TEXTILE ELEMENT

Abstract

A planar, flexible textile element, which is particularly suitable as a baby sling, consists of at least 90% natural fibres and/or fibres made of natural fibres and has a net structure. In this case, a main part having the net structure and an elastic edging enclosing the main part are provided.

Claims

1. A planar, flexible textile element which consists of at least 90% natural fibres and/or fibres made of natural fibres, wherein the textile element has a planar, flexible main part having a mesh structure, and wherein the main part is enclosed by an elastic edging.

2. The textile element of claim 1, wherein it is rectangular with a length I in a first direction and a width b in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction.

3. The textile element of claim 2, wherein the length I exceeds the width b.

4. The textile element of claim 2, wherein the meshes of the main part are diamond-shaped with a first axis having a first axis length L and a second axis having a second axis length B, the first axes extending parallel to the first direction and the second axes extending parallel to the second direction.

5. The textile element of claim 4, wherein I:b≈L:B

6. The textile element of claim 1, wherein the meshes of the mesh structure have a maximum length L of between 2 and 5 mm.

7. The textile element of claim 1, wherein the edging is in the form of a tape.

8. The textile element of claim 7, wherein the edging encompasses the edge(s) of the main element.

9. The textile element of claim 1, characterized in that the edging consists of an elastic material.

10. The textile element of claim 9, wherein the edging is ribbon-shaped and encompasses the edge(s) of the main element.

11. The textile element of claim 9, wherein the edging is ribbon-shaped and comprises between 1% and 100%, preferably between 5% and 50% elastane.

12. The textile element of claim 1, wherein the edging is sewn to the main part.

13. The textile element of claim 12, wherein the edging is ribbon-shaped and encompasses the main part such the seam which sews the ribbon-shaped edging to the main part extends through the main part and two layers of the ribbon-shaped edging.

14. The textile element of claim 1, characterized in that the main element consists exclusively of natural fibres and/or fibres made from natural fibres.

15. The textile element of claim 14, wherein the main part consists of bamboo fibres and/or coconut fibres or fibres made thereof.

16. The textile element of claim 1, wherein the edging has a stretchability of at least 2%, more preferably of at least 5% and even more preferably of at least 10%.

17. The textile element of claim 1, said textile element being a baby sling and the width b is between 30 and 70 cm and the length I is between 350 and 650 cm.

Description

[0019] The invention is now explained in greater detail based on one specific exemplary embodiment with reference to the figures, which show the following:

[0020] FIG. 1 shows a schematic top view of a baby sling,

[0021] FIG. 2 shows the detail D from FIG. 1 in a likewise schematic illustration and

[0022] FIG. 3 shows a section along the plane A-A in FIG. 1.

[0023] The invention is now described with reference to a baby sling 10, wherein the structure specifically described with reference to this exemplary embodiment may also be present for other textile elements according to the invention.

[0024] Such a baby sling 10 is a planar, flexible (i.e., bendable), generally pliable textile element. In the embodiment shown (and this usually preferred) it is rectangular and typically has a length I of 450 cm and a width b of 50 cm, wherein other dimensions may also be meaningful.

[0025] The textile element 10 has a main part 11 which is also rectangular and has substantially the same dimensions as the entire textile element 10. The main part can be made in particular by weaving, but also by other processes such as knitting or crocheting. The edges of the main part are covered (i.e. surrounded) by an edging 16 (see FIG. 3), which here has four sections 16a-16d in the form of edging tapes. The edging 16 is sewn to the main part 11, so that four seam sections 18a-18d are provided due to the rectangular shape of the textile element. These seam sections may be separate seams or each may be part of a circumferential seam. As can be seen from FIG. 3, the edge region of the main part 11 is “sandwiched” between two layers of the edging 16 (edging tape/section 16c is shown) and the seam (seam section 16c is shown) extends through all three layers. The edging generally does not have a mesh structure so that the seam has a secure hold on both sides.

[0026] As can be seen from FIG. 2, i.e. detail D of FIG. 2, the main part of the textile element has a mesh structure. This means that it can be described geometrically as being constructed of mutually parallel first strands 12 and mutually parallel second strands 14, the first strands 12 and the second strands 14 not being parallel to each other. In principle, the directions of the two strands may be perpendicular to each other, but this is not the case in the embodiment shown and is also preferred, at least as long as the textile element is not square. First strands 12 and second strands 14 meet at crossing points K, so that four crossing points K each define a mesh M. The meshes are rhombuses (diamonds), each having a first axis extending in the first direction R1 of the textile element 10 (and hence of the main part 11), and a second axis extending in the second direction R2. The structure is uniform, that is, all the meshes are of the same type and are oriented in the same way.

[0027] In the embodiment example shown, the length of a mesh in the first direction (first axis length L) exceeds the width of the mesh in the second direction (second axis length B). Preferably, the length of a mesh (i.e, its maximum extension) is between 2 and 5 millimetres. This ensures that the finger of an infant cannot penetrate the fabric or even pass through it, and yet there is sufficient ventilation.

[0028] Like any other fabric (this also applies to the other possible methods of manufacture), the textile element is woven from yarn threads, each yarn being spun from a plurality of fibres. In this case, the percentage (in weight) of fibres which are natural fibres or have been made from natural fibres is at least 90 percent, preferably 100 percent. In a preferred example, the main part 11 comprises fibres made of bamboo fibres.

[0029] The edging tapes are elastic at least along their “tape direction” and preferably contain elastane fibres for this purpose. This elasticity allows the edging 11 to stretch along with the main part 11 and, in particular, prevents the edging, the main part or the seam from breaking in the region of the seam. The edging tapes (i.e. the edging) are preferably made dense—i.e. not with a mesh structure.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0030] 10 textile element 1 baby sling [0031] 11 main part [0032] 12 first strand [0033] 14 second strand [0034] 16 edging [0035] 16a-d sections of edging/edging tapes [0036] 18a-d seam sections [0037] b width of textile element [0038] B width of a mesh [0039] K crossing point [0040] I length of textile element [0041] L length of a mesh [0042] M mesh