Fabric Structure

Abstract

A woven, braided or knitted fabric structure includes wires of silver alloy, preferably a precipitation-hardened Ag Cu Ge alloy. The process for making a fabric structure may include providing silver wire having a temper of more than fully soft but less than half hardness, forming said wire into said structure and heating the structure to precipitation-harden the wire.

1 . A fabric structure comprising wires of silver alloy. 
     
     
         2 . The structure of  claim 1 , wherein the alloy is an alloy of silver, copper and germanium. 
     
     
         3 . The structure of  claim 2 , wherein the alloy consists, apart from impurities and any grain refiner, of 80-96% silver, 0.1-5% germanium and 1-19.9% copper, by weight of the alloy. 
     
     
         4 . The structure of  claim 3 , wherein the alloy comprises apart from impurities and grain refiner, of 92.5-98% silver, 0.3-3% germanium, and 1-7.2% copper, by weight of the alloy, together with 1-40 ppm boron as grain refiner. 
     
     
         5 . The structure of  claim 4 , wherein the alloy consists, apart from impurities and grain refiner, of 92.5-96% silver, 0.5-2% germanium, and 1-7% copper, by weight of the alloy, together with 1-40 ppm boron as grain refiner. 
     
     
         6 . The structure of any preceding claim, wherein said alloy further comprises zinc. 
     
     
         7 . The structure of  claim 6 , wherein the zinc is present in a ratio, by weight, to the copper of no more than 1:1. 
     
     
         8 . The structure of any preceding claim, wherein said alloy comprises 81-95.409 wt % Ag, 0.5-6 wt % Cu, 0.05-5 wt % Zn, 0.02-2 wt % Si, 0.01-2 wt % by weight B, optionally 0.01-1.5 wt % In, optionally 0.25-6 wt % Sn and 0.01-no more than 2.0 wt % Ge. 
     
     
         9 . The structure of any preceding claim, consisting essentially of silver wire. 
     
     
         10 . The structure of any preceding claim, wherein the wire is of diameter 0.05-2.0 mm. 
     
     
         11 . The structure of  claim 10 , wherein the wire is of diameter 0.1-1 mm. 
     
     
         12 . The structure of any preceding claim, wherein the silver wire is single stranded. 
     
     
         13 . The structure of any of  claims 1 - 12 , wherein the silver wire comprises a plurality of strands. 
     
     
         14 . The structure of any preceding claim, which is woven. 
     
     
         15 . The structure of any of  claims 1 - 13 , which is knitted. 
     
     
         16 . The structure of  claim 15 , which comprises a single layer. 
     
     
         17 . The structure of  claim 15 , which comprises two or more layers of loops knitted together. 
     
     
         18 . The structure of  claim 15 ,  16  or  17  which is weft knitted. 
     
     
         19 . The structure of  claim 15 ,  16  or  17  which is warp knitted. 
     
     
         20 . The structure of any of  claims 15 - 19 , which is tubular or cable-like. 
     
     
         21 . The structure of any of  claims 15 - 19 , which is a flat sheet. 
     
     
         22 . The structure of any preceding claim, obtainable by forming quarter-hard wire. 
     
     
         23 . The structure of any preceding claim, precipitation hardened after said structure has been formed. 
     
     
         24 . The structure of  claim 23 , precipitation hardened by heating to about 300° C. for about 30 minutes. 
     
     
         25 . A process for making a fabric structure which comprises providing silver wire having a temper of more than fully soft but less than half hardness, forming said wire into said structure and heating the structure to precipitation harden the wire. 
     
     
         26 . The process of  claim 25 , wherein the wire prior to knitting is quarter hard. 
     
     
         27 . The process of  claim 25  or  26 , wherein the fabric structure is formed by knitting the wire. 
     
     
         28 . The process of  claim 27 , wherein the structure is formed by weft knitting. 
     
     
         29 . The process of  claim 27 , wherein the structure is formed by warp knitting. 
     
     
         30 . The process of any of  claims 25 - 29 , wherein the wire is of a precipitation hardenable Ag Cu Ge alloy containing at least 80 wt % Ag. 
     
     
         31 . The process of  claim 30 , wherein the alloy an amount of boron effective as a grain refiner and up to 20 ppm. 
     
     
         32 . A fabric structure comprising wires of silver alloy having a grain structure refined by incorporation into molten silver alloy from which said wire is formed of a decomposable boron compound. 
     
     
         33 . The structure of  claim 32 , wherein said decomposable boron compound is sodium borohydride. 
     
     
         34 . The structure of  claim 32  or  33 , formed by machine knitting.