Woven fabric with intricate design

Abstract

Fabrics that have a pattern of discrete ornamental designs are disclosed that can be used in numerous applications. In one embodiment, the fabric can be made from flame resistant fibers for use in protective garments, especially firefighting garments. The discrete designs make the fabric readily recognizable that provides an indicia for the excellent physical properties of the fabric. For instance, not only is the fabric lightweight, strong and abrasion resistant, but also has excellent stretch properties in multiple directions, especially in directions diagonal to the warp direction and the fill direction.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A flame resistant garment for turnout coats for firemen comprising:
 a woven fabric shaped to cover at least a portion of a wearer's body, the woven fabric comprising background yarns woven with figure yarns, the background yarns and the figure yarns extending in both the warp direction and a fill direction, the background yarns and the figure yarns forming a repeat within the fabric, and wherein, within the repeat, the figure yarns forming a pattern of discrete ornamental designs.   
     
     
         2 . A flame resistant garment as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the pattern of ornamental discrete designs comprises a spiral pattern. 
     
     
         3 . A flame resistant garment as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the repeat is formed from about 6 yarns to about 20 yarns in the warp direction that intersect with about 6 yarns to about 20 yarns in the fill direction. 
     
     
         4 . A flame resistant garment as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the repeat is formed from about 7 to about 9 yarns in the warp direction that intersect with about 7 to about 9 yarns in the fill direction. 
     
     
         5 . A flame resistant garment as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the background yarns and figure yarns are positioned in the fabric in the warp direction at a ratio within the repeat of from about 3:1 to about 1:3 and wherein the background yarns and figure yarns are positioned in the fabric in the fill direction at a ratio within the repeat of from about 3:1 to about 1:3. 
     
     
         6 . A flame resistant garment as defined in  claim 2 , wherein, within the repeat, the background yarns and the figure yarns are present in a ratio in the warp direction of 1:1 and are present at a ratio in the fill direction of 1:1. 
     
     
         7 . A flame resistant garment as defined in  claim 2 , wherein the ornamental discrete designs comprise spiral figures, the spiral figures forming rows, columns and diagonals in the fabric. 
     
     
         8 . A flame resistant garment as defined in  claim 2 , wherein the ornamental discrete designs comprise spiral figures, the spiral figures being interconnected along a diagonal direction while not being connected in the warp direction or the fill direction. 
     
     
         9 . A flame resistant garment as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the background yarns are visually different from the figure yarns. 
     
     
         10 . A flame resistant garment as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the woven fabric is made from at least 75% by weight flame resistant fibers. 
     
     
         11 . A flame resistant garment as defined in  claim 2 , wherein the spiral pattern includes spiral figures, each spiral figure having a width of from about 2 mm to about 6 mm and having a length of from about 2 mm to about 6 mm. 
     
     
         12 . A flame resistant garment as defined in  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the background yarns or the figure yarns are comprised of aramid fibers. 
     
     
         13 . A flame resistant garment as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the woven fabric includes a combination of filament yarns and spun yarns. 
     
     
         14 . A flame resistant garment as defined in  claim 13 , wherein the figure yarns comprise spun yarns and the background yarns comprise filament yarns. 
     
     
         15 . A flame resistant garment as defined in  claim 14 , wherein the figure yarns contain PBI, PBO, or mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         16 . A flame resistant garment as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the woven fabric contains FR cellulose fibers. 
     
     
         17 . A flame resistant garment as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the woven fabric contains PBI fibers, PBO fibers, or a mixture of both PBI and PBO fibers in an amount from about 30% to about 60% by weight. 
     
     
         18 . A flame resistant garment as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the woven fabric has a basis weight of from about 3 osy to about 9 osy. 
     
     
         19 . A flame resistant garment as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the woven fabric has a twill-like weave. 
     
     
         20 . A woven fabric having a warp direction and a fill direction, the woven fabric comprising background yarns woven with figure yarns, the background yarns and the figure yarns extending in both the warp direction and the fill direction, the background yarns and the figure yarns forming a repeat within the fabric, within the repeat, the figure yarns forming a spiral pattern, the spiral pattern including spiral figures, at least certain of the spiral figures being interconnected along a diagonal direction, the spiral figures having a width of from about 1 mm to about 30 mm and having a length of from about 1 mm to about 30 mm.