EP0655095A1

EP0655095A1 - Textile material made of woven knitted fabrics.

Info

Publication number: EP0655095A1
Application number: EP93915639A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Friedrich Roell
Original assignee: TECNIT-Technische Textilien und Systeme GmbH
Current assignee: TECNIT-Technische Textilien und Systeme GmbH
Priority date: 1992-07-08
Filing date: 1993-07-08
Publication date: 1995-05-31
Anticipated expiration: 2013-07-08
Also published as: JPH07508800A; EP0655095B1; ES2096304T3; DE59304628D1; ATE145678T1; AU4557293A; WO1994001607A1

Abstract

A new textile material, a so-called woven knitted fabric, contains weft threads (4) inserted in the knitted fabric in the direction of the stitch rows and/or warp threads (3) inserted in the direction of the stitch wales. Both weft and warp threads are individually inserted in a controlled manner. The material is characterised in particular by an arbitrarily selected beginning and end of individual weft or warp threads within the material, so that a broad spectrum of patterns can be obtained and locally defined property requirements can be complied with. Materials such as wires, coated yarns, micro-fibres, which in pure knitted fabrics can only be used within limits or cannot be at all used, may also be used for the weft and warp threads (3, 4). The weft and warp threads may also be mutually linked by woven links or may also be partially formed into loops. Woven knitted fabrics are particularly advantageous for the production of three-dimensionally shaped textile articles.

Description

Textile material made from knitted fabrics

The present invention relates to a textile material, in particular textile articles, made from woven knitwear and to a method for its production. Within the scope of the description, textile material generally comprises material which is produced from thread-like material by means of weaving, knitting, etc. The thread-like material can e.g. B. Mono or multifilament, be made of synthetic or natural fibers or wire and also be multi-component, such as. B. sheathed, wrapped or wound material. Within the scope of this description, textile articles also include textile articles.

Knitted fabric is characterized by its elasticity and its insulating effect due to the high proportion of trapped air. The production results in the further advantage that, within the scope of the technical possibilities, shaped pieces can be produced, with even three-dimensional objects such as. B. car seat covers (DE-A1-37 25 539, GB-A-2 223 034) without additional processing steps such. B. sewing or cutting are possible.

A further advantage of knitwear is the wide color patterning possibility already during the production e.g. B. by intarsia and jacquard technology. In addition, varied structures result from changing from right to left stitches, transferring stitches etc. Especially in this area, the introduction of knitting and knitting machines with single-needle control in connection with computer control meant great progress.

However, molded parts are problematic in the production

Fabric parts the so-called gusset, d. H. the places where stitches are decreased and increased, e.g. B. later to form the edges of the molded parts. When removing and reconnecting

Replacement sheet Taking stitches results in a "seam", which, however, is inconsistent with the normally produced knitwear, such as. B. has small holes, at least is not invisible. An overlapping knitting of these connections has already been proposed (GB-A-2,223,036), but still leads to a different meshing in the connection area. The connection stands out clearly from the surrounding material.

According to the technique of meshing, the range of usable yarns is also restricted. The yarns must be flexible, i.e. H. generally thin enough to be able to form sufficiently small meshes, since otherwise the product would be too voluminous and the material consumption would be very large because of the large meshes. Yarns with a rough surface also make it difficult to shift the stitches from one another, so that a stiff knitwear is obtained. Flocked, twisted or coated yarns in particular are therefore only suitable for meshing to a limited extent or not at all.

On the other hand, yarns that are too thin are of course also problematic, since they require a very narrow needle pitch and thus correspondingly fine and fragile needles, so that the resulting knitted fabric has a stitch density corresponding to the thin yarn in order to meet the mechanical and optical requirements are enough.

An alternative fabric manufacturing process, weaving, on the other hand, can process a wide variety of yarns. However, the products are only obtained as sheets of uniform width and structure. They are not elastic unless the yarn itself is elastic. There are restrictions when it comes to color sampling because the warp threads have to run through. As a result, only a continuous stripe pattern can be achieved in the warp direction. In the weft direction, the jacquard technique allows a somewhat expanded one Diversity. Nevertheless, it also applies here that every weft thread is pulled through the full width.

The combination of weaving and meshing, i.e. H. the introduction of weave structures such as weft threads or warp threads in knitted fabrics or vice versa was therefore attempted at an early stage and was achieved to a certain extent by modifying the known knitting, knitting or Raschel machines. The textile materials thus obtained had a continuous mesh structure in which weft, warp and both weft and warp threads were incorporated. The weft or warp threads were fundamentally endless, and their distribution over the sticks or rows of the stitches was given by the construction of the machine used for the production, i. H. regular and constant across the entire material area. The properties of the material for a textile web or textile body produced in one piece were thus also predetermined over the entire area.

Such modified machines and products manufactured therewith describe e.g. B. the patents US-3,884,053 for a circular knitting machine with continuous, spiral weft and continuous warp thread entry, the FR-A-2 '079' 217 for continuous warp threads in a knitted flat or tubular textile web and the GB-A-239,261 for knitting machines u. a. with warp and weft insertion. As far as warp and weft insertion was realized, there was no weave between warp and weft threads.

An object of the present invention is a textile material which has an arbitrarily selectable combination of the properties of a woven or knitted fabric which are advantageous for the respective application.

Spare sheet This object is achieved with the textile material as defined in claim 1. Special designs, manufacturing processes and applications are specified in the further claims. Depending on the field of application of the material according to the invention, further advantages of the invention result as:

Use of thread-shaped materials previously useless for knitted fabrics in the manufacture of such fabric parts; - extension of the range of colors and patterns;

Production of any three-dimensionally shaped textile articles by means of a knitting or knitting technique, so that further processing steps are largely avoided except for possible shaping; Production of shaped, in particular three-dimensionally shaped, fabric parts with improved gusset seams with regard to their appearance and mechanical properties;

Textile material with additional functions and / or properties, such as. B. temperature stability or sterilizability, clothing items made therefrom continue to be comfortable to wear.

Accordingly, warp threads, weft threads or warp and weft threads are additionally inserted into a knitted fabric, the sequence of the warp and / or weft threads changing during the manufacture of the textile material and in particular also the weft or warp threads in any arrangement and number only be involved temporarily. The sequence of inserting or re-suspending a warp or weft thread entry is preferably carried out individually for each thread. The manufacturing process is hereinafter referred to as "weaving", in addition to knitting, knitting can also be used to produce the knitted fabric portion. The new material is known as "woven knitwear". The term "knitting" is used below as a general

^e rsatzb Handle for the production of textile material by meshing are considered, in particular also include the knitting.

The terms "warp thread" and "weft thread" are chosen here only because of the analogy of their course in weaving technology, the technical implementation and the processing mechanisms, on the other hand, are fundamentally different from those in weaving technology. The weft threads run along the rows of stitches here, but do not need to be counted and are inserted by separate thread guides. The warp threads run in the knitting direction, i.e. H. in the direction of the chopsticks of the knitted fabric, also need not be culverted and are guided by the above-mentioned warp thread devices. With the individual control of the warp and / or weft guides, it is also possible to lay the warp and / or weft threads in such a way that they are also wound. In particular, the warp threads, but also the weft threads, can be sized before processing, after which the finished textile article must then be desized.

The insertion of the additional threads is generally only possible on machines with individually controlled thread guides and warp thread devices, which preferably also have an individual control for each warp thread. These additional thread guiding mechanisms for the existing knitting or warp knitting machines can advantageously be controlled only by corresponding computer controls which have entered the knitting and warp knitting technology in recent years.

Since machines of this type have only recently become available and the textile materials which can be produced on them have hitherto unknown new properties and accordingly open up new application possibilities, the now

ü = "z ~ aτzblaii existing realization possibilities of the materials according to the invention have not yet been recognized. In particular, it has only become possible through the introduction of devices for pinching off threads to allow a thread, in particular warp or weft thread, to end within the textile material and to start again at another point. In this way, the warp or weft threads can be selectively entered individually and in a program-controlled manner, that is to say without interrupting the process, only in certain areas of the material, with the problem of concealed guidance, eg. B. on the back or inside the textile material does not occur.

The possibility of making weft and warp entry locally, with a change from one to another warp or weft thread material also being possible, patterns can be achieved and areas with special properties, e.g. B. mechanical nature, without the material being subjected to further processing steps.

In contrast to the weaving mill, the weft threads in the new type of textile are not shot, but are placed on the last stitch row using a kind of thread guide and integrated into the stitch structure during the subsequent knitting and knitting steps. Likewise, the warp threads are fed from individually controllable thread guide devices, which results in additional options in terms of color and shape, such as. B. jacquard pattern, guidance of the threads individually on the front or back of the mesh.

The warp and / or weft threads, since they do not have to be involved in the stitch formation, can also consist of much thicker and stiffer yarn than is possible in the manufacture of knitted fabrics. Examples include flocked material for fluffy knitwear, wires for heated,

REPLACEMENT LEAF called flexible fabrics, fire-resistant monofilaments or microfibers. Overall, since the inserted threads do not have to take on a primary holding function, but are integrated into the fabric structure by the surrounding knitwear, any materials available as yarns or filaments can be introduced into the textile. It is surprising that when using stiff thread materials there is not only excellent flexibility about the longitudinal axis of the inserted threads, the inserted threads being only slightly bent, but that the textile piece can also be easily deformed by bending the inserted fibers.

The use of warp and weft threads can be inferior to a fabric structure that can also be carried alone. This results in the possibility, in the extreme case, of producing a textile product with any three-dimensional shape on a single machine, which is partly pure knitted fabric, partly made of knitted fabric with inserted weft and / or warp threads and partly also pure tissue. In parallel, a smooth transition from elastic to inelastic can be carried out.

It is also possible to use not only jacquard technology, as in weaving, but also intarsia technology to achieve color patterns on the weft and warp threads, since the warp and weft threads are guided individually. Additional possibilities result from the use of two or more, at least temporarily weft or warp threads.

The warp and / or the weft threads cannot be bound into the stitches even over a large number of stitches. The warp or weft threads then running freely in front of or behind the material result in flaps that

REPLACEMENT LEAF can serve to attach the textile piece. One application arises in the production of car seats, since fastening elements can thus be produced integrally with the cover.

The additionally inserted weft thread can also be used to "split" the stitches. The newly introduced so-called "split stitch" leads in the area of the gusset, ie. H. in the areas in which two mutually angled edges of a previously flat textile piece are joined to one another, for a uniform material appearance of the three-dimensional shape thus formed.

The new type of textile also combines the advantages of woven and knitted fabrics, that fabrics do not need to be steamed and stretched, and knitted fabrics are flexible.

The possibilities of the new type of textile are to be explained further with the aid of a few figures, from which the structure of the new type of fabric emerges. However, this is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, and all modifications obvious to those skilled in the art are also included.

Show it:

1 shows a diagram of the needle beds of a twin-bed machine with a row of stitches, a weft thread and warp threads; 2 the binding of the weft thread by transferring; 3 shows the two-sided split stitch with knitting. 4 shows the one-sided split stitch without knitting. 5 shows the processing of a gusset; and FIG. 6 shows the processing of a gusset according to another method.

Replacement sheet 1 shows schematically the knitting of a course on a two-bed knitting machine, with warp and weft threads 3 and 4 being present. The weft thread 4 is laid here in a twill weave opposite the warp threads 3. Since the weft thread can be freely controlled, this type of binding can be changed with each weft.

By means of a clamping device (not shown), each warp or weft thread can be clamped and cut off at any time in a holding device, which means that in the further manufacturing process, i. H. in the following courses, this thread is not used. For re-entry, the clamping device reinserts the thread into the process and releases it. In this way, in addition to controlling the meshing procedure, z. B. stiffeners, color changes and other structural changes can be achieved.

1a schematically shows a plan view of the double needle bed with the needles 1 of the front needle bed (not shown) and the needles 2 of the rear needle bed (not shown). The front stitches 6 and rear stitches 7 shown are already knitted. The warp threads 3 run through the image plane and are guided on the front of the textile stucco. The weft 4 is placed on the course.

Fig. 1b shows the state after the next knitting. The thread guide (not shown) of the stitch-forming thread 5 has passed behind all the warp threads 3, whereby the warp threads 3 are in turn guided on the front of the textile piece. Of course, any number of rows of stitches can be knitted with knitting thread guides running behind or in front of the warp threads, this being able to be controlled individually for each warp thread. If a number of adjacent warp threads z. B. i -

Spare sheet If, with the knitting thread 5 running behind it and the weft 4 laid behind, it is guided over several rows of stitches, there is a loop of these warp threads, e.g. B. for fastening purposes. Conversely, a number of weft threads can also be laid in such a way that they form a loop, possibly still interwoven with warp threads.

An alternative to the integration of the weft thread is shown in FIG. 2 as a continuation of FIG. 1a. The front seams 6 were hung around the needles 2 of the rear needle bed, which gives the textile stucco a different appearance. The transferred stitches can be knitted immediately - through the stitches 7 present on the rear needles 2 or together with them during the formation of the next row of stitches. It can of course also be reassigned from the back to the front, and the weft insertion can simply be interrupted or placed in such a way that it weaves with the warp threads, but is not integrated into the knitted fabric.

3 shows the implementation of the split stitch, in which two stitches around the weft thread 4 are formed from a previously existing stitch, here for example a rear stitch 7. 3a shows a row of stitches with weft thread 4 placed on them. According to arrows 9, a half stitch, that is, H. one leg of a stitch, reassigned to the rear on a rear needle 2 already carrying a stitch and immediately knitted through the existing stitch, after which the state according to FIG. 3b results. The knitting thread 5 remains as a kind of catch on the front needles 1. Of course, immediate knitting can also be omitted.

Another embodiment of the split stitch is shown in FIG. 4. Here, directly after placing the knitting thread 5 on only the needles 1 of the front needle bed (FIG. 4a) pass half a stitch to the needles 2 of the rear needle bed. The weft 4 is put on (FIG. 4b) and the transferred half stitch is passed back over the weft 4, as indicated by the arrows 8. Then there are two stitches instead of one on each of the needles 1 (FIG. 4c), the warp threads 3 being bound in at the same time. Of course, the stitch returned can also be knitted immediately, and the warp threads can also be integrated differently or not at all.

Due to the tension in the fabric achieved with the split stitch, a dense mesh is obtained in the area of the gusset without the previously known, undesirable thinning or holes. The split stitch is therefore preferably used at the edges of the gusset.

In addition, the weft threads can be deposited overlapping in the area of the gusset. Fig. 5 shows the state of a textile piece during the processing of a gusset in the direction of arrow 12 for three-dimensional shaping. The zigzag lines 11 symbolize some of the rows of stitches. The weft threads 4 protruding into the already knitted textile surface, which hangs on needles which are currently set aside, are incorporated overlapping into the gusset seam when the needles are reinserted and reinforce the latter. This course of the weft threads 4 is only possible with the new technique of freely controllable weft insertion.

In addition, the warp threads 3 can run along the rods. These form a corner on the gusset in the finished product, which the warp threads 3 follow and thus reinforce them. It is also possible to knit the gusset from the top, with the rows of stitches running around the corner and the double crochets in the direction of the later edge. Again there are two options available:

Replacement sheet It can first z. B. the left edge of the gusset are knitted from top to bottom, as indicated by the arrow 13 in FIG. 6, similar to the free ends of the weft threads 4 protruding from the gusset edge 10. The zigzag lines 15 symbolize here again some of the courses. Then the right edge is knitted from bottom to top according to arrow 14, the new rows of stitches on the right side 17 with the stitches previously formed and hanging on needles which have now been shut off being continuously hung according to the inclination of the gusset edges on the left side 16, and the weft ends are worked into the now formed rows of stitches, preferably overlapping with the weft threads 4 that have been newly laid.

The second possibility is to immediately knit the right and left sides of the gusset from the top at the same time, the gusset being produced in a row in order to decrease the number of stitches. Here, the weft threads 4 can simply pass through the gusset from left to right or vice versa.

Conversely, instead of the gusset tip, the edge of a three-dimensional textile piece can also be created by adding stitches and, if necessary, new warp threads.

It is therefore obvious to use the specified methods to produce arbitrarily shaped three-dimensional textile pieces in one work step. The gussets do not have to be straight as shown in the illustrations, but can also be curved. When stitching the edges of the gusset together, the split stitch is used in particular. Openings can also be made in this way, the weft threads correspondingly only up to the edges of the openings.

Replacement and the warp threads either run around the opening or are exposed.

It is also possible to switch off or vary the individual components of the Stσff structure for themselves at least temporarily during the production process. The mesh, single or all warp threads, single or all weft threads can be removed and reinserted. Two or more threads can be knitted in parallel or individually or inserted as weft or warp threads.

The warp or weft threads can consist of little or unsuitable materials for meshing, such as. B. wires, flocked yarns, monofilaments, microfibers, textured yarns. The material can also simply be unsuitable for intermeshing due to its thickness or thinness, e.g. B. twisted, wrapped or covered yarn, but can be incorporated without problems as a weft or warp thread in the fabric structure according to the invention.

The possibility of guiding the warp or weft threads arbitrarily in front of or behind the mesh, as well as using single or multiple threads, which can however be individually controlled with regard to their course in the structure, or in particular the weft threads only over part of the Guiding the width of the goods can be used for the structuring and coloring of the goods in any pattern in the usual techniques, such as Jacquard and intarsia, as well as additional variants of the manufacturing process described above can be used.

Additional applications result from the variety of materials that can be used. It can e.g. B. one side of a Velcro fastener can be worked in directly by means of a covered yarn. For this purpose, a plush is produced using a technique according to the invention, which is made by warp or

Spare sheet Weft is reinforced. The pile threads are made of heat-fixable material and act as a Velcro fastener half after heat-setting. Furthermore, fully synthetic articles of clothing can be produced which are nevertheless breathable due to the use of microfiber as a weft and / or warp material. Such objects can e.g. B. used in the medical field as surgical gowns.

Tubular textiles that are reinforced by weft and / or warp can also be produced. For this purpose, the thread to be meshed can be guided on every second needle of the two beds on twin-bed machines, only catches being placed on each of the two beds. The weft is placed on top and either the stitches or the catches are transferred, which binds in the weft. In the second round, the second half of the circumference of the tube is knitted on the other needles. It can also be knitted on all needles, with the weft thread being laid on before the culvert. Further known variants of tube knitting can obviously be realized in the expert with inserted weft and / or warp threads. On four-bed machines, it is also possible to work with all needles in the necking technique, since two beds can produce half of the cross-sectional circumference. In contrast to pure knitwear, the textile material with inserted weft and / or warp thread is only slightly stretchable in the direction of these threads. It can be used, for example, for closed, seamless belts that have no seam, such as drive belts or conveyor belts.

Further uses of the inventive textile material result for seamless, in particular three-dimensional preforms for fiber composite products, such as. B. helmets, moldings for seals and membranes, iso-

Ersaxzbia lation parts. Other possible uses are obvious to the person skilled in the art, and the list above does not in any way limit the possible uses.

Claims

1. Textile material, consisting at least in part of knitwear, with at least one additional weft and / or warp thread, the weft thread being worked in the direction of the stitch rows and the warp thread being worked in the direction of the mesh, and the warp and weft thread not being at least over a stitch width are marked, characterized in that the insertion of at least one warp or weft thread begins and / or ends within the knitted fabric at least once.

2. Textile material according to claim 1 with warp and weft threads, characterized in that warp and weft threads are additionally intertwined by a weave.

3. Textile material according to one of claims 1 to 2, characterized in that the warp and / or weft threads are inserted at regular intervals into the wales or stitch rows.

4. Textile material according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that more than one weft thread runs in at least one course.

5. Textile material according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that at least one warp thread consists of several individual threads.

6. Textile material according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that at least one warp and / or weft thread made of wire, synthetic monofilament, microfiber, textured yarn, flock yarn, twisted, wrapped or coated yarn or a combination of this

Eroatzblatt without or with at least one additional thread of normal type.

7. Textile material according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that there are at least two weft threads in at least one stitch row, either with different guidance in parallel from the start to end point of the weft insertion or only over part of a weft insertion or run without overlap.

8. Textile material according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that there are at least two warp threads in at least one wale, which are either parallel with different guidance from the start to end point of the warp thread entry or only over part of one Chain entries run with or without overlap.

9. Textile material according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that at least one stitch is divided into two stitches by wrapping at least one weft thread.

10. Three-dimensionally shaped textile article made from the textile material according to one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that the three-dimensional shape is achieved by increasing and / or decreasing stitches and / or subsequent stretching.

11. Three-dimensionally shaped textile article made of the textile material according to one of claims 1 to 9 or textile article according to claim 10, characterized in that there is at least one edge in which at least two weft threads overlap and partially ver in the edge ¬ run or in which at least one weft runs continuously across it.

Ers

12. Three-dimensionally shaped textile article made from the textile material according to one of claims 1 to 9 or textile article according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that there is at least one edge in which at least one warp thread begins or ends and / or partially in the edge runs, or in which at least one warp thread runs continuously across it.

13. Textile article made of the material according to one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that at least one point or a certain number of warp threads and / or weft threads is guided in such a way that they are not integrated into the fabric structure over a certain distance and form a tab.

14. Textile article according to claim 13, characterized in that the weft or warp threads that form a flap are connected by means of at least one warp or weft thread in a weave.

15. The method for producing the shaped textile article according to claim 10, characterized in that a flat textile structure is produced with a rim shaped in such a way that it can be inserted, drawn in or pressed into a mold, and after the removal from the mold the adopted shape maintained and the molded textile article is obtained without further work steps.

16. A method for producing a textile material according to one of claims 1 to 12 or a textile article according to one of claims 13 to 18, characterized gekennzeich¬ net that all warp threads and / or weft threads individually in their course, location, use and end and presence relative to the surrounding meshing and to each other.

Spare sheet

17. Use of the textile material according to one of claims 1 to 12 for the production of technical textile articles, in particular of moldings for fiber composite bodies, seals or membranes, of cold and / or sound insulation parts or seamless, closed bands, in particular Conveyor belts and drive belts.

REPLACEMENT LEAF