Decorated natural leather

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11905653-B2
Application number	US-202017609099-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 29, 2020
Priority date	May 6, 2019
Publication date	Feb 20, 2024
Grant date	Feb 20, 2024

Abstract

A method for decorating a natural leather comprising the following steps: a) holding by vacuum suction the natural leather with its corium side to an air-permeable support onto a vacuum support of an inkjet printer; and b) inkjet printing a decorative image on the natural leather wherein the air-permeable support is partly covered by said natural leather. The air-permeable support comprises a fibrous layer in contact with the corium side of the natural leather.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for decorating a natural leather which comprises a corium side, the method comprising the following steps:
a) holding by vacuum suction the natural leather with its corium side to an air-permeable support which is carried on a vacuum support of an inkjet printer; and
b) inkjet printing a decorative image on the natural leather wherein the air-permeable support is partly covered by said natural leather, and
wherein the air-permeable support comprises a fibrous layer in contact with the corium side of the natural leather.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the fibrous layer is an unwoven fabric.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the unwoven fabric is a felt.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the felt is a polyester felt.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the fibrous layer is in contact with the vacuum support.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the fibrous layer has an air permeability below 90 L/(dm 2 ×min).

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the air-permeable support comprises a register mark for arranging the natural leather on said support.

8. The method according to claim 1 , the method further comprising an additional step prior to step b), wherein the additional step prior to step b) includes:
applying register means for aligning the natural leather on the air-permeable support.

9. The method according to claim 1 , the method further comprising an additional step prior to step b), wherein the additional step prior to step b) includes:
flattening said leather onto the air-permeable support.

10. The method according to claim 9 , the method further comprising an additional step prior to step a), wherein the additional step prior to step a) includes:
applying an adhesive on the corium side and/or the air-permeable support suitable for making up a sticky layer between the corium side and the air-permeable support during.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the air-permeable support is a conveyor belt, wrapped around the vacuum support and more than one pulley.

12. The method according to claim 1 , the method further comprising an additional step after step b), wherein the additional step after step b) includes:
washing the air-permeable support for cleaning said support.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the natural leather has a grain side, provided with a base coat and wherein the decorative image is printed on said base coat.

14. The method according to claim 13 , the method further comprising an additional step after step b), wherein the additional step after step b) includes:
applying a top coat on the printed decorative image and heat pressing the printed decorative image and said top coat.

15. The method according to claim 1 , the method further comprising:
a scanning step by a camera-system between step a) and step b) for determining a contour of the held natural leather from a captured image of said leather; and optionally for determining a position of the held natural leather on the air-permeable support from said captured image; and
a step before printing wherein the decorative image is masked outside said determined contour for preventing spoiling ink outside the determined contour on the air-permeable support.

16. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the natural leather has a grain side, provided with a base coat and wherein the decorative image is printed on said base coat.

17. The method according to claim 16 , the method further comprising an additional step after step b), wherein the additional step after step b) includes:
applying a top coat on the printed decorative image and heat pressing the printed decorative image and said top coat.

Assignees

• Agfa Nv

Inventors

• De Roeck Luc

Classifications

• D06P3/32 Primary

  leather {skins} · CPC title

• B41J3/4078

  Printing on textile · CPC title

• B41J11/0085 Primary

  Using suction for maintaining printing material flat (on rotatable drums B41J13/226) · CPC title

• B41M5/0047

  by ink-jet printing · CPC title

• B41M5/0076

  on wooden surfaces, leather, linoleum, skin, or flowers · CPC title