Woven fabrics particularly useful in the manufacture of occupant support structures

Abstract

A fabric particularly useful in the manufacture of occupant support structures is described. The fabric is desirably leno woven to have a high degree of openness and such that at least a plurality of the yarn intersections are stabilized from relative motion. The fabric includes elastomeric synthetic yarns in at least one fabric direction. At least some of the points of yarn intersection can be supplementally stabilized from relative motion, such as through the use of bicomponent yarns having a sheath which is melted to secure intersecting yarns together. The fabric is also resistant to ultraviolet irradiation so that it retains its physical properties after accelerated exposure to UV irradiation. The fabric provides good support and ventilation, and is suitable for use as a surface fabric in automotive and seating applications.

We claim:  
     
         1 . A textile fabric comprising: 
 a woven fabric having a warp yarn set and a weft yarn set, and in which at least a plurality of the yarns forming the warp yarn set are woven in a leno configuration such that said warp yarns are secured about yarns of the weft yarn set, said fabric comprising at least about 15% open area and exhibiting at least about 0.5 pounds strength in each of the warp and weft directions when subjected to a yarn unravel test.    
     
     
         2 . A textile fabric according to  claim 1 , wherein said fabric exhibits at least about 2 pounds strength in the warp direction and at least about 1 pound strength in the weft direction when subjected to a yarn unravel test.  
     
     
         3 . A textile fabric according to  claim 1 , wherein said fabric comprises at least about 35% open area.  
     
     
         4 . A textile fabric according to  claim 1 , wherein said fabric comprises at least about 45% open area.  
     
     
         5 . A textile fabric according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one of said warp and weft yarn sets comprises elastomeric synthetic yarns.  
     
     
         6 . A textile fabric according to  claim 5 , wherein said elastomeric synthetic yarns are resistant to UV irradiation such that said fabric retains at least about 50% of its initial breaking strength when measured in the elastomeric synthetic yarn direction following accelerated exposure to 225 kilojoules of UV irradiation.  
     
     
         7 . A textile fabric according to Clam 6, wherein said elastomeric yarns are resistant to UV irradiation such that said fabric retains at least about 70% of its initial breaking strength when measured in the elastomeric synthetic yarn direction following accelerated exposure to 225 kilojoules of UV irradiation.  
     
     
         8 . A textile fabric according to  claim 5 , wherein said elastomeric synthetic yarns are characterized by an elongation at break of at least about 90% and retain at least about 80% of their tensile strength following accelerated exposure to 488 kilojoules of UV irradiation.  
     
     
         9 . A textile fabric according to  claim 5 , wherein said elastomeric synthetic yarns comprise at least about 40% by weight of the fabric.  
     
     
         10 . A textile fabric according to  claim 1 , wherein at least some of the intersections of the yarns of the warp and weft yarn sets are bonded together.  
     
     
         11 . A textile fabric according to  claim 10 , wherein at least one of said warp and weft yarn sets comprises bicomponent sheath/core elastomeric yarns and said sheath component is melted to bond intersections of the yarns of said warp and weft yarn sets.  
     
     
         12 . A textile fabric comprising: 
 a first yarn set interwoven with a second yarn set in a leno configuration, wherein at least one of said first and second yarn sets comprises elastomeric synthetic yarns and said elastomeric synthetic yarns are bonded to yarns of the other of said yarn sets to provide a fabric having high dimensional stability.    
     
     
         13 . A textile fabric according to  claim 12 , wherein said first and second yarn sets are woven together to form an open fabric having at least about 15% open space.  
     
     
         14 . A textile fabric according to  claim 12 , wherein said first and second yarn sets are woven together to form an open fabric having at least about 35% open space.  
     
     
         15 . A textile fabric according to  claim 12 , wherein said first and second yarn sets are woven together to form an open fabric having at least about 45% open space.  
     
     
         16 . A textile fabric according to  claim 12 , wherein said elastomeric synthetic yarns comprise at least about 40% by weight of the fabric.  
     
     
         17 . A textile fabric according to  claim 12 , wherein said elastomeric synthetic yarns comprise a sheath/core bicomponent filament, and said elastomeric synthetic yarns are bonded to yarns of the other of said yarn sets by melt bonding of the bicomponent filament.  
     
     
         18 . A textile fabric according to  claim 12 , wherein said fabric retains at least about 50% of its initial breaking strength when measured in the elastomeric synthetic yarn direction following accelerated exposure to 225 kilojoules of UV irradiation.  
     
     
         19 . A textile fabric according to  claim 18 , wherein said fabric retains at least about 70% of its initial breaking strength when measured in the elastomeric synthetic yarn direction following accelerated exposure to 225 kilojoules of UV irradiation.  
     
     
         20 . A textile fabric according to  claim 18 , wherein said fabric retains at least about 50% of its initial breaking strength when measured perpendicular to the elastomeric synthetic yarn direction following accelerated exposure to 225 kilojoules of UV irradiation.  
     
     
         21 . A textile fabric according to  claim 19 , wherein said fabric retains at least about 50% of its initial breaking strength when measured perpendicular to the elastomeric synthetic yarn direction following accelerated exposure to 225 kilojoules of UV irradiation.  
     
     
         22 . A textile fabric according to  claim 12 , wherein said fabric exhibits at least about 0.5 pounds strength in each of the first and second directions when subjected to a yarn unravel test.  
     
     
         23 . A textile fabric according to  claim 22 , wherein said fabric exhibits at least about 2 pounds strength in the first direction and at least about 1 pound strength in the second direction when subjected to a yarn unravel test.  
     
     
         24 . A textile fabric according to  claim 12 , wherein said first direction comprises the warp direction and the second direction comprises the fill direction of the fabric.  
     
     
         25 . A textile fabric comprising a first plurality of elastomeric synthetic yarns extending in a first direction interwoven with a second plurality of yarns extending in a second direction generally transverse to said first direction, wherein said elastomeric synthetic yarns running in the first direction comprise at least about 40% by weight of the fabric and said elastomeric synthetic yarns are characterized by an elongation at break of at least about 90% and retain at least about 80% of their tensile strength following accelerated exposure to 488 kilojoules of UV irradiation, and wherein said first and second plurality of yarns are interwoven in a leno configuration.  
     
     
         26 . A textile fabric according to  claim 25 , wherein said first and second pluralities of yarns are woven together to form an open fabric having at least about 15% open space.  
     
     
         27 . A textile fabric according to  claim 25 , wherein said first and second pluralities of yarns are woven together to form an open fabric having at least about 35% open space.  
     
     
         28 . A textile fabric according to  claim 25 , wherein said first and second pluralities of yarns are woven together to form an open fabric having at least about 45% open space.  
     
     
         29 . A textile fabric according to  claim 25 , wherein said first and second plurality of yarns are woven to define a plurality of yarn intersections, and at least some of said yarn intersections are bonded together.  
     
     
         30 . A textile fabric according to  claim 25 , wherein said elastomeric synthetic yarns are bicomponent sheath/core elastomeric yarns having a sheath component which has a melt temperature that is at least about 30° F. below the melting point of the core component.  
     
     
         31 . A textile fabric according to  claim 30 , wherein portions of the bicomponent sheath/core elastomeric yarns are meltbonded to the second plurality of yarns to form a plurality of bonded yarn intersections.  
     
     
         32 . A textile fabric according to  claim 25 , wherein said fabric retains at least about 50% of its initial breaking strength when measured in the elastomeric synthetic yarn direction following accelerated exposure to 225 kilojoules of UV irradiation.  
     
     
         33 . A textile fabric according to  claim 32 , wherein said fabric retains at least about 70% of its initial breaking strength when measured in the elastomeric synthetic yarn direction following accelerated exposure to 225 kilojoules of UV irradiation.  
     
     
         34 . A textile fabric according to  claim 32 , wherein said fabric retains at least about 50% of its initial breaking strength when measured perpendicular to the elastomeric synthetic yarn direction following accelerated exposure to 225 kilojoules of UV irradiation.  
     
     
         35 . A textile fabric according to  claim 25 , wherein said fabric exhibits at least about 0.5 pounds strength in each of the first and second directions when subjected to a yarn unravel test.  
     
     
         36 . A textile fabric according to  claim 35 , wherein said fabric exhibits at least about 2 pounds strength in the first direction and at least about 1 pound strength in the second direction when subjected to a yarn unravel test.  
     
     
         37 . A textile fabric according to  claim 25 , wherein said first direction comprises the warp direction and the second direction comprises the fill direction of the fabric.