Stretchable Laminate Fiber Spacing for Flat Textile Surfaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing stretchable laminates incorporating non-elastic textiles often exhibit undesirable surface features such as bunching, rippling, buckling, and puckering in the non-stretched state, leading to poor aesthetics and reduced comfort, while maintaining desired properties like waterproofness and breathability.
Innovation Solution
A stretchable laminate design comprising a textile layer with non-elastic material and a functional layer, where a plurality of elastic fibers are arranged in a substantially parallel configuration, with controlled spacing to prevent buckling and achieve a flat appearance on the textile surface opposite the functional layer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If non-elastic textiles are used in stretchable laminates, then waterproofness and vapor-permeability are maintained, but surface irregularities such as bunching, rippling, buckling, and puckering occur in the non-stretched state
Solution Approach 1:
The laminate is divided into distinct functional layers: a non-elastic textile layer for waterproofness and vapor-permeability, and a separate elastic fiber layer with controlled spacing to maintain surface flatness. This segmentation allows each layer to independently perform its function without compromising the other.
Solution Approach 2:
The elastic fibers act as an intermediary element between the non-elastic textile layer and the external environment. These fibers are strategically positioned to bridge the gap between maintaining stretchability and preventing surface irregularities, thereby mediating the contradiction between functional performance and aesthetic appearance.
2Shape
If elastic fibers are added to prevent surface irregularities, then surface flatness is improved, but the complexity of the laminate structure increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of uniformly distributing elastic fibers throughout the entire laminate, the invention applies them locally at specific positions where surface irregularities are most likely to occur. The fibers are positioned at spaced intervals rather than continuously, reducing overall complexity while maintaining surface flatness where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The laminate combines different material types (non-elastic textile and elastic fibers) in a composite structure. This allows the benefits of both materials to be realized: the non-elastic textile provides waterproofness and vapor-permeability, while the elastic fibers provide surface stabilization, creating a composite that addresses multiple requirements simultaneously.
3Shape
If elastic fibers are spaced closely to prevent buckling, then surface flatness is improved, but the stretchability of the laminate is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses partial action by placing elastic fibers at selective spaced intervals rather than continuously. This partial placement is sufficient to prevent surface irregularities in the non-stretched state while leaving enough space between fibers to allow the laminate to stretch when needed, thus avoiding excessive action that would completely eliminate stretchability.
Solution Approach 2:
The elastic fibers provide dynamic response to the laminate's state: in the non-stretched state, they maintain surface flatness by resisting buckling; in the stretched state, they accommodate the expansion. This dynamic behavior allows the same fiber configuration to serve dual purposes across different operational states.
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2
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AI summary
The present invention provides stretchable laminates with a flat appearance on the visible surface. The laminates comprise a textile layer, a functional layer, and a plurality of elastic fibers. The plurality of elastic fibers are in a substantially parallel arrangement and the internal distance between adjacent fibers does not exceed the maximum fiber spacing, which depends on laminate thickness in a stretched state. Also provided are garments and footwear comprising the stretchable laminates and methods of producing the stretchable laminates.