Elastomeric Yarn Blends for Flame and Arc Resistance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing yarns and fabrics lack a balance of strength, flame resistance, arc resistance, and seam slip performance while incorporating elastomeric filaments, and often require additional treatments for high visibility and safety standards.
Innovation Solution
A yarn and fabric composition that includes a blend of elastomeric filaments with modacrylic, meta-aramid, anti-static, and para-aramid fibers, optimized in weight percentages to provide enhanced strength, flame resistance, and arc resistance, while also meeting high-visibility safety standards without the need for post-formation dyeing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If elastomeric filaments are incorporated into yarns and fabrics, then comfort and flexibility are improved, but strength and flame resistance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite materials by blending elastomeric filaments with flame-resistant fibers (modacrylic, meta-aramid, para-aramid) to create a yarn that simultaneously provides flexibility from the elastomeric component and strength/flame resistance from the resistant fibers. This composite approach allows both contradictory properties to coexist in the final fabric.
2Ease of operation
If elastomeric filaments are incorporated into yarns and fabrics, then comfort and flexibility are improved, but arc resistance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses composite materials combining elastomeric filaments with arc-resistant fibers (particularly meta-aramid and para-aramid) to achieve both flexibility and arc resistance. The aramid fibers provide the protective barrier against arc damage while the elastomeric filaments maintain fabric flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by strategically selecting specific fiber types for specific protective functions within the blend. Meta-aramid and para-aramid fibers are incorporated specifically for their arc resistance properties, while modacrylic provides flame resistance, and elastomeric filaments provide flexibility, with each component performing its specialized function locally within the composite structure.
3Reliability
If high visibility safety standards are met through post-formation dyeing, then safety is improved, but manufacturing complexity and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by incorporating high-visibility pigments into the fibers during the fiber manufacturing stage, before yarn and fabric formation. This eliminates the need for post-formation dyeing operations, reducing manufacturing complexity and time while ensuring consistent high-visibility performance for safety compliance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple functions into the fiber itself by combining high-visibility coloration with the structural and protective properties of the fibers. This integration of coloring and structural functions at the fiber level eliminates separate dyeing operations and ensures that safety visibility requirements are met inherently by the material composition.
4Reliability
If flame resistance is enhanced through fiber selection, then safety is improved, but cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by optimizing the blend ratios of different flame-resistant fibers to achieve the required flame resistance performance at the lowest cost. By adjusting the proportions of modacrylic, meta-aramid, and para-aramid fibers, the patent finds the cost-effective composition that meets safety standards without unnecessarily increasing material costs.
Data Source
AI summary
Yarns including an elastomeric filament and fabrics including elastomeric filaments are described herein. A yarn may comprise an elastomeric filament and a blend of fibers, the blend of fibers comprising modacrylic fibers, meta-aramid fibers, anti-static fibers, and/or para-aramid fibers.