US2238479A - Apparatus for printing ornamental designs on cloth - Google Patents

Description

April 15, 1.941. G. E. SENSENEY 2,238,479 APPARATUS FOR PRINTING ORNAMENTAL DESIGNS on CLOTH Filed April 11', 1959 INVENTOR GIG/P65 Z: JEMszm-Y ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 15, 1941 APPARATUS FOR PRINTING ORNADIENTAL DESIGNS ON CLOTH George E. Senseney, Ipswich, Mass- Application April 11, 1939, Serial No. 267,244

2 Claims.

This invention relates to an apparatus for I printing various ornamental designs or patterns on textile fabric, and by virtue of the method employed the designs may be repetitive or may be continuously changing in accordance with the desire of the operator. Furthermore, the operator while preparing the design printed has an opportunity of inspecting its appearance, as it develops and of varying its character until fully satisfactory for final printing on the textile fabric.

In general the operation of my apparatus consists in the formation of the design in a thin film of color or printing ink carried on a continuously traveling web of material in such a manner that the design may be marked out in said film of color on said web either by hand manipulation with suitable tools, or by means of various mechanically operated devices which serve to change or modify the surface of said film into the character of the design wanted. When the desired appearance of the design is obtained the like. Inking devices for applying color to the surface of said endless apron 4 are shown at I2, I3, and I4, and are of the usual character. The color material for beingi applied by said inking devices to the apron 4 may be the usual printing Inks or colors used for printing upon textiles such as dye solutions carried in gums. and starches or pigments in oils or-bronze powders in a suitable by such modification of the color film, the web v carrying the same is brought into rolling contact 1 with the surface of the fabric to be printed upon for offsetting the design on said fabric.

The accompanying drawing shows schematically a form of apparatus embodying my invention. Referring to the drawing, I indicates the cylinder or roll of the usual textile fabric printing machine, 2 is an underlay'blanket of absorbent material carried in contact with said cylinder, and

{is the fabric to be printed upon, which is also' carried around said cylinder on top of the blanket 2. The purpose of the blanket 2 is to absorb excess of color or printing ink which penetrates through the fabric 3 being printed upon as hereinafter described.

Mounted adjacent said cylinder I is an endless web carrier or apron 4 running around the end rolls 5 and 6 and having its upper run traveling over a fiat supporting table or platen I. The roll- 5 of said apparatus serves as a pressure roll .and is preferably mounted so as to be movable against or away from contact with the cylinder I by any suitable means such as is indicated diagrammatically by the link and lever arrangements 8 and 9, the latter being pivoted at I0 and having a weight II tending to push said roll 5 into pressure contact with the cylinder I The endless apron 4 carried over rolls i and 6 may of itself be used for having the design fo ably of material having a smooth white and resilient surface such as oil cloth or rubber and ed thereon'and for this purpose isprefer vehicle or lacquer'mediums, and is of suchthickness and consistency as will readily be applicable to the surface of the apron 4 and remain thereon in a thin film subject to such fixed modification thereof into the design desired for being offset onto the fabric by the printing operation hereinafter described.

The color carrier 4 is preferably supported in its run over the platen I in order that the surface of the film on said carrier may be suitably manipulated to form the design thereon. This manipulation of the color film may be accomplished by oneor more recirpocating brushes such as indicated at I5, by rolls with marking surfaces thereon such as indicated at I6 and II, or by one or more reciprocable combs as indicated at I8. in other words, a great variety of devices either manipulated by hand or mechanically may be employed to modify the surface of the film on the carrier 4 as it is being carried over the p aten I, and the design as so formed may be readily inspected as it is being made. until it is of the appearance desired for being printed upon the fabric. I

It is to be understood that the roll 5 is held away from contact with the cylinder I until the design on the web 4 is completed to the satisfacremoving color from the apron after it has passed its printing contact with cylinder I in order that said apron may have a clean surface for the application of the ink at l2.

As an alternative to forming the design on the endless apron 4 directly, such as above described, I may also form the design on a web of paper 25 which is carried along with the upper surface of 7 said apron 4 and this method of operation has several advantages over that previously described in that the paper web may be drawn continuously from a fresh supply on a let-off roll indicated at 20 and wound upon a waste roll 2| and therefore need not be cleaned as would be the case of the endless apron 4. As shown the web of paper is drawn from the let-off roll 20 over tension and guide rolls 22, 23 and 24, around roll 6 in contact with the endless apron 4, along the top of the table 1 and over roll 5 to the takeup or waste roll 2|. The color is applied to said web of paper as before described and the design is formed thereon in a similar manner. A further advantage of using the paper web is that a large variety of surfaces for carrying'the color film may be obtained by using different kinds of paper such as embossed paper, hard surface paper, and the like. The character of the paper surface will contribute toward modifying the design which will be printed upon the fabric. The thickness of color on the carrier web will vary by reason of its design and of the character of its carrier surface and will therefore penetrate the fabric with varying intensity to give light and shade effects upon the printed fabric which are very difficult to obtain by usual printing rolls.

In general the surface travel of the carrier web apron I or paper 25 will be the same as the surface travel of the fabric on the cylinder I but suitable gearing connections may be provided to make the carrier web travel faster or slower than the fabric for still further modifying the design. It will be understood that my apparatus for so printing the design may be combined with an ordinary fabric printing cylinder and that said cylinder may have associated therewith a number of additional printing rolls of the usual character such as indicated at 28, 21, and 28 which add their effect to the design printed by my special apparatus.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for printing designs upon textile fabric comprising in combination a supporting roll for the fabric to be printed upon, a flat table mounted adjacent said fabric supporting roll, a pressure roll adjacent said table and said fabric supporting roll, a color carrier in continuous web form traveling over said table and pressure roll; means to apply a film of color to the surface of said carrier, means to form a design in said color film on said carrier by modifying the surface of said film while the carrier is traveling over the table, and means to cause said pressure roll to press said carrier in running contact against the fabric on its supporting roll whereby the color design will be offset from said carrier onto said fabric.

2. An apparatus for printing designs upon textile fabric comprising in combination a supporting roll for the fabric to be printed upon, a flat table mounted adjacent said fabric supporting roll, a pressure roll adjacent said table and said fabric suporting roll, a web 01' paper traveling over said table and pressure roll, a let-off roll for providing a continuously fresh supply of said paper, and a wind-up roll for said paper after it has traveled over said table and support, means to apply a film of color to the surface of said paper, means to form a design in said color film on said paper by modifying the surface of said film while the paper is traveling over the table, and means to cause said pressure roll to press said paper in running contact against the fabric on its supporting roll whereby the color design will be offset from said paper onto said fabric.

GEORGE E. SENSENEY.

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