The invention relates to a method for manufac¬ turing patterned textiles, m which method the textile s manufactured of a weft that varies m colour

Further, the invention relates to a textile weft comprising weft sections m various colours Further, the invention relates to a weave manu¬ factured by the method of the invention.

It is previously known that when the intention has been to manufacture patterned weaves such as carpets or decorative textiles, their manufacture has involved using several wefts of various colours and the desired colours m the weave have been obtained by alternating these. When the binding is of the simplest kind, only stripes going from selvage to selvage can be woven. By using more advanced bindings, check patterns or short recurring colour steps comparable to them can be ob tamed. Then two wefts of a different colour must be used and interlaced by various bindings so that they appear oppositedly either on the upper or on the lowei side of the woven textile When this method is employed, the possibilities of varying the pattern are very much restricted and the varying is difficult to carry out, since the binding must always be changed when the pat¬ tern is changed. By using automatic weaving machines a little more variation m the patterns can be obtained The machines are controlled by punch cards or similar methods, and it is therefore difficult to influence the pattern design by them as well Furthermore, they are expensive and heavy, take up much space and are there¬ fore not suited for small firms, amateur weavers or weaving circles

Finnish Patent 89 609 discloses a method for manufacturing textile cloths, carpets, decorative textiles, etc. , in sliding colours. The idea of the method is that the colours change in a sliding fashion and yarns are exchanged, added or removed as the weave is manufactured. Patterns cannot be created by this method, since the aim is to make the colours fade into each other. Neither can the direction in which the colours slide be changed so that for instance the edges of the finished weave would be lighter than the middle.

U.S. Patent 4 495 761 discloses a method for manufacturing a multicoloured weft, and a multicoloured weft manufactured by this method. The method disclosed is used for manufacturing wefts the colour and appear- ance of which vary randomly along the weft, in order to achieve a decorative effect in the manufactured product.

The method cannot be used for manufacturing a weft that could be made into weaves that form a certain pattern.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and a weft by which patterned weaves can be manufactured easily and economically.

The method of the invention is characterized in that the pattern in the textile is formed by pre¬ determined colour steps in the continuous weft. The textile weft of the invention is character¬ ized in that colour steps of a certain length and colour, formed by the weft sections, have been created according to a predetermined plan so that the weft can be positioned in such a way that the colour steps form a pattern in the finished product.

Further, the weave of the invention is char¬ acterized in that the colours in the patterns are the same on both sides of the weave.

It is an essential idea of the invention that predetermined colour steps are formed in the continuous

weft so that the weft, when woven, forms a predetermined pattern m the weave out of these colour steps. The idea of a preferred embodiment of the invention is that the weft is made of several thin yarns or filaments that are not exchanged, removed or added during the manufacture of the weft . The idea of another preferred embodiment of the invention is that certain parts of the weft are dyed with certain colours according to a predetermined plan, for instance by spray-dyeing rag weft. The advantage of the method of the present invention is that patterned weaves can be made easily and economically, since the weft does not have to be changed when the colour changes, and even a complicated pattern does not slow down the weaving. No changes have to be made m the weaving machine when the pattern is changed. Complicated patterns can also be obtained even by using a hand loom with a simple plain weave Further, a weave where the colours of the patterns are the same on both sides of the weave can easily be manufactured even with a simple binding. Neither does the number of colours impose any great limitations, but foi instance four or even more colours can easily be used

The invention will be illustrated m greater detail m the accompanying drawings, m which Figure 1 shows a weft of the invention, and

Figure 2 shows a weave manufactured of the weft illustrated m Figure 1.

Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a weft 1 placed in such a position that a weave can be made from it The weft 1 is composed of weft sections 2a and 2b; weft section 2b is of a different colour than weft section 2a, whereby the weft sections of a differ¬ ent colour form colour steps of different colours . In the accompanying drawing the colours of weft sections 2a and 2b are marked so that weft section 2b is marked

with a thicker line than weft section 2a. Tnus the thickness of the line m question only represents the different colours of the weft sections, while the weft sections, regarding their physical measurements, are preferably substantially of the same thickness. In which parts of the weft 1 and for how long distances the weft sections of different colours are provided m the weft 1, is determined by the pattern or patterns that the weft 1, when arranged according to Figure 1, is to form in the weave

Figure 2 shows a weave 4 that has been made of a weft 1 according to Figure 1 m such a way that pat¬ terns 5 have been formed m the weave 4.

Alignment marks 3 can be placed m the weft 1, whereby it is possible to ensure that the pattern will emerge clearly as it is woven, i.e. that it will remain m place. It is easiest to place the alignment marks 3 at the selvage of the weave that is being woven, whereby the forming of the pattern can be easily controlled. In this way the pattern will remain clearly defined, and if the material is elastic, a possible error caused by stretching can be corrected

Manufacturing of the weave 4 starts by first determining what kind of pattern or patterns 5 are desired m the weave. After that the interspacing and length of the weft sections of different colours neces ^¬ sary for forming the weft 1 are to be determined, e.g. by means of a computer. That can be done very easily, e.g. by using a computer, when it is known how much weft is required for one pick in each weaving machine and how far the weft progresses by one pick.

In an LP channelling machine the weft 1 can be manufactured, for example, by the use of 90 thin yarns curled to a weft by the machine. For example when the weft is three-coloured, three colours and 30 yarns of

each colour are chosen, and each colour is placed in its own reciprocating yarn guide When a colour is to be brought out, the yarn guide in question is pushed far¬ ther out than the others towards the point of the needle, whereupon the yarns on it are twisted on the needle last and thus they constitute the uppermost visible colour. In this way the desired colour can be brought out by moving the yarn guides The yarn guides can be moved Dy movement magnets, receiving an impulse from a computer, either directly or indirectly through levers .

The weft 1 can also be made e.g. from rag weft by spray-dyeing the rag weft. The spray-dyeing device is then programmed to dye predetermined sections of the weft 1 with predetermined colours.

The weft sections can be of many different colours. Even with the simplest binding it is possible to make a weave where the colours of the patterns are the same on both sides of the weave . By the method of the invention it is also possible to make a weave with patterns m as many as four or even more colours, and still the colours m the pattern are essentially the same on both sides of the weave

The drawing and the accompanying explanation are only meant to illustrate the idea of the invention. The invention can vary m its details withm the scope of the claims. The weft sections m different colours the weft can be made the yarn or weft by using many dyeing methods known per se, as long as the colour steps are formed according to a predetermined plan.