US2704730A - Semi-porous coated cloth and articles made therefrom - Google Patents

Description

March 22, 1955 H. GLATT 2,704,730

SEMI-POROUS COATED CLOTH AND ARTICLES MADE TI'IEREFROM I Filed Aug. 14, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet l GA; wage/s March 22, 1955 H. GLATT 2,704,730

SEMI-POROUS COATED CLOTH AND ARTICLES MADE THEREFROM Filed Aug. 14, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent SEMI-POROUS COATED CLOTH AND ARTICLES MADE 'IHEREFROM Herbert Glatt, Newark, N. 3.

Application August 14, 1953, Serial No. 374,199

7 Claims. (Cl. 117-98) This invention deals with the production of a semiporous plastic-coated cloth particularly useful in the production of ironing pad covers, interliners for garments, and other articles.

More specifically, the invention relates to the production of a plastic coated cloth having applied thereto a controlled amount of solid coating material in a pattern wherein most of the coating material is deposited in the interstices in the weave of the cloth, giving a smooth surface with high reflective power as well as other highly useful properties which will be outlined further.

Porous cloth has been made in the past in which the coating material is sprayed on over the fibers in a manner such as to deposit the coating on top of the fibers. Care is taken not to deposit such coating material in the interstices of the weave to insure sutficient open area for adequate ventilation. Such a cloth has an extremely rough surface, the roughness being accentuated by the manner of application of the coating material. If such a cloth is employed as an ironing pad cover, for example, the roughness of the surface is transferred to the ironed surface as an embossing which is objectionable. Also, in the interliner field, the wearer of the coat or other garment lined with the coated cloth objects to the rough hand of the cloth which is a serious obstacle from a saies point of view.

The structure of the cloth of the present invention is more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 depicts a top view of a textile partially coated according to the present invention, while Figure 2 shows a cross sectional view of the coated portion of the textile shown in Figure 1. A highly magnified top view of the coated textile of the present invention is illustrated by the insert in Figure 3. Similar numerals refer to similar parts in the various figures.

Referring again to the drawings, numeral 1 represents a textile or cloth which generally is of rayon (if it is used as an interliner) or of cotton drill (if it is used as an ironing pad cover). The cloth fibers 1' of textile 1 are woven so that the upper surface of the cloth 1 possesses high spots 3, 3', 3", and low spots 11, the latter being caused by depressing a fiber 12 by a cross-woven fiber 13 (Figure 2). Between the woven fibers are the rectangular shaped interstices 4 which give the cloth most of its porosity.

In the present invention, the upper surface of the cloth 1 is coated with a controlled amount of coating material, producing a semi-porous coated cloth 2 possessing valuable properties. Such a coating cannot be obtained by spraying a solution of plastic on the cloth, but is obtained only by friction spreading of a solution containing a controlled amount of solids dissolved and/ or dispersed therein. This friction spreading is accomplished by knife coating, preferably by using a tension head. The knife clearance on the cloth is adjusted according to the viscosity of the composition applied, as is regular practice in the art, to give the proper amount of plastic coating uniformly distributed over the cloth. In such a knife coating operation, most of the plastic mass is pushed by friction of the knife, away from the high spots on the cloth surface, into the interstices thereof. Roller coating or printing do not accomplish this effect.

As is apparent from Figure 2, the thick liquid coating mixture 14 is poured uniformly over the width of the cloth behind knife 8. As the cloth passes under the knife and in frictional contact therewith in the direction of the arrow, a coated cloth 2 results in which the high points ice 5 of the surface comprise mainly impregnated threads over which very little excess plastic is deposited, the excess being pushed into the low spots 11 and interstices 4 which are, generally, not completely filled with solid plastic, but are only partially filled. These interstices still retain small vents 7 for ventilation purposes. By solid plastic is meant the residue of the coating material 14 left on cloth 2 after the drying operation when the solvents are driven off by drying in the conventional man- Idler, as by passing the coated cloth over a drying roll or rum.

A highly magnified view of coated cloth 2 (Figure 3) shows bare high spots 5 in which individual fibers are impregnated with plastic, but are substantially free of any excess plastic, which excess is pushed into low spots 6 and into the interstices'between the fibers, wherein the small vents 7 are still maintained. The sizes of these vents are exaggerated due to the fact that the strong lighting comes from underneath the fabric.

The presence of these small vents is important since they afford satisfactory ventilation of the fabric. Their presence is insured by controlling the amount of solids in the coating uniformly distributed over the textile sur-' face. The term solids is used to signify the solid material remaining on the textile as a dry coating after evaporation of the solvents and hardening of residual liquid vehicles.

A suitable semi-porous coated cloth may be obtained, when the knife adjustment of knife 8, for the viscosity of coating composition used, is such that a uniform coating of about 0.3 to about 1.2 ounces of dry solids is applied per square yard of cloth treated. A preferred narrow range of 0.3 to 0.9 or even 0.3 to 0.8 ounce per square yard gives excellent results. The cloth samples are conditioned for four hours at 72 F. at 65% relative humidity before they are Weighed. I

It is to be noted that ordinary coated cloth is coated with at least over three or even over five or more times the amount of solids, since the purpose therein is to eliminate porosity and insure sufficient coating thickness to avoid any possibility of penetration or water leakage.

The coating material to be used consists of a hardenable plastic base and a reflective pigment incorporated therewith. In the case of ironing pad covers, the plastic base contains a solid plastic of high heat resistance capable, in film form, of withstanding temperatures of 600 F. or even 650 F. (the highest temperature ordinarily encountered in ironing).

At the present time, ordinary cotton or asbestos iron ing pad covers are being replaced gradually by plastic-. coated covers coated with a heat-resistant and usually heat reflective coating. When such plastic coated covers were first introduced, it was found that the impervious plastic coating prevented the venting of the steam formed during the ironing of the moist clothing, thereby creating a drag. or resistance to the ironing operation and tending to leave the ironed clothes somewhat damp due to partial condensation of some of the steam.

These effects, in part, were overcome by mechanical perforation of the coated cloth, as is shown in U S. Patent 2,570,110 issued to Herbert Glatt. This improved ironing pad cover was a decided improvement over the, former covers but was expensive since a heavy plastic coating was required and the perforation process was a slow and expensive operation to be added. Also, the perforations had a tendency to weaken the cloth and cause raveling around edges of the holes upon prolonged use. Besides, there was some embossing by the perforations observed'when very light weight fabrics were ironed thereon.

The present invention is a further improvement in this field in that it overcomes all of the objections to the coated perforated cloth and results in further advantages, such as in enabling the use of lighter weight cotton ma-- terial for the cover, elimination of cracking of the coating on folding over a prolonged period of time particularly in storage, as well as other advantages which will become apparent from the description which is to follow. 1 Al though closely woven cotton is the favored cloth mentioned here for ironing pad covers, it is to'be understood. that other cloth such as rayon, partially acetylated cotton,nylonjpolyacrylonitrile, polyester, and the like may be'used.

In the present invention, the ironing pad cover cloth is coated with a thin semi-porous film of heat resistant plas tie, the porosity being only suflicient to -vent the steam produced-duringironing, yet the coating being extensive enough to. protect the cloth beneath the coating from thermal decomposition, enabling safe use of temperatures thereon of at'least 100 F. higher than those which normally Would scorch the cloth employed as the base material for the ironing pad cover.

7 Heatresistant film-forming plastics now are well known and are in common use. A munber of types prevail, practically all of them being based on thermosetting resins. The most common one employs a polyvinyl butyral resin base which may be cross-linked with phenol-formaldehyde, urea-formaldehyde, 'melamine-formaldehyde, glyoxal, or other types of-heat-setting resins to provide adequate thermo-setting qualities.

A suitable composition forv giving a plastic film stable at temperatures of 600 'or even 650 F. for short periods of time encountered in ironing is prepare in accordance with the following formulation:

Example 1 Parts Vinylite resin XYSG 15 Pigment (aluminum powder) 2 Raw-castor oil l5 ".Flexol 3G0 Synasol 38 .Solvesso .No. .1 15

' .Total 100 Vinylite resin XYSG is a high molecular weight polyvlnyl bu'tyral resin having an intrinsic viscosity of 1.16and'a specific gravity of 1.12. It contains approximately 54.4% vinyl, 38.3% butyrjaldehyde, 0.3% acetate, and 7.0% hydroxyl. 'The material is a white powder sold by Bakelite Company, East 42nd Street, New York "17, New York, and is described in Technical Release'No. "1 issued by thatcompany.

Solvesso No. 1 is an aromatic solvent made by Standard Oil Company (New Jersey) having a boiling range of about"2'0027O F., consisting chiefly of toluene anda small amount of Xylene.

Flexol 3G0 comprises mainly triethylene glycol di- 2'-'ethyl hexoate, .a plasticizer made by Carbide 8: Carbon Chemicals Corp.

'fFSynasol'is a proprietary 190 proof denatured alcohol made by the same company. a

n Another :suitable coating, based mainly on thermosettlng phenol-formaldehyde as the heat resistant resin, has'the followingformulation:

Atomite'is a-clay filler which'may be replaced by dlatomaceous earth, bentonite, or the like.

Bakelite adhesive 'BJ-163'20 is a high molecular weight thermosetting phenol-formaldehyde condensation formulation'produced by 'Bake'lite Company Division of Carbide CarborrCorp.

"Ifheaforesaid" formulations are only a tew of the many which'areavaila'ble commercially for such' use. It is 'importantyhoweve'r, that the plastic coatingfor ironingpad cover--use,:thus :produced, bestable at temperatures of at least 500 *By stableis meant the abilityto withstand the Ltemperature specifiedwithout'thermal decomposition whemsubjected forperiods'of time encountere'd intlre ironing operation;

i Ani'dugtheplastihers whiehare compatible with polyvinyl'butyral and may be used in the formulation, are

triethylene'glycold i--2 ethyl'bIItyrateQbutyI ester of poly merized ricinoleic acid, methyl ethyl ricinoleate, methoxy glycol acetylricinoleate, butyl Cellosolve phthalate, triglycol n-octoate, di-Z-ethylhexoate, o-toluene sulfonamide, p-toluene sulfonamide, ethyl sulfonamide, methyl phthalyl methyl glycolate, butyl phthalyl butyl glycolate, ethyl phthalyl ethyl glycolate, castor oil, etc.

Permissible'fillers may .be clay, diatomaceous'earth, silica gel, calcium carbonate, magnesium silicate, metal powders such as aluminum, bronze, magnesium or'copper powder, etc.

Although the alcohols are the best solvents for polyvinyl butyral, mixtures of alcohols with methyl ethyl ketone, acetone,'ethyl acetate, etc. can'be used. Diluents such as toluol, mineralspirits, and the like, may be added to reduce the cost. Small quantities of water may be added to adjust viscosity which may vary within relatively Wide limits, depending upon the type of resin employed, fillers, etc. The amount of reflecting pigment used preferably is about-4 to about 12 percent by weight of the dry coating (usually about 8%).

In the'case of the ironing pad cover cloth, after it is coated with plastic and dried (by means of heating rolls or otherwise), it is advantageous to give the coating a light coating of a silicone polymer, preferably in the form of a 35% silicone polymer water emulsion (or less concentrated) which may be applied to the coated cloth by means of a flannel-wetted with the emulsion, thefflannel contacting the coating of the cloth as the latter leaves the drying roll. The'silicone compound may be a polymethyl silicone of about 200-300 centistokes viscosity at a F., sold under the designation SF92 by General Electric Company and described in Silicones Product Data sheet dated March 15, 1952, issued by the company. The emulsion is designated'as SM61 Silicone Emulsion by that company, and is described in Silicones Application Data? sheet dated June 1, .1951, issued .by the Gen eral Electric Company. The weight limitation of 0.4 to 1.4 ouncs of dry solds applied'per square yard'of cloth treated also includes the silicone coating, if. such is'applied.

'When the cloth is treated in the aforesaid manner, a

composition similar to that shown in Example 1, containing 8.16% of aluminum powder pigment. The aluminum powder flakes are not represented in Figure 3 due to the fact that each particle'acts as a light reflector,

so that a confusing effect would have been obtained,

However, the particles would be distributed "in the plastic coating shown. The coating composition in Figure 3 was'applied on the cloth by knife'coating, the knifeclearance being adjusted so that 0.93 ounce of dry solids were applied uniformly per square yard of material coated.

It will be observed from Figure 3*that the small openings present in the plastic pile-ups in the interstices between the weaves are in a ratheruniformly'square'pattern. The partial filling up of the'int'erstices"'with the plastic produces avery smooth coated surface which gives "no embossing evenjwh'e'nthe lightest'fabrics are ironed thereover. It will be noted here, however, that'if theamount otLsolids'per square yard is substantially -less than 0.3 ounce, there is inadequate, protection of the cloth. particularly at the high points, so that scorching tendency approaches that of uncoated cloth.

In order'to determine the effectiveness 'of the semiporous cloth disclosed here n for use in ironing pad'covers, the following'tests wereperformed:

A 59" width cotton. drill cloth was coated with a heat stable polyvinyl butyral'resin (containing 8.16% aluminum powder pigment, *based on solids) similar to that obtainable with the formula inExample 2, together with a light silicone coating, outlined hereinabove,

and an ironing'pa'd coverwas made therefrom. The re sults werethen compared with those obtained with a conventional asbestos ironing padicoverhaving about 20% of cotton thread used inholding' it togetl'iercv A'cotton' sheet was immersedin Watendrip dried, and

ironed dry on each type of cover with an electric iron set at the cotton temperature (500 F.). An examination of the covers after the sheet had been ironed revealed that the plastic coated semi-porous cover was dry, whereas the asbestos cover was slightly damp. The total time required to iron three articles (mens sport shirt, ladies blouse, and slip) was found to be as follows:

Minutes n semi-porous plastic cover 20 On asbestos cover 30 Time and Temperature, F. of Contact Cover Slight Scorch Appreciable Scorch Semi-porous 60 sec. at 450 F sec. at 550 F. Asbestos 30 sec. at 450 F-- 45 sec. at 450 F.

The tensile strengths of the two covers were determined by the Grab Method, the warp and filling directions being assumed, with the following results obtained:

Breaking Load (Lbs.) Cover Warp Filling Semi-por 153. 6 75. 6 A be tn 38.4 51.4

As is apparent from the foregoing tests, the semiporous covers of the present invention are even superior to asbestos covers.

In the case of interliners for clothing, the reflective coating on one side of the lining fabric serves to reflect the heat back to the body in the winter and thus help keep the body warmer than it would be with an uncoated interliner. The lining material usually is closely woven rayon cloth, particularly rayon satin, although other cloth material may be employed. The plastic coating containing the reflective pigment is applied by friction spreading as already outlined. However, it is not necessary in this case to employ a heat-resistant plastie for the coating, and most hardenable or hard-whendry plastic materials would be suitable. Included as satisfactory are vinyl polymers such as polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl acetate, polyvinylidene chloride, alkyds, and the like.

When the coating is applied uniformly in the amount of about 0.3 to about 1.2 ounces of dry solids per square yard of cloth surface, and, in this case partlcularly 1n the amount of about 0.3 to 0.9 ounce per square yard, by the friction spreading technique, the hand of the hner is considerably improved, whereas there is still sufficient porosity to effect adequate ventilation within the garment to prevent unnecessary perspiration ordinarily caused by humidity increase within the enclosed area.

As to the weave of the fabric to be coated, there is a limit as to coarseness of the weave beyond which the products obtained would not be suitable for the purposes of the invention. In the case of ironing pad covers, suitable weaves have been found to be 84 x 28 and 78 x 32 (the first numeral referring to the warp mesh, and the second to the weft mesh). It is not desirable to go below 42 x 14.

This application is a continuation-in-part of Serial No. 302,947, filed on August 6, 1952, by Herbert Glatt.

I claim:

1. A ventilated cloth of improved surface smoothness and heat reflectivity comprising a sheet of closely woven textile, a thin, semi-porous, solid, hard-When-dry, non-penetrating, organic resin coating applied by knife coating substantially uniformly on the top surface only thereof in an amount of about 0.3 to 1.4 ounces of dry solids per square yard of cloth surface, deposited mainly in the interstices between the weaves of the textile but insufliciently deposited to completely fill said interstices, thereby forming small vent openings in said resin coating in said interstices.

2. A ventilated cloth of improved surface smoothness and heat reflectivity comprising a sheet of closely woven textile, a thin, semi-porous, heat reflective, solid, hard-when-dry, non-penetrating, organic thermosetting resin coating applied by knife coating substantially uniformly on the top surface only thereof in an amount of about 0.3 to about 1.2 ounces of dry solids per square yard of cloth surface, deposited mainly in the interstices between the weaves of the textile but insufliciently deposited to completely fill said interstices, thereby forming small vent openings in said resin coating in said interstices.

3. A ventilated cloth according to claim 1 in which the plastic coating contains a reflective pigment in amount sutficient to reflect a substantial amount of heat away from the textile.

4. A ventilated cloth according to claim 2 in which the textile is a cotton drill suitable for ironing pad cover use, and the plastic coating comprises substantially a plastic film-forming material stable at temperatures of at least 500 F.

5. A ventilated cloth according to claim 1 in which the textile is an interliner for clothing.

6. A ventilated cloth according to claim 1 in which the amount of solids in the plastic coating is 0.3 to 0.9 ounce per square yard.

7. A ventilated cloth according to claim 1 in which the amount of solids in the plastic coating is 0.3 to 0.8 ounce per square yard.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,066,079 Shoub Dec. 29, 1936 2,176,053 Billing Oct. 17, 1939 2,196,655 Borghetty Apr. 9, 1940 2,213,883 Lurie Sept. 3, 1940 2,405,703 Mackechnie Aug. 13, 1946 2,575,577 Beauchamp Nov. 20, 1951 2,630,620 Rand Mar. 10, 1953 2,673,824 Biefcld Mar. 30, 1954

Claims (1)

1. A VENTILATED CLOTH OF IMPROVED SURFACE SMOOTHNESS AND HEAT REFLECTIVITY COMPRISING A SHEET OF CLOSELY WOVEN TEXTILE, A THIN, SEMI-POROUS, SOLID, HARD-WHEN-DRY, NON-PENETRATING, ORGANIC RESIN COATING APPLIED BY KNIFE COATING SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORMLY ON THE TOP SURFACE ONLY THEREOF IN AN AMOUNT OF ABOUT 0.3 TO 1.4 OUNCES OF DRY SOLIDS PER SQUARE YARD OF CLOTH SURFACE, DEPOSITED MAINLY IN THE INTERSTICES BETWEEN THE WEAVES OF THE TEXTILE BUT INSUFFICIENTLY DEPOSITED TO COMPLETELY FILL SAID INTERSTICES, THEREBY FORMING SMALL VENT OPENINGS IN SAID RESIN COATING IN SAID INTERSTICES.

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