US2132530A - Decorative needled fabric - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 11, 1938.

M. R. GREISER 2,132,530

DECORATIVE NEEDLED FABRIC Filed Dec. 15, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

Ma VIN 1?. G/iE/SEE.

BY QM ZZZQ,

ATTORNEYS.

Oct. 11, I938. M. R. GREISER 2,132,530 I DECORATIVE NEEDLED FABRIC Filed Dec. 13, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 JIWL Ill! ill ll IIII INVENTOE. 1751 W 1?. Gay/sac.

. MCI/M ATTORNEYS.

Oct. 11, 1938. v M. R. GREISER 2,132,530

DECORATIVE NEEDLED FABRIC Filed Dec. 15, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. 11

INVENTOR. Mum 1E 6 1767562.

' BY MFM ATTORNEYS.

Patented Oct. 11,1938

PATENT OFFICE nEcoaA'nvE NEEDLED memo Melvin R. eraser, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to Carthage Mills Incorporated,- acorporation of Ohio Carthage, Ohio,

Application December 13, 1935, Serial No. 54,295

6 Claims.

It is known in the art to produce a pile-like fabric by superposing on a burlap or similar material a mass of loose, fibrous stuff, such, for example, as cattle hair, and then punching the ,y cattle hair through the woven fabric so as to cause it to be caught thereby, afterward shearing the fabric so as to give it a. smooth, pile-like surface. v

Such a material finds a number of uses in the m arts. It has been employed, for example, as a floor covering, where, by reason of the fact that an attractive design appearance is highly desirable, it has been the practice'to print this-mate,-. rial with dyes by an imbibition process, as set 15 forth in 'my copending application, Ser. No.- 674,723,fi1ed June 7th, 1933. So far as I know,

' there have been no suggestions in the art looking toward the manufacture of fabrics of this class with a design appearance produced in the 'actual gr manufacturethereof. It will be quite clear that a number. of advantages would be inherent in a product of this class made from pre-dyed fibers arranged in a design as a part of or during "the course of manufacture of the'fabric itself.

The fundamental object of my invention is the provision of novel manufacturing meansand a method whereby to produce this result, as well as the novel article embodying the result;

Other objects of my invention will be set forth hereinafter or will be apparent to one-skilled in the art upon reading these specifications, in which I have described certain exemplary embodiments of my invention. For the sake of clearness reference ,is-now mad to the drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is'a-plan view of an arrangement for the. manufacture of my novel fabric.

Fig. 2is a longitudinal elevation thereof. Fig. 3 shows an exemplary form of needle with which the process is carried on.

Fig.4 is an exaggerated and somewhat diagrammatic sectional view of the fabric.

Fig. 5 is a perspective wiew of a segregating or template means. v 1 v Fig. 6 is a plan view of another form of apparatus.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a segregating or template means for use in the process, and with the machine depicted in Fig. 6. e

' Figs.8 and 8a show some pre-cut bats of fibrous material.

Fig. 9'shows a way of handlingsuch as are illustrated in Fig. 8. l Fig. 10 is a plan view of another form of device, as also adapted to the uses of my invention.

Fig. 11 is aperspective view with a portion broken away showing my novel needle-board.

Briefly, in the practice of my invention, I manufacture needled fabrics, employing a foundation web or webs and pro-dyed fibrous material of the colors to be used in the intended design; and I form the design fabric by neediing into selective areas, pre-dyed fibers of the said different colors in a controlledway, so that the ultimate fabric will have the design desired.

In the ordinarymanufacture of such fibers without design, the foundation web or webs are laid upon a tablejsuch a the .table I of Fig. 2. At a selected position on this table, there are means indicated at 3, underlying the web or webs and serving as a needling support. This support will be somewhat resilient preferably,

and will be penetrable by the needles. Above the web there is positioned a needle-board 4 in Fig. 2, provided with needles 5 at closely spaced intervals. shaft 6, and mean (not 'shown) are provided to reciprocate the shafts, and therefore the board and its needles, vertically. A pad of fibrousmaterial is laid over the foundation web or webs,

in order to punch the fibers through the founda- +on..web. I a

The needle, as shown in Fig. 3, is a rod-shaped device, having a pointed end 1, and usually a turned-over portion 8 at the opposite end thereof, which is employed in preventing dislodgement of the needle from the needle-board. Usually the needle-board is made in upper and lower parts, the needles extending through holes in the lower part, and their heads =8 engaging between the parts. The needles are provided with barbs 9 at" intervals throughout their length. After the needling operation has been carried to the extent of punching sumo ent of the fibers through the "foundation web or ,webs, theresultantfabric may be roughed as bymeans of a wire brush, and the The board is fastened to one or more fabric sheared or clipped so as to give it a smooth,

pile-like surface and open any upwardly extendingloops therein, a"at III in Figure 2, leaving a fabric such as that shown in Figure 4. Here, the foundation webs (there being two in this easel-are shown respectively at H and II, the one superposed on the other. The fibers II have been needled through these foundation webs as shown, and are caught therein. It is usual to coat the rear portion of such a fabric with a gripping material such as rubber latex, or rubber solution, so as to prevent dislodgement of the 2 and the needle-board reciprocated as described fibers. A rubber latex is shown at H, more or less penetrating the foundation web or webs.

Hitherto such fabrics have been made without color or only in a single color. In the practice of my invention, I needle pre-dyed fibers into the foundation web or webs in predetermined areas forming an ultimate design. I have illustrated in my drawings several ways of doing this. In Fig. l, for example, I have shown overlying the foundation web or webs 15, a template or form device Hi. This device is more clearly illustrated in Fig. 5 in an exemplary embodiment comprisin end pieces I! and side pieces I8. Between these there are a plurality of partition members l9 dividing the template into a plurality of compartments. In the material shown as being manufactured in Fig. l, the design is a simple tilelike design. It is obvious, however, that the various partition members I9 can be arranged in any way desired, and in accordance with any grouping of design elements which is contemplated. If the various walls and partition members of the template are made thin enough their presence will not impede the operation of the needles, since the template may be so placed that the various structural elements of the template lie between the needles of the needle-board. In Fig. 1, after the template has been positioned on the webs as shown, the various partitions of the templates are filled with loose masses of fibrous materials Dre-dyed to the desired colors, and these masses are arranged in accordance with the requirements of the particular design being produced. Masses of fibrous material of diiferent colors are indicated at 20, 2| and 22, for example. The foundation webs and the template are next advanced so as to underlie the needle-board 4, and when the proper position has been determined, the needling operation is carried out as usual, with the template in position. Thus certain areas of the fabric become needled with fibrous material of one color and adjacent areas with fibrous material of another color, forming a design such as the exemplary one shown at 23. At the completion of the needling operation at this stage, the needle-board is raised, the same or another template again positioned as shown at IS in Fig. 1, filled with the pre-dyed fibers, and advanced to the desired position under the needle-board. If the walls and partitions of the template are thin enough, the fabric becomes substantially needled all over, and there are no observable breaks between needled areas of various colors.

The function of the template is, of course, to segregate the areas of fibers of different colors, and to facilitate the arranging of these in ac cordance with the design requirements. Ordinarily, as indicated, the template is left in position during the needling operation to enforce the proper segregation. Under some circumstances, however, as where the masses of fibers placed in the template are not too loose, or where some blending of adjacent color areas is required, the template, having been used to position the color areas, may be removed prior to the needling to provide areas for a selected color or colors. The needle-board 4a for use with this template will have its needles arranged in such a way as to fall in the spaces 26 and 21; but the needles will be omitted over the area of the member 25. Thus when the template 24 is moved under the needle-board 4a, fibrous material of a selected color or colors is needled into selected areas of the base or foundation webs, giving, after shearing, a configuration such as shown at 28. Portions of the fabric, of course, remain un-needled. Next a second template 29 is placed on the foundation web or webs. This second template may be a reversed counter-part of the first template 24, and it has been so shown in Fig. 6. The interspaces of this template are filled with the desired color or colors of fibrous material, and the template and webs are advanced so as to lie beneath a second needle-board 4b, the needles of which are so arranged as to conform to the divisional spaces of. the template 29. Thus after shearing, a completed design, such as shown at 30 in Fig. 6, is produced.

With the means and in the operation shown in Fig. 6, it will be clear to the skilled worker that as many of the cooperating templates and needleboards may be employed in a linear operation as may be desired. Thus exceedingly complex designs may be formed in this way.

Still another method of operation is indicated in Fig. 9, in accordance with which it is my practice to take fibrous material which has been predyed, form it into more or less coherent bats, and then cut from these bats design elements such as those shown at 3| and 32 in Fig. 8. These precut bat pieces are then arranged in accordance with design requirements on the foundation web or webs as shown at 33 in Fig. 9. The web then, by intermittent stages, or continuously, as desired, is passed beneath a needle board 4c, which has needles over its entire surface. Since the dyed fibrous material has been pre-arranged on the foundation web or webs, the result of the normal needling will be to produce a polychromatic ,design, especially after shearing,as shown at 34 in Fig. 9. I

Still another method of operation, and one which is preferred under many circumstances, involves the use of needle-boards, withneedles therein arranged in predetermined designs, the arrangement of needles in each 01' the needle boards complementing the arrangement in the other boards. Ihave shown in Fig. 10 the foundation web or webs 15, being covered as at 35 with fibrous material of a given color. Next the web so coated is passed beneath a needle-board 35, having its needles arranged in a desired design as at 31. The needling operation is conducted in the ordinary way; but because the needles are arranged in a design configuration on the needleboard, the fibrous material is needled into the base or foundation webs only at certain intervals, such, for example, as the area indicated at 38. Elsewhere the fibrous material is free; and the bat may be removed, as at 39. Also, (and this is preferable in many instances) the needled portions of the fabric maybe sheared at this point if desired; but the shearing may be carried ones a final operation. Next the fabric, including the previously needled portions, if desired, may be covered with another layer of fibrous material of a different color as at 40, and then passed beneath a needle-board ll, the needles of which are arranged in a complementary. design 42. Thus the second color of fibrous material is needled into the interspaces between the previously needled areas, and after shearing the may follow each needling step as a preliminary to any further imposition of fibrous material on the web or further needling operation.

In this procedure, I prefer to use .as many of the needle-boards as there are complementary parts of the desired design in different colors. It-

is possible, however, to use but one needle-board, passing the material .repeatedly therebeneath when covered with fibrous material of different colors. In this procedure I prefer to have the needles 5 of Fig. 3 mounted so as to reciprocate in the needle-board. Then during the needling operation, 'the board is maintained stationary, while a template having solid areas in the required design configuration is reciprocated above the board, so as to depress and reciprocate only selected portions of the total number of needles.

For each needling operation with a different,

color, a different needle operating template may be employed.

Modifications may be made in my invention without departing from the spirit thereof, and therefore I do not desire my invention to be limited otherwise than as set forth in the appended claims, where I have expressed what I believe to be the novel'and inventive aspects ,of the teachings set forth herein.

Having thus described. my invention, what I claim as. new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A process of making decorative needled fabrics which comprises positioning on a foundation web, a confining means providing compartments in design relationship, selectively filling said compartments with fibrous material of different colors and needling said flbrous.-mate-.

The clearing rial into said web while said fibrous material is maintained by said positioning means. 2. A process of making decorative needled fabrics, which comprises forming bats of fibrous material of different colors, cutting said bats into pieces in accordance with the requirements of a predetermined design, arranging said out pieces in said predetermined design on a foundation 'web, and needling said fibrous material intosaid foundation web while so positioned.

3. A process of making decorative needled fabrics, which comprises positioning fibrous material of one color on a web and needling said fibrous material into said web at selected areas only in accordance with the requirements of a predetermined design, removing any excess of said fibrous material, again covering said web with fibrous material of a different color and selectively needling said fibrous material into said web .in areas corresponding to the requirements of said predetermined design.

'4. A process of. producing decorative needled fabrics, which comprises covering a foundation web with fibrous material, needling said fibrous material into said web at interspaced areas corresponding to the requirements of the predetermined design, removing excess of said fibrous material, shearing the needled areas, and afterward repeating said steps for the production of other elements of said predetermined design.

5. A process of-producing decorative needled fabrics, which I comprises needling pre-dyed fibers into a foundation web at interspaced areas in accordance with the requirements of a design, afterward advancing said web to another station and needling contrasting fibrous materials into contiguous areas of said foundation web in accordance with the requirements of said design.

6. A needle-board for the production of decorative needled fabrics, comprising a supporting.

structure and needles arranged therein, said .needles being substantially uniformly spaced in certain areas in accordance with the requirements of a predetermined design, there being ad- 'jacent areas of said needle-board free of said needles.

MELVIN R. GREISER,

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