AND RELATED METHOD

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a composite fabric and brassiere made with such material and related method. More particularly but not solely the present invention relates to a fabric panel, a composite fabric its method of construction and use including, but not limited to use as a component in a bra. In the preferred form the bra is a moulded bra which may be of a kind known as a one piece moulded bra. BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

One-piece moulded brassieres exist in the current market. They are referred to as "one-piece brassieres" because the cup region of the bra is formed from a single panel (that may be a laminate structure) despite other pieces also being used such as clasps, shoulder straps and reinforcing. Such brassieres are commonly made by bonding two or more plies of fabric together by glue. Usually such glue bonding is made effective by applying some pressure and heat. The glue that is typically used is industrial grade. The glue may be applied to the desired areas of the inner side of one of the two pieces of fabric, such as along certain edges of an intended brassiere to be cut out of a panel to then be formed into a brassiere shape. However, use of such glue bonding may increase time and cost (labour and material) of the manufacture of one-piece brassieres. Additionally, industrial type glue often contains chemical solvents, heavy use of which is environmentally unfriendly. Another time consuming aspect in the manufacture of one piece brassieres may be the provision of covered edges of the brassiere. This is often necessary to avoid fraying along some of the edges of such brassieres. Covering of edges such as by way of fabric folding increases time and cost (labour and material) of manufacture.

It may hence be an object of the present invention to provide a composite fabric and/or related method which overcomes or at least partially ameliorates some of the abovementioned disadvantages or which may at least provides the public with a useful choice. It may also be an object of the present invention to provide brassiere made from a composite fabric which overcomes or at least partially ameliorates some of the abovementioned disadvantages or which may at least provides the public with a useful choice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a first aspect, the present invention may be said to broadly consist in a fabric panel comprising;

a. a knitted first yarn to define a first face side of the panel and comprising of a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) elastomeric monofilament, b. a knitted second yarn to define an opposite second face side of the panel and comprising of a fiber, the second yarn is knitted with the first yarn to join the first yarn and second yarn together.

Preferably the second yarn comprises of fiber selected from a man-made fiber. Preferably the second yarn comprises of fiber selected from at least one of a nylon, polyester and acrylic.

Preferably the second yarn comprises of a plurality of fibers selected from at least two of a nylon, polyester and acrylic.

Preferably the second yarn comprises of fiber selected from a natural fiber. Preferably the second yarn comprises of fiber selected from at least one of a cotton and wool.

Preferably the second yarn comprises of a plura lity of fibers selected wool and cotton .

Preferably the second yarn comprises of a plura lity of fibers selected at least two of wool, cotton, nylon, polyester and acrylic.

Preferably the monofilament of the first yarn comprises a monofilament of a melt-spun fiber made from a resin comprising the reaction product of:

(i) a hydroxyl terminated polyester intermediate derived from a dicarboxylic acid and a blend of at least two alkylene glycols wherein two of the alkylene glycols have a number average molecular weight that differs by at least 20 percent;

(ii) a diisocyanate and

(iii) a linear alkylene glycol chain extender;

wherein the resin has a weight average molecular weight of at least 600,000; and wherein the resin is further reacted with :

(iv) an agent comprising the reaction product of a polyalkylene ether glycol and a diisocyanate;

wherein said fiber has a weight average molecular weight of at least 700,000. Preferably the monofilament of the first yarn consists of a monofilament of a melt-spun fiber made from a resin comprising the reaction product of:

(i) a hydroxyl terminated polyester intermediate derived from a dicarboxylic acid and a blend of at least two alkylene glycols wherein two of the alkylene glycols have a number average molecular weight that differs by at least 20 percent; (ii) a diisocyanate and

(iii) a linear alkylene glycol chain extender;

wherein the resin has a weight average molecular weight of at least 600,000; and wherein the resin is further reacted with:

(iv) an agent comprising the reaction product of a polyalkylene ether glycol and a diisocyanate;

wherein said fiber has a weight average molecular weight of at least 700,000. Preferably the monofilament is as claimed in claim 1 of US patent US9688805. Preferably the monofilament is as claimed in claim 1 or any one of the dependent claims of US patent US9688805.

Preferably the first yarn and second yarn are joined by knitting.

Preferably the first yarn and second yarn are joined without the use of adhesive.

Preferably the first yarn and second yarn are joined only by knitting.

Preferably the first yarn consists of a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) elastomeric monofilament

Preferably the first yarn is a knitted yarn consisting of a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) elastomeric monofilament.

Preferably the second yarn is monofilament.

Preferably the second yarn is provided as a multi filament.

In a second aspect the present invention may be said to be a composite fabric comprising a first layer of a fabric panel herein defined and a second layer of a fabric as herein defined melt bonded with its first yarn to the first yarn of the first layer. Preferably the composite fabric has been formed by the application of pressure and heat to the first layer and second layer to press them together and bond them together.

Preferably at least one of the second plies of the first layer and second layer has an impressed region created by the application of more pressure at that impressed region than the non-impressed region when the first layer and second layer are pressed together.

Preferably the composite fabric consists of a first layer of a fabric panel as herein defined and a second layer of a fabric as herein defined melt bonded with its first yarn to the first yarn of the first layer.

Preferably the first layer is bonded to the second layer by pressure and heat having been applied to the layers simultaneously bonding the layers together.

Preferably the first layer is bonded to the second layer without adhesive.

Preferably the surface of the fabric that has been impressed is of a different texture to the regions not so impressed.

Preferably said different texture is impressing caused.

Preferably the composited fabric is used as a component of a one-piece moulded brassiere.

In a further aspect the present invention may broadly be said to be a composite fabric wherein the composite fabric consists or comprises of;

a first layer of a fabric panel comprising;

a. a knitted first yarn to define a first face side of the panel and comprising of a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) elastomeric monofilament, b. a knitted second yarn to define an opposite second face side of the panel and comprising of a fiber, the second yarn is knitted with the first yarn to join the first yarn and second yarn together,

and a second layer of a fabric panel comprising;

c. a knitted first yarn to define a first face side of the panel and comprising of a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) elastomeric monofilament, d. a knitted second yarn to define an opposite second face side of the panel and comprising of a fiber, the second yarn is knitted with the first yarn to join the first yarn and second yarn together,

melt bonded with its first yarn to the first yarn of the first layer.

In a further aspect the present invention may be said to be a method of forming a composite fabric comprising applying heat and pressure to two layers of said fabric panel as herein defined that are positioned with their first face sides contiguous each other to melt bond the first yarns of the two layers to each other.

Preferably at least one region of the two layers are subjected to more pressure than other region(s) of the two layers.

Preferably at least one region of the two layers are subjected to more pressure than other region(s) to cause and impressing of at least one of said layers at said at least one region.

Preferably at least one region of the two layers are subjected to more pressure than other region(s) to cause a textural change one at least one of said layers at said at least one region.

In this specification where reference has been made to patent specifications, other external documents, or other sources of information, this is generally for the purpose of providing a context for discussing the features of the invention. Unless specifically stated otherwise, reference to such external documents is not to be construed as an admission that such documents, or such sources of information, in any jurisdiction, are prior art, or form part of the common general knowledge in the art.

For the purpose of this specification, where method steps are described in sequence, the sequence does not necessarily mean that the steps are to be chronologically ordered in that sequence, unless there is no other logical manner of interpreting the sequence. This invention may also be said broadly to consist in the parts, elements and features referred to or indicated in the specification of the application, individually or collectively, and any or all combinations of any two or more said parts, elements or features, and where specific integers are mentioned herein which have known equivalents in the art to which this invention relates, such known equivalents are deemed to be incorporated herein as if individually set forth.

To those skilled in the art to which the invention relates, many changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. The disclosures and the descriptions herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting.

As used herein the term "and/or" means "and" or "or", or both.

As used herein "(s)" following a noun means the plural and/or singular forms of the noun.

The term "comprising" as used in this specification [and claims] means

"consisting at least in part of". When interpreting each statement in this specification [and claims] that includes the term "comprising", features other than that or those prefaced by the term may also be present. Related terms such as "comprise" and "comprises" are to be interpreted in the same manner.

Other aspects of the invention may become apparent from the following description which is given by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments of the invention will be described by way of example only and with reference to the drawings, in which :

Figure 1 illustrates a fabric panel in perspective view, partially exploded to illustrate its preferred 2 yarn construction,

Figure 2 is an exploded cross-sectional view through the fabric panel of Figure 1 illustrating the knitted nature of the first and second yarn,

Figure 3a is a cross sectional view through section X-X of Figure 2 illustrating the first yarn comprising of monofilament,

Figure 3b is a cross sectional view through section X-X of Figure 2 illustrating the first yarn comprising of monofilament and the second yarn comprising of monofilament as an alternative to that shown in figure 3a,

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a composite fabric comprising of two layers of the fabric panel of Figure 1,

Figure 5 is a close-up view of the composite fabric of Figure 4,

Figure 6 illustrates the pattern through Section AA of Figure 4 to illustrate a pattern B having been impressed into the surface of the composite fabric, Figure 7 illustrates a consolidation press to loosely bind the two fabric panels together prior to subsequent bond consolidation of the two panels in a heat press,

Figure 8 illustrates the loosely consolidated fabric panels prior to entering into a heat press,

Figure 9 illustrates the heat press that can be used for bond consolidating the fabric panels together with the optional use of a mold insert that can be used to define a colour and/or surface texture change in the surface of the fabric panel on top of which it is located during the pressing and consolidation process,

Figure 10 illustrates the composite fabric and the pattern that has been defined on the outer surface of the composite fa bric and the outline of a component of a bra,

Figure 11 illustrates a component of a bra havi ng been cut from the composite fabric such as by laser cutting,

Figure 12 shows a knitting diagram of two plies of a panel and thei r assembly together showing the cross section of each row.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a fabric panel, a composite fabric, its method of construction and use including, but not limited to use as a component in a bra .

Such a component providing as least the breast cups regions of the bra . In the preferred form the bra is a moulded bra which may be of a kind known as a one piece moulded bra .

With reference to Figure 1, there is shown a fabric panel 1. The fabric panel may come in a large ra nge of sizes and may be trimmed or cut for subsequent use for particular purposes or applications. It may be provided as roll-stock for example. The fabric panel comprises of a knitted first ya rn 2 and a knitted second yarn

3. The knitted first yarn 2 preferably defines the first face side 2A of the fabric panel 1. The knitted second yarn 3 preferably defines the second face side 3A opposite the first face side 2A. Preferably these two yarns a re the only yarns of the panel . The first yarn 2 is preferably a knitted yarn. The second yarn 3 is preferably a knitted yarn.

The fi rst yarn 2 and second yarn 3 may be mechanically joined . This may be achieved for example by a knitting process that is well known in the industry. The knitting to join the first and second ya rns may be warp and/or weft knitting . An example of the construction can be seen in figure 12. There is preferably no use of adhesive for joining the yarns 2 and 3 together.

The fi rst yarn comprises of a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) elastomeric monofilament. The first yarn preferably consists only of the monofilament.

This can be seen in cross section in Figure 3A where the monofilament 6 is shown. The monofilament remains as a monofilament rather than being spun as a yarn of monofilaments to create a multifilament yarn. The thermoplastic

polyurethane elastomeric monofilament is preferably of a kind as described in US patent US9688805. It may go by the trade ma rk X4zol ^™ -J fiber. It is TPU elastomeric monofilament that is manufactured differently from elastane. It may be produced through a process of melt extrusion, which does not require the use of solvents. This may be as described in US patent US9688805. The entire content of US9688805 as published on 2017-06-27 is hereby incorporated by way of reference. Preferably the monofilament of the first yarn as claimed herein is as defined as the melt-spun fiber of claims of US9688805 as published on 2017-06-27.

The second ya rn may comprise of fiber selected from a natural fiber. This fiber may be cotton or wool as examples. Alternatively, the second yarn may comprise of a manmade fiber. The manmade fiber may be a nylon, polyester or acrylic. The second yarn may be made from a blend of such materials.

The second ya rn may present itself as a multifilament. It may be made from yarn of single type of fi ber of from a blend of fibers. Or it may be made from a monofilament. The denier of the second yarn may be approximately between 20 denier and 350 denier.

The denier of the monofilament of the first yarn may be between 20 denier and 50 denier.

The fabric panel of Figure 1 may be used to construct a composite fabric 10 shown in Figure 4. The composite fabric preferably comprises of two panels of Figure 1 that are joined in an overlapping relationship to each other as seen in Figure 4. Figure 4 shows a first of a panel 1A peeled away from a second of the fabric panel IB for illustrative purposes only. The two fabric pa nels 1A and I B are bonded together with the first face sides 2A and 2B of the panels, facing each other as seen in Figure 4. The second face sides 3A and 3B define the opposed outwardly facing surfaces of the composite fabric 10.

The two panels 1A and I B are bonded in a process which will hereinafter be described.

The panel 1 may be used in a fabric composite as described with reference to

Figures 4-6. In the preferred form this is achieved by pressing two panels 1A and I B with their first face sides together. This means that the first yarn of a panel is pressed against the first yarn of another panel of the same material. This is as seen in Figures 4-6. The process may involve the placing of two fabric panels back to back with their first fabric plies touching each other. A first consolidation step may be taken and may involve a press 20 as seen in Figure 7.

The two panels 1A and IB are provided in the press which is then caused to apply pressure to the two panels 1A and IB to bind them together. Such binding may be a weak binding for the purposes of subsequent handling of the consolidated panels into another press or pressing operation. Such weak binding combines the panels such that they will not slide away from each other before the panel is further processed in the next step. Paper sheet may be placed on the bottom and top of the combined panels in order to avoid dirt sticking onto the surfaces of the combined fabric.

The so consolidated panels 1C as seen in Figure 8 may be removed from the press 20 and positioned in a press 21.

The press 21 may be a press that can apply pressure and/or heat to the consolidated panels to further consolidate them together. It may be an electrically heated press. Consolidation will cause the two panels 1A and IB to melt bond together. In particular it is the face sides 2A and 2B of the two panels that melt bond together. There may be no melt bonding between the first and second yarns of each panel. The first yarns melt bond together. As in the previous step, pieces of paper can be used for avoiding dirt sticking onto the surfaces of the combined fabric/new fabric.

For pressing, in a preferred form a mold insert 23 may be located in a desired location on the outer surface of the second yarn of a panel, such as panel 1A as seen in Figure 9. The insert may be made from a thin material such as cardboard or silicon or a metal. The insert is of a preselected shape (and may include interior cut-outs) and is positioned on an appropriate part of the consolidated panels so that when the press applies heat and/or pressure to the consolidated panels the insert 23 is trapped between the press and the consolidated panels to apply extra pressure to the region it is lying on. This will cause the material at that region to become more compacted during the pressing process that regions where the insert is not provided. The result is that an impressing is created such as region B shown in the drawings. This creates a fabric that has embossed/impressed regions. This may also come with textural change of the yarn so that a pattern that is both texturally and optically different to the other parts of the outer surface of the second yarn of a panel is provided. Such a textural change may result in a change in the visual appearance.

The first yarn may be of a white or whiter colour to the second yarn, while the second yarn may be of any colour depending on the material of fibers used to construct that second yarn.

The first yarn may be of a white or whiter colour provided by the colour of X4zol™-J , while the second yarn may be of any colour depending on the material of fibers used to construct that second yarn.

Regardless of whether any part of the combined fabric is covered by the mould insert such as the silicone panel during the heat-pressing, the two panels are hereby heat bonded by melting together to form a new fabric which has its own technical characteristics.

Once pressed the pressed panels ID can be removed from the mold and subsequently cut such as along a cut line 26 to remove a component for use as part of an under garment such as a bra. The component 28 may be of a shape to define the breast cups and/or parts of the shoulder and chest band of a bra as an example. The cut component can be molded in a 3D manner to shape cups into it for example.

Brassieres are one example of garment that can be constructed using the composite fabric herein described. Hooks/eyes/straps of a brassiere can be sewed or attached by any usual means thereafter. If desired, decorative fabric or other components can be sewed or attached by any usual means on top of the composite fabric. It is envisaged that decorative fabric can fold around the periphery of the bra, to covering the periphery of the bra for smoother edges.

The composite fabric so constructed in this manner and the component(s) cut from the fabric may not require any edge covering steps to be performed to stop or reduce a fraying of the material at the edges. The edges of the new fabric so formed do not fray, even after cutting by different common methods, such as mechanical cutter, scissors, ultrasound, laser cutter. The monofilament layer has melted and fused together and this helps prevents fraying as the other yarns cannot unravel after melting of the first fabric plies (ie monofilament plies).

Because the two panels are heat bonded by melting together, the composite fabric has its own technical characteristics. Such characteristics may primarily depend on what the material for the second yarn is.

The melt bonding of the monofilament of the kitted first yarn changes the characteristics but the composite fabric retains elasticity in all directions.

Where in the foregoing description reference has been made to elements or integers having known equivalents, then such equivalents are included as if they were individually set forth.

Although the invention has been described by way of example and with reference to particular embodiments, it is to be understood that modifications and/or improvements may be made without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In addition, where features or aspects of the invention are described in terms of Markush groups, those skilled in the art will recognise that the invention is also thereby described in terms of any individual member or subgroup of members of the

Markush group.