Patent Application
20250101643
The present disclosure generally relates to far infrared radiation (FIR) yarn that may be used to create various textiles having multiple benefits for the human body. In particular, the present disclosure relates to FIR yarn created from fiber made using a masterbatch and an extrusion process.
Traditionally textiles, garments, clothes, leisure-wear and athletic-wear such as shirts, pants, shorts, socks, underwear, hats, shoes, wristbands, headbands, sweatbands, rash guards, athletic sleeves, compression sleeves, braces, body/joint wraps, protective equipment, blankets, sheets, linens, comforters, pillowcases, towels, etc. are made from cotton, polyester, nylon, spandex, silk, wool, Lycra, leather and the like. Such garments traditionally do not provide added benefits to the wearer such as increased artery blood flow, increased peripheral blood circulation, improved endothelial function, increased growth of collagen and elastin in the skin, reduced dry and itchy skin, improved temperature regulation and improved moisture regulation.
Far infrared radiation (FIR) produces both thermal and o-thermal effects to the human body, and has been shown to increase artery blood flow, increase peripheral blood circulation, improve endothelial function, alleviate fatigue and pain, reduce blood pressure and promote capillary dilations. Additionally, FIR is beneficial in treating diseases such as, but not limited to, cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease and ischemia, and is effective in relieving pain in patients with chronic pain, chronic fatigue syndrome, and fibromyalgia. FIR may be used for physical ailments such as muscle damage in a person suffering from an injury and has mental health benefits for patients suffering from depression and insomnia by increasing serotonin and reducing malondialdehyde levels. Typically, the global industry standard for claiming FIR performance is the Chinese test standard GB/T 30127-2013. In accordance with the GB/T 30127-2013 standard, to claim improved FIR performance, the minimum requirement FIR emissivity is 0.88, and the minimum requirement for temperature rise in the material (i.e., FIR temperature rise) is 1.4° C.
FIR helps to increase blood flow and vasodilation by heating human tissue in the body; these benefits are similar to applying heat pads or hot water to the body. FIR treatment even at low levels has been shown to have positive therapeutic and biological benefits, such as . . . [any to list?].
Copper and graphene are known to possess beneficial properties for humans. Copper is known to reduce the signs of aging by promoting the growth of collagen and elastin in the skin, helping keep the skin looking youthful. Copper is also known to reduce dry and itchy skin and is a natural antimicrobial, which is especially beneficial when used in compression and athletic garments. Textiles and garments that use copper also have anti-odor or odor reducing properties.
Graphene is an effective thermal conductor. It helps preserve heat in cold weather and reduce or eliminate heat in warm weather. Graphene also has water resistant properties that allow textile and garments to stay dry as well as dry quickly. Graphene fibers are also lightweight and breathable. Graphene fibers are also very strong having ultra-high tensile strength. These above characteristics are ideal for athletic sleeves, compression sleeves and garments.
The present disclosure generally relates to FIR yarn that may be used to create various textiles having multiple benefits for the human body. In particular, the present disclosure relates to FIR yarn created from fiber made using a masterbatch and an extrusion process.
The present disclosure relates to FIR yarn that may be used to create various textiles, garments, clothes, leisure-wear and athletic-wear such as shirts, pants, shorts, socks, underwear, hats, shoes, wristbands, headbands, sweatbands, rash guards, athletic sleeves, compression sleeves, braces, body/joint wraps, protective equipment, blankets, sheets, linens, comforters, pillowcases, towels, etc. having multiple benefits for the human body. The FIR yarn may comprise one or more of copper, graphene, germanium, titanium, silica, magnesium, strontium, silicon dioxide, titanium dioxide, magnesite, calcite, rhodochrosite, siderite, smithsonite, aragonite, strontianite, smithsonite, witherite, cerrusite, huntite, dolomite, ankerite, kutnohorite, hydroincite, hydroomagnesite, artinite, galussite, trona, ankerite, aragonite, artinite, and combinations thereof.
It is further contemplated that the textiles, garments, clothes, leisure-wear and athletic-wear created from the FIR yarn will have one or more benefits to the wearer, such as increased artery blood flow, increased peripheral blood circulation, improved endothelial function, improved capillary dilations, reduced fatigue and pain, reduced blood pressure, increased growth of collagen and elastin in the skin, reduced dry and itchy skin, reduced odor, improved temperature regulation, and improved moisture regulation.
In one embodiment, a FIR yarn composition is disclosed, comprising: one or more FIR fibers comprising copper, graphene, and a first textile material; and one or more textile fibers comprising a second textile material; wherein the one or more FIR fibers are interwoven with the one or more textile fibers to form the FIR yarn composition.
In one embodiment, the one or more FIR fibers comprise nanofibers with a diameter of less than 100 nanometers.
In one embodiment, an FIR emissivity of the FIR yarn composition is at least 0.88.
In one embodiment, the FIR emissivity of the FIR yarn composition is at least 0.95.
In one embodiment, the FIR temperature rise of the FIR yarn composition is at least 1.4° C.
In one embodiment, the FIR temperature rise of the FIR yarn composition is at least 1.8° C.
In one embodiment, the one or more FIR fibers are formed by melting copper powder, graphene powder, and the first textile material to form an extrusion material, and extruding the extrusion material to form the one or more FIR fibers.
In one embodiment, a weight percentage of the copper powder used to form the one or more FIR fibers is 10%.
In one embodiment, a weight percentage of the graphene powder used to form the one or more FIR fibers is 3%.
In one embodiment, the first textile material comprises polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
In one embodiment, the first textile material comprises Nylon 6 (N6).
In one embodiment, the second textile material comprises PET.
In one embodiment, the second textile material comprises N6.
In another embodiment, the FIR yarn composition comprises 43% by weight of nylon, 34% by weight of polyester, 19% by weight of rubber, and 4% by weight of spandex.
In one embodiment, the FIR yarn composition is configured to be incorporated into a textile product selected from the group consisting of shirts, pants, shorts, socks, underwear, hats, shoes, wristbands, headbands, sweatbands, rash guards, athletic sleeves, compression sleeves, braces, body/joint wraps, protective equipment, blankets, sheets, linens, comforters, pillowcases, towels, etc.
In one embodiment, the FIR yarn composition comprises approximately 73-74% by weight of Carbon, approximately 11-15% by weight of Copper, approximately 11-15% by weight of Oxygen, and approximately 0-1% by weight of Silicon.
In one embodiment, the FIR yarn composition comprises approximately 73.8% by weight of Carbon, approximately 14.2% by weight of Copper, approximately 11.7% by weight of Oxygen, and approximately 0.3% by weight of Silicon.
In one embodiment, the FIR yarn composition comprises approximately 73.7% by weight of Carbon, approximately 11.2% by weight of Copper, approximately 14.8% by weight of Oxygen, and approximately 0.3% by weight of Silicon.
In one embodiment, one or more secondary FIR fibers are interwoven with the one or more FIR fibers and the one or more textile fibers, wherein the secondary FIR fibers may comprise varying amounts of graphene content.
In one embodiment, the graphene content of the one or more secondary FIR fibers is greater than the graphene content of the one or more FIR fibers.
A further understanding of the present disclosure can be obtained by reference to a preferred embodiment set forth in the illustrations of the accompanying drawings. Although the illustrated embodiment is merely exemplary of systems and methods for carrying out the invention, both the organization and method of operation of the invention, in general, together with further objectives and advantages thereof, may be more easily understood by reference to the drawings and the following description. The drawings are not intended to limit the scope of this invention, which is set forth with particularity in the claims as appended or as subsequently amended, but merely to clarify and exemplify the invention.
For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure, reference is now made to the following drawings in which:
The detailed description set forth below is intended as a description of various FIR yarn compositions and methods for making the same and is not intended to represent the only way the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the various concepts. It will be apparent, however, to those skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without all of these specific details. In some instances, well-known elements are only briefly mentioned or described in order to avoid obscuring the material aspects of the present disclosure.
Reference may be made herein to other United States patents, foreign patents, and/or other technical references. Any reference made herein to other documents is an express incorporation by reference of the document so referenced in its entirety.
The present disclosure generally relates to FIR yarns to be used in various products configured for contact with the human body to provide the benefits of FIR, copper, and graphene described above. The FIR yarns may be used in products such as, but not limited to, clothing, shirts, pants, shorts, socks, underwear, hats, shoes, wristbands, headbands, sweatbands, rash guards, athletic sleeves, compression sleeves, braces, body/joint wraps, protective equipment, blankets, sheets, linens, comforters, pillowcases, towels, and any other desirable textiles.
At step 102, a concentration of graphene for high-concentration masterbatch pellets may be determined. The concentration of graphene may be determined based on the requirements of the final textile product. In one embodiment, the amount of copper powder used for the masterbatch pellets may be a fixed amount. For example, the copper content may be fixed at 100,000 parts per million (ppm), or 10 percent by weight (wt. %). The amount of graphene powder may be chosen based on FIR emissivity requirements, tensile strength requirements, elasticity, etc. of a final yarn to be produced. For example, without limitation, graphene content may be 30,000 ppm, or 3 wt. %.
At step 104, high-concentration masterbatch pellets may be produced by mixing an amount of copper powder and an amount of graphene powder with an amount of a base polymer, which may be either virgin polyethylene terephthalate (PET) chips or nylon 6 (N6) chips to create masterbatch pellets. The base polymer (either virgin PET or N6 chips) may be thoroughly mixed with both the copper powder and graphene powder to ensure uniform dispersion. Once mixed, the masterbatch pellets may be produced, achieving a high concentration of copper and graphene.
At step 106, the high-concentration masterbatch pellets may be mixed with virgin standard PET or N6 chips, melted, and extruded to form fibers. The proportion of masterbatch pellets to virgin polymer chips added during this step may vary and may be determined by the desired concentration of copper and graphene in the final fiber. As an example, adding 5% of the masterbatch pellets to the virgin polymer chips may yield a fiber containing 5,000 ppm of copper and 1,500 ppm of graphene. Additionally, in one embodiment, the final fiber may be a nanofiber with a diameter less than 100 nanometers (nm).
At step 108, the extruded fiber containing the copper and graphene may be woven or twisted together with PET or N6 fibers to form a yarn. The weaving process may involve combining the functionalized fiber (e.g., the FIR fibers) with non-functionalized fibers (e.g., traditional textile fibers) in various proportions, depending on the desired characteristics of the final yarn. This step may allow for the integration of the conductive and antimicrobial properties of the copper-graphene fiber with the mechanical strength and flexibility of the standard PET or N6 fibers, resulting in a hybrid yarn tailored for specific end-use applications such as textiles, technical fabrics, or industrial products.
The ability to adjust graphene concentration in the masterbatch pellets and vary the masterbatch pellet content during fiber extrusion enables customization for specific end-use applications. The mixing process may ensure uniform dispersion of copper and graphene within the masterbatch pellets, translating to consistent properties in the final fiber product. The use of high-concentration masterbatch pellets may also simplify the production process by allowing the fiber producer to easily adjust the concentrations of copper and graphene to meet precise specifications without needing to handle multiple materials during the fiber extrusion process.
In one embodiment of the present disclosure, multiple ingredients (e.g., elements and/or minerals) are utilized to produce FIR in a single yarn to achieve levels of emission meeting global industry standards, such as the GB/T 30127-2013 standard.
The present disclosure may incorporate ingredients such as copper, germanium, titanium, silica, graphene, magnesium, strontium, silicon dioxide, titanium dioxide, magnesite, calcite, rhodochrosite, siderite, smithsonite, aragonite, strontianite, smithsonite, witherite, cerrusite, huntite, dolomite, ankerite, kutnohorite, hydroincite, hydroomagnesite, artinite, galussite, trona, ankerite, aragonite, artinite, and combinations thereof to produce an FIR yarn with ample FIR emissivity.
In one embodiment, in order to incorporate these ingredients into a yarn, the desired elements, such as graphene and/or copper, are first processed (e.g., crushed or pulverized) into particles and mixed to create pellets. The pellets are then combined with traditional textile material such as a polyester or nylon. There are various types of polyester and nylon that can be used such as polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polycarbonate (PC), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polyamide 6 (PA6), nylon 6 (N6), or any other nylon and polyester forms. Once the pellets and the traditional textile material are combined, they may be mixed and heated in a vat. Once sufficiently heated and mixed, the contents may then extruded to create fibers. The extruded fibers are then used to create a yarn that has FIR properties. It should be noted that the pellets created from the ingredients having FIR properties can also be incorporated into durable goods, not just textile related products.
The ingredients chosen and the amount of each chosen ingredient influence the emissivity level of the yarns and are measured in weight percentage (wt. %) relative to the fibers and/or yarn. Depending on the chosen ingredients, testing is performed to determine how much of each ingredient must be added to create a yarn that is commercially useable. If too much of a certain ingredient is chosen, the resulting yarn may be prone to breaking during the manufacturing process and greatly effects the durability of the finished product.
Emissivity levels are not only determined by the ingredients that are used and the amount of each chosen ingredient, but also the diameter of the yarn itself. Generally, a larger diameter yarn has a greater level of emissivity.
In addition the above-identified benefits, the FIR yarn produced from the ingredients herein also have the following additional benefits: improved durability, improved thermal insulation, etc.
In one embodiment of the invention, the yarn is composed of copper, graphene, germanium, silica dioxide and titanium. In another embodiment, the copper content is 0.3 wt. %, the graphene content is 0.15 wt. %, the germanium content is 0.02 wt. %, the silicon dioxide content is 0.3 wt. % and the titanium content is 0.2 wt. %. In another embodiment, the copper content is in a range between 0.05 wt. % to 1.0 wt. %, the graphene content is in a range between 0.05 wt. % to 0.2 wt. %, the germanium content is in a range from 0.005 wt. % to 0.25 wt. %, the silicon dioxide content is in a range from 0.05 wt. % to 0.5 wt. %, and the titanium content is in a range from 0.05 wt. % to 0.5 wt. %.
In another embodiment, the yarn contains both copper and graphene, wherein the copper is extruded into a fiber, the graphene is extruded into a fiber, and the copper and graphene fibers are spun with the rest of the ingredients to create the yarn. The copper content in the yarn may be from about 1% to about 99% of the yarn. The graphene content in the yarn may be from about 1% to about 99% of the yarn. In one embodiment, a textile is created wherein copper is in a form that allows it to be melted and spun into yarn. In one embodiment, a textile is created from copper that is in a pellet form. In another embodiment, the textile may be additionally composed of fibers of other materials, such as, but not limited to, cotton, nylon, spandex, silk, wool, Lycra, and combinations thereof. The textile may be used to make garments such as shirts, pants, shorts, socks, underwear, hats, shoes, wristbands, headbands, sweatbands, rash guards, athletic sleeves, compression sleeves, braces, body/joint wraps, protective equipment, blankets, sheets, linens, comforters, pillowcases, towels, etc. The textile can be custom made to adjust or control the amount of copper and/or graphene in the garments. The percentage of copper or graphene is adjusted in the fiber or yarn by controlling how much of each material is extruded into the yarn or fibers.
Once the yarn is created, the yarn may be used to create various textile products configured to be worn by a wearer or user such that the wearer or user is exposed to FIR, where the wearer or user receives the biological benefits from FIR exposure. These textile products may be for example, without limitation, garments such as shirts, pants, shorts, socks, underwear, hats, shoes, wristbands, headbands, sweatbands, rash guards, athletic sleeves, compression sleeves, braces, body/joint wraps, protective equipment, blankets, sheets, linens, comforters, pillowcases, towels, and the like.
In one embodiment, the FIR yarn may be composed of 43% by weight of nylon, 34% by weight of polyester, 19% by weight of rubber, and 4% by weight of spandex, where the FIR fibers containing graphene and/or copper are incorporated into the 43% nylon. That is, the fibers making up the 43% nylon are produced via the process of
In one embodiment, an elemental breakdown by weight percentage of the masterbatch pellets may be as follows: approximately 73-74% by weight of Carbon, approximately 11-15% by weight of Copper, approximately by weight of 11-15% Oxygen, and approximately 0-1% by weight of Silicon. In one embodiment, the elemental breakdown may be 73.7% by weight of Carbon, 11.2% by weight of Copper, 14.8% by weight of Oxygen, and 0.3% by weight of Silicon. In another embodiment, the elemental breakdown may be 73.8% by weight of Carbon, 14.2% by weight of Copper, 11.7% by weight of Oxygen, and 0.3% by weight of Silicon.
In one embodiment, a resultant FIR emissivity of a textile produced utilizing the FIR yarn is at least 0.88 and has an FIR temperature rise of at least 1.4° C. In one embodiment, the resultant FIR emissivity is at least 0.91 and the FIR temperature rise is at least 1.5° C. In another embodiment, the FIR emissivity is at least 0.95, and the FIR temperature rise is at least 1.8° C.
The above detailed descriptions of embodiments of the present disclosure are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise form disclosed herein. Although specific embodiments of, and examples for, the disclosure herein are described above for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the disclosure, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize. For example, while formulations comprise certain ingredients in certain amounts, alternative embodiments may incorporate additional ingredients not necessarily disclosed herein, be comprised of fewer ingredients, or have varying amounts of each ingredient without departing from the present disclosure. Further, while steps are presented in a given order, alternative embodiments may perform steps in a different order. The various embodiments described herein may also be combined to provide further embodiments applicable to a wide range of compositions.
Further, while advantages associated with certain embodiments of the technology have been described in the context of those embodiments, other embodiments may also exhibit such advantages, and not all embodiments need necessarily exhibit such advantages to fall with the scope of this disclosure. Accordingly, this disclosure and associated inventions can encompass other embodiments not expressly shown or described herein
Numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the attendant claims attached hereto, this invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically disclosed herein.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/585,433, filed on Sep. 26, 2023, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63585433 | Sep 2023 | US |
