Engineered Non-Woven Textile With Oriented Yarns and Selective Bonding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional textiles are suboptimal for functional apparel due to their intrinsic structure, which often does not align with the specific performance requirements of the final article, leading to increased material usage, waste, and weight.
Innovation Solution
Engineered textiles with oriented yarn strands secured by a bonding material, allowing for tailored directional elasticities and strengths to meet the functional demands of the final product without additional reinforcement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional woven or knit fabric structure is used to provide sheet integrity, then the fabric maintains structural stability, but the intrinsic structure does not align with functional performance requirements and increases material usage and weight
Solution Approach 1:
The fabric structure is segmented into two distinct components: primary yarn strands that provide the main structural framework and secondary bonding material that provides localized reinforcement. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently - the primary strands can be arranged to match functional load paths while the bonding material is applied only where needed to maintain sheet integrity, reducing overall material usage and weight compared to traditional homogeneous woven structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The bonding material is applied selectively at specific locations rather than uniformly across the entire fabric. This local quality approach ensures that reinforcement is provided only where structurally necessary to maintain sheet integrity, while other areas maintain the optimized primary strand arrangement for functional performance. This reduces unnecessary material usage and weight compared to traditional fabrics that require uniform structural properties throughout.
2Reliability
If traditional woven or knit fabric structure is used to provide sheet integrity, then the fabric maintains structural stability, but secondary reinforcement structures are required which increase material usage and waste
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the structural framework function (primary yarn strands) with the reinforcement function (secondary bonding material) into a single integrated fabric structure. This combination eliminates the need for separate secondary reinforcement components that would require additional die-cut patterns and assembly steps, thereby reducing material waste from off-cuts and simplifying the manufacturing process.
Solution Approach 2:
The fabric is constructed as a composite material system combining primary yarn strands and secondary bonding material with different functional properties. The primary strands provide the main structural framework while the bonding material provides localized reinforcement, creating a composite structure that achieves both sheet integrity and functional performance without requiring additional separate reinforcement components that would generate waste.
3Ease of manufacture
If pre-produced rolled fabric with intrinsic structure is used, then manufacturing is simplified, but the structure is suboptimally arranged to meet functional demand requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The primary yarn strands are arranged in advance according to the specific functional performance requirements of the final article before the bonding material is applied. This preliminary arrangement allows the fabric structure to be optimized for directional elasticities and strengths needed in specific applications (such as compression gear or footwear) while maintaining a simplified manufacturing process where the bonding material is then applied to complete the structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The fabric structure is designed with dynamic adaptability where the primary yarn strands can be arranged in different configurations to meet varying functional demands across different applications. The bonding material is then applied to lock in this dynamically optimized arrangement, allowing the same manufacturing process to produce fabrics optimized for different functional requirements rather than being constrained to a single fixed intrinsic structure.
4Strength
If additional reinforcing cables or secondary fabric sections are applied to meet functional demands, then performance requirements are satisfied, but material usage and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of applying additional reinforcing cables or secondary fabric sections throughout the entire article, the bonding material is applied selectively at specific locations where reinforcement is needed to meet functional strength and elasticity requirements. This localized reinforcement approach achieves the necessary directional strength properties without the excessive weight that would result from uniform reinforcement throughout the entire fabric structure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Reduces material waste and weight while optimizing structural performance, providing greater design freedom and environmental benefits through additive manufacturing.
Implementation Method 1
a non-woven engineered textile including a plurality of oriented and non-interlocking yarn strands that extend across a respective pattern or panel and that are selectively secured together via the application of an overlaid bonding material
Data Source
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AI summary
A method of creating an engineered textile (200) includes placing a yarn-wound jig (70) on an upper surface of a substrate (216), selectively printing or extruding a bonding material (54) across the plurality of arranged yarn strands (52), solidifying the bonding material (54) to bond adjacent ones of the plurality of arranged yarn strands (52) together and form a bound plurality of arranged yarn strands (52), and removing the bound plurality of arranged yarn strands (52) from the substrate (216) and the frame (70).