Classifications

• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06C—FINISHING, DRESSING, TENTERING OR STRETCHING TEXTILE FABRICS
  • D06C21/00—Shrinking by compressing
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06C—FINISHING, DRESSING, TENTERING OR STRETCHING TEXTILE FABRICS
  • D06C27/00—Compound processes or apparatus, for finishing or dressing textile fabrics, not otherwise provided for

Definitions

• This invention relates to a process for treating fabric particularly but not exclusively for application in clothing manufacture, which enables a certain degree and type of stretch to be imparted to, for example, a waistband.
• waistband interlining can be elasticated and the outer fabric of the waistband "rouched” or “gathered” providing for a degree of stretch but at the expense of compromising the "tailored” look and fit of the garment to which such an elasticated waistband is attached.
• it comprises a “non-stretch” interlining which acts as a stiffener stabilising the outer fabric, affording some degree of reinforcement and perhaps providing added resilience.
• the disadvantage of the latter system of construction is that there is little "give” or “ease” in that area of the garment incorporating the waistband, and the fit of the garment may become uncomfortable to the wearer for example after meals when the waist expands.
• the top of the waistband can be forced to "give way” and effectively “roll over”, rendering the look of the garment unsightly.
• a wearer falling mid-way between sizing of "off the peg" waistbanded garments selects a garment which is either too tight or too loose in wear.
• EP-B-0705356 preamble of claim 1
• a method of treating a woven fabric characterised in the combination of two stages - a first stage which includes applying heat and pressure to the fabric in such a manner that the yam strands substantially across the width of the fabric are forced closer together thus imparting generally semi-permanent "ease” or “stretch” into the fabric, and a subsequent, second stage which includes affixing to the fabric treated according to the first stage of the method a selected interlining and/or interlining combination having inherent stretch whereby the semi-permanent "ease” or “stretch” imparted to the fabric during the first stage is made substantially permanent during the second stage.
• the interlining or interlining combination used in the method of the above European patent publication must itself have sufficient stretch characteristics, and sufficiently powerful elasticity, in order to ensure that the woven fabric in the finished combination is brought back to its original length after stretching.
• Such interlinings or interlining combinations are available but are relatively expensive to produce and may involve relatively expensive stretch yarns such as "Lycra" yarns.
• GB-A-2256785 discloses a waistband formed of a non-elastic fabric adhered to an elastic material.
• the non-elastic fabric is able to retract slightly owing to the natural looseness of the weave.
• the present invention seeks to provide a method of producing a combined fabric with similar stretch characteristics to that described in our above-mentioned European patent publication, initially employing less resilient and less expensive interlinings or interlining combinations, and additionally to provide a method capable of producing such fabrics in a single step process.
• the bonding is carried out employing a stretchable bonding agent or film.
• the woven fabric employed in the method of the invention will usually be of a non-synthetic textile material, for example wool or cotton, which can not normally be permanently set by heat alone.
• the interlining material will normally be a synthetic material which is thermoplastic and can be heat set, such as a polyester or polyamide textile material.
• the bonding coating or film is preferably material which as well as bonding will impart stretch to the final combined product and it is preferred for this purpose to use a polyurethane material.
• the material may be coated on either the woven non-synthetic fabric or the interlining fabric or may be a film interposed between the two. This is employed where additional 'pull' is required to give the necessary stretch and recovery to the final product. Where, for example, it is desired to attach a (non-stretch) interlining to a stretch fabric, then this may not be necessary, as discussed more fully hereinafter.
• the method of the invention is preferably carried out by the machine as described in our above-mentioned European patent publication which comprises means for applying heat and pressure to a woven fabric, and transport means for effecting relative movement between the heat and pressure application means and the fabric whereby passage of the fabric through the apparatus results in the yarn strands substantially across the width of the fabric being forced closer together thus imparting semi-permanent stretch into the fabric.
• This process may be described as "compressive shrinking" for the purposes of simplicity in the present description.
• compressive shrinking produces stretch but this is not permanent in the sense that it is gradually lost or, if a subsequent heat or steam treatment is applied, will be lost completely at once.
• the second stage was used to fix, or render "permanent", the stretch characteristics.
• the interlining material is both fixed to the woven non-synthetic fabric and at the same time is itself set so that the compressive shrinking applied to it is "permanent". Being bonded to the woven fabric it renders the stretch imparted to that fabric "permanent" also.
• the interlining material used may be a fine woven polyamide or polyester fabric, preferably the latter, although other fabric structures could be used, such as needled or water entangled non-wovens. While the interlining supplied for use with our above-mentioned European patent publication needed to have a considerable degree of stretch and high elastic modulus, that used initially in the present invention may be of less stretchable and much cheaper material. The additional stretchability is supplied by the compressive shrinking and the extra elastic modulus may be supplied by the bonding material which is why polyurethane is preferred.
• One passage through the machine may be sufficient to produce the finished product in that the bond produced by the bonding coating or film is sufficiently strong for the combination to withstand subsequent wear.
• the combined fabric can be passed through a subsequent means such as that described in our above mentioned patent publication for affixing the fabric previously treated in the compressive shrinking area by a second application of heat and pressure to effect complete bonding.
• the fabric may be treated in full width form but typically it is treated in strips which are then formed into trouser or skirt waistbands.
• the cost of a machine to treat such strips of material is considerably less than that required to treat fabric in full width. It is therefore an advantage of the invention that, with the interlining necessary to stabilise the stretch in the woven fabric being effectively produced at the same time as it is affixed to the woven fabric, the interlining is produced in narrow width, and a full-width production machine for the interlining is rendered unnecessary.
• thermoplastic synthetic material typically a polyester fabric
• stretch interlining is generally, although not always, of a non-woven material and is significantly more expensive than its 'rigid' equivalent.
• the interlining in this case is not required to impart elastic recovery properties to the waistband as the waistband fabric is already a stretch variety.
• the stretch interlining is used to make the waistband fabric more substantial and easier to handle in subsequent processing.
• a standard rigid fusible non-woven or other relatively rigid knitted material may be processed in narrow width form with the stretch waistband fabric through the above-mentioned compressive shrinking machine to convert the two into a laminate which has stretch characteristics in the length direction.
• the waistband fabric is a stretch material
• the interlining needs only to move with the fabric and is not required to provide additional stretch recovery, and thus a stretchable bonding agent is not required (although a bonding agent may be used).
• the stretch fabric may be tensioned during processing with the 'rigid' interlining so that it is compressively 'shrunk' back to its original dimensions. That is, if the process achieves 20% shrinkage in the interlining, the waistband fabric would be pre-tensioned out by 25% of its length prior to compressive shrinking. After processing it would then shrink back to its original length.
• While the fabric of the invention is primarily useful for waistbands for skirts, trousers and the like it is not so-limited. Other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art.
• parts of the woven fabric can be left unstabilised, or stabilised to a lesser degree, so that on subsequent relaxation the composite assumes a desired shape, for example a curved shape, which may be useful in many areas in garment construction.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Textile Engineering (AREA)
• Details Of Garments (AREA)
• Woven Fabrics (AREA)
• Treatment Of Fiber Materials (AREA)
• Treatments For Attaching Organic Compounds To Fibrous Goods (AREA)
• Compounds Of Unknown Constitution (AREA)
• Preparation Of Compounds By Using Micro-Organisms (AREA)
• Materials For Medical Uses (AREA)
• Manufacturing Of Multi-Layer Textile Fabrics (AREA)
• Chemical Or Physical Treatment Of Fibers (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=10858646

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (13)

Families Citing this family (3)

Family Cites Families (8)

• 1999
  • 1999-08-06 GB GBGB9918488.9A patent/GB9918488D0/en not_active Ceased
• 2000
  • 2000-08-07 DK DK00951692T patent/DK1200663T3/da active
  • 2000-08-07 BR BRPI0013034-6A patent/BR0013034B1/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2000-08-07 WO PCT/GB2000/002993 patent/WO2001011132A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2000-08-07 PT PT00951692T patent/PT1200663E/pt unknown
  • 2000-08-07 ES ES00951692T patent/ES2220505T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2000-08-07 AT AT00951692T patent/ATE266757T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2000-08-07 JP JP2001515372A patent/JP4633314B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2000-08-07 AU AU64551/00A patent/AU778350B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2000-08-07 DE DE60010712T patent/DE60010712T2/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2000-08-07 CA CA002381225A patent/CA2381225A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2000-08-07 EP EP00951692A patent/EP1200663B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
• 2002
  • 2002-02-04 ZA ZA200200962A patent/ZA200200962B/en unknown

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