Textile run and use thereof

Abstract

A textile run with a slide surface (1, 51) consisting of looped fabric, the looped fabric comprising loops (4, 54) which are formed of warp threads by weaving or of pile threads by tufting and have a height (3, 53) of between at least 3 mm and at most 10 mm, 100 to 950 loops being disposed over an area of 1 dm 2. The invention further concerns the use of the textile run.

Claims

1. A textile piste with a glide surface arranged on a backing coating, the glide surface comprising a loop fabric, wherein the loop fabric comprises a plurality of loops formed of at least one of a plurality of warp threads by means of weaving or of pile threads by means of tufting, said loops having a height of between at least 3 mm and 10 mm, with 100 to 950 loops being arranged on an area of 1 dm.sup.2, wherein the textile piste has a direction of travel and wherein the direction of travel and an orientation of the warp threads are parallel to each other, wherein, in the weft direction, the loops are disposed adjacently in the weaving direction with a spacing of between 5 mm and 20 mm between two rows of loops.

2. The textile piste according to claim 1, wherein, in the weft direction, the loops are disposed adjacently in the weaving direction with a spacing of between 2 mm and 20 mm between two rows of loops.

3. The textile piste according to claim 1, wherein, in the weft direction, the loops have a spacing of 2 mm to 10 mm.

4. The textile piste according to claim 1, wherein the warp threads or the pile threads are made from yarns selected from the group consisting of a monofilament, a monofilament yarn or thread formed from continuous filaments, or a monofilament braided fabric formed from continuous filaments, a spliced yarn, a ribbon yarn or a jacketed core structure with a jacket made of monofilaments.

5. The textile piste according to claim 4, wherein the yarn is made of a polymer.

6. The textile piste according to claim 4, wherein the yarn is made from at least one of polypropylene, polyethylene, polyphenylene sulfie or polyamide.

7. The textile piste according to claim 1, wherein the warp threads have a yarn count of 5,000 to 30,000 dtex.

8. The textile piste according to claim 1, further comprising connection elements for connection with another textile piste.

9. The textile piste according to claim 8, wherein the connection elements are one of hook-and-loop fasteners or zip fasteners.

10. The textile piste of claim 1, wherein ends of the textile piste are joined together to form a circulating belt.

11. A textile piste comprising: a glide surface, the glide surface comprising a loop fabric, wherein the loop fabric comprises a plurality of loops formed of at least one of a plurality of warp threads by means of weaving or of pile threads by means of tufting, said loops having a height of between at least 3 mm and 10 mm, with 100 to 950 loops being arranged on an area of 1 dm.sup.2, wherein the textile piste has a direction of travel and wherein the direction of travel and an orientation of the warp threads are parallel to each other; and a backing coating on a back side of said loop fabric, and wherein, in the weft direction, the loops are disposed adjacently in the weaving direction with a spacing of between 5 mm and 20 mm between two rows of loops.

12. The textile piste of claim 11, wherein the backing coating comprises at least one of styrene butadiene, latex, PVC and PUR.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) For a more complete understanding of the invention and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the description and the following drawings, in which

(2) FIG. 1: shows a cross-section through a textile glide surface forming the artificial piste, wherein the cross-sectional plane extends plane-parallel to the warp threads.

(3) FIG. 2: shows a plan view onto the textile glide surface of the artificial piste.

(4) FIG. 3: shows a cross-sectional view of the module connection of the artificial piste by means of hook-and-loop tape.

(5) FIG. 4: shows the modules of the textile glide surface with loop tape for realizing a hook-and-loop connection; view from the rear.

(6) FIG. 5: Shows a moving belt with the textile glide area.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(7) The present specification discloses an artificial piste or glide surface, having characteristics similar to natural winter sports pistes and snow-covered pistes. The artificial piste is suitable to be used in conjunction with traditional winter sports equipment and the artificial piste can be produced cost-effectively and is easily installed.

(8) The artificial piste is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 and comprises a woven fabric 1 with warp threads 4, which form a glide surface, and a backing coating 2 under the warp threads. In one aspect, the woven fabric 1 is aligned such that the direction of travel 7 and orientation of the warp threads 4 correspond to each other, i.e. the direction of travel 7 is arranged parallel to the orientation of the warp threads 4. In this configuration, the following designs are providing characteristics similar to those of snow pistes.

(9) The glide surface of the woven fabric 1 is constructed from warp threads, which are formed as loops 4. As a result, this achieves a type of knop structure, which enables the guidance of the sports equipment.

(10) These loops 4 can be produced by weaving or also by tufting. At least one and a maximum of four weft threads 5 are disposed between the loop-forming warp threads in the weaving direction. These weft threads 5 lie above the warp threads 4. In the weft direction, the loops are arranged close together and have a height 3 of 3 mm and a maximum of 10 mm. Altogether, 100 to 950 loops are disposed on a surface of 1 dm.sup.2.

(11) The textile structure of the loop-forming warp threads 4 is a monofilament yarn or thread, formed from continuous filaments, or a monofilament braided fabric, formed from continuous filaments, or a spliced yarn or a ribbon yarn or a jacketed core structure with a jacket made of monofilaments. The spliced yarn and ribbon yarn is made of, for example, polyethylene or polypropylene. The monofilaments of the yarn or thread, of the braiding, and of the jacket of the jacketed core structure produced therefrom consist of polyester, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyphenylene sulfide or polyamide.

(12) The underside of the woven fabric 1 is provided with a backing coating 2, in order to increase the stability and the wear protection. The backing coating 2 is made of, for example, styrene butadiene, latex, PVC or PUR.

(13) For large areas, the artificial piste is composed of a plurality of modules. The modules are connected to each other by welding, bonding, sewing, hook-and-loop fasteners (see FIG. 3; FIG. 4) or zippers.

Example

(14) The artificial piste of the exemplary embodiment is suitable for use in conjunction with Alpine skis, snowboards and cross-country skating skis and also with plastic toboggans and snow tubes, for example. The artificial piste is composed of the woven fabric 1, which forms the glide surface, and of a backing coating 2 under the woven fabric 1. The woven fabric 1, without the backing coating 2, has a base weight of 2.1 kg/m.sup.2. The fabric 1, with the backing-coating 2, has a base weight of 3 kg/m.sup.2. The woven fabric 1 is aligned such that the direction of travel 7 and the orientation of the warp threads 4 is parallel.

(15) The glide surface of the woven fabric 1 is developed from warp threads, which are formed into loops 4. For this purpose, the warp threads consist of polypropylene spliced yarn with a yarn count of 24,000 dtex. By means of the loops, a kind of knop structure is obtained, which enables the guidance of the sports equipment. The loops 4 are arranged close together in the weft direction.

(16) In the weaving direction, one and two weft threads 5 are alternately arranged between the loops 4. These weft threads 5 lie above the warp threads. In the weaving direction, the distance between the rows of loops is alternately 0.6 cm (FIG. 1, ref. No. 8) and 1.3 cm (FIG. 1; ref. No. 9). The height of the loops 3 is 6 mm. Thus, 210 loops are disposed on a 1 dm.sup.2 surface.

(17) To stabilize and to protect the woven fabric 1 against wear and tear, the back of the fabric 1 is coated with a reinforcing backing 2 comprising a 1 mm thick layer 2 of styrene-butadiene.

(18) The artificial pistes are made up of the plurality of modules (FIG. 3). The modules have a size of 2 m10 m, for example. The lateral connection between the plurality of the modules is accomplished by means of hook-and-loop fasteners 10, 11. For this purpose, on the back of the modules, a loop tape 10 is sewn on along the entire length of the modules in the connection area. The loop tape 10 is 100 mm wide. The connection is accomplished in double shear using hook tape. The tape is 200 mm wide and overlaps the loop tape 10 of the glide surfaces to be connected over the length of 10 m.

(19) In another aspect of the invention, the woven fabric 51 is applied onto a circulating belt 52 (see FIG. 5). The circulating belt 52 is produced from polyvinyl chloride or polyurethane and can also be reinforced by armoring made of a polyester fabric 56. The circulating belt 52 is used in a treadmill ergometer. The woven fabric 51, without the circulating belt 52, has a base weight of 2 kg/m.sup.2. The fabric 51 and the woven belt 52 together have a total base weight of 4.4 kg/m.sup.2. The fabric 51 is aligned such that the direction of travel 57 and the orientation of the warp threads 54 correspond, i.e. in parallel.

(20) The glide surface of the woven fabric 51 comprises warp threads, which are formed into loops 54. For this purpose, the warp threads comprise a polyester monofilament yarn with a yarn count of 20,000 dtex. By means of the loops 54, a kind of knop structure is obtained, which enables the guidance of the sports equipment. The loops 54 are arranged close together in the weft direction 55.

(21) One and two weft threads 55 are disposed alternately between the loops 54. These weft threads 55 lie above the warp threads. In the weaving direction, the spacing of the rows of loops is alternately 0.6 cm and 1.3 cm. The height of the loops 53 is 6 mm. Thus, 210 loops are disposed on a 1 dm.sup.2 surface.

(22) The circulating belt 52 is 2.5 mm thick and is made of a polymer, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC). For strengthening the circulating belt 52 and to absorb the tensile forces, the inside of the circulating belt 52 is reinforced by two layers of polyester fabric.

(23) The foregoing description of the preferred embodiment of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of the invention. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the invention and its practical application to enable one skilled in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto, and their equivalents. The entirety of each of the aforementioned documents is incorporated by reference herein.