EP1731660A2 - Process for continuously manufacturing a colored flocked support. - Google Patents

Abstract

The method involves applying a layer of polymerisable resin (RP) on a surface of a support (S). Natural cotton fibers or calibrated cellulosic artificial fibers having a final titer of 1.7 Dtex and a length 0.3 millimeter are projected on the layer. The layer is polymerized to fix the fibers on the support. Pigmented ink including pigments and a water dispersion binder is deposited on the flocked surface of the support using an ink-jet printing technique, where the binder is partially replaced by a multifunctional agent. The deposited ink is dried and fixed on the surface.

Description

The present invention relates to a method of continuously manufacturing a flocked and colored sheet support.

The vast majority of labels and decorative motifs for textile application (clothing marking) are today manufactured by traditional printing processes: screen printing, embroidery, weaving, etc.

Some of these markings are applied thermally (heat-bonded) or welded by high frequency to the textile to be decorated. Flocked plastic films often form the basis of these decorations, although flocked paper racks may also be used as a base for these decorations.

• pour le fabricant des fibres "flocks" : élimination des opérations de teinture textile et suppression de l'utilisation de matières colorantes, ce qui conduit à des économies de matière et d'énergie, à une réduction des rejets, à l'élimination des opérations de traitement des eaux usées et à une forte amélioration des performances industrielles par accroissement significatif des quantités produites par référence de fibres :
  • pour l'applicateur industriel des fibres "flocks" : forte amélioration de la productivité par réduction des temps de nettoyage et d'immobilisation des machines (temps pouvant représenter 50% des temps de production) ; réduction des pertes et des rejets engendrés par ces changements de couleur et par les nettoyages ; et élimination de taches salissantes pour le personnel.

It is known to use monocolour fibers, generally white or unbleached, but sometimes also pre-dyed fibers, to manufacture flocked products such as, for example, labels and decorative motifs intended for application on textile (marking clothes). The use of white or unbleached fibers has many advantages for both the flock fiber manufacturer and the industrial applicator:

• for the manufacturer of flock fibers: elimination of textile dyeing operations and elimination of the use of dyestuffs, which leads to savings in material and energy, reduction of waste, elimination of operations wastewater treatment and a strong improvement in industrial performance by significantly increasing the quantities produced by fiber reference:
  • for the industrial applicator of "flock" fibers: a strong improvement in productivity by reducing machine cleaning and downtime (up to 50% of production time); reduction of losses and rejections caused by these color changes and by the cleanings; and removal of dirty stains for the staff.

Obtaining a flocked and colored product from white or unbleached fibers is obviously possible through an additional printing operation carried out on the white or ecru flocked product.

Silk screen printing requires the production of "screen screens", a different screen screen being assigned to each of the colors used in the production of the decorative pattern. A drawing whose printing uses six colors therefore requires the production and use of six screen screens. Under these conditions, the short productions, ie the productions of small series of articles, and the production of samples become long and expensive operations.

In recent years, the proprietor of the present patent application has developed single-color and multi-color printing processes of flocked plastic films, thermoplastic, heat-sealable or weldable by high frequency, using digital printing techniques. According to these recent printing processes, inks are deposited on a support by computer-controlled machines. The interests of such digital printing processes are obvious: a) the technical possibilities offered by inkjet printing machines in particular allow precise reproduction of "photographic" type images, with fine color gradations, what remains difficult, if not impossible, in serigraphy; b) the flexibility of use of these machines and equipment allows instant production of small series production, testing, samples and development of colors and shapes at a lower cost; c) the productivity of conventional inkjet printing machines is now close to that of modern screen printing equipment, these performances being further increased by the reduction of unproductive dead times (assembly and adjustment of frames, cleaning between productions, stops for correction of defects ...) related to the screen printing process.

The reproduction of accurate and attractive images is therefore theoretically easy, but in the case of flocked products, the difficulty is to obtain prints having good fastness or resistance to washing, a pleasant touch and technical characteristics compatible with the requirements. Manufacturers of major brands (absence of PVC and certification of products to OEKO-TEX Standard 100).

Among the methods for printing flocked products developed by the present patent applicant, there is the sublimation-transfer printing technique which uses "sublimable inks" (also known as "dispersed inks"). actually acts the same chemical compounds, under two different names). These inks have the property of passing, at a temperature of about 200 ° C., from the solid phase to the vapor phase and, once vaporized, to be fixed permanently to the synthetic fibers (polyesters or polyamides) with which they are contacted, penetrating (diffusing) within said fibers while giving them a color predefined by the formulation of the ink, without altering the touch. The prints thus obtained have solidities (washing, rubbing, light, ...) which are high, and the colors obtained are bright and shiny, provided that the fibers used are polyester (polyamide fibers). give lower resistances and less bright colors).

This sublimation-transfer printing process, which is applicable only to certain synthetic fibers, allows the continuous manufacture (in rolls) of flocked and colored products, either united or reproducing a given single color or multicolor design. This operation is usually done in recovery. More precisely, after the flocked product has been manufactured, a provisional paper pre-printed with sublimable inks is brought into contact with the flocked product and the assembly is worn for several seconds at a temperature of about 200 ° C. which can trigger the sublimation of the dyes contained in the ink used. The impression carried by the temporary paper is thus faithfully "transferred" hot on the flocked support, giving the latter a colorful, plain or multicolored, depending on the graphic characteristics of the preprinted temporary paper.

This sublimation-transfer printing process, used by the holder of the present patent application to print his flocked articles continuously, is described in particular in the documents EP-A-0 913 271 (or US-B-6,224,707 ), and EP-A-0 993 963 (or US-B-6,249,297 ). These two documents provide for the use of "flock" fibers made of polyamide or polyester, whose "title" (diameter) is between 0.5 Dtex and 20 Dtex, and whose length is between 0.3mm and 3mm. However, this printing method is not suitable for printing products flocked with cellulosic fiber fibers, natural or artificial, such as cotton fibers or rayon-viscose fibers.

• les encres « sublimables » ou « dispersées », qui, comme cela a été indiqué plus haut à propos du procédé d'impression par sublimation-transfert, conviennent préférentiellement pour leur application sur des fibres flocks synthétiques en polyamide ou mieux en polyester, mais elles ne conviennent pas pour imprimer des fibres flocks naturelles comme des fibres en coton, ou des fibres flocks artificielles cellulosiques comme des fibres en rayonne-viscose ;
• les encres « réactives » qui conviennent pour leur application sur des fibres flocks en coton ou en rayonne-viscose, car elles présentent une bonne solidité au lavage, mais elles ont par contre l'inconvénient de devoir être séchées, puis fixées par passage dans une atmosphère de vapeur saturée (102°C) pendant plusieurs minutes, généralement de 10 à 40 minutes, puis lavées ; ce traitement est non seulement relativement long, mais aussi il est pratiquement impossible à appliquer à des produits présentés sur un support papier, et il demande un équipement important pour des opérations en continu ;
• les encres « acides » qui conviennent pour leur application sur des fibres flocks en polyamide, car elles présentent aussi une bonne solidité au lavage, mais elles doivent également être séchées, puis fixées par passage dans une atmosphère de vapeur saturée (102°C) pendant plusieurs minutes, généralement de 30 à 45 minutes, avec les mêmes restrictions que pour les encres « réactives » ; et enfin
• les encres «pigmentaires » qui sont composées d'un liant filmogène transparent, généralement choisi parmi les copolymères autoréticulables à base d'acrylate, en dispersion aqueuse, dans lequel sont incorporés des pigments brillants, organiques ou minéraux, en suspension aqueuse (ces pigments sont insolubles dans l'eau et chimiquement inertes) ;dans ce système, les pigments donnent à l'impression son coloris, tandis que le liant filmogène qui, après séchage (évaporation de l'eau) et polymérisation, enrobe les pigments colorés, confère à l'impression sa solidité ; les encres « pigmentaires »conviennent pour leur application sur des fibres flocks en coton ou en rayonne-viscose et elles ne demandent qu'une simple fixation thermique à une température de 150 à 180°C, qui a pour objet de polymériser le liant de l'encre d'impression et de le rendre solide au lavage.

On the other hand, several types of inks are likely to be used in the inkjet printing process:

• "sublimable" or "disperse" inks, which, as mentioned above with respect to the sublimation-transfer printing process, are preferentially suitable for their application to synthetic flock fibers made of polyamide or better polyester, but they are not suitable for printing natural flock fibers such as cotton fibers, or cellulosic artificial flock fibers such as rayon-viscose fibers;
• the "reactive" inks which are suitable for their application on flock fibers of cotton or rayon-viscose, because they have a good fastness to washing, but they have the disadvantage of having to be dried and then fixed by passing through a Saturated steam atmosphere (102 ° C) for several minutes, usually 10 to 40 minutes, then washed; this treatment is not only relatively long, but it is practically impossible to apply to products presented on a paper medium, and it requires important equipment for continuous operations;
• "Acid" inks suitable for application to polyamide fiber flocks, as they also have good wash fastness, but they must also be dried and then fixed by passing through a saturated vapor atmosphere (102 ° C) for several minutes, usually 30 to 45 minutes, with the same restrictions as for "reactive"inks; and finally
• "pigmentary" inks which are composed of a transparent film-forming binder, generally chosen from acrylate-based self-crosslinkable copolymers, in aqueous dispersion, in which are incorporated glossy pigments, organic or inorganic, in aqueous suspension (these pigments are insoluble in water and chemically inert), in this system the pigments give the impression its color, while the film-forming binder which, after drying (evaporation of water) and polymerization, coats the colored pigments, gives the impression its solidity; the "pigmentary" inks are suitable for their application on flock fibers of cotton or viscose rayon and they require only a simple thermal fixation at a temperature of 150 to 180 ° C., the purpose of which is to polymerize the binder of the print ink and make it solid to wash.

However, the attempts made so far to attempt to print flocked products by the inkjet printing process using pigment inks have not been successful. It has been found that the presence of the binder in the ink makes inkjet printing difficult, since the binder has a tendency to solidify on drying and thus causes the clogging of the channels and / or the very thin nozzles. ink projection of the printing heads of the inkjet printing machine.

In an attempt to remedy this, it has been thought to reduce the binder content in the ink, but this has led to prints having a wash fastness much too low (domestic wash at 40 or 60 ° C). It has also been proposed to deposit on the surface of the flocked products a polymer resin which was to ensure the fixing of the pigments projected onto the resin-impregnated surface. But here again, this led to impressions having insufficient solidities to wash and rub and, furthermore, this gave the printed flocked article a rough and unpleasant feel.

The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a process which makes it possible to obtain, easily and rapidly, from natural or artificial flock fibers, a flocked and colored product which has a good fastness to washing, to friction and to light, an extremely soft and pleasant touch, which can eventually lead to less a sharp and precise image, if necessary with fine gradations of colors.

• d'application d'une couche de résine polymérisable sur au moins une face du support en nappe ;
• de projection de fibres flocks naturelles ou artificielles sur ladite couche de résine ;
• de polymérisation de la résine pour fixer les fibres flocks au support en nappe ;
• de dépôt d'au moins une encre pigmentaire sur la face flockée du support en nappe par une technique d'impression par jet d'encre, ladite encre pigmentaire comprenant des pigments et un liant en dispersion aqueuse ;
• de séchage et de fixation de l'encre pigmentaire déposée sur la face flockée du support en nappe ;

caractérisé en ce que :

• pour l'étape de projection de fibres flocks on utilise des fibres naturelles en coton ou des fibres artificielles cellulosiques calibrées ayant un titre fin de 0,5 à 2 Dtex et une longueur comprise entre 0,2 et 1,5 mm ;
• pour l'étape de dépôt de l'encre on utilise une machine d'impression à jet d'encre à tête d'impression du type piézoélectrique et on utilise, à titre d'encre pigmentaire, une encre dans laquelle le liant a été remplacé au moins en partie par un agent multifonctionnel ayant des propriétés combinées de dispersion des pigments, de stabilisation de l'encre, d'adhésion sur les fibres cellulosiques naturelles ou artificielles et de haute résistance mécanique.

For this purpose, the subject of the invention is a method of continuously manufacturing a flocked and colored sheet support comprising the following steps:

• applying a polymerizable resin layer to at least one face of the web support;
• projecting natural or artificial flock fibers onto said resin layer;
• polymerizing the resin to fix the flock fibers to the web support;
• depositing at least one pigment ink on the flocked face of the web support by an ink jet printing technique, said pigment ink comprising pigments and a binder in aqueous dispersion;
• drying and fixing the pigment ink deposited on the flocked face of the web support;

characterized in that

• for the flock fiber projection step, natural cotton fibers or calibrated cellulosic artificial fibers having a fine titer of 0.5 to 2 Dtex and a length of between 0.2 and 1.5 mm are used;
• for the ink deposition step, a piezoelectric type ink jet printing machine is used, and an ink in which the binder has been replaced is used as the pigment ink. at least in part by a multifunctional agent having combined pigment dispersing, stabilizing properties and ink, adhesion on natural or artificial cellulosic fibers and high mechanical strength.

• le support en nappe comprend au moins un support choisi dans le groupe comprenant un support en papier ou en carton, un film thermoplastique, un film thermocollant, un film soudable par haute fréquence ou une combinaison de ceux-ci ;
• l'étape de séchage et de fixation de l'encre pigmentaire peut avoir une durée inférieure à 1 minute, de préférence une durée de 20 à 30 secondes à une température de 150 à 180°C, de préférence à 170°C ;
• lorsque le support en nappe est constitué par un support en papier ou en carton ou par un film soudable par haute fréquence, l'étape de séchage et de fixation de l'encre pigmentaire est effectuée immédiatement après l'étape de dépôt de l'encre pigmentaire ;
• lorsque le support en nappe comprend un film thermocollant, l'étape de séchage et de fixation de l'encre pigmentaire peut être différée après une étape de découpage d'une partie du support en nappe flocké et coloré et une étape de pose de la partie découpée sur un tissu ou un vêtement devant être décoré, et a lieu en même temps que l'on effectue un thermocollage de ladite partie découpée sur ledit tissu ou ledit vêtement ;
• les fibres cellulosiques utilisées sont en rayonne-viscose ;
• les fibres en rayonne-viscose utilisées ont un titre compris entre 0,9 et 2 Dtex, de préférence environ de 1,7 Dtex ;
• les fibres en rayonne-viscose utilisées ont une longueur comprise entre 0,2 et 0,8 mm, de préférence environ de 0,3 mm ;
• pour l'étape d'application d'une résine polymérisable, on utilise à titre de résine polymérisable une résine 100% solide, à point de ramollissement élevé, de préférence à point de ramollissement supérieur à 170°C, par exemple une résine polyuréthane ;
• à l'étape d'application de la résine polymérisable, on dépose une quantité de résine de 60 à 100 g/m², de préférence 85 g/m² ;
• à l'étape de projection de fibres flocks, on projette sur la couche de résine polymérisable une quantité de fibres de 40 à 80 g/m², de préférence 60 g/m² ;

The method of the present invention may further include one or more of the following features:

• the web support comprises at least one support selected from the group consisting of a paper or paperboard support, a thermoplastic film, a heat-sealing film, a high-frequency weldable film or a combination thereof;
• the step of drying and fixing the pigment ink may have a duration of less than 1 minute, preferably a duration of 20 to 30 seconds at a temperature of 150 to 180 ° C, preferably at 170 ° C;
• when the web support is constituted by a support of paper or cardboard or by a high frequency weldable film, the step of drying and fixing the pigment ink is performed immediately after the ink deposition step pigmentary;
• when the web support comprises a heat-sealing film, the step of drying and fixing the pigment ink may be delayed after a step of cutting a portion of the flocked and colored web support and a step of laying the part cut on a fabric or garment to be decorated, and takes place at the same time as a heat-bonding said cut portion on said fabric or said garment;
• the cellulosic fibers used are rayon-viscose;
• the rayon-viscose fibers used have a titer of between 0.9 and 2 Dtex, preferably about 1.7 Dtex;
• the rayon-viscose fibers used have a length of between 0.2 and 0.8 mm, preferably around 0.3 mm;
• for the step of applying a polymerizable resin, a 100% solid resin having a high softening point, preferably having a softening point greater than 170 ° C., for example a polyurethane resin, is used as the polymerizable resin;
• at the step of applying the polymerizable resin, a quantity of resin of 60 to 100 g / m ² , preferably 85 g / m ² , is deposited;
• in the step of spraying flock fibers, an amount of fibers of 40 to 80 g / m ² , preferably 60 g / m ² , is sprayed onto the polymerizable resin layer;

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of an embodiment of the invention given by way of example with reference to the single figure of the appended drawing.

Referring to the single figure, it can be seen that the method according to the invention comprises a first step 1 of applying a layer of an adhesive A (polymerizable resin RP) on one side of a support S running continuously in the direction indicated by the arrow F, a second step 2 or flocking step of projecting flock fibers FF on the polymerizable resin layer RP, a third step 3 or fixing step of polymerizing the resin of the adhesive A for fixing the foot of the flock fibers FF in the resin, the free portion of said flock fibers FF extending substantially perpendicular to the surface of the resin layer, a fourth step 4 or printing step of depositing at least a pigment ink E on the flocked face of the support S by an inkjet printing technique, and a fifth step or step of drying and fixing the ink which has been projected onto the flocked side of the support S.

The support S can be chosen from a wide range of flockable media, such as paper, cardboard, plastic film, fabric or nonwovens. Preferably, the support S is constituted by a plastic film based on thermo-reactivable polymer resins chosen from copolyamides, copolyesters and co-polyurethanes. Even more preferentially, a film made of a polyurethane resin will be chosen as the support S, since the polyurethane resins are elastic and allow the production of flexible marking products that can follow the elongation of the extensible fabrics without mechanical rupture. In particular, the choice of a TPU film (thermoplastic polyurethane) loaded with conductive aluminum powder is well suited for the production of marking products intended to be fixed by HF welding on a textile substrate such as a garment. Such TPU films make it possible to no longer use the PVC (polyvinyl chloride) films which were previously used for this HF welding operation and which are no longer accepted by the manufacturers of the major brands. For example, a TPU film having a basis weight of between 50 and 100 g / m ² , preferably 70 g / m ² can be used as the support S.

In the case where the support S is constituted by a thin and flexible plastic film such as the above-mentioned TPU film, it can, in certain cases, before treatment by the method of the invention or before step 4 of this invention. ci, advantageously be glued temporarily on a temporary support, for example a continuous strip of paper that can be removed later by peeling. This facilitates the scrolling of the support S in the inkjet printing machine used in step 4.

In any case, the support S may be in the form of a roll which is placed on a supply reel (not shown in FIG. figure) from which the roll is unwound continuously to perform the operations of steps 1 to 5 of the method according to the invention.

In step 1, the polymerizable resin RP used as adhesive A may be selected from PVC plastisols, polymeric resins in aqueous dispersion or in solvent (acrylic resins or polyurethanes), or, in a preferred version of the invention, polyurethane resins called 100% solid or "high solid", polymerizable thermally or by irradiation (ultraviolet or electron beam). These latter resins 100% solid or "high solid" have the advantage of being able to present a very high softening point, which may be useful when the support S, once flocked and colored, is subsequently subjected to hot at relatively high temperatures. An example of a "high solid" resin that can be used for step 1 is the "IMPRANIL-IMPRAFIX" system from Bayer, Germany. The amount of the polymerizable resin RP deposited in step 1 may for example be between 60 and 100 g / m ² , preferably 85 g / m ² . This quantity is sufficient to then ensure, in step 3, a good fixing of flock fibers FF to the support S and to retain the finished product flexibility and thinness.

According to the desires or the needs, the polymer resin layer RP used as adhesive A may be uniformly coated or in a given pattern, for example by screen printing with the frame, rotary. The resin layer may have a final thickness of between 15 and 100 μm, depending on the nature of the flock fibers FF used for the second stage (flocking step 2). In general, the more the flock fibers used have a fine title and a short length, the more the thickness of the polymerizable resin layer may be low.

In step 2, flock fibers FF are projected into the polymeric resin layer RP by any of the conventional flocking techniques, which are well known and need not be described in detail.

In the process of the invention, flock fibers are natural cotton fibers or, preferably, rayon-viscose cellulosic artificial fibers, preferably of white or unbleached color. The flock fibers FF used have a fine titre of between 0.5 and 2 Dtex, preferably between 0.9 and 2 Dtex, for example 1.7 Dtex, and a length of between 0.2 and 1.5 mm, preferably between 0.2 and 0.8 mm, and still more preferably a length of 0.3 mm, so as to obtain a flocked support having a very soft feel. The amount of rayon-viscose flock fibers projected in the resin in step 2 is preferably between 40 and 80 g / m ² , for example 60 g / m ² . The choice of short and white flock fibers in viscose rayon makes it possible to obtain the best color rendition, since the fibrous mass to be printed is limited in accordance with the maximum quantity of ink that can be projected by the type of printing machine. These fibers also lead to the best fastnesses (in terms of washing and light-fastness).

In step 3, the polymerizable resin RP is polymerized by irradiation (UV or electron beam) or thermally according to the type of the resin used in step 1. The thermal polymerization can be carried out for example by passing the support S in a tunnel furnace or on the peripheral surface of a rotating heating drum, at a temperature between 100 ° C and 160 ° C.

In step 4, for the deposition of the ink E on the flocked face of the support S, an ink jet printing machine controlled by computer, which comprises at least one printhead TI, of piezoelectric type, for projecting the ink E on the flocked face of the support S. The piezoelectric type printing heads do not cause a sharp rise in the temperature of the the projected ink, which considerably reduces the risk of clogging the nozzles in the printheads, risks which are due to the drying of the fixing agent contained in the pigment ink E. For example, it is possible to use as an inkjet printing machine a TX2 model machine manufactured by MIMAKI, Japan, or a VIPER model machine manufactured by MUTOH Japan.

In step 4, at least one pigment ink E is used in which the conventional binder has been replaced at least in part by a multifunctional agent (polymer) having combined properties of pigment dispersion, ink stabilization, adhesion on natural or artificial cellulosic fibers and high mechanical strength. Particularly suitable pigment inks for carrying out the process of the invention are Helizarin® EVO P 100 inks marketed by BASF, Germany.

After step 4, the ink or inks deposited on the layer of colored (printed) flock fibers of the support S is or are dried and fixed thermally to the flock fibers FF (step 5). This thermal fixing operation (polymerization) can be carried out continuously immediately after the printing step 4, for example by passing through an oven, under a ramp of infrared radiation lamps or on the peripheral surface of a rotating heating drum. . This will generally be the case when the support S consists of a paper support and / or a TPU film weldable by HF welding. It has been found Surprisingly, when using natural flock fibers of cotton or short cellulosic and fine-textured artificial fibers as indicated above, in particular flock fibers made of rayon-viscose, the heat-setting operation can be carried out in a relatively short time. The experiments carried out by the applicant have shown that this time can be less than 1 minute, in particular a time of 20 to 30 seconds at a temperature of 160 to 180 ° C., for example at 170 ° C., while at the same time providing printing performed on the flocked support very good fastness to washing (washing at 40 or 60 ° C), friction and light, without additional thermal fixation (crosslinking) is necessary for the application to the marking of clothing considered here. With an inkjet printing machine having a continuous printing speed of 0.5 meters per minute and with a drying time and fixing as short as 30 seconds, the heating zone of the heating device used at Step 5 may have a dimension of 25 cm in the running direction of the flocked and printed medium, so a relatively short dimension. Of course, the duration of the heat setting operation can however be extended if one wishes to have an even better wash fastness.

In the case where the support S is a plastic film stabilized by a temporary support, the latter can then be separated from the plastic film and wound on a winding reel for eventual re-use as a temporary support.

On the other hand, whatever its nature, the flocked and colored (printed) support S may be wound on a reel (not shown in the figure) for later use, for example cutting of labels, decorative patterns or the like in the holder E, placing labels or decorative patterns on textile substrates such as clothing to be labeled or decorated, and then attaching labels or decorative patterns to textile substrates by heat-sealing or HF welding.

It goes without saying that the embodiment of the invention which has been described above has been given by way of purely indicative and non-limiting example, and that many modifications can be easily made by the man of the art without departing from the scope of the invention. Thus, in the case where the support S is a heat-sealing plastic film, the step 5 can be a simple drying operation and the thermal fixing of the ink to the fibers can be carried out later simply by hot application of the label, pattern or other decorative element on the garment to be labeled or decorated (for a period of 20 to 30 seconds at 170 ° C).

In addition, it is not absolutely essential to use flock fibers FF white or unbleached for the flocking step 2, because it is also possible to use pre-dyed cellulosic fibers. For example, it is conceivable to carry out in step 2 a solid flocking (background) with cellulosic fibers pre-dyed red, this red background then being printed for example with a black ink in the printing step 4.

On the other hand, the printing step 4 does not necessarily consist in printing a single-colored or multicolored pattern on the flocked face of the support S. In step 4, it may be a solid pigment impression: c That is, for example, uniform printing in a given color of white cellulosic fibers. This possibility can be very interesting for the realization by pigment printing of a small amount of flocked product in a special uniform shade.

In addition, although the invention has been more particularly described in its application to the marking of fabrics such as clothing, it can have many other applications such as the manufacture of paper or cardboard for the manufacture of luxury packaging .

In addition, although in the embodiment described only one of the two faces of the web support S is coated with "flock" fibers and stained, the method described could be applied to both sides of the support S.

Claims (11)

Process for the continuous production of a flocked and colored web support (S), comprising the following steps: - Application (1) of a polymerizable resin layer (RP) on at least one side of the web support (S); projecting (2) natural or artificial flock fibers (FF) onto said resin layer (RP); - polymerizing (3) the resin (RP) to fix the flock fibers (FF) to the sheet support (S); depositing (4) at least one pigment ink (E) on the flocked face of the web support (S) by an inkjet printing technique, said pigment ink comprising pigments and a binder in dispersion aqueous; drying and fixing (5) the pigment ink (E) deposited on the flocked face of the web support (S); characterized in that for the flock fiber (FF) stage (2), natural cotton fibers or calibrated cellulosic artificial fibers having a fine titer of 0.5 to 2 Dtex and a length of between 0.2 and 1 are used. , 5 mm; for the ink deposition step (4) (E), a piezoelectric-type printing ink jet printing machine (TI) is used and, as a pigment ink, it is used. (E), an ink in which the binder has been replaced at least in part by a multifunctional agent having combined properties of pigment dispersion, ink stabilization, adhesion to natural or artificial cellulosic fibers and high mechanical resistance. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the web support (S) comprises at least one support selected from the group consisting of a paper or paperboard support, a thermoplastic film, a heat-sealing film, a high-frequency weldable film or a combination of these. Process according to Claim 2, characterized in that the step (5) for drying and fixing the pigment ink (E) has a duration of less than 1 minute, preferably a duration of 20 to 30 seconds at a temperature of 150 to 180 ° C, preferably 170 ° C. Method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that when the web support (S) consists of a paper or cardboard support or a high-frequency weldable film, the step (5) of drying and fixing pigment ink (E) is made immediately after step (4) of depositing the pigment ink. A method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that when the web support comprises a fusible film, the step (5) for drying and fixing the pigment ink (E) is delayed after a cutting step of a portion of the flocked and colored sheet-like support (S) and a step of placing the cut-out portion on a fabric or garment to be decorated, and takes place at the same time as a heat-sealing of said cut-out portion is performed on said cloth or garment. Process according to any one of Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the cellulosic fibers (FF) used are made of rayon-viscose. Process according to Claim 6, characterized in that the rayon-viscose fibers (FF) have a titer of between 0.9 and 2 Dtex, preferably about 1.7 Dtex. Process according to Claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the rayon-viscose fibers (FF) have a length of between 0.2 and 0.8 mm, preferably around 0.3 mm. Process according to any one of Claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, for the step (1) of application of a polymerizable resin (RP), a 100% solid resin is used as the polymerizable resin high softening, preferably softening point above 170 ° C, for example a polyurethane resin. Process according to Claim 9, characterized in that in the step (1) of application of the polymerizable resin (RP), a quantity of resin of 60 to 100 g / m ² , preferably 85 g / m, is deposited. ² . Process according to claim 10, characterized in that in the step (2) of projection of the flock fibers (FF), a quantity of fibers of 40 to 80 g / m ² is sprayed onto the polymerizable resin layer (RP), preferably 60 g / m ² .

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