No Sweat Marks Fabric with Balanced Moisture Management Function

Abstract

A knit fabric includes a back layer including a first back yarn, the first back yarn having a minimum moisture regain of at least 6.0 weight percent. The first back yarn is plated with a back elastic yarn. The knit fabric also includes a face layer including a first face yarn having a maximum moisture regain of less than 5.5 weight percent. The first face yarn is plated with a face elastic yarn. The knit fabric further includes a connecting elastic yarn forming yarn connections between the face layer and the back layer binding together the layers. A denier of the face elastic yarn may be greater than a denier of the back elastic yarn and the connecting elastic yarn. One or both of the back layer or the face layer may comprise a full-feeder knit construction.

1 . A knit fabric comprising:
 a back layer comprising
 a first back yarn having a minimum moisture regain of at least 6.0 weight percent based on a weight of the first back yarn, and 
 a back elastic yarn, 
 wherein the first back yarn and the back elastic yarn are plated together in a back layer knit construction; 
   a face layer opposing the back layer, the face layer comprising
 a first face yarn having a maximum moisture regain of less than 5.5 weight percent based on a weight of the first face yarn, and 
 a face elastic yarn, 
 wherein the first face yarn and the face elastic yarn are plated together in a face layer knit construction; and 
   a connecting elastic yarn forming a plurality of yarn connections between the face layer and the back layer;   wherein a denier of the face elastic yarn is greater than a denier of the back elastic yarn and is greater than a denier of the connecting elastic yarn.   
     
     
         2 . The knit fabric according to  claim 1 , wherein the denier of the face elastic yarn is at least 5 denier greater than the denier of the back elastic yarn and is at least 5 denier greater than the denier of the connecting elastic yarn. 
     
     
         3 . The knit fabric according to  claim 1 , wherein the minimum moisture regain of the first back yarn is at least 7.5 weight percent. 
     
     
         4 . The knit fabric according to  claim 1 , wherein each yarn connection of the plurality of yarn connections between the face layer and the back layer consists of the connecting elastic yarn, and the connecting elastic yarn is a single filament uncovered elastic yarn. 
     
     
         5 . The knit fabric according to  claim 1 , wherein the denier of the face elastic yarn is 10 denier greater than the denier of the back elastic yarn and is 10 denier greater than the denier of the connecting elastic yarn. 
     
     
         6 . The knit fabric according to  claim 1 , wherein the back elastic yarn is a single filament uncovered elastic yarn and the face elastic yarn is a single filament uncovered elastic yarn. 
     
     
         7 . The knit fabric according to  claim 1 , wherein the face layer knit construction comprises a full-feeder knit construction. 
     
     
         8 . The knit fabric according to  claim 1 , wherein the back layer knit construction comprises a pique or jersey knit construction. 
     
     
         9 . The knit fabric according to  claim 1 , wherein a path of the connecting elastic yarn forms a zig-zag pattern of the plurality of yarn connections between the face layer and the back layer, or wherein a path of the connecting elastic yarn alternates between directly adjacent loops of a knit structure of the face layer and the back layer, or wherein a path of the connecting elastic yarn alternates between directly adjacent loops of a knit structure of the face layer and the back layer in a zig-zag pattern. 
     
     
         10 . The knit fabric according to  claim 1 , wherein, in a knit structure of the knit fabric, only the connecting elastic yarn forms the plurality of yarn connections between the face layer with the back layer, such that all yarns of the back layer do not extend beyond the back layer and into the face layer, and all yarns of the face layer do not extend beyond the face layer and into the back layer. 
     
     
         11 . The knit fabric according to  claim 1 , wherein the first back yarn includes a plurality of filaments or staple fibers comprising a cellulosic material. 
     
     
         12 . The knit fabric according to  claim 11 , wherein the cellulosic material comprises a regenerated cellulose. 
     
     
         13 . The knit fabric according to  claim 1 , wherein the first face yarn includes a plurality of filaments or staple fibers comprising a synthetic polymer filament or fiber material. 
     
     
         14 . The knit fabric according to  claim 13 , wherein the synthetic polymer filament or fiber material comprises a polyamide. 
     
     
         15 . The knit fabric according to  claim 13 , wherein the synthetic polymer filament or fiber material further comprises an internal durable water repellent (DWR) additive compounded with other components of the synthetic polymer filament or fiber material prior to the compounded synthetic polymer filament or fiber material being extruded or spun into filaments or staple fibers. 
     
     
         16 . The knit fabric according to  claim 1 , wherein the first face yarn is free of an externally-applied DWR treatment applied to external surfaces of the first face yarn. 
     
     
         17 . The knit fabric according to  claim 1 , wherein the first back yarn is free of a wicking treatment or additive. 
     
     
         18 . An article of apparel comprising the knit fabric of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         19 . A method of knitting a fabric, the method comprising:
 knitting a back layer comprising
 a first back yarn having a minimum moisture regain of at least 6.0 weight percent based on a weight of the first back yarn, and 
 a back elastic yarn, 
   wherein the knitting the back layer comprises plating the first back yarn and the back elastic yarn in a back layer knit construction;   knitting a face layer opposing the back layer, the face layer comprising
 a first face yarn having a maximum moisture regain of less than 5.5 weight percent based on a weight of the first face yarn, and 
   a face elastic yarn,   wherein the knitting the face layer comprises plating the first face yarn and the face elastic yarn in a face layer knit construction; and   knitting a plurality of yarn connections between the face layer and the back layer using a connecting elastic yarn, thereby connecting the face layer and the back layer to each other and forming a knit fabric;   wherein a denier of the face elastic yarn is greater than a denier of the back elastic yarn and is greater than a denier of the connecting elastic yarn.   
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 19 , wherein the denier of the face elastic yarn is at least 5 denier greater than the denier of the back elastic yarn and is at least 5 denier greater than the denier of the connecting elastic yarn.