Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Structurally defined web or sheet – Including stitching and discrete fastener – coating or bond
Reexamination Certificate
2001-07-12
2004-11-23
Jones, Deborah (Department: 1772)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Structurally defined web or sheet
Including stitching and discrete fastener, coating or bond
C428S104000, C428S113000, C428S544000, C428S549000, C428S594000, C428S605000, C428S606000, C428S607000, C428S608000, C442S402000, C442S394000, C442S378000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06821601
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a stitchbonded nonwoven fabric and a process for making such fabric. More particularly, the invention concerns the manufacture of an improved stitchbonded fabric in which the material that is multi-needle stitched, instead of being a conventional nonwoven fibrous sheet, comprises a layer of polymer or metal. The use of such metallic or polymeric layers provides the stitchbonded fabric with unusual visual, tactile and functional effects.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Stitchbonded nonwoven fabrics and processes and machines for making such fabrics are known. Typically, stitchbonded nonwoven fabrics are made by multi-needle stitching a fibrous material with one or more stitching thread systems. Typically, the material consists of substantially nonbonded fibers, although material consisting of bonded fibers also has been used. The stitching threads form patterns of stitches in the fibrous material. Many different kinds of fibrous materials have been employed to produce stitchbonded fabrics, including carded webs, thin felts, spunlace fabrics, spunbonded nonwoven sheets, paper and the like. These known fibrous layers are made from various natural and synthetic organic staple fibers or continuous filaments.
Known processes for making stitchbonded fabrics typically include the steps of (a) feeding a fibrous material to a stitchbonding machine; (b) threading a multi-needle bar of the stitchbonding machine with stitching threads; (c) inserting the stitching thread into the fibrous material to form a pattern of spaced apart, interconnected rows of stitches, thereby creating the stitchbonded fabric; (d) removing the stitchbonded fabric from the stitchbonding machine; and (e) optionally subjecting the stitchbonded fabric to further finishing operations, such as shrinking, heat setting, molding, coating, impregnating and the like.
Among the conventional stitching threads that have been employed in stitchbonding operations are yarns of natural fibers (e.g., cotton, wool); fibers or filaments of fully drawn, crystalline polymers (e.g., nylon, polyester); fibers of partially molecularly oriented synthetic organic polymer; and threads of spandex, or of other elastic or elastomeric materials. Use of elastic stitching thread, with or without an accompanying non-elastic thread, is disclosed in several patents. Similar use of stitching thread that is shrinkable also has been disclosed. For example, Zafiroglu, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,876,128, 4,773,238, 4,737,394 and 4,704,321 disclose processes for making bulky and/or stretchy stitchbonded fabrics with various contractible and conventional threads. According to the processes disclosed in these patents, the stitchbonded fabric, upon removal from the multi-needle stitching operation, is allowed or caused to shrink and gather and undergo a significant reduction in fabric area.
To date, the character and appearance of known stitchbonded fabrics has depended mainly on the particular types of yarns, patterns of stitches formed by the stitching yarns, amount of shrinkage and other finishing steps used in the manufacture of the fabrics. Although the above-described stitchbonded nonwoven fabrics have been used successfully in a variety of products, fabrics with further surface interest, styling, tactile aesthetics and other functional characteristics are desired to enhance the utility of the fabrics . . . .
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides an improved stitchbonded nonwoven fabric. The fabric is of the type that comprises a material into which a pattern of multi-needle stitching had been inserted with a contractible stitching thread and then, the thusly formed stitchbonded fabric was contracted. The improvement of the invention comprises the material comprising a non-fibrous layer of polymer, metal or leather. Preferably the polymeric or metallic layer is a film, a coating or a foil. Typically, the stitched material, with its non-fibrous layer, contracts to a length and/or width that is 90% or less than the original length and/or width of the thin layer. Contractions to a length and/or width in the range of 50 to 75% of the original dimension are preferred. Preferably, the starting thickness of the non-fibrous layer is in the range of 0.05 and 3 mm. The non-fibrous layer may be united with a nonwoven fibrous sheet, a knitted fabric, a woven fabric, or a partially (surface) or fully resin-impregnated nonwoven fibrous sheet, to form a composite material into which the pattern of multi-needle stitches is inserted.
The invention also includes a process for making the new stitchbonded fabrics. The process is of the type that includes feeding a material to a stitchbonding machine having at least one multi-needle stitching bar, threading a needle bar with contractible stitching thread, inserting a pattern of stitches with the threaded multi-needle stitching bar into the material to form a stitchbonded nonwoven fabric and subsequently contracting the thusly formed stitchbonded fabric. According to the improvement of the process of the invention, the material comprises a non-fibrous layer of polymer, metal or leather or is a nonwoven fibrous sheet, knitted fabric, woven fabric, or a partially (surface) or fully resin-impregnated nonwoven fibrous sheet, which is coated, bonded or united with such a non-fibrous layer.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention is included for purposes of illustration and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The scope is defined by the claims appended below.
As used herein, the term material refers to the fibrous and non-fibrous layer or layers through which thread is multi-needle stitched in fabricating stitchbonded fabric. The term “shiny” refers to the light-reflective character of a surface of a layer of the material of the invention. The light reflective characteristic of the surface may also be referred to herein as “surface sheen”. The term “fiber” includes within its meaning filaments and staple fibers. “Spandex” is a generic term for a manufactured fiber in which the fiber-forming substance is a long chain elastomer comprised of at least 85% segmented polyurethane.
The stitchbonded nonwoven fabric of the invention and its method of manufacture are in many ways quite similar to conventional stitchbonded nonwoven fabrics and known methods of their manufacture. As with several conventional stitchbonded fabrics, the fabric of the invention typically has a thin, supple material into which patterns of stitches are multi-needle inserted with at least one set of contractible stitching threads and the fabric is contracted after stitching.
In contrast to conventional stitchbonded fabrics and in accordance with the improvement of present invention, the material fed to the stitching operation comprises a metallic or polymeric foil or film or coating or a thin layer of leather. In some embodiments of the invention, a layer of such metallic or polymeric foil or film is supported on the surface of a thin fibrous material. Among the various thin fibrous materials upon which the metallic, polymeric or leather layer can be supported or attached are batts of carded fibers, air-laid fiber batts, wood-pulp papers, lightly bonded spunbonded sheets, spunlace fabrics of hydraulically entangled fibers, non-bonded nonwoven sheets, lightweight woven or knitted fabrics, and the like. The fibers of the fibrous materials can be natural fibers or synthetic organic polymeric fibers, or combinations thereof. Usually, nonbonded fibrous layers are preferred, but lightly bonded or bonded fibrous materials can be employed as long as the bonding does not interfere with any subsequent contraction or other finishing operations to which the stitchbonded fabric may be subjected. Material comprising a foil of reflective metal is preferred for forming stitchbonded fabrics of the invention that have finished surfaces of unusual glitter and sheen. Such reflective metal foils are s
Brownless Nicholas James
Tsiarkezos Stephen Horace
Isakoff Lawrence
Jones Deborah
Lew Jeffrey C.
Rhee Jane
Xymid L.L.C.
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