ARRANGED IN MULTIPLE PATTERNS

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The disclosure relates generally to fabric articles and, more particularly, fabric articles including a plurality of cured polymeric resin guard plates.

BACKGROUND

[0002] None.

SUMMARY

[0003] In general, the disclosure relates to a fabric article including a plurality of cured polymeric resin guard plates on the surface of a flexible fabric substrate, where the plurality of guard plates are arranged in at least two different patterns on the surface of the substrate. In some examples, the plurality of guard plates may include first and second arrays of guard plates on first and second portions, respectively, of the surface of the flexible fabric substrates in which the first and second arrays of guard plates are arranged in different patterns.

[0004] In one example, the disclosure relates to a fabric assembly comprising a flexible fabric substrate including a top surface; a plurality of polymeric guard plates on the surface of the substrate, the plurality of polymeric guard plates comprising a first array of guard plates on a first portion of the top surface arranged in a first pattern, and a second array of guard plates on a second portion of the top surface separate from the first portion arranged in a second pattern, wherein the first pattern is different from the second pattern.

[0005] In another example, the disclosure relates to a method comprising forming a plurality of polymeric guard plates on the surface of a flexible fabric substrate, wherein the plurality of polymeric guard plates comprise a first array of guard plates on a first portion of the top surface arranged in a first pattern, and a second array of guard plates on a second portion of the top surface separate from the first portion arranged in a second pattern, wherein the first pattern is different from the second pattern.

[0006] In some embodiments, the different patterns of the plurality of guard plates on the surface of a flexible substrate may provide for a fabric assembly with one or more advantages. For example, in some embodiments, a first array of guard plates may be arranged in a pattern on a first portion of the fabric assembly to provide for a first level of abrasion resistance and flexibility and a second array of guard plates may be arranged in a pattern on a second portion of the fabric assembly to provide for a second level of abrasion resistance and flexibility different from that of the first level of abrasion resistance and flexibility. As another example, in some embodiments, a plurality of guard plates may be formed on the surface of a flexible substrate according to two or more patterns to form a distinct image on the surface of fabric assembly.

[0007] In another example, the disclosure relates to a non-transitory computer- readable storage medium comprising instructions. The instructions cause a

programmable processor to perform any part of the techniques described herein. The instructions may be, for example, software instructions, such as those used to define a software or computer program. The computer-readable medium may be a computer- readable storage medium such as a storage device (e.g., a disk drive, or an optical drive), memory (e.g., a Flash memory, random access memory or RAM) or any other type of volatile or non- volatile memory that stores instructions (e.g., in the form of a computer program or other executable) to cause a programmable processor to perform one or more of the techniques described herein.

[0008] The details of one or more examples of the disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and advantages of the disclosure will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0009] FIGS. 1 A-1G are conceptual diagrams illustrating various examples guard plates shapes.

[0010] FIGS. 2 A and 2B are conceptual diagrams illustrating two example gap width to guard plate size aspect ratios.

[0011] FIGS. 3A-3D are conceptual diagrams illustrating various example guard plate shapes and example guard plate geometries.

[0012] FIGS. 4A-4D are conceptual diagrams illustrating various example cross sections for example guard plates.

[0013] FIGS. 5A and 5B are conceptual diagrams illustrating example guard plates arranged on a fabric substrate from perspective view showing the 3 -dimensional nature of the example guard plates.

[0014] FIGS. 6A and 6B are conceptual diagrams illustrating example "small" and "large" gap widths, respectively, between two example guard plates.

[0015] FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example fabric assembly including guard plate arranged according to different patterns on different regions.

[0016] FIGS. 8A-8D are conceptual diagrams illustrating various examples fabric assemblies including two distinct guard plate patterns in separate regions to form one or more images.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] In general, the disclosure relates to articles including a plurality of guard plates on the surface of a flexible substrate, and, in particular, the formation of multiple, distinct guard plate patterns on a fabric surface. Such article may be used for one or more applications including, in some examples, protection of fabric surface against mechanical risks such as abrasion and as covering for commercial uses such as, e.g., mass transit seats (e.g., seats in a terminal or on a plane, train, or bus). The multiple distinct guard plate patterns may be used to provide a different functionality such as, e.g., increased abrasion resistance in one discrete portion of the article and, using a different distinct guard plate pattern in a second discrete portion to provide, e.g., increased flexibility in the second portion. Other applications include, but are not limited to, protection of fabric against food stains or oil stains which are spilled over the fabric surface, and formation of continuous layer of air in gaps among dots or plates, when the fabric is used as a seat cover, which provides a person with the comfort of air-breathing and evaporation of perspiration.

[0018] FIG. 5 A is a conceptual diagram illustrating example fabric assembly 10 from a perspective view. Fabric assembly 10 includes a flexible fabric substrate 12 and a plurality of polymeric guard plates 14 on the top surface of substrate 12. In some example, for ease of description, fabric assembly 10 may be referred to herein as a "Syntamor." A "Syntamor" may refer to an abrasion resistant fabric assembly including a flexible fabric substrate (e.g., substrate 12) having a plurality of guard plates (e.g., guard plates 16) on one or more surfaces of the fabric. The guard plates 14 of a Syntamor may partially penetrate into the substrate fabric surface 12. In some embodiments, the guard plates 14 may be attached to fabric surface 12.

[0019] Syntamors may be made with a variety of different shapes and aspect ratios of guard plates in different guard plate geometries. Shapes and thickness of guard plates and gaps between guard plates and geometries can be determined so that abrasion resistance can be enhanced, while a reasonable degree of flexibility and/or stretching is retained for practical applications for apparel, gloves, luggage, handbags, boots or seat covers of transportation vehicles or covers of furniture and so on. A reasonable degree of flexibility may mean that the Syntamor exhibits a suitable flexibility for a given application, e.g., such as one or more of those applications described herein.

[0020] As shown in FIG. 5 A, the plurality of guard plates 14 are arranged on the surface of substrate 12 according to a single pattern repeated over the portion of substrate 12 shown in FIG. 5 A. Each individual plate 14 has substantially the same size as each other and the spacing between each plate 14 (e.g., the gap between adjacent guard plates 14) is substantially the same throughout.

[0021] FIG. 5B is a conceptual diagram illustrating example fabric assembly 16 from a perspective view. Similar to that of fabric assembly 10, fabric assembly 16 includes flexible fabric substrate 12 and plurality of polymeric guard plates 18. Guard plates 18 may be substantially similar to that of guard plates 14 (FIG. 5A). For example, guard plates 18 may be arranged on the surface of substrate 12 according to a single pattern repeated over the portion of substrate 12 shown in FIG. 5B. However, the pattern of guard plates 18 is different from the pattern of guard plates 14 (FIG. 5A). For example, the shapes of guard plates 18 are different than that of the shape of guard plates 14. Moreover, the pattern of plates 18 is defined using two different guard plates shapes rather than a single shape as in the pattern of guard plates 14 (FIG. 5A).

[0022] As show in FIGS. 5A and 5B, guard plates 14, 18 are arranged in static repeating patterns, that is, an area of the pattern (called a unit cell) can be defined such that the entire pattern can be formed by translating copies of the unit cell and matching them at their boundaries to form the overall guard plate structure. For some applications, it may be desirable to form a guard plate geometry pattern that varies dynamically within a fabric article surface. On a glove surface for example, it may be desirable to have one guard plate pattern on the palm of the glove and another guard plate pattern on the fingers. In a second example, the guard plate pattern can be changed over an area to make the area visually contrast with the surrounding area to make an image on the fabric surface while maintaining the advantageous abrasion resistance and flexibility of the guard plate protected fabric. Examples of images formed using dynamically changing guard plate patterns are shown in FIGS. 7 and 8A-8D.

[0023] In some examples, fabric assemblies including dynamically changing guard plate patterns may be used to provide protection of the fabric surface against mechanical risk such as abrasion, staining, and color fade, or to make the surface more comfortable in designated areas. In some examples, such a fabric covering may be desirable for such applications such as, e.g., work gloves, outdoor sporting gloves, clothing or automobile seating as well as commercial uses such as seat covers for stadium, train or bus seating.

[0024] Although not illustrated by either fabric assembly 10 or fabric assembly 16, is accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosure, in some embodiments, a fabric assembly may include a plurality of polymeric guard plates deposited on the surface of a substrate, where the plurality of polymeric guard plates are arranged on the surface of the fabric substrate according to multiple guard plate patterns. For example, on a first portion of the surface of a fabric substrate, a first array of guard plates may be arranged according to a first pattern (e.g., the pattern shown in FIG. 5A), and on a second, separate portion of the surface of the fabric substrate, a second array of guard plates may be arranged according to a second pattern (e.g., the pattern shown in FIG. 5B) different from the first pattern. Examples of fabric assemblies (or Syntamors) including guard plates arranged in multiple patterns are shown in FIGS. 7 and 8A-8D, which will be described further below. Although example of the disclosure are primarily described with regard to fabric assemblies incorporating two patterns for guard plates on the surface of the fabric substrate, it is contemplated that two or more patterns may be utilized. For examples, as fabric assembly may include guard plates arranged according to two, three, four, five, or more than five patterns on various portions of the surface of a fabric substrate.

[0025] Example fabric types for flexible fabric substrate 12 may include, but are not limited to, woven, non-woven, or knit fabrics having the ability to permit at least partial penetration of uncured resin used to form polymeric guard plates 14 after deposition of the uncured polymer on fabric substrate 12. Fabric materials include without limitations cotton and cotton-polyester blends and other natural and man- made fabrics having similar properties. In one example, flexible fabric substrate 12 may includes a tightly woven cotton-polyester blend. In such an example, this type of fabric may be used because resin compositions including heat-cured epoxy resins used to form plates 16 have been found to seep into and bond well with this substrate fabric. In some examples, substrate 12 may include a flexible and/or stretchable substrate such as a woven fabric commonly used for apparel or a non-woven fabric, or a flexible polymeric sheet or polymer film.

[0026] A guard plate, such as, e.g., guard plate 14 or guard plate 18, may be a 3- dimensional substantially solid plate formed of a cured polymeric composition that is bonded or otherwise attached to a surface of a fabric. In some example, a guard plate may have a substantially flat top surface (i.e., the surface of the guard plate substantially parallel to the top surface plane of substrate that the guard plate is formed on). In other example, a GP may include a dome-like top surface. A guard plate has a certain thickness protruding above the surface level of the substrate. When looked down from above the fabric substrate (referred to as the "top view"), a guard plate may have the shape of a polygon such as hexagon, pentagon, or other polygons. In some examples, a guard plate may also have a circular shape or an elliptic shape or oval shape. A guard plate may be comprised of a hard polymeric material such as a thermoset epoxy, which optionally may include one or more inorganic filler particles.

[0027] A guard plate may have the shape of any polygon in which any internal angle between two edges is less than about 180 degree (pi radian). A guard plate can also have any rounded shapes such as a circle, an ellipse, or an oval, which don't have concave boundaries. FIGS. 1A-1G illustrate various example shapes of guard plates 1 lA-11G, respectively. Other guard plates shapes are contemplated.

[0028] Size of a guard plate may be defined as the longest linear dimension of the shape of the guard plate. For example, the size of a guard plate of a circular shape is the diameter of the circle, and the size of a guard plate of hexagonal shape is the distance from a vertex of the hexagon to the farthest vertex among the remaining five vertexes. The size of a guard plate may range from about 0.2 millimeters to about 8 millimeters. However, other sizes are contemplated. In some examples, the size of a guard plate may range from about 3 millimeters to a few centimeters. In some examples, guard plate size is determined by the nature of intended applications Optimum size of guard plates may depend on the degree of bending or folding of the fabric including guard plates needed for particular applications. For example, tighter bending or folding of a fabric with guard plates may require smaller sizes of guard plates, while for applications requiring less tighter bending or folding of the fabric with guard plates may allow for larger sizes of guard plates. In some embodiments, a guard plate size may be in the range of about 1 mm to about 8 mm.

[0029] For a plurality of guard plates on the surface of a fabric substrate, the guard plates are separated from each other by gaps. The gaps may generally correspond to the portions of the fabric substrate that are not covered by guard plates, e.g., the uncovered surface of a fabric substrate between adjacent guard plates. When the guard plates are made of relatively hard abrasion protective materials that are substantially unflexible, a fabric substrate covered by guard plates with no gaps cannot be flexible. Accordingly, the gaps between guard plates may allow for flexibility and also, in many applications, for air and moisture permeability of a fabric substrate with guard plates. In some embodiments, the gap width between adjacent guard plates may be in the range of about 0.1 mm to about 2.5mm.

[0030] The gaps between guard plates may form a continuous network. In some examples, when the guard plate patterns are polygons, the gaps may maintain a substantially constant width. In this case, the gaps may be thought of as line segments with finite widths equal to the gap width. The intersection of these line segments may be referred to as a 'vertex'. The area of the guard plates near a vertex may be mechanically weaker than other parts of the guard plates since the guard plates come to a point near a vertex. The greater the number of gap 'line segments' that come together at a vertex, the weaker neighboring guard plates may become. In some examples, a Syntamor may have a maximum of four gap 'line segments' converging at each vertex. Some vertices may have three gap 'line segments' converging. In some examples, it may be preferable to arrange guard plates in a pattern or patterns which minimizes the number of converging gap 'line segments' used. The hexagon shaped guard plates shown in FIG. 3A have only three gap 'line segments' at each vertex. The hexagon pattern has the desirable property of having no straight line gap alignments making the pattern provide for resistance to cutting and slicing with blades. In some instances, it may be desirable to have a guard plate geometry pattern with more flexibility than the hexagon pattern while keeping the overall abrasion and cut resistance of a large sized hexagon pattern. A guard plate design that accomplishes this with two different gap width sizes and retains the advantageous three gap 'line segments' at each vertex is shown in FIGS. 8B and 8C as the background pattern (i.e., the pattern used to arrange the array of guards plates in first portion 44 of fabric assemblies 48b and 48c. In such a pattern, each hexagon is further split into three areas by narrower guard plates. This gives the original individual hexagon guard plate itself some flexibility that is controllable by choosing the gap widths of the intra- hexagon gaps.

[0031] A guard plate pattern is not a substantially 2-dimensional pattern created on a substrate surface, which may be the case for typical screen-printed images or patterns on a T-shirt, for example. Rather, a guard plate pattern may be 3 -dimensional in the sense that each guard plates has a thickness and protrudes away from (or out of) the surface of a fabric substrate. Such a feature is illustrated in FIGS. 5 A and 5B. The thickness of a guard plate may be defined as the averaged thickness of the part of a guard plate which protrudes above the substrate surface. In some examples, a guard plate may have a thickness that is more than 5 percent but less than 50 percent of the size of the guard plate. In some examples, a guard plate has a thickness of at least 4 mils, such as, e.g., at least 8 mils or at least 12 mils. In some embodiments the thickness of a guard plates may be in a range from about 0.1 mm to about 1.0 mm.

[0032] An aspect ratio for a guard plate may be defined as a dimensionless number obtained by dividing the size of the guard plate by the thickness of the guard plate. For example, an aspect ratio of five means that the size of a guard plate is 5 times of the thickness of the guard plate. In some examples, aspect ratio of guard plates of this disclosure may be in the range of about 2 to about 20. FIGS. 2 A and 2B are conceptual diagrams illustrating cross-sectional views of guard plates 32 on fabric substrate 30. As shown, guard plates 30 in FIG. 2A have a difference size and thicknesses than the guard plates 30 in FIG.2b, and, hence, different aspect ratios. In some examples, if the aspect ratio of a guard plate is too small, a vertical orientation of a guard plate may become unstable and the guard plate may tend to "tip over" under a shear stress. If the aspect ratio of a guard plate is too large, the guard plate may tend to break apart under a bending stress since the guard plate is a piece of a hard solid material. Selection of proper aspect ratio of a guard plate can depend on the nature of intended applications.

[0033] In some examples, the size of guard plates may range from about 1 mm to about 5 mm (e.g., about 0.04 inches to about 0.2 inches), preferably from about 1 mm to about 3 mm (e.g., about 0.04 inches to about 0.1 inches) and thickness of guard plates may range from about 0.1 mm about 1 mm (e.g., about 0.004 inches to about 0.04 inches).

[0034] FIGS. 3A-3D are conceptual diagrams illustrating different shapes and patterns of guard plates from a plan view (i.e., looking down from above the surface of the fabric substrate).

[0035] FIGS. 4A-4D are conceptual diagrams illustrating various vertical profiles of example GPs 36, 38, 40, 42, respectively, on fabric substrate 34. A guard plate can have variety of different vertical profiles including those shown in FIGS. 4A-4D. The vertical profile of a guard plate may generally refer to the shape of a guard plate when cut in half vertically. A vertical profile of a guard plate may have sharp corners at its edges, or well-rounded corners, or flat top surface or a dome-like over-all profile.

[0036] Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, plurality of plates 14, 18 may be affixed to the top surface of flexible fabric layer 12. Plates 14, 18 may be affixed to the surface of flexible fabric layer 12 via any suitable means. In some examples, the uncured polymeric resin of plates 14, 18 may be allowed to partially penetrate the surface of flexible fabric layer 12 after being deposited, e.g., printed, on layer 12, and then cured to provide mechanical attachment of plates 14, 18 to layer 12. In other examples, cured resin plates 14, 18 may be attached to the surface of flexible layer 12 using one or more suitable adhesives.

[0037] In some example, guard plates 14, 18 may be arranged on substrate 12 to impart abrasive, abrasion resistance, or other properties to fabric assemblies 10, 16 not normally exhibited by fabric substrate 12 without the presence of guard plates 14, 18. Guard plates 14, 18 may be formed of any suitable polymeric resin composition including, but not limited to, one or more example polymeric resin compositions described in U.S. application serial application serial no. 11/748,941, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference. Plates 14, 18 may be formed of UV or thermal cureable polymeric compositions.

[0038] Suitable polymeric compositions for forming guard plates 14, 18 may include epoxy resin(s). In one embodiment, plates 14, 18 may be formed of heat-cured epoxy resin. Another example of an appropriate resin may be ultra-violet (UV) cured acrylate. Depending on the particular application, plates 14, 18 of fabric assembly 10, 16 may have a hardness between about 70 and about 100 Shore D, such as, e.g., between about 80 and about 95 Shore D. The hardness of plates 14, 18 may depend on a number of factors including, but not limited to, the polymeric resin composition used to form the plates and/or the process used to cure the polymeric resin

composition after being deposited on the surface of flexible layer 12. In some embodiments the guard plates may comprise a thermoset epoxy. In some embodiments the guard plates may comprise inorganic filler particles. Thermally cured polymeric materials used for guard plates may be relatively hard and crack-resistant.

[0039] In some example, the polymer resin selected for use to form guard plates may ensure a strong bond between the guard plate and the fabric substrate base material. In some examples, a suitable polymer resin for construction of guard plates is a one-part heat-curable epoxy resin formulated to (i) provide abrasion resistance, (ii) be screen printable, (iii) be resistant to fracture, (iv) be bondable to the base material, and (v) have good shape definition during printing and curing of the guard plate material. Such resins may be readily formulated to meet these criteria and are available from, for example, Fielco Industries, Inc., Huntingdon Valley, PA, 19006, which has formulated resins that may meet the characteristics set forth in this paragraph and has given them the designations: TR21 and TR84. Other examples of suitable resin formulations are available from Hexion Specialty Chemicals, Columbus, OH 43215. For example, Hexion Starting Formulation 4019 may be a suitable thermosetting heat curable epoxy base resin formulation. In some examples, abrasion resistance provided by guard plates can be increased by adding small particles (e.g., 1 to 100 micrometers) of silica, alumina, silicon carbide, titanium oxide and the like to the resin.

[0040] Additional information on embodiments of materials, including resins and fabrics, and processes that could be used to produce the guard plate geometries of this disclosure are described in U.S. Patent No. 7,018,692 filed December 31, 2001 and U.S. Patent No. 6,962,739 filed July 6, 2000. Another embodiment of this disclosure could be a second layer of polygons (guard plates) formed on top of a first layer of polygons (guard plates) as described in U.S. Patent No. 7,018,692 filed December 31, 2001. In some embodiments the fabric substrates for the designing fabric could be woven or nonwoven and made of natural, for example, cotton, or synthetic, such as polyester or nylon. The polymeric resin used for the polygons can be, as described above, themoset epoxy resin. The entire content of each of the patents and published patent applications described in this disclose is incorporated herein by reference.

[0041] In some embodiments, the use of low-wicking resin compositions to form guard plates 14, 18 may allow assemblies 10, 12 to maintain a relatively high degree of flexibility (e.g., substantially the same as that of substrate 12 without plates 14, 18) despite the presence of guard plates 14, 18. In some examples, during screen-printing or similar manufacturing processes of making polymeric resin plates on a fabric substrate, uncured polymeric materials tend to wick into the gaps between adjacent deposits. If the cured polymeric material of the plates is soft or rubbery, the wicking of the material before and/or during curing may not make the screen-printed fabric stiff, since the wicked portion of the material is still soft or rubbery after it is cured. However, if the cured material of plates is hard (for example, between about 80 to about 95 SHORE D hardness), the portion of the material wicked into gaps before and/or during curing may cause the screen-printed fabric to stiffen an undesirable amount. Using a low-wicking resin composition may allow for cured hard plates to be formed on the surface of flexible fabric layer 12 without substantially changing the flexibility of fabric layer 12 or scrub pad 10.

[0042] In some examples, a low-wicking polymeric resin composition may include one or more of an epoxy resin, phenolic resin, e.g., bakelite, polyester resin, polyurethane resin, polyimide resin, allyl resin, and the like. The polymeric resin may be a polymeric resin that irreversibly cross-links via a radiative process, such as, e.g., a thermal and/or UV process. In some examples, the polymeric resin formulation may include thermosetting resins and/or light turbo resins such as acrlyates, arylate copolymers, styrenes, and hybrids. Example epoxy resins may include Epon 828, a di- functional glycidyl ether based on bisphenol A, (obtained from Hexion Corporation, Columbus, OH), Epon 161, which is mulit- functional gylcidyl epoxy of a novolac oligomer (also available from Hexion), and/or Epon 160, which is a higher molecular weight analog of Epon 161(also available from Hexion).

[0043] In some examples, the resin composition may include one or more additives. Additives may include one or more suitable curing agents, rheology modifiers, such as, e.g., one or more thixotropes, surfactants, dispersants, diluents, air release agents, fillers, colorants (dyes), glass beads, and/or the like. In some examples, a rheological modifier may impart yield stress on the resin composition, and may cause the resin composition to exhibit gel- like properties. In some examples, the resin composition may include one or more appropriate rheological modifiers from available from Hexion Corp, Columbus, OH 43215, such as, e.g., Heloxy Modifier 67. In some examples, the resin composition may include BYK 525, 555, which are bubble releasing materials from BYK USA, Wallingford, CT; BYK-9010, which is a wetting/dispersing aid also from BYK; and/or A- 187, which is an epoxy functional silane available from GE Silicones. Examples colorants may include Ti0 ₂ , burnt umber, FD&C blue #2, cardinal pthalo blue, and BK 5099. In some examples, appropriate fillers may be included in the resin composition, such as, e.g., Imsil A30 available from Unimin Specialty Minerals, Inc, New Canaan, CT 06840.

[0044] As described above, in accordance with one or more examples of the disclosure, a fabric assembly (or Syntamor) may include a plurality of cured polymeric guard plates on the surface of a fabric substrate, where the plurality of polymeric guard plates includes at least a first array of guard plates arranged according to a first pattern on a first portion of the fabric surface, and a second array of guard plates arranged according to a second pattern, which is different from the first pattern, on a second portion of the fabric surface separate from the first portion.

[0045] FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example glove formed from an example fabric assembly 20 (or Syntamor). Fabric assembly 20 includes plurality of guard plates 26 on the surface of fabric substrate 28. Plurality of guard plates 26 includes first array of guard plates 26a on the surface of first portion 24 of substrate 28, and second array of guard plates 26b on the surface of second portion 22of guard plates 26b. As shown, first array of guard plates 26a is arranged according to a different pattern than that of second array of guard plates 26b. In some examples, the pattern used for guard plates 26a in first portion 24 may provide for different abrasions resistance and/or flexibility than that of second portion 22 including guard plates 26b.

[0046] The pattern of an array of guard plates may be defined by one or more characteristics including, but not limited to, gap width, guard plate shape, guard plate thickness, and/or guard plate size. For example, for first and second patterns different from one another, an array of guard plates may be arranged such that the gap width between adjacent plates defined by a first pattern is greater than or less than the gap width between adjacent plates defined by the second pattern. In such an example, the gap width defined by the first array of guard plates between adjacent plates on a first portion of fabric substrate arranged according to a first pattern may be less than or greater than the gap width defined by a second array of guard plates between adjacent plates on a second portion of fabric substrate arranged according to a second pattern different from the first. In some examples, a first pattern may define gap widths that are between approximately 20 percent to about 80 percent of the gap widths defined by a second pattern.

[0047] Alternatively or additionally, a first pattern may define guard plates shape(s) that are different than that of guard plate shape(s) defined by a second pattern. For example, the guard plates of a first array arranged according to a first pattern may have a first shape (e.g., circle) while the guard plates of a second array arranged according to a second pattern may have a second shape (e.g., hexagon). Such an example is illustrated in FIG. 7.

[0048] Alternatively or additionally, a first pattern may define a guard plate size that is different from that of guard plate size defined by the second pattern. For example, the guard plate size of guard plates of a first array arranged according to a first pattern may be less than or greater that the guard plate size of guard plates of a second array arranged according to a second pattern. Such characteristics may refer to average guard plates size (e.g., in cases in which the size may of guard plate may vary within an array) or individual size of guard plates (e.g., in cases in which the size of a guard plate is substantially uniform throughout the array). In some example, smaller guard plates may allow for tighter bending, which may be useful, for example, in the fingers of a glove compared to the back side or palm where larger guard plates may be used.

[0049] Changes to the sizes of the guard plates and/or changes to the gap widths between guard plates may be made together, as in applying a scaling factor to all of the patterns lengths, or may be applied separately. As described above, other changes that may be made to the guard plate pattern are changes in the shapes of the guard plates and/or changes to the positions of neighboring guards plates, as, for example, changing from a square lattice of guard plates to guard plates on an hexagonal lattice.

[0050] Another aspect that may be used to characterize a guard plate pattern is the vertical profile of the guard plates in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the substrate. The guard plates may be more or less rounded at the edges of the plates for different patterns. The guard plates may also have different roughness on the outer surface of the guard plates for different patterns. In some examples, different patterns may define different guard plate thicknesses. In some examples, the shininess of surface of dots or plates may vary from one surface region to other surface regions.

[0051] A pattern may be characterized in some examples by the area of surface covered by guard plates over a first portion. Such a characteristic may be referred to as guard plate array density and may be expressed as the percentage of the surface of a fabric substrate covered by an array of guard plates over a defined portion of the substrate. In some example, different patterns for arranging arrays of guard plates may correspond to different guard plate array densities. For a fabric assembly including a first array of guard plates arranged according to a first pattern on a first portion of a fabric substrate may have a guard plate density that is greater than or less than the guard plate density of a second array of guard plates arranged according to a second pattern on a second portion of a fabric substrate. In some examples, the density of guard plates on the surface of a fabric substrate may be greater than approximately 30 percent, such as, e.g., greater than approximately 70 percent, for the portions of the surface on which the plurality of guard plates are formed. In some examples, the density of guard plates defined by a first pattern may be approximately 5 percent to approximately 35 percent greater than a density defined by a second pattern. For example, for a pattern defining a density of about 50 percent, a density that is about 35 percent greater is equal to approximately 85 percent.

[0052] Guard plate density may directly relate to properties of the fabric assembly such as abrasion resistance and, since it is related to the amount of substrate that is visible, it contributes to the observed color of the fabric when the fabric substrate and the guard plates have different colors. Therefore, an example of how to create areas with different colors is to change the gap widths between guard plates while keeping the guard plate size and shape substantially constant.

[0053] In some example, the patterns of guard plate arrays may change abruptly between a first and second pattern on the surface of a fabric substrate. FIGS. 8A-8D illustrate example fabric assemblies 48A-48D, respectively, in which a relatively abrupt change occurs between two different patterns used to arrange the array of guard plates in first and second portions 44 and 46, respectively, on the surface of the fabric substrate. As shown in FIGS. 8A-8Dd, the pattern of the guard plates may change abruptly from one domain or portion of the fabric assembly to another domain or portion of the same fabric assembly with visually well-defined boundaries between two neighboring domains. In FIGS. 8A-D, one can easily see images or patterns of different domains, which have distinctively different patterns of guard plates.

[0054] As shown, a portion including an array of guard plates arranged according to a single pattern is not necessarily a single continuous portion on the surface of a fabric substrate but may include two or more discontinuous portions. For example, in FIG. 8A, multiple portions 46 on the surface of the fabric substrate all include arrays of guard plates arranged according to the same pattern. The portion 44 of the fabric substrate including guard plates arranged according to a first pattern may substantially surround one or more portions of the fabric substrate including guard plates arranged according to a second pattern.

[0055] In some examples, such those when the changes in guard plate geometry between regions are used for the formation of visible images, further enhancements to the image visibility and overall perceived quality can be realized by creating a gap between the portions including different patterns. For example, a gap may be used to outline the boundary of a first portion having guard plates arranged according to a first pattern to provide separation between a second portion having guard plates arranged according to a second pattern. In some examples, the boundary gap is slightly larger (e.g., about 110 percent to about 300 percent) of the largest gap between the guard plates in either one of the regions. Additional image quality can be obtained by making partial guard plates at the boundary of one or both of the regions.

[0056] In other examples, the patterns of guard plate arrays may change gradually between a first and second pattern on the surface of a fabric substrate. For example, for a gradual change, a transition portion on the surface of the fabric substrate may separate the first and second portions having guard plates arranged in first and second patterns, respectively. Within the transition portion, guard plates may be on the surface of the fabric substrate may be arranged such that the first pattern gradually transitions to the second pattern. For patterns differentiated by guard plate sizes, within the transition area, the size of the guard plates nearest the first portion may be substantially the same as that of the first pattern and the size of the guard plates nearest the second portion may be substantially the same as the size of that of the second pattern. The guard plates in between the two borders may have a size in between that of the first and second patterns, in which case the size of individual guard plates is determined based on the proximity of the plates relative to the first and second portions.

[0057] In some examples, a transition from one pattern to a second pattern may take place over a distance greater than twice the distance between two guard plate centers. In another embodiment the dynamic change in the guard plate geometry may transition from one pattern to a second pattern may take place over a distance smaller than twice the distance between two guard plates.

[0058] As may be apparent from the following discussion, one or more advantages may be provided by embodiments of the disclosure. However, embodiments of the disclosure do not necessarily provide such advantages.

[0059] The degree of flexibility and/or degree of stretching of a Syntamor may depend largely on the geometries of the guard plates. In general, a Syntamor with larger gaps between guard plates and smaller size of guard plates may be more flexible and more stretchable than another Syntamor with smaller gaps between guard plates and larger size of guard plates. In some cases, Syntamors may be used as components of apparel or footwear or gloves, or luggage, abrasion resistant elbow pads, or flexible bags, or seat covers of transportation vehicles or furniture upholstery. Certain surface areas of these products would require different degrees of flexibilities and different degrees of protection against abrasion or slash. For example, a palm area of a glove may not require as much tight bending or folding as finger areas of a glove. Elbow areas of sleeves of a uniform may require more bending or flexibility or stretching than backside of the uniform. This is important because over-all flexibility and stretching of the original fabric may be reduced to some degree, once guard plates are bonded to the fabric surface.

[0060] Also, the degree of protection of a fabric will depend on the geometry of the guard plates. One area of apparel may need more protection against abrasion than another area of the same apparel. For example, elbow areas and knee areas of a military uniform may need more protection against abrasion than other areas of the uniform. Therefore, changing the pattern from one region to another region with gradual changes or with abrupt changes can provide a Syntamor with more flexibility and/or stretching and at the same keeping optimized protection at different surface areas of a finished product which incorporates the Syntamor.

[0061] In the examples of shown in FIGS. 8A-8D, one can easily see images or patterns in these figures, which may be desirable based on the application of the Syntamor. A Syntamor with different domains of different patterns of guard plates, as shown the FIGS. 8A-8D, can create visually distinctive images or patterns. These images or patterns can express logos of a company or certain visual messages or simply nice-looking patterns or decorations on a Syntamor. One can create these images and patterns by simply changing the pattern of the guard plates in different domains. In some examples, textual images may be formed using multiple patterns for guard plates of a fabric assembly. In some example images or patterns, one can see some 'depth' of such images or patterns since guard plates have thickness. In contrast, images or patterns conventionally printed on a fabric do not show any 'depth' of such images or patterns.

[0062] Example guard plate patterns include the example pattern are shown in FIGS. 3D and in regions 46 of FIGS. 8A, 8B, and 8C of region 44 of FIG. 8D. These examples show a hexagonal 'honeycomb' guard plate pattern which has been modified by randomly displacing hexagon vertices by a small amount. As used herein, a vertex may be the end of a line drawn down the center of a gap between guard plates. These lines form the hexagons in the honeycomb pattern and the vertices are the corners of the hexagons. These random patterns can be generated by the following algorithm:

(1) Create repeated patterns of symmetrical polygons, which fill completely a 2-dimensional flat rectangular surface area of two side lengths of Lx and Ly, where Lx is an integral number of unit cells lengths in the x- direction and Ly is an integral number of unit cells in the y-direction. This allows the rectangular surface area to be arbitrarily enlarged in the x and y directions by stacking repeated areas in the x and y directions while preserving the pattern integrity. Positions of each vertex of polygons are specified by a Cartesian coordinate system. Let X and Y be x-coordinate and y-coordinate, respectively, of a vertex respectively in the Cartesian coordinate. All x- coordinates of vertexes must be equal to or greater than 0 (zero) and also must be less than Lx. All y-coordinates of vertexes must be equal to or greater than 0 (zero) and less than Ly.

(2) Determine a distance R, which is shorter than the shortest edge of the polygons. R may be referred to as the "jumping limit" since it will be the maximum distance a vertex can "jump" to a new position. A vertex will "jump" a randomly chosen distance, which is always less than R, along a randomly selected direction to a new position from its original position.

(3) Select systematically a vertex from all vertexes of the original symmetric 'undistorted' polygons.

(4) Generate two random numbers, each of which is equal to or great than -1 and less than +1. The two random numbers may be referred to as ql and q2. Then, compute two new random numbers, si and s2, where si is equal to ql multiplied by R, and s2 is equal to q2 multiplied by R, respectively.

(5) If R is greater than square root of [square of si plus square of s2], discard si and s2 and go to step (4). If R is less than square root of [square of si plus square of s2], define X2=X+sl and Y2=and Y+s2. If X2 is less than 0 (zero), add Lx to X2 and it becomes a new value of X2. If X2 is greater than Lx, subtract Lx from X2, and it becomes a new value of X2. If Y2 is less than 0 (zero), add Ly to Y2, and it becomes a new value of Y2. If Y2 is greater than Ly, subtract Ly from Y2, and it becomes a new value of Y2. Then, X2 and Y2 become the new x-coordinate and y-coordinate of the selected vertex (the jumped vertex). In the cases where Lx or Ly were added or subtracted, the connectivity of the selected vertex becomes the connectivity of the formerly virtual vertex originally located just outside of the Lx, Ly rectangular area in the periodically extended area at the original selected vertex location.

(6) Check if all vertexes have been selected to go through the steps from (4) and (5). If yes, go to step (7). If no, go to step (3).

(7) All vertexes have moved to their new randomly jumped positions. The algorithm stops.

[0063] In this algorithm, R determines "a measure" of randomness of the randomly distorted polygons created by the algorithm One can control a statistically averaged measure of randomness of the distorted polygons easily by determining the right value of R. R should be significantly smaller than the longest length of any edges of the original undistorted symmetric polygons. At the same time, R also should be smaller than the shortest length of any edges of the original undistorted symmetric polygons. If R is too large, the created polygons will be severely distorted. If R is too small, the newly created polygons will look not much different from the original undistorted polygons. In some examples, R may be between about 70 percent to about 80 percent shorter than the shortest length of any edges of the original undistorted symmetric polygons. [0064] An additional consideration is the inside angle at a vertex. In some instances, this angle should be greater than or equal to about 30 degrees to provide a more crack resistance guard plate during the bending of the fabric substrate on which it is deposited. Additionally, in some examples, this angle should also be less than or equal to about 180 degrees. The above algorithm may be used to define one or more patterns for arranging a plurality of guard plate according to one or more example described in this disclosure. For example, such an algorithm may be used to define one or both patterns for a fabric assembly having first and second arrays of guard plates arranged according to first and second patterns, respectively, different than one another. In another examples, such an algorithm may be used to define a the guard plate pattern for a fabric assembly having an array of guard plates arranged only according to a single pattern.

[0065] In some examples, gaps between guard plates provide a Syntamor not only much needed flexibility and/or stretching, but also often highly desirable air- permeability. Such air-permeability of a Syntamor may be important for its applications on apparel, boots, and gloves. The pattern or patterns of guard plates on a Syntamor may be selected to provide a desirable level of air-permeability, flexibility and/or stretching.

[0066] Certain aspects defined by a pattern, such as, e.g., gaps in a Syntamor, may also offer the possibility of creating interesting patterns and designs through the use of fabric substrates that have color patterns on them. Patterns may be defined such that gap are wide enough to reveal colors or even patterns or images of the original fabric beneath the guard plates. Proper determination of color of guard plates, colors, and patterns the original fabric, and gaps can create multi-colored and sophisticated- looking images or patterns on a Syntamor.

[0067] In some embodiments, another fabric substrate can also be laminated at the bottom-side (the opposite side of the guard plates) of a Syntamor for variety of reasons. In some examples, the tensile strength of a Syntamor may not be suitable for some applications since tensile strength of a Syntamor may depend on the tensile strength of the original fabric substrate before guard plates are bonded to the substrate. In such cases, a lamination of another properly selected fabric, or a polymeric film, enhances the tensile strength of laminated Syntamor significantly. In addition, it is highly desirable, in many applications, that a Syntamor has reasonable degree of air permeation and at the same, water-resistant or waterproof properties. This can be accomplished by laminating a selected fabric or a polymeric film on the bottom-side of a Syntamor.

[0068] One or more suitable techniques may be used to manufacture example fabric assemblies described herein. In some examples, suitable screen printing techniques may be used. In one example, a woven mesh is used to support a resin-blocking stencil. Resin-blocking material is coated on the mesh and subsequently exposed with the desired pattern of the guard plates. After developing or washing away of the exposed areas of the photosensitive resin-blocking material, the resulting screen may be used to transfer flowable resin paste onto the fabric substrate surface. The area of a single guard plate on the resulting stencil pattern consists of unblocked areas of the screen mesh in the shape of the guard plate. Resin is pressed through the stencil onto the fabric substrate surface which it partially penetrates. The resin forms into the shapes of the stencil since the mesh dimensions are small and resin flowing through neighboring mesh openings merges together on the fabric surface. This method is useful for producing sheets of the guard plate protected fabric described herein. After deposition of the uncured polymer material, the fabric assembly is heated in an oven to heat cure the guard plates. A screen mesh stencil pattern suitable for printing the multi-pattern fabric assemblies can be fabricated by exposing the photosensitive material of the stencil to form distinct areas on the screen mesh stencil with distinct guard plate patterns.

[0069] In some examples, guard plates may also be formed on continuous rolls of fabric substrate using suitable rotary printing technique. In this case, the shapes of guard plates are formed as holes in a rotary screen. Such screens are may be used in the fabric printing art, and may be obtained from, for example, Stork Prints BV, Boxmeer, The Netherlands. The flowable resin may be applied to the inner portion of the rotary screen and forced through the screen with a blade onto the fabric surface. The resin pressed onto the fabric substrate surface partially penetrates the fabric substrate. After deposition, the printed fabric passes through a heated area to cure the thermosetting epoxy based guard plates.

[0070] The following description may illustrate one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

[0071] A Syntamor may include guard plates on the fabrics subsrate made of hard materials rather than soft or rubbery material. Hence, the guard plates in such

Syntamor adds significant abrasion resistance to the fabrics compared to those which use soft or rubber plates. In some examples, a Syntamor may include a fabric surface densely populated with guard plates rather than sparsely populated. In some examples, sparse population may refer to examples in which gaps between two nearest guard plates are much larger than averaged size of guard plates. Conversely, in some examples, a Syntamor may include guard plates arranged such that gaps between two nearest dots or plates are similar to or smaller than averaged size of dots or plates. Hence, while the percentage of fabric surface that is covered by guard plates may less than about 30% in sparsely populated assemblies, an example Syntamor may exhibit a guard plate density greater than about 30% in HDM Products. In such an examples, for sparsely populated examples, most of fabric surface, when pressed or rubbed on a hard surface such as the surface of a cement block, brick, or a stone, may have direct contact with the hard surface and may suffer abrasion or other mechanical damages in conventional fabrics, while a fabric surface of a Syntamor with greater than about 30% density may be well protected against abrasion or other mechanical damages in similar situations.

[0072] In some examples, a Syntamor may be used as a seat cover on a chair or furniture. In such an example, the Syntamor may be configured such that there are continuous gaps filled with air between the fabric and a seated person. The air in the continuous gaps facilitates air-breathing and perspiration of moisture from the human body and enhances the comfort those who sit on the chair for long time. Such a configuration may be used rather than a configuration in which most surface area of the fabric has direct contact with a seated person resulting in limited perspiration transport and making the chair less comfortable for long term sitting. Therefore, the 3 -dimensional nature of the guard plates in this disclosure may provide for such an advantage compared to that of examples in which a fabric substrate has only 2- dimensional features on the surface.

[0073] For fabrics sparsely covered by guard plates, the fabrics may be easily stained or soiled with spilled food debris, spills of soda, or greasy oils or chewing gums, since majority of the surface area of the fabric is not covered by guard plates. Conversely, in some example Syntamors, the majority of surface area of a fabric may be densely populated with guard plates (e.g., greater than 30%) made of highly stain-resistant materials and fabrics in the narrow gaps between guard plates. In such example, a Syntamor can retain a variety of treatments for stain resistant materials through coating or spraying or dying. A fabric sparsely covered with relatively soft rubber dots rather than example of guard plates describe herein, such treatments for stain- resistance may easily wear through mechanical contact or friction between the treated fabric surface and an abrasive surface.

[0074] A fabric sparsely covered with soft or rubbery dots may provide enhanced grip or anti-slipperiness to a user of gloves. Conversely, the hard and/or tough guard plates of a Syntamor may provide mechanical protection against, e.g., as abrasion or laceration, when used to a user of gloves or a military uniform or a motorcycle rider or worker at a machine shop or a skier.

[0075] In applications where flexibility is needed, fabrics with sparsely populated soft rubber dots can suffer from functional restrictions due to requirements of low coverage of the fabric surface and requiring highly flexible material to make up the dot itself. In these cases, the percentage of fabric surface covered by the 'dots' is generally less than about 30%. Such products may use sparsely spaced, flexible materials for dots due to the technical difficulty of making globally flexible composite fabrics using an array of hard dots with narrow gaps between them. More specifically, if a pattern of narrowly spaced hard dots is placed or printed on a fabric substrate by using a flowable resin followed by a subsequent curing step, there is a technical challenge to overcome the wicking of the uncured resin into the fabric between the dots. During screen-printing or similar manufacturing processes of making the pattern of dots on a fabric, uncured polymeric materials may wick into the gaps between the dots. If the cured polymeric material of the dots is soft or rubbery, the wicking of the material before or during curing doesn't make the screen-printed fabric stiff since the wicked portion of the material is still soft or rubbery after it is cured. However, in some examples, if the cured material of dots is relatively hard (e.g., between 80 to 95 SHORE D hardness), the portion of the material wicked into gaps before or during curing makes the screen-printed fabric stiff, even with a small amount of wicking.

[0076] As described above, in some examples, the disclosure relates to Syntamor articles having a plurality of guard plates on the surface of a fabric substrate. The plurality of guard plates may have pattern that can be described by the guard plate shapes and by the locations of neighboring guard plates. The resulting spaces or gaps between the guard plates are important to the functioning of the resulting fabric. Such Syntamors may be flexible and conform to shapes appropriate to their designed use. For example, guard plate pattern may be designed to offer a flexible scrub pad for cleaning curved shapes such as china used for food service. In another example, a particular guard plate pattern may be designed to offer a flexible and supple abrasion resistant apparel article.

[0077] Guard plate patterns may define dense coverage of the Syntamor surface while maintaining fabric flexibility and suppleness. Fabric flexibility and suppleness may refer to the ability to conform the Syntamor to a particular use. For a scrub pad this means conforming the fabric to the shape of the article to be cleaned. For clothing this means conforming to the shape of the clothing article and dynamic body movements performed in normal use of the clothing article. For example, a glove may require the abrasion or cut protection afforded by fabrics with incorporated guard plates in the area of a finger. In another example, the abrasion resistance of fabrics with incorporated guard plates may be required on an elbow of a shirt or jacket or on the knee of pants or other over garment. [0078] In one example, a Syntamor can have not only a high degree of abrasion resistance but also stain-resistance against oils, grease, paints, dirt, or wet or greasy foodstuff. A Syntamor may be highly durable since its surface may be protected by guard plates made of hard materials. In some examples, the portion of fabric in gaps between guard plates is the original fabric and is not covered directly by guard plates. However, when gaps are similar or less than size of guard plates, the surface of a Syntamor in the gaps may also be well protected. Such a feature may be depicted in FIGS. 6A and 6B. Therefore, the fabric substrate of the Syntamor may be protected from wear and abrasion of external objects. Since the guard plates may be uniform in their composition throughout their depth, abrasive wear on the guard plates will leave the Syntamor with the same appearance. Thus, the durability of the Syntamor may be improved over unprotected fabric substrates, in some examples, by a factor of about 5 or greater in a Tabor abrasion test, while the appearance of the fabric remains constant. Additionally, anti-stain treatments on the fabric substrate may remain intact for a prolonged period compared to unprotected fabric substrates and hence, a Syntamor may be more stain resistant than an unprotected fabric substrate.

[0079] In some examples, the abrasion resistance of a Syntamor may be enhanced by the large percentage of its surface that is covered by guard plates. In some examples, Syntamors have guard plate coverage on greater than about 70 percent of their surface area.

[0080] In addition to abrasion resistance, in some examples, a Syntamors may include a relatively high degree of flexibility and suppleness, and air permeability. In some examples, the 3-dimensional nature of the guard plates of a Syntamor allowing for the extension of the guard plates in a direction perpendicular to the surface and the gaps between guard plates ensures that a volume of air is available next to the Syntamor fabric surface. For a Syntamor covered seat, this and the air permeability make it more comfortable to use in hot or humid weather.

[0081] In some examples, Syntamors can also be laminated on the side opposite the guard plates to other fabrics to enhance such properties as tensile strength. [0082] Various examples have been described in this disclosure. In one example, the disclosure relates to a fabric assembly comprisinga flexible fabric substrate having a top surface; and a plurality of polymeric guard plates on the top surface of the flexible fabric substrate, where the plurality of polymeric guard plates have a substantially uniform in thickness of approximately 0.1 mm to 0.5 mm, where the fabric assembly is divided into at least two distinct areas, where the plurality of polymeric guard plates in each distinct area has a distinct geometry composed of at least one of the geometric attributes of guard plate size, gap width between guard plates, guard plate shape, guard plate layout, shape of guard plate surface away from the fabric substrate surface, where the plates have an average maximum dimension of a cross section of a bird's eye view perpendicular to the surface in the range of 1 mm to 8 mm, and gaps separate adjacent guard plates so as define areas of fabric surface not covered by the guard plates, the gaps being connected to form a continuous network over entire fabric surface.

[0083] In some examples, the plate thickness is between 0.25 mm to 0.46 mm.

[0084] In some examples, the flexible fabric substrate is a woven fabric.

[0085] In some examples, the polymeric resin used for the guard plates comprises epoxy.

[0086] In some examples, the hardness of cured guard plates is between 75 to 95 Shore D.

[0087] In some examples, the longest linear length of the guard plate shape is between 1.5 mm and 4 mm.

[0088] In some examples, the distinct areas and distinct geometries are chosen to form a visible image on the surface of the fabric assembly.

[0089] In some examples, a gap is formed between the distinct areas each having a distinct guard plate geometry.

[0090] In some examples, partial guard plates are formed on the edges of the distinct areas each having distinct guard plate geometries to enhance the visual quality of the images formed. [0091] In some examples, the distinct areas each having a distinct guard plate geometry and the guard plate geometries are chosen to enhance the abrasion resistance of at least one of the distinct areas.

[0092] In some examples, the distinct areas each having a distinct guard plate geometry and the guard plate geometries is selected to enhance the flexibility and suppleness of at least one of the distinct areas.

[0093] In some examples, the distinct areas each having a distinct guard plate geometry and the guard plate geometries are chosen to enhance the air permeability and flow of at least one of the distinct areas.

[0094] Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.