Patent ID: 7579292

Claim:
An open weave textile for use as a resin-infusion medium comprising: a ground mesh knitted from yarns having a relatively low decitex value, the ground mesh defining a substantially horizontal plane and further defining warp and weft directions within the horizontal plane; knop-forming yarns having a higher decitex value than the ground mesh yarns; where the knop-forming yarns are knitted into the ground mesh in such a manner as to form sides and vertices of a series of features that, when viewed looking down onto the ground mesh plane, define generally polygonal shapes interconnected to and above the ground mesh; where the vertices of the polygonal-shaped features are created by knops formed by a series of interconnected knop stitches of the knop-forming yarns, the sides of the polygonal-shaped features are formed by the knop-forming yarn without knop stitches, and each polygonal-shaped feature has an open central area; and where the knops restrict resin flow more than do the sides of the polygonal-shaped features, to create a preferential resin flow path in one of the warp or weft directions.