Patterned carpet and method

Abstract

Color, pattern, design, and / or the like is applied by means of a jet dye process, or any other secondary or post pattern application process, including but not exclusively, silk screen printing and rotary printing, etc., to a carpet substrate, where the yarn in the carpet is all white (no dye applied) or where the yarn is pre-dyed with a single or multiple colors or where the yarn is treated chemically. The carpet can, for example, be made with any conventional loom weaving process or hand weaving process, for example Wilton, Axminster, spool, spool gripper, and Chenille looms, hand gun tufted, or any other conventional method.

Description

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims priority to and benefit of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 876,912, filed on Jun. 8, 2001, which claims priority to and benefit of. U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 241,170, filed on Oct. 17, 2000, and of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 211,295, filed on Jun. 13, 2000, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention is directed to applying color, pattern, design, and / or the like by means of a jet dye process, or any other secondary or post pattern application process, including but not exclusively transfer printing, silk screen printing and rotary printing, etc., to preferably a woven carpet, where the yarn in the carpet is all white or a light shade or color (no dye applied) or where yarn is treated chemically or where the yarn is pre-dyed with a single or multiple colors. In one embodiment, the preferred woven carpet h...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0018] 1) The fineness and detail of the design. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a woven white yarn carpet is passed under a jet-dye patterning applicator by means of a conveyor. The carpet passes under the jet-dye gunbars of a given number. Each gunbar or colorbar holds a different dye color. Using design software, the jets shoot dye onto the carpet and form designs and patterns of infinite variety and color. The dyes are then fixed, dried and finished. The advantage of the present invention is that the design or patterning is a separate and independent process, from the construction (weave) of the carpet itself. Design dots per inch (DPI) can now be determined independently of the carpet (weave DPI) so that woven carpets of various weights, construction thickness, etc., can have designs applied to them that are of a consistently fine detail. For example, a design can now be created using a DPI of for example, 10×10, 20×20, or 40×40 and applied to a carpet with a construction of, for example, only 5×7 and the design will no longer look cheap and ragged. Also, a DPI of 20×20 (400) or 40×40 (1600), cannot be made on a conventional weaving loom. 16×7 or 112 DPI is the maximum for conventional weaving looms.

[0019] 2) Aspect ratio of dots per inch is arbitrary. Since the design application of the present invention is independent of the carpet construction, the aspect ratio can be a square, for example 20×20 DPI or 10×10 DPI. Therefore designs of all types, including rugs, runner and borders can be turned at 90° to maximize the utilization of the carpet base, without design distortion.

[0020] 3) The same design can be created on multiple weave constructions. Since the design application of the present invention is independent of the carpet construction, the exact same design can be placed on any carpet construction or any pile type (loop or cut-pile or combination) and it can be done consecutively with multiple construction and pile types in the same run without stopping the design applicator (jet dye machine), thus significantly improving efficiencies over the old method.

Problems solved by technology

Also, there are problems with the old carpet weaving conventions.

Aspect ratio of dots per inch (DPI) is arbitrary and makes it difficult to turn designs at 90° on a carpet web.

For example, the same design cannot be created on a woven loop or cut-loop construction in the same run without stopping the loom.

Although the results are a beautiful carpet, there is a significant draw back, in that if one wishes to make the carpet in a lower price point (looser construction, lighter weight, etc.) then the aesthetic detail of the design will deteriorate significantly.

The problem is, there is an aspect ratio in the dots per inch.

This causes problems when weaving for example, a rug.

The same design cannot be created on multiple conventional weave constructions.

Since the design and conventional weave construction are inseparable you cannot create the same design on different price points (constructions, heavier, lighter, etc. as described above).

Obviously, if a design is created on a 10×7 DPI weave, it cannot be the same when transferred onto a 5×7 DPI weave, because of the loss of detail, only a facsimile can be made.

It is not possible to make running changes to the construction of a woven carpet, either to change its weight or texture from cut to loop pile.

To alter the construction or pile type, the loom must be stopped and adjusted, thus creating significant inefficiencies.

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