Impregnated cloth
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Solution Overview
Problem
Filled cloths face issues with powder spillage during manufacture and use, difficulty in controlling the amount of liquid for setting, and porosity problems leading to reduced strength and liquid ingress, making them unsuitable for barrier applications.
Innovation Solution
A flexible cloth with self-supporting linking fibers and a settable powder material, where elastic yarns at the edges prevent spillage and controlled liquid absorption through porous faces limits the volume available for setting, ensuring the right amount of liquid is used to achieve optimal properties.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the cloth uses open edges to contain powder material, then the manufacturing and transport is easier, but the powder spills out causing mess and loss
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies a flexible edge sealing structure that closes the open edges of the spacer fabric while maintaining flexibility. This flexible sealing mechanism prevents powder spillage during manufacturing, transport, and use without requiring rigid containers or complex sealing systems, thus resolving the contradiction between ease of manufacture and powder loss prevention.
2Ease of manufacture
If heat cutting and sealing is applied to the cloth, then the edges can be sealed, but the powder clogs the melted plastic and cutting blade
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts or removes the powder material from the edge regions of the spacer fabric before heat cutting and sealing operations. This extraction prevents the powder from clogging the melted plastic and cutting blade during heat sealing, while still allowing the main body of the cloth to retain the powder for its intended function.
3Ease of operation
If the cloth is made porous to allow liquid penetration, then the setting process is enabled, but the set material becomes porous leading to reduced strength and liquid ingress
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different porosity characteristics to different regions of the cloth. The face layers are made porous to allow liquid penetration for setting the powder material, while the edge regions and sealing areas are made impermeable or less porous to prevent liquid ingress after setting, thus maintaining strength and preventing porosity-related weaknesses in critical areas.
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
The solution prevents powder spillage, ensures accurate liquid absorption, and maintains material strength and impermeability, reducing the need for skilled personnel and minimizing porosity-related issues, thus enhancing the cloth's performance in various applications.
Implementation Method 1
a powder material located in the space between the first and second faces, which material is capable of setting to a rigid or semi-rigid solid on the addition of a liquid or on exposure to radiation
Implementation Method 2
a powder material located in the space between the first and second faces, which material is capable of setting to a rigid or semi-rigid solid on the addition of a liquid or on exposure to radiation
Implementation Method 3
the first and second faces are connected by an elastic yarn that at least partly closes the space at the edge
Implementation Method 4
controlled liquid absorption through porous faces limits the volume available for setting
Data Source
AI summary
A knitted spacer fabric has a tightly knitted bottom layer, a more loosely knitted upper layer and linking fibres extending across the space between the lower and upper faces. Settable material, e.g. cement, is introduced into the space between the upper and lower faces and can be caused to set by the addition of a liquid, e.g. water. Until set, the fabric is flexible and can be shaped but after the material in space has set, the fabric is rigid and can be used as a structural element in a wide range of situations. The bottom layer has an extension that extends beyond the upper face and is connected to the upper face by elastic connecting fibres that draw the extension towards the other face, thereby at least partly closing the space at the edge of the cloth and preventing the settable material from spilling out. In addition, the packing of the settable material and maximum space between the faces are such that only a predetermined amount of liquid can be accommodated within the space and that amount is matched to the water required to set the cement.