Fibers, woven fabrics including the fibers, and methods of manufacturing the same

Abstract

Fibers, yarns, woven fabric including the yarns and fibers, and methods of manufacturing the same are disclosed. Fibers can include base material staple fibers and dissolvable or water-soluble fibers that are mixed together to define an ultra-homogenous yarn comprising base material and dissolvable material, which is provided in at least the warp direction to form a woven fabric having a 7-end, 8-end or 10-end sateen weave. A processing step provides for the removal of the dissolvable fibers to produce a yarn defining a plurality of pores that are uniformly distributed throughout the structure of the yarn. The woven fabric has a thread count between 450-1200. The woven fabric is thermally-insulative, breathable and moisture-wicking.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A process for making a breathable, moisture-wicking and thermal-insulating fabric, comprising:
 mixing cleaned cotton slivers comprising cleaned cotton fibers with cleaned water-soluble slivers comprising cleaned water-soluble fibers at a blow-room stage to produce one or more homogenously-blended slivers;   drawing the homogenously-blended slivers on a draw frame to produce a twice-mixed ultra-homogenous sliver;   spinning the twice-mixed ultra-homogenous sliver using low twist multipliers which produces a twice-mixed ultra-homogenous yarn with a bulkier surface;   using the twice-mixed ultra-homogenous yarn in preparatory to make beam; and   weaving the twice-mixed ultra-homogenous yarn into a greige fabric for better thermal comfort, the greige fabric comprising a 7-end, 8-end or 10-end sateen weave.   
     
     
         2 . The process of  claim 1 , further comprising dissolving the water-soluble fiber to form a plurality of micro passageways in the yarn of the greige fabric, the plurality of micro passageways extending from a plurality of locations at an outer surface of the twice-mixed ultra-homogenous yarn to a central core portion thereof. 
     
     
         3 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the fabric has a thread count from about 450 thread count to about 1200 thread count. 
     
     
         4 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the step of weaving the twice-mixed ultra-homogenous yarn includes orienting the twice-mixed ultra-homogenous yarn in the warp direction of the fabric. 
     
     
         5 . The process of  claim 4 , wherein the step of weaving the twice-mixed ultra-homogenous yarn further includes orienting more of the twice-mixed ultra-homogenous yarn in the weft direction of the fabric to produce maximum thermal comfort. 
     
     
         6 . The process of  claim 2 , further comprising crosslinking to fix up the micro passageways produced from the dissolved water-soluble fibers, wherein the crosslinking provides durability to the micro passageways such that they maintain their shape and resist shrinking throughout the lifetime of the fabric. 
     
     
         7 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the water-soluble fiber is a fine PVA fiber, about 0.9 Dn to about 1.2 Dn, with a 38 mm staple length, which helps uniform mixing at the blow-room stage. 
     
     
         8 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the step of mixing with water-soluble fiber includes mixing a PVA fiber in an amount of about 10% to about 25% by weight in the yarn. 
     
     
         9 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the step of spinning includes spinning the cotton fiber with water-soluble fiber using an S or Z twist only. 
     
     
         10 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the step of spinning includes spinning the twice-mixed ultra-homogenous sliver using a low twist multiplier of about 3.2 to about 4.0 depending upon yarn count. 
     
     
         11 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the woven fabric is thermally insulative, breathable and moisture-wicking. 
     
     
         12 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the woven fabric comprises a warp float size of at least 1 millimeter. 
     
     
         13 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the woven fabric comprises a warp float size of 2 millimeters or less. 
     
     
         14 . A thermally-insulating and moisture-wicking woven, high-thread-count fabric having superior breathability and performance, the woven fabric comprising at least one specialized yarn, the specialized yarn comprising a plurality of base material fibers and a plurality of micro passageways extending from a plurality of positions along an outer surface of the at least one specialized yarn and to within a central core portion thereof, the micro passageways being uniformly distributed throughout the structure of the yarn so as to define an ultra-homogenous blend of base material fibers and micro passageways for permitting air ventilation and the absorption of heat and moisture from a user covering at least a portion thereof with the woven fabric, wherein the woven fabric comprises a thread count of between 450-1200. 
     
     
         15 . The woven fabric of  claim 14 , wherein the woven fabric comprises a 7-end, 8-end or 10-end sateen weave. 
     
     
         16 . The woven fabric of  claim 15 , wherein the 7-end sateen weave can comprise move numbers of 2, 3, 4 or 5, the 8-end sateen weave can comprise move numbers of 3 or 5, and the 10-end sateen weave can comprise move numbers of 3 or 7. 
     
     
         17 . The woven fabric of  claim 14 , wherein the at least one specialized yarn is single ply. 
     
     
         18 . The woven fabric of  claim 14 , wherein the at least one specialized yarn is 2-ply or 3-ply. 
     
     
         19 . The woven fabric of  claim 14 , wherein the at least one specialized yarn is provided in the warp direction of the fabric. 
     
     
         20 . The woven fabric of  claim 14 , wherein the specialized yarn is provided in the warp and weft directions of the fabric. 
     
     
         21 . The woven fabric of  claim 14 , wherein the woven fabric comprises a warp float size of between 1-2 millimeters. 
     
     
         22 . The woven fabric of  claim 14 , wherein the plurality of base material fibers can be selected from a group consisting of cotton, silk, bamboo, sea shell, sea weed, cupro, wool, milk, modal, acrylics, poly(trimethylene terephthalate), Lyocell, silver, charcoal, viscose or other cellulosic fibers, a blend of cotton and polyester, a blend of polyester and viscose, a blend of poly(trimethylene terephthalate) and cotton, a blend of cotton and TENCEL, a blend of Lyocell and cotton, a blend of cotton and bamboo, a blend of cotton and sea weed, a blend of cotton and silver, a blend of cotton and charcoal, and a blend of cotton and modal and/or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         23 . The woven fabric of  claim 14 , wherein the dissolvable fibers comprise polyvinyl alcohol. 
     
     
         24 . The woven fabric of  claim 14 , wherein the dissolvable fibers of the specialized yarn are between about 10%-25% of the weight of the sum of the dissolvable fibers and the base material fibers. 
     
     
         25 . The woven fabric of  claim 15 , wherein the woven fabric comprises an EPI value of between about 100-260, a PPI value of between about 1100-940, a yarn count ranging from between about 60 s-120 s for warp and between about 60 s-160 s for weft, a warp crimp and weft crimp value between about 1.40% to about 5.97%, and a fabric thickness between about 0.18 millimeters to about 0.37 millimeters.