4. PREAMBLE TO THE DESCRIPTION:
The following specification describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION:
The present invention relates to rugs and rug manufacturing. More particularly, the present invention relates to process for manufacturing rugs that comprise of tufted, dope-dyed, micro-denier per filament, cabled and heat set polyester yarn and/or micro-denier per filament, cabled, heat set, yarn dyed polyester yarn with antimicrobial treatment thereby inculcating properties of bleach fastness, stain resistance and quick drying. Rugs manufactured thereof are also covered. Further, the invention covers the process for manufacturing of the Drylon yarns.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:
Rugs are thick woven floor mats of shaggy or thick piled surface. Rugs are tufted floor covering used in specific areas of application. Rugs may have thick piles on one or both sides of the backing fabric. The thick piled surface is also sheared to give the surface soft velvety touch.
Rugs may have tufting on one surface, and latex or rubber coating on the other surface to hold the tufts in place; as otherwise the tufts may get dislodged from the backing fabric. Further, the latex or rubber coating acts as anti-skid surface.
Rugs are formed with a backing fabric and pile yarns for tufting. The backing fabric is normally a cotton canvas or HDPE (High Density Poly Ethylene) or PP (Polypropylene, with or without Nylon fleece) woven fabric or Non-Woven fabric of polypropylene fibers.
The pile yarns are usually selected from natural fiber yarns such as, cotton, linen, hemp, sisal, wool, silk, ramie, banana fiber or regenerated cellulose fiber yarns such as, viscose, bamboo, modal, rose or synthetic fiber yarns such as, nylon, polyester and polypropylene.
Commercially available polyester yams are known by various names such as, Recron, Terylene, Terene, Dacron, and Tetron. The normal polyester filaments for rugs are produced in micro deniers, viz. 1.0; 1.2; 1.3 etc, and are dyed after rugs are tufted. These batch-dyed rugs are not fast to bleaching as the dyes are not deeply penetrated inside the fiber structure, as the dye is applied externally to the tufts of rugs.
During the course of the explorations of the various polyester filaments available for usage in the tufting of the rugs, it was noticed that dope dyed, micro-denier, cabled and heat set polyester yarn and/or micro-denier per filament, cabled, heat set , yarn dyed antimicrobial treated polyester yarn were not at all available or used. Commercially, only bright micro-multifilament polyester yarns are available, for use in tufting and the rugs in batch process with dispersed dyes or cationic dyes. The batch dyeing results in surface penetration, whereby the dyes are vulnerable to bleach and to bleeding or staining during wet or dry washing.
With a view of inducing bleach fastness and preventing bleeding or staining of dyes, Fujita, Masashi et al. introduced rugs made of polyester fibers, which have a supple and soft hand, further, the rugs of said invention are fast to dyeing and possess excellent durability. The inventors have filed a Japanese Patent Application No. JP9084685, which covers the above stated invention. However, the patent does not teach use of dope dyed micro-denier filament, with master batch dyeing during extrusion, cabled heat set polyester filament yarn and/or micro-denier per filament, cabled, heat set, yarn dyed with antimicrobial treatment, polyester yarn in manufacture of bleach fast, stain resistant, antimicrobial and bulky rugs.
In view of above, the inventors propose to introduce a novel rug, named as Drylon rugs, which are made using novel fibers which are dope dyed, micro-denier per filament, cabled and heat set polyester yarns and/or micro-denier per filament, cabled, heat set, yarn dyed polyester yarn with antimicrobial treatment, named as Drylon yarn.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
In view of above, the main object of the invention is to provide a process for manufacturing of b Leach safe, quick drying, stain resistant Drylon rugs using dope-dyed, micro-denier per filament, cabled, heat set polyester yarn and/or micro-denier per filament, cabled, heat set, yarn dyed polyester yarn with antimicrobial treatment, in tufting of Drylon rugs, thus eliminating the process of batch dyeing after formation of rugs.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS:
Fig. 1 depicts a flowchart for process for production of Drylon rugs using table tufting procedure.
Fig. 2 depicts a flowchart for process for production of Drylon rugs using machine tufting.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION:
The invention will now be described in detail, along with certain preferred and optional embodiments so that various aspects thereof may be more fully understood and appreciated.
The current invention relates to use of dope dyed, micro-denier per filament, cabled and heat set polyester yarn and/or micro-denier per filament, cabled, heat set, yarn dyed polyester yarn with antimicrobial treatment, for tufting of rugs that are bleach safe, stain resistant and quick drying.
For the purpose of this invention, the terms "Drylon" or "Drylon fiber" or "Drylon yarn" or "Drylon tufting yarn", relate to a heat set, cabled polyester yarn which comprises polyester filaments, called as "Drylon filament", which are dope dyed by adding colour master batch during the melt-spinning and extrusion or yarn dyed in pressure vessels, thereby inculcating properties of fastness to bleaching, wet and dry rubbing, washing and light. Such kind of micro-denier per filament, dope dyed, cabled and heat set yarn and micro-denier per filament, cabled, heat set, yarn dyed antimicrobial treated polyester yarn, is specially made for this purpose and is not commercially available and is not disclosed in prior art. The Drylon yarn as above, wherein heat setting is carried out in saturated steam.
For the purpose of this invention, term "Drylon rug" or "rug" relates to a rug formed by use of Drylon filaments as defined above.
It must be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" include plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
It is understood that the disclosed invention is not limited to the particular methodology, protocols, and reagents described as these may vary. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, which will be limited only by the appended claims.
Those skilled in the art will recognize, or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many equivalents to the specific embodiments of the invention described herein. Such equivalents are intended to be encompassed by the appended claims.
Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings as commonly understood by one of skill in the art to which the disclosed invention belongs.
The Drylon yarns used for manufacturing the rug of invention have micro-deniers like 1.0, 1.2, 1.3 but are dope dyed and/or yarn dyed after cabling and heat setting. Dope dyeing gives an opportunity to color dye to bind firmly to the filament structure. The yarn dyeing after cabling and heat setting likewise enables dye penetration thereby prevents bleeding or fading or staining of dye. Surface presence of dye, makes dye easily washable which results in bleeding or fading or staining of color.
The polyester filaments of instant invention are made from polyester chips (polyethyleneterephalate) of particular master batch, and dosing is carried out with mono-colour dyes during melt spinning. After melt spinning (by adding master batch during extrusion) of the required micro-denier mono-filament, the extruded filaments are then cabled to requisite denier, (For example, 2400 filaments of 1.0 denier mono-filament) on the twisting machine, heat set in saturated steam and wound on cheeses, to yield dope-dyed, micro-denier per filament, cabled yarn. As such, the use of dope dyed yarn eliminates the need of further dyeing of the finished product. In the case of yarn dyed Drylon filament, the dyeing is carried out in pressure vessels, after the filaments are cabled and heat set.
The use of Drylon yarns imparts certain properties to the rug, primarily bleach safe, that is, the rug is resistant to all kinds of bleaches used during domestic and industrial washing. Use of Drylon tufting yarn makes the finished product a stain free product, that is, the rug does not retain stains of any kind and also inculcates quick drying property to rug.
The Drylon filament is dope dyed by adding color master batch during the melt spinning and extrusion and hence the colors are fast to light, wet and dry rubbing, washing. Further, since the dyeing takes place during melt-spinning of the filament yarn, the dye forms integral bonds firmly with the filament structure, thereby imparting bleach fast property to filament, and rug as such. Similarly in the case of yarn dyeing the dyeing takes place after cabling and heat setting, in the pressure vessels under set process parameters, which ensure internal bonding of the dyes with the filament, thereby imparting bleach fast property in to the subsequent rug made out of it.
As far as the instant invention is concerned, the fastness to bleaching is property of the dope dyed, micro-denier, cabled and heat set .polyester yarn and micro- denier per filament, cabled, heat set, yarn dyed, antimicrobial treated polyester yarn, has been exploited by exploring the possibilities of introducing Drylon in the tufting of the rugs.
The Drylon filament as per this invention has deniers in range of 1.0, 1.2, 1.3, till 5.0 DPF that are dope dyed. As dye is incorporated at the time of melt-spinning, the dye forms bonds with the filament structure and as a result the dye is firmly embedded in the filament.
In the case of yarn dyed Drylon filament, this invention has deniers in range of 1.0, 1.2, 1.3, till 5.0 DPF, the dyeing is carried out in pressure vessels, after the filaments are cabled and heat set.
In an embodiment, the invention provides a process for production of Drylon rugs comprising three stages. The first stage is tufting wherein, the backing fabric is creeled on to the machine at the back of the needle head and threaded up to the bed, where actual tufting by the needles is carried out. A requisite number of Drylon (either dope dyed or yarn dyed) cheeses are creeled on to the creel of the ALL LOOP, MULTI LOOP CUT LEVEL and ALL CUT PILE machines. The yarn from the cheeses is threaded through the tubing and tufting needles of the machine as per design pattern fed in to the computer of the machine and tufting operation starts.
Second stage is coating, wherein, the tufted roll, from tufting step, are loaded on to the Latex coating machine, where the coating is a continuous operation. The supply of mixture of foam latex, accelerator and gel is through automated system. The thickness of the coat and controlling of the GSM is done through microprocessor based programs. The embossing of the latex backing to introduce anti-skid property and baking and drying of latex are carried out by system itself.
Third stage is cutting wherein; cutting of the tufted and coated rug fabric is carried out on the automatic infra red guided cutting machine to the requisite size as per the specifications.
The cut and coated rugs are further stitched on four sides on stitching machines with folders for guiding the piping cloth or all the four sides are over locked with the Drylon yarn instead of piping cloth. The stitched rugs are then washed, checked, mended, folded, passed through needle detectors and packed in to poly bags before packing in to cartons.
Machine as used for production of Drylon rugs of instant invention is selected from All Loop (ALP) Machine, Multi Loop Cut Level (MLCL) Machine or All Cut Pile Machine (ACP)
An All Loop (ALP) Machine having gauge of 3/16 inch or 3/8 inch, resulting in production of linear loops, with capability to have loop densities in range of 16 to 80 per sq. inch and capable of introducing pile heights of 3mm to 34 mm, can be employed for manufacturing the rug of invention. The creel capacity of the said machine is 1728 cheeses.
A Multi Loop Cut Level (MLCL) Machine having gauge of 1/8 inch, resulting in production of linear loops, with capability to have loop densities in range of 20 to 80 per sq. inch and loop height of 3 to 20mm and cut pile height of 4 to 22 mm, can be employed for manufacturing the rug of invention. The creel capacity of the said machine is 2592 cheeses.
All Cut Pile Machine (ACP) having 1/8" gauge, capable of introducing pile height from 3mm to 34mm, with possible pile density of 20 to96 per sq. inch can be employed for manufacturing the rug of invention. The creel capacity of said machine is 2592 cheeses.
All Cut Pile Machine (ACP) having 3/16 inch gauge, capable of introducing pile height from 3 to 34 mm and density of 18 to 88 per sq. inch can be employed for manufacturing the rug of invention. The creel capacity of said machine is 1728 cheeses.
Table-tufting Machine, having a gauge of 3/16 inch, which is capable of introducing pile height of 3mm to 30 mm and a pile density of 18 to 53 per sq. inch, can be employed for manufacturing the rug of invention. The creel capacity of said machine is 8 cheeses. In case of table tufting, the tufting is done on the pre-stitched (piped) backing of the requisite size, the tufted rug is washed, carved and spray latex coated instead of machine latexing.
In another embodiment, the invention provides for the Drylon rugs as manufactured by the above mentioned process.
In a preferred embodiment, A process for making a Drylon rug comprising use of, dope dyed, micro denier, cabled and heat set polyester yarn or micro denier per filament, cabled, heat set, yarn dyed, antimicrobial treated polyester yarn, for tufting of rugs, thereby eliminating the process of batch dyeing after the formation of rugs, further ensuring that the rugs are bleach safe, quick drying and stain resistant wherein, said process comprises following steps:
(a) tufting of micro-denier, dope dyed, cabled and heat-set polyester filament, or micro denier per filament, cabled, heat set , yarn dyed, antimicrobial treated polyester yarn, on cheeses is creeled on tufting machine to form tufted fabric roll;
(b) loading the tufted rolls of step (a) on Latex coating machine followed by application of latex to form a rug fabric;
(c) cutting the rug fabric of step (b) on a Infra red guided cutting machine as per pre-determined specification to form rugs;
(d) stitching of rugs of step (c) on four sides by stitching machine;
(e) washing, checking, mending and folding and packing the stitched rugs of step (d), in poly bags and;
(f) Packing the packed rugs of step (e) in cartons.
The process for making Drylon rug as above, wherein the dope dyed, micro denier per filament, is in range of 1.0 to 5.0 DPF and with filaments of 600X2, 1200X2, 1800 and 2400 filaments; up on cabling wherein, the range is from 150 to 3600 filaments or 75x2 to 1800x2. The Drylon filaments as used in process are dope dyed during the process of filament extrusion and the dope dyeing is carried out by adding color master batch during extrusion of spinning process. The dope dyed filaments impart bleach safe and good color fastness to the said rug.
The process for making Drylon rug as above, wherein, the micro-denier per filament, is in range of 1.0 to 5.0 DPF and with filaments of 600X2, 1200X2, 1800 and 2400 filaments, up on cabling wherein, the range is from 150 to 3600 filaments or 75x2 to 1800x2 are heat set and dyed in pressure vessels. The Drylon filaments as used in process are yarn dyed after the process of extrusion, cabling and heat setting. The yarn dyed filaments impart bleach safe and good color fastness to the said rug.
Drylon yarns of instant invention have a multifilament configuration that results in soft and bulky tufts. The tufting is carried out on table-tufting or machine tufting. The height of tufting loop is adjusted in range of 3mm to 34mm and tufting loop density is adjusted in range of 18 to 96 per sq. inch. In case, machine tufting is carried out it includes jacquard patterning.
The process for making Drylon rugs as described above further includes coating of the rugs with latex on remote side to impart anti-skid property and to hold the tufts intact. The latexing is carried out on continuous latexing machine, wherein latexing mixture comprises of synthetic or natural latex, accelerator and gel. In
case, rug is tufted on table, latexing is carried out by spray coating or brush application on one i.e. remote side of rug.
Examples:
With reference to above specification the instant invention is exemplified by following example.
EXAMPLE 1
A Drylon rug made of Drylon yarn which has properties of bleach fastness, stain resistance and quick drying. The Diylon tufting yarn is B. S. Blue colored, dope dyed 1.0 micro denier per filament fiber, which is further twisted with 900x2, micro filament to form 1800 (900x2) denier tufting yarn.
The process for making the rug of instant invention comprises of tufting of 1.0 DPF x 900x2 B. S. blue dope dyed filament, creeled on 1280 cheeses to form tufted fabric roll. The tufted rolls are further loaded on latex coating machine followed by application of latex at 20.0 Oz/sq. yard or 687 GSM to form a rug fabric. The latex coated tuft rolls are cut on Infra red guided cutting machine as per pre-determined specification fed in the computer to form rugs. Lastly the rugs are stitched on four sides on a stitching machine and finally, the stitched rugs are then, washed, checked, mended folded, passed through needle detectors and packed in to poly bags before packing in to cartons.
Tufting machine used for production of rugs as described in Example 1 is a multi loop cut level machine capable of producing jacquard design. The machine gauge of machine was set at 1/8 inch, thus producing 8 linear loops, with a capability to have loop density of around 20 to 80 per sq. inch, for purpose of this example loop density is set at 64 per sq. inch (8 stitches per inch x 8 linear loops). 1280 cheeses of 1.0 micro DPF x 1800 filaments (900x2) are used.
The table below describes the technical specifications of Drylon rug, having a dimension of 20" * 30"

EXAMPLE 3
A Drylon rug made of Drylon yarn which has properties of bleach fastness, stain resistance and quick drying. The Drylon tufting yarn is yarn dyed in W. Denim shade, consisting of 1.0 micro denier per filament fiber, which is further twisted with 900x2, micro filament to form 1800 (900*2) denier tufting yarn and dyed.
Dyeing process for yarn dyeing is as below.
Dyeing of 1800/l80tpm and 1800/100 tpm of Semi Dull & Bright luster yarn
Dyeing is done at 132°C

Anti microbial treatment: - For this treatment use Heiq AGS-20 TF dosing is 1.5% to 2.5% on weight of material. Maintain the pH: - 5.5 at room temp, run for 20-30min. before giving this treatment give the 2-3 rinse. (Do not. rinse the material after give the treatment of Heiq AGS-20 TF) Dyeing Process of Shade (NO. G3291) W. Denim

1 GPL HYDRO & CAUSTIC
MAINTAIN PH 4 TO 4.5
[l]Rate of raising temperature at 1.0 ° C /min

The process for making the rug of instant invention comprises of tufting of 1.0 DPF X 900X2 W.Denim yarn dyed filament, creeled on 1280 cheeses to form tufted fabric roll. The tufted rolls are further loaded on latex coating machine followed by application of latex at 20.0 Oz/sq. yard or 687 GSM to form a rug fabric. The latex coated tuft rolls are cut on Infra red guided cutting machine as per pre-determined specification fed in the computer to form rugs. Lastly the rugs are stitched on four sides on a stitching machine and finally, the stitched rugs are then, washed, checked, mended folded, passed through needle detectors and packed in to poly bags before packing in to cartons.
Tufting machine used for production of rugs as described in Example 3 is a multi loop cut level machine capable of producing jacquard design. The machine gauge of machine was set at 1/8 inch, thus producing 8 linear loops, with a capability to have loop density of around 20 to 80 per sq. inch, for purpose of this example loop density is set at 64 per sq. inch (8 stitches per inch x 8 linear loops). 1280 cheeses of 1.0 micro DPF x 1800 filaments (900x2) are used.
The table below describes the technical specifications of Drylon rug, having a dimension of 20" X 30"

EXAMPLE 5
Tests were conducted on the Drylon Rug to assess its Bleach safe quality. WASH TEST
Drylon Rugs were washed 50 times (50 wash and 50 drying cycles) with 8 Oz of Bleach and detergent
Result the rugs with stood the washing and the color did not bleed, fade or stain. STAIN TEST
Drylon Rugs were smeared with Lipstick, Mascara, Iodine, Benzoil Peroxide cream (10% Benzoil Peroxide) marker ink (Indelible Ink) and hair dye and washed with 8 oz of bleach and detergent.
Result all stains washed out. (Except the Indelible Ink of marker pen)
Further the Drylon rugs were washed for AATCC method 135/150 for 3, 10 and 25 washes and the result on grey scale rating for color change and staining conformed to 4.0 under all the wash conditions, indicating very high performance. Following table gives the details of tests conducted and the results observed.

The instant invention is more specifically explained by above examples. However, those skilled in the art will recognize or be able to ascertain, using no more than routine experimentation, many equivalents to the specific embodiments of the invention described herein. Such equivalents are intended to be encompassed by the examples and claims appended hereinafter.
I Claim:
1. A process for making a Drylon rug comprising use of, dope dyed or yarn dyed, micro-denier per filament, cabled and heat set polyester yarn for tufting of rugs, thereby eliminating the process of batch dyeing after the formation of rugs, further ensuring that the rugs are bleach safe, quick drying and stain resistant wherein, said process comprises:
(a) tufting of micro-denier per filament, dope dyed, cabled and heat-set polyester filament or tufting of micro denier per filament, cabled, heat set yarn dyed with anti-microbial treatment on cheeses is creeled on tufting machine to form tufted fabric roll;
(b) loading the tufted rolls of step (a) on latexing machine followed by application of latex to form a coated rug fabric;
(c) cutting the rug fabric of step (b) on a infra red guided cutting machine as per pre-determined specification to form rugs;
(d) stitching of rugs of step (c) on four sides by stitching machine;
(e) washing, checking, mending and folding and packing the stitched rugs of step (d), in poly bags, and;
(f) packing the poly bag packed rugs of step (e) in cartons.
2. A process for making Drylon rug as claimed in claim 1, wherein the dope dyed or yarn dyed, micro denier per filament, is in range of 1.0 to 5.0 DPF and with yarns of 600X2, 1200X2, 1800 and 2400 filaments, up on cabling, wherein range is from 150 to 3600 filaments or 75x2 to 1800x2.
3. The process for making Drylon rug as claimed in claim 2, wherein the Drylon filament is dope dyed during the process of filament extrusion by adding color master batch during extrusion of spinning process.
4. The process of making Drylon rug as claimed in claim 2, wherein the Drylon filament is dyed after cabling and heat setting in pressure vessels with antimicrobial treatment.
5. The process for making Drylon rug as claimed in claim 3, wherein dope dyeing imparts bleach safe property and good color fastness to the said filament.
6. The process of making Drylon rug as claimed in claim 4, wherein yarn dyeing imparts bleach safe and anti microbial properties
7. The process for making Drylon rug as claimed in claim 1 and 2, wherein cabling results in soft and bulky tufts.
8. The process for making Drylon rug as claimed in claim 1, wherein tufting is carried out on table-tufting or machine tufting.
9. The process for making Drylon rug as claimed in claim 8, wherein the tufting loop height is in range of 3 mm to 34 mm.
10. The process for making Drylon rug as claimed in claims 8, wherein the tufting has a loop density in the range of 18 to 96 per square inch.
11. The process for making Drylon rug as claimed in claim 8, wherein machine tufting also includes jacquard patterning.
12. The process for making Drylon rug as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rug is coated with latex on remote side to impart anti-skid property and to hold tufts intact.
13. The process for making Drylon rug as claimed in claim 12, wherein latexing on the remote side of the rug fabric is carried out on a continuous latexing machine.
14. The process for making Drylon rug as claimed in claim 12, wherein the latexing mixture comprises of synthetic or natural latex, accelerator and gel.
15. The process for making Drylon rug as claimed in claim 12, wherein the said rug, is made on table-tufting which has latex spray coated or brush applied on remote side.
16. The Drylon rug as manufactured according to the process as claimed in claim 1, comprising use of dope dyed, micro denier per filament, cabled and heat set polyester yarn or microfilament cabled, heat set and yarn dyed with anti microbial treated yarn for tufting of the Drylon rug, thereby eliminating the process of batch dyeing after formation of rugs, further ensuring that the Drylon rugs are bleach safe, quick drying and stain resistant.
17. The Drylon rug as claimed in claim 16, wherein the dope dyed or yarn dyed, micro denier per filament ranges from 1,0 to 5.0 DPF and with filaments of 600X2, 1200X2, 1800 and 2400 filaments, wherein the range is from 150 to 3600 filaments or 75x2 to 1800x2.
18. The Drylon rug as claimed in claim 17, wherein the Drylon filament is dope dyed during the spinning and extrusion process by adding color master batch during extrusion of spinning process or yarn dyed with anti microbial treatment, in pressure vessels after extrusion, cabling and heat setting
19. The Drylon rug as claimed in claim 18, whereby dope dyeing or yarn dyeing of microfilaments imparts bleach safe property and good color fastness to the said filament.
20. The Drylon rug as claimed in claim 17, wherein cabling results in soft and bulky tufts.
21. The Drylon rug as claimed in claim 16, wherein tufting is on table-tufting or machine tufting.
22. The Drylon rug as claimed in claim 21, wherein tufting loop height is in the range of 3 mm to 34mm.
23. The Drylon rug as claimed in claim 21, wherein tufting loop density is in range of 18 to 96 per square inch,
24. The Drylon rug as claimed in claim 21, wherein machine tufting is in jacquard pattern.
25. The Drylon rug as claimed in claim 16 wherein the said rug is coated with latex on remote side to impart anti-skid property and to hold tufts intact.
26. The Drylon rug as claimed in claim 25, wherein latexing is carried out on a continuous latexing machine.
27. The Drylon rug as claimed in claim 25, wherein the latexing mixture comprises of synthetic or natural latex, accelerator and gel.
28. The Drylon rug as claimed in claim 25, wherein the said rug is made on table tufting which has the latex spray coat or brush applied on remote side