Testing fiber loss in fabrics
AssigneeUnder Armour, Inc.
InventorJeremy Stangeland
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of determining an amount of fiber loss or fiber shedding from a fabric material after washing of the fabric material includes providing a sample of the fabric material within a container, adding water into the container to facilitate contact of the water with a surface of the sample, agitating the water within the container for a predetermined period of time so as to cause fibers to be released from the fabric material and entrained in the water, after agitating, transferring the water with entrained fibers from the container into a fiber collection system to obtain captured fibers, and analyzing the captured fibers to determine a degree of fibers shed from the fabric material. A method of determining a quality of fiber material based upon fiber shedding from the material is also described.
Claims18
A method of determining an amount of fiber loss from a fabric material after washing of the fabric material, the method comprising:
- providing a sample of the fabric material within a container, the sample having a shape defined by peripheral edge portions of the sample, wherein the providing the sample within the container comprises pinching the peripheral edge portions of the sample between facing surfaces within the container;
- adding water into the container to facilitate contact of the water with a surface of the sample that faces the water while preventing the water from contacting the peripheral edge portions of the sample;
- agitating the water within the container for a predetermined period of time so as to cause fibers to be released from the fabric material and entrained in the water;
- after agitating, transferring the water with entrained fibers from the container into a fiber collection system to obtain captured fibers;
- and
- analyzing the captured fibers to determine a degree of fibers shed from the fabric material.
A method of determining an amount of fiber loss from a fabric material after washing of the fabric material, the method comprising:
- providing a sample of the fabric material within a container, the sample having a shape defined by peripheral edge portions of the sample;
- adding water into the container to facilitate contact of the water with a surface of the sample that faces the water while preventing the water from contacting the peripheral edge portions of the sample;
- agitating the water within the container for a predetermined period of time so as to cause fibers to be released from the fabric material and entrained in the water;
- after agitating, transferring the water with entrained fibers from the container into a fiber collection system to obtain captured fibers, wherein the captured fibers are collected along a surface of a filter;
- and
- analyzing the captured fibers to determine a degree of fibers shed from the fabric material, wherein the analyzing comprises determining an amount of fibers per area along the surface of the filter based upon a count of fibers.
A method of determining an amount of fiber loss from a fabric material after washing of the fabric material, the method comprising:
- securing a sample of the fabric material at a secured location within a container, the sample having a shape defined by peripheral edge portions of the sample;
- adding water into the container to facilitate contact of the water with a surface of the sample that faces the water while preventing the water from contacting the peripheral edge portions of the sample;
- agitating the water within the container for a predetermined period of time so as to cause fibers to be released from the fabric material and entrained in the water, wherein the fabric material remains secured and is prevented from moving from the secured location within the container during the agitating;
- after agitating, transferring the water with entrained fibers from the container into a fiber collection system to obtain captured fibers;
- and
- analyzing the captured fibers to determine a degree of fibers shed from the fabric material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.