This invention is a type of material crafted from individual fish skins, such as: Atlantic Salmon (Salmo Salar), Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus Mykiss), or Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus Kisutch); which have been previously selected, tanned, processed, and ironed and are later standardized via a system of angled, lineal cuts that have been specially designed to maximize the use of the total area of the individual skins and that combines them to create a large cloth.
The individual fish skins are cut into a rectangular or, preferably, trapezoidal piece (thus maximizing the usable surface of the skin), preferably with the dorsal spine centered within the piece. The resulting trapezoid should have the following measurements: 45-55 cm along the long edges, 10-14 cm along the upper width, and 4-6 cm along the lower width (depending on the orientation of the piece). Each individual piece of skin is connected on its right and left sides (the long edges) to other pieces of skin via the same process: suture with thread and/or a specially designed adhesive. This creates a piece of cloth that, due to the type of cut used for each piece and due to the system implemented to combine them, acts as a single piece of material or large cloth. This characteristic enables said cloth to be used in covering large areas for decorative or functional purposes such as upholstery, wall coverings, clothing, and other similar uses that have not been available until now due to the small size of individual fish skins (see
It is important to stress that the solution proposed by this application does not currently exist.
There have in fact been innovations in the past, but none of these has achieved the effects detailed in this invention.
For example, patent application U.S. Pat. No. 5,932,056 only refers to the creation of a sheet of leather with greater elasticity thanks to the use of an elastic support cloth for use in the manufacture of shoes. It refers to the extraction of pieces of leather from the most elastic and resistant sections, as defined by curved lines that run approximately parallel to the animal's spine, and refers exclusively to cattle and no other animal.
Patent application U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,332 refers to the creation of a cloth from animal skins, whereby the skins are cut into longitudinal shapes and sewn together with alternating pieces of leather (or other material) thus creating a composite of skin and leather that is later cut again and sewn in the same manner, creating squares of alternating skin and leather. Its main application is in the creation of reversible blankets and it does not in any way refer to the use of the skins of specific animals and it makes very general claims.
Lastly, patent application CN1492057 refers to the tanning of fish skins; in this instance they utilize an acrylic resin. The invention details a series of ironing processes to disseminate the dye and the agents used to provide sheen and waterproofing to improve the skins finish, but it only refers to individual skins.
A method for designing and creating material made from fish skins, wherein said material is made from individual fish skins and can be stretched, mechanically or automatically manipulated, sewn, and ironed to ensure that all the unions and surfaces are perfectly uniform, flat, and free of ripples in order to produce a highly-tensile, uniform cloth of variable dimensions.
A material includes a plurality of pieces of fish skin, wherein the pieces of fish skin are connected by sewing and/or adhesive.
A method of manufacturing a material includes sewing or adhering pieces of fish skin to each other.
Unlike the previously mentioned applications, this innovation, with its unique design, cuts, and combinations, allows for the skins of the aforementioned fish, which to date could only be utilized as small pieces, to be utilized as a raw material or textile at a completely new scale and geometry (as measured in a lineal distance) and thus enables its application in industries that to date have not benefitted from such application because they require larger pieces of material than those of the actual dimensions of the individual skins of the aforementioned fish (e.g. interior design, upholstery, clothing, etc.). Likewise, due specifically to the type of cut, geometric positioning of the skins, design, softening, and ironing processes the pieces of combined fish skins are very resistant, which makes them ideal for industries such as interior design, upholstery, and clothing.
The steps employed in the creation of a piece of material of large dimensions through the process of design, cut, sanding down, and ironing of the individual fish pieces are as follows:
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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1654-09 | Jul 2009 | CL | national |
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5581811 | Cohen et al. | Dec 1996 | A |
5722336 | Takeuchi | Mar 1998 | A |
5868798 | Anderson et al. | Feb 1999 | A |
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Number | Date | Country |
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1492057 | Sep 2003 | CN |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20110017112 A1 | Jan 2011 | US |