Insulating fill materials and processes for manufacturing insulating fill materials

Abstract

The cashmere undercoat fibres may come from a pre-consumer or post-consumer waste source, such as yarn or hosiery manufacturing. The undercoat fibres may be fine, dehaired fibres with an average diame

Description

The present invention relates, in general, to insulating fill materials. Aspects relate to fill materials for bedding products (e.g., mattresses, duvets, quilts, pillows and the like) and garments (e.g., coats such as quilted jackets), and to products incorporating the fill material. Background Fill materials, particularly fill materials with athermal insulating property (i.e., thermally insulating fill materials) are used in a wide variety of products. For example, duvets, quilts and the like typically include a thermally insulating fill material. The degree to which a duvet, for example, can provide thermal insulation can be regulated by altering the type and / or quantity of material that is used to fill it. This is similarly the case for garments, such as quilted jackets for example. Typical fill materials can include natural materials. Some examples of natural fill materials include down, feathers and wool. Summary An objective of the present disclosure is to provide an insulating fill material made from natural materials, which provides a high degree of thermal insulation relative to weight. The foregoing and other objectives are achieved by the features of the independent claims. Further implementation forms are apparent from the dependent claims, the description and the Figures. A first aspect of the present disclosure provides a material, when used as an insulating fill material, the material comprising only pure cashmere undercoat fibres derived from yam or yarn-based matter, wherein the material is in the form of a nonwoven pure cashmere fibrous web material comprising a proportion of pure cashmere undercoat yam. In an implementation of the first aspect, the cashmere undercoat fibres can be derived from a waste source. The waste source can comprise a pre-consumer waste source, or a post-consumer waste source. The waste source can comprise yam. That is, the source of the pure cashmere undercoat fibres of the insulating fill material can be yam or yambased matter, which can be pre-consumer yarn or yam-based matter, and which is waste matter. In an example, the waste source can comprise pre-consumer waste fibre and / or materials from a hosiery manufacturing process. The cashmere undercoat fibres can comprise fine, dehaired, cashmere undercoat fibres. An average diameter of the cashmere undercoat fibres may not exceed 19 microns. The insulating fill material can comprise a nonwoven fibrous web material, such as a felt for example. The insulating fill material can comprise at least one of: a raw, semi-worked, worked, semi-manufactured, manufactured, semi-made-up or made-up product which is exclusively composed of cashmere undercoat fibres. The insulating fill material can comprise multiple layers of nonwoven fibrous web material. A second aspect of the present disclosure provides a a duvet or bedding product comprising a material as provided according to the first aspect. In an implementation of the second aspect, the product can comprise a duvet, or some other bedding product, comprising one or more layers insulating fill material layered on top of one another and provided between the two cover layers. The product can comprise a mattress comprising one or more layers insulating fill material. A third aspect of the present disclosure provides a method for producing a bedding product comprising only pure cashmere undercoat material, the method comprising processing a quantity of input pure cashmere undercoat material to open the fibres thereof by pulling and / or picking, whereby to form an opened fibre pure cashmere material, wherein the input pure cashmere undercoat material derives from yarn or yarn-based matter, carding the opened pure cashmere undercoat material to form a substantially disentangled continuous web of pure cashmere material, and forming an insulating fill material by mechanically bonding fibres of the disentangled continuous web of pure cashmere material together in the form of a nonwoven pure cashmere fibrous web material, and providing the nonwoven pure cashmere fibrous web material between two 5 cover layers, whereby to encase the said nonwoven pure cashmere fibrous web material, wherein the nonwoven pure cashmere fibrous web material comprises a proportion of pure undercoat cashmere yarn. In an implementation of the third aspect, the pure cashmere undercoat material, can be 10 teased apart to revert it to a fibrous, semi- or partially-fibrous state. The pure cashmere undercoat material can comprise yam which is already in a fibrous, semi- or partially-fibrous state. In such a case, reduced or no pulling / picking may be required. In an example, carding the quantity of input cashmere undercoat material can comprise passing the opened fibre pure cashmere material between a pair of differentially moving 15 surfaces, each one of the differentially moving surfaces comprising multiple teeth or pins configured to align individual fibres of the opened fibre pure cashmere material to be parallel with one other. Carding the quantity of input cashmere undercoat material can comprise forming a bat comprising the substantially disentangled continuous web of pure 10 05 24 the substantially disentangled continuous web of pure cashmere material. Forming the nonwoven pure cashmere fibrous web material can comprise felting the disentangled continuous web of pure cashmere material. Forming the nonwoven pure cashmere fibrous 5 web material can comprise wet felting or dry felting the disentangled continuous web of pure cashmere material. In an example, a needlepunch apparatus can be used to convert the substantially disentangled continuous web of pure cashmere material into the nonwoven pure cashmere fibrous web material. The pure 10 cashmere undercoat material can be pre-consumer material or postconsumer material. The pure cashmere undercoat material can be derived from a waste source. These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from the embodiment(s) described below. 15 Brief Description of the Drawings In order that the present disclosure may be more readily understood, embodiments will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 20 Figure 1 is a flow chart of a method for producing an insulating fill material from pure cashmere undercoat material, according to an example; Figure 2 is an image of raw virgin cashmere that has been cleaned and is ready to dye before being spun into yarn; 25 Figure 3 is an image of input cashmere undercoat material according to an example; Figure 4 is an image of the yarn feedstock of figure 3 once it has been opened by pulling / picking according to an example; and 10 05 24 Figure 5 is an image of an insulating fill material according to an example. Detailed Description 5 Example embodiments are described below in sufficient detail to enable those of ordinary skill in the art to embody and implement the systems and processes herein described. It is important to understand that embodiments can be provided in many alternate forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples set forth herein. 10 Accordingly, while embodiments can be modified in various ways and take on various alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings and described in detail below as examples. There is no intent to limit to the particular forms disclosed. On the contrary, all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within 15 the scope of the appended claims should be included. Elements of the example embodiments are consistently denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the drawings and detailed description where appropriate. The terminology used herein to describe embodiments is not intended 20 to limit the scope. The articles "a," "an," and "the" are singular in that they have a single referent, however the use of the singular form in the present document should not preclude the presence of more than one referent. In other words, elements referred to in the singular can number one or more, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. 25 It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," and / or "including," when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, items, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, items, steps, operations, 10 05 24 elements, components, and / or groups thereof. The term "and / or" is only an association relationship for describing associated objects and represents that three relationships may exist such that A and / or B may indicate that A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, or B exists 5 alone. The character “I” generally represents that the associated objects are in an "or" relationship. Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein are to be interpreted as is customary in the art. It will be further understood that terms in common usage should also be 10 interpreted as is customary in the relevant art and not in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein. The following contains specific information related to implementations of the present disclosure. The drawings and their accompanying detailed disclosure are merely directed to 15 implementations. However, the present disclosure is not limited to these implementations. Other variations and implementations of the present disclosure will be obvious to those skilled in the art. The phrases "in one implementation," or "in some implementations," may each refer to one or more of the same or different 20 implementations. The term "coupled" is defined as connected whether directly or indirectly through intervening components and is not necessarily limited to physical connections. The expression "at least one of A, B and C" or "at least one of the following: A, B and C" means "only A, or only B, or only C, or any combination of A, B and C." 25 For the purposes of explanation and non-limitation, specific details such as functional entities, techniques, protocols, and standards are set forth for providing an understanding of the present disclosure. In other examples, detailed disclosure of well-known methods, 10 05 24 technologies, systems, and architectures are omitted so as not to obscure the present disclosure with unnecessary details. Cashmere wool, usually simply known as cashmere, is a fibre obtained from cashmere goats, pashmina goats, and some other breeds of goat. It can be used to make yarn that can be used to make textiles and clothing for example. Cashmere goats, for example, have a double fleece. This double fleece comprises a fine, soft undercoat (or underdown) of hair and a straighter and much coarser outer coating of hair called guard hair. The fine undercoat, which is grown by the goats in the winter, is soft, light and thermally insulating and thus keeps the goats warm. It is highly prized as a raw material and very valuable. Guard hairs, however, are present throughout the year and protect the fine fibres which grow underneath during autumn and early to mid-winter. Guard hairs are not suitable for spinning into yarn for example as they are coarse, contain large medullation and lack crimp or curvature, however they may be used for low value applications such as brushes and interlinings. The process to separate guard hairs from the fine fibres of the undercoat is known as "dehairing". The separated fine cashmere undercoat fibres are used for making premium fabrics. Gathering and processing the highly prized undercoat is time intensive and can generally occur only at certain times of the year. It for this reason that cashmere is one of the most expensive forms of wool because the production and manufacturing process is complicated, labour intensive and time consuming. For example, cashmere goats naturally shed their coats in the spring during moulting season. At this time, the undercoat can be gathered either by combing the goats' coats with a comb, which usually yields less coarse hair, or by shearing the goats (although this results in in much more of the rough overcoat being present in the shorn material and thus requires more dehairing later). It is for this reason that most cashmere is gathered by combing, as it yields the highest quality cashmere. Cashmere wool that has been shorn and which also contains a higher proportion of guard hair is lower-quality and more prone to pilling, where small balls can form on the surface of a knitted item that is caused by wear and friction, as the fibres are much shorter than if they were combed. After the wool is gathered and the coarse guard hairs have been separated from the fine and soft undercoat hairs the fibres can be cleaned and optionally bleached or dyed. The resulting material can be assembled into bales and spun into yarn (the material may be dyed or bleached at this stage if desired) and knitted or woven into fabric for example. A raw cashmere fibre is a fibre that has not been processed and is essentially straight from the animal. As noted above, this may be gathered by combing or shearing. Processed fibres comprise fibres that have been through one or more of the processes of dehairing (in which any undesirable guard hairs are removed for example), washing, carding, and is ready either to spin or to knit / crochet / weave and so on. Furthermore, it is noted that virgin fibre is new fibre that is made into yarns, fabrics or garments for the first time. Recycled fibre is fibre reclaimed from scraps or fabrics that were previously woven or felted and may or may not have been previously used by the consumer from various parts of the world. Processed fibre may thus be virgin or recycled. Pre-consumer cashmere comprises cashmere material that has not been used by a consumer. Post-consumer cashmere material is cashmere that has been used by a consumer. For example, a product made from pre-consumer content is made from manufacturer content that has not made it to the consumer for one reason or another. A product made from post-consumer content is made from content that has been used by a consumer. Due the complex and expensive process used to form cashmere wool, its use is generally limited to high end garment production for example. Pre-consumer cashmere material is very valuable, particularly in its pure form in which it is composed exclusively of cashmere fibres, such as pure cashmere undercoat fibres. For this reason, there are certain products that are simply not economically viable to manufacture from pure cashmere undercoat fibres, which is typically reserved for cloth and the like and used in high ticket clothing items such as jumpers, hosiery and scarves etc. According to an example, there is provided an insulating fill material comprising pure cashmere undercoat fibres. As described above, the undercoat fibres are fine cashmere without guard hair being present. That is, the cashmere undercoat fibres comprise fine, dehaired, cashmere undercoat fibres. In an example, the pure cashmere undercoat fibres can comprise and / or be derived from and / or be in the form of yarn. In an example, the pure cashmere undercoat fibres can comprise pre-consumer content, matter or material and / or content, matter or material from a waste source. That is, the pure cashmere undercoat fibres can comprise pre-consumer material that can be classed as waste, i.e., waste that has not been used by a consumer and / or supplied to a consumer and / or otherwise been exposed to a consumer or supply chain. For example, a waste source can comprise a manufacturing process for a product and / or a specific waste material. For example, a waste source can comprise one or more of pure cashmere undercoat yarn, pure cashmere undercoat textile, pure cashmere undercoat hosiery, pure cashmere undercoat felt or web material, or offcuts from any of the preceding examples. In an example, the pure cashmere undercoat fibres and / or any matter composed of pure cashmere undercoat fibres may be provided in a dyed form or a bleached form, or an undyed form or an unbleached form. In an example, the waste source can be a preconsumer waste source or a post-consumer waste source. According to an example, the insulating fill material can comprise at least one of: a raw, semi-worked, worked, semi-manufactured, manufactured, semi-made-up or made-up product which is exclusively composed of pure cashmere undercoat fibres. For example, waste pre-consumer hosiery that is made from pure cashmere undercoat comprises an extremely high quality "waste" product in the form of a yarn. When undercoat fibres are spun for hosiery (which needs to have an ultra-soft feel) fewer twists are placed in the fibre so it is much looser than, e.g., a well twisted cashmere yarn that is used in cloth for suits. Accordingly, such high quality pre-consumer waste pure cashmere undercoat may not require the same level of opening (such as by pulling / picking as described below) than some other waste preconsumer waste pure cashmere undercoat materials and be carded directly. According to an example, processing of pre-consumer waste pure cashmere undercoat material can be dependent on the nature of the waste and, e.g., the number of twists in yarn. In some examples, some inadvertent impurities may be present. For example, it may be possible for an extremely small percentage (e.g., 5% or less) of rogue non cashmere fibres to be present in a final product as described herein due to, e.g., carry over in a pulling / picking and carding process. Further examples of waste sources yielding pure cashmere undercoat fibres or material that can be used according to an example comprise, yarn production (e.g., fibres collected from under or around the card of a carding apparatus), slubbing waste (e.g., from the end of bobbins, waste ends and so on), spinning waste (e.g., hard waste, pneumatic waste, tube waste), fabric production (e.g., knitting - cone waste), weaving (cone waste, selvedge waste), trimmings, guality control waste (e.g., reject yarn, cloth / garments and so on). For some of the example waste sources described above, there may be insufficient volume available on their own to make an insulating fill material suitable for, e.g., a commercial venture, but a combination of waste materials can be blended together. For example, any one or more of the above waste sources can be blended with, e.g., waste yarn, which may be more readily available, to form an aggregate waste source that can be used to make an insulating fill material as described herein. In an example, the insulating fill material can comprise a nonwoven fibrous web material, such as a felt for example. Multiple layers of such a nonwoven fibrous web material can be provided. For example, a product comprising an insulating fill material as described above can comprise one or more layers of nonwoven fibrous web material. The product can be a duvet or mattress, for example, in which one or more layers of the insulating fill material are layered on top of one another and provided between two cover layers. In the case of a duvet, a cover layer can comprise a layer (or multiple layers or plies) of cotton textile for example. In the case of a mattress, a cover layer can comprise an outer layer of a mattress or an inner layer composed of another material. Other materials can be provided in between one or more layers of an insulating fill material as described above for example. Figure 1 is a flow chart of a method for producing an insulating fill material from pure cashmere undercoat material, according to an example. In block 101 a quantity of input cashmere undercoat material 100 is carded to form a substantially disentangled continuous web of pure cashmere material, such as in the form of a bat of material for example. The input cashmere undercoat material can comprise pre-consumer pure cashmere undercoat fibres, which may be provided in any one or more of various forms as described above, such as waste or non-waste in the form of, e.g., yarn, hosiery, felt, non woven pads, textile and so on. In an example, carding the quantity of input cashmere undercoat material comprises implementing a mechanical process to disentangles, clean and intermix the fibres of the material to produce a continuous web suitable for subsequent processing. In an example, this can be done by passing the material (or fibres) between differentially moving surfaces (e.g. drums) covered with card clothing. Card clothing comprises a firm yet flexible material embedded with small metal pins that break up locks and unorganised clumps of fibre and align the individual fibres so that they are parallel with each other. In an example, carding can include blending various types or forms of input materials (e.g., different coloured fibres and / or different types of fibre) to form a homogeneous mix. In block 103, an insulating fill material is formed by mechanically bonding fibres of the disentangled continuous web of pure cashmere material together in the form of a nonwoven pure cashmere fibrous web material. For example, the disentangled continuous web of pure cashmere material can be needled (or needle-felted) to form a felt or felt-type material. According to an example, depending on its nature, the input cashmere undercoat material may be processed in order to open the fibres thereof, whereby to form an opened (or partially opened) fibre pure cashmere material that can be carded. For example, if the input cashmere undercoat material comprises yarn, or some other matter that has been processed, semi-worked, worked, semi-manufactured, manufactured, semi-made-up or made-up (into a product) it can be 'opened' by e.g., pulling or picking. That is, apparatus similar to a carding machine may be used to pull, pick, or 'tease' apart the material in question in order to revert it to a fibrous, semi- or partially-fibrous form. 10 05 24 A pulling or picking process can be stopped at various stages such that there may still be some, e.g., yarn fibres present. Alternatively, all fibres can be fully pulled with no evidence of spun fibres being present. In an example, fibres that are at various stages of having been 5 previously pulled for example can be used. As described above, some input materials may be in a partially opened state (e.g., yarn for hosiery) and may therefore require little, if any, further opening before carding. By using pre-consumer cashmere feedstock i.e., fibres or material that 10 have not been worn (which would otherwise be called post-consumer), the input cashmere undercoat material is not recycled but repurposed prior to being released to consumer markets. Accordingly, an insulating fill material according to an example can comprise preconsumer cashmere that has been through a process or processes to 15 produce a defined product, e.g., yarn that can be deconstructed and reformatted / repurposed into the insulating medium to be used as described herein. In an example, for example during a carding stage, other products can be blended in, such as other fibrous materials such as those deriving 20 from, e.g., bamboo, hemp, other types of wools from, for example, alpaca, llama, camel, mohair, angora, vicuna, yak, guanaco. In some example, post-consumer cashmere may be processed as described above and used in, for example, non-human products e.g., equine / dog coats etc. A pre-consumer implementation can be used in, 25 e.g., duvets, sleeping bags, mattresses, insulated jackets / clothing, bath robes etc. Figure 2 is an image of raw virgin cashmere that has been cleaned and is ready to dye before being spun into yarn. This material cannot be used in this state as an insulating fill material for use in, e.g., duvets since it is in clump form and could not be hand formed into an even felt / matt for the duvet manufacturing process. Figure 3 is an image of input cashmere undercoat material according to an example. The example of figure 3 is the result of dyeing and spinning the raw cashmere of figure 1. That is, figure 3 shows various yarn feedstocks comprising a quantity of cashmere undercoat material that can be further processed according to an example. The cashmere undercoat material of figure 3 can be pre-consumer material from a waste source, such as one of those described above. Figure 4 is an image of the yarn feedstock of figure 3 once it has been opened by pulling / picking, as described above. In the example of figure 4, the cashmere undercoat material of figure 3 has been processed in order to open the fibres thereof, whereby to form the opened fibre pure cashmere material of figure 4. Figure 5 is an image of an insulating fill material according to an example. In the example of figure 5, the pulled yarn of figure 4 has been carded and needled into the orderly and even felt of figure 5. Some of the original yarn is still present in the matrix but a satisfactory felt with acceptable loft (thickness / bounce) is provided. Fully pulled yarn can also be used resulting in little to no yarn present in the matrix of the material of figure 5. Thus, in the example, of figure 5, the insulating fill material is formed by mechanically bonding fibres of a disentangled continuous web of pure cashmere material together in the form of a nonwoven pure cashmere fibrous web material. That is, the opened fibre pure cashmere material of figure 4 is carded to form a substantially disentangled continuous web of pure cashmere material. This is then used to form the insulating fill material (i.e., a nonwoven pure cashmere fibrous web material) by mechanically bonding fibres of the disentangled continuous web of pure cashmere material together. xt CM The preceding description has been provided to enable others skilled in the art to best utilize various aspects of the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein. This exemplary description is not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to any precise form disclosed. Many 5 modifications and variations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the instant disclosure. The embodiments disclosed herein should be considered in all respects illustrative and not restrictive. Reference should be made to the appended claims and their equivalents in determining the scope of the instant disclosure.

Claims

1. A material, when used as an insulating fill material, the material comprising only pure cashmere undercoat fibres derived from yam or yam-based matter, wherein the material is in the form of a nonwoven pure cashmere fibrous web material comprising a proportion of pure cashmere undercoat yam.

2. The material as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pure cashmere yarn in is in at least one of a fibrous, semi- or partially-fibrous state.

3. The material as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the pure cashmere undercoat fibres comprise fine, dehaired, cashmere undercoat fibres.

4. The material as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein an average diameter of the cashmere undercoat fibres does not exceed 19 microns.

5. The material as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the insulating fill material comprises at least one of: a semi-worked, worked, semi-manufactured, manufactured, semi-made-up or made-up product which is exclusively composed of pure cashmere undercoat fibres.

6. The material as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the insulating fill material comprises multiple layers of nonwoven fibrous web material.

7. A duvet or bedding product comprising a material as claimed in any preceding claim.

8. The duvet or bedding product as claimed in claim 7, wherein the duvet or bedding product comprises one or more layers of the material layered on top of one another and provided between two cover layers.

9. A method for producing a bedding product comprising only pure cashmere undercoat material, the method comprising:processing a quantity of input pure cashmere undercoat material to open the fibres thereof by pulling and / or picking, whereby to form an opened fibre pure cashmere material, wherein the input pure cashmere undercoat material derives from yarn or yarnbased matter;carding the opened pure cashmere undercoat material to form a substantially disentangled continuous web of pure cashmere material; andforming an insulating fill material by mechanically bonding fibres of the disentangled continuous web of pure cashmere material together in the form of a nonwoven pure cashmere fibrous web material; andproviding the nonwoven pure cashmere fibrous web material between two cover layers, whereby to encase the said nonwoven pure cashmere fibrous web material, wherein the nonwoven pure cashmere fibrous web material comprises a proportion of pure undercoat cashmere yarn.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein carding the quantity of input cashmere undercoat material comprises:passing the opened fibre pure cashmere material between a pair of differentially moving surfaces, each one of the differentially moving surfaces comprising multiple teeth or pins configured to align individual fibres of the opened fibre pure cashmere material to be parallel with one other.

11. The method as claimed in claim 9 or 10, wherein carding the quantity of input cashmere undercoat material comprises:forming a bat comprising the substantially disentangled continuous web of pure cashmere material.

12. The method as claimed in any of claims 9 to 11, wherein forming the nonwoven pure cashmere fibrous web material comprises felting the disentangled continuous web of pure cashmere material.

13. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein forming the nonwoven pure cashmere fibrous web material comprises wet felting or dry felting the disentangled continuous web of pure cashmere material.

14. The method as claimed in claim 12, further comprising:using a needlepunch apparatus to convert the substantially disentangled continuous web of pure cashmere material into the nonwoven pure cashmere fibrous web material.

15. The method as claimed in any of claims 9 to 14, wherein the pure cashmere undercoat material is pre-consumer material or post-consumer material.

16. The method as claimed in any of claims 9 to 15, wherein the pure cashmere undercoat material is derived from a waste source.

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