Weaving equipment may include warp strand positioning equipment that positions warp strands and weft strand positioning equipment that inserts weft strands among the warp strands to form fabric. One or more of the warp strands may be selectively modified along its length using a warp strand modification unit. The warp strand modification unit may be interposed between the fabric and a reed, may be interposed between the fabric and the warp strand positioning equipment, may be mounted to the reed, or may be incorporated elsewhere in the weaving equipment. Warp strand modifications may include adding segments of metallic paint coatings or other conductive coatings, adding insulating coatings, applying other liquids to segments of the warp strand, modifying the stretchiness of warp strands, removing material from segments of the warp strand, and attaching electrical components to the warp strand.

To provide a method for manufacturing a woven fabric for which neither the appearance nor a function provided by flat threads of the woven fabric are impaired, and to provide the woven fabric. The woven fabric further includes flat threads 3 each wider than a fiber warp thread 10, and the flat threads 3 are caused to pass through healds 102 intermittently with respect to a plurality of the fiber warp threads 10. A hole 102a of each heald is long in a heald moving direction. By causing the flat thread 3 to pass through the hole, the longitudinal direction in transverse plane of the flat thread 3 is oriented along a heald moving direction M. By interweaving fiber weft threads with the fiber warp threads 10, a plurality of woven fabric placement sections is formed so as to be arranged in a weft direction W, each woven fabric placement section being formed as a woven fabric structure and having the flat thread corresponding thereto placed on the woven fabric structure. A flat face HF of the flat thread 3 is disposed on the fiber warp threads 10 in the woven fabric placement section so as to face the fiber warp threads 10. A part of the fiber weft threads is caused to pass over the flat thread 3, to fix the flat thread 3 on the woven fabric placement section. The woven fabric covering section may be formed as a plain weave.

An illustrative example method of making an elongated load bearing member includes providing a plurality of tension elements. A plurality of weave fibers are woven together with the tension elements to thereby establish a weave. A traction surface is established on at least one side of the load bearing member. The traction surface is defined by the weave fibers. Coating the weave fibers with a compressible coating provides an exterior surface texture defined at least in part by the weave fibers.

An illustrative example method of making an elongated load bearing member includes providing a plurality of tension elements. A plurality of weave fibers are woven together with the tension elements to thereby establish a weave. A traction surface is established on at least one side of the load bearing member. The traction surface is defined by the weave fibers. Coating the weave fibers with a compressible coating provides an exterior surface texture defined at least in part by the weave fibers.

A warp yarn take-up system includes a clamping device for holding a plurality of layers of warp yarns, the clamping device being movable at least in a direction corresponding to the advance direction of the warp yarns. The clamping device includes a bottom clamp, a top clamp, and at least one intermediate clamping element present between the bottom clamp and the top clamp. The bottom clamp, the top clamp, and the at least one intermediate clamping element are held together by clamping.

A machine and method are presented for continuously forming a woven composite with controllable internal fabric geometry. The machine may include one or more spools for dispensing one or more warp filaments, a roller assembly configured to receive a composite weave, a warp rack having warp heads for engaging the warp filaments and vertically adjusting position to dynamically create a weave pattern in response to the insertion of one or more weft filaments by a weft inserter stack.

A fabric with wefts that include hard yarns and elastomeric yarns in a predetermined arrangement such that at least one hard yarn is alternately arranged with at least one elastomeric yarn, the elastomeric yarns having a greater shrinkage ratio than that of the hard yarns; the hard yarns form under portions and over portions with respect to warps, said under portions being formed when said hard yarns pass along the back side of the warps and defining loop portions, and said over portions being formed when the hard yarns pass along the front side of the warps and define connection portions, wherein for each hard yarn, an average number of warps passed by the loop portion is at least 6, and wherein the elastomeric yarns form under portions and over portions with respect to said warps in a weave that is tighter than the weave of the hard yarns.

An installation for fabricating a fiber texture in the form of a strip presenting a profile that varies at least in cross-section includes a loom, one or more take-up rollers, and a storage mandrel, each take-up roller and the storage mandrel presenting a radius that varies across its axial width so as to define an outer surface having a profile in relief. One or more take-up rollers include a plurality of sectors releasably fastened on the outer surface of the take-up roller. Each sector extends over a fraction of the circumference of the take-up roller and over all or part of the axial width of the take-up roller. Each sector also presents at least one thickness that is determined in such a manner as to modify locally the thickness of the profile in relief of the outer surface of the take-up roller.

Conductive wires or traces woven into a textile article as a warp or weft yarn are limited in directionality and beginning and end points. The presently disclosed woven electronic textiles permit electrical traces to begin and end at specific points within an interior of the textile and for runs of the electrical traces to extend continuously at any desired angle and connecting any number of specific points across a textile surface. Such electrical traces are referred to herein as point-to-point conductive traces.

Conductive wires or traces woven into a textile article as a warp or weft yarn are limited in directionality and beginning and end points. The presently disclosed woven electronic textiles permit electrical traces to begin and end at specific points within an interior of the textile and for runs of the electrical traces to extend continuously at any desired angle and connecting any number of specific points across a textile surface. Such electrical traces are referred to herein as point-to-point conductive traces.