Awning fabric and method for producing the same

#The present invention relates to an awning fabric and a method for producing the same and more particularly to a fabric excellent in sunlight-fastness and color-fastness and a method for manufacturing such a fabric.

#Awning fabrics have long been used in the United States and many European countries as outdoor awning screens or curtains and raw cloths for parasols, for shutting off the light and in consideration of the surrounding atmosphere. Recently in Korea also, such awning curtains are put up on the external facades of entertaining-business buildings such as high-class restaurants or coffee shops specially in big cities, not just for the purpose of shutting off the sun rays into the interior of buildings and preventing the rain or snow, but also for the purpose of imparting an advertising effect to customers through an intense impression of the enterprise by giving a visual effect of differentiation from other enterprises based on a variety of unique colors and patterns.

#Because the awning fabrics are chiefly installed outside the buildings, the fabrics should withstand the discoloration or decolorization by the sunlight at least for five years, tough as well as weather resistance, and in addition, should have a definite hardness, light-weight and firmness for unartifical bending of a desired degree.

#5 strands of 100D (D: denier) polyester filament yarn (manufactured by Dong Yang Nylon Co., Korea) were unwound simultaneously from respective creels and introduced to a nozzle of an air-texturizing apparatus. The introduced yarns were joined into a single strand while progressing forward and in that course of progressing, the smooth surface of filaments got wet a little and was brought into frictional contact with the compressed air, by the action of a high-pressure air and water suppled from one side of the nozzle, whereby many fine curls, loops and the like were produced from wounds around the surfaces of filament strands, resulting in many fine naps and fluffs or feathers over the all surfaces. As the result, the single yarn now exceeding 540D had accordingly a considerably increased apparent volume so as to resemble the appearance of a spun yarn giving a voluminous rich feeling.

#After sizing the textured yarns so produced, 2 strands were used as a warp and a weft to form a very densely woven fabric. The formed cloth was dyed as usual, water-washed, dipped in a coating solution consisting of a mixture of Teflon(trade name) and water at the ratio of 0.06:1 and dried under tentering and finally wound.

#The results of the tests of fabrics so formed, which were conducted under a constant condition and which included physical properties such as weather resistance, tensile strength, water repellence and elasticity, and the fastness of dyeing as well as sunlight, showed such an excellency as to exceed the standard for the awning fabric by far.