Textiles having flame protection function
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional flame-retardant textiles suffer from inadequate effectiveness, poor comfort, and toxicity issues, with small expandable graphite particles providing insufficient flame protection and limiting the use of area-covering coatings due to stiffness and reduced wearer comfort.
Innovation Solution
A process involving the reduction of salt content in plate-like expandable graphite to enhance its size and expansion properties, combined with a binder and foam stabilizer, to create a flexible, breathable, and optically conspicuous flame-retardant coating for textiles, allowing for area-covering protection without compromising comfort or performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If small expandable graphite particles are used in flame-retardant coatings, then the coating can be applied with lower material proportion, but the flame protection effectiveness is significantly reduced due to lower expansion volume and pressure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the critical parameter of particle size from small conventional particles to large plate-like particles with diameter of at least 0.2 mm (preferably at least 0.5 mm). This parameter change enables the graphite to achieve sufficient expansion volume and pressure for effective flame protection while maintaining reasonable coating proportions
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite coating system combining large plate-like expandable graphite particles with specific binders and foam stabilizers. This composite approach maximizes the flame-retardant effectiveness of the graphite while managing the coating's mechanical properties and expansion behavior
2Reliability
If high proportion of expandable graphite is used to achieve effective flame protection, then flame retardancy is improved, but the textiles become stiff and wearer comfort is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
By changing the particle size parameter to large plate-like structures, the patent achieves high flame-retardant effectiveness at lower coating proportions, thereby maintaining textile flexibility and wearer comfort. The larger particles provide more effective expansion pressure per unit mass
Solution Approach 2:
The plate-like morphology of the graphite particles creates localized expansion zones that are highly effective at preventing flame propagation, allowing for optimized distribution that maintains comfort while ensuring protection
3Reliability
If area-covering coatings are applied to provide comprehensive flame protection, then flame safety is improved, but the textiles become stiff and comfort is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables area-covering coatings to be applied at optimized proportions by using large plate-like graphite particles. These particles achieve sufficient expansion pressure at lower concentrations, allowing comprehensive coverage without excessive stiffness
Solution Approach 2:
The coating forms a flexible protective layer that maintains textile drape and movement properties while providing comprehensive flame protection through the expanded graphite structure
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 significantly enhances flame protection by increasing expansion volume and pressure, doubling the time to second-degree burns, while maintaining flexibility, water vapor permeability, and optical visibility, making it suitable for protective clothing.
Implementation Method 1
In the case of fire, or when exposed to high temperatures, the particles of the expandable graphite expand and increase their volume by a multiple
Implementation Method 2
The intumescence layer formed by the expanded expandable graphite, for example on a textile substrate, protects this textile substrate very efficiently since it prevents access of oxygen or flame formation and flame propagation and, due to the lower density of the expanded expandable graphite, additionally displays a very good thermal insulation effect
Implementation Method 3
due to the lower density of the expanded expandable graphite, additionally displays a very good thermal insulation effect. Heat can spread only with difficulty through the intumescence layer, so that the substrate and underlying tissues (skin) are efficiently protected
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to flame-retardant foam coatings for textile sheet products, wherein the coatings include plate-like expandable graphite which has a reduced salt content and a particle distribution with a proportion of >80 percent by weight having a diameter of at least 0.2 mm, and/or a minimum proportion of 70% having a mesh size of >50 mesh (0.3 mm), at least one binder and at least one foam stabilizer, and also processes for the production thereof, the use thereof for producing textile sheet products and also textile sheet products having such flame-retardant foam coatings.