초록 ▼

Customers obtain customized textile materials by selecting style, shape, size, pattern and color for an undyed textile product. Based on a selection made by the customer, the textile product is transformed by a dyeing operation performed on a single item to yield a product, such as a shirt, pants, o

Customers obtain customized textile materials by selecting style, shape, size, pattern and color for an undyed textile product. Based on a selection made by the customer, the textile product is transformed by a dyeing operation performed on a single item to yield a product, such as a shirt, pants, or jacket, which has a color and pattern of his or her own choosing, in the size and style he or she desires. The process can be performed in a retail setting using a dye machine which allows the process to be viewed by the customer. Preferably, the textile material is constructed from yarns which include cationic cotton alone or in combination with natural cotton or other natural or synthetic fibers, and using anionic dyes, such as a fiber reactive dye, such that the dye is exhausted during the process and effluent from the dye machine is environmentally friendly without excess dye, salts, and alkalis. To enhance the educational and entertainment experience of the customer, the dyeing operation can be performed in a transparent tank or water kettle in the retail outlet so that the customer can view, for example, the garment as it is being dyed to the customer's specifications.

대표청구항 ▼

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows: 1. A garment dyeing machine for dyeing a garment or textile manufactured with yarns containing varying amounts of cationic cotton, comprising: a tank having a base and one or more sidewal

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows: 1. A garment dyeing machine for dyeing a garment or textile manufactured with yarns containing varying amounts of cationic cotton, comprising: a tank having a base and one or more sidewalls wherein at least a portion of said one or more side walls is transparent and permits one or more people to observe a garment or textile inside said tank; a garment or textile holding rack positioned within said tank for holding said garment or textile manufactured with yarns containing varying amounts of cationic cotton; and means to provide aqueous anionic fiber-reactive dye solution inside said tank, said dye solution being in the range of 1 to 2% on weight of the garment or textile and heated to a target temperature of 70-212° F. and applied to said garment or textile on said holding rack for a period of 1 to approximately 60 minutes to achieve dying the cationic cotton of the garment or textile. 2. The garment dyeing machine of claim 1 wherein said one or more sidewalls of said tank is a plexiglass cylinder. 3. The garment dyeing machine of claim 1 wherein said garment or textile holding rack is movable within said tank during dyeing of a garment or textile on said holding rack. 4. The garment dyeing machine of claim 3 further comprising a spindle connected to said garment or textile holding rack, said spindle performing one or more of the following: lifting said garment or textile holding rack up and down within said tank; rotating said garment or textile holding rack about an axis within said tank; and delivering dye to a garment or textile on the holding rack through perforations or other apertures in the holding rack. 5. The garment dyeing machine of claim 4 wherein said spindle lifts said holding rack up and down within said tank. 6. The garment dyeing machine of claim 4 wherein said spindle rotates said holding rack about said axis within said tank. 7. The garment dyeing machine of claim 1 wherein said holding rack is in the form of a full or partial perforated mannequin or a full or partial mannequin made from flexible wire. 8. The garment dyeing machine of claim 1 wherein said means to provide dye includes a delivery mechanism which is associated with said holding rack so as to deliver dye from inside said holding rack to a garment or textile positioned on said holding rack. 9. The garment dyeing machine of claim 1 wherein said means to provide dye includes one or more spray nozzles positioned within said tank. 10. The garment dyeing machine of claim 9 wherein at least one of said one or more spray nozzles is stationary within said tank and wherein said holding rack is either moved either or both up and down or rotated about an axis within said tank. 11. The garment dyeing machine of claim 9 wherein at least one of said one or more spray nozzles includes is moveable relative to said holding rack within said tank. 12. The garment dyeing machine of claim 9 further comprising a means to re-circulate dye within said tank through said one or more spray nozzles. 13. The garment dyeing machine of claim 1 wherein said means to provide dye includes a fill line which fills said tank with dye. 14. The garment dyeing machine of claim 13 further comprising a means to circulate the dye within said tank. 15. The garment dyeing machine of claim 1 further comprising a means to wash said one or more garments and said tank after dyeing said one or more garments. 16. A garment dyeing machine for dyeing a garment or textile manufactured with yarns containing varying amounts of cationic cotton, comprising: a tank having a base and a transparent, cylindrical plexiglass side wall; a spindle which extends into said tank; a garment or textile holding rack connected to said spindle, said rack for holding said garment or textile manufactured with yarns containing varying amounts of cationic cotton, wherein said spindle either or both rotates said garment rack about an axis or moves said garment up and down within said tank; and one or more spray nozzles positioned within said tank for applying an anionic fiber-reactive dye solution to a garment or textile on said holding rack, said dye solution being in the range of 1 to 2% on weight of the garment or textile and heated to a target temperature of 70-212° F. and applied to said garment or textile on said holding rack for a period of 1 to approximately 60 minutes to achieve dying the cationic cotton of the garment or textile. 17. A garment dyeing machine for dyeing a garment or textile manufactured with yarns containing varying amounts of cationic cotton, comprising: a tank having a base and a transparent, cylindrical plexiglass side wall; a spindle which extends into said tank; a garment or textile holding rack connected to said spindle, said rack for holding said garment or textile manufactured with yarns containing varying amounts of cationic cotton, wherein said spindle either or both rotates said garment rack about an axis or moves said garment up and down within said tank; and means to fill at least part of said tank with aqueous anionic fiber-reactive dye solution for applying dye to a garment or textile on said holding rack, said dye solution being in the range of 1 to 2% on weight of the garment or textile and heated to a target temperature of 70-212° F. and applied to said garment or textile on said holding rack for a period of 1 to approximately 60 minutes to achieve dying the cationic cotton of the garment or textile.