Garment and process of preparation

Abstract

A garment article is made of a fabric including a plurality of warp and weft yarns woven together in a pattern; at least the weft yarns include elastomeric yarns, to provide an elasticity of the fabric in warp direction that is at least 7% and elasticity of the fabric in weft direction that is at least 15%; the fabric of the garment is bias cut so that the weft yarns in the garment are angled with respect to the widthwise direction (WD) of the article.

Claims

1. A garment article, comprising: a fabric including a plurality of warp yarns and a plurality of weft yarns woven together in a pattern to provide over portions and under portions of the weft and warp yarns, the weft yarns including elastomeric yarns and said elastomeric yarns having a stretchable core and a sheath of inelastic fibers that covers said core, wherein an elasticity of the fabric in warp direction is at least 5% (measured according to ASTM D3107Stretch, after 3 home washes) and elasticity of the fabric in weft direction is at least 15% (measured according to ASTM D3107Stretch, after 3 home washes) and said fabric is bias cut; whereby the weft yarns in said garment article are angled with respect to a widthwise direction of said garment article, and wherein said elastomeric yarns have a stretchable core comprising a first elastic fiber and a second fiber that is less elastic than said first fiber wherein said first fiber and second fiber are connected together by intermingling, twisting or coextrusion to control elongation of said first fiber.

2. The garment article according to claim 1, wherein an angle of the weft yarns with respect to the widthwise direction of said garment article lies within a range of about 30 degrees to about 50 degrees.

3. The garment article according to claim 1, wherein the elasticity of the fabric in the weft direction lies within a range of about 25% to about 55%.

4. The garment article according to claim 1, wherein said elastomeric yarns are selected from the group including corespun yarns, intermingled polyester yarns, intermingled polyamide yarns and twisted elasthane yarns.

5. The garment article according to claim 1, wherein said fabric has a weight ranging from about 200 g/m.sup.2 to about 400 g/m.sup.2 (according to ASTM D3776).

6. The garment article according to claim 1, wherein said fabric has not been heat set.

7. The garment article according to claim 1, wherein said fabric is a denim fabric.

8. The garment article according to claim 1, wherein said garment article comprises one of leggings, pants, shorts, shirts, polos, T-shirts, sweaters, jackets, and jeans.

9. The garment article according to claim 3, wherein said stretchable core comprises a first elastic fiber and a second fiber that is less elastic than said first elastic fiber and wherein said first elastic fiber and said second fiber are connected together by intermingling, twisting or coextrusion to control elongation of said first elastic fiber.

10. The garment article according to claim 9, wherein said garment article comprises one of leggings, pants, shorts, shirts, polos, T-shirts, sweaters, jackets, and jeans.

11. The garment article according to claim 9, wherein said fabric is a denim fabric.

12. The garment article according to claim 1, wherein said elastomeric yarns are selected from the group including corespun yarns, intermingled polyester yarns, intermingled polyamide yarns and twisted elasthane yarns.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

(1) FIG. 1a is a schematic view of a garment using a standard cut fabric according to the prior art;

(2) FIG. 1b is a schematic view of a garment using a bias cut fabric according to the prior art;

(3) FIGS. 2 and 3 are schemes of weave constructions suitable for the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(4) The present invention relates to an article, preferably a garment, e.g. a cloth, made of a fabric including a plurality of warp yarns and a plurality of weft yarns woven together in a pattern to provide over portions and under portions of weft and warp yarns, wherein the weft yarns include elastic yarns, characterized in that said elastic yarns have a stretchable core and a sheath of inelastic fibers that covers said core; in that the elasticity of the fabric in warp direction is at least 5% preferably 7% (measured according to ASTM D3107Stretch, after 3 home washes) and elasticity of the fabric in weft direction is at least 15%, (ASTM D3107stretch, after 3 home washes) and in that said fabric is bias cut.

(5) As used herein, the term elastic yarn refers to a yarn comprising an elastomeric fiber, covered by a wrap or sheath, i.e. a core-spun yarn, intermingled yarn, twisted yarn, polyesters (pes), polyamides (pa), all synthetic yarns etcetera, and which provides characteristics of elasticity to the woven fabric.

(6) Suitable fibers for the elastic filament are: polyurethanic fibers such as elasthane (e.g. Lycra, dorlastan), spandex (RadicciSpandex Co), lastol (Dow Chemical XLA).

(7) According to a preferred embodiment, the elastomeric core comprises at least a second filament to control elongation of the first elastic filament. Suitable fibers for the second, control, filament are: polyamides such as nylon (e.g., nylon 6, nylon 6,6, nylon 6,12 and the like), polyester, polyolefins such as polypropylene and polyethylene, mixtures and copolymers of the same, PBT and bicomponent filaments namely elastomultiesters such as PBT/PET and PTT/PET filaments. Suitable staple fibers for the sheath are polyester fibers and natural fibers, preferably cotton fibers, that can be dyed. Preferred elastic yarns for the present invention are disclosed in WO2012/06248; for all these yarns, when the two filaments of the core are twisted, the twisting number is at least 200 twists per meter, preferably 300 to 600 twists/meter, to result in the two filaments elongating and retracting as a single filament.

(8) FIG. 1a shows a garment 1, i.e. trousers, made according to the prior art with a standard cut. The garment's fabric is shown on the garment 1 in a simplified and enlarged drawing to underline the fact that weft yarns extend widthwise (WD), i.e. horizontally, through the fabric. In the known garment, warp yarns 2 extend vertically from bottom 4 to top 5 of the garment 1.

(9) In FIG. 1b, the garment 7, trousers as in FIG. 1a, is made of a bias cut fabric where, as shown, weft yarns 3 are perpendicular to warp yarns 2. The garment 6 has a width-wise direction WD that runs from left to right of the garment substantially horizontally in the drawing; in the case of the trousers of both FIG. 1a and FIG. 1b, direction WD is shown to be parallel to the top side of the garment i.e. to waistband 6.

(10) According to the invention, at least the weft yarns 3 in the bias cut fabric of garment 7 are elastic yarns. The elasticity of the fabric in warp direction, i.e. when stretched in direction of warp yarns 2, preferably is at least 7% and the elasticity of the fabric in weft direction, i.e. when stretched in direction of weft yarns 3, is at least 15%; in this descriptions, unless a different standard is mentioned, elasticity values are obtained by measuring elasticity according to ASTM D3107Stretch, after 3 home washes.

(11) As hereinafter discussed, in the preferred embodiments elasticity of the fabric in warp direction is different from elasticity of the bias cut fabric in vertical direction VD; in analogy, elasticity in weft direction is different from elasticity of the bias cut fabric in width-wise direction WD. According to preferred embodiments of the present invention, the angle of the weft yarns 3 with respect to the widthwise direction WD of said garment is in the range of 10 to 80 degrees; a preferred range is 30 to 60 degrees. As shown in FIG. 1b, angle is measured from left to right, from a weft yarn to the direction WD, that is horizontal.

(12) As previously mentioned, the invention may be applied to a vast number of fabrics, particularly to fabrics where warp and weft yarns cut each other at an angle of about 90 degrees. Suitable fabrics are exemplified in FIGS. 2 and 3, that show respectively, a 3/1 RHT weave and a twill weave. However, the invention is not limited to the above weaves, and can be used e.g. with a variety of different weave constructions, such as 2/1 twill weave, broken twill, zig-zag twill, reverse twill and others.

(13) The following table 1 shows the surprising effect of elastic weft yarns, on the elasticity of a bias-cut fabric, as above discussed, with respect to a normal cut, i.e. a standard fabric. In the tested fabrics, the warp yarns are made of rigid yarns, the weft yarns are elastic, namely, all the weft yarns are elastic. The fabric in the original state has warp and weft yarns at 90 degrees; the fabric is cut to provide samples for the tests that are bias cut by 45 degrees.

(14) In other words, the warp yarns in the bias-cut fabric are at an angle of 45 degrees with respect to the line WD; in the samples used for the tests the WD is the line defining the width of the piece of fabric used for the tests.

(15) As shown in table 1, the same fabric, when it has been bias cut, provides a dramatic increase of the values of vertical side elasticity, notwithstanding the fact that the warp yarns are not elastic.

(16) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 vertical side horizontal side Fabric elasticity VD elasticity WD properties article code + cut style (%) (%) weft stretch 45203 NORMAL cut 7 48 45203 bias cut 44 44 weft stretch 45901 NORMAL cut 6.5 66.6 45901 bias cut 48 49 weft stretch 98704 NORMAL cut 7 18.6 98704 bias cut 24 26.6 weft stretch 44676 NORMAL cut 7.4 20 44676 bias cut 26.66 30.6 note: angle is 45 degree in bias cut

(17) The characteristics of the yarns used for articles 45203 45901 and 98704 are listed in the following table.

(18) Elasticity (i.e. elongation) of the above fabrics was measured according to ASTM D3107(stretch, after 3 home washes).

(19) TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Weft Warp Weft Fabric Sample Warp Yarn Yarn Density Density Weight 45203 Ne 12/1 Ring 20/1 50 ends/cm 26 picks/cm 10-12 spun 100% core spun in weaving finished oz/sqyd cotton, indigo peslycra reed fabric dyed yarn 45901 Ne 12/1 Ring 20/1 36 ends/cm 26 picks/cm 10-12 spun 100% core spun in weaving finished oz/sqyd cotton yarn peslycra reed fabric 98704 Ne 9/1 Ring 12/1 32 ends/cm 22 picks/cm 12-13 spun 100% RING SLUB in weaving finished oz/sqyd cotton, indigo core spun reed fabric dyed yarn peslycra 44676 Ne 9/1 Ring 12/1 30 ends/cm 19 picks/cm 10-12 spun 100% core spun in weaving finished oz/sqyd cotton, indigo Lycra reed fabric dyed yarn

(20) According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, in addition to weft yarns 3 also warp yarns 2 are elastic yarns; elastic warp yarns may be the same as or may be different from the weft yarns. In a preferred embodiment the elasticity (i.e. elongation, measured with above mentioned method) of the warp yarns is less than the elasticity of the weft yarns. The following Table 3 shows the technical effect of a bias cut in a fabric having elastic warp and weft yarns.

(21) TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 in normal cut bias cut fabric horizontal vertical horizontal vertical properties article code weft side warp side side WD side VD warp and weft X10355 Elasticity % 45 29.6 69.4 59 strech (both X10667 Elasticity % 57 22 44.8 33.4 direction have X10359 Elasticity % 36.8 32 58.2 53.4 elascty) X10353 Elasticity % 29.6 29.8 52.8 44.4 X10356 Elasticity % 40.8 25.6 63.6 51 X10679 Elasticity % 36.4 17.8 52 37.6 X10677 Elasticity % 37.2 24.6 58.8 44.6 X10669 Elasticity % 31.2 27.4 52 44.4 X10352 Elasticity % 27.4 29.6 51.6 43.4 note: angle is 45 degree in bias cut

(22) As shown in table 3, elasticity performance is increasing after bias cut on both directions. The characteristics of the fabrics used in Table 3 are recited in the following Table 4.

(23) TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Weft Fabric Sample Warp Yarn Weft Yarn Warp Density Density Weight X10355 Ne 15/1 Ne 15/1 34 ends/cm in 23 picks/cm 8-13 CORESPUN CORESPUN weaving reed finished oz/sqyd PESLYCRA PESLYCRA fabric X10667 Ne 15/1 Ne 15/1 30 ends/cm in 20 picks/cm 8-13 CORESPUN CORESPUN weaving reed finished oz/sqyd PESLYCRA PESLYCRA fabric X10359 Ne 25/1 Ne 25/1 54 ends/cm in 28 picks/cm 8-13 CORESPUN CORESPUN weaving reed finished oz/sqyd PESLYCRA PESLYCRA fabric X10353 Ne 20/1 Ne 20/1 50 ends/cm in 28 picks/cm 8-13 CORESPUN CORESPUN weaving reed finished oz/sqyd PESLYCRA PESLYCRA fabric X10356 Ne 15/1 Ne 15/1 34 ends/cm in 28 picks/cm 8-13 CORESPUN CORESPUN weaving reed finished oz/sqyd PESLYCRA PESLYCRA fabric X10679 Ne 15/1 Ne 15/1 34 ends/cm in 23 picks/cm 8-13 CORESPUN CORESPUN weaving reed finished oz/sqyd PESLYCRA PESLYCRA fabric X10677 Ne 14/1 Ne 15/1 30 ends/cm in 18 picks/cm 8-13 CORESPUN CORESPUN weaving reed finished oz/sqyd PESLYCRA PESLYCRA fabric X10669 Ne 15/1 Ne 15/1 29 ends/cm in 202 picks/cm 8-13 CORESPUN CORESPUN weaving reed finished oz/sqyd PESLYCRA PESLYCRA fabric X10352 Ne 20/1 Ne 20/1 50 ends/cm in 285 picks/cm 8-13 CORESPUN CORESPUN weaving reed finished oz/sqyd PESLYCRA PESLYCRA fabric

(24) Elasticity (i.e. elongation) was measured according to ASTM D3107stretch, (after 3 home washes).

(25) In a preferred embodiment, an elastic woven fabric, according to the present invention, has an elasticity in the warp direction (Ewarp) comprised in the range of 7% to over 100%, preferably 20% to 70%, more preferably 25% to 55%-60%. In an exemplary embodiment the elasticity in the weft direction (Eweft) is comprised in the range of 15% to over 100%, preferably 30% to 80%, more preferably 40% to 65%.

(26) The improvement of the performance is obtained by the fabric of the present invention that is in fact more elastic than what people need in daily life. In this view, a normal daily use does not require the use of all elastic and elongation capacity of the fabric. Therefore the fabric of the invention will not be overstretched or stressed, thus avoiding damages and lacking of performance, such as lacking of recovery, growth increasing, and bagging. For example, in the so called super-skinny garments, the garment's cut is usually smaller than the normal body size. Therefore, just wearing super skinny garments, causes the stretching of the fabric which the garments are made of. In view of this fact, a normal use can cause overstretching of the fabric of the super-skinny garment, thus causing damages to the fabric and bagging, e.g. at knees and hips. The garments of the present invention avoid these problems. In particular, these problems are avoided because the fabric of the invention is able to move with human skin, i.e. is able to move as human skin does.

(27) The elastic corespun yarn, in a preferred embodiments has an English cotton count ranging from 8 Ne to 90 Ne, preferably from 10 Ne to 80 Ne, more preferably 12Ne to 60 Ne.

(28) The elastic woven fabric of preferred embodiments has a weight in the range of 3 oz/yard.sup.2 to 20 oz/yard.sup.2 after washing (washing according to ASTM D3776/96), preferably from 4 oz/yard.sup.2 to 15 oz/yard.sup.2, more preferably from 7 oz/y.sup.2 to 14 oz/yard.sup.2.

(29) In a particularly preferred embodiment, the bi-stretch fabric of the present invention is a denim fabric.

(30) An elastic woven fabric according to the present invention can be produced by a process characterized by weaving warp yarns and weft yarns, wherein said woven fabric is elastic in at least the weft direction and wherein said elastomeric yarns have a stretchable core and a sheath of inelastic fibers that covers said core; elasticity of the fabric in weft direction is at least 15%.

(31) The fabric thus obtained is bias cut to provide cut fabric pieces that are eventually sewn together to make a garment.

(32) As mentioned, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the fabric is not heat set, i.e. it does not undergo a thermal treatment to set its elasticity to a pre-set value. It was surprisingly found that when the elastic yarns of the invention are used, in particular the elastic yarns above disclosed by reference to WO2012/062480, the resulting fabric does not have to be heat-set to avoid the occurrence of problems such as curling and torqueing. However, as discussed above, a fabric according to the invention can optionally undergo a thermal treatment.

(33) The bias cut fabric of the invention is suitable to produce garments, i.e. clothing articles. For example, garments that can comprise the elastic woven fabric of the present invention can be leggings, pants, shorts, shirts and T-shirts, sweaters, jackets, jeans and any other garment.