Layered Fabric Appliqué for Removable Sublimated Graphics
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for applying graphics to fabrics, such as sublimation and screen printing, are limited by their effectiveness on non-polymeric substrates like 100% cotton and non-white materials, and they often result in permanently installed images that cannot be easily removed.
Innovation Solution
An appliqué comprising a first layer with embedded graphics printed using sublimation or screen printing, combined with a urethane second layer, where non-graphic areas are laser-cut and applied to a substrate using a thermal adhesion process, allowing for removable and high-quality graphic application on various fabrics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If sublimation process is used to apply graphics to fabric, then the image becomes integral with the substrate and cannot be removed, but this permanence is not desirable when removability is needed
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the appliqué into multiple layers: a base layer with the sublimated graphic and a removable urethane layer. This segmentation allows the graphic to remain permanently bonded to the base layer while enabling the top layer to be removed, thus resolving the contradiction between image permanence and removability.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the appliqué have different properties: the base layer provides permanent graphic attachment through sublimation, while the urethane layer provides a removable protective surface. This local differentiation of material properties resolves the contradiction by assigning permanence to the graphic layer and removability to the top layer.
2Adaptability or versatility
If sublimation process is used on non-polymeric substrates like cotton, then the dye is disposed on the top of the fabric, but this results in poor image quality and fading
Solution Approach 1:
The polymeric base layer acts as an intermediary between the sublimation process and non-polymeric substrates like cotton. The sublimation dye is properly integrated into the polymeric base layer, which then transfers the high-quality image to the non-polymeric substrate, resolving the contradiction between substrate compatibility and image quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The appliqué uses a composite structure with a polymeric base layer and a urethane overlay layer. This composite material approach allows the benefits of sublimation (best suited for polymers) to be applied to non-polymeric substrates, resolving the contradiction between substrate type and image quality.
3Adaptability or versatility
If sublimation ink is used on non-white substrates, then the transparent ink does not highlight well, but this limits the applicability to only white fabrics
Solution Approach 1:
The urethane layer is formulated with optical properties that enhance image visibility on various background colors. This layer modifies the optical characteristics of the appliqué, allowing the transparent sublimation ink to maintain visibility and contrast on non-white substrates, thus resolving the contradiction between fabric color compatibility and image visibility.
4Ease of manufacture
If direct screen printing is used to apply graphics, then the process is simpler, but the graphics do not transfer well to garments
Solution Approach 1:
The graphic is pre-sublimated onto the polymeric base layer before the final appliqué assembly and garment application. This preliminary sublimation action ensures high-quality image transfer, while the subsequent laser cutting and urethane layer application maintain manufacturing efficiency, resolving the contradiction between process simplicity and transfer quality.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables the application of high-quality, removable graphics on non-white and non-polymeric substrates, improving the versatility and durability of graphic placement on fabrics compared to traditional methods.
Implementation Method 1
Portions of the first layer and the second layer in which the first layer does not include the embedded graphic are removed by laser cutting
Implementation Method 2
applied to a substrate using a thermal adhesion process
Implementation Method 3
The sublimation process uses sublimation ink, heat, and pressure to bestow a substrate with an image. At high temperatures, the solid dyes in the print convert into a gas without ever becoming a liquid
Data Source
AI summary
An appliqué and associated method of applying an appliqué an improved sublimated and screen printed image on a substrate of a An improved appliqué suitable for applying a graphic to a material a first printing layer and a second polyurethane layer. The appliqué is cut the graphic imparted thereon and adhered to a garment.