WO2010120922A1

WO2010120922A1 - Quick-dry textured towel

Info

Publication number: WO2010120922A1
Application number: PCT/US2010/031084
Authority: WO
Inventors: Carl Melvin Huffstickler; Karen Wertz; Cynthia K. Henderson
Original assignee: J. C. Penney Private Brands, Inc.
Priority date: 2009-04-15
Filing date: 2010-04-14
Publication date: 2010-10-21
Also published as: US20110041948A1

Abstract

A quick-dry textured towel is disclosed. The quick-dry textured towel comprises a lightweight fabric including a plurality of low-twist pile yarns forming a textured weave design.

Description

QUICK-DRY TEXTURED TOWEL

BACKGROUND

Towels are typically used for drying. Accordingly, commercially available towels are designed for maximum absorption. At maximum absorption, it has been observed that commercially available towels weigh more than desirable, and also require longer than desirable drying times. One approach to reducing towel drying times and weight is to reduce the aesthetic properties (e.g., look and feel) of the towels, such as towels' bulk and softness. However, consumers desire aesthetically pleasing towels with quick drying times. Although commercially available towels have been generally adequate for the intended purposes, they have not been entirely satisfactory in all respects.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is best understood from the following detailed description when read with the accompanying figures. It is emphasized that, in accordance with the standard practice in the industry, various features are not drawn to scale and are used for illustration purposes only. In fact, the dimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily increased or reduced for clarity of discussion.

Fig. IA is a diagrammatic view of a quick-dry textured towel according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. IB is a diagrammatic view of a surface portion of the quick-dry textured towel of Fig IA,

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of a portion of the quick-dry textured towel of Fig. IA; and Fig. 3 is a graph illustrating quick-dry and lightweight properties of the quick-dry textured towel of Fig. IA.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure relates generally to towels, and more particularly, to a quick- dry textured towel. Fig. IA is a diagrammatic view of a quick-dry textured towel 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, Fig. IB is a diagrammatic view of a surface portion IOOA of the quick-dry textured towel 100 of Fig. IA, and Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of a portion of the quick-dry textured towel 100 of Fig. I A The quick-dry textured towel 100 includes a lightweight fabric with a textured weave design The textured weave design is achieved by alternating pile-weave portions 102 and flat-weave portions 104. The alternating pile-weave portions 102 and flat-weave portions 104 can extend along the length and/or width of the towel. The alternating textured weave design may extend substantially over one or both surfaces of the towel 100. The textured weave design can also be in designated areas of the towel 100 to achieve ornamental design. For example, the alternating textured weave design can extend diagonally with respect to the length and/or width of the towel. The textured weave design gives the quick- dry towel 100 a bulky, soft appearance despite its lightweight.

In the depicted embodiment, the pile-weave portions 102 are sandwiched between flat-weave portions 104. The alternating pile-weave portions 102 and flat weave portions 104 extend from a woven ground fabric 106 of the quick-dry textured towel 100 A "woven fabric" can include fabric made by interlacing two or more systems of yarns at essentially right angles to each other. For example, the woven ground fabric 106 can include a set of warp yarns and a set of weft (or filling) yarns intersecting and locked together. _ The set of warp yarns are substantially parallel to each other and the set of weft yarns are substantially parallel to each other. The set of warp yarns and set of weft yarns are substantially perpendicular to each other. The set of warp yarns are periodically interlaced with the set of weft yarns to form the woven ground fabric 106. The woven ground fabric 106 may be a plain or twill weave construction.

The pile-weave portions 102 include a plurality of pile yarns 102A, and the flat weave portions 104 include a plurality of yarns 104A As illustrated in Fig 2, the pile yarns 102A and yarns 104A extend outwardly from at least one surface of the woven ground fabπc 106. In the present embodiment, the yarns 102A extend further from the surface of the ground fabπc 106 than the yams 104A. Alternatively, the flat-weave portions 104 may not include yarns 104A, instead comprising the portions of the woven ground fabπc 106 that do not have the pile yarns 102 A extending therefrom In yet another alternative, the pile yarns 102A and/or yarns 104A include yarns that extend varying distances from the woven ground fabπc 106

The pile yarns 102A and/or yarns 104A may be formed as additional warp yams interspersed between the ground warps and interlaced with the weft yams as known in the art, such that the yams are tied into the woven ground fabπc 106. "Pile" are raised loops or cut loops that form a surface of a pile fabric A pile fabπc is a fabric having tufts protruding from a backing, such as the woven ground fabπc 106. In the present embodiment, the pile yarns 102A extend from the ground fabπc in the form of one or mote terry loops. The yams 104A can also extend from the ground fabric in the foim of one or more terry loops. As illustrated in Fig. 2, the terry loop yarns 104A may comprise a substantially wider loop than the terry loop yarns 102A Alternatively, the pile yarns 102A and/or yarns 104A may extend from the woven ground fabric 106 in the form of cut ends The pile yarns 102A of the quick-dry textured towel 100 comprise low-twist yarn. The low-twist yarn may be zero twist yarn. In the depicted embodiment, the pile yarns 102A comprise a zero twist terry yarn. The textured weave design opens up the terry loops to facilitate faster drying.

The quick-dry textured towel 100 comprises any suitable material. In the present embodiment, the towel 100 comprises substantially all cotton, for example, 100% cotton The towel 100 may comprise other materials, such as polyester or rayon. Alternatively, the quick-dry textured towel 100 comprises one or a combination of combination of cotton, polyester, rayon, silk, wool, and/or other suitable man-made and/or natural materials.

In summary, the quick-dry textured towel 100 includes a lightweight fabric including a plurality of low-twist pile yarns in a texture weave design. The lightweight fabric includes a fabric weight of less than about 350 g/m². It has been observed that a direct relationship exists between a weight of a towel and its dry rate. For example, Table 1 below compares the quick-dry textured towel 100 of the present disclosure to commercially available towels.

TABLE 1

Table 1 provides a dry time, fabric weight, and total size of each towel. The dry time represents the total time required for the towel to dry in minutes. The fabric weight, illustrated in grams per square meter of towel (g/m²), is determined from the total weight and total size of the towel. The total size foi the towel represents the length and width of the towel in inches As evident from Table 1 , the quick-dry textured towel exhibits one of the quickest drying times (e.g., 20 minutes) while maintaining the lightest fabπc weight (e.g., 345 g/m²) It should be noted that from Table 1 above that while the fabπc weight (g/m²) for Towel 1 and 2 are similar, the size, hand feel, loft, bulk, and absorbency of the quick-dry textured towel 100 is superior and significantly different from Towels 1 and 2.

Table 2 below also compares the quick-dry textured towel 100 of the present embodiment to commercially available towels, specifically providing test results related to a weight of each towel while drying.

TABLE 2

The weight of each towel was measured in grams at 5-minute time intervals For example, the quick-dry textured towel 100 took 20 minutes to dry. The quick-dry textured towel began with a weight of 25.182 grams and ended with a weight of 12.632 grams when dry.

From Table 2, it is evident that the quick-dry textured towel weighs substantially less when wet and dry as compared to other towels Fig. 3 is a graph 200 that corresponds with Table

2 and illustrates the quick-dry and lightweight properties of the quick-dry textured towel 100. From Fig 3, it is clear that the quick-dry textured towel weighs substantially less when wet and dry as compared to other towels, while drying quicker than commercially available towels

Although the specific description herein focuses on a towel embodiment, the same features are applicable to other items, including blankets, sheets, clothing, bathrobes, wraps, beach towels, hair towels, accessories, shoes, swimwear, carpets, or any other suitable item It is understood that the present disclosure piovides many different embodiments, or examples, for implementing different features of the invention Specific examples of components and arrangements are described above to simplify the present disclosure. These are, of course, merely examples and are not intended to be limiting. Further, the foregoing outlines features of several embodiments so that those skilled in the art may better understand the aspects of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they may readily use the present disclosure as a basis for designing or modifying other processes and structures for carrying out the same purposes and/or achieving the same advantages of the embodiments introduced herein. Those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, and that they may make various changes, substitutions, and alterations herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A quick-dry textured towel comprising a lightweight fabric including a plurality of low-twist pile yarns forming a textured weave design.

2. The quick-dry textured towel of claim 1 wherein the lightweight fabric comprises substantially cotton.

3. The quick-dry textured towel of claim 1 wherein the low-twist pile yarns comprise zero twist terry loops.

4. The quick-dry textured towel of claim 3 wherein the textured weave design opens up the terry loops.

5. The quick-dry textured towel of claim 1 wherein the textured weave design comprises a pattern of alternating pile-weave portions and flat-weave portions.

6. The quick-dry textured towel of claim 5 wherein the alternating pile-weave portions and flat-weave portions extend along a length and/or width of the towel.

7. The quick-dry textured towel of claim 1 wherein the lightweight fabπc comprises a weight equal to or less than about 350 g/m".

8. A fabric compπsing: a ground fabπc having a light weight; a plurality of pile-weave portions extending from the ground fabπc, wherein the plurality of pile-weave portions have portions of the ground fabric sandwiched therebetween to form a textured weave design, the pile-weave portions including a plurality of low-twist pile yarns.

9. The fabric of claim 8 wherein the low-twist pile yarns comprise zero-twist.

10. The fabric of claim 8 wherein the low-twist pile yams comprise terry loops.

1 1 The fabric of claim 8 wherein the light weight comprises a weight equal to or less than about 350 g/m².

12 The fabπc of claim 8 further comprising at least one material selected from the group consisting of cotton, polyester, rayon, silk, and wool.

13 The fabric of claim 8 wherein the portions of the ground fabric sandwiched between the pile-weave portions comprise flat- weave portions including a plurality of yarns having a loop size substantially wider than the low-twist pile yarns

14 A towel comprising: a set ot warp yarns interlaced with a set of weft yarns to form a giound fabπc, the ground fabric being a lightweight fabπc; and the ground fabπc including a plurality of pile yarns extending therefrom to form a pattern of alternating first and second pile portions, the plurality of pile yarns in the first pile portions being zero twist yams.

15 The towel of claim 14 further comprising 100% cotton.

16 The towel of claim 14 wherein the plurality of pile yarns in the first pile portions comprise terry loops.

17 The towel of claim 16 wherein the plurality of pile yarns in the second pile portions comprise terry loops, the terry loops of the first pile portions extending a greater distance from the ground fabric than the terry loops of the second pile portions.

18. The towel of claim 14 wherein the pattern of the alternating first and second pile portions extend along a length and/or width of the towel.