Textured fabric surfaces sealed with overlaid polymeric layers
AssigneeEngineered Floors LLC
InventorsJohn Joseph Matthews Rees, Dimitri Zafiroglu, Anthony Daniell
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Abstract
A textile fabric with a three-dimensional contour that blocks fluid penetration at the surface is created by attaching a solid liquid-blocking polymeric layer conforming to the contours of the surface to a fabric layer. The surface includes elevated areas, depressed areas, a plurality of surface fibers and gaps among the plurality the plurality of surface fibers. The liquid-blocking polymeric layer is forced to follow the contours of the surface fibers and gaps using vacuum, heat and forced air. The resulting textile fabric maintains a textile appearance.
Claims23
A liquid-blocking textile fabric comprising:
- a textile fabric layer comprising a fibrous surface having a surface contour comprising a plurality of elevated areas and a plurality of depressed areas;
- a liquid-blocking polymeric layer attached on top of the fibrous surface and conforming continuously to a top of the fibrous surface through the elevated areas and depressed areas to maintain the surface contour;
- and
- a separate adhesive sublayer disposed between the fibrous surface and the liquid-blocking polymeric layer, the adhesive sublayer and liquid-blocking polymeric layer conforming continuously to the fibrous surface through the elevated areas and depressed areas to maintain the surface contour, wherein
- the fibrous surface further comprises a surface texture containing a plurality of gaps,
- the liquid-blocking polymer layer conforms to the surface texture and extends into the gaps,
- the surface texture is formed with loops of woven yarns, knit yarns, stitched yarns, or tufted yarns, and
- the gaps comprise gaps among
- the loops of woven yarns, knit yarns, stitched yarns, or tufted yarns, or yarns, filaments, or fibers in the fibrous surface.
A method for forming a liquid-blocking textile fabric, the method comprising:
- forming a surface contour in a fibrous surface of a textile fabric layer, the surface contour comprising a plurality of elevated areas and a plurality of depressed areas;
- placing a liquid-blocking polymeric layer on top of the fibrous surface;
- and
- applying heat to the liquid-blocking polymeric layer and vacuum to a back of the fabric layer opposite the fibrous surface to pull heated and softened liquid-blocking polymeric layer at least partially into the fabric layer, to attach the liquid-blocking polymeric layer to the surface and to conform a top of the liquid-blocking polymeric layer continuously to the fibrous surface through the elevated areas and depressed areas to maintain the surface contour,
- the method further comprises forming a surface texture in the fibrous surface with loops of woven yarns, knit yarns, stitched yarns, or tufted yarns, wherein the surface texture of the fibrous surface contains a plurality of gaps among the loops of woven yarns, knit yarns, stitched yarns, or tufted yarns, or yarns, filaments, or fibers in the fibrous surface;
- and
- applying heat and vacuum further comprises applying heat and vacuum to pull heated and softened liquid-blocking polymeric layer into the gaps and to conform the liquid-blocking polymeric layer continuously to the surface texture, and
- the method further comprises
- placing a separate adhesive sublayer between the fibrous surface and the liquid-blocking polymeric layer;
- and
- applying heat and vacuum further comprises applying heat and vacuum to pull heated and softened liquid-blocking polymeric layer and adhesive sublayer at least partially into the textile fabric layer, to attach the liquid-blocking polymeric layer and adhesive sublayer to the fibrous surface and to conform the liquid-blocking polymeric layer and adhesive sublayer continuously to the fibrous surface through the elevated areas and depressed areas to maintain the surface contour.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.