Coating Device for Coating an Elongated Substrate

Abstract

A device and system for dynamically applying liquid to a single thread for a thread consuming device as said thread moves relative to the device along a path of movement. The device is configured to apply liquid to said thread by means of an electrospraying unit. A method for applying liquid to a single thread for a thread consuming device as said thread moves relative to the device along a path of movement is also provided.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates coating of a thread and, more particularly, coating in form of dyeing said thread with a liquid, such as a liquid comprising ink.BACKGROUND ART[0002]Devices for embroidering a medium, such as cloth, in accordance with a design generated using a personal computer are known. Such devices are advantageous in that they make it easy to embroider a complex design.[0003]However, the color of the embroidered design depends on the color of the thread. Therefore, when embroidering is carried out using different colored threads, the thread used in the apparatus must be changed each time a different color is to be embroidered. To change the thread, the thread currently in the apparatus must be cut and removed, and another thread having a different color must be threaded in the apparatus and passed through the hole of an embroidery needle. This slows down the embroidery operation and makes it more costly.[0004]Embroidery devices for indus...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0046]According to yet an embodiment, the treatment device is configured to lubricate the thread. Thereby, lubricity of the thread is increased, wherein sewability is typically also improved. Lubricating may be performed before and / or after the fixating unit, and after coloring.

[0047]According to another aspect of the invention an embroidery system is provided. The system comprises a coating device according to an embodiment of the invention. Further, the system comprises thread feeding means, embroidery means and a pattern controller. The thread feeding means is configured to feed the thread through the guiding means of the coating device. The embroidery means is suitable for embroidering a pattern on an object using the thread based on pattern information. Also, the pattern controller provides control signals to said ink flow controller in response to at least the pattern information. Such a system brings an advantage in that embroidery may be performed with improved ink coverage and a higher degree of ink coverage of the thread embroidered.

[0048]According to yet an aspect of the invention a method of applying ink to an embroidery thread by means of a coating device according to an embodiment of the invention is provided. The method comprises a step of feeding the thread through the coating device while discharging ink onto said thread using said electrospraying unit. This method brings an advantage in that it provides improved ink coverage and a higher degree of ink coverage of the thread embroidered.

[0049]According to another embodiment of the invention, the method further comprises a step of wetting the thread before feeding said portion through a discharge zone. Wetting the thread makes it more electrically conductive and typically also improves its ability to quickly absorb ink droplets. Wetting also improves color mixing.

[0050]The method may further comprise controlling the wetting with regards to the amount of the wetting agent used in relation to the thread consumption to achieve a certain color quality (uniformity), better fixation and / or better sewability.

[0051]The method may also comprise controlling the lubrication with regards to the amount of the lubricant used in relation to the thread consumption to achieve a certain color quality (uniformity), better fixation and / or better sewability.

Problems solved by technology

This slows down the embroidery operation and makes it more costly.

Hence, a great deal of time and work is required to embroider in different colors using this technique.

In addition, since many threads of various colors must be used, the colors are limited to the number of threads used, and therefore it is cumbersome to embroider in a large number of colors.

For example, when embroidering in colors varying continuously from dark green to yellow, it is necessary to provide threads of numerous colors and change them in accordance with the desired color, and therefore the ability of such embroidery techniques to express color variations is limited.

However, it is impossible with such techniques to provide the three-dimensional effects possible with embroidery.

However, the device is complex and the ink jet head provides unsatisfactory ink coverage of the thread.

Further, the larger the nozzle diameter, the larger the discharged droplets become, which eventually lead to leakage of ink.

A small ink jet nozzle is typically also accompanied by technical problems, such as increased risk of clogging, leading to the risk of uneven ink distribution, and short life span and / or costly.

All in all, this jeopardizes the precision of the ink distribution, which is vital for a thread coloring thread consuming machine, since failure in this respect leads to wrong color appearing on the wrong position.

For example, the first set of droplets from the emitter may be of unknown or unwanted size or potentially contaminated, and thus being undesired to hit the thread.

The hydrophobic coating prevents ink from wetting over outer surfaces of the emitter, which in turn is advantageous since fluid on the outer surface affects the droplet size and frequency of emission of droplets, and also the direction and stability of droplets thereby making it difficult to control ink discharge.

Further it typically makes the thread more prone to absorbing ink droplets applied thereto.

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