Embodiments are directed to flame resistant fabrics formed of a plurality of spun body yarns and rip stops that extend between at least some of the spun body yarns in at least one of the warp or fill direction of the fabric. In some embodiments, the rip stops include at least two relatively tough yarns, and the relatively tough yarns include a core and a sheath.

A fire-retardant and antimicrobial rayon fiber includes a preservative, e.g., zinc pyrithione, as an antimicrobial agent. The present invention is further directed to a yarn that includes the fire-retardant and antimicrobial rayon fiber. The yarn may be a sheath-and-core yarn where the fire-retardant and antimicrobial rayon fiber is incorporated into the sheath, and the core is formed from fiberglass or any other suitable material. The present invention is further directed to a fabric formed from the fire-retardant and antimicrobial rayon fiber, such as a nonwoven fabric, a knit fabric, or a woven fabric. Moreover, the present invention is further directed to an article such as one or more layers of a mattress or bedding formed from the fire-retardant and antimicrobial rayon fiber.

A method and system for forming protective composite yarns and fabrics having selected performance characteristics including cut resistance and/or fire/heat resistance, while also providing enhanced comfort and aesthetic attributes. The yarn will include fibers of a first type introduced from a first roving to a first set of drafting rollers of a spinning frame, and one or more additional types of fibers introduced from one or more additional rovings additional sets of drafting rollers of the spinning frame in an alternating fashion with the fibers of the first type. The fibers of the first type and the fibers of the additional type are substantially overlapped and successively attached and detached to form the composite yarn having attributes of the first fibers, such as increased comfort, moisture-wicking and an ability to be dyed, colored or printed, combined with technical properties of the fibers of the one or more additional types of fibers, such as cut, abrasion and/or fire/heat resistance, static dissipation, and other performance characteristics, with bands or splashes of color from such fibers incorporated therein. Fashionable or aesthetically appearing performance fabrics can be formed from the composite yarn with the desired performance and comfort characteristics.

A composite yarn comprising a continuous multifilament core yarn incorporated in a matrix is characterised in that the matrix comprises at least one polymer material and at least one reinforcing filler, the reinforcing filler being formed from functionalized particles, said particles having a median size (d.sub.v5o) of less than 40 μm. A process for manufacturing such a composite yarn, comprises at least one step of depositing, by coating or extrusion, a matrix comprising a polymer and a reinforcing filler, onto a core yarn. A textile surface comprises at least one such composite yarn.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to flame resistant fabrics formed with inherently flame resistant fibers that provide the requisite thermal and arc protection, that have improved comfort, and that, in some embodiments, are less expensive than other fabrics formed with inherently flame resistant fibers. Improved comfort and lower cost can be achieved by predominantly locating the inherently flame resistant fibers on the front face of the fabric to impart the requisite thermal and arc protection and predominantly locating the more comfortable (and less expensive) fibers on the back face of the fabric positioned next to the wearer. In this way, overall protection of the fabric is maintained while improving comfort. Some embodiments of such fabrics may also achieve NFPA 70E PPE Category 2 protection.

A yarn comprising a plurality of bicomponent filaments having a first region comprising a first polymer composition and a second region comprising a second polymer composition; the regions being distinct and present in the bicomponent filaments in a sheath-core structure or a side-by-side structure; wherein the first polymer composition comprises aramid polymer containing 0.5 to 20 weight percent homogeneously dispersed discrete carbon particles and the second polymer composition comprises aramid polymer being free of discrete carbon particles and having at least one homogeneously dispersed masking pigment, the yarn having a total content of 0.5 to 5 weight percent discrete carbon particles.

A knit sleeve for providing thermal protection about an elongate member contained therein and method of construction thereof is provided. The sleeve includes a knit inner wall with opposite edges extending lengthwise between opposite ends and a circumferentially continuous tubular outer wall knit integrally with the inner wall. The outer wall bounds a central cavity that extends lengthwise along a central axis between open opposite ends of the outer wall. The opposite edges of the inner wall are substantially parallel to the central axis and are wrappable toward one another to form the inner wall as being tubular. The circumferentially continuous tubular outer wall is configured to be everted about the wrapped inner wall to circumferentially surround and protect the inner wall from abrasion and provide the sleeve with a dual layer wall.

The invention relates to a flame retardant support article containing a support article comprising a resilient material and a flame retardant knit fabric at least partially surrounding the support article. The flame retardant knit fabric contains a plurality of yarns, wherein the yarns comprise flame retardant rayon fibers and polyester fibers. The plurality of yarns contains at least about 70% by weight flame retardant rayon fibers.

Embodiments of the invention relate to flame resistant fabrics containing fibers having at least one energy absorbing and/or reflecting additive incorporated into the fibers. Inclusion of such fibers into the fabric increases the arc rating/fabric weight ratio of the fabric while still complying with all requisite thermal protective requirements.

The invention relates to a yarn (1) for screening applications, especially for screening applications preventing solar heat while transmitting solar light, a fabric obtained from the yarn, and a manufacturing method thereof. The yarn (1) consists of at least one polyester outer yarn (5) wound on a polyester core yarn (2). The manufacturing method keeps the core and outer yarns at certain temperatures for certain durations after the core and outer yarns have been twisted.