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AssigneeERNO Raumfahrttechnik GmbH
InventorsJoerg Hartmanns, Detlef Mueller-Wiesner, Lutz Kampmann, Hans-Guenther Reimerdes, Wolfgang Fischer
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A multi-ply three-dimensionally bonded textile fabric is provided, to be used especially in making protective space suits, protective space shielding and other protective garments or shields. The fabric is a three-dimensionally woven, knitted, netted, braided or otherwise interlocked structure of threads including organic fibers such as aramid, polyethylene and/or polytetrafluoroethylene fibers and preferably also metallic fibers such as copper, aluminum and/or stainless steel fibers. These fibers are chosen to provide protection against adverse thermal, chemical, electrical and mechanical environmental effects that may be hazardous to an astronaut, for example. The fibers are arranged substantially in respective plies, and each ply is bonded or interlocked only to respective adjacent plies over substantially the entire ply area to provide a flexible multi-ply fabric. The threads are arranged to provide a gradient or variation in characteristics or properties from an outer surface to an inner surface. For example, different types, numbers or densities of threads, or different fabric densities may be used in different plies to achieve a gradient. Such a gradient allows a single, three-dimensionally bonded multi-ply fabric to provide several different protective properties. An outside surface coating of silicone or polymers such as polytetrafluroethylene or ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene may be applied on an outer surface of the fabric to further improve its protective properties.
A multi-ply textile fabric especially for providing protection or shielding against adverse thermal, electrical, chemical, radiation or mechanical influences, comprising ply threads arranged to form a plurality of plies and comprising bonding threads arranged to interconnect each of the plies only to immediately adjacent ones of the plies, wherein a gradient variation of fabric properties exists across the plurality of plies in a direction from an outer surface of the fabric to an inner surface of the fabric, and wherein the bonding threads interconnecting adjacent ones of the plies comprise an arrangement of threads selected from the group consisting of woven threads, braided threads, knitted threads, netted threads, stitched threads and combinations thereof, whereby the bonding threads are directed three-dimensionally out of planes of the plies to interconnect the plies.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.