Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02593839 2007-07-05
TEXTILE FINISHING AGENTS
AND METHODS OF DIGITALLY PRINTING TEXTILES
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001]This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application
Serial No.
60/818,698, filed July 5, 2006, the contents of which are incorporated by
reference
herein.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
[0002]The present disclosure relates generally to digital textile printing.
More
particularly, the present disclosure relates to textile finishing agents and
methods of
digitally printing textiles.
2. Description of Related Art
[0003] Various methods have been developed for providing a desired color or
pattern or
label to a textile. For example, screen-printing, roller printing, and other
transfer-printing
methods are commonplace. Unfortunately, these transfer-printing methods are
not
suitable for the production of a variety of articles in small quantities or
for use in
replacing the information tags commonly attached to garments. Further, it is
hard to
quickly adapt these methods to the fashions of the day.
[0004] Digital textile printing has therefore become more common place.
Digital textile
printing as used herein refers to the printing of micro-sized droplets of inks
or dyes or
colorants (hereinafter "dyes") directly onto the surface of the textile
substrate via a print
head.
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[0005] Typically, digital printing uses only a small number of different dyes
where
variations in colors and shades is accomplished by positioning different
colored droplets
in adjacent zones, where each zone is known as a pixel. Although the actual
color of
the individual pixel is not changed, the impression to a viewer is that the
area containing
the different colored pixels is a color or shade that is different than any of
the actual
pixels in the associated area. The impression is created because the pixels
are of such
a small nature that the viewer cannot readily perceive the individual pixels,
and
perceives more of an average of the pixels.
[0006] Unfortunately, digitally printing on textiles has presented various
difficulties not
experienced in other substrates, such as paper. For example, the dye can be
absorbed
into the individual fibers of the textile resulting in the dye bleeding from
the intended
pixel into adjacent pixels.
[0007] Previously, it has been proposed to coat the textile with a polymer,
such as vinyl
acetate to assist in resolving the issues experienced when digitally printing
on textiles.
This solution of coating the textile with poiymers has proven effective at
resolving many
of the issues with digital printing on textiles suitable for use as, for
example, banners,
signs, upholstery fabrics, drapery fabrics, other fabrics for home
furnishings, carpeting,
and the like.
[0008] Such polymer coatings have been determined by the present disclosure to
provide an undesired hand feel for textiles suitable for apparel garments,
such as shirts
and sweat shirts, and more particularly for intimate apparel garments such as
a man's
brief, a woman's panty, socks, hosiery, and the like. In addition, it has been
determined
by the present disclosure that such polymer coatings do not provide the
resultant
printed pattern and/or text with good durability to home laundering and are
not
conducive for use with typical fabric softeners used in textile manufacturing
processes.
[0009] Further, the polymer coatings are typically hand sprayed onto the
textile
immediately prior to printing. The textile is laid out flat, the polymer
coating is sprayed
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onto the area for printing, the polymer coating is heat set onto the textile,
and then the
coated textile is digitally printed. Thus, the prior art digital printing
requires extra steps
making the technology unsuitable for mass production of garments.
[0010] Accordingly, there is a need for textile finishing agents and methods
of digitally
printing textiles that overcome, mitigate and/or alleviate one or more of the
aforementioned and other deleterious effects of the prior art.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] it is an object of the present disclosure to provide textile finishing
agents that
provide improved durability for digital printing and maintain a desired hand-
feel and/or
softness.
[0012] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide a textile
finishing agent
that includes a binder component or primer component so that the finishing
agent is
conducive to forming a bond with both the textile and the digitally printed
dye.
[0013] It is still another object of the present disclosure to provide textile
finishing agents
that are conducive to forming an ionic bond with both the textile and the
digitally printed
dyes.
[0014] It is yet another object of the present disclosure to provide methods
of digitally
printing textiles.
[0015]The above-described and other features and advantages of the present
invention
will be appreciated and understood by those skilled in the art from the
following detailed
description, drawings, and appended claims.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] The single figure schematically illustrates an exemplary embodiment of
a method
of digitally printing a textile according to the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0017] Referring to the single figure, an exemplary embodiment of a method of
digitally
printing a textile, generally referred to by reference numeral 10, is shown.
Advantageously, method 10 applies a finishing agent to the textile that
includes a binder
component or primer component (hereinafter "binder component"), which forms
active
sites for binding with digital print dyes. In this manner, method 10 provides
textiles that
are conducive to digital printing without the need for additional
manufacturing steps,
while ensuring that the textile has a hand-feel or softness sufficient for use
as a
garment, in particular an intimate apparel garment.
[0018] Method 10 includes a textile producing step 12, a finishing agent
application step
14, a digital printing step 16, and in some embodiments, a garment-producing
step 18.
[0019]Textile producing step 12 produces a textile using any known method. As
used
herein, the term textile means woven textiles, knitted textiles, non-woven
textiles, tufted
textiles, and any combinations thereof. Woven textiles can include, but are
not limited
to, satin, poplin, and crepe weave textiles. Knit textiles can include
textiles made by
processes such as, but not limited to, circular knitting, warp knitting, and
flat knitting.
The textiles can be formed of natural fibers, synthetic fibers, and any
combinations
thereof.
[0020] Finishing agent application step 14 applies a finishing agent to the
textile
produced in step 12. Preferably, finish application step 14 applies the
finishing agent to
the textile while the textile is in a wide-good state, namely before
processing the textile
into a garment. The finishing agent can include, but is not limited to, a
fabric softener, a
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stain repellent, a fire retardant agent, a static control agent, a wrinkle
control agent, a
microbial control agent, or any combinations thereof. Advantageously, the
finishing
agent includes a binder component that is conducive to forming a bond with the
textile
and with digitally printed dyes.
[0021] Of course, it is contemplated by the present disclosure for finishing
agent
application step 14 to sequentially and/or simultaneously apply more then one
finishing
agent to the textile produced in step 12.
[0022]The terms "bond", "bind", "bonding", or "binding" as used herein shall
mean the
action of the binding component with the textile and the dye that results in
the formation
of an attachment to one or more components of the textile/dye, wherein the
attachment
can be a covalent bond, an ionic bond, a disbursement into the fiber molecule
of the
textile, and any combination of the foregoing.
[0023] In one exemplary embodiment of a finishing agent according to the
present
disclosure, the finishing agent includes a softener, one or more binder
components, and
water. The softener can be a cationic softener, a non-ionic softener, or any
combinations thereof. The binder component can be an aqueous acrylic emulsion,
an
acrylic butadiene/acrylonitrile emulsion, a self crosslinking acrylic resin,
an aliphatic
polyester polyurethane dispersion, or any combinations thereof.
[0024] In a preferred embodiment of a finishing agent according to the present
disclosure, the finishing agent includes a cationic softener or a non-ionic
softener in an
amount of between about 8% to about 17%, a binder component in an amount of
between about 1% to about 6%, and water in an amount of between about 77% to
about 91 /A, where the percent is measured as percent-by-volume of the
finishing agent.
The binder component can be selected from the group consisting of an aqueous
acrylic
emulsion, an acrylic butadiene/acrylonitrile emulsion, a self crosslinking
acrylic resin, an
aliphatic polyester polyurethane dispersion, or any combinations thereof.
CA 02593839 2007-07-05
[0025]An exemplary embodiment of a suitable cationic softener contemplated for
use
by the present disclosure is HYPOSOFT JNF, which is commercially available
from
Boehme Filatex. A suitable non-ionic softener contemplated for use by the
present
disclosure is Turpex CAN, which is commercially available from Ciba Specialty
Chemicals. Suitable binder components contemplated for use by the present
disclosure
include Acramin binder SFA, Acramin binder BA-N, Acramin binder KB-8, or
Acramin
binder PUD-01, all of which are commercially available from Lanxess
Deutschland.
[0026]The finishing agent can be applied using any known method including
immersing
the textile in a bath of the finishing agent, spraying the finishing agent on
the textile,
padding on of the finishing agent, and others. In a preferred embodiment, the
finishing
agent is padded on to the textile and cured on the textile at a temperature of
between
about 285 degrees to about 360 degrees Fahrenheit (F).
[0027] Since method 10 eliminates the need for the application of polymer
coatings as in
the prior art, the textiles produced have a hand-feel that is sufficient for
use in garments
and intimate apparel garments. Further, method 10 applies the binder component
simultaneously with the application of typical garment finishing agents so
that the
method mitigates additional costly manufacturing steps.
[0028]After the finishing agent has been applied to the textile, the textile
can be digitally
printed in step 16 using any known digital printing process and any known dye
sufficient
to form the desired bond with the binder component.
[0029] When present, garment-producing step 18 converts the printed textile,
or portions
thereof, into a desired garment such as a shirt or sweat shirt, and more
particularly into
an intimate apparel garment such as, but not limited to a man's brief, a
woman's panty,
socks, hosiery, and the like.
[0030] It should be recognized that method 10 is illustrated by way of example
only as
having garment-producing step 18 after digital printing step 16. Of course, it
is
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contemplated by the present disclosure for digital printing step to occur
before, during,
and/or after garment-producing step 18.
[0031]Advantageously, method 10 has proven suitable for the production of a
variety of
articles in small quantities and/or for use in replacing the information tags
commonly
attached to garments. Further, the bonding provided by the binder component of
method 10 provides the textile and garments formed therefrom with printed
patterns
and/or text that has improved durability to home laundering as compared to the
prior
polymer coatings.
[0032]While the present disclosure has been described with reference to one or
more
exemplary embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that
various
changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof
without
departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, many
modifications may
be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the
disclosure
without departing from the scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the
present
disclosure not be limited to the particular embodiment(s) disclosed as the
best mode
contemplated, but that the disclosure will include all embodiments falling
within the
scope of the disclosure.
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