This invention relates to a knitted fabric and a method for knitting that fabric. The fabric is applicable as shade cloth providing shade and other protection to an underlying area or space. In one specific application, the shade cloth covers and shelters feed lot animals. It will be convenient to hereinafter disclose the invention in relation to that exemplary application, although it is to be appreciated that the invention is not limited thereto.

The following discussion of the background to the invention is intended to facilitate an understanding of the invention. However, it should be appreciated that the discussion is not an acknowledgement or admission that any of the material referred to was published, known or part of the common general knowledge as at the priority date of the application.

In a typical application, a knitted mesh fabric such as shade cloth is extended and supported over an area or space to be shaded or otherwise protected. Animals confined in feed lots can be shaded by fabric supported over the animal yarding. Varying the fabric threads and knit density will alter the shade effect or factor of the fabric, so that different levels of protection and environments within the area can be created beneath the fabric.

Dark coloured fabric, such as dark green and black, used as shade cloth is effective in absorbing reflected light within the underlying area. As shade cloth, that fabric is particularly suitable for areas where reflected light causes damaging or uncomfortable glare. However, the tendency of that fabric to absorb heat can also lead to increased temperatures in the shaded area, which may be unacceptable.

Light coloured fabric used as shade cloth has been found particularly effective in reflecting the sun's rays away from the cloth and thus potentially keeping the underlying area cooler. However, sunlight reflection from the cloth surfaces can produce hazardous or uncomfortable conditions.

An object of the present invention is to provide a knitted fabric which, as shade cloth, offers more comfortable conditions in an area or space over which the cloth extends.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a knitted fabric such as shade cloth which affords more effective shading of an area or space.

With those objects in mind, the present invention in one aspect provides a knitted fabric including: a framework of knitted threads, the framework having opposite sides; and, a plurality of threads knitted so as to plate one side of the framework.

In a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for knitting the above fabric.

The framework threads and plating threads can be different colours so as to produce a fabric which is differently coloured on opposite sides thereof. In one aspect of the invention, the thread colours sharply contrast with one another so as to provide quite different colours to opposite sides of the fabric.

The provision of fabric with differently coloured sides improves its versatility, particularly as shade cloth. In the exemplary application, shade cloth with opposite relatively dark and light coloured sides can improve the conditions in the area or space being shaded. The shade cloth can be supported over the area or space, with the lighter coloured side facing outwardly so as to act to reflect the sun's rays, whilst the darker coloured side faces toward the area or space so as to act to absorb reflected light and heat. As a consequence, the area or space under the shade cloth will tend to stay cooler than that which can be achieved with conventional shade cloth.

It should be appreciated that the thread colour contrast, and orientation of the fabric in use, may vary depending on the intended application of the fabric.

Thus, as indicated above, the colour contrast may be significant or substantial but, in other applications, the contrast may be less so. Similarly, the fabric may

be orientated so that the lighter or darker coloured sides face particular directions and thereby creates different environmental effects.

In one preferred form of the invention, suitable for the exemplary application, the framework threads are in one or more dark colours such as black and/or dark green, and the plating threads are in one or more light colours such as white and/or cream.

In at least one preferred form, the fabric is knitted so as to have an open mesh appearance. The openness of the mesh will vary depending on the intended application of the fabric. As shade cloth, that variation will alter the shade factor of the cloth in use. Typically, the shade factor will vary from a low of about 50% to a high of about 98%.

The openness of the mesh knit, and thus variation in the shade factor, will also have an effect on the contrast between the colours of the opposite sides of the fabric. In that regard, the more open the knit, the more visible the differently coloured threads will be through the fabric, and so increasingly tend to form colours on either side of the fabric which are "blends" of the basic thread colours. By way of example, black framework threads and white plating threads will produce fabric side colours which are less predominantly black on one side and less predominantly white on the other side as the mesh knit becomes more open. In particular, the plated side of the fabric will take on a "light grey" hue, whilst the opposite side will take on a "dark grey" hue, in one form.

In at least one preferred form, the framework is an open framework of longitudinally and transversely extending knitted threads. That framework provides the technical front of the fabric, whilst the plating threads provide the technical back of the fabric, in this form.

In at least one preferred form, the framework threads are knitted together to form an array of thread connections. Those thread connections extend in parallel, spaced apart rows along the fabric, in this form. In this form, threads extend between adjacent thread connections across the spaces therebetween so as to create the open mesh framework.

In one preferred form, the rows of thread connections are provided by pillar stitches. In this form, the threads extending across the spaces between the pillar stitches are thread underlaps.

The rows of thread connections are spaced apart a distance selected depending on the intended application of the fabric. In the exemplary application, that spacing can be up to about 10mm. In one preferred form, the spacing is between about 3 and 5 mm. The result, in this form, is relative open framework.

In at least one preferred form, the plating threads extend or "float" across the spaces between the rows of thread connections on the technical back side of the fabric, and are knitted into rows. In one form, the plating threads float across more than one space and adjacent rows of thread connections, between the rows into which they are threaded. In one arrangement particularly suitable for the exemplary application, each thread floats across three spaces and two rows, and so is knitted into the rows of pillar stitches adjacent the spanned spaces. In another arrangement, the thread float is across four spaces and three rows. The effect of this thread float is to produce threads that zig zag back and forth over the technical backside of the fabric between their respective rows of pillar stitches.

In one preferred form, the threads are knitted together using a multi-bar warp knitting machine, with the framework and plating threads being fed to different bars of the machine. The knitting needles are set to a course gauge, in this form, so as to produce the open mesh effect in the knitted fabric. In one particular form, the setting is 6 needles to the inch. In one form, a three bar warp knitting machine is used, the longitudinally extending threads being fed to a centre bar, the transversely extending threads being fed to a back bar, and the plating threads being fed to a front bar.

In this form, the plating threads are lapped around the knitting needles in the same direction as the transversely extending threads in order to achieve the plating effect. With this arrangement, the transversely extending threads will

have open loops in their stitches, whilst the stitches of the plating threads will have closed loops.

In one preferred form, each thread is a monofilament, although it will be appreciated that two or more monofilaments may be twisted or drawn together in order to provide each thread.

In another form, some or all of the threads are tape or strip like. In particular, the plating threads may be composed of tape, whilst the framework threads are composed of monofilament. A fabric produced with such threads may exhibit a higher shade factor, and thus a greater contrast between the colours on the opposite sides of the fabric.

The threads are composed of any material suitable to the intended application of the fabric. In the exemplary application, the threads are composed of plastic material. The plastic material is heat shrinkable to enable thermo-mechanical fixing of the fabric, as will be well understood by those skilled in the relevant art.

Moreover, the plastic material exhibits properties, such as ultraviolet light stabilisation, to achieve acceptable performance in the exemplary application. Examples of suitable plastic material include polyethylene and nylon.

A preferred form of the fabric of the present invention can be knitted on a multi- bar warp knitting machine having the following set up and operating parameters: Machine: 6GGRM6 Thread Bars

Front Plating Threads /2-0/6-8/ 55 Tex white yarn

Centre Longitudinal Threads /2-0/0-2/ 55 Tex black yam

Back Transverse Threads /8-6/0-2/ 55 Tex black yarn

Knitted: 13 CPI

Run Ins: 5 Revs of Pattern Wheel Front Bar 79 cms eg: 9480 mm / Rack

Centre Bar 39 cms eg: 4680 mm / Rack

Back Bar 82 cms eg: 9840 mm / Rack

The above parameters produce a fabric having the following characteristics: Technical Back Colour: Substantially White Technical Front Colour: Substantially Black Fabric Weight (average): 319 grams per square metre Cover/Shade Factor (average): 79%

For assistance in arriving at an understanding of the present invention, an example of the knitted fabric incorporating the present invention is illustrated in the attached drawings. The preceding description of the knitted fabric and its method of knitting may be read with reference to those drawings. However, as the drawings illustrate one example only, their particularity is not to be understood as superseding the generality of the preceding description.

In the drawings; Fig. 1 is a technical front side view of a piece of one example warp knitted fabric incorporating the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a technical back side view of the piece of fabric of Fig. 1 ; and,

Fig. 3. is an enlarged scale and simplified view of a section of the fabric piece of

Fig. 1 showing the thread knit pattern.

Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated a knitted fabric 10. The fabric 10 includes a framework of knitted threads 12. The framework has opposite sides

14,16 and a plurality of threads 18 knitted so as to plate one side of the framework.

It is to be again appreciated that the invention also relates to a method for knitting the fabric 10.

The framework threads 12 and plating threads 18 are different colours so as to produce a fabric which is differently coloured on the opposite sides 14,16 thereof. In this respect, the thread colours 12,18 sharply contrast with one another so as to provide quite different colours to opposite sides 14,16 of the fabric 10.

The provision of fabric 10 with differently coloured sides improves its versatility, particularly as shade cloth. In the exemplary application, shade cloth with opposite relatively dark and light coloured sides can improve the conditions in the area or space being shaded. The shade cloth can be supported over the area or space, with the lighter coloured side facing outwardly so as to act to reflect the sun's rays, whilst the darker coloured side faces toward the area or space so as to act to absorb reflected light and heat. As a consequence, the area or space under the shade cloth will tend to stay cooler than that which can be achieved with conventional shade cloth.

It should be appreciated that the thread colour contrast, and orientation of the fabric in use, may vary depending on the intended application of the fabric. Thus, as indicated above, the colour contrast may be significant or substantial but, in other applications, the contrast may be less so. Similarly, the fabric may be orientated so that the lighter or darker coloured sides face particular directions and thereby creates different environmental effects.

In the illustrated embodiment, the framework threads 12 are a dark colour such as black and/or dark green, and the plating threads 18 are a light colour such as white and/or cream.

The fabric 10 is knitted so as to have an open mesh appearance. It is to be appreciated that the openness of the mesh will vary depending on the intended application of the fabric 10. As shade cloth, that variation will alter the shade factor of the cloth in use. Typically, the shade factor will vary from a low of about 50% to a high of about 98%.

The openness of the mesh knit, and thus variation in the shade factor, will also have an effect on the contrast between the colours of the opposite sides 14,16 of the fabric 10. In that regard, the more open the knit, the more visible the differently coloured threads 12,18 will be through the fabric 10, and so increasingly tend to form colours on either side 14,16 of the fabric which are "blends" of the basic thread colours. By way of example, black framework threads 12 and white plating threads 18 will produce fabric side colours which are less predominantly black on one side 14 and less predominantly white on

the other side 16 as the mesh knit becomes more open. In particular, the plated side 16 of the fabric 10 will take on a "light grey" hue, whilst the opposite side 14 will take on a "dark grey" hue, in one form.

The framework is an open framework of longitudinally extending threads 20 and transversely extending knitted threads 22. That framework provides the technical front 14 of the fabric 10, whilst the plating threads 18 provide the technical back 16 of the fabric 10, in this form.

The framework threads 12 are knitted together to form an array of thread connections 24. Those thread connections 24 extend in parallel, spaced apart rows along the fabric 10. Threads 12 extend between adjacent thread connections 24 across the spaces therebetween so as to create the open mesh framework.

The rows 26 of thread connections 24 are provided by pillar stitches 28. In this form, the threads 12 extending across the spaces between the pillar stitches 28 are thread underlaps.

The rows of thread connections 24 are spaced apart a distance selected depending on the intended application of the fabric 10. That spacing can be up to about 10mm and in the illustrated embodiment is between about 3 and 5 mm. The result, in this form, is relative open framework.

The plating threads 18 extend or "float" across the spaces 30 between the rows 26 of thread connections 24 on the technical back side 16 of the fabric 10, and are knitted into rows 32. The plating threads 18 may float across more than one space 30 and adjacent rows 26 of thread connections 24, between the rows into which they are threaded. In the illustrated embodiment, each thread 18 floats across three spaces 30 and two rows 26, and so is knitted into the rows of pillar stitches 28 adjacent the spanned spaces. The effect of this thread float is to produce threads that zig zag back and forth over the technical backside 16 of the fabric 10 between their respective rows of pillar stitches 28.

The threads 12,18 are knitted together using a multi-bar warp knitting machine (not illustrated), with the framework threads 12 and plating threads 18 being fed to different bars of the machine. The knitting needles are set to a course gauge so as to produce the open mesh effect in the knitted fabric 10. The setting is 6 needles to the inch. A three bar warp knitting machine is used, the longitudinally extending threads 20 being fed to a centre bar, the transversely extending threads 22 being fed to a back bar, and the plating threads 18 being fed to a front bar.

The plating threads 18 are lapped around the knitting needles in the same direction as the transversely extending threads 22 in order to achieve the plating effect. With this arrangement, the transversely extending threads 22 will have open loops in their stitches, whilst the stitches of the plating threads 18 will have closed loops.

Each thread 12,18 is a monofilament, although it will be appreciated that two or more monofilaments may be twisted or drawn together in order to provide each thread.

The threads 12,18 are composed of any material suitable to the intended application of the fabric. In the illustrated embodiment, the threads 12,18 are composed of plastic material. The plastic material is heat shrinkable to enable thermo-mechanical fixing of the fabric 10, as will be well understood by those skilled in the relevant art. Moreover, the plastic material exhibits properties, such as ultraviolet light stabilisation, to achieve acceptable performance in the exemplary application. Examples of suitable plastic material include polyethylene and nylon.

The fabric of the illustrated embodiment is knitted on a multi-bar warp knitting machine having the following set up and operating parameters: Machine: 6GGRM6 Thread Bars

Front Plating Threads /2-0/6-8/ 55 Tex white yarn

Centre Longitudinal Threads /2-0/0-2/ 55 Tex black yarn

Back Transverse Threads /8-6/0-2/ 55 Tex black yarn

Knitted: 13 CPI

Run Ins: 5 Revs of Pattern Wheel

Front Bar 79 cms eg: 9480 mm / Rack

Centre Bar 39 cms eg: 4680 mm / Rack

Back Bar 82 cms eg: 9840 mm / Rack

The fabric 10 produced has the following characteristics: Technical Back Colour: Substantially White Technical Front Colour: Substantially Black Fabric Weight (average): 319 grams per square metre Cover/Shade Factor (average): 79%

Finally, it is to be understood that various alterations, modifications and/or additions may be made to the fabric and its method of knitting without departing from the ambit of the present invention as disclosed herein.