Composite material comprising a warp-knitted textile panel having first and second opposing faces, said first face being coated with a layer consisting of at least one polymer material, and a method for the production thereof

Abstract

The present invention relates to a composite material comprising a warp-knitted textile panel having wales corresponding to the warp direction and courses corresponding to the weft direction, and first and second opposite faces, said first face being covered with a layer of at least one polymer material. Advantageously, each of said wales includes first stitches formed on every other course with a first yarn, and second stitches formed on every other course with a second yarn, the first and second stitches being alternated on every other course and being in opposite directions. In addition, in the weft direction, the first yarn and the second yarn each form stitches on every other course in alternation.

Claims

1. A composite material comprising a warp-knitted textile panel having wales corresponding to the warp direction and courses corresponding to the weft direction, and first and second opposite faces, said first face being covered with a layer of at least one polymer material, wherein each one of said wales includes first stitches formed on every other course with a first yarn, and second stitches formed on every other course with a second yarn, the first and second stitches being alternated on every other course and being in opposite directions, and wherein, in the weft direction, the first yarn and the second yarn each form stitches on every other course in alternation, and in that said textile panel includes weft yarns inserted in the weft direction on every n out of p courses, n and p being positive integers, with n being less than or equal to p.

2. The composite material according to claim 1, wherein said textile panel includes first and second stitches, which are chain stitches, and that extend along a wale.

3. The composite material according to claim 1, wherein said textile panel includes first stitches, which are chain stitches, and second stitches, which are tricot stitches, extending along at least two adjacent wales.

4. The composite material according to claim 1, wherein said textile panel includes first and second stitches, which are tricot stitches, extending along at least two adjacent wales.

5. The composite material according to claim 1 wherein the number of stitches in the warp direction of the textile panel lies in the range 1 stitch/cm to 25 knit stitches/cm.

6. The composite material according to claim 1, wherein the number of stitches in the weft direction of the textile panel lies in the range 6 wales/inch to 46 wales/inch.

7. The composite material according to claim 1, wherein the first yarn and the second yarn comprise multifilament yarns and/or monofilament yarns.

8. The composite material according to claim 1, wherein the first yarn and, the second yarn have a fineness that is greater than or equal to 7 dtex and less than or equal to 3000 dtex.

9. The composite material according to claim 1, wherein the layer comprises at least one polymer material selected from the list including: polyurethane; polyamide 6-6; polyamide 6; polyamide 4-6; polyvinyl chloride; a fluorinated polymer; ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA).

10. The composite material according to claim 5, wherein the number of stitches in the warp direction of the textile panel lies in the range 1 stitch/cm to 18 stitches/cm.

11. The composite material according to claim 6, wherein the number of stitches in the weft direction of the textile panel lies in the range 6 wales/inch to 40 wales/inch.

12. The composite material according to claim 1, wherein the first yarn, the second yarn and the weft yarn are selected independently from among: polyethylene, terephthalate, polyamide 6-6, polyamide 4-6, polyamide 6, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyacrylic, polypropylene.

13. The composite material according to claim 1, wherein the weft yarn has a fineness that is greater than or equal to 7 dtex and less than or equal to 3000 dtex.

14. A method of manufacturing a composite material according to claim 1, comprising the following steps: a) a step of knitting a warp-knitted textile panel having first and second opposite faces, and wales and courses, on a knitting machine having two guide bars, each respectively supporting a first yarn and a second yarn in order to knit each wale, the two guide bars working in alternation and in opposite directions so that each of said wales comprises first stitches formed on every other course with said first yarn, and second stitches formed on every other course with said second yarn, the first and second stitches being alternated on every other course and in opposite directions, wherein, in the weft direction, the first yarn and the second yarn each form stitches on every other course in alternation, and wherein said textile panel includes weft yarns inserted in the weft direction, the first yarn and the second yarn each form stitches on every other course in alternation, and wherein said textile panel includes weft yarns inserted in the weft direction on every n out of p courses, n and p being positive integers, with n being less than or equal to p; b)a step of coating one of said faces of said textile panel in a layer comprising at least one polymer material.

15. A self-adhesive strip that is breakable manually in at least one direction, wherein the strip includes a composite material according to claim 2, wherein said layer of at least one polymer material comprises at least one self-adhesive polymer material, and wherein the second face of said knitted textile panel is covered with a plastics film.

16. A self-adhesive strip that is breakable manually in at least one direction wherein the strip includes a composite material according to claim 3, wherein said layer of at least one polymer material comprises at least one self-adhesive polymer material, and wherein the second face of said knitted textile panel is covered with a plastics film.

17. A strip of interlining, wherein it includes a composite material according to claim 1, and wherein the said layer of at least one polymer material comprises at least one thermofusible polymer material.

18. A strip of interlining, comprising a composite material according to claim 1, and wherein the said layer of at least one polymer material comprises at least one self-adhesive polymer material.

19. A protective cover comprising a composite material according to claim 1, and wherein the said layer of at least one polymer comprises at least one polymer material that is resistant to abrasion, wherein the textile panel is embedded in said layer so that its first and second faces are covered with said layer, and wherein the second face of the textile panel is water-proof.

20. The composite material according to claim 1, wherein the weft yarn comprises multifilament yarn and/or monofilament yarn.

21. The composite material according to claim 9, wherein the at least one polymer comprises polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), or both.

22. An advertising medium comprising a composite material according to claim 1, wherein the said layer of at least one polymer material comprises at least one polymer material that is resistant to abrasion, wherein the textile panel is embedded in said layer so that its first and second faces are covered with said layer, and wherein the second face of the textile panel is water-proof.

23. A luggage cover comprising a composite material according to claim 1, wherein the said layer of at least one polymer material comprises at least one polymer material that is resistant to abrasion, wherein the textile panel is embedded in said layer so that its first and second faces are covered with said layer, and wherein the second face of the textile panel is water-proof.

24. A roofing element, comprising a composite material according to claim 1, wherein the said layer of at least one polymer material comprises at least one polymer material that is resistant to abrasion, wherein the textile panel is embedded in said layer so that its first and second faces are covered with said layer, and wherein the second face of the textile panel is water-proof.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1A is a diagram showing a first example of a knit weave of a textile panel of the prior art;

(2) FIG. 1B is a diagram showing a second example of a knit weave of a textile panel of the prior art;

(3) FIG. 2A is a diagram showing the work of the two guide bars of a knitting machine for a wale of a first example of a textile panel of the invention;

(4) FIG. 2B is a diagram showing the knit weave of the first example of the textile panel shown in FIG. 2A;

(5) FIG. 3A is a diagram showing the work of the two guide bars of a knitting machine for a wale of a second example of a textile panel of the invention;

(6) FIG. 3B is a diagram showing the knit weave of the second example of the textile panel shown in FIG. 2A;

(7) FIG. 4A is a diagram showing the work of the two guide bars of a knitting machine for a wale of a third example of a textile panel of the invention;

(8) FIG. 4B is a diagram showing the knit weave of the third example of the textile panel shown in FIG. 4A;

(9) FIG. 5A is a diagram showing the work of the two guide bars of a knitting machine for a wale of a fourth example of a textile panel of the invention;

(10) FIG. 5B is a diagram showing the knit weave of the fourth example of the textile panel shown in FIG. 5A;

(11) FIG. 6A is a diagram showing the work of the two guide bars of a knitting machine for a wale of a fifth example of a textile panel of the invention;

(12) FIG. 6B is a diagram showing the knit weave of the fifth example of the textile panel shown in FIG. 6A;

(13) FIG. 7A is a diagram showing the work of the two guide bars of a knitting machine for a wale of a sixth example of a textile panel of the invention; and

(14) FIG. 7B is a diagram showing the knit weave of the sixth example of the textile panel shown in FIG. 7A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

(15) The FIGS. 1A and 1B show knit weaves 1, 2 of warp-knitted textile panels of the prior art. In these two weaves 1, 2, each wale 3, 4 is obtained by knitting a single yarn 5, 6. One single guide bar per wale is therefore necessary. Weft yarns 7, 8 are inserted through the stitches for each course so as to secure the wales 3 together with the wales 4. The knit weaves 1 and 2 show three wales 3 and 4, and four courses respectively. The numbers of wales and courses were determined arbitrarily for representation purposes. The needles are represented by dots.

(16) The FIG. 1A shows closed chain stitches, while FIG. 1B shows open chain stitches. In FIG. 1A the knit yarn 5 in the open stitches configuration turns around the needle from left to right, then from right to left at the following course. In FIG. 1B, the knit yarn 6 always turns in the same direction around the needle. Unevenness may thus be observed between the bottom half-arcs of the stitches of two adjacent courses. References 9 and 10 specify the movements of the bars supporting the knit yarns 5 and 6.

(17) By way of non-limiting example, a warp-knitted textile panel of the prior art obtained by implementing the knit weave shown in FIG. 1A or FIG. 1B with a knit yarn of 50 dtex, a number of stitches in the warp direction of approximately 2.9 stitches/cm, and a weft yarn of 167 dtex inserted on every course, has a thickness of 168 micrometers (m) for a weight per square meter of 17 grams per square meter (g/m.sup.2).

(18) The first example of a warp-knitted panel of the invention having a knit weave 11 that is shown in FIG. 2B includes wales, each comprising first stitches formed on every other course with a first yarn 12 and second stitches formed on every other course with a second yarn 13, the first and second stitches being alternated on every other course and being in opposite directions. The first yarn 12 and the second yarn 13 each form stitches on every other course in alternating manner. Therefore, the first yarn 12 forms no stitch on every other course, and the same applies to the second yarn 18. This arrangement contributes to the planeness of the textile panel. The stitches formed by the knit yarns 12 and 13 are shown separately in FIG. 2B, but are arranged in the first example of a knitted panel along the wale 14. The knit yarn 12 forms open chain stitches while the knit yarn 13 forms closed chain stitches. The first column 15 of FIG. 2A shows the movement of the guide bar supporting the knit yarn 12 for forming a given wale such as the wale 14. The column 16 of FIG. 2A shows the movement of the guide bar supporting the knit yarn 13 for forming said given wale, such as the wale 14. Unlike the panels of the prior art shown by the knit weaves 1 and 2 in FIGS. 1A and 1B in which each wale is formed only by using a single guide bar supporting one yarn, each wale of the first example of a warp-knitted panel thus includes two knit yarns.

(19) FIGS. 3A to 7A show various alternatives of the guide bar movement diagrams, for each one of these diagrams, two guide bars each supporting a knit yarn form each wale of the textile panels of the invention.

(20) In FIG. 3B, the knit weave 17 comprises knit yarns 18 and 19 forming open chain stitches in opposite directions.

(21) In FIG. 4B, the knit weave 20 comprises knit yarns 21 and 22 forming closed chain stitches in opposite directions. In FIG. 5B, the knit weave 23 comprises two knit yarns 24 and 25 forming open chain stitches in opposite directions.

(22) The knit weaves 11, 17, 20, and 23 comprise first and second stitches extending along only one wale at the same time so that weft yarns 26 are necessary in order to assemble the wales of the textile panels together resulting therefrom and in order to improve the strength of said panels.

(23) The knit weaves 27 and 28 shown in FIGS. 6B and 7B comprise respective first stitches formed with a first knit yarn 29 and 30 extending along two adjacent wales and respective second stitches formed with a second yarn 31 and 32 extending along a single wale only. The second knit yarn 31 forms open chain stitches opposite the knit stitches formed by the first knit yarn 29. The first knit yarn 30 forms knit stitches opposite the open chain stitches formed by the second knit yarn 32. When the knit weaves 27 and 28 do not comprise weft yarns, the connection between the wales is provided by the first knit yarns 29 and 30 extending between two adjacent wales. The inventors have nevertheless observed in surprising manner that the arrangement of weft yarns 33 and 34 on the knit weaves, shown in FIGS. 6B and 7B respectively in dashed lines, makes it possible to improve the shrinkage behavior of the textile panel resulting therefrom during the heat treatment associating it with a layer of at least one polymeric material. According to the sought-after behavior of the composite material, weft yarns may thus be inserted in the weft direction.

(24) In the examples shown in FIGS. 3B to 7B, the first yarns 18, 21, 24, 29, and 30 firstly and the second yarns 13, 19, 22, 25, 31, and 32 secondly, each form stitches on every other course in alternating manner since the two guide bars form stitches in alternating manner.

(25) In a precise example, given by way of non-limiting example, a warp-knitted textile panel obtained by implementing any of the knit weaves 11, 17, 20, or 23 using first and second multifilament yarns of 25 dtex each, and a multifilament weft yarn of 167 dtex, presents thickness of about 115 m for a weight/m.sup.2 of 11 g/m.sup.2. The textile panel of the invention thus has thickness that is reduced by 30% relative to the thickness of 168 m of a prior art panel.

(26) The implementation of the warp-knitted textile panel of the invention obtained in this way as a manually breakable self-adhesive strip requires only approximately 33 g/m.sup.2 of a layer of adhesive polymer material compared to 45 g/m.sup.2 for a warp-knitted textile panel of the prior art. The uniformity of the first and second faces of the textile panel of the invention makes it possible, at equivalent strengths, to improve the surface state of the textile panel and consequently to reduce the amount of the layer of polymer material, made of self-adhesive polymer in this precise example.