Weaving method

Abstract: A weaving method is provided that imparts a correlation of a 1/f fluctuation to the weave pattern obtained thereby. Yarns of one type of warp yarn (21), for example white yarn, are grouped in numbers corresponding to the values of a numerical sequence having a 1/f fluctuation and passed through reed dents so as to alternate with yarns of the other type of warp yarn (21), for example black yarn, then the warp yarns (21) are separated into two sets to form a shed between the two sets, and weft yarns (22) are passed through the shed, thereby weaving the warp yarns (21) and the weft yarns (22) such that a striped pattern with a 1/f fluctuation is imparted to the warp yarns (21).

Description: The invention relates to a weaving method using a number of different types of yarn. In the prior art, a conventional weaving method using different types of pre-dyed yarn produce either woven fabrics or goods in which the warp yarns and the weft yarns are linked with each other either in a uniform pattern or a completely random pattern. Therefore, the products obtained thereby do not have a natural, irregular feel. Rather, the goods have an artificial texture with very little natural feel and are not particularly comfortable for the wearer. The object underlying the present invention is to provide a weaving method by means of which woven fabric and goods are produced that provide a natural feeling of comfort to human beings. In order to resolve this problem, the invention provides a weaving method by means of which woven goods are obtained in which the pattern of the woven goods made from a number of different types of yarn have a specific correlation, in particular a 1/f fluctuation. The object underlying the present invention is solved in an advantageous manner by the weaving methods as disclosed in detail hereinafter and with reference to the accompanying drawings and specified in the patent claims. One advantage of the present invention resides in that woven fabric and goods are obtained by the methods which have a natural, irregular feel and which can be produced on an industrial scale. In connection with the present invention, the expression "1/f fluctuation" is defined as a power spectrum, with a frequency component f, which is proportional to 1/f k , wherein k is approximately 1, and similar spectra thereof. According to a first aspect of the present invention, a weaving method for weaving woven goods and fabrics from weft yarns and a number of different types of warp yarns is disclosed, wherein yarns of one type of warp yarn are grouped in numbers corresponding to the values of a numerical sequence having a 1/f fluctuation and passed through the reed dents of a reed so as to alternate with yarns of the other type of warp yarn. Then, the warp yarns are separated into two sets to form a shed between these two sets, and weft yarns are passed through the shed. Thereby, the warp yarns and the weft yarns are woven such that a 1/f fluctuation is imparted to the warp yarn pattern. Alternatively, the yarns of the other type of warp yarns are also grouped in numbers corresponding to the values of a numerical sequence having a 1/f fluctuation. According to another aspect of the present invention, a weaving method for weaving woven goods and fabrics from warp yarns and a number of different types of weft yarns is disclosed, wherein the warp yarns are passed through the reed dents of a reed, wherein the warp yarns are separated into two sets to form a shed between these two sets, and when passsing the weft yarn through the shed, yarns of one type of weft yarns are selected in groups in numbers corresponding to the values of a numerical sequence having a 1/f fluctuation. Also, the groups are alternated with yarns of the other type of the selected weft yarn, thereby weaving the warp yarns and the weft yarns such that a 1/f fluctuation is imparted to the weft yarn pattern. Alternatively, the yarns of the other type of weft yarns are also grouped in numbers corresponding to the values of a numerical sequence having a 1/f fluctuation. According to a still further embodiment of the present invention, a weaving method for weaving woven goods and fabrics from a number of different types of weft yarns and a number of different types of warp yarns is disclosed, wherein yarns of one type of warp yarn are grouped in numbers corresponding to the values of a numerical sequence having a 1/f fluctuation and passed through the reed dents of a reed so as to alternate with yarns of the other type of warp yarn. Then, the warp yarns are separated into two sets to form a shed between these two sets, and when passing the weft yarn through the shed, yarns of one type of weft yarn are selected in groups in numbers corresponding to the values of a numerical sequence having a 1/f fluctuation. These groups are alternated with yarns of the other type of selected weft yarn, thereby weaving the warp yarns and the weft yarns such that a 1/f fluctuation is imparted to the weft yarn pattern. Alternatively, the other type of warp yarn, the other type of weft yarn, or the other type of warp yarn and the other type of weft yarn are also grouped in numbers corresponding to the values of a numerical sequence having a 1/f fluctuation. The invention will be explained in more detail below by means of preferred embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 shows an overview diagram of the principal components of a weaving machine used in the invention; Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating a striped coloured pattern with a 1/f fluctuation; and Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating a checkered coloured pattern with a 1/f fluctuation. Weaving Machine An overview diagram of the principal components of a weaving machine 1 used in the weaving methods according to the invention is shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The weaving machine 1 weaves spun yarn into woven goods or fabric 2 through the primary movements of opening a shed formed by two sets of warp yarns 21, inserting a weft yarn 22, and beating the weft, and the secondary movements of letting off warp yarns 21 from a let-off device 3, and taking up woven fabric 2 by means of a take-up device 7. The construction is shown in a diagrammatic manner in Fig. 1. The action of opening the shed divides all the warp yarns 21 into two sets, forming an opening through which weft yarn 22 passes transversely, wherein the warp yarns 21 and the weft yarns 22 are intersecting and crossing over each other. For this purpose, the warp yarns 21 are drawn-in through two sets of healds 4 in a prescribed order, and the up and down action of these healds 4 separates the warp yarns 21 vertically from each other. In one method of weft insertion, the weft yarn 22 is fixed at the end of a rapier 6 which carries the weft yarn 22 through the shed formed by the warp yarns 21. Apart from a rapier 6, the weft insertion can also be carried out using air, water, shuttles, grippers or other means. A number of different types of weft yarn 22, for example, pre-dyed yarns of different colour, can be selected among the weft yarns 22 in order to weave a coloured pattern. Weft beating is the procedure in which the reed 5 moves forwardly and backwardly in order to press and force the weft yarn 22, which has passed through the inside of the shed formed by the warp yarns 21, up to a prescribed position, where the warp yarns 21 and the weft yarns 22 crossing each other form a desired pattern. The let-off device 3 gradually feeds the warp yarns 21, while the take-up device 7 rolls up the woven fabric 2. 1/f Fluctuation One of the inventors was the first in the world to discover that a 1/f fluctuation would impart a particularly comfortable feel to human beings. The results were published in "The World of Fluctuations", published by Kodansha Publishers in 1980. Also, the results were published in a paper entitled "Bioinformation and 1/f Fluctuation", Applied Physics, 1985, pp. 429 to 435, and in another paper entitled "Biocontrol and 1/f Fluctuation", Journal of Japan. Soc. of Precision Machinery, 1984, Vol. 50, No. 6, as well as in a recent publication called "The Concept of Fluctuations", published by NHK in 1994. The abstract of these publications read as follows: "The 1/f fluctuation provides a comfortable feeling to human beings; the reason is that the variations in the basic rhythm of the human body have a 1/f spectrum. From another perspective, the human body eventually becomes tired of a constant stimulation from the same source, but conversely, the body feels uncomfortable if the stimulations were to change too suddenly. Therefore, a 1/f fluctuation is a fluctuation of the right proportion between these two extremes." In addition, an excerpt from "The World of Fluctuations" published by Kodansha Publishers, 1980, reads as follows: "For example, the rhythms exhibited by the human body such as heart beats, hand-clapping to music, impulse-release period of neurons, and alpha rhythms observed in the brain, are all basically 1/f fluctuations, and it has been shown experimentally that if a body is stimulated by a fluctuation like these biorhythmic 1/f fluctuations, it would feel comfortable". Fluctuations or variations exist in various forms throughout nature, but the murmur of a brook, a breeze of wind, and other phenomena that impart a comfortable feeling to human beings have a 1/f fluctuation, while typhoons and other strong winds that impart uneasiness do not have a 1/f fluctuation. 1/f Fluctuation Signal 1/f fluctuation signals are derived from a numerical sequence y1, y2, y3, ... formed by multiplying n coefficients a1, a2, a3, ... an, on a random sequence of numbers x1, x2, x3 ..... Generally, yj can be expressed by equation 1 indicated below. It should be noted herein that the sequence of numerical values forming y1, y2, y3, ... has a 1/f spectrum. For further details, reference is made to "Biological Signaling", Chapter 10, in "Biological Rhythms and Fluctuations", published by Corona Publishers, Ltd.. The sequence of numerical values having a 1/f fluctuation is obtained in two steps. In a first step, a computer, for example, generates a sequence of random numbers, x. In a second step, a certain number n of coefficients a stored in a storage device, are successively multiplied on the random numbers, and then a sequence of numerical values y is obtained by a linear transformation. This numerical sequence y has a 1/f spectrum and can be used as a sequence of numerical values having a 1/f fluctuation. In the following, six examples of numerical sequences with a 1/f fluctuation are provided which are obtained in such a manner. Other numerical sequences with a 1/f fluctuation can be derived, for example, from a sound, melody or a breeze of wind, the strengths of which vary with a 1/f fluctuation. Numerical sequence No. 1 = 32, 18, 24, 14, 10, 20, 16, 16, 12, 4, 14, 16, 16, 8, 24, 4, 10, 28, 28, 12, 10, 2, 2, ... Numerical sequence No. 2 = 4, 8, 10, 40, 24, 4, 12, 16, 20, 16, 24, 8, 8, 14, 14, 22, 26, 4, 8, 14, 14, 26, 28, ... Numerical sequence No. 3 = 20, 20, 26, 10, 10, 24, 18, 24, 12, 6, 12, 16, 16, 10, 24, 6, 12, 32, 12, 12, ... Numerical sequence No. 4 = 6, 6, 10, 40, 22, 4, 10, 12, 12, 12, 24, 6, 6, 12, 12, 20, 28, 8, 12, 60, ... Numerical sequence No. 5 = 8, 8, 20, 20, 8, 4, 18, 6, 9, 9, 8, 3, 9, 11, 10, 15, 8, 10, 15, 11, 12, ... Numerical sequence No. 6 = 43, 8, 5, 2, 16, 12, 8, 8, 5, 5, 18, 9, 9, 8, 6, 2, 15, 25, 5, 5, 4, .... Weaving of Patterned Warp Yarns Weaving using a number of different types of warp yarns 21 will produce woven goods or fabric in which the warp yarns 21 are patterned as a function of the type of yarn. Warp yarn types can vary by colours such as pre-dyed yarn; by type of fiber such as cotton, linen, silk, wool or other natural fibers, rayon or other regenerated fibers, acetate or other semi-synthetic fibers, and polyester, polyamide or other synthetic fibers; by thickness; by twist count, or by twist direction; or by any combination of these types. For example, to produce a coloured striped pattern in the warp yarns 21, white and black dyed yarns, for example, can be prepared for use as the warp yarns 21, and the white yarn can be prepared for use as the weft yarns 22. Then, for example, starting at one end of the weaving machine 1, white warp yarns can be grouped in accordance with the numerical sequence No. 1 described above. That is, 32 white yarns are arranged contiguously, then 18 yarns, then 24 yarns, then 14 yarns, and so forth. Similarly, the black warp yarns 21 are grouped, but in accordance with the numerical sequence No. 2; that is, 4 yarns are arranged contiguously, then 8 yarns, then 10 yarns, then 40 yarns, and so forth. These white and black groups of yarns 21 are arranged in alternate reed dents. That is, starting at one end, 32 white yarns, 4 black yarns, 18 white yarns, 8 black yarns, 24 white yarns, 10 black yarns and so forth are inserted in order in contiguous reed dents. Weaving white weft yarns 22 into warp yarns 21 arranged in this manner will produce a black-and-white striped pattern as shown in Fig. 2. This pattern of stripes is not random, but has a correlation of a 1/f fluctuation. In another example, to obtain a different striped pattern with a 1/f fluctuation, white warp yarns 21 can be grouped in accordance with a numerical sequence having a 1/f fluctuation, while a constant number of black yarns, for example 5 yarns, are grouped. The groups are then alternated as described above. In this case, the variation in the width of the white stripes has a 1/f fluctuation. Alternatively, white yarn and black yarn can each be grouped in accordance with a common numerical sequence. For example, white yarns and black yarns can be allocated in accordance with alternate values of the numerical sequence No. 1. That is, 32 white yarns, 18 black yarns, 24 white yarns, and so forth are arranged in order to contiguous reed dents to obtain a pattern with a 1/f fluctuation. Or, three or more colours can be arranged alternately in a numerical sequence having a 1/f fluctuation. Weaving of Patterned Weft Yarns Like warp yarns 21, a number of different types of weft yarns 22 can be woven to produce woven goods or fabric in which the weft yarns 22 are patterned. For example, to obtain a coloured striped pattern in the weft yarns 22, two pre-dyed yarns of different colour are prepared for the weft yarns 22 and pre-dyed yarn of a single colour is prepared for the warp yarns 21. Then, any generally known weaving machine such as a rapier loom fitted with a selection device which can be programmed to select different weft yarns 22 can be used for the weaving process. For example, the selection device is mounted on the loom and controlled so that white yarns will be selected in accordance with the numerical sequence No. 1, while black yarns will be selected in accordance with the numerical sequence No. 2. That is, 32 white yarns (numerical sequence No. 1) are selected as one group, then 4 black yarns (numerical sequence No. 2) are selected as a group, followed in order by 18 white yarns (numerical sequence No. 1), 8 black yarns (numerical sequence No. 2), 24 white yarns (numerical sequence No. 1), 10 black yarns (numerical sequence No. 2) and so forth in alternate white and black order. Weaving in this manner will produce a fabric with a striped pattern with a 1/f fluctuation as shown in Fig. 2, except that the warp yarns 21 and weft yarns 22 are reversed. Also, like the warp yarns 21, other different types of weft yarns 22 can be used to produce different patterns, all with a 1/f fluctuation. Weaving of Patterned Warp Yarns and Weft Yarns Patterns can be produced in both the warp yarns 21 and the weft yarns 22. For example, the weaving method to impart a coloured striped pattern in the warp yarns 21 and the weaving method to impart a coloured striped pattern in the weft yarns 22 as described above can be combined to produce a checkered pattern as shown in Fig. 3. In this case, the black stripes in the warp yarns 21 are much darker than the black stripes in the weft yarns 22. This situation arises because the density of the warp yarns 21 is greater than that of the weft yarns 22. If the yarn density of the warp and weft yarns is the same, then the colour density will be uniform. To produce the woven fabric of Fig. 3, white and black pre-dyed yarns are prepared for both the warp yarns 21 and the weft yarns 22. Then, for example, white yarns and black yarns are grouped in accordance with the numerical sequence No. 3 and the numerical sequence No. 4, respectively, for use as the warp yarns 21, and a white group and black group are arranged in alternate reed dents. Similarly, white yarns and black yarns are grouped in accordance with the numerical sequence No. 5 and the numercial sequence No. 6, respectively, for use as the weft yarns 22, and a white group and a black group are selected alternately. That is, for the warp yarns, 20 white yarns (numerical sequence No. 3), 6 black yarns (numerical sequence No. 4), 20 white yarns (numerical sequence No. 3), 6 black yarns (numerical sequence No. 4) and so forth are arranged in order in alternate dents. For the weft yarns, 43 black yarns (numerical sequence No. 6), 8 white yarns (numerical sequence No. 5), 8 black yarns (numerical sequence No. 6), 8 white yarns (numerical sequence No. 5), 5 black yarns (numerical sequence No. 6) and so forth are selected in alterate order. Weaving in this manner produces a pattern with a 1/f fluctuation in both the warp yarns 21 and the weft yarns 22 for an overall checkered pattern with a 1/f fluctuation. Other patterns can be produced similarly. Weaving of Patterned Weft Yarns where the Weft Yarns and Warp Yarns are of a Different Type In this example, cotton weft yarns and polyester warp yarns are woven with a shuttle weaving machine equipped with 6 healds. White polyester yarn is used for the warp yarns 21, and a selection device is mounted and controlled such that white yarns are selected in accordance with the numerical sequence No. 1, and black yarns are selected in accordance with the numerical sequence No. 2. By using very elastic warp yarn 21 and weft yarn 22 of much lower elasticity, a woven fabric can be produced with a striped pattern with a 1/f fluctuation in which the warp yarns 21 are finely crinkled. Woven fabric achieved by the methods according to the invention provide several advantages. The pattern of the woven fabric does not change randomly but has a correlation according to a 1/f fluctuation which imparts a special feeling of comfort and esthetic beauty to the wearer. The woven fabric provides a natural irregular feel as that of hand-woven fabric, but can be manufactured at low cost on an industrial scale. The woven goods obtained thereby evoke a feeling of comfort to the wearer.

Claims: A weaving method for weaving woven fabric from weft yarns (22) and a number of different types of warp yarns (21), wherein yarns of one type of warp yarn (21) are grouped in numbers corresponding to the values of a numerical sequence having a 1/f fluctuation and passed through reed dents so as to alternate with yarns of the other type of warp yarn (21), then the warp yarns (21) are separated into two sets to form a shed between these two sets, and weft yarns (22) are passed through the shed, thereby weaving the warp yarns (21) and the weft yarns (22) such that a 1/f fluctuation is imparted to the warp yarn pattern. The method according to claim 1, in which yarns of the other type of warp yarns (21) are also grouped in numbers corresponding to the values of a numerical sequence having a 1/f fluctuation. A weaving method for weaving woven fabric from warp yarns (21) and a number of different types of weft yarns (22), wherein the warp yarns (21) are passed through reed dents, the warp yarns (21) are separated into two sets to form a shed between the two sets, and while passing the weft yarn (22) through the shed, yarns of one type of the weft yarn (22) are selected in groups in numbers corresponding to the values of a numerical sequence having a 1/f fluctuation, and the groups are alternated with yarns of the other type of selected weft yarns (22), thereby weaving the warp yarns (21) and the weft yarns (22) such that a 1/f fluctuation is imparted to the weft yarn pattern. The method according to claim 3, in which yarns of the other type of weft yarns (22) are also grouped in numbers corresponding to the values of the numerical sequence having a 1/f fluctuation. A weaving method for weaving woven fabric from a number of different types of weft yarns (22) and a number of different types of warp yarns (21), wherein yarns of one type of warp yarn (21) are grouped in numbers corresponding to the values of a numerical sequence having a 1/f fluctuation and passed through reed dents so as to alternate with yarns of the other type of warp yarn (21), then the warp yarns (21) are separated into two sets to form a shed between the two sets, and while passing the weft yarn (22) through the shed, yarns of one type of weft yarn (22) are selected in groups in numbers corresponding to the values of a numerical sequence having a 1/f fluctuation, and the groups are alternated with yarns of the other type of selected weft yarn (22), thereby weaving the warp yarns (21) and the weft yarns (22) such that a 1/f fluctuation is imparted to the weft yarn pattern. The method according to claim 5, in which the other type of warp yarn (21), the other type of weft yarn (22), or the other type of warp yarn (21) and the other type of weft yarn (22) are also grouped in numbers corresponding to the values of a numerical sequence having a 1/f fluctuation.

Inventors: MUSHA TOSHIMITSU, ONO SHU, TAKAGI SHOJI, YANAI YUICHI, MUSHA, TOSHIMITSU, ONO, SHU, TAKAGI, SHOJI, YANAI, YUICHI
Applicants: MUSHA TOSHIMITSU, NISSHIN SPINNING, MUSHA, TOSHIMITSU, NISSHINBO INDUSTRIES INC.
Application year: 1996
Main classification: D03D13
IPC codes: D03D13, B32B5, D03D25