Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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COMBINED FUR/TEXTILE FABRIC AND METHOD
OF MANUFACTURING SAME
BACKGROUND OF THE lNV~N'l'lON
Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a combined fur\textile
fabric formed by combining a plurality of fur strips
with a textile fabric, and a novel method for combining
the fur strips with the textile fabric to manufacture
the combined fur\textile fabric.
Description of the Prior Art
Fur garments are used both for purposes of warmth
and appearance. Nowadays, as many other less expensive
garment materials for cold weather have been developed,
fur garments, have become rather expensive, luxury
items. Nonetheless, it is recognized that many people
wish to own at least one fur garment such as mink coat
or stole.
Fur pelts are very expensive, and are also
generally bulky. Consequently, the tailoring of fur
garments generally requires a very skilled craftsman
capable of working with the bulky material with minimum
wasted material. Conventional fur garments are also
costly to maintain as they cannot be cleaned with water-
based solvents, instead requiring the use of dry-
cleaning techniques. Methods for making composite fur
pelts have been developed to reduce waste of fur
material and also to reduce the bulk of the finished fur
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garments.
For example, U.S. Patent No. 4,292,690 to Forrest
et al discloses a method of making a composite fur pelt
by alternately sewing strips of fur and strips of base
material together side-by-side to create a product
having a ribbed appearance. This prior art is
illustrated in FIG. 9. In that reference, strips of
leather or suede are suggested as an adequate base
material for alternating with strips of fur.
There is also another known method of making a
combined fur\textile fabric as illustrated in FIG. 10.
By this method, a number of fur strips 12 are arranged
parallel to one another at predetermined intervals on a
backing material 14. The fur strips and fabric are then
sewn along both sides of the fur strips 12 at seam lines
24 such as by using a zigzag stitch. By this method,
the fur strips 12 are fastened to the backing material
14. In order to securely fasten the strips to the
backing material for such a composite fabric, each fur
strip needs two zigzag seams.
Making two such seams for each strip of fur can be
a difficult and time-consuming task even to a skilled
worker. Consequently, the quality of the resultant
products depends strongly on the craftsmanship of the
worker.
SUMMARY OF THE lN V~N~l~loN
An object of the present invention is to provide an
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improved combined fur\textile fabric which looks like
conventional fur but uses less raw materials.
Another object is to provide an improved method of
mass producing a combined fur\textile fabric that is of
a consistently high quality regardless of the skill
level of the workers making such fabric.
These objects and advantages of the present
invention will become evident from the description which
follows.
According to the invention, a combined fur\textile
fabric comprises a backing material and a plurality of
fur strips combined with the backing material. The fur
strips are provided by first cutting the pelt of a fur-
bearing animal into strips. The fur strips are arranged
on the backing material parallel to one another and
spaced apart at predetermined intervals. According to
the present invention, the fur strips are then attached
to the backing material by sewing the fur strips to the
backing material such that the stitches run in a
direction non-parallel to the fur strips.
After the strips of fur have been secured to the
backing material, the hairs of the fur strips which are
now lying jammed under the sewn stitches are released
from the stitches by physically rubbing the fur strips.
In one embodiment, an easily removable sheet is
attached to the fur side of the fur strips so that the
fur strips are sandwiched between the sheet and the
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backing material. The strips can then be sewn quite
easily. Once sewn, the sheet can be removed to expose
the fur. The fur can then be released from the stitches
as described above.
5Preferred embodiments of the combined fur\textile
fabric and method of manufacturing such a fabric will
now be explained with reference to the accompanying
drawings. As various changes might be made by persons
skilled in the art, the invention is not intended to be
10limited to the embodiments illustrated.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a plurality of fur
strips by cutting a fur pelt.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the fur strips
15arranged parallel to one another on a backing material.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a soluble
sheet arranged to sandwich the fur strips between the
backing material and the soluble sheet.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the fur
20strips, backing material and soluble sheet after the
stitches have been partially applied to the fur strips.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a combined
fur\textile fabric wherein the fur strips have been
attached to the backing material by a plurality of
25stitches perpendicular to the fur strips.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing another
combined fur\textile fabric wherein fur strips are sewn
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on both sides of a back material.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing sewing
stitches on seam lines of wave patterns.
FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a combined
fur/textile fabric made by sewing as shown in FIG. 7.
FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a prior art
composite fur pelt made by sewing alternating strips of
fur and base material together lengthwise.
FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a prior art
combined fur\textile fabric made by combining the fur
strips with a back material by sewing each strip
lengthwise along each of its edges.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to FIG. 1 to 5, a method of manufacturing
a combined fur\textile fabric according to the present
invention is explained. The furry surfaces of fur pelts
are represented in the drawings by points in the
figures.
At first, a fur pelt 10 is cut into a plurality of
strips 12 as shown in FIG. 1. The strips preferably run
lengthwise along the nap of the pelt. Preferred fur
pelts include the skins of fur-bearing animals such as
sable, mink, silver fox, fisher, beaver, weasel or
rabbit.
In FIG. 2, a backing material 14 such as, for
example, a textile fabric made of cashmere, is provided.
The fur strips 12 are arranged on the backing material
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14 parallel to one another with predetermined spacing
between the strips. Preferably, the fur strips are 2-lO
mm wide and are spaced on the backing material about 2-
mm apart. A soluble adhesive is useful for
temporarily attaching the fur strips to the backing
material. If the adhesive is soluble in water, the
adhesive can subsequently be removed easily by wet
cleaning as is described later.
The fur strips 12 and the backing material 14 are
then combined by sewing a plurality of stitches on seam
lines 18 in a direction non-parallel to the strips.
Preferably, the stitches are perpendicular to the fur
strips 12 on the backing material 14, as shown in FIG.
5. In sewing the fabric, the use of a quilting machine
contributes to improved productivity.
In order to simplify the sewing operation for
combining the fur strips 12 with the backing material
14, in one preferred embodiment, a soluble adhesive is
applied to the backing material 14 as a step prior to
the sewing operation. This step aids in holding the fur
strips to the backing material during the sewing step.
In another preferred embodiment, the soluble
adhesive is also applied to the fur side of the fur
strips 12 to lay the individual hairs of the fur strips
12 down in a direction that is preferably parallel to
the nap of the fur. It is preferred that a water
soluble adhesive be used for reasons that will be
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addressed later.
In still another preferred embodiment, a sheet 16
is pressed to both the backing material 14 and the fur
strips 12 as shown in FIG. 3. The sheet 16 should be an
easily removable material, for example, a thin sheet of
paper or a sheet that is soluble in water. If adhesive
is applied to the backing material before the fur strips
are arranged on it, the sheet will stick to the backing
material along the spaces between the strips. If
adhesive is applied to the fur of the fur strips as
well, the sheet will stick directly to the fur. The
sheet simplifies the sewing step by holding the hairs of
the fur down during sewing as shown in FIG. 4.
After the seams have been sewn, if a sheet 16 has
been used, such a sheet is removed. the hairs of the
fur strips are then rubbed to release the individual
hairs from the stitches. If a water soluble sheet and
a water soluble adhesive are used, the sheet and the
adhesive can easily be removed and the hairs which were
lying jammed in the sewing stitches can be loosened by
washing and rubbing the fabric in water for about 30
minutes.
The step for loosening and standing up the hairs is
promoted by the friction effects on the scale structures
present on the surface of the hairs. Because the scales
of each hair have a high coefficient of friction when
rubbed in a direction toward the hair's root, it is
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possible to release the hairs lying jammed in sewing
stitches by simply rubbing the hairs and causing
friction among the individual hairs.
If no sheet is used to assist in sewing the seams,
then the hairs can be loosened from the seams by rubbing
without the need for first removing the sheet. However,
if desired, the hairs can be loosened by the combined
washing and rubbing steps set forth above, regardless of
whether a sheet is used.
FIG. 6 illustrates a double-sided combined
fur\textile fabric wherein the fur strips 12 are sewn on
both sides of the backing material 14.
FIG. 7 and 8 show sewing stitches on seam lines 19
of wave patterns and a combined fur/textile fabric made
thereby, respectively. It is noted that FIG. 7 and 8
not only illustrate a preferred embodiment of the
combined fur/textile fabric but also suggest a
possibility of sewing in many other ways.
The combined fur/textile fabric produced by the
above process has many advantages over natural fur as
well as over prior art combined fur/textile fabrics or
composite furs. For example, it is possible to wet
clean the combined fur/textile fabric of this invention
and the clothes made with such a fabric. Of course, wet
cleaning conventional fur is to be avoided due to
shrinkage. The wet cleaning of prior art composite fur-
textile fabrics is also undesirable due to shrinkage.
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The reason the combined fur/textile fabric of this
invention may be wet cleaned without fear of shrinkage
is that fur tends to shrink in only one direction, that
direction being perpendicular to the nap of the fur.
Therefore, so long as the backing material can be safely
washed without shrinkage, the combined fur/textile
fabric can also be safely washed as any shrinkage will
be in the width of the strips, not in their length.
Because of the structure of the stitched seams, any
shrinkage of the width of the fur strips can be
accommodated by the stitches and will not affect the
width of the combined fabric in general. In prior art
combined fur/textile fabrics in which each strip is
attached to a backing material by a pair of long zigzag
stitches on either side, if the strip were to shrink,
the combined fabric would tend to pucker and shrink.
Similarly, for a prior art composite fabric consisting
of alternating strips of fur and strips of base
material, if the strips of fur were to shrink in width,
the composite fabric would shrink as well. The
perpendicular stitches preferred by the present
invention allow some give in the fabric, preventing any
undesirable puckering or shrinkage caused by shrinkage
of the fur strips.
2S The combined fur/textile fabric of the present
invention is also easier to tailor into clothing than
conventional fur or fur composites. The fur/textile
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fabric is less bulky than conventional fur and can be
sewn into garments much like conventional textiles.
Consequently, the level of skill required of garment
workers who make clothing from the fabric is less than
that required of workers making clothing from
conventional fur of fur composites.
The method of manufacturing the combined
fur/textile fabric according to the present invention
has shown as much as a tenfold improvement in
productivity over the conventional art. This is in
large part because the quality of the combined
fur/textile fabric is significantly less dependent on
the skill of the worker when compared to the production
of prior art fabrics.
