Knitted wire carrier with locking stitch for weather seal backing
AssigneeN.F.A. Corp.
InventorCharles DaRosa
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
This provides a knitted wire carrier that incorporates a locking stitch that passes through the warp threads adjacent to the wire weft. In one embodiment, the locking stitch constructed from a “heat-activated yarn” consisting of an underlying material having exhibiting minimal shrinkage under application of heat and an outer heat-activated adhesive coating that fuses to the warp and wire weft when heated. In another embodiment, the locking stitch is constructed from a composite yarn having at least one meltable thread and a plurality of shrink-resistant threads braided together so as to avoid distorting shrinkage upon heating to melt and fuse the meltable thread.
Claims17
A knitted wire carrier comprising:
- a wire bent into a zigzag orientation of segments joined by bends so as to define a length of extension and a width;
- a warp knitted along the length around the segments;
- and
- a heat-activated yarn, the heat-activated yarn comprising a bundle of filaments covered in a meltable adhesive, the heat-activated yarn passing through the warp in engagement with the wire and being adhesively joined to each of the segments and warp by the melted adhesive, the adhesive adapted to melt by a predetermined heat and the filaments and warp each adapted to remain substantially unmelted by the predetermined heat.
A knitted wire carrier comprising:
- a wire bent into a zigzag orientation of segments joined by bends so as to define a length of extension and a width;
- a warp knitted along the length around the segments;
- and
- a composite yarn having at least some fusible/meltable/shrinkable filaments at a predetermined temperature and some substantially non-fusible/meltable/shrinkable filaments at the predetermined temperature passing through the warp in engagement with the wire and being adhesively joined to each of the segments and warp.
A method for forming a knitted wire carrier having a wire bent into a zigzag orientation of segments joined by bends so as to define a length of extension and a width, and a warp knitted along the length around the segments, comprising the steps of:
- inserting a locking stitch composed of a heat-activated yarn, with a bundle of filaments and an adhesive coating covering the filaments, through the warp in engagement with the wire;
- and
- applying a predetermined heat to cause the adhesive coating in the heat-activated yarn to melt and fuse to each of the warp and the wire while the bundle of filaments and the warp remains substantially unmelted at the predetermined heat.
A method for forming a weather seal with a wire carrier having a wire bent into a zigzag orientation of segments joined by bends so as to define a length of extension and a width, and a warp knitted along the length around the segments, comprising the steps of:
- inserting a locking stitch composed of a composite yarn having at least some fusible/meltable/shrinkable filaments at a predetermined temperature and some substantially non-fusible/meltable/shrinkable filaments at the predetermined temperature through the warp in engagement with the wire;
- and
- applying a heat in conjunction with application of a weather seal material to the wire carrier to cause the fusible/meltable/shrinkable filaments to fuse, melt and shrink with respect to the warp and the wire.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.