DESCRIPTION

The present invention proposes a method for applying figures and designs on the fabric of garments, that provides to apply a so-called "mask" consisting of a layer of compressible material of suitable thickness, shaped in such a way to show raised or recessed patterns reproducing the design, on a support consisting of either a dummy or an inflatable element, fitting the garment on this dummy, inflating the dummy until having the fabric adhering, with a certain pressure, on the layer of material with the reliefs reproducing the design and operating externally on the fabric with means to vary the superficial characteristics of the fabric by contact. These means can for example be brushes in abrasive material, or rolls impregnated of coloring or discoloring material, which passing in contact with the fabric act with greater intensity in correspondence of the zones interested by the designs in relief.

Characteristic of the invention is to present the raised and/or recessed patterns reproducing the design not on the surface of the mask in contact with the fabric, but on the opposite surface. In correspondence of the reliefs it is also possible to practice cuts or chamfers in the mask in correspondence of one or more sides of the relief, so that the abrasion turns out marked in correspondence of the side of the relief where there is the cut. The cuts can also be made on a zone of the mask having a uniform thickness. This system allows to obtain signs and figures on garments already manufactured, having an aspect similar to the signs deriving from the wear of the fabric. As known in the field of the apparel the industry is constantly searching for solutions allowing to obtain new effects to awaken the interest of the customers. In the recent years it has been developed various methods to allow obtaining signs similar to the wear, or several shapes and designs, on the surface of the fabric. There are a lot of such systems, from mechanical systems that consist in abrading superficially the fabric by means of brushes or abrasive rolls, to methods that use chemical agents to coloring and decoloring more or less intensely the fabric in localized zones or less.

It's already known, from a previous patent of the same inventor, a method for applying designs or similar on the surface of the fabric, arranging the fabric on a plan where moulds in relief are arranged that reproduce the intentional design, stretching the fabric, pressing it against the mould and acting on the surface of the fabric, from the opposite part to that one of the mould, by means of a brush or an abrasive roll.

The action of the abrasive is mainly effective in that zone where the fabric, for the presence of the mould in relief in the below zone, cannot yield, so in this zone the action of the abrasive turns out deeper and it realizes, on the surface of the fabric, the wished design.

This system can be used on the fabric, that can be spread on the plan, but it can not be used on already manufactured garments. Moreover, this system produces very regular and defined designs. In order to realize signs and figures on the fabric, other systems are described in the European patents No. 0.894.887 and No. 1.076.126 of same inventor. The present invention is proposed to be in the same field, proposing a method for applying signs and figures on already manufactured garments, in which masks constituted of a sheet in compressible material are realized by introducing, on a surface, parts in raised and/or recessed patterns reproducing signs and figures that are wanted to be obtained on the fabric, then inserting this mask on a support constituted for example of an inflatable dummy, with the shaped surface oriented towards the support instead of the fabric, so that the flat surface of this mask comes in contact with the fabric, and pressing this mask against the fabric, for example by inflating the dummy, the fabric then being subjected to a mechanical treatment consisting in abrading with abrasive paper, brushes or other known means.

In correspondence of the zones where the mask has a greater thickness because of the presence of the reliefs, this layer of compressible material that constitutes the mask will exercise against the fabric a higher pressure, obtaining in such a way a more marked abrasion effect. Moreover, thanks to the mask's material compressibility and deformability and thanks to the fact that these raised and/or recessed patterns are disposed on a side of the mask not in contact with the fabric, it is possible to obtain vanished edges of the designs, therefore these resemble the signs of natural wear of the fabric. The present invention will be described now in detail, as a not limitative example, with reference to the attached figures in which:

- figures from 1 to 3 schematically illustrate the preparation of a sheet of material for the realization of the masks with the method described in this invention;

- figures 4 and 5 schematically illustrate the working of a garment for the realization of signs of wear with the method described in this invention;

- figures from 6 to 10 schematically illustrate a possible masks preparation method for the actuation of the method described in this invention.

With reference to the figures from 1 to 3, the preparation of the masks for the actuation of the method described in this invention starts from a sheet of compressible material, indicated with number 1 , preferably EVA (ethylene-vinyl acetate), EPDM (expanded rubber) or crosslinked polyethylene foam or a mixture of these members, on which it is realized relief elements 2 that have the sign shapes wanted to be obtained on the fabric. Alternatively, layer 1 can be dug in order to obtain recessed patterns 3, having the shape of the signs that are desired to visualize.

The mask can also be realized in polyurethane or polyester. All the raised patterns 2 and the recessed patterns 3 will all be realized on the same surface of sheet 1 , whereas the opposite surface, indicated with number 4, will remain flat.

It is also possible to make cuts or chamfers 19 on the flat surface, in correspondence of the reliefs beneath, in order to obtain particular vanished effects.

Once prepared, these masks come fixed on an inflatable dummy 5, that can be constituted also from a simple tubular, with the smooth surface 4 turned towards the outside and the part with the raised and the recessed patterns in contact with the surface of the tubular one. The garment 6 is then fitted on this tubular and then the dummy is inflated.

Then, the mask 1 will be pressed against the internal surface of the garment, with a pressure that will be higher in correspondence of the reliefs because of the mask greater thickness, whereas the pressure will be lower in correspondence of the recessed patterns. The external surface of the garment is then worked with an abrasive element 7, for example a brush, an abrasive paper or another known system, able to slightly abrade the surface of the fabric in order to remove part of the color. Where the thickness of the mask is greater and therefore the pressure is higher, the abrasive means 7 will operate with greater effectiveness, obtaining greater abrasion and a greater removal of the color of the fabric.

Thanks to the fact that the elements conferring greater thickness are not in contact with the fabric, being in fact at the opposite side regarding the material layer that constitutes mask 1 , there will not be a sign that clearly distinguishes the abraded part of the fabric from the rest, but the contours of these zones will be vanished so as to confer a natural wear aspect to the signs and the figures.

The masks can be obtained with various methods, even if thermoforming is preferred, the phases being briefly described in figure 6 and following.

It always starts from a plane sheet of the suitable material, indicated with 10, on a surface of which the raised patterns 11 and the recessed patterns 12 are carried out in the wished shapes.

Sheet 10 is then arranged inside of a mould 13 and it is strained, on the sheet, a layer 14 of material like chalk, concrete, resin or similar.

A model 14 is obtained, showing a negative print of mask 10 on one surface.

Once the model 14 has hardened, it is removed and positioned on one press plan

15.

Now a sheet made of material like EVA, or one of the other materials before mentioned, of suitable thickness, is put in a furnace at the softening temperature regarding that material.

When the softened material is placed over the mould and the press is set in action.

The punch of the press will then press the softened material against the model 14 until the deformation of the material, so as to obtain the same design of the mask. The layer of the thermoformable material could be eventually coupled, during the pressing time, to a further layer of protection material like lycra or other suitable material.

In this way, an elastic mask is obtained that can be fitted on the dummy easily.

For this purpose it is sufficient to couple a larger layer of lycra to the layer of thermoformable material, so that after the thermoforming the mask can be sewed in order to obtain a tubular that can be easily fitted on the dummy. During the inflation of the dummy the tubular with its extensibility adapted anyway to the fabric of the garment which is fitted over the mask for being weared out. The sheet 1 can also be worked with laser in order to directly gain on the surface the wanted raised and/or recessed patterns, or it can be shaped and be cut in the necessary shape in order to obtain an inflatable dummy having directly the shape of the entire pants, and on which the garment can itself be directly fitted. The thickness of the elements in relief 2 can vary according to the more or less marked effect that is wanted to be obtained, even if it is preferable that these elements in relief are of constant thickness, in order to avoid the risk, in case of working by means of abrasion of the fabric, that possible disuniformity of the thickness will cause possible defective state due to excessive localized abrasion. An expert of the branch will be able to propose various modifications that will have to be considered all comprised within the scope of protection of the present invention.