1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of silk screen printing on fabric, and, more particularly, to a method of silk screen printing by applying a high-density ink to fabric used to form the visor of a cap.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Silk screen printing is a common technique used to print designs (e.g., images, words, letters, or numbers) on a fabric such as on a shirt or a cap. Typical silk screen printing techniques require the target fabric to be stretched flat in order to receive the ink design via a flat panel silk screen. For this reason, a fabric having a curved or non-flat surface cannot readily be used to receive a design using typical flat panel silk screen printing equipment.
The visor of a cap—particularly a baseball cap—is rigid and curved. Due to the non-flat shape of the visor, it cannot be run through on a typical silk screen printing machine and thus cannot receive a design using flat panel silk screen equipment.
Furthermore, the conventional inks used in silk screen printing operations are particularly susceptible to everyday wear and tear. This poses a particular problem for silk screen ink designs on cap visors. The visor area of the cap is frequently gripped by the wearer when putting on, adjusting, or taking off the cap. Thus, the visor area experiences a significant amount of wear and tear during normal use. Since conventional silk screen printing inks are not sufficiently durable to withstand the wear and tear that the visor area of a cap experiences, the ink will eventually wear off of the visor during normal handling of the cap by the wearer.
For these reasons, an embroidery technique is commonly used to apply a design to the visor area of a cap. However, the embroidery technique fails to yield designs with the quality and detail achievable through using silk screen printing techniques. Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a method for printing a design on the visor of a cap using a typical flat panel silk screen printing apparatus and a durable ink that can withstand the wear and tear that the visor area of a cap experiences. This novel and useful result has been achieved by the present invention.
In accordance with the present invention, a method for printing a design on the visor of a cap using a typical silk screen printing apparatus is provided.
The method of the present invention includes the following steps: (1) providing a fabric from which a visor of a cap will be fabricated; (2) printing the design on the visor of the cap using a flat panel silk screen printing apparatus and at least one predetermined ink; (3) curing the design by raising the temperature of the ink to a predetermined level; (4) cutting the fabric to form the visor of the cap; (5) assembling the cap by attaching the fabric of the visor to a visor board and attaching the assembled visor to a headpiece.
The method of the present invention further includes the step of providing a high-density ink for printing the design on the fabric of the visor of the cap. The high-density ink provides increased durability over conventional silk screen inks to withstand the frequent handling and wear and tear experience by the visor area of a cap.
The method of the present invention still further includes the step of loading the fabric onto a template being shaped in the form of the visor of the cap to fabric while the design is being silk screen printed thereon.
In the accompanying drawings:
A description of certain embodiments of the present invention is provided to facilitate an understanding of the invention. This description is intended to be illustrative and not limiting of the present invention.
In the specification and appended claims, the term “design” includes—but is not limited to—“a word or words”, “a letter or letters”, “a number or numbers”, “an image”, “a pattern”, or any combination of the afore-mentioned.
One embodiment of the present invention is a method for printing a design on the visor of a cap. This method includes silk screen printing the design on a fabric for the visor of the cap using high-density ink and a template shaped like the visor of the cap.
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While the embodiment of the present invention described above includes a template for defining the shape of a top piece and a bottom piece of a single visor, it is intended that another embodiment of the present invention includes a template for defining the shape of a top piece and a bottom piece of a plurality of visors on a single template. Moreover, in still another embodiment of the present invention, the design may be printed on a fabric material using a silk screen apparatus with the fabric stretched out over a flat surface without employing a template at all.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20040078868 A1 | Apr 2004 | US |