Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Coated or structually defined flake – particle – cell – strand,... – Rod – strand – filament or fiber
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-02
2002-07-02
Dixon, Merrick (Department: 1774)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Coated or structually defined flake, particle, cell, strand,...
Rod, strand, filament or fiber
C428S375000, C428S401000, C428S902000, C428S911000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06413636
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to protective yarns. More particularly, the present invention relates to a protective yarn having a fiberglass fiber core and one or more cover members of fibers that are of dissimilar materials from the core fibers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Protective clothing has existed for hundreds of years. Among the first type of protective clothing was armor worn by knights. Of course, these heavy and inflexible metal sheets limited a knight's movement and visibility. While providing excellent protection against blade injuries, plate armor limited the manual dexterity of the wearer. Later, armorers developed chain mail, and while permitting some manual dexterity on the part of the wearer, their mail was heavy and quickly fatigued the wearer.
Until recently, meat cutting plants employed chain mail type gloves to prevent accidental cuts to a meat cutters' hands. Like their medieval counterparts, the choir mail worn by meat cutters quickly fatigued the user's hands.
More recently, users needing protection against cuts and also requiring a high level of dexterity have turned to gloves knitted from engineered yarns. While dramatically increasing the flexibility and manual dexterity, gloves engineered using aramid fibers such as “Kevlar®” and gloves engineered using ultrahigh molecular weight polyolefin fiber such as ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene or polypropylene extended chain polyethylenes are extremely costly. Commercial examples of gloves using these engineered yarns include Spectra® 900 and Spectra® 1000, sold by AlliedSignal, Inc and Kevlar®, sold by the Du Pont Company of Wilmington, Del. Garments knitted with yarns such as Spectrao have problems with yarn shrinkage.
A need, therefore, exists for an engineered protective yarn which provides cut protection and freedom of movement at a lower cost. A need also exists for an engineered protective yarn which resists the effects of high temperatures such as shrinkage.
Numerous attempts have been made to employ fiberglass fiber in protective yarns which are then knitted into protective gloves. However, a new problem has been created by adding fiberglass fiber to yarn. Fiberglass fiber is brittle and small glass fragments are likely to separate from the glass fibers and irritate the skin of the user. Naturally, glove irritation reduces the likelihood that a user will wear their protective garments. Attempts have been made to coat fiberglass fiber in order to prevent skin irritating fragments from detaching from the main fiber strand. However, these coating attempts have proven to be less than completely successful.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Applicants are aware of the following relevant U.S. Patents.
U.S. Pat. No.
ISSUE DATE
INVENTOR
TITLE
4,383,449
05-23-1983
Byrne, Sr.
PROTECTIVE GLOVES AND
et al.
THE LIKE AND A YARN
WITH FLEXIBLE CORE
WRAPPED WITH ARAMID
FIBER
4,651,514
03-24-1987
Collett
ELECTRICALLY
NONCONDUCTIVE,
ABRASION AND CUT
RESISTANT YARN
4,777,789
10-18-1988
Kolmes et al.
WIRE WRAPPED YARN FOR
PROTECTIVE GARMENTS
4,818,587
04-04-1989
Ejima et al.
NONWOVEN FABRICS AND
METHOD FOR PRODUCING
THEM
4,838,017
06-13-1989
Kolmes et al.
WIRE WRAPPED YARN FOR
PROTECTIVE GARMENTS
4,886,691
12-12-1989
Wincklhofer
CUT RESISTANT JACKET
FOR ROPES, WEBBING,
STRAPS, INFLATABLES
AND THE LIKE
4,936,085
06-26-1990
Kolmes et al.
YARN AND GLOVE
5,010,723
04-30-1991
Wilen
TWISTED YARN WHICH
WILL MAINTAIN ITS
TWIST AND PRODUCTS
PRODUCED THEREFROM
5,119,512
06-09-1992
Dunbar et al.
CUT RESISTANT YARN,
FABRIC AND GLOVES
5,177,948
01-12-1993
Kolmes et. al.
YARN AND GLOVE
U.S. Pat. No. 4,384,449 shows protective gloves and the like and a yarn comprising a core of a flexible wire alongside an aramid fiber strand or strands and a covering of aramid fiber such as that manufactured and sold under the trademark ‘Kevlar’ by the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Del. in which the aramid fiber is either spun or filament. Two aramid fiber strands, either spun or filament, are wrapped around the core with one strand wrapped in a clockwise direction and the other strand wrapped in a counter-clockwise direction with the opposite spiral wrapping of the strands serving to secure the strands in position on the core without any other securing means. The yarn having a flexible core with aramid fiber strands wrapped thereon is used to make protective gloves on conventional glove knitting or weaving machinery and is capable of movement in relation to needle eyes and the like without jamming in the same manner as various natural and synthetic fiber yarns. The yarn having a flexible core with aramid fiber strands wrapped thereon is also used in making various other products normally made of conventional fiber yarn.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,514 shows an electrically non-conductive, cut and abrasion resistant yarn for use in the manufacture of protective coverings including a core of monofilament nylon having a diameter in the range of about 0.004 to 0.020 inches, a first wrap on the core of at least one strand of aramid fiber having a cotton count size in the range of about 1/1 to 30/1 and a second wrap on the core of texturized nylon of two to eight ply construction. Each ply is made up of 24 to 44 nylon filaments with each filament being about 50-90 denier.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,777,789 shows an improved yarn, fabric and protective garment made from such yarn where the yarn, fabric and garment exhibit increased cut resistance. The yarn includes a core made of fiber and a covering wrapped around the core, the covering includes at least one strand of wire wrapped around the core.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,587 shows nonwoven fabrics contain at least 30% by weight of heat-adhesive composite fibers consisting of core portion and sheath portion, said core portion being of the side-by-side type composite structure comprising two core components of different polypropylene base polymers in a composite ratio of 1:2 to 2:1, one of said core components having a Q value, expressed in terms of the weight-average molecular weight/the number-average molecular weight, equal to or higher than 6 and the other having a Q value equal to or lower than 5, and said sheath portion meeting at least the requirement that it should comprise a sheath component of a polyethylene base polymer having a melting point lower by at least 20° C. than the lower one of the melting points of said two core components. The nonwoven fabrics are bulky and soft due to the crimps of the heat-adhesive composite fibers esultant form the core portion and are stabilized by the inter-fiber bonds of the sheath portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,017 shows an improved yarn, fabric and protective garment made from such yarn where the yarn, fabric and garment exhibit increased cut resistance. The yarn includes a core made of fiber and a covering wrapped around the core, the covering includes at least one strand of wire wrapped around the core.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,691 shows a cut resistant article comprising a cut resistant jacket surrounding a less cut resistant member. The jacket comprises a fabric of yarn and the yarn consists essentially of a high strength, longitudinal strand having a tensile strength of at least 1 GPa. The strand is wrapped with another fiber or the same fiber.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,085 shows an improved yarn, fabric and protective garment made from such yarn, where the yarn, fabric and garment exhibit increased cut resistance, flexibility, pliability and softness. The yarn is non-metallic and includes a core made of fiber and a covering wrapped around the core. At least one of the strands is fiberglass, the non-fiberglass strands are preferably nylon or polyester.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,010,723 shows a yarn produced from two or more twisted cellulosic fibers, such as cotton or cotton rayon fibers, the plies being helically wound around a thermoplastic filament core which is subsequently melted to bind the inner portions of the yarn together so that it does not untwist or shed lint readily. The yarn is employed in a dust mop or floor mat for a shampoo bonnet for st
Andrews Gregory V.
Andrews Mark A.
Adams, Schwartz & Evans P.A.
Dixon Merrick
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