AU427365B2 - Tufted carpeting with compatibly dyable needlebonded surface - Google Patents

Description

22,109 170 This invention relates to tufted carpeting, and particularly to an improved tufted carpet which is readily

uniformly dyable.

It is quite difficult to satisfactorily dye tufted carpeting, and it is particularly difficult to im-. print a clear pattern on such carpeting. One reason for this is that it is difficult to dye the bases of the tufts..

Another reason is that many scrim materials are not readily dyable, particularly polypropylene scrims which are other- wise especially desirable. If the scrim does not accept the face dye at all, or it does not accept the dye to the same extent as the tufts, the carpet will lack the desired uniformity of coloration and pattern clarity.

It is important to note in this connection that reflectance of light plays a major part in the color the eye detects. If a scrim base as used in the conventional and typical tufted carpet does not accept dye compatible to that applied to the tufts, the scrim will actually shadow light and detract from the overall light reflect-

ance desired.

Various attempts have been made to solve this problem. Carpet scrim has been predyed or woven from pig- mented material in various shades in an effort to mask

these undesirable effects. Synthetic fiber producers have developed various cross sections of fiber to improve

light reflection. Tufting machine manufacturers have de- signed equipment which reduces the spacing of the tuft

stitches and the distance between the tufts in the running direction of the machine. None of these attempts have been totally satisfactory, and this is particularly true

427.365

22,10 9 P with the advent of carpet printing machines which should be capable of reproducing patterns with definition and clarity of color equivalent to woven carpets. It is the general object of this invention to pro- vide an improved, readily dyable tufted carpet by providing. the a needlebonded subface which is dyably compatible with tuft material and thus provides light reflectance between and at the bases of the tufts. The present invention therefore provides dyed tufted carpeting material comprising: a scrim having high

longitudinal and lateral tensile strength and which pro- vides; substantially all of the dimensional stability for mater- the carpeting material; a layer of staple fibers of a ial which can be dyed using a particular dye system, said. to define layer being needled onto one surface of the scrim a thin subface which is supported by the scrim and effec- of a tively Visually covers said one scrim surface; and yarn material which can be dyed using the said dye system, said to define a yarn being tufted through the scrim and subface the tufted face supported by the scrim and extending above by means subface, the subface and tufted face being colored of said dye system. With carpet made according to this invention, any light is reflected from all points uniformly, including total subface areas that might be involved thus producing more vivid reflectance. The result is a sharper, clearer, of desired vibration of color to the eye and a truer yield only color and/or patterned effects that up until now could carpets. be achieved with woven carpets as opposed to tufted manu- The invention also encompasses a process of and versatile facturing carpeting that is highly satisfactory

while being relatively simple and inexpensive. Thus, the 427.365

22,109 /7 present invention also provides a method of manufacturing

tufted, dyed carpeting using scrim having high longitudin-

al and lateral tensile strength and yarn, wherein the yarn

is adapted to be dyed using a particular dye system, said method comprising: selecting staple fibers that can be dyed

using the said dye system; then needling a layer of such fi- bers onto one surface of the scrim to develop a thin subface

of fibers which is supported by the scrim and which effec-

tively visually covers said one scrim surface; then tufting the yarn through the scrim and subface to develop a tufted

face made up of tufts extending above the subface, said scrim providing substantially all of the dimensional stabil-

ity for the tufted product; and then using said dye system to simultaneously color the subface and the tufted face. In the accompanying description:

Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a manu- facturing line for practicing the method of the invention,

Figure 2 is a schematic fragmentary view in cross section, through the plane 2-2 shown in Figure 3, illustrat- ing a piece of carpeting formed according to the invention,

and Figure 3 is a schematic fragmentary top plan view of the carpet of Figure 2.

Figure 1 illustrates a preferred method of manu- facturIng carpeting according to the invention. The pre- ferred method involves several types of apparatus, all of which are well known to the art so that they have been shown

only in block form and will not be described in detail.

The carpeting is built on a scrim I fed from a

supply roll 2. The scrim I is preferably a weave of poly- propylene filaments, although Jute, burlap or other woven

427.365

22,10 9/7 or non-woven scrims could be used. The polypropylene charac- scrim is preferred because of its other physical been teristics, but this type of scrim has not heretofore dye characteristics fully satisfactory because of its poor that such and it is a particular feature of the invention scrim can now be used to full advantage. After any preliminary treatments (not shown) 3 is used to that may be desired, a conventional lapper the scrim 1 a uni- deposit on the upper or face surface of 4. The use -of form web or batt of garnetted staple fibers the lapper 3 is not critical, however, and the web could, 1 by the for example, be deposited directly on the scrim in length web former (not shown). Fibers of 1-4 inches material such as are preferred, and may be of any suitable discussed nylon-subject to the dyability requirements hereafter. needle The product then passes through a usual into a layer 6 that loom 5 which acts to needle the fibers process often is bonded to the face of the scrim 1, this layer 6 serves being referred to as "needlebonding". The non-woven as a subface as will be described and comprises of which extend but interwined fibers 4 the ends of some The through the scrim I to bond the layer 6 thereto. be varied as de- thickness and density of the layer-6 can it sired, but to achieve the optimum in light reflectance, layer 6 has been found that a relatively thin but dense which uniformly covers the scrim I is best. After needlebonding, the product passes through 8 through the a conventional tufter 7 which tufts yarn face comprising scrim 1 And subface layer 6 to develop a 427.3 6

2Z109/7o tufts 9 which extend above the subface 6. The base por- tions 9' the Portions Immediately above and adjacent the scrim l- are surrounded by the fibers 4 of the subface 6. The yarn 8 may also be of any 4sultable material such as nylon, but must be compatible with the fibers 4 as will be described. The tufts 9 may be of the loop type shown or maybe cut, and their spacing may be varied although it is another particular featul of the Invention that relatively wide spacing can be used without detracting from the ap- pearance of the final product. After tufting, the material passes through a suitable Printer 10 to achieve any desired pattern. This simply Involves applying dyes in localized areas, and any ,feasible number of colors and any desired pattern may be used. Where no pattern or range of colors.is desired, only a suitable dying apparatus (not shown) is used. It Is still another particular feature of the Invention that it Is adapted for use with continuous printers or dyers In which dyestuffs are applied from above. After printing or dying, the carpeting Is sub- jected to any further Processes that may be desired such as the application of a secondary backing or foam cushion and is-then wound onto a roll 11 for storage or delivery. As illustrated by Figures 2 and 3, the Subface 6 effective-ly visually covers the scrim I so that it cannot be seen from above, and it also surrounds and effectively visually covers the bases 9' of the tufts 9. As previously indicated, the thickness and density of the Subface 6 can be varied by varying the amount of fiber 4 used or the needling process, but as also previously Indicated it Is 427.365

22,10970 preferable to provide a relatively thin but dense layer 6,

using no more fibers 4 than are necessary to develop a

uniform layer 6 that effectively covers the scrim I and

tuft bases or in other words that is visually contin-

uous. For usual applications, no more than six ounces of fibers 4 per square yard of carpet should be necessary. Expressed in another way, a layer 6 that represents no more than 15-20% of the total thickness of the carpet will generally accomplish the desired result. Also as mentioned above, the yarn 8 and fibers 4 may be of any material, but they must be dyable and must also be compatible so far as dyability is concerned. As used herein, "compatible" materials are those which will. take substantially identical colors from the same dyestuff. In other words, the resulting colors should be similar enough in hue, value and chroma so as to be substantially the same to the eye. It might be most convenient in this regard to use chemically identical materials for the yarn 8 and fibers 4; but non-identical materials can be compat- ibly dyable and those skilled in the art can readily db- termine and evaluate this characteristic. In Figures 2 and 3, the line A-A illustrates a line of color demarcation in a pattern, the material on

one side being of one color and that on the other being a different 'color, and stippling has been used to dis- tinguish one color from the other. Because the subface 6 and tufts 9 are compatibly dyable, the color extends uniformly downwardly along a sharp vertical line, the

line A-A as seen in Figure 2, for the entire visible depth of the carpet. In other words, the subface 6 serves 427.365 as a background or field which takes exactly the same color and pattern as is applied to the top portions of the tufts

9. The resulting product has an appearance of great depth

and exceptional pattern clarity. The subface 6 completely

visually covers the scrim 1 which might otherwise have no

.color or.a different shade and show through to destroy the

overall visual effect, and is effective in this regard even if the carpet is bent as in a stairway installation. Fur- ther, the subface 6 surrounds and visually covers the tuft bases 9' and thus avoids the problem of dying these por- tions to the same extent as the tuft tops, which is quite difficult ordinarily. The product and process shown are especially adaptable to high speed, continuous printing or dying ap- paratus in which dyestuff is applied from above. With the subface 6, it is possible to dye completely down through the visible depth of the material even with such a vertical dying process, whereas with ordinary tufted carpets dying

the tuft bases 9' and other areas under the enlarged tops

of the tufts 9 with such processes presents a particularly serious problem.

The invention provides an improved product, and a process for making it, which is characterized by depth and clarity of pattern and color, due essentially to the use of the compatibly dyable subface 6 and tufts 9. Al- though a preferred embodiment of the product and process have been shown, it will be obvious that some modifications

in both might be made without departure from the spirit of the invention. It is not intended, therefore, that the in- vention be limited by the showing herein or in any other

manner except as may specifically be required. o 427.365

Claims (2)

22109 /7 The claims defining the invention are as follows:-

1. Dyed tufted carpeting material comprising: a

scrim having high longitudinal and lateral tensile strength

and which provides: substantially all of the dimensional

stability for the carpeting material; a layer of staple fibers of a material which can be dyed using a particular dye system, said layer being needled onto one surface of by the scrim to define a thin. subface which is supported

the scrim and effectively visually covers said one scrim

surface; and yarn of a material which can be dyed using the the said dye system, said yarn being tufted through by the scrim and subface to define a tufted face-supported and scrim and extending above the subface, the subface

tufted face being colored by means of said dye system. 2. Dyed carpeting material according to claim I

wherein the scrim is of a material not dyably compatible with the tufts and fibers. I 3. Dyed carpeting material according to claim

or 2 wherein the scrim comprises a polypropylene web. 4. A method of manufacturing tufted, dyed car-

peting using scrim having high longitudinal and lateral to tensile strength and yarn, wherein the yarn is adapted

be dyed using a particular dye system, said method compris- the ing: selecting staple fibers that can be dyed using onto said dye system; then needling a layer of such fibers

one surface of the scrim to develop a thin subface of

fibers which is supported by the scrim and which effec- tuft- tively visually covers said one scrim surface; then a ing the yarn through the scrim and subface to develop subface, tufted face made up of tufts extending above the dimensional said scrim providing substantially all of the

427.3 6 stability for the tufted product; and then using said dye system to simultaneously color the subface and the tufted face.

The method of claim 4 including the step of

applying said dye system from above the face of the car-

peting. 6. The method of claim 4 wherein the dying step comprises printing a pattern on the carpeting by applying

the dye system on localized surface areas from above the

face of the carpeting.

7. Dyed carpeting material substantially as here- in described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

8. The method of manufacturing carpeting sub-. stantlally as herein described/ ee L.

DATED: 14th September, 1971

PHILLIPS OR14ONDE AND FITZPATRICK Attorneys for: OZITE CORPORATION

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ii. 427.365