Inflatable Jacquard-Woven Textiles for Structural Applications

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention comprise woven multilayer textiles having shaped, enclosed, inflatable pockets, where the inflated textile carries tension, compression, torsion and/or bending loads. Composite structures incorporating such inflatable members or spars are also described and claimed.

We claim: 
     
         1 . An inflatable spar, comprising:
 a curved textile tube having warp fibers generally oriented in a first direction along the tube; and   having weft fibers generally oriented in a second, different direction across the tube, wherein   an adjacent plurality of weft fibers are woven together through all of a first section of warp fibers, then two subsets of the plurality of weft fibers are woven together through different subsets of a second section of warp fibers, then all of the adjacent plurality of weft fibers are woven together through all of a third section of warp fibers,   the first and third sections of warp fibers thus forming a seam allowance at opposite sides of the curved textile tube and the different subsets of the second section of warp fibers forming upper and lower surfaces of the curved textile tube.   
     
     
         2 . The inflatable spar of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an inflation valve installed through one of the upper surface of the curved textile tube or the lower surface of the curved textile tube.   
     
     
         3 . The inflatable spar of  claim 1  wherein a portion of a centerline of the spar is curved relative to both the warp fibers and the weft fibers. 
     
     
         4 . The inflatable spar of  claim 1  wherein a first portion of a centerline of the spar is parallel to the warp fibers and a second portion of the centerline of the spar is parallel to the weft fibers. 
     
     
         5 . The inflatable spar of  claim 1  wherein a third subset of the plurality of weft fibers are woven together with a third subset of warp fibers in the second section, said third subsets thus forming an interior partition wall. 
     
     
         6 . The inflatable spar of  claim 5  wherein the interior partition wall is airtight. 
     
     
         7 . The inflatable spar of  claim 5  wherein the interior partition wall is porous. 
     
     
         8 . A woven textile comprising:
 a plurality of warp fibers oriented generally lengthwise along the woven textile;   a plurality of weft fibers oriented generally widthwise across the woven textile, wherein   a first section across a width of the woven textile includes a first selvage-like portion where all weft fibers are woven together with all warp fibers;   a second portion adjoining the first portion includes a first subset of weft fibers woven together with a first subset of warp fibers and a second, distinct subset of weft fibers woven together with a second, distinct subset of warp fibers; and   a second selvage-like portion adjoining the second portion where all weft fibers are woven together with all warp fibers.   
     
     
         9 . The woven textile of  claim 8 , wherein:
 the second portion adjoining the first portion has a third, distinct subset of weft fibers woven together with a third, distinct subset of warp fibers.   
     
     
         10 . The woven textile of  claim 8 , wherein a sample cut through a full thickness of the woven textile within second portion yields at least three separate woven swatches. 
     
     
         11 . The woven textile of  claim 8 , said second portion forming an inflatable chamber. 
     
     
         12 . The woven textile of  claim 8 , said second portion forming a plurality of adjacent inflatable chambers, at least two of such adjacent inflatable chambers sharing at least a portion of a chamber boundary. 
     
     
         13 . The woven textile of  claim 8  wherein at least some warp fibers and at least some weft fibers are treated with a coating that can be activated to reduce porosity of the woven textile. 
     
     
         14 . The woven textile of  claim 13  wherein the coating is a thermoplastic coating, and wherein activating is heat treating. 
     
     
         15 . An inflatable structure, comprising:
 a plurality of separate, inflatable textile components, each component cut from a length of woven fabric having shaped pockets woven therein, said components cut apart in seam allowances surrounding the shaped pockets,   said plurality of separate, inflatable textile components fastened together between portions of their respective seam allowances.   
     
     
         16 . The inflatable structure of  claim 15  wherein the separate, inflatable textile components are fastened together by sewing or welding. 
     
     
         17 . The inflatable structure of  claim 15  wherein the separate, inflatable textile components are fastened together by lacing. 
     
     
         18 . The inflatable structure of  claim 15  wherein the separate, inflatable textile components are fastened together to form one of a sofa or a chair. 
     
     
         19 . The inflatable structure of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 a textile surface fastened to a seam allowance of one of the inflatable textile components.   
     
     
         20 . The inflatable structure of  claim 19 , further comprising a bridle and harness, said structure forming a kite-surfing wing.