A glass cloth includes warp yarns and weft yarns formed by bundling in the range of 14 to 55 glass filaments having a diameter in the range of 3.0 to 4.2 μm, and has a weaving density of the warp yarns and the weft yarns of 86 to 140 yarns/25 mm, a thickness of 7.5 to 12.0 μm, a mass of 6.0 to 10.0 g per m.sup.2, and an average number of stages of 2.00 or more and less than 3.00, an average degree of opening, which is indicated as the geometric mean of the degree of opening of the warp yarns and the degree of opening of the weft yarns, in the range of 1.000 to 1.300, and a yarn width ratio, as the ratio of the yarn width of the warp yarns to that of the weft yarns, in the range of 0.720 to 0.960.

An item such as a fabric-based item or other item may have one or more actuators. An actuator may have a conductive strand of material. A control circuit may supply a current to the conductive strand that induces a length change in the conductive strand due to ohmic heating and associated thermal expansion effects. The control circuit may be used to activate the actuator in response to user input that is supplied to an associated input device such as a switch, capacitive sensor, force sensor, light-based sensor, or other input component. The fabric-based item may include fabric such as woven fabric or knit fabric. Strands of conductive material may serve as signals paths for supplying current to conductive strands in actuators. Magnetic-field-based actuators may be formed by coiling conductive strands around tubular support structures such as piping in fabric-based items.

A press pad for a hydraulic heating press arrangement, the press pad including a fabric, wherein the fabric is formed by warp threads in a warp direction and weft threads in a weft direction, wherein the warp threads and the weft threads are woven together to form the fabric, and wherein functional threads run in the warp direction or in the weft direction and are connected with the fabric so that a thickness of the fabric in an effective portion of the functional threads differs from a thickness of the fabric outside of the effective portion of the functional threads.

A press pad for a hydraulic heating press arrangement, the press pad including a fabric, wherein the fabric is formed by warp threads in a warp direction and weft threads in a weft direction, wherein the warp threads and the weft threads are woven together to form the fabric, and wherein functional threads run in the warp direction or in the weft direction and are connected with the fabric so that a thickness of the fabric in an effective portion of the functional threads differs from a thickness of the fabric outside of the effective portion of the functional threads.

An electric heating cloth having gaps and a connection structure thereof are disclosed. The electric heating cloth having gaps comprises plural conductive yarns arranged in a first direction and plural textile yarns and plural metal conductive wires arranged in a second direction for interweaving with the plural conductive yarns. The plural metal conductive wires are aligned at external sides of the plural textile yarns to form a first conductive side and a second conductive side respectively, and each of the first conductive side and the second conductive side has plural gaps.

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 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.

An antimicrobial fabric formed of fibers containing nano-sized particles of zinc on a surface of the fibers. Various articles made from the fabric are also disclosed.

An elastic band for an article of clothing is described comprising an elongated strip-shaped outer layer of woven, longitudinally stretchable fabric, the outer layer being hydrophilic; an elongated strip-shaped inner layer of a different woven, longitudinally stretchable fabric the inner layer being hydrophobic and a logo woven into the fabric of the outer layer. Also disclosed is a double-layer construct for an elastic band comprising a hydrophobic section having apertures, a hydrophilic section having apertures, wherein the hydrophobic and hydrophilic sections are juxtaposed.

The present disclosure relates to antimicrobial garments and antimicrobial fabric products that include an antimicrobial fabric, wherein the antimicrobial fabric includes at least one synthetic silver fiber and at least one silver-free fiber, and methods of manufacturing the same. One benefit of the antimicrobial garments and antimicrobial fabric products disclosed herein can be the reduction or elimination of odor or infection causing microbes, including a bacteria, a fungi, and a virus, even after multiple washes.