Stretchable Garment Yoke Composite for Shrinkage and Binding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional shirts, especially men's dress and work shirts, face issues with shrinkage and lack of flexibility across the yoke area, leading to discomfort and potential tearing due to shrinkage, weight gain, and restricted movement.
Innovation Solution
A garment yoke made from a fusible substrate combined with stretchable fabric, allowing for expansion and recovery in multiple directions, maintaining shape and comfort during wear.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If conventional fabric is used for the yoke, then the shirt maintains its structured appearance, but the yoke shrinks and tightens during wear and laundering
Solution Approach 1:
The yoke is constructed as a composite assembly combining a stable fusible substrate (providing structural integrity and shape retention) with a stretchable fabric layer (providing comfort and movement accommodation). This layered composite structure allows the yoke to maintain its appearance while preventing shrinkage-induced tightening during wear and laundering.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical parameters of the yoke by incorporating elastic components that can reversibly deform. The stretchable fabric layer and elastic components enable the yoke to expand and contract with body movements while returning to its original dimensions, preventing the permanent shrinkage and tightening that occurs with conventional fabrics.
2Shape
If the yoke is made from non-stretch fabric, then the shirt maintains its shape, but it binds and tears when the wearer moves
Solution Approach 1:
The yoke combines a shape-retaining fusible substrate with a stretchable fabric layer and elastic components. This composite construction allows the yoke to maintain its structural shape while the elastic elements accommodate body movements, preventing binding and tearing that would occur with non-stretch fabric alone.
Solution Approach 2:
The yoke transitions from a static, rigid structure to a dynamic, flexible system. The incorporation of elastic components and stretchable fabric enables the yoke to adapt its dimensions in real-time with wearer movement, allowing it to expand when needed and return to its original shape, thereby maintaining both shape retention and durability during activity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the yoke is designed to be stretchable, then it accommodates body movements, but it may lose its shape and structure
Solution Approach 1:
The yoke is constructed as a composite of a fusible substrate (providing structural integrity and shape memory) and a stretchable fabric layer (providing flexibility for movement). The elastic components are integrated into this composite structure, allowing the yoke to stretch with body movements while the substrate maintains its shape and prevents deformation.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the yoke have different properties: the fusible substrate provides structural stability in areas requiring shape retention, while the stretchable fabric layer and elastic components provide flexibility in areas needing movement accommodation. This localized differentiation of material properties allows the yoke to simultaneously achieve both adaptability and shape integrity.
4Ease of manufacture
If the yoke is made from single-layer fabric, then the manufacturing process is simple, but it cannot provide both stretch and shape retention
Solution Approach 1:
The yoke is constructed as a composite assembly of a fusible substrate and a stretchable fabric layer bonded together. This multi-layer composite structure provides both stretch and shape retention properties that would be difficult to achieve in a single layer, while the manufacturing process remains relatively simple using standard fusible substrate bonding techniques.
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 yoke expands to accommodate upper body movements, minimizing tautness and binding, while returning to its original dimensions for enhanced comfort and durability.
Implementation Method 1
at least a portion of the yoke is formed from a first material having stretch and recovery in at least one direction
Implementation Method 2
a first material being formed from a fusible substrate combined with a particular fabric having stretch properties
Data Source
AI summary
A garment has a yoke attached to the garment body, wherein the yoke is formed from a material having stretch and recovery in at least two directions thereof. The material may be formed from a fusible substrate combined with a particular fabric having stretch properties. The yoke may have an inner piece and an outer piece having substantially the same shape and size as the inner piece, and wherein at least one of the inner piece and the outer piece is formed from a material formed from a fusible substrate combined with a particular fabric having stretch properties. The garment body includes a back and a front, and the yoke includes at least one back portion configured with the back of the garment body, and at least one front portion configured with the front of the garment body. The first material has stretch and recovery properties at offset angles with respect to the at least one direction.