, ink jet method, electrostatic method,
impact method, etc. respectively using any printer, and
also use of various stamps and plates, with far more
excellent printing quality achieved compared to ordinary
fiber cloth.
The cloth of the present invention can any integral
part of clothes, beddings and various other fiber
products, or be attached as identification mark labels.
If any transfer agent or ink resistant against
processing is used, the optically readable mark recorded
cloth can be repeatedly used for a long time through
processing. For example, even if it is used for clothes
and beddings as labels for customers control and laundry
agents control in the laundry industry, it will certainly
bring about a revolution in the control system.
Especially, recording by ink jet printing can be prefer-
ably used.
The reason why ink jet printing can be preferably
used for recording is that if a dye is used as the ink,
the ink is deposited on the surfaces of fibers and
- 18 -
additionally inside the fibers by way of dyeing for
printing the intended mark. Thus, a very durable mark can
be easily printed. If the ink jet printing is used, it is
preferable to pretreat the cloth using a size containing a
metal salt for preventing the spreading of the ink.
The above mentioned resistance against processing
refers the property that the optically readable mark
recorded cloth is not deteriorated or not discolored so
much as to make illegible even if it is bleached, dried,
etc. in processing or placed in ordinary service environ-
ment such as wind, rain, water and rough handling.
If a fluorescent identification mark is formed, it
can be recorded without being especially conscious of the
color and pattern of the cloth or mark position, and so
the applicable range will be able to be further expanded.
If higher heat resistance is required for repeated
pressing at high temperatures as in the laundry industry,
it is preferable to cover the surface of the very fine
fibers in the portion with the optically readable mark
printed, with a triazine derivative based resin and/or a
melamine derivative based resin.
The triazine derivative based resin covering can be
achieved, for example, by depositing an aqueous solution
.containing a triazine derivative compound described below
and an inorganic acid or an organic acid or any of their
- 19 -
salts, onto the cloth, and heat-treating the cloth in an
atmosphere of 40$ or more in relative humidity with at
least 25~ of water contained in the cloth.
The melamine derivative based resin covering can be
achieved, for example, by depositing an aqueous solution
containing a melamine derivative compound described below,
an anionic surfactant and an acid catalyst, onto the
cloth, and heat-treating in the presence of moisture.
The triazine derivative compound can be selected, for
example, from those represented by the following general
formula:
RO
C
rv
N N
R2 . C ~ C ~ R1
N
(where, RO to R2: -H, -OH, -C6H5, -CnOH2n0+1 (n0' 1 to
10), -COOCn1H2n1+1 (n1' 1 to 20), -CONR3R4, -NR3R4,
where, R~, R4: -H, -OCn3H2n3+1' -CH20Cn3H2n3+1' -CH2COOCn3
H2n3+1 (n3~ 1 to 20), -CH20H, -CH2CH20H, -CONH2, -CONHCH2
.OH-0-(X-0)-n4R5 (X: C2H4, C3H6, C4H8, n4: 1 to 1500),
RrJ: -H, -CH3, -C2H5, °C3H.~)
- 20 -
2~~3~~~
Furthermore, it can be also selected from the ethyleneurea
copolycondensation products, dimethylolurea polycondensa-
tion products, dimethylolthiourea copolycondensation
products of the compounds represented by the above general
formula.
The inorganic acid can be selected, for example, from
sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, carbonic acid, phos-
phoric acid, etc. The organic acid can be selected, for
example, from formic acid, acetic acid, acrylic acid,
methacrylic acid, oxalic acid, malonic acid, succinic
acid, malic acid, citric acid, tartaric acid, glutamic
acid, aspartic acid, malefic acid, itaconic acid, methyl-
fumaric acid, phthalic acid, isophthalic acid, etc.
The melamine derivative compound can be selected, for
example, from those represented by the following general
formula:
R1
N
R2
N~C~ N
R6\ ~ ~~ ~R3
. R~N---C \.N,~C-.N\R
4
- 21 -
20~~~~~~~
where, Rl to R6: -H, -OH, -CH20CH3, -CH20C2H5, -CH20H,
-CH2CH20H, -CH2CH2CH20H.
The catalyst for resinifying the melamine derivative
compound can be selected from the above mentioned
inorganic acids, organic acids and their organic salts
such as ammonium, sodium and potassium salts.
The anionic surfactant can be selected, for example,
from carboxylic acid based anionic surfactants such as
soap and sarcosinates, sulfate based aniline surfactants
such as higher alcohol sulfates, sulfonated oils, sulfo-
nated fatty acid esters and sulfonated olefins, sulfonate
based anionic surfactants such as alkylnaphthalenesulfo-
nates, Igepon T, Aerosol OT and ligninsulfonates, and
phosphate based anionic surfactants such as higher alcohol
phosphates. The anionic surfactant is not necessarily
required for resinification, but if it is added to the
aqueous solution, homogeneous resinification can be
achieved preferably.
An aqueous solution containing any of the above
triazine derivative compounds and melamine derivative
compounds, and an acid, and preferably an anionic
surfactant is deposited onto said cloth, by such a means
as immersion, coating or spraying, etc. Said aqueous '
solution deposited is r_esinified by heat treatment, for
obtaining the mark recorded cloth excellent in heat
- 22 -
resistance of the present invention. If heat treatment is
effected at 40~ or higher RH at a temperature of 40 to
140°C with water remaining in the cloth, an almost uniform
film can be formed on the surface of the fibers
preferably.
The optically readable mark recorded cloth of the
present invention can be course be a large piece of cloth
with a mark recorded in a small portion of it, or a narrow
tape or label attached to any of clothes, sewn products of
beddings, etc, or various commodities by any proper means
such as fusion, sewing, etc.
For attaching by fusion, it is preferable that the
optically readable mark recorded cloth of the present
invention is thermally bonded, on the reverse side, for
example, with a hot melt adhesive.
The prevent invention is described below in more
detail in reference to examples.
Example 1
Sea-island type composite fibers formed by two
mutually arranged high polymers were used. In this case,
the sea component was polystyrene and the island component
was polyethylene terephthalate, and they were used at a
ratio of islands/sea = 90/10. Each yarn was 50 deniers in
total and consisted of 9 filaments, each of which
contained 70 island component fibers. The yarns were used
-
2~9~~~'
as warp and weft yarns, to obtain machine-woven taffeta of
57 warp yarns/cm and 43 weft yarns/cm.
The taffeta was set by 180°c dry heat, washed by
trichloroethylene and dried, to obtain a woven very fine
fiber fabric of 0.07 denier in single fiber fineness. The
density of the fabric was 61 warp yarns/cm and 45 weft
yarns/cm. Therefore, the product of the numbers of warp
and weft yarns was more than 2,745 yarns/cm2, and the
product of constituting fibers was more than 1,089,490,500
fibers/cm2.
The woven fabric was treated by using a size
containing a metal salt, for preventing blurring, and had
a JAN (Japanese Article Number) bar code in conformity
with JIS printed by an ink jet printer using a dye. After
completion of printing, the fabric was treated by steaming
and washed, to obtain optically readable mark recorded
cloth.
The printed bar code symbol was evaluated as to
optical characteristics, and found to conform to JIS, and
had no problem in the read inspection using a bar code
symbol verifier, either.
Example 2
The fiber cloth used in Example 1 was treated by
water jet punching, and treated by a size containing a
metal salt for prevention of blurring. It had an
24
2~9~~2~
identification mark printed by an ink jet printer. The
fabric had its fibers three-dimensionally intertwined and
was less in flexibility, to effectively inhibit the
deformation of the identification mark. It was more
excellent in the durability of the identification mark
than the product of Example 1,
The cloth with the identification mark printed had a
saturated polyester based hot melt adhesive film thermally
bonded on the reverse side. Then, it was cut into labels,
and each label was thermally bonded to the back side of a
lapel of a cook's coat, and hemmed by a sewing machine.
The cook's coat was washed 70 times under the condition as
adopted in the ordinary laundry industry.
After 70 times of washing, the bar code could be read,
by a multiscan type bar code reader without any problem.
Example 3
Sea-island type composite fibers formed by .two
mutually arranged high polymers were used. In this case,
the sea component was an alkali soluble polyester
copolymer and the island component was polyethylene
terephthalate, and they were used at a ratio of
islands/sea .- 90/10, to spin yarns. Each yarn was 50
deniers in total and consisted of 10 filaments, each of
which contained 70 island component fibers. The yarns
were used as warp and weft yarns, to obtain machine-woven
- 25 -
taffeta of 57 warp/cm and 43 weft yarns/cm.
Subsequently, the sea component was removed by
dissolving, to obtain a very fine fiber cloth of 0.6
denier in single fiber fineness, with 61 warp yarns/cm and
45 weft yarns/cm, thus more than 2,745 yarns/cm2 in, the
product of the numbers of yarns, and 1,345,000,000
fibers/cm2 in the product of the numbers of constituting
fibers.
The fabric was treated by water jet punching, to have
its very fine fibers intertwined, thus being made more
compact.
Subsequently the fabric had a JAN (Japanese Article
Number) bar code in conformity with JIS printed using an
ink jet printer, steamed and washed.
Then, the fabric was immersed in an aqueous solution
containing 15~ of methylated trimethylolmelamine, 1~ of
ammonium persulfate and dinaphthylmethanedisulfonic acid
as a surfactant, to have 100 wt~ (based on the weight of
the fabric) deposited, and treated at 100 RH at 105°C for
minutes for reaction. The fabric was further immersed
in the same aqueous solution and treated for reaction
again. The matter remaining unreactive was removed by
soaping, and the fabric was dried, to obtain optically
readable mark recorded cloth.
The printed bar code mark was evaluated as to optical
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characteristics and found to conform to JIS. In the
inspection using a code mark verifier, it showed no
problem.
To evaluate its heat resistance, it was washed at
50°C and pressed at 190°C for 30 seconds, and this opera-
tion was repeated several times.
The cloth could be still optically read, to show .
excellent heat resistance.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY
The optically readable mark recorded cloth of the
present invention can bring about a large revolution in
all the industries concerned with the distribution and
handling of fiber-related articles.
For example, it can be effectively used for classifi-
cation and sorting in the processing of cloth, and for
recording of maker name, commodity item, pattern, size,
washing method, dealer code, price, etc. for inventory
control and sales control of clothes, beddings, etc., and
also for customer control in the laundry industry and the
high quality clothing industry.
The present invention can be very favorably applied
to the control in the laundry industry, in which large
quantities of many articles to be washed are to be
collected by many laundry agents and transported to a
laundry center and returned and distributed to the
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2~~~~
respective laundry agents.
The higher accuracy of control, automation, labor
saving and higher efficiency which can be achieved by the
present invention are very useful. The present invention
can be applied not only to the control in the laundry
industry, but also to delivery control, distribution
control, storage control, classification or sorting
control, etc.
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