Textile fabrics with opaque printing and method of producing same

Claim 2

A printed textile fabric formed of interengaged yarns of a predetermined color, selected areas of said fabric having printed pattern areas of predetermined color contrasting with the color of said yarns, said printed pattern areas being substantially opaque and thus unaffected by the color of said yarns, and said pattern areas comprising an opaque coating of said predetermined color covering the exposed surfaces of the interengaged yarns and hiding the underlying color of the yarns, said coating comprising an opacifying pigment providing opacity in said coating and a cured water insoluble polymer binder affixed to said yarns and bonding said opacifying pigment to the yarns.

Claim 3

A printed textile fabric as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said opaque coating which comprises said pattern areas is characterized by individually coating each of the yarns in the printed area such that the interengaged yarn structure of the fabric remains visible.

Claim 4

A printed textile fabric as claimed in Claim 2 wherein said opaque coating is further characterized by individually encapsulating and coating the exposed fibers at the surface of the yarn such that the individual surface fibers of the yarn remain visible.

Claim 5

A printed textile fabric as claimed in Claim 1, 2 or 3 in which the predetermined color of the printed pattern areas is provided by the color of said opacifying pigment.

Claim 6

A printed textile fabric as claimed in Claim 4 wherein said opacifying pigment comprises a white pigment.

Claim 7

A printed textile fabric as claimed in any preceding claim wherein said coating additionally includes colored pigments for providing a predetermined desired color to the printed pattern areas.

Claim 8

A printed textle fabric as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said coating additionally includes a dye for providing a predetermined desired color to the printed pattern areas.

Claim 9

A printed textile fabric as claimed in Claim 7 wherein said polymer binder contains reactive dye sites available for bonding with said dye, and said dye is chemically reacted with said dye sites.

Claim 10

A printed textile fabric as claimed in Claim 7 or 8 wherein said dye comprises at least one member selected from the group consisting of acid dyes, cationic dyes, direct dyes, disperse dyes, fiber reactive dyes, mordant dyes and solvent dyes.

Claim 11

A printed textile fabric as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said printed pattern areas are formed of a plurality of colors contrasting with one another and with said predetermined color of the yarns, at least one of the colors of the printed pattern areas being lighter than said predetermined color of said yarns.

Claim 12

A printed textile fabric as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said polymer binder comprises a crosslinked latex.

Claim 13

A printed textile fabric as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said coating additionally includes a heat reactive crosslinking agent crosslinked with said polymer binder.

Claim 14

A printed textile fabric as claimed in any . preceding claim, wherein said opaque coating comprises an opacifying pigment, a crosslinked acrylic latex polymer, a heat reactive acrylic resin crosslinked with said acrylic latex polymer, and a curing catalyst.

Claim 15

A printed textile fabric as claimed in Claim 13 wherein the amount of said opacifying pigment in said coating is greater than the combined amount of said acrylic latex polymer and said acrylic resin.

Claim 16

A printed textile fabric as claimed in Claim 1, formed of dyed yarns of a predetermined color throughout the fabric, selected areas of the fabric having printed pattern areas of predetermined color contrasting with the color of the yarns, the printed pattern areas being substantially opaque and thus unaffected by the color of the yarns, and the pattern areas being formed of a plurality of colors contrasting with one another and with said predetermined dyed color of the yarns, at least one of the colors being lighter than said predetermined color dyed yarns, and said pattern areas comprising an coating covering the exposed surfaces of the yarns and hiding the underlying color thereof, said coating comprising an opacifying pigment providing opacity in said coating and a cured water insoluble polymer binder bonding said opacifying pigment to the yarns.

Claim 17

A printed textile fabric as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said printed pattern areas are formed of a plurality of colors contrasting with one another and with said predetermined color of the yarns, at least one of the colors being lighter than said predetermined color of said yarns.

Claim 18

A printed textile fabric as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said opaque coating comprises an opacifying pigment, a crosslinked acrylic latex polymer, a heat reactive acrylic resin crosslinked with said acrylic latex polymer, a curing catalyst, and a dye coloring said latex polymer and thereby imparting said predetermined color to the printed area.

Claim 21

A method as claimed in Claim 18 wherein the printing paste has a solids content of at least 30 percent by weight.

Claim 22

' A method as claimed in Claim 18 or 19 wherein the amount of said opacifying pigment in said printing paste is greater than the total amount of said aqueous curable polymer binder.

Claim 23

A method as claimed in Claim 18, 19 or 20 wherein said printing paste additionally includes a heat reactive crosslinking agent.

Claim 28

A method as claimed in Claim 25'wherein said step of applying the aqueous printing paste to the fabric is carried out with a plurality of colors at successive stations of a rotary screen printing apparatus.

Claim 30

A method as claimed in Claim 27 wherein the precolored fabric is of a relatively dark color and the printing paste is of a contrasting lighter color.

Claim 32

A method as claimed in Claim 29 wherein said curing catalyst comprises a sulfonic acid catalyst.