Patent Application
20110177282
This invention relates to wool blend velour fabrics, and more particularly to wool blend velour fabrics having minimal felting and shrinking
Velour is a fabric with a short, thick pile which makes the fabric soft to the touch. Velour is usually made of wool or cotton but can also be made from synthetic materials such as polyester. Generally a velour fabric made of wool will “felt” (i.e., the wool fibers will adhere and mat together through use and over time) and the fabric will have high shrinkage during the dyeing process and/or home laundering. It is known to overcome excess shrinkage and felting by treating the wool fibers chemically, e.g., by chlorination, or by ozonation, or by other oxidative process, all of which are environmentally unfriendly.
In general, this invention relates to wool blend velour fabrics having minimal felting and shrinking
One aspect of the invention provides a wool blend velour fabric article that includes a fabric body having a technical face and a technical back. The fabric body having a velour surface formed at one or both of the technical face and the technical back. The velour surface is formed of yarn (e.g., a spun yarn) that includes a blend of wool and manufactured fibers (e.g., synthetic fibers such as polyester fibers, nylon fibers, acrylic fibers, modacrylic fibers, polyolefin, and polylactic acid, and/or regenerated fibers such as rayon fibers). The wool and manufactured fibers (i.e., synthetic and/or regenerated fibers) are blended across a cross-section of the yarn such that each wool fiber is generally surrounded by manufactured fibers and thereby shielded from interaction with other ones of the wool fibers.
Preferred implementations may include one or more of the following additional features and/or steps. The wool fibers can have an average diameter of 16 micron to about 36 micron, e.g., about 26 micron. In some embodiments, the wool fibers are not chemically treated by any oxidative process. The manufactured fibers can have an average thickness of less than 2 denier per filament. The blend includes at least 25 wt. %, e.g., at least 50 wt. %, of the manufactured fibers. In some cases, the manufactured fibers have flame retardant property. For example, the manufactured fibers may include modacrylic and/or flame retardant rayon. The wool fibers may be treated with flame retardant chemical.
Another aspect of the invention features a method of forming a wool blend velour fabric. the method includes joining a loop yarn and a stitch yarn to form a fabric prebody, the stitch yarn forming a technical face of the fabric prebody and the loop yarn forming a technical back of the fabric prebody; and finishing at least one of the technical face and the technical back of the fabric prebody to form a velour fabric body. At least one of the loop yarn and the stitch yarn includes a blend of wool and manufactured fibers. The wool and manufactured fibers are blended across a cross-section of the yarn such that each wool fiber is generally surrounded by manufactured fibers and thereby shielded from interaction with other ones of the wool fibers.
Preferred implementations may include one or more of the following additional features and/or steps. In some embodiments, both the loop yarn and the stitch yarn include blends of wool and manufactured fibers, and the wool and manufactured fibers are blended across respective cross-sections of the yarns such that each wool fiber is generally surrounded by manufactured fibers and thereby shielded from interaction with other ones of the wool fibers. In some embodiments, the fabric body is subjected to a dyeing process.
According to another aspect, a method of forming a velour fabric includes joining a yarn comprising a blend of wool and manufactured fibers (i.e., synthetic and/or regenerated fibers) to form a fabric prebody, the wool and manufactured fibers being blended across a cross-section of the yarn such that each wool fiber is generally surrounded by manufactured fibers and thereby shielded from interaction with other ones of the wool fibers; and finishing at least one surface of the fabric prebody to form a velour fabric body.
Preferred implementations may include one or more of the following additional features and/or steps. Methods can also include finishing the technical face and the technical back to form a double-face velour fabric body. In some embodiments, the fabric body is subjected to a dyeing process. Methods may optionally include finishing one of the technical face and the technical back to form a single face velour fabric body, e.g., having plaited jersey on one side.
In yet another aspect, a wool blend velour fabric article includes a fabric body having a technical face formed by a stitch yarn and a technical back formed by a loop yarn. The fabric body has a velour surface formed at one or both of the technical face and the technical back. One or both of the stitch yarn and the loop yarn comprises a blend of wool and manufactured fibers (i.e., synthetic and/or regenerated fibers). The wool and manufactured fibers are blended across a cross-section of the yarn such that each wool fiber is generally surrounded by manufactured fibers and thereby shielded from interaction with other ones of the wool fibers.
Preferred implementations may include one or more of the following additional features and/or steps. The wool fibers can have an average diameter of 16 micron to about 36 micron, e.g., about 26 micron. In some embodiments, the wool fibers are not chemically treated by any oxidative process. The manufactured fibers can have an average thickness of less than 2 denier per filament. The blend includes at least 25 wt. %, e.g., at least 50 wt. %, of the manufactured fibers. The stitch yarn may include elastomeric material (e.g., elastomer yarn and/or fibers). The manufactured fibers may have flame retardant property. For example, the manufactured fibers may include modacrylic and/or flame retardant rayon. The wool fibers may be treated with flame retardant chemical.
Embodiments can include one or more of the following advantages.
Forming a velour fabric from yarn that includes a blend of wool and manufactured fibers, where each wool fiber is generally surrounded by manufactured fibers, can help to shield the wool fibers from interacting with each other and, as a result, can help to inhibit felting and shrinking of the fabric.
Shielding the wool fiber from interaction with each other can also allow for the formation of a velour fabric without the use of environmentally unfriendly oxidative processes.
Other aspects, features, and advantages are in the description, drawings, and claims.
Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.
A wool blend velour fabric article is formed of yarns consisting of wool fibers in a blend with manufactured fibers (i.e., synthetic and/or regenerated fibers). The wool and manufactured fibers are blended, i.e. spun, together in a manner to control the distribution of the wool fibers and of the manufactured fibers, across the cross-section of the yarn, such that each of the wool fibers is generally surrounded by manufactured fibers, and thus shielded from interaction with other ones of the wool fibers. The resulting velour fabric article exhibits reduced shrinkage and felting.
The loop yarn 16 forming the technical back 20 of the fabric body 12 is a spun yarn consisting of a blend of wool and at least 25 wt. % manufactured fibers. As illustrated in
As illustrated in
Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5A-5G, the fabric prebody is formed (in a continuous web) by joining the stitch yarn 14 and the loop yarn 16 in a standard reverse plating circular knitting (terry knitting) process. This is principally a terry knit construction, where segments 23 of the loop yarn 16 cover the stitch yarn 14 on the technical face 18 and loops 22 of the loop yarn 16 form loops 22 at the technical back 20 of the fabric prebody 12.
The fabric prebody 12 is next subjected to finishing. During the finishing process, the technical face and technical back surfaces 18, 20, respectively, of the fabric prebody 12, with the segments 23 of loop yarn 16 overlying the stitch yarn 14 at the technical face surface 18 and the loops 22 formed at the technical back surface 20, are subjected to a finishing process, e.g., such as sanding, brushing and/or napping, to generate a velour 24, 26. The yarn fibers are raised at one or both surfaces of the fabric prebody 12, including the technical face 18 and the technical back 20, to form the velour 24, 26 at each face of the fabric body 30 of the double-face velour fabric article 10 (
The fabric article 10 may also be dyed, and heat may be applied to the fabric body, e.g. dry heat and/or wet heat, such as hot water or steam, e.g. during finishing or dyeing. Due at least in part to the construction of the individual yarns, and, in particular, the shielding of the wool fibers 17a, 17b (i.e., by the manufactured fibers 19a,19b) from interaction with each other, the velour fabric exhibits only minimal felting and shrinking as a result of exposure to wet heat (e.g., during the dyeing or finishing processes, and or regular home laundering).
While certain embodiments have been described above, other embodiments are possible.
As an example, while an embodiment has been described in which both the loop yarn and the stitch yarn consist of a spun yarn that includes a blend of wool and manufactured fibers, in some embodiments only the loop yarn or only stitch yarn includes such a spun yarn.
While a circular knit velour fabric has been described, in some embodiments the velour fabric can instead have warp knit construction.
Although an embodiment of a double-face velour fabric has been described in which both the technical face and technical back surfaces of the fabric are finished as velour, in some embodiments, only one of the surfaces (i.e., the technical back or the technical face) is finished as velour. As an example, the wool blend velour fabric can be finished as a single face velour and plaited jersey on one side, opposite the velour.
Although a reverse plating circular knitting process has been described, in some embodiments, the wool blend velour fabric can be produced by other methods of knitting or forming.
In some cases, the fiber blend may have flame retardant properties. For example, the manufactured fibers of the blend may include modacrylic and/or flame retardant rayon. Alternatively or additionally, the wool fiber can also be treated with flame retardant chemical.
In some embodiments, the stitch yarn can include elastomeric material (e.g., elastomer yarn and/or fibers) for enhanced stretch and recovery.
In some cases, the yarn comprising the blend of wool and manufactured fibers can be incorporated in a textile fabric having single jersey construction, double knit construction, or 3-end fleece knit construction.
Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims.
This application claims benefit from U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/296,100, filed Jan. 19, 2010.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61296100 | Jan 2010 | US |
