US2215938A - Method of producing noncurling stiffened woven fabrics and product thereof - Google Patents

Description

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Patented Sept. 24, 1940 PATENT iori-'ICE METHOD F STIFFENED UCT THEBEOF PEODUCING NONCUBLING WOVEN FABRICS AND PROD- Albert Schnholxer, Horn, Swltaerland,

to Baduner t Co., A.G., Horn, Switnerland Application December 6, 1937, Serial No. 1181"'-6 In Switzerland Ml 7, 1937 9 Claims. (Cl. 28-1) 'I'his invention relates to noncurling stiilened woven fabrics.

It is known that all fabrics which have been subjected to stiffening treatment have a tendency towards curling, that is, rolling up especially at their edges. The degree of this tendency increases with the intensity of the application of the stiffening treatment. This tendency applies particularly to all ne fabrics of tightly twisted l0 yarns provided with permanent stiieners, such as the typical stiifened, transparent fabrics, for instance, organdies made from muslin fabrics, and also voile-like fabrics which have been treated by swelling means to produce transparence and stiii- !5 ness. This tendency toward curling is also present in heavier fabrics, for instance, double cloths, fabrics made in imitation of linen, etc., which have been treated to provide permanent stiffness. A further class of fabrics in which this tendency tov/ard curling is present is fabrics simply stiffened by plain sizing which may be or may not be fast to washing to some extent. The tendency towards curling is noticeable in such goods particularly during ironing, and hitherto this characteristic which is exceedingly annoying in working the goods could not be counteracted by any of the known finishing treatments.

Even measures, such as the known measure of calendering both faces of the fabric to the same extent, are but temporarily eiective, as their effect is in most cases destroyed by ordinary ironing, and is always wholly eliminated by washing and subsequent drying of the goods, so that these measures have been of no help to the user.

` 3I'he extremely disadvantageous curling effect,

particularly, when relatively fine muslin-like fabrics are involved, has been a great drawback to eiforts to promote the more general use of such highly reiined textile products.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for completely eliminating the said extremely disadvantageous curling eiect of fabrics, as experienced when spreading them out, or, even more, while cutting them to shape, particularly under the influence of variations of atmospheric conditions as regards temperature or moisture content, and especially while ironing the fabrics.

In the accompanying drawing, Fig. 1 is an enlarged view of a face of an ordinary organdie fabric having all the yarns twisted in the same direction.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of a face of a fabric woven according to the present invention having the alternate yarns of the warp twisted opposite- Fig. 3 is an enlarged face view of a fabric according to .the present invention in which two threads rof similar twist are alternated with two threads of opposite twist in both the warp and the weft.

According to the invention, fabrics are pro- 5 duced the warp or weft or both of vwhich are woven by means of right and left hand twisted yarns interspersed therein, for instance, alternating individually or in groups, and are subjected to 10 the required reiining treatments by means of any of the processes for producing transparency or other rening processes having a stiifening effect. It is to be understoodthat all methods hitherto used in the art for producing transparency by 15 swelling the fabric and which also produce stiliness either by means of acids or lyes or other swelling means as well as combinations of such methods are applicable for carrying out the invention. 2u

The surprising result of lnumerous tests has shown that the solution oi' the problem of eliminating the curling of fabric, which problem has existed for a considerable number of years, is rendered possible by providing therein a compeng5 sating arrangement of right and left hand twisted yarns. 'Ihis compensating inuence may be provided in either the warp or weft singly or in both conjointly, as desired. It may be provided by using threads having left hand and right hand -twist 30 and arranging them alternately or in individual groups of threads of either kind of twisting, without the absolute necessity of interweaving exactly the same number of threads of each kind of twist, as considerable compensating influence is 35 obtained with 'a percentage of oppositely twisted yarns of much less than 50%. The percentage of oppositely twisted yarns required depends on the characteristics of the yarn employed. Provision may also be made for using such a group of opo positely twisted yarns at the selvedge only but for practical purposes this measure is of minor importance, due to the fact that the selvedge is oftentimes cutoff in working the cloth.

`Furthermore, for the manufacture of fancy 4,5

fabrics thev provision of decorative stripes formed of oppositely twisted yarns so as to provide a fancy eect may suice for obtaining the desired end, or yarns of unidirectional twist may be used for the individual fancy stripes together with an 50 arrangement of yarns twisted oppositely to each other in the ground fabric, or else all of the yarns of the ground fabric may be twisted oppositely to the direction of twist of the yarns of the stripes. As far as the broad principle of the in- 5I' vention is concerned, it is immaterial in what manner the stiifening of. the fabric, particularly the permanent stiftening thereof, is obtained, or what stiifening or swelling agents are used or what concentrations, temperatures, durations of treatmentv are applied or whether the fabrics are subjected to any preliminary or after-treatments by means of which effects, such as, for example. pattern effects, crpe or embossed effects or combinations of such are obtained.

According to the invention, provision is also made for eliminating the tendency towards curling from fabrics which have special effects, due to the use of special weaving methods, or to the use of vspecial refining treatments in connection with the employment of special yarns or to choice of other kinds of fibers therefor, or to varying of the preliminary treatment thereof, or due to printing influences and, which fabrics therefore, have the tendency towards curling, by the use and arrangement of properly twisted interwoven yarns to exert a compensating influence on the otherwise curling fabric. It is to be understood that the term, yarn, in the present instance, is f intended to include single and inter-twisted yarns made from vegetable, animal or artificial fibers as well as from mixed fibers of any combination thereof, the fabric containing one or more different kinds of such yarns, as desired.

Broadly the use of cppositely twisted yarns in any feasible relative arrangements is admittedly a matter known per se for overtwisted, so-called crepe yarn fabrics the tension of the twist of which is relieved. Experience has shown that crepe fabrics made of yarns twisted similarly but relieved from tension by shrinkage in the usual manner have no tendency towards curling, as the relief of tension stabilizes the yarns. But if the texture of a fabric made from unidirectlonally twisted crepe yarns were arbitrarily altered in an unnatural way by stretching and stiffening the fabric, the latter would then have a. tendency to curl to a considerable extent. The invention is,

therefore, not concerned with crepe fabrics which have been treated in the usual way, or as this may be termed creponised. The invention is, however, concerned with fabrics which are made from overtwisted yarns if these fabrics are provided with a plain stiifening effect.

There are further known fabrics in which, for example, the Warp contains an alternate succession of yarns twisted in right hand and left hand direction for the purpose of obtaining a certain stripe elect which is brought about by the two yarns reflecting the light in different manner. Such goods consist without exception in extremely soft, loose twist, ne fabrics, such as shirtings and fabrics which are used for making underclothing, and do not curl even without the application of oppositely twisted yarns, on account of their softness. Y

In the following, anumber of illustrative modes of procedure applicable for producing lasting or temporary stiiening effects according to the invention are mentioned by way of example only without limiting the invention to the same:

l. Modes of procedure for producing permanent stiifenng effects by means of chemicals for swelling cellulosic or animal flbers, such as the transparentizing and parchmentizing methods,

i. e. treatment with acid, cuprammonium, zinc chloride, alkali lyes or the like.

2. Modes of procedures for producing semipermanent stiiening effects, that is, effects standing at least washing, by means of insoluble effects on fabrics which will have the tendencyk towards curling. Y

Apart from the plain transparent fabrics made from iine cottoxrfabric with which the invention is concerned most of all, the invention is also of great importance for double cloths which are permanently stiiened so as to stand washing, for example, for use for collars or the like, 'and which, hitherto, could not be satisfactorily permanently stiffened, in general, due to their annoying tendency towards curling.

According to the invention the crude fabric which is provided with the right and left hand twisted yarns may be subjected to other rening treatments, i. e. it maybe bleached, dyed, or printed, or the like either before, during or after the treatment which provides the stiffness.

As a particular example of the practice of the method according to the invention, a muslin fabric is woven of fine cotton yarns, for example a 80/120 fabric, that is, a fabric having its warp composed of count 80 yarns and its weft of count 120 yarns, and having a normal tight twist, for example, 32 turns per inch. The yarns employed comprise a substantial proportion of both right hand and left hand twisted yarns, the said oppositely twisted yarns being alternated or at least mixed or interspersed substantially regularly throughout the fabric. The proportion of one type of yarn to the other type may be 50%. 'I'he fabric may then, if desired, be treated with known bleaching, dyeing, mercerising or printing processes. The thus prepared fabric is then subjected to an acid treatment of known character for producing stiffness and transparency, for example, treatment with sulfuric acid of a strength of about 5056 B., for a period of about 20 seconds at a temperature of about C. The fabric is then neutralized, eventually mercerised and washed. The resulting fabric is a permanently stiil',ltransparent organdie having no tendency to curlL even after subsequent washing and during ironing. Voile fabrics also produced in this manner are also of importance.

It will be understood that the above specified conditions can be varied according to the circumstances and desired result in many respects that will occur to persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. In place of the cotton yarns other cellulosic yarns as artificial silk,` and linen, etc., may be employed. Also natural silk or wool are suitable. In vplace of the acid stiifening and transparentizing treatment other treatments such as alternate applications of caustic and acid may be employed to produce the stiifening. Also treatments with cuprammonium or zinc chloride may be substituted in known manner for the acid treatment to provide the stiffness. Additionally, when semipermanent or temporary stiffness is desired, the hereinbefore'm'entioned treatments or applications of sizes may be substituted for the' abovementioned permanent stiffening treatments.

Various changes and modifications may be made in the practice of my invention without departing from the principle or spirit thereof, by adding customary practice and established knowledge of the art to the present disclosure and the scope of the appended claims is not to be regarded as limited except as specified therein.

What I claim is:

1. A thin, stiff, transparent, voile-like fabric substantially free of tendency to curl after hot ironing composed of substantial proportions of both right hand and left hand twisted yarns, the oppositely twisted yarns being interspersed throughout the fabric with substantial regularity, the yarns being ne and tightly twisted and the fabric being parchmentized. 1

2. A textile material comprising a thin, parchmentized, voile-like, stiff, open-mesh fabric composed of uniformly interspersed right-hand and left-hand twisted yarns, and having substantially no tendency to curl after hot ironing.

3. A textile material comprising a parchmentized, stiff, transparent, open-mesh, voile fabric, composed of a substantial proportion of both right-hand and left-hand, tightly twisted, fine, cotton yarns having about 32 turns per inch uniformly mixed in the fabric, and the fabric having substantially no tendency to curl after hot ironing.

4. The method ofproducing thin, stii, openmesh, transparent fabrics having substantially no tendency to curl even during and immediately after hot ironing, comprising selecting tightlytwisted, ne yarns of natural cellulosic fibers of both left-hand and right-hand twist, weaving a thin, open-mesh fabric of said yarns with the rightand left-hand twisted yarns substantially evenly distributed throughout, and parchmentizing said fabric to stl'en and transparentize the fabric.

5. A thin.. sti, textile fabric of parchmentized muslin composed of both leftand right-hand tightly twisted, fine cotton yarns' substantially uniformly distributed throughout the fabric, the fabric being relatively transparent and having an open mesh and being substantially free of tend ency to curl even after hot irco 6. A voile-like textile fabric which is openmeshed, thin, transparent and permanently stiff, composed of fine yarns of both rightand lefthand twist, said oppositely-twisted yarns being substantially uniformly distributed throughout the fabric, said yarns having a tight twist of about 32 turns per inch and the fabric being parchmentized with retention of the tight twist, and said fabric having substantially no tendency to curl under the influence of hot ironing.

'7. A permanently stiff, thin, transparent, openmesh, musIin-type fabric, composed of fine yarns of both rightand left-hand twist, the yarns of said fabric being of about count 80 and count 120 in the warp and weft respectively, said oppositelytwisted yarns being substantially uniformly distributed throughout the fabric, said yarns having a tight twist of about 32 turns per inch and the fabric being parchmentized with retention of the tight twist, and said fabric having substantially no tendency to curl under the influence of hot ironing.

8. A voile-like textile fabric which is openmeshed, thin, transparent and permanently stiff, composed of fine yarns of both rightand lefthand twist, said oppositely-twisted yarns being substantially uniformly distributed throughout the warp of the fabric, said yarns having a tight twist of about 32 turns per inch and the fabric being parchmentized with retention of the tight twist, and said fabric having substantially no tendency to curl under the inilence of hot ironing. 1

9. A voile-like textile fabric which is openmeshed, thin, transparent and permanently stiff, composed of fine yarns of both rightand lefthand twist, said oppositely-twisted yarns being substantially uniformly distributed throughout the weft of the fabric, said yarns having a tight twist of about 32 turns per inch and the fabric being parchmentized with retention of the tight twist. and said fabric having substantially no tendency to curl under the influence of hot iron.- ing.

ALBERT sonuuonznn.

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