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.

1 . A woven, inflatable structure comprising:
 a first plurality of warp and weft threads woven together to form a first fabric ply;   a second plurality of warp and weft threads woven together to form a second fabric ply, said first and second fabric plies positioned roughly parallel to each other; and   a third plurality of pile fibers woven together with the first and second fabric plies to constrain a distance between the first and second fabric plies at each pile fiber's end points, wherein   a distance between the first and second fabric plies varies across a width of the first and second fabric plies and along a length of the first and second fabric plies.   
     
     
         2 . The woven, inflatable structure of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an inflation valve for pressurizing a volume bounded by the first and second fabric plies to achieve a predetermined stiffness of the woven, inflatable structure.   
     
     
         3 . The woven, inflatable structure of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an inflatable pocket woven into the first fabric ply by separating the first plurality of warp and weft threads into two subsets, a first of the two subsets woven together to form a first surface of the inflatable pocket, and a second of the two subsets woven together to form a second surface of the inflatable pocket.   
     
     
         4 . The woven, inflatable structure of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 a first inflation valve and a second inflation valve, said first inflation valve for pressurizing a first volume between the first fabric ply and the second fabric ply, and said second inflation valve for pressurizing a second, separate volume including the inflatable pocket.   
     
     
         5 . The woven, inflatable structure of  claim 1  forming a roughly rectangular mattress of roughly uniform thickness. 
     
     
         6 . The woven, inflatable structure of  claim 1  forming a seating portion of a sofa. 
     
     
         7 . The woven, inflatable structure of  claim 1  forming a stand-up paddleboard. 
     
     
         8 . 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.   
     
     
         9 . The inflatable spar of  claim 8 , 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.   
     
     
         10 . The inflatable spar of  claim 8  wherein a portion of a centerline of the spar is curved relative to both the warp fibers and the weft fibers. 
     
     
         11 . The inflatable spar of  claim 8  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. 
     
     
         12 . The inflatable spar of  claim 8  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. 
     
     
         13 . The inflatable spar of  claim 12  wherein the interior partition wall is airtight. 
     
     
         14 . The inflatable spar of  claim 12  wherein the interior partition wall is porous. 
     
     
         15 - 21 . (canceled) 
     
     
         22 . 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.   
     
     
         23 . The inflatable structure of  claim 22  wherein the separate, inflatable textile components are fastened together by sewing or welding. 
     
     
         24 . The inflatable structure of  claim 22  wherein the separate, inflatable textile components are fastened together by lacing. 
     
     
         25 . The inflatable structure of  claim 22  wherein the separate, inflatable textile components are fastened together to form one of a sofa or a chair. 
     
     
         26 . The inflatable structure of  claim 22 , further comprising:
 a textile surface fastened to a seam allowance of one of the inflatable textile components.   
     
     
         27 . The inflatable structure of  claim 26 , further comprising a bridle and harness, said structure forming a kite-surfing wing.