Method for applying ornamentation to a garment

Abstract

A layered garment support 1200 is inserted into a garment 1000 to support a seam 1104 between printable or dyable sections. The support 1200 comprises compressible foam 1100 between cover layers 3002,

Description

Technical Field [0001 ] The present application is concerned with a method for application of ornamentation to a garment. More specifically, the present application is concerned with a method of dye sublimation of a pattern onto a pre-manufactured garment having irregular features. Background Art

[0002] Ornamentation is applied to garments for a number of reasons. Such ornamentation may be for purposes of fashion, or for more practical reasons such as the application of patterns, colourways, text and logos to garments for sports. Such patterns and colourways both differentiate teams and identify individual players. Typically, several members of a team will wear identical shirts adorned with patterns, sponsor logos and a team logo as well as text identifying the player by name and number. Such garments are not only worn by players, but also by supporters of the team in question. Therefore, there is a need for both mass production and individual customisation.

[0003] Traditionally, sports shirts are constructed from coloured and patterned fabrics on which ornamentation is applied. For example, a shirt may be constructed from a coloured fabric upon which logos and text may be applied in the form of a heat transfer vinyl (HTV) material. HTVs are printed with colours and patterns and adhered to the shirt material with the application of heat.

[0004] A drawback of this technique is that it the vinyl material is overlaid onto the shirt material, and inevitably has different properties such as drape coefficient, thermal properties and so on that can detrimentally affect appearance and comfort. Further, application of vinyl can also cause problems for the recyclability of such shirts.

[0005] Another technique is known as direct to garment ("DTG") printing. This uses a modified inkjet printer to apply ink to the outer surface of a garment. Drawbacks of DTG include its suitability for natural fibres only, and many garments (particularly sports garments) are constructed from synthetic polymeric materials. DTG also requires pretreatment of the material by pressing, and for the garment to be held very still during the lengthy printing process. Further, commercial DTG printers are expensive to purchase. In addition, the fabric must be flat and have no raised features due to the print moving above the fabric and platen. It is not possible to DTG print over or directly adjacent to seams.

[0006] Direct to film (DTP) printing is a relatively new technology in which ornamentation is printed onto a polymer film to form a transfer. The transfer is then coated with an adhesive and the pattern applied to the fabric with heat A drawback of DTF is that ultimately it is a layers of ink adhered to the underlying fabric, which may become damaged or peel over time and with use and washing. In addition, DTF is not able to stop bleedthrough from dye sublimated fabrics through the print, and also with certain colours of garment dye bleed.

[0007] The bulk patterning and colouring of shirt material is often achieved with a technique called dye sublimation. Dye sublimation is carried out by depositing a dye onto a special transfer medium (sublimation paper). The patterned paper is placed in direct contact with the material (in sheet form prior to shirt manufacture) and heated such that the dye sublimates to a gas, and back to a solid when contacting the material. As such, the material is dyed. The benefits of this technique are that the dying of the material is permanent- there is no risk of peeling or degradation during use and washing. Further, it does not change the properties of the material. Finally, the underlying material (if recyclable) remains recyclable. A drawback of dye sublimation is that it is only useful for perfectly flat areas of material. The presence of seams or any other three-dimensional features will cause defects in the patterning process. It is therefore only used on bulk roll material in a 'cut and sew' method, or flat regions of garments (such as front / back panels).

[0008] For the purposes of this application, the term "dye sublimation" will be used as a term of art, despite the fact that "dye diffusion" is more accurate due to the fact that the dye does, in fact, undergo a brief liquid phase transition.

[0009] The net result of these many techniques is that producing a typically e.g., football shirt can require many processes, and typically the available colourways are limited by what the shirt manufacturer can produce economically and sustainably before it is passed to a shirt customisation company to apply the required logos, text etc.

[0010] It is an aim of the present invention to overcome, or mitigate, the problems with the prior art. Summary of Invention [0011 ] According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of applying ornamentation to a garment according to claim 1.

[0012] Advantageously the present invention allows the three-dimensional features of the garment to be compressed into the support, thus presenting a flat surface for application of ornamentation and thus reducing or eliminating defects. The invention therefore allows printing to occur across a 3D feature such as a seam between two adjacent panels of printable or dyable material. By "printable or dyable material" we mean material that is configured to receive ornamentation- for example with dye sublimation the material should be of a type that will accept the dye.

[0013] The invention also facilitates the use of dye sublimation to apply any ornamentation to a shirt where previously elements like vinyl would have been applied. This means that the garment remains fully recyclable, and unlike shirts with transfers applied will not need to be disposed of in landfill. The invention therefore has a strong environmental benefit.

[0014] The use of coverings has several benefits- firstly it avoids dye migration from the application process onto the foam, which may affect the following process. It is envisaged that the covering could be replaced between applications.

[0015] Also, it allows foams to be used with lower heat tolerance, as the covering inhibits the conduction of heat into the foam, and therefore the temperatures experienced.

[0016] The cover layers may be applied to both sides of the foam layer.

[0017] Preferably the garment support is shaped to at least part of the shape of the garment. More preferably it is in the same general shape of the garment. In other words it is homothetic with the garment. For example, for shirts, the garment support has a torso and arm regions. For shorts, the garment support has a hip I waist region and leg regions. In other words, the garment support is irregular and has an outline that follows the outline of the garment, in particular in areas where the garment is curved, has corners or forms a shape otherthan a regular polygon. The garment support may have an outline in the shape of part of a human body, for example, with a torso portion and a limb portion projecting from the torso portion, where the limb portion has a width less than the main portion, and is at a non-zero angle to the main portion.

[0018] In one embodiment, the garment material has elastic properties allowing it to stretch resiliently, and wherein the garment support is sized to stretch the garment material when inserted. Advantageously, this acts to flatten the material for better application of the ornamentation. In other embodiments, some materials may not have any extensible properties, and in this instance the insert simply holds the material under tension without extending it. [001 9] Preferably the step of applying ornamentation comprises dye sublimation. Although the present invention can be used with any type of application of ornamentation, it is best suited to dye sublimation due to the sensitivity of dye sublimation to out-of-plane features.

[0020] Preferably the support material comprises a foam material. Advantageously, foam is compressible but not very extensible, meaning that it will retain its shape underthe resilient force of the garment elasticity, but will remain compressible normal to its own plane. Preferably the foam material is a open cell foam. Preferably the foam material is a foam that can withstand the heat of dye sublimation without changing its properties, for example silicone foam. Dye sublimation processes occur at up to 200 degrees C, and therefore the support material should be resistant to this temperature.

[0021] Preferably the cover layers are thinner than the foam layer. Preferably the cover layers are between 0.01 mm and 1 mm thick. Preferably the cover layers are each less than one tenth the thickness of the foam layer. Preferably the cover layers are incompressible yet flexible. Preferably the cover layers are constructed from parchment paper or kraft paper. Brief Description of Drawings

[0022] An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the following figure in which: FIGURE 1 is a flow diagram of a first process in accordance with the present invention; FIGURE 2 is a diagram of a garment; FIGURE 3 is a diagram of a step in the process of Figure 1; FIGURE 4a is a cross-sectional view of a prior art step; and, FIGURE 4b is a cross-sectional view of a prior art step in the process of Figure 1. Description of the first embodiment

[0023] A method 100 according to the present invention is shown in Figure 1.

[0024] At step 102, a predetermined pattern is established in computer software for printing. The pattern may be designed to cover all exposed areas of a flattened garment, including the edge seams (at the neck, waist and arm openings), seams between regions of the garment (where the torso meets the arms) and other raised three-dimensional features such as embroidered logos and other details. The pattern is therefore in the shape of the garment.

[0025] At step 104, the predefined pattern of sublimation dye is transferred to a sheet of transfer medium ("sublimation paper") as is known in the art.

[0026] In a separate, parallel process, a garment 1000 is provided at step 106. In this embodiment, the garment 1 000 is shown in Figure 2. The garment 1 000 has edge seams 1 002, seams 1 004 where the torso meets the arms, and side panels and an embroidered logo 1 006. All of these features are three-dimensional- specifically they provide a garment thickness that is thicker from the base material from which the garment is constructed. In this embodiment, the garment is constructed from a synthetic fabric such as polyester, elastane and similar polymermaterialsthatare both durable but lightweight, are elastic and offer a degree of resilient stretch under tension.

[0027] At step 108, a garment support 1100 is provided. The garment support 1100 is shown in Figure 3. It is provided in the general shape of the garment 1 000 having a torso portion 1102 and sleeve portions 1104. It is layered, constructed from a layer 3001 of through-thickness compressible material which in this embodiment is a open-cell foam 1106 having cells 1107. It has a constant thickness t (in the plane of the page) of 12mm (although other thicknesses are possible, from 5mm to 15 mm). In this embodiment, the foam is a silicone foam which offers a high degree of heat resistance to dye sublimation temperatures of around 200 degrees C. On either side of the foam layer 3001 there is provided a cover layer 3002, 3004 respectively. The cover layers are provided as separate components abutting the foam layer, and may be attached thereto or replaceable. The layers 3002, 3004 are distinct in this embodiment, but may also surround and encapsulate the foam layer 3001.

[0028] The cover layers 3002, 3004 are constructed from parchment paper in this embodiment, being an incompressible yet flexible material. It is also known as 'baking paper' and is produced as is known in the art (by running paper pulp sheets through sulfuric acid or zinc chloride baths). In alternative embodiments, the paper may be kraft paper (being a substance known in the art). The cover layers are thin- by which we mean their thicknesses are in the range 0.01 mm to 1 mm.

[0029] At step 110 the garment support 11 00 is inserted into the garment 1 000 to form a supported garment 1200. The garment support is sized such that the garment 1000 is stretched to be flat against the support. The support 1100 projects from the garment openings as shown in Figure 3. It will be noted that because the cover layers 3002, 3004 are on the main I larger faces of the foam, they are in contact with the faces of the garment to be dyed by the process.

[0030] At step 112, the supported garment 1200 is moved to a dye sublimation press. At step 114 the transfer medium with predefined pattern is applied to the garment surface. [0031 ] At step 116 the predefined pattern is dye sublimated onto the garment 1000 with the applicant of heat and pressure. Referring to Figure 4b, a close-up view of the process is shown from the side. The layers would ordinarily be in contact but are shown apart for clarity. The supported garment 1200 is shown with the garment 1 000 layers either side of the garment support 11 04 within. A seam 11 04 is shown where two parts of the garment material overlap forming a three-dimensional feature having a thickness higher than the thickness of the garment material.

[0032] A dye sublimation apparatus 2000 comprising a platform / base 2002 and a head 2004 is shown. The head 2004 moves towards the base to apply a force F and heat H. The dye-containing sublimation paper 3000 is also shown.

[0033] Referring briefly to Figure 4a, a dye sublimation process is shown in which no support is present. A garment support is not provided. Pressure and heat are applied and defects will occur around the seam 1104 due to its three dimensional nature.

[0034] Contrasting this with Figure 4b, the support 1100 is locally deformable to receive the protrusion otherwise formed by the seam 1104, locally decreasing thickness from t to t'. In this way, the dye sublimation paper 3000 is presented onto a flatter surface of the garment 1 000 including the seam, and defects are reduced or eliminated altogether.

[0035] At step 118, the supported garment 1200 is removed from the press.

[0036] At step 120, the garment support 1100 is removed. Variations

[0037] As well as traditional overlock seams, the present invention is suitable for use with flatlock seams, and other features such as raised collars.

[0038] A soft material layer, e.g. shirt fabric or other compressible material may be provided over the foam.

[0039] The insert may be provided in a combined insert / heat press. In this embodiment, a heat press base is provided to the shape and size of the garment, and a layer of foam in the same shape applied to the base. The garment can then be placed over the bed (i.e. with the combined bed and insert inside the garment cavity) for the process.

[0040] The foam may be cut to fit inside of the garment shape without putting the garment under tension. [0041 ] The cover layer or layers may be replaced between dye sublimation processes, for example if dye has contacted them.

[0042] The cover layer may be applied to one side of the foam layer- preferably the side in contact with the fabric being dyed.

Claims

1. A method of applying ornamentation to a garment, the method comprising the steps of:providing a garment constructed from a material, the garment comprising at least one seam between two adjacent sections of printable or dyable garment material;providing a layered garment support, the layered garment support provided comprising:a compressible foam layer having a first face and a second face;a first cover layer the first face; and,a second cover layer on the second face;the layered garment support being flexible to enable insertion into the garment;inserting the layered garment support into the garment such that the at least one seam is supported by the layered garment support;applying ornamentation to the two adjacent sections of garment material by application of pressure such that the at least one seam locally deforms the layered garment support material.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the garment support is in the same general shape of the garment.

3. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the garment is a top.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the garment support is in the shape of atop with sleeves, or a vest without sleeves.

5. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the garment support is sized to place the garment material under tension when inserted.

6. A method according to claim 5, wherein the garment material is elastic, and wherein the garment support is sized to stretch the garment material when inserted.

7. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the step of applying ornamentation comprises dye sublimation.

8. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the foam layer is constructed from an open cell foam.

9. A method according to claim 8, wherein the foam layer is constructed from a silicone foam.

10. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the cover layers are thinner than the foam layer.

11. A method according to claim 10, wherein the cover layers are between 0.01 mm and 1 mm thick.

12. A method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the cover layers are each less than one tenth the thickness of the foam layer.

13. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the cover layers are incompressible yet flexible.

14. A method according to claim 13, wherein the cover layers are constructed from parchment paper.1 5. A method according to claim 13, wherein the cover layers are constructed from kraft paper.

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