U.S. patent application number 16/772214 was filed with the patent office on 2021-03-25 for novel yarn and fabric.
The applicant listed for this patent is HealthTextiles i Sverige AB. Invention is credited to Tomas PERSSON.
Application Number | 20210087718 16/772214 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005305924 |
Filed Date | 2021-03-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20210087718 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
PERSSON; Tomas |
March 25, 2021 |
NOVEL YARN AND FABRIC
Abstract
The present invention aims to provide a fabric useful in
production of clothes and other textile articles, in particular for
use in a healthcare environment such as hospitals, long term care
facilities, etc. The invention relates to a yarn consisting
essentially of cotton fibres, hemp fibres, and fibres comprising
porous particles, and to threads and fabrics comprising such yarns,
as well as to the use of such clothing as healthcare staff
uniforms. The yarn and fabric may further include at least one
metal wire usable as a temperature sensor.
Inventors: |
PERSSON; Tomas; (Gavle,
SE) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
HealthTextiles i Sverige AB |
Gavle |
|
SE |
|
|
Family ID: |
1000005305924 |
Appl. No.: |
16/772214 |
Filed: |
December 19, 2018 |
PCT Filed: |
December 19, 2018 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/SE2018/051341 |
371 Date: |
June 12, 2020 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
D10B 2401/10 20130101;
D10B 2201/02 20130101; D02G 3/449 20130101; D10B 2101/20 20130101;
D02G 3/04 20130101; D10B 2201/24 20130101; D10B 2401/16 20130101;
D10B 2401/063 20130101; D10B 2401/022 20130101; D10B 2401/13
20130101; D10B 2101/12 20130101; D10B 2501/04 20130101 |
International
Class: |
D02G 3/04 20060101
D02G003/04; D02G 3/44 20060101 D02G003/44 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 19, 2017 |
DK |
PA201770956 |
Mar 21, 2018 |
SE |
1850317-7 |
Claims
1. A yarn consisting essentially of cotton or rayon fibres; hemp
fibres; and fibres comprising porous particles.
2. A yarn consisting essentially of cotton or rayon fibres; hemp
fibres; fibres comprising porous particles; and polyester and/or at
least one metal wire.
3. The yarn according to claim 1, wherein the fibres comprising
porous particles are made from polyester, cotton, rayon, or
nylon.
4. The yarn according to claim 1, wherein the porous particles are
capable of adsorbing water.
5. The yarn according to claim 1, wherein the porous particles are
selected from the group consisting of charcoal, activated carbon,
zeolites, silica gel, graphite, and aluminium oxide.
6. The yarn according to claim 1, consisting essentially of 20%
cotton or rayon, 55% hemp, and 25% fibres comprising porous
particles.
7. The yarn according to claim 1, consisting essentially of 20%
cotton or rayon, 35% hemp, 25% fibres comprising porous particles,
and 20% polyester.
8. A thread comprising at least two yarns according to claim 1, and
at least one metal wire.
9. A fabric comprising at least three yarn according to claim 1,
wherein at least two of the at least three yarn comprise at least
one metal wire.
10. The fabric according to claim 9, comprising a first yarn or
thread as warp and a second yarn or thread as weft.
11. The fabric according to claim 9, wherein the warp and weft
tensile strength is at least 700 N.
12. The fabric according to claim 9, wherein the warp and weft tear
strength is at least 30 N.
13. The fabric according to claim 9, having a dimensional stability
of .+-.1%.
14. The fabric according to claim 9, having a drying time of less
than 25 minutes as measured using the AATCC standard 199-2013.
15. Use of a fabric according to claim 9 in the manufacture of
textile articles for use in a healthcare environment.
16. The yarn according to claim 2, wherein the fibres comprise
porous particles are made from polyester, cotton, rayon, or
nylon.
17. The yarn according to claim 2, wherein the porous particles are
capable of adsorbing water.
18. The yarn according to claim 2, wherein the porous particles are
selected from the group consisting of charcoal, activated carbon,
zeolites, silica gel, graphite, and aluminium oxide.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to the field of textiles and
garments, and in particular to new combinations of fibres in
production of yarns and fabric made from such yarns.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) are a major problem
worldwide. It has been reported that about 6% of in-patients in
Europe present with one or more healthcare associated infections
during the hospital stay. In long-term care facilities, the
prevalence of HAI has been estimated to 3.4% (European Centre for
Disease Prevention and Control; Technical report: Assessment of
infection control, hospital hygiene capacity and training needs in
the European Union, 2014). The cost for hospital acquired
infections in Sweden is estimated to 6.5*10.sup.9 SEK per year.
[0003] The ability of bacteria to survive on various surfaces in a
hospital is a key aspect in transfer of bacteria in a hospital
setting and textiles are recognized as the second largest cause of
HAI. It has been found that various Enterococci and Staphylococci
survive for at least four days on hospital textiles made of pure
cotton and for at least one day on cotton/polyester blends. In some
instances, the bacteria survived for more than 90 days. (Neely and
Maley, J Clin Microbiol, Feb 200, 724-726).
[0004] Hospital guidelines generally require that clothes used by
healthcare staff are changed at least once per day and always after
contamination. Washing and drying of staff uniforms thus require a
significant amount of energy. Frequent washing and drying also wear
at the fabric and reduces the lifetime of the clothes. Using
stronger or thicker and thus more wear-resistant fabric often
necessitates a trade-off between wear-resistance and comfortability
of the clothes.
[0005] It has been suggested to treat textiles with silver ions
(Ag.sup.+) or nanosized silver colloids to achieve an antimicrobial
effect (Lee et al. Journal of Materials Science (2003) 38: 2199).
However, such textiles may be prone to leaking silver ions into the
environment, in particular in connection with washing, and thus
have a significant detrimental effect on the environment.
[0006] It is also known in the art to provide temperature sensors
in healthcare garments in order to monitor the usage cycle of the
garment, and in particular that the garment is washed at an
adequate wash temperature after being worn, see e.g. WO2017/099658.
Fabrics including metal wires usable as temperature sensors are
known through e.g. WO2005083164.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The present invention recognizes the above problems and aims
to provide a fabric useful in production of textile articles, and
in particular production of textile articles such as staff
uniforms, labcoats, patients' clothing, towels, bedsheets, drapes
etc., for use in a healthcare environment such as hospitals, long
term care facilities, etc. Such textile articles are in particular
useful in facilities where sensitive patients are treated, such as
infants, in particular prematurely born infants, immunocompromised
patients, and generally fragile patients such as patients in
intensive care units and elderly patients, who can be seriously
affected even by otherwise harmless infections.
[0008] The fabric has antimicrobial properties, i.e. microorganisms
contaminating the fabric do not grow or replicate to any
significant degree thereby reducing the risk of transmitting the
bacteria to other patients, staff members, visitors or other
persons. The fabric is also wear-resistant, comfortable to wear,
requires less energy to dry as compared to standard healthcare
uniforms made of cotton and/or polyester, has a high tensile
strength and good dimensional stability, and does not leak
antimicrobial substances to the environment.
[0009] The yarn may also incorporate at least one metal wire that
can be used as a temperature sensor.
[0010] Thus, in a first aspect the present invention relates to
yarn consisting essentially of cotton or rayon fibres, hemp fibres,
and fibres comprising porous particles, and a yarn consisting
essentially of cotton or rayon fibres, hemp fibres, fibres
comprising porous particles, and furthermore polyester and/or a
metal wire.
[0011] In a further aspect, the invention relates to a thread
comprising at least two yarns according to the invention.
[0012] In a further aspect, the invention relates to a fabric
comprising at least one yarn according to the invention, and/or at
least one thread according to the invention.
[0013] The thread and/or fabric of the invention may further
include at least one metal wire usable as a temperature sensor.
[0014] In a further aspect, the invention relates to the use of
clothing made of a fabric according to the invention as healthcare
staff uniforms.
[0015] Preferred embodiments are disclosed in the dependent
claims.
DEFINITIONS
[0016] All words and terms used in the present specification are
intended to have the meaning given to them by the person of
ordinary skill in the art. For the sake of clarity, a few terms are
however specifically defined below.
[0017] A "fibre" is a single filament of a material that can be
natural (i.a. cotton, linen, wool, hemp) or artificial (i.a.
polyester, metal, nylon, carbon fibre, glass).
[0018] A "particle" is a body having substantial extension in three
dimensions, i.e. having a breadth, width and height. The outer
surface of a particle defines a volume of the particle. Porous
particles have one or more pores extending from the surface into
the interior of the particle. A particle may be generally
spherical, cubic, or irregular.
[0019] A "yarn" is a spun agglomeration of fibres.
[0020] A "thread" comprises multiple yarns plied together.
[0021] All percentages are given as percentages of weight, unless
otherwise indicated.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0022] The present invention relates in a first aspect to a yarn
comprising cotton or rayon fibres, hemp fibres, and fibres
comprising porous particles and consisting essentially of these
three types of fibre and optionally also polyester and/or a metal
wire.
[0023] In one embodiment, the yarn consist at least to 95%, such as
96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or 100%, of a mix of cotton fibres, hemp fibres,
and fibres comprising porous particles.
[0024] In one embodiment, the yarn consist at least to 95%, such as
96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or 100%, of a mix of rayon fibres, hemp fibres,
and fibres comprising porous particles.
[0025] In one embodiment, the yarn consist at least to 95%, such as
96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or 100%, of a mix of cotton or rayon fibres,
hemp fibres, fibres comprising porous particles, and metal
wire(s).
[0026] In one embodiment, the yarn consist at least to 95%, such as
96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or 100%, of a mix of cotton fibres, polyester
fibres, hemp fibres, and fibres comprising porous particles.
[0027] In one embodiment, the yarn consist at least to 95%, such as
96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or 100%, of a mix of rayon fibres, polyester
fibres, hemp fibres, and fibres comprising porous particles.
[0028] In one embodiment, the yarn consist at least to 95%, such as
96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or 100%, of a mix of cotton or rayon fibres,
polyester fibres, hemp fibres, fibres comprising porous particles,
and metal wire(s).
[0029] Cotton fibres, rayon fibres, polyester and hemp fibres are
well-known commodities in the art of yarn and textile manufacture
and commercially available from a multitude of suppliers.
[0030] Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) is a fast-growing plant that
quickly covers the ground and suppresses growth of weeds and some
soil-borne pathogens, substantially reducing or even totally
removing the need for herbicides, pesticides, fungicides and
fertilizer and making it an environmentally friendly alternative to
other fibre producing plants ("Natural Fibers, Biopolymers, and
Biocomposites", Mohanty et al. (eds) CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla.,
USA, 2005). Hemp has natural antibacterial properties (Khan et al.,
BioResources 9(2), 3642-3659). Hemp has been cultivated for a
variety of uses, including textiles and clothing, for thousands of
years.
[0031] Rayon is a fibre manufactured from cellulose and can be
manufactured in a number of varieties, types and grades, all of
which may be included in the present invention. Rayon was first
developed in the early 20.sup.th century and used primarily for
industrial purposes. Further development and refinement of the
manufacturing technique have created a whole range of fibres with
improved properties. Lyocell, sold under the trade name
Tencel.RTM., was developed in the 1990s (D J Cole, `A new
cellulosic fibre--Tencel`, Advances in Fibre Science, The Textile
Institute, 1992). Viscose and lyocell are preferred embodiments of
rayon in the present invention. Lyocell is available e.g. from
Lenzing AG, Austria.
[0032] The metal wire or metal wires that may optionally be
included in the yarn, thread or fabric according to the invention
is preferably useful as a sensor, such as a temperature sensor. It
is known that the electrical resistance of a metal wire may vary
with temperature and that this may be used in temperature sensors.
Metal wires may be made from a single metal or alloys, including
but not limited to FeCrAl, NiCr, NiFe, CuNi, and CuMn. Such metal
alloy wires are available from under the trade name Kanthal.RTM.
from Sandik AB (Sandviken, Sweden). Metal wires may also be used in
a thermocouple, two wires of dissimilar metals joined at one or two
points, to measure temperature. Suitable metal wires are available
e.g. under the trade name EXERA.TM. from Sandvik AB (Sandviken,
Sweden). The metal wire(s) are preferably coated with an insulating
material, such as a polymer, prior to inclusion in the yarn or
fabric.
[0033] Fibres comprising porous particles as used in the present
invention are also known in the art and can be produced in a
multitude of ways. For instance, it is known in the art (i.a. from
WO9842909) to introduce UV-blocking particles into a fabric.
Methods for permanently binding particles such as zeolites to
cellulosic and synthetic fibres are disclosed in U.S. Pat No.
5,538,783. Other methods are disclosed in WO03/000979 and
WO03/105996.
[0034] Preferably, the porous particles have the capacity to adsorb
and/or absorb water. The pore structure of the particles increases
the surface area of the textile, facilitating rapid evaporation of
water.
[0035] In one embodiment, the porous particles have a breadth
and/or width and/or height of 1-1000 .mu.m, such as 10-500 .mu.m or
50-250 .mu.m. In one embodiment, the breadth, width and height of
the particles are within one or two orders of magnitude of each
other.
[0036] In one embodiment, the porous particles have a specific
surface area of 500 m.sup.2/g, 750 m.sup.2/g, 1000 m.sup.2/g, or
more.
[0037] In an embodiment, the porous particles include charcoal or
activated carbon particles. Activated carbon is a form of carbon
processed to have small, low-volume pores that increase the surface
area available for adsorption or chemical reactions.
[0038] In one embodiment, the porous particles include zeolites.
Zeolites are aluminosilicate minerals composed mainly of aluminium,
silicon, and oxygen. Zeolites are formed in nature in certain
geological environments and can be obtained from e.g. some volcanic
rocks. Zeolites may also be produced synthetically, with natural
and synthetic zeolites being commercially available from a range of
suppliers.
[0039] In other embodiments, the porous particles include silica
gel, graphite, and/or aluminium oxide.
[0040] In one embodiment, the fibres comprising porous particles
are polyester fibres, cotton fibres, rayon fibres, or nylon
fibres.
[0041] In one embodiment, the yarn according to the invention
consists essentially of 20% cotton, 55% hemp, and 25% fibres
comprising porous particles.
[0042] In one embodiment, the yarn according to the invention
consists essentially of 20% cotton, 35% hemp, 25% fibres comprising
porous particles, and 20% polyester.
[0043] In a further aspect, the invention relates to a thread
comprising at least two yarns according to the invention, and
optionally at least one metal wire.
[0044] In a further aspect, the invention relates to a fabric
comprising at least one yarn or thread according to the
invention.
[0045] In one embodiment, the fabric according to the invention
comprises a first yarn or thread according to the invention as warp
and a second yarn or thread according to the invention as weft.
[0046] In one embodiment, the fabric has a warp and/or weft tensile
strength of at least 700 N. This can be measured using the
international standard ISO 13934-1.
[0047] In one embodiment, the fabric has a warp and/or weft tear
strength of at least 30 N. This can be measured using the
international standard ISO 13937-1.
[0048] In one embodiment, the fabric has a dimensional stability of
.+-.1%. This can be measured using the international standard BS EN
ISO 26330-1A.
[0049] In one embodiment, the fabric has an improved drying time as
compared to fabrics made of pure cotton, pure polyester, or
polyester/cotton mixes. This can be measured using e.g. the AATCC
standard 199-2013. In one embodiment, the fabric has a drying time
of less than 25 minutes as measured using the AATCC standard
199-2013. In one embodiment, the fabric has a drying time of less
than 24, 23, or 22 minutes as measured using the AATCC standard
199-2013. In one embodiment, the fabric has a drying time of about
21 minutes as measured using the AATCC standard 199-2013.
[0050] In a further aspect, the invention relates to use of the
fabric according to the invention in the manufacture of textile
articles for use in a healthcare environment. Such articles include
staff uniforms, laboratory coats, patients' clothing, towels,
bedsheets, and drapes. Healthcare environments include hospitals,
long-term care facilities, neonatal care units, and intensive care
units.
[0051] In a preferred embodiment, the yarns, threads, and fabrics
according to the invention do not comprise any additional compound,
agent, or material having antimicrobial activity. Such additional
substances may leak from the products according to the invention
and cause environmental harm. In particular, the yarns, threads and
fabrics according to the invention do not comprise silver, copper,
or zinc, in metallic form or in salt form.
[0052] The present invention is further illustrated by means of the
following examples. The examples only serve to illustrate the
invention and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the
invention, which is that of the appended claims. All documents
cited herein as prior art are expressly incorporated by reference
herein in their entirety.
EXAMPLE
[0053] Yarns and threads were produced according to the invention
and used as warp and weft in the production of a woven fabric
according to the invention. The warp comprised 35% hemp, 20%
polyester, 20% cotton, and 25% fibre comprising porous particles.
The weft comprised 55% hemp, 20% cotton, and 25% fibre comprising
porous particles.
[0054] The properties of the fabric were tested for requirements
under the Swedish standard for textiles for healthcare and social
services facilities (SIS-CEN/TS 14237:2016), which in turn
reference standards set by the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO).
[0055] Dimensional change was tested in accordance with BS EN ISO
26330-1A and was found to be -0.5% to -1.0%, which is within the
tolerance of .+-.3.0% according to Swedish standards.
[0056] Tensile strength was tested in accordance with ISO 13934-1
and was found to be .about.700 N (warp) and .about.425 N (weft),
which is well above the requirements of 400 N set by Swedish
standards.
[0057] Tear strength was tested in accordance with ISO 13937-1 and
was found to be >30 N (warp) and >20 N (weft).
[0058] The antibacterial properties of the fabric was tested using
the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC)
standard 100-2012 for assessment of antibacterial finishes on
textile materials, using the test organism Staphylococcus aureus
(ATCC 6538). A control sample consisting of 100% cotton was
used.
[0059] 1 mL of inoculum comprising .about.1.1*10.sup.5 cfu/mL S.
aureus was applied to eight pieces of the fabric sample and the
control sample, respectively. After 24 hours, the number of cfu per
sample was counted and found to be on average <100 for the
fabric sample and 4.4*10.sup.6 for the control sample. The fabric
thus shows excellent antibacterial properties.
[0060] The drying time reflects the energy required to dry the
fabric and was measured using the AATCC standard 199-2013. Water
absorbency times were measured using the AATCC standard 79. Two
fabrics according to the invention were tested and showed water
absorbency times of 6-8 seconds, a moisture retention of 96-99% and
an average drying time of 21 minutes (21.2 and 21.4, respectively).
The fabric thus has an improved drying time as compared to fabrics
made of pure cotton, pure polyester, or polyester/cotton
blends.
[0061] The comfortability of clothes made from the fabric can be
assessed by providing users of the clothes with a survey of
questions relating to the comfortability of the clothes relative
existing clothing. The survey results show that clothes made from
fabric according to the invention are as comfortable, more
comfortable, or significantly more comfortable to wear as compared
to existing clothing.
* * * * *