Textile fabrics with opaque pigment 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 covering the exposed surfaces of the intergaged yarns and hiding the underlying color of the yarns, and being further characterized by penetrating into the fabric to the back side thereof and individually coating each of the yarns in the printed area such that the interengaged yarn structure of the fabric remains visible, said coating comprising an opacifying pigment providing opacity in said coating and cured water insoluble polymer binder affixed to said yarns and bonding said opacifying pigment to the yarns.

Claim 3

A printed textile fabric as set forth in claim 1 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 4

A printed textile fabric as set forth in claim 1 wherein said opacifying pigment comprises a white pigment.

Claim 5

A printed textile fabric as set forth in claim 3 wherein said coating additionally includes colored pigments for providing a predetermined desired color to the printed pattern areas.

Claim 6

A printed textile fabric as set forth in claim 1 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 7

A printed textile fabric as set forth in claim 1 wherein said polymer binder comprises a crosslinked latex.

Claim 8

A printed textile fabric as set forth in claim 1 wherein said coating additionally includes a heat reactive crosslinking agent crosslinked with said polymer binder.

Claim 9

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 covering the exposed surfaces of the interengaged yarns and bonded thereto and hiding the underlying color of the yarns, said opaque coating comprising an opacifying pigment, a crosslinked acrylic latex polymer, a heat reactive acrylic resin crosslinked with said acrylic latex polymer, and a curing catalyst.

Claim 10

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 covering the exposed surfaces of the interengaged yarns and bonded thereto and hiding the underlying color of the yarns, said opaque coating comprising an opacifying pigment, a crosslinked acrylic latex polymer, a heat reactive acrylic resin crosslinked with said acrylic latex polymer, and a curing catalyst.

Claim 11

A printed textile fabric as set forth in claim 8 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 12

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 covering the exposed surfaces of the interengaged yarns and hiding the underlying color of the yarns, and being further characterized by penetrating into the fabric to the back side thereof and individually coating each of the yarns in the printed area such that the interengaged yarn structure of the fabric remains visible, said coating comprising an opacifying pigment providing opacity in said coating and a crosslinked latex polymer binder bonding said opacifying pigment to the yarns.

Claim 13

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 covering the exposed surfaces of the interengaged yarns and hiding the underlying color of the yarns, and being further characterized by penetrating into the fabric to the back side thereof and individually coating each of the yarns in the printed area such that the interengaged yarn structure of the fabric remains visible, said coating comprising an opacifying pigment providing opacity in said coating and a crosslinked latex polymer binder bonding said opacifying pigment to the yarns.

Claim 14

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 pigmented coating bonded to the interengaged yarns and hiding the underlying color thereof, said pigmented coating penetrating each yarn and individually encapsulating and coating the exposed fibers at the surface of the yarn while allowing the interengaged yarn structure of the fabric as well as the individual surface fibers of the yarn to remain visible in the printed pattern areas.

Claim 15

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 pigmented coating bonded to the interengaged yarns and hiding the underlying color thereof, said pigmented coating penetrating each yarn and individually encapsulating and coating the exposed fibers at the surface of the yarn while allowing the interengaged yarn structure of the fabric as well as the individual surface fibers of the yarn to remain visible in the printed pattern areas.

Claim 16

A printed textile fabric formed of precolored yarns of a predetermined relatively dark color, selected areas of said fabric having printed pattern areas of predetermined relatively lighter color contrasting with the darker color of the yarns, said printed pattern areas being substantially opaque and thus unaffected by the relatively darker color of the yarns, and said pattern areas comprising an opaque coating covering the exposed surfaces of the yarns and hiding the underlying color thereof, and being further characterized by penetrating into the fabric to the back side thereof and individually coating each of the yarns in the printed area such that the interengaged yarn structure of the fabric remains visible, said coating comprising a white opacifying pigment providing opacity in said coating and a crosslinked latex polymer binder bonding said opacifying pigment to the yarns.

Claim 17

A printed textile fabric formed of precolored yarns of a predetermined relatively dark color, selected areas of said fabric having printed pattern areas of predetermined relatively lighter color contrasting with the darker color of the yarns, said printed pattern areas being substantially opaque and thus unaffected by the relatively darker color of the yarns, and said pattern areas comprising an opaque coating covering the exposed surfaces of the yarns and hiding the underlying color thereof, and being further characterized by penetrating into the fabric to the back side thereof and individually coating each of the yarns in the printed area such that the interengaged yarn structure of the fabric remains visible, said coating comprising a white opacifying pigment providing opacity in said coating and a crosslinked latex polymer binder bonding said opacifying pigment to the yarns.

Claim 18

A printed textile fabric as set forth in claim 12 wherein said printed pattern areas are of a plurality of colors contrasting with one another and each being lighter than and contrasting with the predetermined relatively darker color of said yarns.

Claim 19

A printed textile fabric as set forth in claim 13 in which the fabric is a piece-dyed fabric and said precolored yarns comprise dyed yarns of said predetermined relatively dark color throughout the fabric.

Claim 20

A printed textile fabric as set forth in claim 14 in which the fabric is a pigment-padded fabric and said precolored yarns comprise resin-bonded pigmented yarns of said predetermined relatively dark color throughout the fabric.

Claim 21

A printed textile fabric formed of yarns of a predetermined color, said fabric having printed thereon a pattern of well-defined dots of a predetermined color contrasting with the color of said yarns, said dots being substantially opaque and unaffected by the color of the underlying yarns, and said dots being formed by an opaque coating covering the exposed surfaces of the yarns and hiding the underlying color thereof, and being further characterized by penetrating into the fabric to the back side thereof and individually coating each of the yarns in the printed area such that the interengaged yarn structure of the fabric remains visible, said coating comprising an opacifying pigment providing opacity to the coating and a crosslinked latex polymer binder bonding said opacifying pigment to the yarns.

Claim 22

A printed textile fabric formed of yarns of a predetermined color, said fabric having printed thereon a pattern of well-defined dots of a predetermined color contrasting with the color of said yarns, said dots being substantially opaque and unaffected by the color of the underlying yarns, and said dots being formed by an opaque coating covering the exposed surfaces of the yarns and hiding the underlying color thereof, and being further characterized by penetrating into the fabric to the back side thereof and individually coating each of the yarns in the printed area such that the interengaged yarn structure of the fabric remains visible, said coating comprising an opacifying pigment providing opacity to the coating and a crosslinked latex polymer binder bonding said opacifying pigment to the yarns.

Claim 23

A printed textile fabric formed of dyed yarns of a predetermined color throughout the fabric, selected areas of said fabric having printed pattern areas of 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 plurlality 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 opaque coating covering the exposed surfaces of the yarns and hiding the underlying color thereof, and being further characterized by penetrating into the fabric to the back side thereof and individually coating each of the yarns in the printed area such that the interengaged yarn structure of the fabric remains visible, 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 24

A printed textile fabric formed of dyed yarns of a predetermined color throughout the fabric, selected areas of said fabric having printed pattern areas of 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 plurlality 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 opaque coating covering the exposed surfaces of the yarns and hiding the underlying color thereof, and being further characterized by penetrating into the fabric to the back side thereof and individually coating each of the yarns in the printed area such that the interengaged yarn structure of the fabric remains visible, 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 25

A printed textile fabric as set forth in claim 16 or 17 wherein said opaque coating is further characterized by individually encapsulating and coating the exposed fibers at the surface of each yarn such that the detail of the yarn structure remains visible.

Claim 26

A printed textile fabric 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 opaque pigmented coating bonded to the interengaged yarns and hiding the underlying color thereof, said pigmented coating penetrating each yarn and individually encapsulating and coating the exposed fibers at the surface of the yarn while allowing the interengaged yarn structure of the fabric as well as the individual surface fibers of the yarn to remain visible in the printed pattern areas.

Claim 27

A printed textile fabric 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 opaque pigmented coating bonded to the interengaged yarns and hiding the underlying color thereof, said pigmented coating penetrating each yarn and individually encapsulating and coating the exposed fibers at the surface of the yarn while allowing the interengaged yarn structure of the fabric as well as the individual surface fibers of the yarn to remain visible in the printed pattern areas.

Claim 28

In the printing of textile fabrics wherein a printing paste containing pigments and a heat curable binder is applied to selected areas of the fabric and the printing paste is thereafter dried and cured, an improved method of obtaining substantially opaque printed areas unaffected by the color of the underlying yarns, said method comprising applying to the fabric a printing paste comprising a stable dispersion of an opacifying pigment and an aqueous, curable polymer binder, said printing paste being applied to the fabric in an amount sufficient to form in the dried and cured fabric an opaque coating penetrating into the fabric to the back side thereof and covering the exposed surfaces of the yarns and hiding the underlying color thereof while allowing the interengaged yarn structure of the fabric to remain visible.

Claim 29

In the printing of textile fabrics wherein a printing paste containing pigments and a heat curable binder is applied to selected areas of the fabric and the printing paste is thereafter dried and cured, an improved method of obtaining substantially opaque printed areas unaffected by the color of the underlying yarns, said method comprising applying to the fabric a printing paste comprising a stable dispersion of an opacifying pigment and an aqueous, curable polymer binder, said printing paste being applied to the fabric in an amount sufficient to form in the dried and cured fabric an opaque coating penetrating into the fabric to the back side thereof and covering the exposed surfaces of the yarns and hiding the underlying color thereof while allowing the interengaged yarn structure of the fabric to remain visible.

Claim 30

The method as set forth in claim 20 wherein the printing paste has a solids content of at least 30 percent by weight.

Claim 31

The method as set forth in claim 20 wherein the amount of said opacifying pigment in said printing paste is greater than the total amount of said aqueous curable polymer binder.

Claim 32

The method as set forth in claim 20 wherein said printing paste additionally includes a heat reactive crosslinking agent.

Claim 33

The method as set forth in claim 20 wherein said opacifying pigment comprises a white pigment.

Claim 34

The method as set forth in claim 20 wherein said aqueous printing paste additionally includes colored pigments.

Claim 35

The method as set forth in claim 20 wherein said step of applying the aqueous printing paste to the fabric comprises printing the paste onto the fabric at the printing station of rotary stencil printing apparatus.

Claim 36

The method as set forth in claim 20 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 37

The method as set forth in claim 20 wherein said step of applying the aqueous printing paste to the fabric comprises applying the printing paste to a precolored fabric.

Claim 38

The method as set forth in claim 28 wherein the precolored fabric is of a relatively dark color and the printing paste is of a contrasting lighter color.

Claim 39

The method as set forth in claim 20 wherein said aqueous printing paste additionally comprises a curing catalyst.

Claim 40

The method as set forth in claim 30 wherein said curing catalyst comprises a sulfonic acid catalyst.

Claim 41

The method as set forth in claim 20 wherein said printing paste is comprised of said opacifying pigment, an aqueous crosslinkable acrylic latex polymer, a heat reactive crosslinkable acrylic resin, and a curing catalyst.

Claim 42

In the printing of textile fabrics wherein a printing paste containing pigments and a heat curable binder is applied to selected areas of the fabric and the printing paste is thereafter dried and cured, an improved method of obtaining substantially opaque printed areas unaffected by the color of the underlying yarns, said method comprising applying to a precolored fabric a printing paste comprising a stable dispersion of a white opacifying pigment and an aqueous crosslinkable latex polymer, said printing paste being applied to the fabric in an amount sufficient to form in the dried and cured fabric a film-like opaque coating penetrating into the fabric to the back side thereof and covering the exposed surfaces of the yarns and hiding the underlying color thereof while allowing the interengaged yarn structure of the fabric to remain visible.

Claim 43

In the printing of textile fabrics wherein a printing paste containing pigments and a heat curable binder is applied to selected areas of the fabric and the printing paste is thereafter dried and cured, an improved method of obtaining substantially opaque printed areas unaffected by the color of the underlying yarns, said method comprising applying to a precolored fabric a printing paste comprising a stable dispersion of a white opacifying pigment and an aqueous crosslinkable latex polymer, said printing paste being applied to the fabric in an amount sufficient to form in the dried and cured fabric a film-like opaque coating penetrating into the fabric to the back side thereof and covering the exposed surfaces of the yarns and hiding the underlying color thereof while allowing the interengaged yarn structure of the fabric to remain visible.

Claim 44

In the printing of textile fabrics wherein a printing paste containing pigments and a heat curable binder is applied to selected areas of the fabric and the printing paste is thereafter dried and cured, an improved method of obtaining substantially opaque printed areas unaffected by the color of the underlying yarns, said method comprising applying to the fabric a stable dispersion of an aqueous white printing paste having a solids content of at least 30 percent and comprising at least 25 percent of an opacifying pigment and at least 5 percent of an aqueous latex polymer binder, all percentages by weight, solids basis, said printing paste being applied to the fabric in an amount sufficient to form in the dried and cured fabric an opaque coating penetrating into the fabric to the back side thereof and covering the exposed surfaces of the yarns and hiding the underlying color thereof while allowing the interengaged yarn structure of the fabric to remain visible.

Claim 45

In the printing of textile fabrics wherein a printing paste containing pigments and a heat curable binder is applied to selected areas of the fabric and the printing paste is thereafter dried and cured, an improved method of obtaining substantially opaque printed areas unaffected by the color of the underlying yarns, said method comprising applying to the fabric a stable dispersion of an aqueous white printing paste having a solids content of at least 30 percent and comprising at least 25 percent of an opacifying pigment and at least 5 percent of an aqueous latex polymer binder, all percentages by weight, solids basis, said printing paste being applied to the fabric in an amount sufficient to form in the dried and cured fabric an opaque coating penetrating into the fabric to the back side thereof and covering the exposed surfaces of the yarns and hiding the underlying color thereof while allowing the interengaged yarn structure of the fabric to remain visible.