Printed Textile Substrate With In-Register Digital Patterning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current printing technologies for textile substrates, such as floorcoverings, face challenges in achieving in-register designs due to issues like substrate bow and skew during manufacturing, shrinking, and loss of alignment during the cutting process, limiting the creation of new and unique patterns.
Innovation Solution
The use of a digital printing machine that applies print compositions in-register with physical cues like tufted yarn heights, yarn luster, and color, using detection systems to identify and adjust for these cues, allowing for precise placement and amount of ink on the substrate.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If traditional printing processes (fluid dyer, digital printing) are used on textile substrates, then patterns and designs can be created on the surface, but alignment and registration precision is lost due to substrate bow, skew, and shrinking during manufacturing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-treating the textile substrate to minimize bow and skew before printing, and by using solution-dyed yarns with inherent color stability that resist shrinking and deformation during subsequent manufacturing steps. This preliminary preparation ensures the substrate maintains its dimensional stability throughout the printing process, enabling accurate print registration without requiring complex real-time correction systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs parameter changes by controlling the physical and chemical properties of the yarns and substrates during manufacturing. Specifically, it uses solution-dyed yarns with controlled fiber composition and structure that maintain dimensional stability under varying moisture and temperature conditions. This parameter control allows the substrate to withstand the printing process while maintaining accurate alignment of printed patterns with physical features.
2Adaptability or versatility
If digital printing machines are used to achieve in-register printing with physical features, then unique aesthetics and designs can be created, but the complexity of the manufacturing process increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple functions into a unified manufacturing approach by combining solution-dyed yarn production with digital printing capabilities. The system integrates color management, pattern design, and physical feature creation into a coordinated process where the digital printing machine applies ink in precise registration with pre-established physical features (such as varied pile heights or yarn placements). This merging reduces the need for separate, complex processing steps while maintaining design versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses copying by creating digital representations of the desired patterns and designs that are then precisely reproduced on the textile substrate through digital printing. The system uses digital files to control the printing process, allowing exact replication of complex patterns while maintaining alignment with physical features. This digital copying approach simplifies the manufacturing process compared to traditional manual or mechanical printing methods, as the same digital design can be consistently reproduced across multiple substrates.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple printing passes are used to create designs, then more complex patterns can be achieved, but production time and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the design creation process into distinct functional components: physical feature formation (through varied yarn placement or pile height) and color application (through digital printing). This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently—the physical features provide structural definition while the digital printing adds color and detail in a single pass. The result is complex, multi-layered designs achieved without requiring multiple sequential printing passes, thereby maintaining high production speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes another dimension by incorporating physical depth variation (such as different pile heights or yarn protrusions) as a design element that works in conjunction with the printed color patterns. This dimensional approach allows the creation of complex, multi-faceted designs where physical texture and color work together to produce intricate visual effects. By adding this physical dimension to the design space, the system achieves pattern complexity without requiring multiple time-consuming printing passes, as the physical features themselves contribute to the overall design complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
This invention relates to a printed textile substrate, such as a floorcovering article, and a process for making a printed textile substrate. This invention provides the process and steps to print color patterns in-register with physical patterns, such as varying yarn pile heights, yarn luster, yarn color, and the like. This process provides many unique aesthetics on a textile substrate that cannot be created another way.