System and Methods for Garment Printing Pretreatment

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/632,722, filed on Apr. 11, 2024, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR GARMENT PRINTING PRETREATMENT,” currently pending, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for pretreating garments. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to systems and methods for pretreating garments using a pretreatment formulation to prepare the garments for fabric printing.

Current printing techniques such as screen printing, digital printing, and direct-to-garment printing are used for adding various designs to textiles and fabrics, including images, photos, text, logos, and other graphics. The printed textiles may then be used for the creation of garments such as shirts, pants, bras, underwear, and other non-clothing items or accessories. Textile printing may also be used on various types of fabric, for example, jersey fabrics and fleece fabrics.

Screen printing utilizes a stenciled screen placed over a garment, where ink is pushed through open spaces of the screen to wet exposed areas of the garment. Additional colors may be applied one at a time using a new and separate screen for each color. Other fabric printing techniques (e.g., digital printing and direct-to-garment printing) may utilize computers, software, and inkjet printers to directly print the image onto a textile or fabric.

Pretreatment formulations for fabrics and garments containing, for example, a binder and/or a coagulation medium have been utilized to improve the vibrancy of inks applied to the garments. However, current pretreatment formulations leave the garments feeling stiff, impart the garment with an unpleasant residual odor, are expensive to manufacture, and/or require a multi-step application process. Additionally, current pretreatment methods require that the pretreatment is applied manually by garment printers, thereby increasing the overall costs of garments made using the current pretreatment methods.

Invariably, in many post-printing processes, dyes may not be fully fixed within the fibers of the textile, thus requiring additional washing and drying steps to remove unfixed dyes from the fabric. Additionally, standard pretreatment methods may result in the printed textile images lacking vibrancy and/or detergent resistance, resulting in fading over time of the printed image after washing by the consumer.

Therefore, there is a need in the art for systems and methods to substantially enhance the vibrancy and permanence of printed textile images.

In one aspect, a treated fabric is provided in the form of a first surface opposing a second surface, in which a pretreatment composition is applied to the first surface of the fabric. The pretreatment composition is designed to improve at least one color attribute of ink applied to the first surface of the fabric (e.g., via printing). The pretreatment composition includes a polyethylene, a digital primer and filler, a hydrophobic silicon, and filtered water.

In some instances, the pretreatment composition is applied to the first surface and the second surface of the fabric.

In certain instances, the polyethylene is a high-density polyethylene, and the pretreatment composition includes a concentration of high-density polyethylene of at least about 0.5% by volume, relative to the pretreatment composition as a whole.

In some instances, the pretreatment composition includes a concentration of the digital primer and filler of at least about 50% by volume, relative to the pretreatment composition as a whole.

In certain instances, the pretreatment composition includes a concentration of hydrophobic silicon of at least about 3% by volume, relative to the pretreatment composition as a whole.

In some instances, the filtered water of the pretreatment composition is substantially free of chlorine.

In certain instances, the fabric is provided in the form of a garment selected from the group consisting of sweatshirts, long-sleeved shirts, dresses, pants, sweaters, shorts, gowns, tunics, cardigans, overalls, swimsuits, quarter-zips, trousers, skirts, suits, sportswear, jackets, coats, scarves, tank tops, hats, gloves, corsets, underwear, socks, and bras.

In some instances, the pretreatment composition consists of the polyethylene provided in the form of a high-density polyethylene, the digital primer and filler, the hydrophobic silicon, and the filtered water.

In certain instances, the fabric is treated with a biopolishing composition, where the biopolishing composition includes at least one dyeing auxiliary, at least one acid, and cellulase.

In some instances, an ink-based graphic is printed onto the first surface of the fabric, and application of the pretreatment composition increases a vibrancy of the fabric by at least about 50%.

In some aspects, a garment includes a fabric provided in the form of a first surface opposing a second surface and a pretreatment formulation. The pretreatment formulation is applied to the first surface and includes a high-density polyethylene provided in a first concentration of at least about 0.5% to about 4% by volume, relative to the pretreatment formulation as a whole. The pretreatment formulation also includes a first digital primer and filler provided in a second concentration of at least about 50% to about 70% by volume, relative to the pretreatment formulation as a whole. The pretreatment formulation further includes a hydrophobic silicon provided in a third concentration of at least about 3% to about 9% by volume, relative to the pretreatment formulation as a whole. A remaining volume of the pretreatment formulation includes filtered water.

In some instances, the fabric is a white fabric.

In other instances, the fabric is a color fabric.

In some instances, at least one surface of the garment is not treated with the pretreatment formulation.

In certain instances, the pretreatment formulation is designed to impart the fabric with a softer hand feel.

In some instances, the filtered water is substantially devoid of added chlorine.

In certain instances, the pretreatment formulation further includes a second digital primer and filler provided in a fourth concentration of at least about 3% to about 8% by volume, relative to the pretreatment formulation as a whole.

In some aspects, a method for applying a pretreatment formulation to a textile includes the step of providing a fabric to a tension system. The fabric includes a first surface and a second surface. The method also includes the steps of transferring the fabric into a first reservoir containing filtered water, removing excess liquid from the fabric, and applying the pretreatment formulation to the fabric to create a pretreated fabric. A percent wet pickup of the pretreatment formulation for each of the first surface and the second surface of the fabric is at least about 10%. The method additionally includes the steps of transporting the pretreated fabric to a dryer and drying the pretreated fabric in the dryer to create a dried pretreated fabric. In some such instances, the pretreatment formulation is designed to improve an effectiveness of applying an ink to the fabric.

In some instances, the pretreatment formulation includes a high-density polyethylene, a digital primer and filler, and a hydrophobic silicon.

In some instances, the pretreatment formulation is applied to the textile via a one-step bath application method, and the fabric is transferred to a second reservoir containing the pretreatment formulation to create the pretreated fabric.

In some instances, a residual moisture content of the pretreated fabric is less than about 4% by weight relative to the textile as a whole after drying.

Before any embodiments of the disclosure are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the following drawings. The disclosure is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including,” “comprising,” or “having” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. Unless specified or limited otherwise, the terms “mounted,” “connected,” “supported,” and “coupled” and variations thereof are used broadly and encompass both direct and indirect mountings, connections, supports, and couplings. Further, “connected” and “coupled” are not restricted to physical or mechanical connections or couplings.

The following discussion is presented to enable a person skilled in the art to make and use embodiments of the disclosure. Various modifications to the illustrated embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from embodiments of the disclosure. Thus, embodiments of the disclosure are not intended to be limited to embodiments shown but are to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein. The following detailed description is to be read with reference to the figures, in which like elements in different figures have like reference numerals. The figures, which are not necessarily to scale, depict selected embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of embodiments of the disclosure. Skilled artisans will recognize the examples provided herein have many useful alternatives and fall within the scope of embodiments of the disclosure.

According to the teachings herein, systems and methods for garment printing pretreatment are provided. For example, a textile including at least one fabric may be provided. The at least one fabric may include a first surface opposing a second surface. A pretreatment composition or formulation may be applied to at least one of the first surface and the second surface. After the pretreatment formulation is applied, inks may be applied to the textile using a printing process to create an ink-printed garment. The pretreatment formulation may be used to create an improved garment or textile by imparting the garment or textile with enhanced colorfastness, visibly brighter ink-printed surfaces, enhanced contrast between ink-printed colors, softer hand feel, and/or increased durability for ink-printed surfaces during laundering.

As described herein, pretreatment is understood to mean any treatment applying a composition or a formulation to a garment before applying an ink to a surface of the garment (e.g., before “printing”). The pretreatment formulation (alternatively referred to as a pretreatment composition) described herein may be configured to help bond inks to fibers in the textile, regulate the distribution of ink droplets on the textile, maximize color intensity or vibrancy of the ink applied to the textile, and/or promote ink absorption during the printing process. As such, the textile may be pretreated before direct-to-garment printing to increase the efficiency of the printing, the smoothness of the fabric, and the vibrancy of the ink-printed surfaces as compared to untreated textiles. Thus, the pretreatment formulation may provide ink-printed surfaces with improved color attributes while using the same or even less ink than other methods.

In some instances, the pretreatment composition may comprise, consist essentially of, or consist of a high-density polyethylene, a digital primer and filler, hydrophobic silicon, and water. In other instances, the pretreatment composition may comprise, consist essentially of, or consist of high-density polyethylene, digital primer and filler, hydrophobic silicon, citric acid, and water. The water in the pretreatment composition may be provided as filtered water that is substantially or completely devoid of added chlorine. In some instances, the filtered water may be substantially or completely devoid of chlorine. In certain instances, the citric acid may be utilized when the pretreatment formulation is applied to white textiles. In additional instances, the citric acid may impart the pretreatment composition with a pH value of about 4.5 to about 6.0. In other instances, the citric acid may impart the pretreatment composition with a pH value of 4.5 to 6.0. In further instances, the citric acid may impart the pretreatment composition with a pH value of 4.5 to 5.5. Additionally, when the pretreatment formulation is applied to white textiles, the digital primer and filler may be configured to provide a white base. In multiple instances, the digital primer and filler may comprise calcium chloride and provide a white base. Alternatively, the digital primer and filler may be configured to provide a color base, such as when the pretreatment formulation is applied to color textiles. In some instances, the digital primer and filler may comprise calcium nitrate and provide a color base. In an additional instance, the digital primer and filler providing a color base is applied at a greater or substantially greater application rate than the digital primer and filler providing a white base.

As used herein, “color” refers to any color that may be perceived by the human eye, including black.

In various instances, the pretreatment formulation may be applied using a system provided as a tension apparatus. The tension apparatus may be provided in the form of a container configured to retain a wet fabric, a tension system including a plurality of rollers, a water tank, extract rollers (e.g., rollers designed to remove or squeeze water out of the wet fabric), a mix tank filled with the pretreatment formulation, an application device designed to apply the pretreatment formulation to the textile (e.g., a tank), and a dryer. In some instances, the system may be designed to apply the pretreatment formulation on opposing surfaces of the fabric.

The system may apply the pretreatment formulation to natural fabrics, synthetic fabrics, or any blends thereof. For example, the pretreatment formulation may be provided to fabrics comprising about 100% cotton (or 100% cotton), about 100% polyester (or 100% polyester), a tri-blend of polyester, cotton, and rayon, a blend of cotton and polyester, or a blend at least partially comprised of polyester. For example, the pretreatment formulation may be applied to fabrics comprising a blend of about 60% cotton and about 40% polyester (or a 60% cotton and 40% polyester blend), and/or an about 10% polyester fabric blend (or a 10% polyester fabric blend). As yet another example, the pretreatment formulation may be applied to fabrics comprising about 0% to about 100% cotton (or 0% to 100% cotton), about 0% to about 100% rayon (or 0% to 100% rayon), and/or about 0% to about 100% polyester (or 0% to 100% polyester).

In addition, the system may be designed to apply the pretreatment formulation to different types of knit fabrics. For example, the system may be configured to apply the pretreatment to jersey fabrics, fleece fabrics, heathered fabrics, French terry fabrics, fabrics having a first side comprising jersey and a second side comprising French terry, and jersey and fleece blends (e.g., 60/40 fleece and jersey blends, 50/50 fleece and jersey blends, or any blend of fleece and jersey). In some instances, the system may also be designed to apply the pretreatment formulation to woven fabrics. Furthermore, the system may be designed to apply the pretreatment formulation to a white fabric, a color fabric, and/or a combination of white and color fabrics.

In some cases, the systems and methods described herein may include an enzyme biopolishing preparatory process that may be carried out before the pretreatment formulation is applied to the fabric or textile. To carry out the biopolishing process, the fabric may be treated with a dye solution including at least one dyeing auxiliary and an acid. The dye solution may be imparted with a pH value of about 5.5 to about 6.5. Then, the dye solution may be heated to at least about 50° C. and a cellulase may be added. The enzyme biopolishing process may remove loose fiber ends from textiles and fabrics, thereby extending the lifetime of natural and synthetic fabrics by reducing fabric fuzz and pilling. Thus, in various instances, the biopolishing process may prepare surfaces of a textile for pretreatment with a pretreatment formulation.

Referring now to, a textileis provided in the form of a garmentillustrated as a shirt. The shirtincludes a printed graphicapplied to the shirtafter the shirtwas pretreated with a pretreatment formulation, as disclosed herein. The textilemay be provided in the form of any type of garment, including, but not limited to, sweatshirts, long-sleeved shirts, dresses, pants, sweaters, shorts, gowns, tunics, cardigans, overalls, swimsuits, quarter-zips, trousers, skirts, suits, sportswear, jackets, coats, scarves, tank tops, hats, gloves, corsets, underwear, socks, and bras. For example, the textilemay be provided in the form of a garment selected from the group consisting of sweatshirts, long-sleeved shirts, dresses, pants, sweaters, shorts, gowns, tunics, cardigans, overalls, swimsuits, quarter-zips, trousers, skirts, suits, sportswear, jackets, coats, scarves, tank tops, hats, gloves, corsets, underwear, socks, and bras. The textilemay also be provided in the form of non-clothing items or accessories, such as reusable grocery bags, tote bags, canvas bags, fanny packs, and backpacks. The pretreatment formulation (e.g., a pretreatment formulationdescribed with reference to) may be applied to natural fabrics (e.g., cotton), synthetic fabrics (e.g., polyester), or blends thereof to improve the appearance of the printed graphic. The printed graphicmay be applied using screen printing or inkjet printing methods.

In some instances, the textilemay be provided as about 100% cotton (or 100% cotton), about 100% polyester (or 100% polyester), a tri-blend of polyester, cotton, and rayon, a blend of cotton and polyester, or a blend at least partially comprised of polyester. For example, the textilemay be provided as a blend of about 60% cotton and about 40% polyester (or a 60% cotton and 40% polyester blend), and/or an about 10% polyester fabric blend (or a 10% polyester fabric blend). As yet another example, the textilemay comprise about 0% to about 100% cotton (or 0% to 100% cotton), about 0% to about 100% rayon (or 0% to 100% rayon), and/or about 0% to about 100% polyester (or 0% to 100% polyester). As a further example, the textilemay be provided as a blend including about 40% to about 80% cotton and about 20% to about 60% polyester (or 40% to 80% cotton and 20% to 60% polyester). The textilemay also be provided in the form of jersey fabrics, fleece fabrics, heathered fabrics, French terry fabrics, fabrics having a first side comprising jersey and a second side comprising French terry, and jersey and fleece blends (e.g., 60/40 fleece and jersey blends, 50/50 fleece and jersey blends). In some instances, the textilemay comprise a white fabric, a color fabric, and/or a combination of white and color fabrics.

The textilemay be treated with the pretreatment formulation (e.g., the pretreatment formulation) before the textileis arranged or constructed into the garment. The pretreatment formulation may be designed to help bond inks to fibers in the textile, regulate the distribution of ink droplets on the textile, maximize color intensity or vibrancy of the ink applied to the textile, and/or promote ink absorption during the printing process. As such, the textilemay be pretreated before direct-to-garment printing to increase the efficiency of the ink printing process, the colorfastness of the inks printed on the textile, the smoothness and softness of the textile, and/or vibrancy of the textileas compared to untreated textiles.

The shirtmay be provided with a front surface, a back surface, sleeves, a neck region, an inner portion, and an outer portion. The pretreatment formulation may be applied to some or all surfaces of the textilecomprising the shirt; thus, the printed graphicmay be applied in any location (including the front surface, the back surface, the sleeves, the neck region, the inner portion, and the outer portion) on the shirt. In some such instances, the pretreatment formulation may be uniformly or substantially uniformly distributed on all of the surfaces or some of the surfaces of the textile.

The printed graphicmay be created using current printing techniques, such as screen printing, digital printing, and direct-to-garment printing. In some instances, some, substantially all, or all of the printed graphiccomprises ink. The printed graphicmay be configured to create a visual display of an image, a photo, a logo, text, or other graphics upon the textile.

Referring now to, an untreated textileand the pretreatment formulationare provided. The arrows inschematically represent application of the pretreatment formulationto the untreated textileto create a pretreated textile, which in turn may be used to create a pretreated garment. The pretreated garmentmay be any garment disclosed herein (e.g., the garment). Systems and methods via which the pretreatment formulationmay be applied to an untreated fabric (e.g., the untreated textile) are further described with reference to.

The untreated textilemay be provided in the form of any fabric upon which the pretreatment formulationhas not been applied. In some instances, the untreated textilemay comprise a natural fabric, a synthetic fabric, or blends thereof. For example, the untreated textilemay be provided as 100% cotton, 100% polyester, a tri-blend of polyester, cotton, and rayon, a blend of cotton and polyester (e.g., 60% cotton and 40% polyester blend), and/or a 10% polyester fabric blend. In some instances, the untreated textilemay be provided as a jersey fabric, a fleece fabric, a heathered fabric, a French terry fabric, a fabric having a first side comprising jersey and a second side comprising French terry, and a fabric comprising a jersey and fleece blend (e.g., a 60/40 fleece and jersey blend, a 50/50 fleece and jersey blend).

In some instances, an optional enzyme biopolishing preparatory process may be applied to the untreated textilebefore pretreatment with the pretreatment formulation. To carry out the biopolishing, the untreated textilemay be treated with a dye solution including at least one dyeing auxiliary and an acid. The dye solution may be imparted with a pH value of about 5.5 to about 6.5. Then, the dye solution may be heated and cellulase may be added, as further described herein. In some instances, the enzyme biopolishing preparatory method may remove loose fiber ends from the untreated textile, thereby extending the lifetime of the untreated textileby reducing fuzz and pilling. In various instances, the enzyme biopolishing preparatory process may prepare surfaces of the untreated textilefor pretreatment with the pretreatment formulation, although in some instances the biopolishing process may be implemented after the pretreatment formulation is applied to the untreated textile. In certain cases, the biopolishing preparatory process may be omitted. Methods via which the enzyme biopolishing preparatory process is carried out are further described with reference to.

Advantageously, the pretreatment formulationmay be applied to the untreated textilebefore shipment of the untreated textileto a destination for printing. For example, the pretreatment formulation may be applied to untreated textilebefore finished garments (e.g., the pretreated garment) are shipped to fabric printers. In turn, this allows the printers to create vibrant, printed textiles and garments (e.g., the shirtof) more quickly and at a reduced cost. In some cases, applying the pretreatment formulationto a garment before printing may allow the printing process to be up to about 40% faster (or 40% faster) than in instances in which the pretreatment formulationis not applied. For example, applying the pretreatment formulationto a garment before printing may allow the printing process to be up to about 5% faster, or about 10% faster, or about 20% faster, or about 30% faster, or about 40% faster, or about 50% faster. As an additional example, applying the pretreatment formulationto a garment before printing may allow the printing process to be up to 5% faster, or 10% faster, or 20% faster, or 30% faster, or 40% faster, or 50% faster. In addition, the pretreatment formulationmay be labor- and money-saving for the printers because printers do not need to apply a separate pretreatment before printing on the garments.

In various instances, some, substantially all, or all of the pretreatment formulationmay wash off upon laundering the pretreated garment. For example, most, substantially all, or all of each ingredient of the pretreatment formulation(as further described herein) may wash off upon laundering of the pretreated garment. As an additional example, substantially all of each ingredient of the pretreatment formulationexcept for a hydrophobic silicon may wash off upon laundering of the pretreated garment.

Advantageously, the pretreated textile(and thus the pretreated garment) may be imparted with a hand feel that is similar to or even greater than that of non-pretreated textiles. For example, the pretreated textilemay be imparted with a softness that is similar to or even greater than that of non-pretreated textiles. In various instances, the pretreated textileis imparted with no or substantially zero residual odor and/or undesirable odors and with the same soft hand feel as non-pretreated textiles. In some instances, the pretreated textilecontinues to get softer after laundering. Thus, in some instances, the pretreatment formulationmay be designed to impart a textile (e.g., the pretreated textile) with an improved hand feel (e.g., increased softness).

Referring still to, the pretreated garmentmay solely comprise the treated fabric which includes the pretreatment formulation, or the pretreated garmentmay comprise both the treated fabric and the untreated textile. For example, the front of the pretreated garmentmay be treated with the pretreatment formulation and ink printed, whereas the back of the garment may remain untreated and is not printed upon.