Patterning system using a limited number of process colors
AssigneeMilliken & Company
InventorsSeiin Kobayashi, Yoko Zaikawa, Ronald Magee
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Abstract
A process by which dithering techniques and in situ blending techniques may be used to reproduce a desired multi-colored dyed pattern on a substrate using precisely delivered quantities of liquid colorants that are available in only a relatively few colors. Specific preferred process colors, as well as procedures for expanding the range of reproduced colors using such process colors, are presented Optionally, specific actuation instructions for a specific dye injection machine capable of patterning a moving textile substrate may be generated.
Claims37
A method for generating a multi-colored pattern on an absorbent substrate with an electronically-actuated patterning device, said pattern being defined and generated as an array of individually colored pixels on said substrate, said patterning device having a relatively small number of available process colors and said pattern exhibiting a substantially greater number of colors than the number of said process colors, said method comprising the steps of:
- a) making available a multi-colored target pattern in digitized form to be reproduced on said substrate;
- b) selecting the process colors to be used by said patterning device to reproduce said target pattern, said process colors comprising red, green, magenta, yellow, and at least one other color;
- c) establishing a dithering palette comprised of said process colors;
- d) generating, on a display device, a dithered image of said target pattern using said dithering palette;
- and
- e) transforming said dithered image into pixel-wise patterning instructions for said patterning device.
A method for generating a multi-colored pattern on an absorbent substrate with an electronically-actuated patterning device, said pattern being defined and generated as an array of individually colored pixels on said substrate, said patterning device having a relatively small number of available process colors and said pattern exhibiting a substantially greater number of colors than the number of said process colors, said method comprising the steps of:
- a) making available a multi-colored pattern in digitized form to be reproduced on said substrate;
- b) selecting the process colors to be used by said patterning device, said process colors comprising cyan, blue, red, yellow, and gray;
- c) establishing a dithering palette comprised of said process colors and said blends of said process colors;
- d) generating a dithered image of said target pattern using said dithering palette;
- and
- e) transforming said dithered image into pixel-wise patterning instructions for said patterning device.
A method for imparting a pattern to an absorbent substrate with an assortment of process colorants, said colorants being applied in pixel-wise fashion by a patterning device in which liquid colorants of different colors are directed through respective liquid applicators onto a substrate, each of said applicators being supplied with a colorant of a specific color, wherein a first colorant, having been supplied to at least one applicator, is replaced in said applicator by a second colorant before said first colorant is purged from said applicator, said second colorant having a similar hue but a greater chromatic intensity than said first colorant, and wherein the transition between the use of said first colorant and the use of said second colorant is visually unobtrusive in the resulting pattern generated on said substrate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.