Metal Element Textile Widthwise Stability via Open-Köper Stitch
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional metal element based textile products face issues with stability and impregnation during processing, leading to inferior adhesion and impact resistance in reinforced articles due to the shielding effect caused by added yarns, which reduces their performance in manufacturing steps like laminating and compression moulding.
Innovation Solution
A textile product with elongate metal elements in a parallel array held by stitches that encase each metal element between the legs and underlap of the stitch, providing widthwise stability and improved integration, using techniques like mono-axial warp knitting or bi-axial warp knitting to enhance the binding of metal and fiber elements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Force
If a parallel roving or higher tex value yarn is used to bind the metal cord, then the preload tension during manufacturing is increased, but the free reachable surface of metal cord is reduced, generating a shielding effect that results in inferior impregnation, less adhesion and reduced impact resistance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs an open-köper-chain stitch structure that creates a porous, open framework rather than a dense binding. This open structure allows polymer material to penetrate and impregnate the metal cord assembly effectively, eliminating the shielding effect while still providing necessary binding force through the geometric interlocking of the stitch pattern.
Solution Approach 2:
The thin yarn in the open-köper-chain stitch acts as a flexible binding element that provides sufficient preload tension through its tensile strength while maintaining an open structure. The thin film-like stitch pattern allows polymer infiltration without creating a dense barrier, resolving the contradiction between binding force and impregnation quality.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional binding methods are used to hold metal elements, then the metal elements are bound together, but the widthwise stability is insufficient leading to structure deformation during processing
Solution Approach 1:
The binding yarn is segmented into multiple discrete stitch points along the metal cord rather than forming a continuous dense binding. The open-köper-chain stitch creates separate binding zones that collectively provide widthwise stability while leaving gaps for polymer impregnation, thus maintaining both manufacturability and structural stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The final structure forms a composite of metal cord, open-köper-chain stitch, and impregnated polymer material. This composite structure achieves superior widthwise stability through the synergistic combination of rigid metal elements, flexible stitch binding, and polymer reinforcement that fills the open structure during processing.
3Reliability
If the metal cord is held loosely to maintain free reachable surface, then impregnation is improved, but the parallel arrangement and geometry are not maintained during processing
Solution Approach 1:
The open-köper-chain stitch is formed preliminarily to establish a stable parallel arrangement of metal cords before the impregnation process. This pre-formed open structure maintains geometric stability during handling and positioning, while its open nature ensures subsequent polymer infiltration occurs effectively without disrupting the parallel configuration.
Data Source
Figure 1a~1e
Figure 2a~2b
Figure 2c~3
AI summary
A textile product (100) and a method of making the same is described wherein the textile product comprises a layer of metal elements (110), an array of stitches (120) wherein the metal elements are encased between the legs (130) of the stitch and the underlap (150) of the stitch. Preferably, the overlaps and/or underlaps span between at least two stitch lines. This provides an improved metal element based textile product for preparing reinforced articles. The metal element based textile product of the present invention allows improved processing and improved performance as compared to conventional metal element based textile products.