Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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COLOR-FAST AND HIGH-CROCKING COMBINATION FABRIC AND METHOD
FOR MAKING THE SAME
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Application Serial
Number 61/900,307, filed on November 5, 2013, the entire contents of which are
herein
incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates generally to textiles and fabrics,
and, more
particularly, to environmentally friendly fabrics having a high crocking
standard, long-lasting
color fastness, and quality hand feel.
[0003] In the textile industry, two considerations for manufacturers when
producing
fabrics are color-fastness, crocking standard, and quality of feel, i.e., hand
feel. These three
considerations often act at odds with one another, with those fabrics having a
great hand feel
lacking in color-fastness and/or high crocking, and vice versa. Regarding
color-fastness, there is
particularly a lot of discussion and demand in the clothing industry for high-
quality apparel that
maintains color fastness, in particular for black apparel that resists fading.
Recent surveys
indicate that, on average, about 30-40% of a woman's closet is black.
[0004] A common concern for casualwear and sportswear is how to keep or
maintain the
color of the clothing without fading, crocking, and bleeding after washing.
Certain textile
producers use chemical treatments to increase color-fastness and crocking, but
this comes at the
expense of hand feel. Those fabrics that yield a high-quality hand feel often
have the problems
of crocking, color fastness, and shedding.
[0005] It can readily be appreciated that there is a need for a fabric
having a high
crocking standard while still maintaining color fastness and a high-quality
hand feel. The
present invention fulfills this need and provides further related advantages.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The present invention may be embodied in a method comprising
coloring and/or
dyeing natural fibers and polyester fibers; placing the colored/dyed natural
fibers and the colored
polyester fibers in a picking line; creating a plurality of combined ropes
consisting essentially of
the colored/dyed natural fibers and the colored/dyed polyester fibers; and
spinning the plurality
of combined ropes into a yarns. The polyester fibers may be a recycled
polyester fiber, and the
natural fibers may be a natural wood fiber. In one aspect of this embodiment,
the yarn may have
a crocking standard of at least 4Ø
[0007] In another aspect of this embodiment, spinning the plurality of
combined ropes
into a yarn comprises spinning the plurality of combined ropes into a
plurality of warp yarns and
a plurality of weft yams. The method may further comprise joining the
plurality of warp yarns
and the plurality of weft yarns into a fabric. In a further aspect, the
plurality of the warp yams
may comprise at least 50% to at least 70% colored/dyed natural fibers, and the
plurality of the
weft yarns may comprise at least 30% to at least 50% colored/dyed polyester
fiber. In yet a
further aspect, the warp yarns may comprise approximately 65% colored/dyed
natural fibers and
approximately 35% colored/dyed polyester fibers, and the weft yams may
comprise
approximately 65% colored/dyed polyester fibers and approximately 35%
colored/dyed natural
wood fibers.
[0008] The present invention may also be embodied in a yarn consisting
essentially of a
polyester fiber and a natural fiber, wherein the polyester fiber and the
natural fiber are
colored/dyed as fibers before being joined into a yarn. The polyester fiber
may be a recycled
polyester fiber, and the natural fiber may be a natural wood fiber. In one
aspect of this
embodiment, the yam may have a crocking standard of at least 4Ø
[0009] The present invention may also be embodied in a fabric consisting
essentially of a
warp yam consisting essentially of polyester fiber and natural fiber; and a
weft yarn consisting
essentially of polyester fiber and natural fiber, wherein the warp yarn has at
least 50% natural
fibers, and the weft yarn has at least 50% polyester fibers. In a further
aspect, the warp yarns
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may comprise at least 65% natural fibers, and the weft yarns may comprise at
least 65%
polyester fibers. The polyester fiber may be a recycled polyester fiber, and
the natural fiber may
be a natural wood fiber. The yam itself may already have a color-fast
characteristic due to the
coloring/dyeing of the natural and polyester fibers prescribed in the
paragraphs above in this
section. The yarn may then be further developed into fabric for consumer
apparel or industrial
use. The resulting fabric/garment can maintain color fastness without bleeding
for at least thirty
regular cold-temperature home-wash laundries.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described, by
way of example
only, with reference to the following drawings.
[0011] FIG. 1 provides an image of warp and weft yams woven into a color-
fast
combination fabric, in accordance with an aspect of an embodiment of the
present invention.
[0012] FIG. 2 provides a flowchart for a color-fast combination fabric
method in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0013] The present invention may reside in combination yams and a
combination fabric
comprising natural and polyester fibers. Both the natural and polyester fibers
are dyed as fibers,
before they are combined into yarns which then can be knit or woven into
fabrics. This process
of dying the fibers rather than the yarns or fabrics provides increased color-
fastness and higher
crocking standard to the end product. The natural fiber is used to create a
high-quality hand feel
that is not available with a polyester fiber, while the polyester fiber
provides the added advantage
of increased color-fastness that is presently not available with natural
fibers. Although the
present disclosure will discuss the invention with respect to black fabrics
composed of black
natural fibers and black polyester fibers, it will be understood that the
present invention may be
applied to encompass fabrics of any color, such as Forever White, Red, Grey,
Blue, etc.
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[0014] The natural fiber component of the combination fabric may comprise
a dyed
wood fiber. An example of a current such product is the Lenzing Modal (R)
COLOR fiber in
black. Crocking standard is a standard of measure that may be used to measure
the color-
fastness of a fabric or fiber, with 5.0 being the highest color-fastness. The
black Lenzing Modal
fiber offers a fine hand-feel similar to silk. However, the black Modal fiber
offers a dry crocking
standard between 3.5 and 4.0 and a wet crocking standard between 2.5 and 3.0,
which are only
average in terms of crocking performance. The wood fiber fabric, made from
wood pulp
material, offers the added advantage of being an environmentally friendly
product.
[0015] The polyester fiber component of the combination fabric may
comprise a recycled
polyester fiber. One such product is the Repreve polyester fiber made by
Unifi, Inc. This fiber
has a high crocking standard between 4.0 and 5Ø This recycled polyester
fiber also offers the
added advantage of being an environmentally friendly product.
[0016] The natural fibers and polyester fibers are combined into a
combination yarn. The
combination yam is made of a combination of the natural wood fiber and the
polyester fiber. In
one embodiment, the fibers may be combined such that the composition ratio of
natural fiber to
polyester fiber comprises greater than 50% polyester. In a presently preferred
embodiment, the
preferred warp-yarn ratio is approximately 65% natural wood (Modal) and
approximately 35%
polyester fiber. The weft-yam ratio is approximately 65% polyester fiber and
35% natural wood
(Modal) fiber. The combination of the black Lenzing Modal COLOR fiber with the
black
Repreve polyester fiber in the presently preferred 65/35 warp ratio and 35/65
weft ratio results in
a crocking standard between 4.0-5.0, which is difficult to achieve in the
apparel industry, while
maintaining the silk-like hand feel of the Lenzing Modal fiber. This
combination yam may be
used on its own to create a fabric, or combined with other yarns to create a
fabric, as will be
described in greater detail below.
[0017] The present invention may also be embodied in a color-fast fabric
comprising the
color-fast combination yarn discussed above. Yams are generally woven or knit
into fabrics. An
example of yarns woven into a color-fast fabric 10 is demonstrated in FIG. 1.
The color-fast
combination fabric 10 may consist of a single type of yam, such as the
combination yam
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described above, or multiple different types of yarns. In one embodiment, as
depicted in FIG. 1,
the color-fast fabric may 10 consist of warp yarns 12 and weft yarns 14, the
warp yarns 12 and
the weft yarns 14 each consisting essentially of natural and polyester fibers,
as described above.
The warp yarns 12 and the weft yarns 14 may have different polyester
fiber/natural fiber content
ratios. In one embodiment, the warp yarns 12 may have a high natural-wood
fiber content of
greater than 50%, as described in the color-fast combination yarn described
above, while the
weft yarns 14 have a higher polyester fiber content. In a presently preferred
embodiment, the
warp yarns 12 have a natural-wood fiber content of at least 50%, while the
weft yarns 14 have a
polyester fiber content of at least 50%. In yet a further preferred
embodiment, the warp yarns 12
have a natural fiber content of approximately 65% modal (natural wood fiber)
and approximately
35% polyester, while the weft yarns 14 have a polyester fiber content of at
least 65%. As
discussed above with respect to the color-fast combination yarn, the color-
fast fabric 10
maintains quality hand-feel while providing superior color-fastness. The
combination fabric 10
also increases the life of the fabric, as it sheds less than natural fibers
and has better tear and
tensile strength.
[0018] The present invention may also be embodied in a method for
creating a
combination fabric. FIG. 2 provides a flow-chart representation of a color-
fast combination
method 100. The disclosed method 100 may be implemented in most current mills
without
increasing operational costs. The method comprises dying natural fiber (e.g.,
black Modal fiber)
and polyester fiber (e.g., Repreve) as fibers, rather than the yarn or the
fabric being dyed and/or
colored at a later step (101). These colored fibers are then placed in a
picking line, and delivered
into a blower to clean the fibers and to mix them together (102). The mixed
fibers then go
through a carding process to remove any extraneous materials, such as cotton
seeds, unwanted
fibers, or any other waste (103). The fibers are then sent to a drawing room
or draw frame to
create a single rope comprising both types of fibers (104). The combined fiber
ropes then go
through a spinning process to form yarns (105). Manufacturers may use any
suitable spinning
process, including open end or ring spinning. Determination of which spinning
method to use
will depend on the desired look and weight of the final fabric. Finally, the
yarns are knit or
woven into a fabric (106).
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[0019] As previously described, the yams used to make a fabric may be
identical such
that a single yam is used to make a fabric, or the yarns may have different
polyester fiber to
natural fiber ratios. It is preferable that a certain portion of the yams used
to make the fabric
(e.g., warp yarns discussed above) have greater than 50% natural-wood fiber,
and, preferably, a
warp-yam ratio of approximately 65%/35% natural fiber to polyester fiber and a
weft-yarn ratio
of at least 65% polyester fiber.
[0020] Although the invention has been disclosed with reference only to
presently
preferred embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that
various
modifications can be made without departing from the invention. The
specification and figures
are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive
sense. As such, the
present invention is defined only by the following claims and recited
limitations.
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