Hybrid yarns formed with fibers having rounded tips and method of making the same

Abstract

A hybrid yarn and a fabric including the hybrid yarn are provided. The hybrid yarn is formed of a plurality of fibers of a plurality of different fiber compositions. The fibers of different configurations are homogenized and intimate with one another throughout the yarn. The yarn may be formed using fibers made of the same material or a plurality of different materials. The different fiber compositions may include fibers of three or more different cross sections, fibers made of different materials or a combination of the two. Fibers having tips or ends are made so that the tips are rounded rather than squared to improve the manufacture and quality of the yarn. The materials may be synthetic and/or natural materials. Fabrics made with the hybrid yarn will have selectable functional features and also be of lighter weight than previously possible. Hybrid spinnerets may be used to produce hybrid yarns with three or more different fiber cross sections wherein spinneret portals that have tips are made with the tips rounded.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention[0001]The present invention relates to yarns. More particular, the present invention relates to the use of combinations of different fiber shapes to create yarns. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to hybrid yarns and fabrics made from such yarns.2. Description of the Prior Art[0002]Fabrics are typically comprised of yarns made of a plurality of fibers that are combined together. The yarns may be made of natural fibers, such as cotton, and man-made fibers, such as synthetic polymers formed into fibers. These fabrics are typically produced with one or more yarns that are joined together by weaving, stitching or other forms of joining. The yarns selected to make fabrics are chosen based on the desired functionality of the fabric and the look and feel of the fabric. Synthetic yarns are generally made of any of a variety of polymers and are made with fibers of different thicknesses and shapes. The yarns are formed o...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0026]Most existing garments touted as having moisture management characteristics, for example, move moisture directly from the skin to the surface with little transportation management or regulation taking place. This results in wet areas (saturation) in the chest, underarms and the lower back while leaving much of the garment dry. The hybrid yarn of the present invention allows for the production of a fabric that creates a personal environment that enables the movement of fluid throughout the garment in a desired manner, including by transporting the fluid to all areas of the garment. During and after extreme physical exercising, this may leave the garment damp for a short period of time but no signs of long-lasting saturation and discoloration and since the fluid, such as moisture, is distributed more evenly across the garment, drying time is accelerated. This innovation is engineered to provide fabrics with chemical-free fluid management as well as other desired performance characteristics. Because the yarn of the present invention may be chemical-free, unlike most counterparts, washing will not deteriorate the performance of the technology. The use of the present yarn in the manufacture of a fabric also allows for the manufacture of lighter weight fabric while achieving desired functional characteristics.

[0027]These and other advantages of the present invention are further disclosed in the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.

Problems solved by technology

The tiny openings are very sensitive to impurities and corrosion.

The liquid feeding them must be carefully filtered and, in some cases, the spinneret may be made from very expensive, corrosion-resistant metals or other suitable materials.

Many fabrics are made with combinations of materials because it is difficult to provide all desired fabric characteristics with a single yarn formed with a single natural or synthetic material.

The ability to make lighter weight fabrics of selectable functionality has not been feasible with existing yarn constructions and fabric making methods because it has been necessary to combine together individual yarns to accomplish the desired functionality.

That resulted in fabrics heavier than desired by consumers.

The balance of functionality and weight has always been a difficulty.

However, even that optimization has its limits.

Specifically, because yarns are made of bundles of fibers, it is very difficult to take full advantage of the characteristics of each individual fiber, particularly those fibers that are not at the exterior of the bundle.

As a result, a yarn made using relatively expensive polymer and with fibers that are shaped in a particular way to impart desired features can provide only a portion of those desired characteristics.

Moreover, a fabric made with yarns of different polymers, such as Nylon and polyester, and / or yarns of different fiber configurations, such as round and trilobal fiber shapes for example, can be expensive to produce.

These types of fabrics requiring the use of different yarns and / or multiple-shape-fiber yarns can be expensive because they require the production of different fibers that require the use of multiple spinnerets and multiple yarn forming steps.

In addition, as noted above, with the current state of yarn manufacturing, the yarns that must be used will create relatively heavy fabrics, which may be undesirable for a variety of desired fabric functionalities including, but not limited to, cooling fabrics.

For example, a fabric made with a 150 Denier yarn may have certain desired functionality, such as effective wicking, but it may be simply too heavy to be desirable for use by consumers.

Current fabrics utilizing multiple yarns to achieve multiple functions have had inherent quality, weight and consistency issues, for example, which are detrimental to developing the exact fabrics desired by consumers.

In the spinning process of the blending of yarns, made with different polymers, there is often tension, bane, weight and uneven dyeing issues that have to be addressed through further and, therefore more expensive, processing.

It has also been a surprising discovery that in the production of a hybrid yarn comprising a plurality of fibers of different fiber shapes extruded from a common spinneret there is a difficulty in getting the fibers to stand off sufficiently from one another as they change from the fluid state to the solid state.

As a result, desired qualities embodied in a hybrid yarn formed of an integration of fibers of different shapes are not realized due to the clumping of fibers that occurs prior to fiber solidification.

It is difficult to engineer spacing of adjacent fibers from one another such as through texturing when those adjacent fibers are joined together.

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