Textile finishing agents and methods of digitally printing textiles

Abstract

A composition for finishing a textile is provided. The composition includes a finishing agent and a binder component that is conducive to forming a bond with the textile and a bond with a dye. A method of digitally printing a textile is also provided, which includes applying a finishing agent to the textile so that the finishing agent forms a first bond with a component of the textile and digitally printing a dye on the textile after applying the finishing agent so that the dye forms a second bond with the finishing agent. A digitally printed textile having a textile with a finishing agent and a binding component is provided. The binding component forms a bond with a component of the textile and a dye is bound to the binding component.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/818,698, filed Jul. 5, 2006, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 polymers 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.

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.

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 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

It is yet another object of the present disclosure to provide methods of digitally printing textiles.

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.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

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

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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%, 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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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 contemplated by the present disclosure for digital printing step to occur before, during, and/or after garment-producing step 18.

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.

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.

Claims

1. A composition for finishing a textile, comprising:

a finishing agent; and

a binder component that is conducive to forming a bond with the textile and a bond with a dye.

2. The composition as in claim 1, wherein said finishing agent is selected from the group consisting of a fabric softener, a stain repellent, a fire retardant agent, a static control agent, a wrinkle control agent, a microbial control agent, and any combinations thereof.

3. The composition as in claim 1, further comprising water.

4. The composition as in claim 3, wherein said finishing agent comprises a softener.

5. The composition as in claim 3, wherein said softener is selected from the group consisting of a cationic softener, a non-ionic softener, and any combinations thereof.

6. The composition as in claim 3, wherein said binder component is 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, and any combinations thereof.

7. The composition as in claim 3, wherein said finishing agent comprises a cationic softener or a non-ionic softener in an amount of between about 8% to about 17%, said binder component in an amount of between about 1% to about 6%, and said water in an amount of between about 77% to about 91%, where the percent is measured as percent-by-volume of the composition.

8. A method of digitally printing a textile, comprising:

applying a finishing agent to the textile so that said finishing agent forms a first bond with a component of the textile; and

digitally printing a dye on the textile after applying said finishing agent so that said dye forms a second bond with said finishing agent.

9. The method as in claim 8, further comprising producing a garment from the textile.

10. The method as in claim 9, wherein said digital printing step is performed before, during, or after said garment producing step.

11. The method as in claim 9, wherein said finishing agent application step is performed before, during, or after said garment producing step.

12. The method as in claim 8, wherein said finishing agent application step comprises applying said finishing agent to the textile while the textile is in a wide-good state.

13. The method as in claim 12, wherein said finishing agent application step is a process selected from the group consisting of immersing the textile in a bath of said finishing agent, spraying said finishing agent on the textile, and padding said finishing agent on the textile.

14. The method as in claim 8, further comprising curing said finishing agent on the textile at a temperature of between about 285 degrees to about 360 degrees Fahrenheit.

15. The method as in claim 8, further comprising knitting the textile.

16. The method as in claim 15, wherein the knitting the textile step is a process selected from the group consisting of a circular knitting process, a warp knitting process, and a flat knitting process.

17. A digitally printed textile comprising:

a textile having a finishing agent and a binding component, said binding component forming a bond with a component of said textile; and

a dye bound to said binding component.

18. The digitally printed textile as in claim 17, wherein said textile is selected from the group consisting of a woven textile, a knitted textile, a non-woven textile, a tufted textile, and any combinations thereof.

19. The digitally printed textile as in claim 17, wherein said textile is a woven textile selected from the group consisting of a satin weave, a poplin weave, and a crepe weave.

20. The digitally printed textile as in claim 17, wherein said textile comprises fibers selected from the group consisting of natural fibers, synthetic fibers, and any combinations thereof.

21. The digitally printed textile as in claim 17, wherein said finishing agent is selected from the group consisting of a fabric softener, a stain repellent, a fire retardant agent, a static control agent, a wrinkle control agent, a microbial control agent, and any combinations thereof.

22. The digitally printed textile as in claim 17, wherein said finishing agent is selected from the group consisting of a cationic softener, a non-ionic softener, and any combinations thereof.

23. The digitally printed textile as in claim 17, wherein said said binder component is 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, and any combinations thereof.

24. The digitally printed textile as in claim 17, wherein said textile is configured as at least a portion of an apparel garment.

25. The digitally printed textile as in claim 24, wherein said intimate apparel garment is selected from the group consisting of shirt, a sweat shirt, a man's brief, a woman's panty, a sock, and a pair of hosiery.

26. The digitally printed textile as in claim 24, wherein said dye defines an information tag of said apparel garment.