Textile fabric

Feb. 18, 1941. _{K A}. zirkman 2,232,647

TEXTILE FABRIC Filed May 20, 1938

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Patented Feb. 18, 1941

2,232,647

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,232,647

TEXTILE FABRIC

Frederick A. Zirkman, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to Charles Lachman Co., Inc., Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania

Application May 20,1938, Serial No. 208,955 (Cl. 154—54) nated or plied with such hair-like fibers. To produce the fabric, the cut leaf or blade-like fiber alone, or the mixture or composite of the leaf

Claims.

This invention relates to textile fabrics; and it has reference more particularly to textile fabrics imitative of sod and intended to be used for decorative purposes, as for example, beneath 5 Christmas trees, in stage settings, in lawn displays in shop windows and in stores, and in cemeteries to cover up-turned earth and to line graves.

Imitation sod fabrics are ordinarily produced 10 by placing a layer of long longitudinally aligned flat strands of natural or synthetic leaves or blades upon a foundation web of loosely woven cloth, usually burlap; running parallel lines of stitches across crosswise of the web to secure the 15 leaf or blade strands; and thereafter cutting said strands in the intervals between the stitch lines to provide the free ends which are Intended to represent the grass leaves or blades. This method is an expensive procedure in view of the ne20 cessity for the transverse stitching and the cutting operations, and at best results in a product which does not properly simulate natural grass because the leaves or blades are too uniformly disposed in one direction and lie too flat against 25 the foundation web.

The purpose of my invention is to overcome the above drawbacks, that is to say: I aim to provide fabric which more closely resembles natural sod, and to make it possible to produce such 30 fabrics more expeditiously and economically than heretofore.

One way in which these objectives can be readily realized in practice, will appear from the following detailed description taken in connection 35 with the attached drawing, wherein:

Fig. I shows the top face of imitation sod fabric conveniently embodying my invention.

Fig. Π is a view showing the fabric in longitudinal section; and

Fig. ΠΙ is a view corresponding to Fig. H showing an intermediate step in the manufacture of the fabric.

In accordance with my invention, I employ for the imitation grass, flat leaf or blade-like mail terial which may be either synthetic or vegetable fiber like raffia whereof the strands are indicated by the numeral I in the drawing. This leaf or blade-like fiber I prepare by cutting it into suitable lengths depending upon the extent 50 of projection desired in the finished product. It may be used either alone or mixed in various proportions with hair-like or filmentary fibrous material, either synthetic, or natural fiber such for example as sisal, coir or jute, which is indi5# cated at 2 in the drawing; or it may be lamior blade-like fibers and the hair-like fibers is formed into an even layer of the requisite depth β upon a foundation web 3 of burlap or other inexpensive cloth as shown in Fig. H, and subjected to a needling or punching operation whereby the hair-like fibers, are thrust from above into said foundation web to penetrate the 10 same and bind in the blade-like fibers as ishown in Fig. Ill, incidentally becoming entangled with each other, and, as a consequence effectively anchored in the foundation. This operation may be conveniently carried out in a needling or U punching machine such as is ordinarily used in producing felted fabrics. As a result'of the needling and punching action of the machine, the leaf or blade-like fibers arrange themselves more or less promiscuously as shown in Fig. I but with- 20 out undue packing or felting, so that the finished product is highly simulative of natural grass with the leafy blades projecting from the face thereof. The different blades and fibers and the foundation web may be separately dyed 25 preparatory to formation of the fabric; or the dyeing may be deferred until after the fabric has been formed, as may be found most convenient in practice. A similar procedure may be followed if fire proofing is desired. 30

As an alternative, the foundation web may be entirely dispensed with and the layer of blades and fibers alone subjected to the .needling operation, and the fabric thereafter coated on the back with a suitable thermo-plastic binding so- 35 lutlon or compound such as latex. If desired, binding material or latex may be applied to the web-backed fabric to effect more secure anchorage of the blades and fibers. In either case, when the latter treatment is resorted to, it may 40 be desirable to brush up the surfacing to raise tte blades, which latter operation may be accomplished either manually or mechanically.

Blade-like fiber is ordinarily difficult to card and to convert into batting. When it is used 45 alone, it may be distributed by hand or by a suitable spreading and levelling means incident to being advanced over the feed table of the needling machine. On the other hand, when the two kinds of fibers are used, I subject them either 50 separately or together to a confining operation, employing for this purpose ordinary carding or garnetting machines having suitable coarse clothing on their rolls to prevent undue breaking up or splitting of the leafy blades. As the 55

8,888,047 combed material* come from the carding or garnetting machines, they are laminated or compounded as a mixture into a layer of the desired depth, and the batting thus formed either run onto a foundation web or directly into the needling or punching machine as hereinbefore explained.

I do not consider myself limited to the use of any particular color or shade of dye, since the coloring may be varied according to the condition which Is to be simulated, and bleaching may be resorted to Instead of dyeing to simulate frosted or snow covered sod.