Apparel – General structure – Seams
Reexamination Certificate
2003-04-16
2004-02-24
Hale, Gloria M. (Department: 3765)
Apparel
General structure
Seams
C002S243100, C112S418000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06694528
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Not Applicable
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not Applicable
DESCRIPTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a laminated assembly seam of an outdoor garment that has a stitch-free appearance while eliminating the need for laser cutting or bulk die cutting machines, and to a process of making such laminated assembly seam.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 1 and 2
show a conventional outdoor garment. To ensure the waterproofing effect along the assembly seam, the neighbouring panels, A and B, are stitched together at J, and a thermal tape T is placed underneath the stitching line J on a PU impregnated side, so as to seal the stitching holes.
With the wide application of laminating techniques, an improved process of laminating the neighboring panels to join the seam together by using a thermally meltable compound G, such as a thermally meltable polyurethane resin, instead of stitching J, has been developed, as shown in
FIG. 3
, for adhering the seam of two neighbouring panels, A and B, together. Adoption of such a technique results in a clean and neat outer for the outdoor garment, by eliminating the messy stitching lines, and thus increases the commercial value and appeal of such laminated seam garments. However, the laminating techniques also require the use of laser cutting machines or bulk die cutting machines to cut the panels, and the additional process of burning the edges so as to ensure that the edges are free from fraying after washing, thereby reducing the production efficiency. Further, specialized molds each having exactly the same shape of each panel, are required for thermally pressing the laminated seams so as to ensure that the thermal meltable polyurethane resin G will properly join the two neighboring panels along the seam without any mess. Such specialized molds are expensive and the cost increases as the number of panels that need to be joined to make a garment increases.
Furthermore, while the waterproof fabric usually consists of a shell made of nylon with a PU or PTFE backing layer, the adhesion force between the nylon shell and the PU backing is usually less than 0.40 kg/cm, because a higher adhesion force renders stiffness. The laser cutting process, while providing a clean edge, fails to reinforce the adhesion force. On the contrary, the thermally meltable polyurethane resin provides a higher adhesion force between the backing layer of the upper panel and the nylon shell of the lower panel. Hence, another major drawback of such a laminated assembly seam is the high tendency of separation of the nylon shell of the outer panel from its backing layer.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An objective of the present invention is to provide a laminated assembly seam of an outdoor garment that has a stitch-free appearance.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a laminated assembly seam of an outdoor garment that eliminates the need for laser cutting or bulk die cutting machines.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a laminated assembly seam of an outdoor garment that eliminates the separation of the nylon shell of the outer panel from its backing layer.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a process of making such a laminated assembly seam have the advantages as described above.
To achieve these objectives, the laminated assembly seam of an outdoor garment in accordance with the present invention comprises: a top panel having a panel body with at least one folded edge; a bottom panel having a panel body with at least one seam edge; the seam edge positioned below and extending beyond the folded edge of the top panel. A narrow thermal meltable compound is sandwiched between the top panel body and the folded edge. A wide thermally meltable compound is placed above the seam edge of the bottom panel and sandwiched between the folded edge and the seam edge of the bottom panel. A stitching line stitching through the seam edge of the bottom panel, the wide meltable polyurethane resin, the folded edge of the top panel and the narrow thermal meltable polyurethane resin without stitching through the body of the top panel.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3090047 (1963-05-01), De Grazia
patent: 3449764 (1969-06-01), De Fazio et al.
patent: 4604152 (1986-08-01), Liukko
patent: 5003902 (1991-04-01), Benstock et al.
patent: 5444898 (1995-08-01), Norvell
Hale Gloria M.
J. Adams & Associates Limited
Ladas & Parry
LandOfFree
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