Woven terry fabric with controlled weight distribution and articles made therefrom

#The present invention relates to woven terry fabrics and, more particularly, to woven terry fabrics having controlled weight distribution and articles made therefrom.

#Woven terry fabric bath and hand towels tend to have a uniform weight distribution from end to end and side to side resulting from a generally uniform construction and height across the length and width of the fabricated finished article. However, during use, it is known that most individuals primarily utilize the central portion of the towel to dry their hands, hair, and bodies, while the ends of the towel are less frequently used for these purposes and more commonly serve to provide a means by which one holds the towel.

#Laundering towels consumes significant resources. In particular, towels tend to be made from hydrophilic materials that require significant amounts of detergents or soaps to clean, water to rinse, and heat to dry. Moreover, facilities that pay to process towels and other terry cloth articles on a large scale typically pay according to article weight for laundering services. Reducing the weight of towels could reduce the resources and costs to launder the towels. One way to reduce the weight of a towel is to reduce the pile height in the towel. However, the absorbency of a towel corresponds to the weight of the towel and the total weight of the towel is often a significant influence on the perception of towel quality. As such, a lighter weight towel with a reduced pile height will tend to be less absorbent and will tend to have a less luxurious feel than a heavier weight towel. This can be particularly important in the hospitality industry where patrons often prefer and expect heavy weight towels as a sign of quality and luxury.

#The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the general description of the invention given above and the detailed description of the embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the present invention.

#FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a woven terry fabric in accordance with the principles of the invention;

#FIG. 2 is a partial, cross-sectional view, not to scale, taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

#With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a terry fabric 10 is woven in a three-pick terry weave, and includes a top surface 12 and a bottom surface 14, with the surfaces 12, 14 extending between a left selvage 16 and a right selvage 18, as well as a top or trailing end 20 and a bottom or leading end 22. As shown in FIG. 2, the ground warp ends E1, E2 are formed of yarn C, the terry pile loops N are formed of yarns T1, T2, and the ground fill picks P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, P6, P7, P8 are formed of yarn F. The ground warp ends E1, E2 and the ground fill picks P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, P6, P7, P8 form the ground fabric. The terry pile loops N form the pile that projects from the surface of the ground fabric. As seen in FIG. 2, the ground warp yarn C, terry pile loop yarn T1, T2, and ground fill yarn F are woven together in a three-pick terry weave. Although FIG. 2 illustrates part of a single warpwise row, the ground warp ends and terry pile loops of the other rows of the terry fabric 10 may be constructed and arranged as shown in FIG. 2.

#While not readily apparent upon casual visual inspection, the terry fabric 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 is woven with a plurality of zones extending across the fabric wherein the pile height in each zone is slightly higher or lower than the pile height in an adjacent zone. FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a terry fabric article, in particular, a towel 30 formed from the terry fabric 10 with dashed lines indicating otherwise non-apparent transitions between zones. FIG. 4, which is not drawn to scale, is a partial cross section of the towel 30 of FIG. 3 illustrating the differences in pile height between adjacent zones of terry fabric 10.

#The exemplary towel 30 in FIGS. 3 and 4 has a body 31 with a length LB extending between the opposite ends 32, 32′ of the towel 30 and a width W extending between opposite side edges 34, 34′ of the towel 30. In the illustrated embodiment, the terry fabric 10 of towel 30 includes optional opposite end sections 36, 36′ that are separated from the body 31 of the towel 30 by a pair of optional border sections 38, 38′. The body 31 of the towel 30 is illustrated as being divided into a plurality of zones 40, 40′, 42, 42′, 44, 44′, 46, 46′, and 48 that each extend across the width of the towel. It will be appreciated that the terry fabric 10 could be formed in which the zones 40, 40′, 42, 42′, 44, 44′, 46, 46′, and 48 extend across the length LB of the body 31 of the towel 30 instead of the width W. It will be further appreciated that the towel 30 may be formed without the optional end sections 36, 36′ or the optional border sections 38, 38′. Moreover, it will be appreciated that the towel 30 may include a hem and a selvage or both around the sides edges 34, 34′ and opposite ends 32, 32′ and that references herein to extending to the ends 32, 32′ and/or edges 34, 34′ of the towel 30 contemplates extending to beginning of the hems and/or selvage.