US3228426A

US3228426A - Method for weaving contoured thread connected dual wall inflatable fabric

Info

Publication number: US3228426A
Application number: US328020A
Authority: US
Inventors: Bilsky Earl
Original assignee: Goodyear Aerospace Corp
Current assignee: Goodyear Aerospace Corp
Priority date: 1963-12-04
Filing date: 1963-12-04
Publication date: 1966-01-11
Anticipated expiration: 1983-01-11

Description

Jan. 11, 1966 E. BILSKY 3,228,425

METHOD FOR WEAVING CONTOURED THREAD CONNECTED DUAL WALL INFLATABLE FABRIC Filed Dec. 4, 1963 INVENTOR.

E A /?L B/LSK Y ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,228,426 METHOD FOR WEAVING CONTOURED THREAD CONNECTED DUAL WALL INFLATABLE FABRIC Earl Bilsky, Lawrence, Mass, assignor to Goodyear Aerospace Corporation, Akron, (lhio, a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 4, 1963, Ser. No. 328,020 Claims. (Cl. 139-20) This invention relates to a method for weaving contoured thread-connected dual wall inflatable fabric, and more particularly to a method for weaving double spaced fabrics with extended drop yarns therebetween so that when the fabrics are moved apart after weaving, a desired contour is attained between the fabrics because of the extended lengths of the drop yarns.

Thread-connected dual wall inflatable fabric is manufactured and sold by Goodyear Aerospace Corporation of Akron, Ohio, under the trademark Airmat registered in the US. Patent Office.

Thread-connected dual wall inflatable fabric, hereinafter for simplicity called inflatable fabric, has been made with the threads, sometimes called drop yarns, of fine steel wire or of light but strong natural or synthetic fibers or filaments.

Inflatable fabric of this type when inflated provides a high strength per unit weight ratio. It consists of an upper and lower woven fabric connected by drop yarns of equal length for flat inflatable fabric or varying lengths for contoured inflatable fabric. At present, however, it is not possible to accurately and/or automatically vary the length of the drop yarns to make contoured inflatable fabric. Thus, using the plush or carpet looms of the art only flat inflatable fabric of approximately three inches thickness is possible, however, flat inflatable fabric can be made up to approximately six inches in thickness by including false picks to extend the drop yarns which picks are later removed.

Until the technique for weaving contoured inflatable fabric, as disclosed hereinafter, was developed, it was necessary to cut fabrics into strips and gores which were sewn together to produce shapes such as cones, spheres and air foils. This procedure was not only costly and time consuming, but also precluded, to a great extent any attempt to produce such shapes with any degree of similarity.

Heretofore, the art of double fabric weaving on plush or carpet looms has been well known. In these looms a top and bottom fabric are woven simultaneously in substantially parallel spaced relationship with a plurality of drop yarns extending from fabric to fabric. These drop yarns are split substantially in the middle to separate the two fabrics and create the nap or plush surface of a carpet. Further, these plush looms have been used to make inflatable fabric having uniform cross sectional areas. However, the maximum spacing between fabrics generally cannot be more than six inches which limits the maximum depth of the fabric drop yarn combination to six inches. Further, it is not possible to attain either longitudinal or transversed tapers or curves to the fabric with the looms of the present art.

Therefore, it is the general object of the invention to avoid and overcome the foregoing and other difliculties of prior art practices by the provisions of a method to weave contoured inflatable fabric on a double fabric plush loom by extending the drop yarns from each fabric the desired length during the weaving.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method for weaving contoured inflatable fabric on a double fabric plush loom whereby the drop yarns are extended during the weaving thereof, and which extension is highly accurate and controllable to insure a precision inflatable fabric with a high strength to weight ratio.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method highly accurate, extremely effective, and which is low in for weaving contoured inflatable fabric which is simple, cost.

The aforesaid objects of the invention and other objects which will become apparent as the description proceeds are achieved by providing a method to weave contoured inflatable fabric which comprises the steps of weaving a top and bottom fabric of wire yarn in substantially par allel spaced relationship, maintaining the woven fabrics in substantially the same spaced relationship while moving them away from the weaving edge, weaving a plurality of drop yarns longitudinally into each fabric, crossing the drop yarns over from one fabric to the other, extending the crossed over drop yarns from the top fabric a predetermined length between the fabrics while spacing them from the lower fabric, and extending the crossed over drop yarns from the bottom fabric a pre-determined length between the fabrics while spacing them from the top fabric.

For a better understanding of the invention reference should be had to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic line diagram of one embodiment of the method of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a schematic line diagram of a slightly altered version of the embodiment of FIGURE 1, and

FIGURE 3 is a schematic line diagram of another embodiment of the method of the invention which extends the drop yarns outside the fabrics.

With reference to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates a top fabric and numeral 2 represents a bottom fabric. The top fabric 1 is woven from a plurality of warp yarns 3 and 4 which define a top shed 5. Likewise the bottom fabric 2 is woven from a plurality of warp yarns 6 and 7 which define a bottom shed 8.

Weft yarns

9 and 10 are received in the sheds 5 and 8 and are beaten up into weaving edges 11 and 12 usually by means of a reed mechanism (not shown). The woven fabrics 1 and 2 are taken away from the weaving edges in substantially straight, parallel spaced relationship to allow the extention method described hereinafter.

A plurality of

drop yarns

13 and 14 are woven longitudinally into the fabrics 1 and 2 in substantially parallel relationship to the warp yarns, with the

drop yarns

13 and 14 being crossed over from one fabric to the other between about every two and about every twenty picks of the

weft yarns

9 and 10. It should be understood that substantially conventional dobby or jacquard mechanism will be used to control the positioning of all the yarns during the weaving. FIGURE 1 illustrates the

drop yarns

13 and 14 having been crossed over to form a cross over point 15. However, before the

drop yarns

13 and 14 are rewoven back into their respective fabrics 1 and 2, they are extended, as will be described hereinafter. Thus, it is seen that the fabrics 1 and 2 comprise longitudinally running warp yarns, transversely running weft yarns, and longitudinally running drop yarns crossing over between fabrics. The invention contemplates that the yarns shall be metallic having diameters between about .0015 and about .005 inch. However, the yarns may be nylon, rayon, or natural or synthetic materials which will give the desired strength to weight ratios.

The important feature of the invention is to provide extension of the

drop yarns

13 and 14 to pro-determined lengths before they are rewoven into the fabrics 1 and 2 so that when the fabrics 1 and 2 are made air impervious and the sides enclosed the structure may be inflated allowing the drop yarns to extend and provide desired contours between the fabrics 1 and 2. Therefore, in order to achieve the extension of the

drop yarns

13 and 14, a stationary central rod 16 and

side rods

17 and 18 adjacent the inside of the fabrics 1 and 2 may be provided.

The stationary rod 16 is positioned so that it is between the cross over point and the weaving edges 11 and 12. The

movable rods

17 and 18 are positioned inside and adjacent the fabrics 1 and 2 and behind the respective cross over

yarns

13 and 14. Therefore, when the

movable rods

17 and 18 are moved forwardly substantially parallel to and between the fabrics 1 and 2 to a position indicated by

dotted lines

19 and 20, the

drop yarns

13 and 14 are extended to the

dotted line positions

21 and 22. Thus, it is seen that the drop yarn-s 13 and 14 are extended individually to a length accurately determined by a distance X, indicated by numeral 23, which defines the distance from the stationary bar 16 to the extended positions of the

movable bars

17 and 18. Also, it should be noted that each extended drop yarn is spaced by the stationary bar 16 from the other fabric and the other drop yarns to prevent tangling. Of course, the

movable bars

17 and 18 could be moved pre-determined variable distances to provide variable extension of the drop yarns to achieve the desired contour between the fabrics 1 and 2.

FIGURE 2 illustrates a modified version of the method utilized in FIGURE 1 where everything is essentially the same except that the stationary bar 16 is moved up so that it is substantially in line with the weaving edges 11 and 12. In this manner the

drop yarns

13 and 14 may be crossed over and beaten up to the weaving edges 11 and 12 so that they are essentially perpendicular thereto as indicated by the single line 24. After the drop yarns are beaten up into position the

movable bars

17 and 18 may then move between the fabric layers 1 and 2 to the positions indicated by dotted lines 1901 and 20a which extends the

drop yarns

13 and 14 to the positions indicated by the dotted lines 21a and 2211. In this instance the extension of the

drop yarns

13 and 14 is even more accurately controlled because the distance of extension X, indicated by numeral 25 is exactly equal on both sides of the

movable bars

17 and 18, and further since both

bars

17 and 18 are behind the drop yarns indicated by the straight line 24 both the

drop yarns

13 and 14 are extended by each movable bar so that the total distance moved is equal to substantially four X. Thus, it is seen that simply by controlling the positioning of the

rods

17 and 18 either behind only one drop yarn as shown in FIGURE 1, or behind both drop yarns, as shown in FIGURE 2, one can quickly and easily control the amount of extension to the drop yarns.

In the embodiments of the invention shown in FIG- URES 1 and 2 it is contemplated that the drop yarns will be woven back into their respective fabrics after extension to hold. them in position. The invention further contemplates that the extended drop yarns may be held in the extended position until the completion of weaving to prevent tangling thereof.

FIGURE 3 represents a method of extending the drop yarns outside the fabric layers. In this case a pair of substantially parallel spaced fabric layers and 31 are made up from

warp yarns

32, 33, 34, and 35. The warp yarns 32 and 33 describe a shed 36 while the warp yarns 34 and 35 describe a shed 37.

Weft yarns

38 and 39 are received in the

sheds

36 and 37, respecitvely. A plurality of

drop yarns

40 and 41 are crossed over from the

weaving edges

42 and 43 to provide a cross over point 44. In order to provide the extension of the drop yarns 40 and 41 a pair of

movable rods

45 and 46 are provided. The

rods

45 and 46 are placed behind the

drop yarns

40 and 41 and outside the

outer warp yarns

32 and 35. In this position the

movable rods

45 and 46 can move forwardly towards the

fabrics

30 and 31 in substantially parallel relation on the outside thereof to the position indicated by the

dotted lines

47 and 48 which provides an extension of the

drop yarns

40 and 41 to the position indicated by the

dotted lines

49 and 50. This extension will move the

drop yarns

40 and 41 to a position perpendicular to the weaving edges 42 and 43 which is indicated by the dotted line 51. The extension in this case is indicated by the disthat each individual drop yarn is extended a distance 2X by the

movable rods

45 and 46 with the extension taking place outside the

fabrics

30 and 31. With this method of extension the drop yarns extension will remain outside the woven

fabrics

30 and 31 while the drop yarns are rewoven back into their respective fabrics and then pulled down to their extended length when the fabric layers 30 and 31 are made air impervious and covered and inflated to provide the desired contours.

It is contemplated that the drop yarn cross overs will be made between about every two and about every twenty picks of the weft yarns with the drop yarns extended before they are rewoven back into the fabrics. A method of internal extension of each individual drop yarn, and a method of internal extension of both drop yarns together, and a method of external extension of the individual drop yarns have been illustrated and described in detail.

However, it is to be understood that while in accordance with the patent statutes only one embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described in detail, it is to be particularly understood that the invention is not limited thereto to thereby, but that the inventive scope is defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is: 1. A method to weave deep piled contoured inflatable fabric which comprises the steps of weaving a top and bottom fabric of wire yarn having a diameter of between about .0015 and about .005 inch, said fabrics composed of longitudinally running warp yarns and transversely running weft yarns, said fabrics being in substantially parallel spaced relationship, taking the fabrics away from the weaving edge in substantially straight and parallel spaced relationship,

weaving a plurality of drop yarns longitudinally into each fabric in substantially parallel relationship to the warp yarns,

crossing said drop yarns over from one fabric to the other between about every two and about twenty picks of the weft yarn, positioning an extension bar in front of the crossed over drop yarns from the top fabric, moving said bar into the spaced opening between fabrics thereby extending the crossed over drop yarns from the top fabric a predetermined length inbetween the fabrics while spacing them from the lower fabric,

positioning an extension bar in front of the crossed over drop yarns from the bottom fabric, moving said bar into the spaced opening between fabrics thereby extending the crossed over drop yarns from the bottom fabric a pre-determined length inbetween the fabrics while spacing them from the top fabric, and

weaving the crossed over and extended drop yarns into their respective fabrics.

2. A method to weave deep piled contoured inflatable fabric which comprises the steps of weaving a top and bottom fabric of wire yarn,

taking the fabrics away from the weaving edge in spaced relationship for a considerable distance, weaving a plurality of drop yarns into each fabric, crossing said drop yarns over from one fabric to the other, positioning restraining means behind the crossed over drop yarns parallel to the weaving edge between the fabrics,

positioning an extension bar in front of the drop yarns from the top fabric and moving it between the top fabric thereby extendingthe crossed over drop yarns from the top fabric a pre-determnied length inbetween the fabrics while the restraining means spaces them from the lower fabric, and

positioning an extension bar in front of the drop yarns from the lower fabric and moving it between the restraining means and the lower fabric thereby extending the crossed over drop yarns from the bottom fabric a pre-determined length inbetween the fabrics While the restraining means spaces them from the top weaving a plurality of drop yarns into each fabric,

crossing said drop yarns over from one fabric to the other,

beating the crossed over drop yarns up to the weaving fabric. 5 edge, 3. A method to weave deep piled contoured inflatable positioning an extension bar on the outside of each fabric which comprises the steps of fabric substantially parallel to the weaving edge Weaving two fabrics in substantially parallel spaced thereof in front of the crossed over drop yarns and relationship, said fabrics comprising longitudinally moving the bars outside the fabrics parallel thereextending warp yarns and transversely extending 10 to along the fabrics away from the weaving edges weft yarns, thereby extending the crossed over drop yarns intaking the fabrics away from the weaving edge a subdividually outside the fabrics to pre-determined stantial distance in substantially straight and parallel length, and spaced relationship, weaving the extended drop yarns into their respective weaving a plurality of drop yarns longitudinally into fabrics.

each fabric in substantially parallel relationship to 5. A method to weave deep piled contoured inflatable the warp yarns, fabric according to claim 4 which includes holding each crossing said drop yarns over from one fabric to the drop yarn in spaced relation from every other drop yarn other, and the fabrics during movement by said extension bars. beating the crossed over drop yarns up to the weaving edges, b h d h d References Cited by the Examiner positioning a restraining means e in t e crosse over drop yarns substantially between and parallel to the UNITED STATES PATENTS Weaving edges Ofthe fabrics, 1,976,793 10/1934 Mangold. positioning extension means in front of the crossed 2,025 2 1935 Holmes -139 20 over drop yarns and moving said extension means 2 045,039 193 h 139 334 into the space between the fabrics on each side of 2 317 513 4 1943 Brindle 139 2 the restraining means thereby extending the crossed 2 35 45 3 1944 Gamer 39 39 X over drop yarns together pre-determined lengths be- 2 37 430 3/ 1953 M m 139 410 tween the fabrics while the restraining means effects 2 57 71 11 1953 Ford 139 410 spacing the extended end from the fabrics, and 2 743 510 5 1956 Mammy et 1 139-410 X weaving the extended drop yarns into their respective 2 343 01 3/1953 N il 139 41 fabrics- 3,00s,213 11/1961 Foster et al. 139-410 X 4. A method to weave contoured inflatable fabric 3,043,198 1952 Koppelman et 1 139 41 X which comprises the steps of weaving a top and bottom fabric of wire yarn so that FOREIGN PATENTS the fabrics are in substantially parallel spaced rela 69,100 12/1951 Netherlandstionship, said fabrics composed of longitudinally extending warp yarn and transversely extending weft 3 moving the fabrics away from the weaving edge a considerable distance in spaced relationship,

DONALD W. PARKER, Primary Examiner.

J. KEE CHI, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

1. A METHOD TO WEAVE DEEP PILED CONTOURED INFLATABLE FABRIC WHICH COMPRISES THE STEPS OF WEAVING A TOP AND BOTTOM FABRIC OF WIRE YARN HAVING A DIAMETER OF BETWEEN ABOUT .0015 AND ABOUT .005 INCH, SAID FABRICS COMPOSED OF LONGITUDINALLY RUNNING WARP YARNS AND TRANSVERSELY RUNNING WEFT YARNS, SAID FABRICS BEING IN SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL SPACED RELATIONSHIP, TAKING THE FABRICS AWAY FROM THE WEAVING EDGE IN SUBSTANTIALLY STRAIGHT AND PARALLEL SPACED RELATIONSHIP, WEAVING A PLURALITY OF DROP YARNS LONGITUDINALLY INTO EACH FABRIC IN SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL RELATIONSHIP TO THE WARP YARNS, CROSSING SAID DROP YARNS OVER FROM ONE FABRIC TO THE OTHER BETWEEN ABOUT EVERY TWO AND ABOUT TWENTY PICKS OF THE WEFT YARN, POSITIONING AN EXTENSION BAR IN FRONT OF THE CROSSED OVER DROP YARNS FROM THE TOP FABRIC, MOVING SAID BAR INTO THE SPACED OPENING BETWEEN FABRICS THEREBY EXTENDING THE CROSSED OVER DROP YARNS FROM THE TOP FABRIC A PREDETERMINED LENGTH INBETWEEN THE FABRICS WHILE SPACING THEM FROM THE LOWER FABRIC, POSITIONING AN EXTENSION BAR IN FRONT OF THE CROSSED OVER DROP YARNS FROM THE BOTTOM FABRIC, MOVING SAID BAR INTO THE SPACED OPENING BETWEEN FABRICS THEREBY EXTENDING THE CROSSED OVER DROP YARNS FROM THE BOTTOM FABRIC A PRE-DETERMINED LENGTH INBETWEEN THE FABRICS WHILE SPACING THEM FROM THE TOP FABRIC, AND WEAVING THE CROSSED OVER AND EXTENDED DROP YARNS INTO THEIR RESPECTIVE FABRICS.