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(11) | EP 0 004 458 A1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | Fabric of fur and method of production |
| (57) A fabric is made up of an elongated strip of a hairy-coated skin of a fur-bearinq
animal. The fabric is formed by twisting the strip such that the skin (28) forms a
core and the hair (30) stands substantially radially outward therefrom. The twisted
strip is then combined with like twisted strips and also, if desired, one or more
threads or cords (42) of non-furry material. and is knitted, crocheted or woven to
form the fabric. |
[0001] This invention relates to a fabric comprised of strips of fur and to the method of making the same. More particularly the invention relates to a fabric having oppositely facing furry curfaces and composed, either in whole or in part, of woven, crocheted or knitted strips of fur.
[0002] Various methods of knitting fur are known to the art. In U.S. patent No. 2416758 to Knowles a yarn-like strand is formed by inserting a bunch of hairs from a fur-bearing animal into each of a series of side by side loops in a thread of cotton, rayon or the like. The thread is pulled tight to hold the hairs in place in the loops and the resulting strand is fashioned into a fabric by knitting or crocheting. In U.S. patent No. 2805564 to Moore fibres at the edges of skins of fur-bearing animals are joined by knitting to form a fabric having parallel blended stripes.
[0003] Problems are encountered in forming a fabric by the methods described in these patents or in fashioning the fabric into a finished garment. In the method proposed by Knowles for example, the hairs do not radiate outwardly from all sides of the thread but are disposed substantially in or adjacent a single plane. The largest portion of the cross-section of the thread is devoid altogether of hair. As a result, a fabric from which the thread is formed will not have a uniformly furry surface but instead will have a patchy uneven appearance. Furthermore, the insertion of the hair into the loops of the thread is an extremely time consuming and hence expensive operation.
[0004] In the aforesaid disclosure of Moore, the finished fabric is relatively wide and must be cut and sewn into a garment in the same way a.s skins of animals. The fabric cannot for example be fashioned into seamless garments of a variety of shapes.
[0005] It would accordingly be desirable to provide a fabric having a uniformly furry surface on opposite sides thereof and to provide a method for production thereof.
[0006] It would also be desirable to provide a simple and relatively inexpensive method of forming a strip of a skin of a fur-bearing animal into a garment which may be of any desired shape and which may either have seams or be seamless.
[0007] It would further be desirable to provide a fabric formed by weaving, knitting or crocheting one or more elongated strips of a skin of a fur-bearing animal. The fabric according to the teaching herein may be composed solely of strips of skin or may be composed of strips of skin in combination with cords of non-animal origin.
[0008] According to the present invention, a fabric has oppositely facing furry surfaces and comprises an elongated strip of a hairy-coated skin of a fur-bearing animal twisted such that the hair stands substantially radially outward from the skin.
[0009] Also according to the invention, there is provided a method for producing a fabric having oppositely facing furry surfaces comprised. of an elongated strip of a hairy-coated skin of a fur-bearing animal twisted such that the hair stands radially outward from the skin, comprising the steps of:
(a) cutting the hairy-coated skin to form an elongated strip;
(b) twisting said strip such that the hair stands substantially radially outward from the skin; and
(c) forming said twisted strip into said fabric.
[0010] The invention will now be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the fabric of the invention and of its method of production. In the drawings:
Figure 1 is a'diagramatic view illustrating the manner in which the fabric of the invention may be formed by knitting:
Figure 2 is a plan view of a spirally cut hairy-coated skin of a fur-bearing animal;
Figure 3 is a perspective view of a twisted portion of a strip cut as illustrated in Figure 2;
Figure is a plan view of a fabric produced by loosely weaving a number of twisted strips;
Figure 5 is a fragmentary view of the knitted fabric illustrated in Figure 1 but in enlarged scale;
Figure 6 is a perspective view of a portion of a strip of hairy-coated skin twisted around a cord or thread; and
Figures 7 and 8 are sections on lines 7-7 and 8-8 of Figure 6.
[0012] With reference to Figure 1, a twisted strip or strand 10 cut from a hairy-coated skin of a fur-bearing animal is loosely wound into a ball or skein 12. A conventional cord 14 of non-furry material, such as wool, cotton or synthetic fibre, is wound around a spool 16. The strip 10 and cord 14 are knitted using needle 18 into a fabric 20 more clearly seen in Figure 5. The method of knitting need not vary in any way from the hand operation conventionally employed when such materials as wool or the like are used.
[0013] The steps by which strip 10 is formed are illustrated in Figures 2 and 3. With reference first to Figure 2, a hairy-coated skin 22 of a fur-bearing animal is preferably prepared for the illustrated cutting operation by first blocking it, that is wetting and stretching it by conventional means to increase its surface area. Stretching not only results in more usable material but facilitates cutting. After stretching the skin 22 may be dyed so that the skin is not apparent after the hairy-coated skin has been twisted. Dyeing of the skin to the same colour as the hair is of course desirable where there is a significant difference in colour between the two.
[0014] After stretching and dyeing, the hairy-coated skin 22 is trimmed to remove its uneven outer edge. The skin is then cut into a long strand or strip. For most applications the strip should be about ⅛" to ¼" in width. Suitable means for doing so is illustrated in Figure 2. The hairy-coated skin 22 is cut along spiral lines as indicated at 24. In other words, a cut proceeds continuously from an outer edge of the skin to a central position thereof, with the width of the strip being maintained substantially constant. It will be realised that in practical use with most skins, the cut will not be a spiral in the strict geometric sense of this word, and the word "spiral" is to be construed accordingly. In this way a very long thin strip or strand ca be cut from a relatively small animal. -The strip may of course be cut either by hand or by machine.
[0015] The ends of two strips may be joined by gluing the hair-free inside surfaces of the ends of the strips together. Alternatively, the ends may be connected by sewing. In this way, even longer strips may be obtained.
[0016] After the strip of hairy-coated skin has been cut,and if necessary joined, it is twisted as illustrated in Figure 3 so that the skin 28 forms a core of the strip and the hair 30 stands out substantially radially therefrom. Twisting may be carried out by hand or mechanically by means of a spinning wheel, an electric motor or other rotating apparatus.
[0017] It is usually desirable to clean the strip of hairy-coated skin to remove any loose hairs and foreign particles adhering to the hair before the strip is incorporated into a fabric. The strip can be cleaned at the same time as it is being twisted by simply running the fingers along the hair while the strip is twisted.
[0018] A twisted strip of uniform cross-section throughout its length can be readily formed by hand despite variations in the width of the strip. Where the width of the strip of hairy-coated skin varies, the strip can be twisted more tightly in areas where the strip is wider and twisted more loosely where it is thinner su that the cross-section of the finished twisted strip will be generally uniform through its length.
[0019] With reference to Figure 4, twisted strip 10 may be woven into a fabric 30 in a conventional manner. The strip may form both the warp and the weft of the fabric or it may form only one of the warp and weft, while the other may be formed of a cord or thread of non-animal origin such as cotton or a synthetic fibre.
[0020] Problems may be encountered when the skin, which is used in the formation of a fabric by the method of the invention, is weak. Old skins are frequently quite weak and tend to break during twisting or in the finished fabric. Even new skins may have areas of weakness and strips formed from these areas are susceptible to breakage.
[0021] To avoid breakage of the strip of skin during the twisting step it is desirable to turn or twist the strip of skin around a cord or thread. The cord or thread reinforces the skin and takes up the bulk of the tensile force applied when the skin and cord or thread are being twisted and when the finished fabric is being worn.
[0022] With reference to Figure 6, a strip of hairy-coated skin 40 is twisted around an elongated cord or thread 42 so that in some areas of its length, such as area 43, the skin 44 extends spirally around the cord or thread and the hair 46 stands out generally radially therefrom. In an alternative arrangement, in the remaining areas such as area 48, the cord or thread 42 extends spirally around the outside of the strip and the strip itself is twisted such as is illustrated in Figure 3 so that the skin 44 forms a core of the strip and the hair 46 stands out generally radially therefrom. Both arrangements may be used with one strip.
[0023] In Figure 7, the cord or thread 42 forms a central cord of the twisted product; the skin 44 forms an intermediate layer which surrounds the cord or thread and hair 46 forms an outer layer that extends radially outwardly from the intermediate layer of skin. By contrast in Figure 8 the cord or thread 42 is disposed beside the strip 40 and the latter is twisted around itself.
[0024] Twisting of the strip of hairy-coated skin around a thread or cord may be accomplished by hand or mechanically by means of a spinning wheel, an electric motor or other rotating apparatus. It is desirable that the strip and the cord or thread be twisted into a product which has the form of length 43 in Figure 6. In practice however it is difficult to prevent certain lengths of the product from taking the form of area 48.
[0025] The cord or thread 42 may be composed of wool, cotton or a synthetic fibre such as nylon. The choice of material will be made principally on the basis of strength but because the thread or cord will be visible in areas where the strip of hairy-coated skin does not surround it, the thread or cord should be of the same colour as the fur and should have a generally soft or matt exterior.
[0026] It will be understood of course that modifications can be made in the preferred embodiments of the invention described and illustrated herein without departing from the invention. For example, a fabric according to the invention may be composed wholly of one or more strips of furry material or it may, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 5, be composed of both furry and non-furry material.
1. A fabric having oppositely facing furry surfaces and comprising an elongated strip
of a hairy-coated skin of a fur-bearing animal twisted such that the hair stands substantially
radially outward from the skin.
2. A fabric having oppositely facing furry surfaces and comprising (a) an elongated
strip of a hairy-coated skin of a fur-bearing animal twisted such that the hair stands
substantially radially outward from the akin and (b) an elongated non-furry piece.
3. A fabric according to Claim 1 or 2 wherein said twisted strip is knitted, crocheted
or woven to form said fabric.
4. A method for producing a fabric having oppositely facing furry surfaces comprised
of an elongated strip of a hairy-coated skin of a fur-bearing animal twisted such
that the hair stands substantially radially outward from the skin, comprising the
steps of:
(a) cutting the hairy-coated skin to form an elongated strip;
(b) twisting said strip such that the hair stands substantially radially outward from the skin; and
(c) forming said twisted strip into said fabric.
5. A method according to Claim 4 in which the twisted strip is formed into a fabric
together with an elongated piece of non-furry material.
.6. A method according to Claim 4 wherein said forming step comprises knitting, crocheting
or weaving.
7. A fabric according to Claim. 2, or Claim 3 when dependent on Claim 2, wherein said
elongated non-furry piece is disposed within and is surrounded by said skin.
8. A method uf production of a fabrio having oppositely facing furry surfaces comprised
of an elongated furry strip of a hairy-coated skin of a fur bearing animal and an
elongated non-furry piece comprising the steps of:
(a) cutting the hairy-ooated skin to form an elongated strip;
(b) twisting said strip spirally around said non-furry piece such that said non-furry piece forms a central core; the skin forms an intermediate layer which contacts and surrounds said central core and the hair stands radially outward from said skin; and
(o) forming said twisted strip into said fabric.
9. A method of production of a fabrio having oppositely facing furry surfaces comprised
of an elongated furry strip of a hairy-coated skin of a fur bearing animal and an
elongated non-furry piece comprising the steps of:
(a) cutting the hairy-coated skin to form an elongated strip;
(b) twisting said strip spirally around said non-furry piece such that in some areas said non-furry piece forms a central core; the skin forms an intermediate leyer which contacts and surrounds said central core and the hair stands substantially radially outward from said skin and in other areas said non-furry piece extends spirally around the outside of said hairy-coated skin.
10. A method according to Claim 0, wherein said forming step comprises knitting, crocheting
or weaving.