Unidirectional moisture conducting knitted fabric and related clothing items, manufacturing methods and manufacturing systems

Abstract

A unidirectional moisture conducting knitted fabric and related cloth, clothing items as well as related manufacturing method and systems are described. The knitted fabric comprises a combination of hydrophilic fiber materials and hydrophobic fiber material in a double layer material obtained by the knit method, and the unidirectional moisture is obtained due to the difference in hydrophilic property of the double layer material itself.

1 . A unidirectional moisture conducting knitted fabric, comprising: a first fabric layer and a second fabric layer,
 wherein the first fabric layer is formed from hydrophilic fiber material; and   the second fabric layer is formed from both hydrophilic fiber material and hydrophobic fiber material, the first fabric layer and the second layer being at opposite sides of the unidirectional moisture conducting knitted fabric.   
     
     
         2 . The unidirectional moisture conducting knitted fabric according to  claim 1 , wherein the unidirectional moisture conducting knitted fabric is woven by a double-layer knit structure configured to provide the first fabric layer is formed by hydrophilic fiber material, and the second fabric layer is formed by hydrophilic fiber material and hydrophobic fiber material. 
     
     
         3 . The unidirectional moisture conducting knitted fabric according to  claim 2 , wherein the double-layer knit structure is a double-faced jacquard structure or a double faced French terry structure. 
     
     
         4 . The unidirectional moisture conducting knitted fabric according to  claim 1 , wherein the hydrophilic fiber material and the hydrophobic fiber material in the second fabric layer are arranged in proportion, and the proportion of a surface area of the hydrophobic fiber material to a surface area of the hydrophilic fiber material ranges from 3:1 to 15:1. 
     
     
         5 . The unidirectional moisture conducting knitted fabric according to  claim 1 , wherein the hydrophilic fiber material is rayon or cotton. 
     
     
         6 . The unidirectional moisture conducting knitted fabric according to  claim 1 , wherein the hydrophobic fiber material is non-differentiated polyester. 
     
     
         7 . A manufacturing method of the unidirectional moisture conducting knitted fabric according to  claim 1 , the method comprising
 providing a first fiber material formed by hydrophilic fibers and a second fiber material formed by hydrophilic fibers and hydrophobic fibers; and   knitting the first fabric material and the second fabric material to provide a knitted fabric having a first layer formed by the first fabric material and a second surface formed by the second fabric material, the second surface opposite to the first surface.   
     
     
         8 . The manufacturing method of  claim 7 , further comprising the sequential steps of dyeing the knitted fabric to provide a dyed knitted fabric, drying the dyed knitted fabric to provide a dried dyed knitted fabric and stentering the dried dyed knitted fabric to provide a finished fabric. 
     
     
         9 . The manufacturing method according to  claim 8 , wherein the stentering comprises adding to the dried dyed knitted fabric a polyether modified silicone emulsion with a dosage ranging from 8 g/L to 40 g/L. 
     
     
         10 . The manufacturing method according to  claim 9 , wherein the polyether modified silicone emulsion is Huntsman's ULTRATEX® STS-U. 
     
     
         11 . A system to manufacture a unidirectional moisture conducting knitted fabric, the system comprising a first fiber material formed by hydrophilic fibers and a second fiber material formed by hydrophilic and hydrophobic fibers, and a device configured to knit the first fabric material and the second fabric material to provide a unidirectional moisture conducting knitted fabric of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         12 . A clothing item are having an inner surface configured to contact an individual user and an outer surface configured to face an environment external to an individual user, the clothing item comprising the unidirectional moisture conducting knitted fabric of  claim 1  in a configuration in which the first fabric layer forms at least part of the outer surface of the clothing item and the second fabric layer forms at least part of the inner surface of the clothing item.