Method and apparatus for fabric production

• US 5,099,554 A
• Filed: 04/05/1990
• Issued: 03/31/1992
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/1987
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: James Dewhurst Limited (Sioen Family)
• Original Assignee: James Dewhurst Limited (Sioen Family)
• Inventors: Cooper, Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Schroeder, Werner H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Calvert, John J.
• Application Number:
  US07/469,432
• Time in Patent Office: 726 Days
• Field of Search: 28/101, 28/102, 156/440, 66/84 A
• US Class Current: 28/102
• CPC Class Codes: D04H 3/045 for net manufacturing

Abstract

The invention relates to the production of non-woven fabrics in which an array of weft threads is created and then combined with a substrate, which may in itself comprise a set of warp threads. In the method according to the invention, the array of weft threads is formed by traversing a weft carrier which has a plurality of weft guides, across the weft-space between two sets of weft retainers (300), (302). At the end of each traverse, the weft carrier is jogged, (that is to say moved in the warpwise direction) so that at the next traverse, it lays a further set of weft yarns across the weftspace, and the weft yarns are hooked around the weft retainers. The jogging motion (B) is such, that at each traverse of the weft carrier after the first traverse, some (1b), (2b), (3b), but not all of the laid weft yarns are interdigitated with weft yarns (1a), (2a), (3a) previously laid by the weft carrier or another weft carrier, the remaining weft yarns laid at that traverse being spaced from each other to permit a further set of weft yarns to be interdigitated with them on a subsequent traverse of the or another weft carrier.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing a fabric comprising:

reciprocating a weft carrier laying a set having a number of weft yarns in a lateral, weftwise direction across a weftspace between two sets of weft retainers and moving said weft carrier in a longitudinal, warpwise, direction relatively to the weft retainers at at least one end of its weftspace traverse to lay the set of weft yarns across the weftspace at each lateral traverse, causing said weft carrier to hook each weft yarn around at least two weft retainers at at least one side of the weftspace, the relative warpwise movement between said weft carrier and said weft retainers being such that at each traverse of said weft carrier, after a first traverse, some, but not all, of the laid weft yarns are interdigitated with weft yarns previously laid by the weft carrier or another weft carrier, the remaining weft yarns laid at that traverse being spaced from each other to permit a further set of weft yarns to be interdigitated with them on a subsequent traverse of the or another weft carrier, wherein the relative longitudinal motion of said weft carrier causes the number of weft yarns which are interdigitated with previously laid weft yarns at a traverse of the weft carrier to be one less than the number of weft yarns which is laid spaced from each other.

2. A method of manufacturing a fabric comprising:

reciprocating a weft carrier laying a set having a number of weft yarns in a lateral, weftwise, direction across a weftspace between two sets of weft retainers and moving said weft carrier in a longitudinal, warpwise, direction relatively to the weft retainers at at least one end of its weftspace traverse to lay the set of weft yarns across the weftspace at each lateral traverse, causing said weft carrier to hook each weft yarn around at least two weft retainers at at least one side of the weftspace, the relative warpwise movement between said weft carrier and said weft retainers being such that at each traverse of said weft carrier, after a first traverse, some, but not all, of the laid weft yarns are interdigitated with weft yarns previously laid by the weft carrier or another weft carrier, the remaining weft yarns laid at that traverse being spaced from each other to permit a further set of weft yarns to be interdigitated with them on a subsequent traverse of the or another weft carrier, wherein the relative longitudinal motion of said weft carrier causes the number of weft yearns which are interdigitated with previously laid weft yarns to be one greater than the number of weft yarns which is laid spaced from each other.

3. A method of manufacturing a fabric comprising:

reciprocating a weft carrier laying a set having a number of weft yarns in a lateral, weftwise, direction across a weftspace between two sets of weft retainers and moving said weft carrier in a longitudinal, warpwise, direction relatively to the weft retainers at at least one end of its weftspace traverse to lay the set of weft yarns across the weftspace at each lateral traverse, causing said weft carrier to hook each weft yarn around at least two weft retainers at at least one side of the weftspace, the relative warpwise movement between said weft carrier and said weft retainers being such that at each traverse of said weft carrier, after a first traverse, some, but not all, of the laid weft yarns are interdigitated with weft yarns previously laid by the weft carrier or another weft carrier, the remaining weft yarns laid at that traverse being spaced from each other to permit a further set of weft yarns to be interdigitated with them on a subsequent traverse of the or another weft carrier, wherein the relative longitudinal motion of said weft carrier causes such interdigitation of the weft yarns that at each traverse of said weft carrier, after a first traverse, the weft yarns which are interdigitated with previously laid weft yarns are so interdigitated with the spaced apart weft yarns laid on the immediately preceding traverse of the weft carrier, that a complete array of weft yarns is produced by the weft carrier.