Classifications

• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D03—WEAVING
  • D03D—WOVEN FABRICS; METHODS OF WEAVING; LOOMS
  • D03D15/00—Woven fabrics characterised by the material, structure or properties of the fibres, filaments, yarns, threads or other warp or weft elements used
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D03—WEAVING
  • D03J—AUXILIARY WEAVING APPARATUS; WEAVERS' TOOLS; SHUTTLES
  • D03J1/00—Auxiliary apparatus combined with or associated with looms
  • D03J1/02—Auxiliary apparatus combined with or associated with looms for treating warp, e.g. cleaning, moistening
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B63—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; RELATED EQUIPMENT
  • B63H—MARINE PROPULSION OR STEERING
  • B63H9/00—Marine propulsion provided directly by wind power
  • B63H9/04—Marine propulsion provided directly by wind power using sails or like wind-catching surfaces
  • B63H9/06—Types of sail; Constructional features of sails; Arrangements thereof on vessels
  • B63H9/067—Sails characterised by their construction or manufacturing process
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D03—WEAVING
  • D03D—WOVEN FABRICS; METHODS OF WEAVING; LOOMS
  • D03D15/00—Woven fabrics characterised by the material, structure or properties of the fibres, filaments, yarns, threads or other warp or weft elements used
  • D03D15/20—Woven fabrics characterised by the material, structure or properties of the fibres, filaments, yarns, threads or other warp or weft elements used characterised by the material of the fibres or filaments constituting the yarns or threads
  • D03D15/283—Woven fabrics characterised by the material, structure or properties of the fibres, filaments, yarns, threads or other warp or weft elements used characterised by the material of the fibres or filaments constituting the yarns or threads synthetic polymer-based, e.g. polyamide or polyester fibres
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D03—WEAVING
  • D03J—AUXILIARY WEAVING APPARATUS; WEAVERS' TOOLS; SHUTTLES
  • D03J1/00—Auxiliary apparatus combined with or associated with looms
  • D03J1/04—Auxiliary apparatus combined with or associated with looms for treating weft
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D10—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBLASSES OF SECTION D, RELATING TO TEXTILES
  • D10B—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBLASSES OF SECTION D, RELATING TO TEXTILES
  • D10B2507/00—Sport; Military
  • D10B2507/04—Sails

Definitions

• the present disclosure relates to woven sailcloth and the reduction of crimp in such cloth.
• “Crimp” is a term that is used to describe the waviness or nonlinearity of yarns in woven fabrics. Typically, such yarns have an "over and under" shape caused by weaving. The more crimp that is present in a woven fabric, the more the fabric will stretch. Stretchiness is an important consideration in the selection of a woven fabric as sailcloth. If sailcloth stretches too much, it loses it shape and is aerodynamically inefficient.
• Sailcloth also has been constructed with a reinforcing yarn to minimize stretching.
• the reinforcing yarn which has a higher tensile modulus (e.g., above 500 grams/denier) than conventional yarn (tensile modulus of 20-100 grams/denier for Dacron or polyester), has been used to replace the conventional yarn every so many yarns in the warp and/or fill direction, while maintaining the denier (see, e.g., Bainbridge et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,304,414).
• sailcloths have been woven from heat-shrinkable yarn with crimp imparted to the fill yarns, while leaving the warp yarns relatively uncrimped and while maintaining a high yarn density.
• the sailcloth is woven with more space between the warp yarns than conventional fabrics and a fill vs. warp weight ratio of between 1.0 to 1 and 0.22 to 1 (see, e.g., Mahr, U.S. Pat. No. 6,725,885).
• the present disclosure seeks to provide a method of reducing crimp in woven sailcloth that provides fabric with straighter warp or fill yarns, yet is simple and easy to use.
• a method of reducing crimp in woven sailcloth comprising warp and fill yarns.
• the method comprises applying heat to the warp yarn or the fill yarn prior to the yarns being woven into fabric, and weaving the warp yarn and the fill yarn into fabric.
• a method of making a sail comprises assembling panels of sailcloth comprising warp yarns and fill yarns, wherein at least one panel of sailcloth is prepared by applying heat to the warp yarn or the fill yarn prior to the yarns being weaved into fabric.
• the present disclosure is predicated on the discovery that heat can be used to reduce crimp in warp yarns or fill yarns of woven fabric, in particular sailcloth.
• the fabric has straighter warp or fill yarns, respectively, with lower stretch.
• Yarn and “yarns” are used herein to refer to any and all fibers, filaments, strands, and/or yarns of natural, synthetic, or composite (e.g., natural and synthetic) material that can be woven into a fabric, in particular sailcloth.
• Weight describes a yarn that runs widthwise in a fabric. This yarn also may be referred to as a "fill” yarn.
• “Woven” describes a fabric that is made by weaving warp and fill yarns together, such as by operation of a loom. The warp and fill yarns cross over and under each other as the fabric is woven.
• Crimp describes the waviness or nonlinearity of yarns in woven fabrics (see, e.g., Man-Made Fiber and Textile Dictionary, Celanese Corporation). Crimp can occur in the warp and/or weft yarns. Factors, such as the relative thickness ("denier") of the yarns and the tension of the yarns, can affect crimp. A thinner yarn (lower denier) will crimp more than a thicker yarn (higher denier). Likewise, a yarn under less tension will crimp more than a yarn under more tension. Crimp can be measured by making gage marks on a woven fabric a set distance apart. For example, marks can be made about one meter apart along the length of the fabric.
• a warp yarn between two gage marks is then unraveled.
• the unraveled yarn is straightened out, and its length is measured.
• the length of the unraveled yarn in excess of the gage is a measure of the crimp. If, for example, the unraveled warp yarn is 1.15 meters in length, it has a 15% crimp.
• the crimp in a weft yarn can be similarly measured between gage marks marked on a woven fabric a set distance apart along the width of the fabric.
• "Denier" is the weight in grams of a 9,000 meter length of yarn. The denier is proportional to the effective diameter of the yarn.
• “Plain weave” describes a manner of weaving in which warp yarns pass over and under weft (or fill) yarns.
• Rivtop describes a woven fabric in which a reinforcing yarn has been used at a designated interval, which can vary from one fabric to another and, if desired, within a single fabric. Depending on how the reinforcing yarn is incorporated, the woven fabric can take on a variety of textures, such as a box pattern. The presence of the reinforcing yarn makes the fabric difficult to rip; hence, the term "ripstop.”
• the present disclosure provides a method of reducing crimp in woven sailcloth comprising warp and fill yarns.
• the method comprises applying heat to the warp yarn or the fill yarn prior to the yarns being weaved into fabric and weaving the warp yarn and the fill yarn into fabric.
• heat is applied to the warp yarn.
• the yarn is not crimped after heating and prior to being weaved into fabric (although the present disclosure contemplates the use of pre-crimped fill yarns, in which case the warp yarns are heated prior to being weaved into fabric).
• Heat can be applied at any time from when the yarn is still on the spool until the yarn is being weaved into the fabric. In this regard, heat can be applied to the yarn in any suitable manner.
• heat is applied to the yarn in the absence of excessive stress or tension on the yarn.
• the yarn when the yarn is still on the spool, the yarn can be placed inside a heated container, such as a box or an oven.
• the yarn can be heated while being loaded on the loom or after it has been loaded onto the loom.
• the yarn can pass through a heated tube, along the surface of one or more heated plates or rollers, and/or in front of heated air, such as that dispensed from a blower, a heater, or a heat gun, any of which is/are positioned along the path of the yarn.
• the yarn is heated well below its melting point, and is heated only to a temperature necessary to increase its pliability.
• heating yarn to a temperature of about 10 0 F to about 20 0 F above ambient temperature can be sufficient to increase the pliability of yarn without compromising its structural integrity.
• the amount of time required to heat the yarn sufficiently to increase its pliability can vary depending on when the yarn is heated. For example, more time can be required to heat yarn when it is wound on a spool as opposed to when it is unwound and ready to be woven.
• Unwound yarn can be sufficiently heated within seconds, whereas yarn that is wound on a spool can take minutes to heat sufficiently, depending on the type of yarn, its denier, and how much yarn is wound on the spool. Desirably, yarn wound on a spool is heated until the innermost layer of yarn on the spool is heated.
• the fabric is allowed to cool. Then the sailcloth can be finished in accordance with methods known in the art. For example, it can be scoured (e.g., to remove any sizing and the like). Afterwards, it can be dipped into an aqueous bath of heat-curable resin, such as melamine, which serves to lock the woven geometry and decrease stretch. The fabric then can be dried and heat-set by passing through an oven or over large, heated, metal cylinders, such as cylinders heated to about 425 0 F, which causes the yarns to shrink, thereby increasing density.
• heat-curable resin such as melamine
• the fabric then can be calendared by passing the fabric between a pair of rollers under high pressure (e.g., 70 tons), with one of the rollers being heated.
• high pressure e.g. 70 tons
• the fabric can be coated with polyurethane or the like.
• the edges of the fabric are typically slit, and the fabric is tubed off into rolls.
• the denier of a warp yarn preferably ranges from about 500 to about 3,000, whereas the denier of a weft/fill yarn preferably ranges from about 100 to about 1,000.
• the warp density is from about 1,200 to about 1,800, whereas the weft/fill density is from about 800 to about 1,400.
• the yarn can be woven into any suitable weave, preferably the yarn is woven into a plain weave. If desired, a ripstop pattern can be incorporated into the weave.
• the method disclosed herein can incorporate other patterns of weave, and can be combined with other methods of making sailcloth that are known in the art, such as other techniques to reduce crimp or stretching.
• pre-crimped, stretchable fill yarns can be woven with warp yarns, which have been heated in accordance with the disclosed method. See, e.g., Cronburg, U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2006/0157138; see, also, Smith et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,771,674 for a method of crimping fibers.
• fill yarns can be inserted into the loom at an angle off 90° relative to the warp yarns to reduce friction between the fill yarns and the warp yarns as the two are compressed together during weaving.
• a method of making a sail comprises assembling panels of sailcloth comprising warp yarns and fill yarns, wherein at least one panel of sailcloth is prepared by applying heat to the warp yarn or the fill yarn prior to the yarns being weaved into fabric.
• references to “the method” includes one or more methods and/or steps of the type, which are described herein and/or which will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon reading the disclosure.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Textile Engineering (AREA)
• Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Sustainable Development (AREA)
• Sustainable Energy (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Ocean & Marine Engineering (AREA)
• Treatment Of Fiber Materials (AREA)
• Woven Fabrics (AREA)

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• 2008
  • 2008-12-10 EP EP08878808.8A patent/EP2358587A4/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2008-12-10 WO PCT/US2008/086290 patent/WO2010068207A1/en active Application Filing

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