Method for Producing Elastic Bands with Recycled Materials

This application claims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 119(a) to Indian Application No. IN 202421038529 filed on May 16, 2024, which application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

The present disclosure relates to the field of elastic bands. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method for producing/manufacturing elastic bands for versatile use by combining recycled materials using warp and weft weaving.

Background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present disclosure. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed disclosure, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.

In house and service sectors, managing washed cloths are a typical task. Basically, every house has two-three rooms and each room has different bed sizes. After washing, all the bed sheets/bed linen is kept in a single closet and therefore regularly get mixed. When they are required for use, one finds it extremely difficult to sort out the exact one due to their mixing up with other cloths. In hotels, linens are almost similar in nature and also variety of linen like personal clothing, inner wears, and various decorative elastic items, it become difficult to manage and protecting their pressing and sizes before putting them into closets.

Therefore, to make the process simpler, sober, and clean, there has to be a proper securing and stacking system where tightly holding the garments/hotel linen in a fixed quantity of items can be kept in closets and removed by any employee without confusion. Also, for a storekeeper, it will be easy to hold different types of cloths like bed sheets, pillow covers, duvet covers etc. before storing. Elastic band is one of the items which can address the problems for abovementioned sectors including houses where these bands can be used not just to place one or more bedding products, for instance, in a single/proper stack but can also enable the desired folding/form factor to be maintained.

However, one of the major problems associated with elastic bands is that they, owing to their composition and method of manufacture, get loose over a period of time, therefore there is a need in the art for a band that demonstrates desired properties of durability, softness, and stability to improve quality as well as reduced cost.

While use and quality of the elastic band is not limited, so as to their method for producing with different types of materials, there is a possibility to have better method for manufacturing/producing elastic bands with wide range of width and patterns.

There is, therefore, a need to have a simple and fast method for weaving devices to produce sustainable elastic bands with variety of patterns and width using recycled material to reduce carbon footprint and to have cost-efficiency.

The main object of the present disclosure is to provide a method for weaving an elastic band where recycled thread material is used.

It is an object of the present disclosure is to provide a range of width for the elastic band that is resistive to having folds and wrinkles while securing bundle of cloths.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide to use the elastic band to make small and portable stacks of similar/dissimilar cloths which are easy to store and carry.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a sustainable elastic band having softness, strength, and aesthetics.

Another object of the present disclosure is to provide automation of operation to make multiples patterns and designs with minimum manual intervention.

Another object of the present disclosure is to provide the elastic band that is eco-friendly and reduces carbon footprint by using recycled materials.

The present disclosure relates to the field of elastic bands. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method for producing Jacquard elastic bands for versatile use by combining recycled materials using warp and weft weaving.

The present disclosure relates to a method of manufacturing a recycled woven based elastic band, said method comprising the steps of: attaching at least one yarn reel to rear side of a weaving device, wherein the at least one yarn reel is made of any or a combination of recycled polyester, cotton, polypropylene, and nylon polyamide yarn. The method further comprises the adjusting the at least one attached yarn based on desired pattern and width of the elastic band, wherein the denier value of the yarn ranges from 70 to 300D, and wherein the yarn constitutes a minimum of 35% of the weight of the elastic band. The method further comprises the step of attaching a warp system to the weaving device such that threads from the yarn reel in the warp are passed one by one through a first set of needles, and brought up to mouth of the weaving device where the product is woven.

The proposed method further comprises the step of parallelly passing an elastic material one by one so as to bring the elastic material up to the mouth of the weaving device, wherein the elastic material is selected from any or a combination of rubber latex, natural latex thread, recycled synthetic elastic fibers, spandex, and spandex thread, wherein the elastic material has a concentration of rubber solids ranging from 55% to 65%.

The proposed method further comprises the step of attaching a weft system to the weaving device such that yarn in the weft are brought to the mouth of the weaving device, wherein the weft yarn threads are used for binding the warp yarn threads with the elastic material; and weaving, using the weaving device, based on the desired pattern and width of the elastic band, the warp yarn threads with the elastic material and the weft yarn threads at the mouth of the weaving device to yield the recycled woven based elastic band.

In an aspect, the weaving device is a computer operated Jacquard weaving device.

In an aspect, the weaving device has 2-10 heads based on the width and chassis structure of the device.

In an aspect, wherein the step of weaving is undertaken by the device at a speed of 800-1400 RPM.

In an aspect, wherein the recycled woven based elastic band has a width ranging from 5 mm to 150 mm, and a thickness ranging from 0.5 to 5 mm.

In an aspect, wherein the recycled woven based elastic band has an elongation at break of 120% to 200%.

In an aspect, wherein the recycled woven based elastic band has an tensile strength ranging from 5-30 N/mm.

The present disclosure further relates to an elastic band to hold a bedding product, said band being made of recycled woven yarn that is weaved with an elastic material using a weft and warp based narrow weaving device using the above-mentioned method.

Various objects, features, aspects, and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which like numerals represent like components.

The following is a detailed description of embodiments of the disclosure depicted in the accompanying drawings. The embodiments are in such detail as to clearly communicate the disclosure. However, the amount of detail offered is not intended to limit the anticipated variations of embodiments. On the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit, and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the present invention. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without some of these specific details.

Embodiment of the present disclosure relate to the field of elastic bands. Particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method for producing/manufacturing elastic bands for versatile use by combining recycled materials using warp and weft weaving. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method for producing Jacquard elastic bands for versatile use by combining recycled materials using warp and weft weaving.

The present disclosure relates to a method of manufacturing a recycled woven based elastic band, said method comprising the steps of: attaching at least one yarn reel to rear side of a weaving device, wherein the at least one yarn reel is made of any or a combination of recycled polyester, cotton, polypropylene, and nylon polyamide yarn. The method further comprises the adjusting the at least one attached yarn based on desired pattern and width of the elastic band, wherein the denier value of the yarn ranges from 70 to 300D, and wherein the yarn constitutes a minimum of 35% of the weight of the elastic band. The method further comprises the step of attaching a warp system to the weaving device such that threads from the yarn reel in the warp are passed one by one through a first set of needles, and brought up to mouth of the weaving device where the product is woven.

The proposed method further comprises the step of parallelly passing an elastic material one by one so as to bring the elastic material up to the mouth of the weaving device, wherein the elastic material is selected from any or a combination of rubber latex, natural latex thread, recycled synthetic elastic fibers, spandex, and spandex thread, wherein the elastic material has a concentration of rubber solids ranging from 55% to 65%.

The proposed method further comprises the step of attaching a weft system to the weaving device such that the yarn in the weft are brought to the mouth of the weaving device, wherein the weft yarn threads are used for binding the warp yarn threads with the elastic material, and weaving, using the weaving device, based on the desired pattern and width of the elastic band, the warp yarn threads with the elastic material and the weft yarn threads at the mouth of the weaving device to yield the recycled woven based elastic band.

In an aspect, the weaving device is a computer operated Jacquard weaving device.

In an aspect, the weaving device has 2-10 heads based on the width and chassis structure of the device.

In an aspect, wherein the step of weaving is undertaken by the device at a speed of 800-1400 RPM.

In an aspect, wherein the recycled woven based elastic band has a width ranging from 5 mm to 150 mm, and a thickness ranging from 0.5 to 5 mm.

In an aspect, wherein the recycled woven based elastic band has an elongation at break of 120% to 200%.

In an aspect, wherein the recycled woven based elastic band has an tensile strength ranging from 5-30 N/mm.

The present disclosure further relates to an elastic band to hold a bedding product, said band being made of recycled woven yarn that is weaved with an elastic material using a weft and warp based narrow weaving device using the above-mentioned method.

Referring towhere an exemplary view of an eight-head weaving deviceused to weave elastic bandsis shown.

In an aspect, the weaving deviceis used in textile manufacturing to automate the process of producing complex woven patterns. The weaving deviceoperates by controlling individual warp yarnsand the weft yarnto pass through, creating the desired pattern(refer) using jacquard technology. The attached computerautomatically controls and speeds up the weaving process and enables the production of intricate patterns.

In an embodiment, the present disclosure to manufacture/produce the Jacquard elastic band. Jacquard elastic with intricate designs and patterns, perfect for adding an extra element of style and sophistication. The jacquard patternscan vary widely in complexity, from simple geometric shapes to highly detailed images or motifs. The produced elastic bandsare produced by the weaving machine using the proposed method. The jacquard weaving allows for creation of patternswith multiple colours. The weaving machineis a specialized deviceto create jacquard patterns. The first set of needles may be called “jacquard needles” used for warp threadsof the weaving device. The ups and down of the first set of needles using warp threadsis responsible for making different patterns.

In an embodiment, the weaving deviceis set up with computerized control that determines the lifting sequence of the warp threads. The controls are based on the desired patterns. The weft threads, which run horizontally across the warp threads, are inserted using weft insertion mechanism of the weft system. In an embodiment, the elastic bandis prepared with a warp and weft systems, where the warp systemcan typically consists of multiple warp threadseach of which can be individually controlled to create different patternsand designs.

In an embodiment, initially, a yarn reelis attached to rear side of the weaving devicefor ensuring a smooth and continuous supply of yarnduring weaving process. Each warp thread(Also referred to as yarn, and the two terms are used interchangeably, herein) represent a vertical yarn held stationary in tension on a frame but running horizontally and define length of the elastic band, whereas the weft yarnis running horizontally across the warp yarnand inserted over and under the warp threadto define width of the elastic band.

In an embodiment, the weaving deviceis a computer operated narrow weaving device having numbers two to ten headsbased on the width and chassis structure of the weaving device. Accordingly, the number of the reelsat the warp systemvaries. The number of conesof waft yarnand yarn reelsof warp yarnis adjusted at their mounting places according to the width and patternof the elastic bands.

In an embodiment, the weaving deviceincludes a computing devicefor deciding the patternand design automatically based on programmed instruction. The main function of the computeris to design intricate patternsand convert them into digital formats. The programed instruction are pre-defined and pre-fed which corresponds to the different design patternsspecific to type. The programmed instruction directing individual needles for warp threadsto execute precise lift and drops in a predetermined sequence. The rhythmic motion of the needles is synchronized with the weft projectile needleinsertion, crafts the design on to the elastic band. Thus, the computerized interface provides precision and programmability to the weaving device.

In an embodiment, the weaving devicecontrolling the process of lifting the warp threads, inserting the weft thread, and interlacing continues in a repetitive manner. By combining the precise control of the warp threadsin the weaving devicewith the insertion of the weft threads, intricate and complex patternscan be achieved for woven elastic band.

In an embodiment, the software loaded with computing deviceplays a crucial role in weaving and allows creation of complex patternswith precision and details, which can be translated directly into weaving instructions for the Jacquard weaving. The computeralso controls weaving processes on real-time basis. The monitoring of parameters like tension in the threads, breakage in the threads, and speed is done to identify and helps to address the issues. This increases efficiency and allows high-quality production of woven elastic band.

In an embodiment, the weaving deviceemploys projectile needles-,-, . . . ,-for respective weft threadsinsertion. The projectile needles-,-, . . . ,-for weft threadsinsertion are equals to the number of headsand perform operation for corresponding heads-,-, . . . ,-. The headis the place where warp threadand the weft threadare meeting and warp threadsare separated for the projectile needlefor each head.

In an embodiment, the weaving deviceis compatible with a variety of yarns including the elastic thread, and capable to generate diverse elastic bands, which are stretchable and recover without losing its dimensions even by incorporating recycled yarnsand elastic threads.