Napped bedding blanket

A napped bedding blanket having an enhanced hand and a more uniform surface appearance and which substantially avoids the problem of shedding and pilling without chemical treatment or mechanical locking and thereby is able to substantially maintain its initial surface appearance during normal usage and after laundering. The blanket has a nap of uniformly distributed raised fibers on at least one side of a fibrous substrate, with the fibers extending generally outwardly from the substrate a uniform distance to provide a planar surface on the nap. The blanket is produced by subjecting a nappable substrate to a napping operation to raise fibers from the substrate and form a nap, and thereafter shearing the nap to a level such that substantially all of the raised fibers are sheared.

The present invention relates to a napped bedding blanket having a unique 
napped fiber construction which substantially avoids the problem of 
shedding and pilling without chemical treatment or mechanical locking, and 
which is thereby able to substantially maintain its initial surface 
appearance after extended usage and repeated launderings. 
Napped bedding blankets are conventionally manufactured by a process 
wherein a woven or non-woven fabric substrate is passed over a large 
cylinder having a number of small napping rollers positioned about its 
periphery. The small rollers are covered with wire card clothing, with the 
wire points thereof contacting the substrate to raise a substantial number 
of fibers from the substrate to form a thick, felt-like pile surface. 
Typically, the napping operation is carried out on both sides of the 
substrate to produce a pile surface on both sides of the resulting 
blanket. 
A persistent problem associated with conventional napped bedding blankets 
produced in the above manner resides in the fact that the raised fibers in 
the napped pile surface tend to shed and pill after the blanket has been 
in use, thereby severely detracting from the appearance of the fabric. 
More particularly, the napped surface includes a number of raised fibers 
which extend outwardly beyond the majority of the raised fibers to form a 
low density outer portion of uneven surface appearance. The loose ends of 
these outermost raised fibers tend to collect in clusters on the surface 
of the fabric and ball up into unsightly fluffs, particularly after the 
fabric has been used and laundered. 
Several fabric treatment operations have heretofore been proposed in an 
attempt to overcome the shedding and pilling problem, but without 
appreciable success. In one such prior proposal, the napped fabric is 
subjected to a roller treatment which serves to tuck or bend the raised 
fibers back into the substrate of the fabric. Thus, the roller treatment 
attempts to mechanically lock the raised fibers in the substrate, but it 
also tends to undesirably reduce the loft of the napped surface. In 
addition, only a limited degree of improvement has been achieved by this 
procedure since the fibers tend to loosen and return to their original 
position. 
Another commonly employed process of reducing the shedding and pilling 
problem involves the use of a chemical treatment, and wherein a chemical 
is applied to the surface of the napped fabric and then dried in an 
attempt to bond the raised fibers together. While this process is 
presently being commercially utilized subsequent to a mechanical locking 
treatment, it is not altogether satisfactory since the presence of the 
chemical treatment tends to stiffen the napped surface and thus reduces 
the hand and drapability of the fabric. Further, normal laundering tends 
to remove the effect of the bonding chemical, such that in time, the 
effectiveness of the treatment may be substantially lost. 
From the above, it will be apparent that prior approaches to a solution of 
the shedding and pilling problem have been directed to attempts to lock 
the raised fibers together by one means or another, so as to prevent their 
tendency to collect and ball up on the surface. The present invention 
however departs completely from this approach, and is directed to a 
totally unique concept which not only overcomes the above noted 
disadvantages associated with the previously proposed attempts at a 
solution, but also achieves vastly superior results. More particularly, it 
has been discovered that the shedding and pilling problem may be 
effectively eliminated by shearing the surface of the napped fabric to 
thereby provide a substantially planar sheared surface on the nap which is 
substantially devoid of clusters of undesirably long raised fibers. In 
this regard, the shearing operation of the present invention involves not 
only the severance of those few fibers which extend well beyond the body 
of the underlying more dense nap, but it also includes the outermost 
portion of such underlying more dense nap. Thus substantially all of the 
raised fibers in the resulting fabric are sheared and extend to a uniform 
height. 
Shearing operations have heretofore been employed in association with 
napped fabrics for the purpose of achieving a relatively smooth uniform 
surface. However, in such prior shearing operations, it was thought 
desirable to remove the smallest possible fiber height, since the removal 
of an excessive amount of the fiber would result in an undue loss of bulk. 
Thus, so far as can be determined, it was the prior practice to sever only 
those few fibers which extended well beyond the body of the underlying 
more dense nap. In the present invention however, a substantially greater 
portion of the napped fiber height is removed than was the practice in the 
prior shearing operations, and surprisingly, it was discovered that this 
additional removal of the outermost portions of the underlying more dense 
nap results in a napped product which substantially eliminates the 
shedding and pilling problem. 
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a napped 
bedding blanket and method of fabricating the same wherein the blanket 
maintains its initial surface appearance after extended usage and repeated 
launderings. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide a napped bedding 
blanket and method of fabricating the same which effectively resists 
shedding and pilling, and without compaction or stiffening of the fabric 
by mechanical or chemical treatments. 
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention are 
achieved in the embodiments illustrated herein by the provision of a 
napped bedding blanket which comprises a fibrous substrate, a nap on at 
least one side of the substrate formed of raised substrate fibers, and 
with the raised fibers being uniformly distributed throughout the nap and 
extending generally outwardly away from the substrate. Substantially all 
of the raised fibers are sheared and extend a uniform distance from the 
substrate to provide a substantially planar surface on the nap 
substantially devoid of clusters of undesirably long raised fibers along 
the surface of the nap. The blanket is formed by a process which includes 
shearing the nap and removing the outer lower density portions thereof and 
the outermost portions of the underlying more dense nap, such that 
substantially all of the raised fibers are sheared.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, FIG. 1 discloses a woven 
napped bedding blanket in accordance with the conventional prior art 
practices noted above. As will be apparent, the napped fibers are 
generally uniformly distributed throughout the nap and extend outwardly 
from the substrate to form a thick pile surface. Also, the napped surface 
includes a number of raised fibers which extend outwardly beyond the 
majority of the raised fibers to form a low density outer portion of 
uneven surface appearance. The loose ends of these outermost raised fibers 
are, in several areas, collected in clusters on the surface of the fabric 
and within the low density outer portion. 
Viewing FIG. 2, it will be apparent that the upper non-sheared surface 
closely resembles the two surfaces of the fabric shown in FIG. 1. The 
lower surface however has been subjected to a shearing operation wherein 
the outermost raised fibers have been removed, and in addition, the 
outermost portion of the underlying more dense nap is also removed. Thus, 
substantially all of the raised fibers in the nap are sheared and extend 
to a uniform height. 
Both surfaces of the napped fabric illustrated in FIG. 3 have been sheared 
in accordance with the present invention, and as will be apparent, a 
slightly closer shearing operation has been employed than in the case of 
the lower surface of the fabric in FIG. 2, and such that slightly more of 
the underlying more dense portion of the nap of the fabric in FIG. 3 has 
been removed. 
While the invention in terms of the nap surface is applicable to both woven 
and non-woven substrate, preferably, the substrate from which the napped 
bedding blanket of the present invention is fabricated is a single or 
double woven fabric wherein both the warp and filling yarns are formed of 
spun staple fibers. To facilitate the raising of dense nap, the filling 
yarns are preferably larger and of lower twist than the warp yarns, such 
that the majority of the nap is raised from the filling yarns. 
To further enhance the density of the raised nap, it is desirable to weave 
the substrate to an initial width which is wider than conventional, for 
example, 81 inches versus 76 inches in the case of a blanket having a 
finished width of 66 inches. As is well known, substantial widthwise 
shrinkage occurs after wet processing, such as piece dyeing which occurs 
prior to napping, and the resulting width is less than the desired 
finished width. The substrate is then stretched on a tenter frame to 
return to the desired width. As will be apparent, substantially less 
stretching is required in the case of the present invention, in view of 
the increased initial width of the substrate. Also, the increased initial 
width results in a greater density of the filling yarns in the substrate, 
which serves to substantially increase the density of the nap. 
To produce the napped bedding blanket of the present invention, a substrate 
as described above is passed through a conventional napping machine at 
least once, and preferably a plurality of times, to repeatedly raise 
fibers from each side of the substrate to form a nap of uniform density 
thereon. In this regard it is generally preferred that the fabric be 
napped to a greater extent than in the case of conventional napped blanket 
fabrics to thereby form a nap of raised fibers which is of sufficiently 
high density to provide lateral and vertical support to adjacent fibers 
thereof. 
The above napped product is then sheared, without having been subjected to 
a prior tucking operation or chemical treatment of the type described 
above. The shearing operation may be conducted on a conventional shearing 
machine, and the height of the shear is adjusted so that the outer lower 
density portion of the nap is removed, as well as the outermost portion of 
the underlying more dense nap and as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. 
Typically, this shearing operation results in a weight loss of between 
about 7 to 15%. The resulting bedding blankets of this invention may have 
a weight of about 4.5 to 13 ounces per square yard and a thickness within 
the range of about 0.17 to 0.35 inches. 
While the exact fabric construction whether woven or non-woven may vary 
depending upon the characteristics of the desired final product, the 
following example describes a napped blanket fabric construction which has 
been found particularly suitable for a normal weight bedding blanket: 
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CONSTRUCTION OF SUBSTRATE FABRIC 
Greige Finished 
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Ends per inch 27.9 32.5 
Picks per inch 34 34.9 
Yarn No. (Warp) 16/1 -- 
Yarn No. (Filling) 
3/1 -- 
Fiber Content 100% acrylic 
Weave 2 .times. 2 broken 
twill 
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The example substrate fabric is subjected to 3 to 5 passes through a 
napping machine to raise a dense nap on each side of the substrate. The 
resulting fabric is sheared on both sides with the shear set at a height 
to provide a shearing loss of about 9% by weight. The resulting product 
has a thickness within the range of about 0.17 to 0.22 inches, and a 
weight of about 9.5 ounces per square yard. 
In the drawings and specification, there has been set forth a preferred 
embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, 
they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes 
of limitation.