Patent Application
20240093412
The various embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to blended textiles, and more specifically to blended fabrics containing hemp.
Hemp is a bast fiber crop meaning that the fibers are found under the bark. Fibers are separated from the plant and processed (i.e., chopped into short segments) in the size of cotton and flax fiber so that fibers will become spinnable. As is understood by those of skill in the art, hemp fibers have relatively favorable hygroscopicity, low static electricity, and excellent antibacterial properties. Accordingly, hemp textiles are increasingly common. Advantageously, hemp crop may be grown with fewer pesticides, less space, and fewer natural resources as compared to some other textile crops. But because hemp fibers, and particularly burlap fibers, have a high lignin content, they are stiffer than other fibers such as cotton fibers, and the fibers are relatively brittle and easy to tear. Even after removal of lignin and pectins, hemp fibers often have a harsh feel.
Certain processing and blending techniques, including blending hemp fibers with other natural or synthetic fibers, have improved the “feel” of the final product. In some cases, special softening agents are used to reduce the harsh feel, and hemp is usually blended with more than two other natural and synthetic fibers like modal, and polyamide fibers to make the resultant fabric suitable to use on skin. The improved feel of the final product is especially important for towels, sheets, clothing, and the like. The beneficial properties of hemp fibers lend themselves well to use in these products, but hemp fibers' harshness diminishes its ability to be used for these products.
Terry fabric weaving involves three yarn components—ground, weft, and pile. Hemp and cotton blended yarn may be typically used as weft and ground yarn but cannot typically be used in pile yarn directly because of the inherent harshness. Accordingly, there is a need for improved methods for the use of hemp and cotton in terry fabric weaving. Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to this and other considerations.
Disclosed embodiments may include a terry fabric. The terry fabric may comprise a ground yarn, a weft yarn, and a pile yarn. The pile yarn may comprise a main core yarn and an auxiliary core yarn. The main core yarn may be made of a blend of cotton and hemp. The auxiliary yarn may wind around the main core yarn to enclose the main core yarn.
Disclosed embodiments may include a blended fabric. The blended fabric may comprise a ground yarn, a weft yarn, and a pile yarn. The pile yarn may comprise a main core yarn and an auxiliary core yarn. The auxiliary yarn may wind around the main core yarn to enclose the main core yarn.
Disclosed embodiments may include a method for producing a blended fabric. The method may comprise conditioning hemp fibers. The method may also comprise carding the hemp fibers and cotton for form carded slivers. Furthermore, the method may comprise feeding the carded slivers through a breaker draw frame to form drawn slivers. Additionally, the method may comprise feeding the drawn slivers through a finisher draw frame to form draw slivers. The method may comprise producing a roving from the draw slivers using a simplex machine. The method may also comprise feeding the roving to a ring frame to form main core yarn with blended fibers of hemp and cotton. The method may further comprise twisting and doubling the main core yarn with auxiliary yarn to form pile yarn. Additionally, the method may comprise weaving the pile yarn into the blended fabric.
Further implementations, features, and aspects of the disclosed technology, and the advantages offered thereby, are described in greater detail hereinafter, and be understood with reference to the following detailed description, accompanying drawings, and claims.
Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and which illustrate various implementations, aspects, and principles of the disclosed technology. In the drawings:
The disclosed technology provides methods for using hemp fibers in pile yarn of terry products in the yarn manufacturing that will be suitable for use next to skin. This method allows for a reduction in the use of softening agents and the blending of synthetic fibers.
Some implementations of the disclosed technology will be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. This disclosed technology may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the implementations set forth herein. The components described hereinafter as making up various elements of the disclosed technology are intended to be illustrative and not restrictive. Many suitable components that would perform the same or similar functions as components described herein are intended to be embraced within the scope of the disclosed electronic devices and methods.
Reference will now be made in detail to example embodiments of the disclosed technology that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and disclosed herein. Wherever convenient, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.
Aspects of the disclosed technology improve textiles and textile manufacturing to allow for the use of hemp in fabrics. More specifically, the disclosed articles and methods of manufacturing relate to the use of hemp in fabric articles that come in close contact with the body, such as a towel. Durability, low-linting, sustainability, anti-bacterial properties, low static electricity, and favorable hygroscopicity are among the desirable traits for fibers used the production of towels and the like. Hemp fibers possess these properties, but they also have a high lignin content and thus are stiffer than other fibers (e.g., cotton), and the hemp fibers are relatively brittle and easy to tear. Even after removal of lignin and pectins, hemp fibers usually have a harsh feel. This makes hemp fibers less desirable to use in products such as towels, sheets, and clothing. Aspects of the disclosed technology relate to towel with a unique blend of natural bast fiber hemp in the ground, weft, and pile yarns of a terry fabric that results in a highly durable, low-linting, and sustainable fabric. This technology mitigates the harshness of hemp fibers so that the final fabric is more useful for towels, sheets, clothing, and the like.
Additional aspects of the disclosed technology relate to methods of spinning the yarns to create fabric and the compositions of said yarns and fabric. The terry fabric 100 shown in
The ratios of hemp to other fibers in the weft, pile, and ground yarns may be tailored to suit the needs of the final product. For example, a towel could have a higher percentage of hemp in the pile yarn compared to the percentage of hemp in the pile yarn of a sheet. This would more strongly impart the properties of hemp on the final product.
In some examples, 12 single yarn count of about 55% hemp, about 45% cotton blend will be used as weft yarn and for ground yarn, 20 double yarn count of about 55% hemp, about 45% cotton blend will be used. In some examples, a ratio of up to about 70% cotton and 30% hemp may be used. Hemp blended yarn may be used as weft and ground yarn, but its usage as pile is limited because of its texture. To overcome this issue, in some examples, 12 single yarn count of about 30% Hemp and about 70% Cotton may be used as core yarn and finer 60 single yarn of 100% Cotton is twisted around the core yarn to make pile yarn. After forming the yarn, the yarn is woven to make the Terry fabric with about 64.6% Cotton & about 35.4% Hemp. Terry Fabric brought to a Process step where a full bleach process is performed due to the about 64.6% of Cotton Fiber in the sample. Then, the fabric is dried and passed through a softener material to make the fabric softer. The fabric may then be cut, stitched, or otherwise fabricated as per a desired specification.
The following exemplary embodiment of the invention describes an exemplary blend ratio of the fabric. This section is intended solely for explanatory purposes and not in limitation. Specifically, the fabric may comprise the following features:
In some examples, disclosed systems or methods may involve one or more of the following clauses:
Clause 1: A terry fabric comprising: a ground yarn; a weft yarn; and a pile yarn, the pile yarn comprising: a main core yarn, the main core yarn made of a blend of cotton and hemp, and an auxiliary yarn, wherein the auxiliary yarn winds around the main core yarn to enclose the main core yarn.
Clause 2: The terry fabric of clause 1, wherein the auxiliary yarn is made of cotton.
Clause 3: The terry fabric of clause 1, wherein the blend of cotton and hemp of the main core yarn is approximately 70 percent cotton and approximately 30 percent hemp.
Clause 4: The terry fabric of clause 1, wherein the ground yarn and the weft yarn are made from a blend of cotton and hemp.
Clause 5: The terry fabric of clause 4, wherein the blend of cotton and hemp of the ground yarn and the weft yarn is approximately 55 percent hemp and approximately 45 percent cotton.
Clause 6: The terry fabric of clause 1, wherein an overall blend of cotton and hemp of the terry fabric is approximately 65 percent cotton and 35 percent hemp.
Clause 7: The terry fabric of clause 1, wherein enclosing the main core yarn with the auxiliary yarn mitigates a harshness of hemp fiber.
Clause 8: A blended fabric comprising: a ground yarn; a weft yarn; and a pile yarn, the pile yarn comprising a main core yarn and an auxiliary yarn, wherein the auxiliary yarn winds around the main core yarn to enclose the main core yarn.
Clause 9: The blended fabric of clause 8, wherein the main core yarn is a blend of hemp and at least one other fiber.
Clause 10: The blended fabric of clause 9, wherein the blend of hemp in the main core yarn is tuned to increase softness, resistance to abrasion, durability, antimicrobial and ultraviolet resistance, mold and mildew resistance, absorbency, tensile strength, or combinations thereof.
Clause 11: The blended fabric of clause 9, wherein the blend of the main core yarn is approximately 30 percent hemp.
Clause 12: The blended fabric of clause 8, wherein the auxiliary yarn encloses the main core yarn in order to mitigate adverse features of the main core yarn.
Clause 13: The blended fabric of clause 8, wherein the pile yarn and the ground yarn are approximately 55 percent hemp.
Clause 14: A method of producing a blended fabric comprising: conditioning hemp fibers; carding the hemp fibers and cotton to form carded slivers; feeding the carded slivers through a breaker draw frame to form drawn slivers; feeding the drawn slivers through a finisher draw frame to form draw slivers; producing a roving from the draw slivers using a simplex machine; feeding the roving to a ring frame to form main core yarn with blended fibers of hemp and cotton; twisting and doubling the main core yarn with auxiliary yarn to form pile yarn; and weaving the pile yarn into the blended fabric.
Clause 15: The method of clause 14, wherein the method further comprises: winding the pile yarn onto a yarn cone.
Clause 16: The method of clause 14, wherein the method further comprises: post-processing the blended fabric by bleaching, softening, drying, cutting, and stitching the blended fabric.
Clause 17: The method of clause 14, wherein conditioning the hemp fibers further comprises: conditioning the hemp fibers for between about 24 to about 48 hours at about 18 degrees Celsius; and opening a cotton and hemp blend on willow at a constant humidity of about 80 percent.
Clause 18: The method of clause 14, wherein the method further comprises: eliminating impurities from the hemp fiber.
Clause 19: The method of clause 14, wherein twisting and doubling the main core yarn with the auxiliary yarn encloses the main core yarn within the auxiliary yarn.
Clause 20: The method of clause 14, wherein the main core yarn is about 30 percent hemp and about 70 percent cotton and the auxiliary yarn is solely cotton.
Certain embodiments and implementations of the disclosed technology are described above with reference to block and flow diagrams of systems and methods according to example embodiments or implementations of the disclosed technology. Some blocks of the block diagrams and flow diagrams may not necessarily need to be performed in the order presented, may be repeated, or may not necessarily need to be performed at all, according to some embodiments or implementations of the disclosed technology.
In this description, numerous specific details have been set forth. It is to be understood, however, that implementations of the disclosed technology may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, structures, and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of this description. References to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “some embodiments,” “example embodiment,” “various embodiments,” “one implementation,” “an implementation,” “example implementation,” “various implementations,” “some implementations,” etc., indicate that the implementation(s) of the disclosed technology so described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not every implementation necessarily includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Further, repeated use of the phrase “in one implementation” does not necessarily refer to the same implementation, although it may.
Throughout the specification and the claims, the following terms take at least the meanings explicitly associated herein, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The term “connected” means that one function, feature, structure, or characteristic is directly joined to or in communication with another function, feature, structure, or characteristic. The term “coupled” means that one function, feature, structure, or characteristic is directly or indirectly joined to or in communication with another function, feature, structure, or characteristic. The term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or.” Further, the terms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to mean one or more unless specified otherwise or clear from the context to be directed to a singular form. By “comprising” or “containing” or “including” is meant that at least the named element, or method step is present in article or method, but does not exclude the presence of other elements or method steps, even if the other such elements or method steps have the same function as what is named.
It is to be understood that the mention of one or more method steps does not preclude the presence of additional method steps or intervening method steps between those steps expressly identified. Similarly, it is also to be understood that the mention of one or more components in a device or system does not preclude the presence of additional components or intervening components between those components expressly identified.
Although embodiments are described herein with respect to systems or methods, it is contemplated that embodiments with identical or substantially similar features may alternatively be implemented as systems and/or methods.
As used herein, unless otherwise specified, the use of the ordinal adjectives “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., to describe a common object, merely indicates that different instances of like objects are being referred to, and is not intended to imply that the objects so described must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking, or in any other manner.
While certain embodiments of this disclosure have been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and various embodiments, it is to be understood that this disclosure is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiments, but on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.
This written description uses examples to disclose certain embodiments of the technology and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice certain embodiments of this technology, including making and using any apparatuses or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of certain embodiments of the technology is defined in the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal language of the claims.
This application claims priority, under 35 U.S.C. § 120, to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/407,774, filed Sep. 19, 2022, the entire contents of which are fully incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63407774 | Sep 2022 | US |
