Fibers and fabrics with insulating, water-proofing, and flame-resistant properties
AssigneeThe Regents of the University of California
InventorsLawrence W. Hrubesh, John F. Poco, Paul R. Coronado
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Abstract
Fibers, and fabrics produced from the fibers, are made water repellent, fire-retardant and/or thermally insulating by filling void spaces in the fibers and/or fabrics with a powdered material. When the powder is sufficiently finely divided, it clings tenaciously to the fabric's fibers and to itself, resisting the tendency to be removed from the fabric.
Claims9
A method of producing a fiber, comprising the steps of:
- providing a porous fiber strand, said porous fiber strand containing voids, and
- filling the voids with particles in the size range of 1-500 nm.
A method of producing a fiber made up of multiplicity of smaller single fiber strands, comprising the steps of:
- providing an assembly of said single fiber strands, said assembly having a void volume between said smaller single fiber strands, and
- filling said void volume with particles in the size range of 1-500 nm.
A method of producing a fabric, comprising the steps of:
- providing a multiplicity of fibers,
- positioning said multiplicity of fibers in association with each other to form said fabric,
- said fibers containing a void volume located either in said fibers or between said fibers or both in said fibers and between said fibers, and
- filling at least a portion of said void volume with particles in the size range of 1-100 nm.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.