GB2562050A

GB2562050A - Method of manufacturing fabric, the fabric, and apparatus for manufacturing the fabric

Info

Publication number: GB2562050A
Application number: GB1706938.6A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Michelle Reynolds Sonia
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2017-05-02
Filing date: 2017-05-02
Publication date: 2018-11-07
Anticipated expiration: 2037-05-02
Also published as: GB201706938D0; GB2562050B

Abstract

A method of manufacturing a fabric by laying out an array of parallel lengths of yarn, such as wool, the wetting and entangling of the surface fibres of the yarn, and the drying said yarn. The surface of yarns may be brushed to release the surface fibres, and entangled by wetting the yarns preferably with water and soap and agitating the surface of the yarns e.g. with a reciprocating wooden pad 10A to entangling the fibres that extend from the surface of the yarn. The yarns may be dried by rolling up the yarns in a water absorbing sheet of material; or using warm air. Manufacture apparatus comprises a feed station 2 to lay out the yarns, a wetting station 7, an agitation station 10, and a drying station 11, and provide a continuous supply of fabric. Preferably the apparatus includes a second feeding station to lay the second array of yarns; brushing station to releases the surface fibres, and rollers are used to deliver the yarn through the apparatus. Alternative apparatus may be used to batch process a sheet of fabric (fig 2), where yarn is place on a board 20, and then brushed, wetted, agitated and dried manually.

Description

(71) Applicant(s):

Sonia Michelle Reynolds

St Judes Avenue, Mapperley, NOTTINGHAM,

NG3 5FG, United Kingdom (72) Inventor(s):

Sonia Michelle Reynolds (74) Agent and/or Address for Service:

Sonia Michelle Reynolds

St Judes Avenue, Mapperley, NOTTINGHAM,

NG3 5FG, United Kingdom (56) Documents Cited:

GB 1192838 A1 FR 002797892 A1

US 3392079 A1

Felt Head to Toe, available on or before 27.03.08. Available at http://www.feltheadtotoe.co.uk/faq.htm [Accessed 29.03.17]

Tutorial - How to Make Flat Felt (Wet Felting) by Annie & Lyn, available on or before 07.06.2012. Available at http://rosiepink.typepad.co.uk/rosiepink/ tutorial-how-to-make-flat-felt-wet-felting.html [Accessed 29.03.17]

Manufacturing Process of Felt-National Industrial Co, available on or before 23.03.2012. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obbh5i8TyCs [Accessed 08.11.17]

Wade's Alpaca Wet-Felting Wizard available on or before 19.06.2012. Available at: https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGBZIoMkfS4&t=668s[Accessed: 08.11.17]

Zephlinear Mechatronics Project available on or before December 2015. Available at: https:// vimeo.com/148576371 [Accessed 08.11.17] Zephlinear Machine Nottingham Trent University 2015, available on or before 07.072016. Available at: https://www.behance.net/gallery/40427377/ZephlinearMachine-(2015)) [Accessed: 08.11.17]

Zephlinear, available on or before 30 March 2017. Available at: http://www.zephlinear.com/. [Accessed 08.11.14] (58) Field of Search:

INT CL D04H, D21F

Other: WPI, EPODOC, Patent Fulltext, INTERNET (54) Title of the Invention: Method of manufacturing fabric, the fabric, and apparatus for manufacturing the fabric Abstract Title: A method of manufacturing a fabric by entangling the surface fibres of yarns (57) A method of manufacturing a fabric by laying out an array of parallel lengths of yarn, such as wool, the wetting and entangling of the surface fibres of the yarn, and the drying said yarn. The surface of yarns may be brushed to release the surface fibres, and entangled by wetting the yarns preferably with water and soap and agitating the surface of the yarns e.g. with a reciprocating wooden pad 10Ato entangling the fibres that extend from the surface of the yarn. The yarns may be dried by rolling up the yarns in a water absorbing sheet of material; or using warm air. Manufacture apparatus comprises a feed station 2 to lay out the yarns, a wetting station 7, an agitation station 10, and a drying station 11, and provide a continuous supply of fabric. Preferably the apparatus includes a second feeding station to lay the second array of yarns; brushing station to releases the surface fibres, and rollers are used to deliver the yarn through the apparatus. Alternative apparatus may be used to batch process a sheet of fabric (fig 2), where yarn is place on a board 20, and then brushed, wetted, agitated and dried manually.

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TITLE: Method of Manufacturing a Fabric, A fabric Made by the method, and an Apparatus for Manufacturing the Fabric

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a fabric, and the fabric made by the method.

Fabric made from yam is currently produced by either a knitting process which involves the interlooping of yam, or a weaving process which involves the crossing over and under of yam. Both these construction methods have a definite look and texture. There is thus a limitation in the end appearance.

The invention seeks to provide an alternative fabric construction especially for wool.

According to the present invention there is provided a method of manufacturing a fabric comprising:

a) laying out first lengths of spun yam in a parallel array,

b) wetting the yams in the array to entangle surface fibres of yams in the array, and

c) drying the wet yams in the array.

The method may further comprise laying out second lengths of spun yam in a parallel array on top of and substantially orthogonal to the first lengths.

Preferably the method further comprises releasing fibres on the surface of each length of yam in the array by brushing the yam.

Preferably the brushing of the yam is done with a rotating brush.

Preferably the method of wetting the yams in the array comprises wetting the yams with water and soap and agitating the surface fibres.

Preferably the agitating of the surface fibres is sufficient to form an entangled fibre skin over the array of yams.

The process of drying the wet yams may involve laying the array of wet yams on a water absorbing sheet of material and rolling up the array of yams and the sheet of material into a roll.

Alternatively the process of drying the wet yams comprises passing warm air over the wet yams.

The invention also relates to a fabric made by the above method.

The invention also relates to an apparatus for manufacturing the fabric comprising:

a) a first feed station to lay out spun yams into a first parallel array,

b) a wetting station to wet the array of yams,

c) an agitating station to entangle surface fibres of yams in the array, and

d) a drying station to dry wet yams in the array.

A second feed station may be provided to lay out spun yams into a second parallel array substantially orthogonal to the first array.

Preferably a brushing station to release fibres on the surface of each length of yam in the array,

Preferably rollers are provided to deliver spun yams through the apparatus.

The apparatus may provide a continuous supply of fabric by delivering a plurality of individual spun yams to the feed station. The continuous supply of fabric may be rolled up on a take up roller.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows an apparatus for continuous manufacturing the fabric.

Figure 2 shows pars of an apparatus for batch manufacture of the fabric.

Referring to Figure 1 there is shown an apparatus 1 for manufacturing fabric.

A first feed station 2 is provided to lay out spun yams into a first parallel array. This could be single yams side by side or double or more layers of single yams side by side, e.g. of different texture or colour. Feed station 2 has a plurality of bobbins 3 each feeding a length a woven woollen fibre “X” over roller 6A and through two sets of combs 4A,4B, whereby providing the array of parallel spun yams.

A brushing station 5 has a rotating brush 5A similar to a hair brush reciprocates left and right to release fibres on the surface of each length of yam in the array between combs 4A,4B. If desired brushing station 5 could have an additional brush to the yam on both sides rather than just one as shown.

From the brushing station 5, the parallel yams are delivered over roller 6B to a wetting station 7 to wet the array of yams. Wetting station 7 has a pair of spaced rollers 8A,8B in a tank 9 full of water and a soap.

An agitating station 10 has a reciprocating wooden pad 10A to entangle wetted surface fibres of yams in the array. Preferably the agitating of the surface fibres is sufficient to form an entangled fibre skin over the array of yams. If desired the water temperature could be changed during this process to aid entanglement still further.

Wet yams are then fed from roller 8B through a drying station 11 formed by a hot air blower 11A to dry wet yams in the array.

Dried yams forming the fabric of the invention are taken up on a take up roller 12 to be converted into a product, such as an item of clothing.

The apparatus 1 provides a continuous supply of fabric.

If the spun yams are hairy yams such as a mohair and wool mix, it is possible for the brushing station to be eliminated.

If desired a second feed station (not shown) could be provided to lay out spun yams into a second parallel array on top of and substantially orthogonal to the first array (again these could be single yams side by side or double or more layers of single yams side by side, e.g. of different texture or colour). This can add interesting patterns to the resulting fabric. The second feed station could “snake spun yam” into a second array on top of the first array.

The apparatus of the invention thus provides a method of manufacturing a fabric comprising:

a) laying out a lengths of spun yam in a parallel array,

c) drying the wet yams in the array.

Instead of producing the fabric on a continuous basis, it could be done on a batch process created a sheet of fabric as shown in Figure 2. An array of dry fibres could be laid out on a board 20 by winding yam 21 from a bobbin 22 around the board 20 so that the yam passes into the teeth 23A,23B to create an array 24 of lengths (again single or double) of parallel yam. The array 24 can be brushed to release fibres on the surface of each length of yam in the array using a rotating hair brush 25, e.g. driven by a drill 26. The array could then be wetted with water and soap. The wet yams can be laid on a water absorbing sheet of material such as towelling and rolled up. The array of yams in the towelling then kneaded to manually agitate the fibres to allow a strong entanglement of the surface fibres. The array can then be dried. It is envisaged that a board 20 could be sold with a brush 25 for fitment to a drill. The invention thus also relates to kit comprising a board 20 and brush 25. Board 20 could be telescopic to adjust the length of the array of parallel yams. A batch process could also involve laying a second array of parallel yams on top of and substantially orthogonal to array 24.

The fabric of the invention has numerous advantages. Decoration can be added to the yams before they are assembled into an array giving endless creative potential to the fabric. The air retained within the entangled fibres result in a construction which is formed from a high percentage of air, e.g. the fabric can be constructed to be 40% air. Controlling degree of entanglement of fibres allow easy control of ventilation and insulation properties in the fabric. The linear structure gives availability to direct airflow. Parallel yams can act as channels to insert other properties such as smart and intelligent textiles. There is no interlocking or crossing over of mains yams, which gives a smoother appearance and feel than fabrics which use the knitting or weave process. The manufacturing process is quicker than with fabrics which use the knitting or weave process.

The invention may take a form different to that specifically described above.

Further modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing a fabric comprising:

a) laying out first lengths of spun yam in a parallel array,

c) drying the wet yams in the array .

2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising laying out second lengths of spun yam in a parallel array on top of and substantially orthogonal to the first lengths.

3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising releasing fibres on the surface of each length of yam in the array by brushing the yam.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the brushing of the yam is done with a rotating brush.

5. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the method of wetting the yams in the array comprises wetting the yams with water and soap and agitating the surface fibres.

6. A method according to claim 5, wherein the agitating of the surface fibres is sufficient to form an entangled fibre skin over the array of yams.

7. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the process of drying the wet yams involves laying the array of wet yams on a water absorbing sheet of material and rolling up the array of yams and the sheet of material into a roll.

8. A method according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the process of drying the wet yams comprises passing warm air over the wet yams.

9. A fabric made by the method of any preceding claim.

10. An apparatus for manufacturing the fabric comprising:

a) a first feed station to lay out spun yams into a first parallel array,

b) a wetting station to wet the array of yams,

c) an agitating station to entangle surface fibres of yams in the array, and

d) a drying station to dry wet yams in the array.

11. An apparatus according to claim 10, wherein a second feed station is provided to lay out spun yams into a second parallel array substantially orthogonal to the first array.

12. An apparatus according to claim 10 or 11, wherein a brushing station is provided to release fibres on the surface of each length of yam in the array,

13. An apparatus according to any of claims 10 to 12, wherein rollers are provided to deliver spun yams through the apparatus.

14. An apparatus according to any of claims 10 to 13, wherein the apparatus provides a continuous supply of fabric by delivering a plurality of individual spun yams to the feed station.

15. An apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the continuous supply of fabric may be rolled up on a take up roller.

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