The present invention relates to a pile fabric provided with two types of piles, namely, long piles formed of a natural fiber material such as a vegetable fiber such as cotton or hemp, an animal fiber such as silk or animal hair, a cellulosic fiber such as rayon, polynosic rayon or lyocell, and short piles formed of an ultrafine synthetic fiber such as polyester, nylon or acrylic fiber, and having both high functionality and texture allowing the use thereof for towels, bathrobes, sheets, covers, handkerchiefs, floorcloths, mops and the like.

In most cases, pile fabrics known as towels and the like have hitherto been made from 100 percent cotton. However, towels made from 100 percent cotton have drawbacks that such towels lack quick drying property, tend to shrink after washing, undergo dimensional changes, and also lack durability for example in such a way that the texture is degraded with the lapse of use time. For the purpose of overcoming these drawbacks, on the basis of the recent technical innovation, there have been developed a large number of fibers such as highly functional polyesters, ultrafine synthetic fibers and cellulosic fibers excellent in hygroscopicity. As disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-70875, known examples of pile fabrics made of materials such as such a highly functional polyester fiber and a cellulosic fiber include a pile fabric woven up with a pile yarn mainly composed of a cellulosic fiber, and a ground warp yarn and a ground weft yarn each containing a cellulosic fiber, wherein at least either one of the ground warp yarn and the ground weft yarn in contact with the roots of the piles formed with the pile yarn contains 30 to 60% by weight of an ultrafine polyester fiber having a fineness of 0.9 denier or less.

However, as in the toweling disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-70875, in toweling in which cellulosic fibers are used in the ground warp yarn or the ground weft yarn, in particular in toweling in which rayon yarns are used, mutual slippage of the yarns tends to occur because of the round cross-sectional shape of the fibers. Rayon yarn has a high standard moisture regain, accordingly swells and shrinks when the rayon yarn comes to contain moisture, and hence has a drawback that the resulting pile fabric lacks in dimensional stability and tends to shrink after washing. Use of a cellulosic fiber, in particular a rayon yarn not only for the ground yarns but for the pile yarn results in a pile fabric having, for example, a drawback of tending to wrinkle and being susceptible to friction because such cellulosic fiber is poor in elasticity due to the nature thereof.

A towel made of 100 percent polyester microfiber being stated to have a high hygroscopicity has a property such that moisture is retained in the groove portions present on the surface thereof; however, polyester itself has almost no hygroscopicity, and hence such a towel has a drawback that sticky feeling is caused and feeling of use is poor.

The present invention solves such problems as described above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a pile fabric which incorporates the advantages of many years used natural fiber materials such as vegetable fibers such as cotton and hemp, animal fibers such as silk and animal hair, and cellulosic fibers such as rayon, polynosic rayon and lyocell and the advantages of ultrafine synthetic fibers produced by the latest technology, has an excellent texture and an excellent sense of touch, and has a high hygroscopicity in combination with a quick drying property.

The gist of the present invention, for the purpose of achieving the object of the present invention is as follows.

1. 1. A pile fabric being a single-faced or double-faced pile fabric formed of two types of pile yarns , namely, a long loop pile yarn made of a natural fiber material having a thickness of a yarn count of from 5 to 60 in terms of the cotton count and a short loop pile yarn made of an ultrafine synthetic fiber having a fineness of 0.6 dtex or less as a material, wherein the mixing proportion by weight of the natural fiber material to be the long loop pile yarn is 80 to 20% by weight and the mixing proportion by weight of the ultrafine synthetic fiber to be the short loop pile yarn is 20 to 80% by weight.
2. 2. The pile fabric, wherein at least on either of one face or both faces of the pile fabric, the top of each of the loops of at least either one of the long loop pile yarn and the short loop pile yarn is cut.
3. 3. The pile fabric, wherein a vegetable fiber including at least one selected from cotton and hemp is used as the natural fiber material to be the material for the long pile yarn.
4. 4. The pile fabric, wherein an animal fiber including at least one selected from silk and wool is used as the natural fiber material to be the material for the long pile yarn.
5. 5. The pile fabric, wherein a cellulosic regenerated fiber or a cellulosic semisynthetic fiber including at least one selected from rayon, polynosic rayon, cupra, lyocell and acetate fiber is used as the natural fiber material to be the material for the long pile yarn.
6. 6. The pile fabric, wherein an ultrafine synthetic fiber including at least one selected from an ultrafine polyester fiber, an ultrafine acrylic resin and an ultrafine nylon fiber is used as the ultrafine synthetic fiber to be the material for the short pile yarn.

As described above, the thickness of the natural fiber material forming the long pile yarn is set at a yarn count of from 5 to 60 in terms of the cotton count; this is because when the thickness of the natural fiber material is less than a yarn count of 5 in terms of the cotton count, the yarn is thick, and stiff and hard, and hence the weaving processing and knitting processing are disadvantageously difficult, and when the thickness of the natural fiber material exceeds a yarn count of 60 in terms of the cotton count, the yarn is too thin and easy to break, the yarn suffers from an attendant difficulty in absorbing moisture due to thinness of the yarn, and hence the resulting pile fabric is not suitable for toweling, covers, sheets and the like. The thickness of the natural fiber material is preferably of a yarn count of from 20 to 40 in terms of the cotton count; when the thickness of the natural fiber material falls within this range, the pile fabric is satisfactory in productivity and satisfactory in the aspect of the texture, and is suitable for toweling, covers, sheets and the like.

As described above, the fineness of the ultrafine synthetic fiber forming the short pile yarn is set at 0.6 dtex or less; this is because when the fineness of the ultrafine fiber exceeds 0.6 dtex, in the case where the resulting pile fabric is used as eyeglass cleaning cloths or dusters, dirt or the like remains unremoved, and thus unfortunately the pile fabric is not suitable for eyeglass cleaning cloths or the like. When the fineness of the ultrafine synthetic fiber is 0.6 dtex or less, and the resulting pile fabric is used as eyeglass cleaning cloths or dusters, it comes to be easier to wiping off fine dirt and the like.

As described above, the mixing proportions by weight of the short pile yarn and the long pile yarn are set as follows: the mixing proportion by weight of the natural fiber material as the material for the long pile yarn is set at 80 to 20% by weight and the mixing proportion by weight of the ultrafine synthetic fiber as the material for the short pile yarn is set at 20 to 80% by weight; this is because when the mixing proportion by weight of the natural fiber material exceeds 80% by weight, the resulting pile fabric suffers from a drawback such that, in particular in the case of cotton, the pile fabric tends to shrink because of the nature of the fiber and a drawback such that the pile fabric absorbs moisture well and hence is difficult to dry after washing, and when the mixing proportion by weight of the natural fiber material is less than 20% by weight, conversely there occurs a drawback such that the pile fabric is difficult to absorb moisture; when the mixing proportion by weight of the ultrafine synthetic fiber is less than 20% by weight, the resulting pile fabric suffers from a drawback of tending to shrink and a drawback of being difficult to dry due to well absorption of moisture, and when the mixing proportion by weight of the ultrafine synthetic fiber exceeds 80% by weight, the resulting pile fabric is almost unsuitable for toweling and the like due to the fact that the ultrafine synthetic fiber such as polyester itself hardly absorbs water. To sum up, when the weight proportion by weight of the natural fiber material is decreased within the aforementioned range and the weight proportion by weight of the ultrafine synthetic fiber is increased within the aforementioned range, the pile fabric is high in quick drying property, suitable for functional towels, covers, sheets and the like required to have laundarability and also suitable for commercial articles such as mops and floorcloths required to have durability. Alternatively, when the weight proportion by weight of the natural fiber material is increased within the aforementioned range and the weight proportion by weight of the ultrafine synthetic fiber is decreased within the aforementioned range, the resulting pile fabric is provided with natural texture and soft feeling close to those of natural fibers, in combination with the quick drying property of the ultrafine synthetic fiber, and hence is suitable for towels, sheets and the like.

Towels and the like have loops (snares) on the surface thereof, and have a function to retain moisture or sweat in the snares so as to easily absorb moisture and sweat; however, for the purpose of requesting commercial articles such as towels to have delicate texture, the top of each of the loops of the pile yarn can be cut, or alternatively, for the purpose of attaching importance to the expression of color or design, the top of each of the loops of the pile yarns can be cut. In other words, according to the intended applications and object, at least either of the top of each of the long loops of the pile yarn and the top of each of the short loops of the pile yarn may be cut, so as to allow a variety of combinations of the cutting modes.

The pile fabric appropriate to the present invention provides comfortable texture and feel for the users, by making the most of the advantages of the respective two types of pile yarns, namely, the long pile yarn made of a natural fiber material and the short pile yarn made of an ultrafine synthetic fiber of 0.6 dtex or less. The mixing proportion by weight of the long pile yarn made of a natural fiber material is 80 to 20% by weight, and the mixing proportion by weight of the short pile yarn made of an ultrafine synthetic fiber of 0.6 dtex or less is 20 to 80% by weight. As the natural fiber material, at least one selected from the following are used, and the following may also be used as blended fibers: the vegetable fibers such as cotton and hemp, the animal hairs such as silk and animal hairs, and additionally cellulosic regenerated fibers and cellulosic semisynthetic fibers such as rayon, polynosic rayon, cupra, lyocell, acetate fiber and bamboo fiber; as the ultrafine synthetic fiber, at least one selected from the following are used, and the following fibers may also be used as blended fibers: polyester fiber, nylon fiber, acrylic fiber and the like. When importance is attached to the texture, yarns obtained by spin blending the respective materials quoted as the aforementioned natural fiber materials with other materials are used for the ground yarn forming the ground weave; when importance is attached to quick drying property, functionality or the like, yarns obtained by spin blending the respective materials quoted as the aforementioned ultrafine synthetic fibers with other materials, such as a blend yarn composed of an ultrafine synthetic fiber and a cellulosic fiber are used for the ground yarn forming the ground weave; in these ways, the ground yarn forming the ground weave may be effectively selected according to the intended applications.

As described above, the inventive pile fabric according to 1 is a single-faced or double-faced pile fabric formed of two types of pile yarns, namely, a long pile yarn made of a natural fiber material having a yarn count of from 5 to 60 in terms of the cotton count and a short pile yarn made of an ultrafine synthetic fiber having a fineness of 0.6 dtex or less as a material; the mixing proportion by weight of the natural fiber material to be the long pile yarn is 80 to 20% by weight, and the mixing proportion by weight of the ultrafine synthetic fiber to be the short pile yarn is 20 to 80% by weight; the long pile yarn is made of a natural fiber material, and hence the texture of the pile fabric is comfortable to the touch, and the pile fabric absorbs moisture well; the short pile yarn made of an ultrafine synthetic fiber having a fineness of 0.6 dtex or less provides the pile fabric with excellent quick drying property and excellent durability. Owing to the mixing proportions such that the mixing proportion by weight of the natural fiber material to be the long pile yarn is 80 to 20% by weight and the mixing proportion by weight of the ultrafine synthetic fiber to be the short pile yarn is 20 to 80% by weight, the raw materials are made easily obtainable, stable production is made feasible, and weight reduction of commercial products is also enabled.

Next, the inventive pile fabric according to 2 is a pile fabric in which at least on either of one face or both faces of the pile fabric, the top of each of the loops of at least either one of the long loop pile yarn and the short loop pile yarn is cut; such a pile fabric is preferable when commercial products are requested to have delicate texture, importance is attached to the expression of colors and designs, and moreover the weight reduction of commercial products is achieved.

The inventive pile fabric according to 3 uses a vegetable fiber including at least one selected from cotton and hemp, as the natural fiber material to be the material for the long pile yarn; the inventive pile fabric according to 4 uses an animal fiber including at least one selected from silk and wool, as the natural fiber material to be the material for the long pile yarn; and the inventive pile fabric according to 5 uses a cellulosic regenerated fiber or a cellulosic semisynthetic fiber including at least one selected from rayon, polynosic rayon, cupra, lyocell and acetate fiber, as the natural fiber material to be the material for the long pile yarn; these inventive pile fabrics are preferable when commercial products are requested to have texture or color developing property.

The inventive pile fabric according to 6 uses an ultrafine synthetic fiber including at least one selected from an ultrafine polyester fiber, an ultrafine acrylic resin and an ultrafine nylon fiber, as the ultrafine synthetic fiber to be the material for the short pile yarn; the inventive pile fabric is preferable when commercial products are requested to have quick drying property and durability. In particular, the use of a mixed fiber composed of an ultrafine polyester fiber and an ultrafine acrylic fiber as the ultrafine synthetic fiber to be the material for the short pile yarn results in a pile fabric better in antistatic property than a pile fabric using only a polyester fiber.

As a production method 1 of a pile fabric including a long loop pile yarn and a short loop pile yarn, there is a method in which by using a natural fiber material and an ultrafine synthetic fiber, a gray fabric provided with loops having the same length is produced, and then the gray fabric is treated under the condition of a predetermined high temperature; consequently, the pile yarn made of the ultrafine fiber undergoes heat shrinkage, and thus a pile fabric including a long loop pile yarn and a short loop pile yarn is produced. When this method is adopted, the heat shrinkage value of the loop length can be controlled by varying the twist number of the ultrafine synthetic fiber. As a production method 2 of a pile fabric including a long loop pile yarn and a short loop pile yarn, there is a method in which by taking advantage of the property such that the natural fiber material such as cotton is shrunk when treated with alkali such as caustic soda, and by using a material small in the shrinkage percentage to the alkali treatment for the counterpart, namely, the ultrafine synthetic fiber, a pile fabric including a long loop pile yarn and a short loop pile yarn is produced. As a production method 3 of a pile fabric including a long loop pile yarn and a short loop pile yarn, there is a method in which by alternately weaving or knitting different length loops into the fabric, a pile fabric including a long loop pile yarn and a short loop pile yarn is produced. These three methods are described above as the production method of a pile fabric including a long loop pile yarn and a short loop pile yarn; however, the production method of a pile fabric is not limited to these three methods.

Next, the following three methods are described: a production method of a pile fabric in which the top of each of the loops of the long loop pile yarn and the top of each of the loops of the short loop pile yarn are both cut; a production method of a pile fabric in which the top of each of the loops of the long loop pile yarn is not cut, but the top of each of the loops of the short loop pile yarn is cut; and a production method of a pile fabric in which the top of each of the loops of the short loop pile yarn is not cut, but the top of each of the loops of the long loop pile yarn is cut. These three methods have only to apply the aforementioned production methods of a pile fabric including a long loop pile yarn and a short loop pile yarn, and have only to cut only the top of each of the loops of the pile yarn intended to be cut; specifically, for example, there is adopted a method in which under the condition that the loops of the pile yarn intended to be cut are being pulled, the top of each of the loops of the pile yarn intended to be cut is cut.

• FIG. 1 is a partial oblique perspective view illustrating the pile fabric in a first embodiment of the present invention;
• FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the same pile fabric;
• FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the pile fabric in a second embodiment of the present invention;
• FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of the pile fabric in a third embodiment of the present invention; and
• FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view of the pile fabric in a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a first embodiment of the present invention.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, two types of pile yarns, namely, the long loop pile yarn 1a made of a natural fiber material having a thickness of a yarn count of from 5 to 60 in terms of the cotton count and a short loop pile yarn 2a made of an ultrafine synthetic fiber having a fineness of 0.6 dtex or less as a material are formed on one face of the ground weave 3 to form a single-faced pile fabric. The mixing proportion by weight of the natural fiber material of the long loop pile yarn is 80 to 20% by weight and the mixing proportion by weight of the ultrafine synthetic fiber to be the short loop pile yarn is 20 to 80% by weight.

The production of the pile fabric including the long loop pile yarn 1a and the short loop pile yarn 2a adopts a method of producing a fabric having a basic weave of 2/1, 3/1 or 2/2.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, a single-faced pile fabric including the long loop pile yarn 1a and the short loop pile yarn 2a on one face of the ground weave 3 is illustrated; however, a double-faced pile yarn including long loop pile yarns and short loop pile yarns on both faces of the ground weave may also be formed.

FIG. 3 illustrates a second embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the second embodiment, the top of each of the loops of a long loop pile yarn and the top of each of the loops of a short loop pile yarn are cut, and consequently, long cut pile yarns 1b and short cut pile yarns 2b are included on one face of the ground weave 3.

FIG. 4 illustrates a third embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the third embodiment, the long loop pile yarn is not cut, but remains as it is, but the top of each of the loops of the short loop pile yarn is cut, and consequently, the long loop pile yarn 1a and the short cut pile yarns 2b are included on one face of the ground weave 3.

FIG. 5 illustrates a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 5, in the fourth embodiment, the top of each of the loops of the long loop pile yarn is cut, but the short loop pile yarn is not cut and remains as it is, and consequently, the long cut pile yarns 1b and the short loop pile yarn 2a are included on one face of the ground weave 3.

In any embodiment of the second to fourth embodiments, the single-faced pile fabric in which the long loop pile yarn 1a or the long cut pile yarns 1b and the short cut pile yarns 2b or the short loop pile yarn 2a are included on one face of the ground weave 3 is illustrated; however, double-faced pile fabrics including on both faces of the ground weave long loop pile yarns or long cut pile yarns and short cut pile yarns or short loop pile yarns may also be formed; in the case of the double-faced pile fabric, on at least either one face or both faces of the pile fabric, the top of each of the loops of at least either of the long loop pile yarn(s) or the short loop pile yarn(s) has only to be cut.