US2642571A - Cold weather insulation garment and fabric - Google Patents

Description

June 23,:1953' 'w. L. BROWN 2,642,571

COLD WEATHER INSULATION GARMENT -AND FABRIC Fil ed May 31, 1951 a a 4 s 1 a nnuuuv uuuvu 6 0 0 b 0 noun! I mix amok a wall'erLBrown ATTORNEY Patented June 23, 1953 I OFFICE.

COLD WEATHER INSULATION GARMENT AND FABRIC Walter L; Brown, Lansdowne, Pa.

Application May 31, 1951, Serial N 0. 229,243

10 Claims. (01. 2-97) (Granted under Title 35, U. S. Code (1952),

' sec. 266) The invention described herein, if patented, may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to cold weather insulation garments and cold weather insulation fab- IlCS. l i

It is recognized that the effectiveness of a cold weather insulation fabric and a garment made therefrom is caused by dead air space. Felt, wool, cloth and similar bodiesare characterized by structure which provides dead airspace within itself and, in the case of a garment liner, furthen provides dead air space bounded by the outer clothing and by the body or inner clothing. However, to be effective as in severe cold, such conventional lining fabrics must eithe bemade of such thickness, or used in a substantial number of superimposed layers, as to constitute a source of discomfort and hindrance to the wearer due to their weight and bulkiness.

An approach taken by the Armed Forces during World War II to the solution of coldrweather clothing problem was the adoption of liners of pile fabric, of wool material, having long cut pile threads. Garments equipped with such liners have good thermal insulationproperties, but the pile has a tendency to mat, especially after being washed, which greatly lessens its effectiveness.

The present invention overcomes these and other shortcomings heretofore faced by the art, through the provision of a cold weather insulation fabric, and of garments and other articles made therefrom, and essentially consisting of flexible textile warp andfilling backing, which carries resilient uncut face loop warps and resilient uncut back loop warps interwoven therewith, the face loop warps and back 100p: warps being of substantial stiffness and not spontaneously collapsible. I

Thus, it is a principal object of my invention'to.

provide a lightweight and durable cold-weather insulation garment, which provides a'high degree of thermal insulation throughdead air pockets' A further object of my invention is an insulatile materials, and which may be manufactured on commercial conventional looms.

A more specific object of my invention is a cold weather insulation fabric (and garments made therefrom) having a fairly loosely woven cotton backing, and uncut erect rows of face loops and back loops of resilient textile material such as may be worn as a liner for as a separate layer;

Figure 3 is aperspective view of a cold weather insulation fabric inaccordance with my invention;

Figure 4 is. a schematic sectional view, taken along lines 4+4 on Figl 3;

Figure 5 is an example of a weaving plan of a cold weather insulation fabric as shown in Figs. 3 and 4; f

Figures 6 and Tare alternate weaving plans for cold weather insulation fabrics in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 8 is a schematic edge view of a two-layer cold weather insulation fabric, having a wind resistant outer fabric layer and an insulation lining; and

Figure 9'is a schematic view of a three-layer cold weather insulation fabric, having a wind resistant outer fabric layer, insulation lining, and

a bottom fabric layer. P

More particularly, in Figure 1 of the drawings, reference numeral M] denotes an outer garment in jacket form, which is preferably of wind resistant and water repellent cotton, wool, or other textile material. The cold weather insulation fabric in accordance with the present invention .(which willbe described in greater detail below) forms an intermediate layer at ll, whichmay be stitched to the outer layer In, or buttoned, snapfastened, slide-fastened, or otherwise connected thereto in a manner well known to the art; the lining fabric may also extend into the sleeves, as shown at H. A lower layer 12 of conventional textile material and weave construction, e. g. of cotton or rayon confines the intermediate insulation layer l I. The multiplicity of dead air pockets formed by the stiff loops of insulation fabric ll between top layer 10 and bottom layer l2 provide a high degree of thermal insulation;

without impairing the flexibility of the garment. Bottom layer I2 may be omitted; in such a case, the shirt of the wearer serves as the lower boundary for the dead air pockets. It will be understood, of course, that trousers, gloves, one-piece suits, and other garments may be constructed in the same general manner as the jacket illustrated in Fig. 1.

Instead of a multi-layer garment, as shown in Fig. 1, an item of cold weather insulation underclothing can be made separately, such as the vest-like garment shown in Fig. 2. This imdergarment consists substantially in its entirety of the cold weather insulation fabric ll", about to be described in detail, with resilient loops extending inwardly and outwardly. In use, an undergarment is placed over the shirt and 'under the outer jacket, and provides dead air space insulation in accordance with the principle above set forth.

A typical cold weather insulation fabric in accordance with'the present invention is shown in Fig. 3. A flexible textile backing 13 may consist of cotton. 7 Uncut resilient pile loops M are arranged in rows on the face of the backing, and uncut resilient pile loops I are arranged in similar rows at the back of the backing. The uncut pile loops of front and back are made of textile material having greater stiffness than cotton, e. g. of mohair spun wool yarn (e. g. worsted), or a blend of mohair and wool (e. g. 50 :50) Synthetic monoor multi-filaments may be substituted for the mohair and/or wool, as for instance crimp-set nylon, described in U. S. Patent No. 2,157,117, Miles. It will thus be understood that the selection of a suitable material for the uncut pile loops maybe made from a variety of textile materials, as long as the resulting loops have the desired resiliency and capacity of staying erect, so as to form the desired dead air'pockets. Similarly, other flexible textile materials, may be substituted for the cotton material of textile backing I3; however, I prefer cotton for its relative 'cheapness and strength.

The following data for a typical cold weather insulation fabric in accordance with the present invention are given by way of example, with the clear understanding that such data are merely by way of illustration and are not intended in any way, to limit the scope of the invention:

Weight of cloth: 16 oz. per square yard.

Ground warp: 36 threads per inch, two-ply cot ton yarn.

Ground filling: 60 threads per inch, two-ply cotton yarn- Pile warp (face): 9 threads per inch; two-ply yarn mohair, wool, or synthetic material. ,Pile warp (back) 9 threads per inch; two-ply yarn mohair, wool, or synthetic material. Face loops: 135 loops per squaae inch; loop height Back loops: 135 loops per square inch; loop at.

It is, of course, essential that the face and back loop threads be firmly anchored to the textile backing. A'Wpile weave, a construction well known to makers of pile fabrics, is well suited to accomplish this. In a typical W pile weave, the loops are interwoven with the ground, each pile loop being, for instance, under one, over two, and under one pick in a W weave construction. As shown in Fig. 3, the rows of face loops and back loops alternate; however, the pile warp ends may be interwoven with the textile backing in such a manner that the same pile warp alternately extends above and below the backing fabric, thereby forming a series of uncut loops above and below the backing.

The diagrammatic showing of Fig. 4 illustrates, in greatly exaggerated form, the way in which the face and back pile loops are interwoven with the textile backing, so as to afford a fabric construction in accordance with the principle of the present invention. Cotton ground warp threads and i1 and cotton ground filling threads l8, form a plain weave, constituting the .woven with ground filling threads I8, so as to form a face loop extending upwardly from the textile backing between every four ground filling threads. Similarly, pile warp thread 20, which is of the same materialas 1'9, is interwoven with ground filling threads 18, so as to form a back loop extending downwardly from the-textile backingbetweenevery four ground filling threads,-and in staggered relation to the face loops formed by pile warp thread [9. warp thread +9 and back pile 'Warpthread-Z-D are spaced from each other by-=the ground warp threads. Temporary pile threads 21, 2-2 '(shown in dotted lines), which are inserted in'the-loom for the formation of the face and back pile loops in a, manner well known to the art, are withdrawn in the course of the manufacture of the fabric. The configuration of the pile loops which in the idealized showing of Fig. 4 resembles a U, is in actual fact spiraled due to the resiliency of the loop-forming textile material, with the legs of the loops forming an angle, as shown in Fig. "3. Similarly, the spacings between back filling threads l8 are not drawn to scale in Fig. 4, but vary in accordance with the internal stress exerted by the resilient material of the loops.

The weaving plan of Figf'fi constitutes a typical example of an insulation pile fabric woven on a loom without the use of wires. Verticalrow [-6 denotes the filling picks; picks l and 4 being temporary threads which are removed off the loom. Horizontal row l-8 denotesthe warp ends, which are further designated G for the ground ends, FF for the face pile end,-and BPjfo-r the back pile end.

The alternate weaving plan of Fig. 6 is likewise adapted for looms other than wire looms. Picks I and '2 are temporary, and are removed from the cloth off the m to form the pile threads.

The weaving plan'of Fig. -7 is-adapted for wire looms. A full repeat of the weave includes four groundends and two pile ends in the warpgand four picks in the filling. The insertion and withdrawal of the-pile wires is a manipulation well known to the pile fabric trade and needs no further illustration or description.

While a principal use of insulation fabric, in

accordance with the present invention, is in the manufacture of cold weather garments, it may also be put to other uses in the art of insulation, e. g. as a tent liner for atent having an outer and inner ply of'canvas, or'nylon, or simi- Ground warp face'pile lar material; Thesdea d; air: space.- formed by the upstanding loops of the insulation fabric ll between the top layer Ill and bottom'layer l2 (see Fig. 9) serves as a highly efiicient insulatio'n medium. The liner may also be constructed from a layer of insulation fabric, H and a layer of conventional wind resistant fabric=23, in the two-ply construction diagrammatically il lustrated in Fig. 8." Such: a liner can 'be' attached to the inside or. outside of a tent or other shelter, insulation fabric ll occupying an intermediate position forthe provision of-dead air-space thermal-insulation; f 3 7 'For camoufiage in items of -military-'use, and for decorative effect in other items, the pile threads i9 which constitute the face loops may be of one color, e. g. white, and the pile threads which constitute the back loops, may be of another color, e. g. olive drab. Other color comtural system which is pliable in two dimensions but resistant to compression in the third (thickness) dimension; the arched configuration of the loops enhances the compression resistance of the loops. A garment in which the insulation fabric is incorporated is drapable and washable.

It is evident that departures and variations in details may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. I therefore desire to en-'v ur f a h ma body. q r i n. and pile warps interwoven with said backing, ,sald pile'warps being of; resilient textile materialpf substantially,greatenstiifness than said backing and formingerect-individual face loops and back loopshighly resistant to compression each of said individual face loops beings'paced from any of the other face loops immediately abovathe surface of said backing and each of said. individual back loops being spaced from anypf the other back loops "immediately below thesurface of said backing, whereby a plurality of insulating dead air pockets is formed beneath the outer clothing.

4. A cold weather insulating lining fabric comprising a flexible textile backing and pile warps interwoven with said backing, said pile warps being of resilient textile material of substantially greater stiffness than saidbacking and forming erect individual face loops and back loops highly resistant to compression, each of said individual face loops being spaced from any of the other face loops immediately above the surface of said backing and each of said individual back loops being spaced from any of the other back loops immediately below the surface of said backing,

whereby a plurality of insulating dead air pockets is placed bewarps are mohair.

compass such variations within the scope of my invention, as defined by the appended claims.-

material of substantially greater stiffness than said backing and forming erect individual face loops and back loops highly resistant to compression, each of said individual face loops being spaced from any of the other face loops immediately above the surface of said backing and each of said individual back loops being spaced from any of the other back loops immediately below the surface of said backing, whereby a plurality of insulating dead'air pockets is formed beneath said outer fabric layer.

2. A cold weather garment comprising an outer fabric layer conforming to the shape of a body or'body member and an insulation liner comprising a flexible textile backing and pile warps interwoven with said backing, said pile warps being of resilient textile material of substantially greater stiffness than said backing and forming erect individual face loops and back loops highly resistant to compression, each of said individual face loops being spaced from any of the other face loops immediately above the surface of said backing and each of said individual back loops being spaced from any of the other back loops immediately below the surface of said backing, whereby a plurality of insulating dead air pockets is formed beneath said outer fabric layer.

3. Cold weather insulation underclothing comprising a flexible textile backing of the config- 6. A fabric according to claim 4, wherein said textile backing is cotton and wherein said pile warps are spun wool yarn.

7. A cold weather insulation lining fabric comprising a flexible textile backing and erect individual face loop warps and back loop warps interwoven with said backing, said face and back loop warps being of resilient textile material of q and'each of the back loops formed by said back loop warps being spaced from any of the other back loops immediately below thesurface of said backing, whereby a plurality of insulating dead air pockets is formed when said lining fabric is placed beneath an outer fabric layer.

8. A fabric according to claim 7, wherein said back p warps are of a color contrasting with the color of the face loop warps.

9. A cold weather fabric comprising an outer fabric layer and an insulation layer comprising a flexible textile backing and pile warps interwoven with said backing, said pile warps being of resilient textile material of substantially greater stiffness than said backing and forming erect individual face loops and back loops highly resistant to compression, each of said individual' face loops being spaced from any of the other face loops immediately above the surface of said backing and each of said individual back loops being spaced from any of the other back loops immediately below the surface of said backing, whereby a plurality of insulating dead air pockets is formed beneath said outer fabric layer.

10. A cold weather fabric comprising a top fabric layer, a bottom fabric layer and an insulation layer comprising a flexible textile backing and pile warps interwoven with said backing, said pile warps being of resilient textile material of substantially greater stiffness than said backing 1 and forming erect"; individuaf face Ioops ax-1& book loops 'high-iy resistantto compression; each of saidindividual face loops being spaced from any of the other face loops immedia-fieIy above the surface of said backing" and each of said indivfdual back loops being spa-cedfrom amy of the other back loops immediately below the surface of said backing, whereby a rfiurailitfry of insulafiing dead air pockets is formed between said top fayer and Bottom layer. WALTERL; BROWN.

' References 0mm m the e bf tni sq atenfi UNITED STATES PATENTS" Number- Number Date I 'Glendir ming et a1. July 29; 194E! FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany: Dec. 27,1901

7 France Jul-y 30, 1915

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