Textile fabric having randomly arranged yarn segments of variable texture and crystalline orientation
AssigneeMilliken & Company
InventorMichael A. Keller
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A knit fabric wherein at least a portion of the interconnected yarn loops are formed from segments of a common yarn of multi-filament construction. In the fabric the common yarn includes a first group of yarn segments having a first average cross-sectional filament area and at least a second group of yarn segments having a second average cross-sectional filament area. The second average cross-sectional filament area is greater than the first average cross-sectional filament area. The average level of crystalline orientation of the first group of yarn segments is greater than the average level of crystalline orientation of the second group of yarn segments.
Claims24
A knit fabric comprising a face portion including a plurality of interconnected yarn loops, wherein at least a portion of the interconnected yarn loops are formed from segments of a common yarn of multi-filament construction and wherein in the fabric the common yarn comprises a first group of yarn segments having a first average cross-sectional filament area and at least a second group of yarn segments having a second average cross-sectional filament area which is greater than the first average cross-sectional filament area, and wherein in the fabric the average level of crystalline orientation of the first group of yarn segments as measured by the Herman Orientation Function is at least 5% greater than the average level of crystalline orientation of the second group of yarn segments.
A knit fabric comprising a face portion including a plurality of interconnected yarn loops, wherein at least a portion of the interconnected yarn loops are formed from segments of a common yarn of multi-filament construction and wherein in the fabric the common yarn comprises a first group of yarn segments having a first average cross-sectional filament area and at least a second group of yarn segments having a second average cross-sectional filament area which is at least 1.56 times the first average cross-sectional filament area, and wherein the average level of crystalline orientation of the first group of yarn segments as measured by the Herman Orientation Function is at least 10% greater than the average level of crystalline orientation the second group of yarn segments.
A method of forming a knit fabric comprising a face portion including a plurality of interconnected yarn loops, wherein at least a portion of the interconnected yarn loops are formed from segments of a common yarn of multi-filament construction and wherein in the fabric the common yarn comprises a first group of yarn segments having a first average cross-sectional filament area and at least a second group of yarn segments having a second average cross-sectional filament area which is greater than the first average cross-sectional filament area, the method comprising the steps of:
- underdrawing a partially oriented multi-filament yarn across a heat source at a rate such that portions of the yarn undergo substantially complete heat treatment and other portions do not undergo substantially complete heat treatment;
- forming the underdrawn yarn into the knit fabric such that portions of the underdrawn yarn are disposed across the face portion of the fabric;
- and
- heating the knit fabric such that portions of the yarn which did not undergo substantially complete heat treatment during the underdrawing undergo selective shrinkage and self texturing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.