Temperature Responsive Smart Textile with Multicomponent Fibers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Standard textile fabrics do not effectively adjust insulation properties in response to changes in ambient temperature and physical activity, limiting their adaptability and comfort.
Innovation Solution
A textile fabric with a raised surface featuring multicomponent fibers that exhibit differential thermal elongation, causing them to bend or curl in response to temperature changes, incorporating elastomeric yarn for enhanced stretch and shape recovery, and utilizing polymers like polyester, polyurethane, and nylon with complementary interlocking features to maintain insulation performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If standard textile fabrics are used, then manufacturing simplicity and cost-effectiveness are maintained, but insulation performance cannot adjust in response to temperature changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses multicomponent fibers consisting of different polymer materials (e.g., polyester, polyurethane, nylon) with different thermal expansion coefficients. These composite fibers exhibit differential thermal elongation when exposed to temperature changes, causing the fiber to bend or curl and reversibly recover, thereby adjusting the fabric's insulation performance without requiring complex external control systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent exploits thermal expansion differences between multiple polymer components in the fiber. The first fiber component has a greater coefficient of thermal expansion than the second fiber component, so when exposed to heat in the critical temperature range of 0°C to 49°C, the first component expands at a greater rate, causing the multicomponent fiber to bend or curl and reversibly recover, thereby adjusting the fabric's bulk and insulation properties.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multicomponent fibers with differential thermal elongation are used, then temperature-responsive insulation adjustment is achieved, but fiber separation and manufacturing complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a third polymer component that acts as an intermediary between the first and second polymer components. This third polymer is more compatible with both of the first and second polymers than the first and second polymers are with each other, serving as a bonding agent that prevents separation of the incompatible polymer components while allowing differential thermal expansion to occur.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a stable composite fiber structure where multiple polymer components are combined through compatible bonding. The composite material approach ensures that while the fiber components can expand differentially, they remain bonded together through the intermediary polymer, preventing fiber separation and maintaining structural integrity during thermal cycling.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the fabric bulk changes significantly with temperature, then insulation performance adjusts effectively, but hysteresis increases reducing reversibility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the physical and chemical parameters of the polymer components, including their thermal expansion coefficients, compatibility, and bonding characteristics. By carefully selecting and adjusting these parameters, the fabric achieves effective insulation adjustment through bulk changes while minimizing hysteresis and maintaining reversibility over repeated thermal cycling.
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 fabric adjusts insulation performance reversibly over a temperature range of 0°C to 49°C, providing enhanced comfort and adaptability by changing bulk and cross-sectional area, maintaining low hysteresis and preventing fiber separation.
Implementation Method 1
The first and second fiber components exhibit differential thermal elongation (e.g., expansion and/or contraction), which causes the multicomponent fibers to bend or curl and reversibly recover in response to changes in temperature
Implementation Method 2
incorporating elastomeric yarn for enhanced stretch and shape recovery
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B
Figure 1C
AI summary
A textile fabric (20) has at least one raised surface incorporating multicomponent fibers (10) formed of at least a first material (A) and a second material (B) disposed in side-by-side relationship. The first material (A) and the second material (B) exhibit differential thermal elongation, which causes the multicomponent fibers (10) to bend or curl and reversibly recover in response to changes in temperature, thereby adjusting insulation performance of the textile fabric (20) in response to ambient conditions.