Textiles: spinning – twisting – and twining – Strand structure
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-10
2001-12-18
Lindsey, Rodney M. (Department: 3765)
Textiles: spinning, twisting, and twining
Strand structure
C057S028000, C057S252000, C019S002000, C019S0660CC
Reexamination Certificate
active
06330786
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to yarn and fabric made from said yarn, and more particularly, to yarn and fabric comprising a buffalo hair-fiber blend, and a method of making yarn and fabric comprising a buffalo hair-fiber blend.
Statement of the Problem
The buffalo, or American bison, is a magnificent animal found on the plains of North America. The buffalo is related to domestic cattle and other bovines, although generally larger, and has a heavy coat of hair, called the cape, extending over its front portions. The cape comprises two types of hair, coarse guard hairs and fine, soft down hairs.
There is a historical significance and present Western/Plains mystique about the buffalo, a national and spiritual symbol. Native American peoples found the buffalo to be essential to their existence. To honor the buffalo, they used every part of the animal. It was a source of food, and its hide provided clothing and shelter. The hair of the buffalo was used to stuff pillows and moccasins and was plaited to make ropes. The Plains Indians who had access to the buffalo were nomadic people who did not spin yarns or weave cloth.
When European people came to North America, they also found many uses for the buffalo. The explorers Lewis and Clark brought back hides and attempted to find some way to utilize the buffalo hair apart from the heavy leather hide, but the textile experts rejected the idea of weaving buffalo hair into textiles as unfeasible. After the near extinction of the buffalo, buffalo hair simply was not available.
In the last ten years, ranchers have begun to raise buffalo commercially. This enabled shed buffalo hair to be gathered, and the shed buffalo hair has been hand spun and hand woven. One hand spinner uses only the fine down hairs, and hand knits the resulting yarn into wearable items. Others use both the guard hairs and the down. The latter type of yarn can be woven into fabric on a hand loom.
The handspun yarn provides only very small amounts of product, and at a prohibitive cost of more than $100 per pound of yarn. Because buffalo hair is dark brown, the handspun yarn is also dark brown, and does not dye well except to darker shades of brown or black.
Given the mystique associated with the buffalo and the Old West, a demand exists for commercial, cost-effective methods to provide products made with buffalo hair, that is, with yarn and fabric comprising buffalo hair, and to provide buffalo hair yarn and fabric in colors other than dreary dark brown. The handspun method cannot produce the quantities of yarn necessary to fulfill this need.
Solution to the Problem
The present invention discloses a buffalo hair yarn that is preferably blended with other fibers during the spinning process. A method of making a buffalo hair-fiber yarn with conventional commercial machinery is described. The commercially spun buffalo hair-fiber yarn can be dyed to desired colors. Once spun, the buffalo hair-fiber yarn can be used to provide a plurality of fabric types.
Summary of the Invention
This invention provides a commercially spun yarn comprising buffalo hair and, preferably, another fiber, for example, sheep wool. The commercially spun buffalo hair-fiber yarn is dyeable. The commercially spun buffalo hair-fiber yarn is used to make fabric. “Fabric” is defined in the present specification as any spun, knitted, woven, pressed, nonwoven, or otherwise formed material made from buffalo hair alone or from buffalo hair blended with natural or synthetic fibers, including fabric, cloth, knitted goods, drapery material, upholstery material, velour, velvet, velveteen, corduroy, rugs, carpet, and the like.
In the method of the present invention, buffalo hair is provided by shaving the cape from buffalo hides. The buffalo hair is then processed with conventional commercial machinery to make yarn. First, the buffalo hair is raked with a conventional commercial raking machine and dried. If desired, the buffalo hair is then blended with another fiber. The other fiber can be of natural or man-made origin. The amount of fiber blended with the buffalo hair is between about 5% and about 95% by weight. In a highly preferred embodiment, the fiber used for blending is sheep wool.
Once blended, the buffalo hair-fiber blend can be dyed if desired. After dyeing, the buffalo hair-fiber blend is carded with a conventional commercial carding machine. The carded buffalo hair-fiber blend is then spun with a conventional commercial spinning frame to make yarn comprising the buffalo hair and fiber.
It is an object of the present invention to use conventional commercial machinery to spin yarn comprising buffalo hair. It is another object of the present invention to use commercially spun buffalo hair yarn to make fabric.
These and other advantages, features, and objects of the present invention will be more readily understood in view of the following detailed description and the drawings.
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Dorr, Carson , Sloan & Birney, P.C.
Great Plains Buffalo Products, Inc.
Lindsey Rodney M.
LandOfFree
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