Systems For Treating A Garment With Pre-Treatment Solution, And Related Methods

Abstract

A system for treating a garment with a pre-treatment solution includes a fluid application assembly configured to dispense pre-treatment solution onto pre-determined target areas of the garment. A fluid supply and delivery assembly is coupled with the fluid application assembly and configured to provide a supply of pre-treatment solution to the fluid application assembly for dispensing onto the garment at fluid pressures of between about 5 and about 30 psig. A garment movement assembly is configured to move the garment with respect to the fluid application assembly so that the target areas of the garment can receive the pre-treatment solution.

Description

REFERENCE TO PRIOR PROVISIONAL APPLICATION[0001]This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 673,746, filed Jul. 20, 2012, the content of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to direct-to-garment printing operations, and more particularly to applying a pre-treatment solution to a garment before a printing operation.BACKGROUND[0003]Direct-to-garment printing is a popular technique for providing garments with graphics, designs, and other decoration. In a typical direct-to-garment printing operation, a printing system is used to dispense inks directly onto a garment. Pre-treatment solutions have been developed that improve the visual appearance of the decoration provided by the printing operation. In particular, pre-treatment solutions can be applied to a garment before the printing operation, and then the ink is applied onto the garment having the pre-treatment solution ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This patent describes a system for treating a garment before direct-to-garment printing. The system includes a fluid application assembly that applies a pre-treatment solution to specific areas of the garment using pressure between 5 and 30 psig. The system also includes a garment movement assembly to ensure the solution is applied to the target areas. Additionally, a cleaning assembly is provided for cleaning the nozzle tip by using a pump to move cleaning solution through the opening in the nozzle tip and back into the reservoir. The technical effects are improved pre-treatment and cleaning of the garment during printing, which ensures optimal printing quality and efficiency of the printing process.

Problems solved by technology

There are drawbacks with such an approach, however.

First, known dispensing systems tend to apply the pre-treatment solution to a much larger portion of the garment than is required.

Second, known dispensing systems also dispense the pre-treatment solution in a gross manner so that some of the pre-treatment solution that is directed at a garment is actually oversprayed and misses the garment.

Third, known dispensing systems tend to impart so much energy to the pre-treatment solution that the pre-treatment solution hits the garment at a high speed, causing some of the pre-treatment solution to bounce off the garment.

Thus, known dispensing systems have problems that tend to waste pre-treatment solution.

Moreover, pre-treatment solutions can be corrosive and tacky, and because of the problems with pre-treatment solution being oversprayed and bouncing off a garment, prior dispensing systems often included enclosure devices within which pre-treatment operations were performed.

Some of these known dispensing systems used catch trays to collect pre-treatment solution that would otherwise be wasted (by overspray or bouncing off a garment, for example), but such efforts yielded only mediocre results and did nothing to address the mess created and damage caused by the corrosive and tacky pre-treatment solution.

The corrosive and tacky nature of pre-treatment solutions, however, required that the mechanical components be cleaned and maintained on a relatively frequent basis.

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