IES63196B2 - Process for use in the manufacture of horse blankets - Google Patents

Abstract

A process for producing a length of material suitable for use in the manufacture of outdoor horse blankets comprises feeding an external layer (12) of waterproof ballistic nylon, a filling layer (29) of thermal bonded fibre and a cotton lining layer (28) into a sewing machine lengthways with each layer having a sufficient width to enable horse blankets to be produced therefrom as a single piece. The machine is adapted to maintain the positions of the layers relative to one another and to stitch the layers together simultaneously along the longitudinal borders thereof, thereby providing, in a single operation, a single piece of multi-layer material wherein the layers are held together by stitches (15, 16) confined to the borders (14) thereof. The central portion of the blanket between the lines of stitches (15, 16) remains free from stitching and thereby retains its waterproof qualities. The external layer (12) may extend beyond the others and be finished with binding (30). The machine may be a modified quilting machine with only the edge needles left in position, the fabric layers being controlled by rollers or guides.

Description

1 APPLICATION No_________________»3* Process for use in the manufacture of horse blankets This invention relates to horse blankets, more particularly to outdoor horse blankets for use in all weathers.

An outdoor horse blanket (or turnout blanket) should be warm and waterproof to protect the horse from the elements, it should be a good fit and be tough and fjrable to ensure that it does not slip or tear when the horse runs or rolls, -?nd it should be breatheable to allow water vapour caused by perspiration to escape from under the blanket while keeping out the wind and rain.

In general, the blanket is formed of an external layer, a filling layer and a lining layer. Each of these layers is breatheable to allow the escape of water vapour but the external layer is waterproof and also provides the necessary toughness.

The conventional method of making indoor horse blankets is by using a quilting machine to stitch the external, filling and lining layers using parallel lines of stitches spaced apart by 20 cm, for example. This method is unsuitable for the manufacture of outdoor blankets since every stitch involves the penetration of the waterproof layer and, accordingly, the lines of stitches severely compromise the waterproof nature of the blanket. Not only do they allow rain to leak through the blanket onto the horse, but the rain may also leak into and soak the lining and be held there making the blanket considerably heavier and holding the water against the horse.

For these reasons, outdoor horse blankets are usually made using six pieces of fabric: the blanket is designed in two halves, symmetrical along the the line of the horse's back. Thus, each half of the blanket is formed from three pieces (external, filling and lining layers). The lining and filling layers are cut to size and sewn together and then the combined lining and filling is sewn to the external layer. Since the blanket is made in two halves, the two halves, when joined together, provide a horse blanket having a line of stitches along the backbone of the horse. Since water will naturally lodge in this line and soak through, it is usual to provide a length of tape which is adhered along the line and which is designed to seal the line.

The process thus outlined is very labour-intensive and inefficient. 5 The reason that the blanket is made in two halves is to provide a shape to the blanket which naturally fits the shape of the horse, in particular the arch of the horse's back. Recently, however, certain manufacturers have realised that it is, in fact, unnecessary to shape the horse blanket to ensure a good fit and blankets have been made in three pieces instead.

Thus, the method of making a horse blanket free from stitches along the back of the horse is to cut the lining and filling layers to size and sew them together and then to sew the lining and filling layers to the external layer. It is preferable to confine the stitches joining the external layer with the combined lining and filling layers to the area close to the edge of the external layer, thereby leaving the central portion of the blanket free from stitches. This means that when the blanket is fitted to the horse, the back and upper part of the flanks of the horse will be covered by the central portion of the blanket, which is free from stitches and is therefore quite waterproof. The stitches are confined to the portion of the blanket hanging down beside die lower part of the flanks, where the rain is unlikely to lodge in the line of stitches and seep through.

By making the blanket from three single pieces of fabric, the labour involved is considerably reduced. It is nevertheless a very time consuming process which is reflected in the manufacturing costs of turnout blankets compared to indoor blankets.

It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a process for manufacturing horse blankets which is simpler, quicker and more cost effective than the conventional methods described above.

The invention provides a process for producing a length of material suitable for use in the manufacture of horse blankets, comprising feeding an external fabric layer, a filling layer and a lining layer into a sewing machine with the filling layer being sandwiched between the external and lining layers, each layer being fed lengthways into the machine and having a sufficient width to enable horse blankets to be produced therefrom as a single piece, the machine being adapted to maintain the positions of the layers relative to one another and to stitch the layers together along the longitudinal borders thereof, thereby providing, in a single operation, a single piece of multi-layer material wherein the layers are held together by stitches confined to the longitudinal borders thereof.

Suitably, the sewing machine is a conventional quilting machine with the majority of the needles removed therefrom. Quilting machines are designed to allow the distances between lines of stitching to be adjusted by removing individual needles or by varying the distance between the needles. We have found that it is possible to remove all except two needles separated by a distance slightly less than the width of the filling layer such that, when the three layers are fed through the machine, the filling layer is sewn between the external layer and the lining layer.

The layers can be fed through as continuous lengths of suitable widths (from rolls of fabric, for example) such that the modified quilting machine produces a continuous length of blanket material.

This can then be cut to suitable lengths and finished by conventional methods (such as by cutting the front portion of the blanket to fit the neck and breast of the horse, by sewing in any necessary straps and buckles, by sewing binding material around the extreme edge of the external layer, by sewing pleats into the rear end of the blanket to stop the blanket slipping forward over the croup of the horse, etc.).

It may be necessary, if using a modified quilting machine as described herein, to provide means for maintaining tension both across the width and along the length of the three layers as they move through the needle arrangement. This may conveniently be done with rollers, for example, or with guides which constrain the movement of the fabric layers and which prevent the fabric crumpling or creasing as it ? moves through the modified quilting machine. Alternatively, it would be possible to design a sewing machine specifically for the purpose of 4 producing horse blankets using the process of the invention.

Suitably, the external fabric layer is impermeable to water in its liquid form and each of the layers is permeable to water vapour.

Thus, breatheable materials can be used to provide a blanket which allows water vapour from perspiration to evaporate, thereby cooling the horse, while at the same time protecting the horse from the elements.

Preferably, the width of the filling layer is less than that of the external layer or the lining layer.

As will be seen below, with reference to the preferred embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings, by providing a filling layer having a width less than that of the external layer or the lining layer, a length of material suitable for use in the manufacture of horse blankets can be produced according to the invention using, along each border, a line of stitches holding the three layers together and another line of stitches holding the external layer and the lining layer together.

The invention also provides a process for manufacturing a horse blanket comprising producing a length of material using the process according to the invention, as hereinbefore defined, and cutting a piece of the thus-produced material to provide a length suitable for a horse blanket, cutting one end of the material to accommodate the neck and . breast of the horse and pleating the other end of the material to fit the croup of the horse, binding the outermost edges of the material and , providing the material with fastening means as required.

Thus, a horse blanket can be made using a small number of 30 operations since the majority of the work normally involved in manufacturing a horse blanket is accomplished in a single operation by using the process according to the invention to produce a length of ,f material. t Typically, straps are added to the blanket to allow it to be fastened under the belly of the horse, across the breast of the horse and under the tail of the horse.

Suitably, the blanket is fastened across the breast of the horse by means of a T-bar and gate buckle. The two opposite sides of the front of the blanket meet around the front of the breast of the horse. One side is provided with the T-bar portion of the buckle and the other side is provided with the gate portion of the buckle. Preferably, this fastening is further secured by means of a plurality of inter-engaging hooks and loops, the hooks being carried by a fabric portion on one side of the front of the blanket and the loops being carried by a fabric portion on the other side of the front of the blanket. Typically, this arrangement is carried out by using complementary pieces of Velcro (Velcro is a trade mark).

The invention will further be illustrated by the following description of an embodiment thereof given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a plan view of a blanket manufactured using the process according to the invention; Fig. 2 is a cross-section through a border of the blanket illustrated in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a cross-section through a border of a blanket produced according to the invention using an alternative arrangement of stitching.

In Fig. 1, there is illustrated, generally at 10, a horse blanket produced using the process according to the invention. The blanket 10 is made from a length of material 11 which comprises an external fabric layer 12, a filling layer and a lining layer. The filling and lining layers are hidden in this top plan view of the blanket since they are underneath external layer 12. The material 11 is formed by sewing the three fabric layers together along the longitudinal borders 13,14 thereof using two lines of stitches 15,16 along each border 13,14. A rectangular piece of the thus-produced material of a suitable length is used for making the blanket.

Front end 17 of the material is cut to fit the neck of the horse such that central portion 18 rests on the back of the neck of the horse while side portions 19.20 are held together across the breast of the horse using a pair of T-bar 21 and gate 22 buckles. The blanket 10 is held under the belly of the horse using a pair of straps 23 and buckles 24. At the rear end 25 of the blanket 10, a series of pleats (not shown) shape the blanket to fit the croup of the horse. A strap 26 and buckle 27 are fastened below the tail of the horse to hold the rear end 25 of the blanket firmly in place. The shaping provided by the pleats (not shown) reduces the width of rear end 25 of the blanket 10, thereby providing the blanket, in a plan view thereof, with an irregular (nonrectangular) appearance as the longitudinal borders 13,14 appear to converge towards the rear end 25 of the blanket.

It can be seen that the entire central portion of the blanket (between the lines of stitches 16) is free from stitching and is therefore waterproof (since external layer 12 is formed from a waterproof material). It is the central portion which is, in use, uppermost on the back and upper flanks of the horse.

Fig. 2 shows a section through border 14 of blanket 10 illustrated in Fig. 1. It can be seen that the material 11 from which the blanket is made comprises three layers. In addition to the external fabric layer 12 (which is ballistic nylon fabric), there is also a cotton lining layer 28 and a filling layer 29 of thermal bonded fibre. The material is held together by the two lines of stitches 15,16. Line 16 holds the three layers together while line 15 holds together external fabric layer 12 and lining layer 28.

The material is manufactured according to the invention by feeding external layer 12, lining layer 28 and filling layer 29 into a sewing machine adapted to provide two lines of stitches 15,16 along the longitudinal border 14. The machine also provides similar lines 15,16 along opposite border 13, as illustrated in Fig. 1. The three layers 12,28,29 are sewn together to form the material in a single operation. Also illustrated in Fig. 2 is a binding 30 which is applied to the outermost edge of external layer 12.

In Fig. 3, an alternative embodiment of material made according to the invention is illustrated. The material 40 comprises an external layer 41, a lining layer 42 and a filling layer 43, with the filling layer 43 sandwiched between external layer 41 and lining layer 42. In this embodiment, the lining layer is breatheable nylon. A line of stitches 44 holds all three layers together and a second line of stitches 45 holds together external layer 41, lining layer 42 and a binding 46. Again, it can be seen that this construction avoids the problems of the prior art by providing a single-step process for making a length of blanket material, the material having stitches confined to the longitudinal borders thereof with the attendant advantages.

Claims (5)

1. Claims:1. A process for producing a length of material suitable for use in the manufacture of horse blankets, comprising feeding an external fabric layer, a filling layer and a lining layer into a sewing machine with the filling layer being sandwiched between the external and lining layers, each layer being fed lengthways into the machine and having a sufficient width to enable horse blankets to be produced therefrom as a single piece, the machine being adapted to maintain the positions of the layers relative to one another and to stitch the layers together along the longitudinal borders thereof, thereby providing, in a single operation, a single piece of multi-layer material wherein the layers are held together by stitches confined to the longitudinal borders thereof.

2. A process according to Claim 1, wherein the external fabric layer is impermeable to water in its liquid form and each of the layers is permeable to water vapour.

3. A process according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the width of the filling layer is less than that of the external layer or the lining layer.

4. A process for manufacturing a horse blanket comprising producing a length of material using the process according to Claim 1, cutting a piece of the thus-produced material to provide a length suitable for a horse blanket, cutting one end of the material to accommodate the neck and breast of a horse and pleating the other end of the material to fit the croup of the horse, binding the outermost edges of the material and providing the material with fastening means as required.

5. A process according to Claim 1, substantially as hereinbefore described and exemplified.