Durable and fire resistant nonwoven composite fabric based military combat uniform garment

Abstract

The present invention is directed to the design and manufacture of a durable, fire resistant, comfortable and economical nonwoven composite fabric based garment, which meets the stringent requirements of military combat uniform clothing. The nonwoven based garment is designed to replace the traditional woven textile fabric used in the military and outdoor sporting garments today. The novel garment of the current invention is constructed using a unique nonwoven composite fabric that exhibits mechanical, physical, durability and comfort characteristics similar to or better than that of the current woven military uniform fabric. In particular, the present invention contemplates the nonwoven composite fabric used to make the garment is prepared by combining at least two separate fire resistant nonwoven webs forming the inside and outside layers of the garment. An optional rip-stop element such as a loosely knitted fabric may be sandwiched between the two nonwoven webs to improve the tear resistance of the entire garment. Hydroentangling or needle-punching processes and subsequent thermal calendering / embossing techniques combine the individual nonwoven webs of the garment before dyeing, printing and finishing with traditional textile chemicals to form a composite fabric for stitching to make the garment.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS, IF ANY [0001] This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. $119 (e) of co-pending provisional application Ser. No. 60 / 581,794, filed 22 Jun. 2004. Application Ser. No. 60 / 581,794 is hereby incorporated by reference.STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT [0002] This invention was developed during the course of Contracts No. M67854-04-C-3006 and No. M67854-05-C-6502 for MARCOR SYSCOM of the Department of Defense. REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX, IF ANY [0003] Not applicable. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0004] The present invention relates generally to the design and manufacture of a unique, durable and fire retardant military combat uniform garment, made from a multi-layered nonwoven composite fabric that exhibits excellent fire resistance, mechanical and physical properties, comfort, and economics. The objective is to displace more expensive and flammable traditional woven fabric based garments with functional non...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0020] In a particularly preferred embodiment, the outside and inside layers of the garment contain carded webs with polyester, nylon and viscose rayon staple fibers, containing durable / wash resistant fire retardant chemicals. These webs are cross-lapped for obtaining balanced properties in the finished fabric. A middle rip-stop layer is sandwiched between the carded webs and bonding is by hydroentangling or needle-punching process. The resulting nonwoven composite fabric is found to provide a garment with excellent abrasion resistance.

[0021] In another embodiment, the outside and inside layers of the garment contain fire resistant spunlaid webs with bicomponent splittable filaments that are bonded with or without the middle-layer rip-stop through the hydroentangling process. The filaments are split to 16 segments of PET and nylon 6 or PBT or PTT microfilaments upon impinging with high pressure water jets during hydroentangling, thus providing the cover and the physical properties of the garment. A fire retardant melt additive is incorporated in one or both the polymers during the extrusion of the continuous filaments into spunlaid web.

[0025] The most preferred method to make the nonwoven composite of the present invention is to intimately bond the individual unbonded, nonwovens, via the hydroentangling process, where a fluid pressure of at least 3000 PSI is employed. To achieve the desired durability, it is contemplated that at least 5 jet strips or manifolds are placed on each side of the composite with a 100-mesh support screen to obtain the desired textile-like finish. Optionally, the webs may be re-passed through the jet strips with the sides reversed to obtain even further enhanced surface abrasion resistance.

[0027] All of the nonwoven composite fabrics from the above mentioned methods are additionally subjected to the heat and pressure of thermal calendering / embossing rollers to bind most of all additional loose fiber on the surface into the body of the composite fabric. Optionally, numerous woven pattern designs can be contemplated for the embossing roll to achieve the desired aesthetic appearance on the surface of the nonwoven composite fabric without significantly altering the feel, physical and mechanical properties.

[0029] All of the dyed and printed nonwoven composite fabrics are subjected to finishing treatments with acrylate, melamine and urethane binders to further enhance the abrasion resistance and wash durability. In addition, optional finishing treatment to enhance water repellency, absorbency and fire retardancy is accomplished using traditionally known textile chemicals such as silicones, phosphate ester, boric acid, etc., employing standard textile finishing equipment.

Problems solved by technology

Yarn Formation: The manufacturing of conventional woven textile fabric that is presently used to make the military garments is a laborious and multi-step (over 15) process with very slow production speeds.

One of the limiting factors of woven fabrics, apart from being a multi-step process, is the very slow production speed, i.e. a few feet (1-2) per minute even on the most modern looms.

However, nonwoven fabrics have been unable to penetrate the functional and everyday wear garment markets because of the commonly known disadvantages such as poorer aesthetics, abrasion resistance, launderability, tear resistance, recovery after stretching etc. when compared with woven fabrics.

None of the currently available nonwoven technologies, when used alone, offer a durable fabric for apparel or garment end use application.

The challenge has been to judiciously use several known bonding methods and finishing treatments while using proper fiber blends, additive, finishing chemicals and fabric construction.

Even the spunlace nonwoven composites exhibit a higher degree of elongation or stretch than desired and poorer recovery from deformation.

In addition, spunlace fabrics without any post thermal and chemical treatment have shown much poorer launderability and abrasion resistance compared to the woven fabrics.

The composite of the Rivera et al. application has been designed for applications other than functional apparel as the fibrous and scrim elements incorporated in the application do not withstand the rigors of the military and outdoor end use.

In addition, according to the Rivera et al. application, the fiber layers are separated by the scrim to avoid intermixing of the layers, which leads to delamination and failure of the composite based garment.

However, because of the fuzz created by the process the needled fabrics have been used for wiping cloths and shoe liners etc. and not considered for apparel garment applications.

The web at this stage is unbonded and lacks any strength or integrity.

Although attempts have been made to the use of nonwoven fabrics, prepared by these technologies, to create textile apparel, successful commercialization of these fabrics to displace the traditional woven and knitted fabrics has not been realized.

As in the case of EVOLON fabrics, MIRATEC has been unable to penetrate the textile apparel markets either because of its poorer aesthetics, technical design or economics.

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