Description:FIELD
The present disclosure relates to textile fabrics.
DEFINITIONS
As used in the present disclosure, the following terms are generally intended to have the meaning as set forth below, except to the extent that the context in which they are used, indicate otherwise.
Absorbency: The term ‘absorbency’ refers to the propensity of a material to take in and retain liquid, usually water. Absorbency of a fabric can be quantified using various testing methods such as the water absorption test, drop test and hydrostatic head test. These tests measure the amount of liquid that a fabric can absorb, the rate of absorption and the time it takes for the fabric to reach saturation.
Absorption capacity: The term “absorption capacity” refers to mass of water that is absorbed by a textile fabric when it is saturated with water under specified
conditions.
Drop absorption: The term “drop absorption” refers to the ability of a fabric to absorb a single drop of a test solvent, generally, water. It is measured by the time required for a drop of water to lose its reflective ability upon contact with the fabric. Pile fabrics have a very low drop absorption time.
High velocity air drier: The term ‘high velocity air drier’ refers to an industrial drying machine that moves the fabric ‘to and fro’ at high velocities for a specified time period while exposing it to hot air blown parallel to the fabric. ‘To motion’ in the drier defines movement of the fabric in forward direction and ‘fro’ motion defines movement in the reverse direction. High Velocity air drier such as Bianclani Airo 24 can be used.
Pile fabric or terry fabric: The term “pile fabric” or “terry fabric” refers to a type of textile characterised by raised fibres or loops that create a soft, fuzzy surface. They are woven with two warp yarns, i.e., a ground warp yarn and a pile warp yarn and one set of weft yarns to form the fabric. Ground warp yarns and weft yarns form the substrate of the fabric and pile warp yarn interwoven with weft yarn forms the pile loops projecting from the surface of the fabric.
Ultra-long pile loops: The term “ultra-long pile loops” refers to a single loop formed by combining multiple pile loops (Z) and whose length is double or Z times that of the original pile loop length of the woven fabric.
Ground warp: The term ‘ground warp’, also known as ‘warp’, refers to yarns that are running lengthwise in a woven fabric and are interwoven with weft yarns.
Weft: The term ‘weft’ refers to yarns that are running perpendicular to the warp yarns, making up the ground.
Pile warp: The term ‘pile warp’, also known as ‘pile’ refers to the yarns that provides the raised surface of a fabric, consisting of upright loops or strands of yarn.
Pile ratio: The term ‘pile ratio’ is calculated by the following formula:
Pile Ratio = (Pile weight in gram × 2.2046 × 840 × pile count × 36) / (pile ends per fabric x length of fabric x 1000)
Bulkiness: The term “bulkiness” refers to the quality or state of being large in size.
Picks per centimetre: The term “picks per centimetre”, also known as “picks per cm”, refers to the number of weft threads per centimetre of the woven fabric, wherein a pick is a single weft thread. In general, a high pick per centimetre, results in lower fabric shrinkage during wet processing. However, very high picks per centimetre will result in the fabric getting stiff.
Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) yarn: The term ‘polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) yarn’, also referred to as ‘soluble yarn’, refers to a synthetic polymer yarns that are easily dissolved in warm or hot water at about 40 degrees Celsius to 110 degrees Celsius without the aid of any chemical agents.
Rope opening: The term “rope opening” refers to the method of unfurling or opening of a disarrayed fabric.
USB textile microscope: The term “USB textile microscope” refers to a digital microscope that can be attached with a computer via an USB port of a computer and the images can be visualized on a computer screen.
Material to Liquor ratio: The term “Material to Liquor ratio” (ML ratio) refers to the weight: volume relationship between a textile fabric to be processed to the volume of a bath of a processing fluid. An ML ratio of 1:10 means that a bath volume of 10 litres is required to process 1 kg of a textile material.
Moisture content in a fabric: The term “Moisture content in a fabric” or “residual moisture” refers to the weight of the water present in fabric divided by the weight of the fabric when it is completely dry and multiplied by 100. It is expressed as a percentage of the total weight of the fabric.
Padding mangle: The term “padding mangle” refers to a set of rollers that is conventionally used to squeeze moisture out of a fabric and/or impregnate a fabric with dyes, chemicals or other special fabric performance finishes.
Regular pile fabric: The term “regular pile fabric”, refers to a pile fabric, preparation of which does not utilize soluble weft yarns, and is dried and finished in a conventional manner.
Technical fabric: The term “technical fabric” refers to any fabric that is specifically engineered and manufactured to serve functional purposes beyond traditional apparel, including harbouring properties such as anti-static, chemical retardant, flame retardant, solvent holding and the like. Technical textiles are mainly divided into five groups such as protective, sports, transportation, medical and industrial and the like.
BACKGROUND
The background information herein below relates to the present disclosure but is not necessarily prior art.
A pile fabric or a terry fabric is primarily used for removing excess moisture from a surface. A distinctive feature that distinguishes a terry fabric from a plain fabric is the use of an additional type of yarn, a pile warp yarn, in its construction. In contrast to the ground warp yarns and weft yarns that are woven under high tension, pile warp yarns are woven with the weft yarn at a significantly lower tension to create pile loops. This is achieved by releasing the pile warp yarns from the pile beam at a faster rate than the ground warp yarns from the ground beam. As the released yarns intertwine with the weft yarns and is compacted together, the greater volume of yarns released from the pile beam leads to the formation of loops that projects outwards from in between the ground warp yarns and weft yarns.
Protruding pile loops on either side of a fabric increases the surface area of the fabric to a large extent, making it an excellent absorbing material. Concomitantly, the projected pile loops imbibe the fabric with a soft hand feel making it ideal to be used as a towel. Additionally, the projected pile loops provide a sort of aesthetic elegance that makes it more attractive to the consumer. The absorbency of a towel, among other things can been linked majorly to the type of fibres used and to the loop structure. It is known that increased loop height and low-twisted nature of the pile loop leads to increased absorbency, along with maintaining the usual characteristics of a terry towel.
Nevertheless, most terry fabrics often suffer from one common problem, i.e., they take longer time to dry when compared to non-terry fabrics. The dampness retained in the towel can lead to growth of bacteria and mould further leading to generation of unpleasant odour.
A large number of modifications have been made to make a terry towel dry faster, most of which concentrate on using synthetic fibres like polyester as a part of ground warp yarn. Polyester does not absorb water to a great extent and therefore such a towel retains less moisture as compared to a towel made from a natural fibre, indicating that polyester yarn-based towels dry faster. The counterbalancing action being that the absorbency and the bulkiness of the towel is affected. Another option for making a high absorbency yet quick-drying towel is to make empty-core pile yarns, where the core of a pile yarn is made from a water-soluble yarn with cotton yarn being wrapped around the core. Upon heating, the core dissolves, leaving an air-space within the cotton yarn, leading to retention of bulkiness, increase in absorbency and faster drying of a towel.
The process of creating ultra-long pile loops in a fabric through specific weaving processes is known. Even though the end product has an impressive performance, it suffers from one major disadvantage, such as during processing of the fabric, about 5% to 10% of the ultra-long pile loops, because of their larger dimensions, tend to get trapped within the ground warp and weft yarns and remain confined even after the towel has been dried. This necessitates that a significant portion of the finished towels to be tumble dried again for releasing of the trapped pile loops. A modification in processing, in particular, a specific finishing method is required that would help in releasing the constricted and deformed ultra-long pile loops.
There is, therefore, felt a need to provide a process of finishing a pile fabric having ultra-long pile loops that mitigates the aforementioned drawbacks or at least provides a useful alternative.
OBJECTS
Some of the objects of the present disclosure, which at least one embodiment herein satisfies, are as follows:
It is an object of the present disclosure to ameliorate one or more problems of the background or to at least provide a useful alternative.
An object of the present disclosure is to provide a process of finishing a pile fabric having ultra-long pile loops.
Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a process of finishing a pile fabric having ultra-long pile loops that is simple and economical.
Still another object of the present disclosure is to provide a process of finishing a pile fabric having ultra-long pile loops that provides a fabric having better aesthetics, elegance, and uniform appearance.
Still another object of the present disclosure is to provide a finished pile fabric having ultra-long pile loops that is ultra-soft, highly absorbent and dries quickly.
Yet another object of the present disclosure is to provide a finished pile fabric having ultra-long pile loops that has in-built air pockets within and surrounding pile loops.
Yet another objective of the present disclosure is to provide a finished pile fabric wherein the pile loops are extended to their full height.
Other objects and advantages of the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following description, which is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
SUMMARY
The present disclosure provides a process of finishing a pile fabric having ultra-long pile loops to obtain a finished pile fabric.
The process comprises of the following steps:
obtaining a wet pile fabric with ultra-long pile loops having a moisture content in the range of 150% to 500% (w/w);
keeping the wet pile fabric in a relaxed state for a first predetermined time period to obtain a wet relaxed pile fabric, wherein the wet relaxed pile fabric is in the form of a disarrayed fabric;
transferring the disarrayed wet relaxed pile fabric to a rope squeezer unit by a first set of guiding rollers at a first predetermined speed and subjecting to a rope squeezing process through at least a pair of squeezing cylinders for providing a first predetermined pressure, to obtain a squeezed fabric having a moisture content in the range of 80% to 250%;
passing the squeezed fabric by a second set of guiding rollers at a second predetermined speed and subjecting to a rope-opening process to obtain an opened fabric;
stretching the opened fabric lengthwise over at least one set of serrated infeed rollers and subsequently passing it to a third set of guiding rollers at a third predetermined speed to obtain a first stretched fabric, followed by feeding the first stretched fabric by using alternately placed a fourth set of guiding rollers having a fourth predetermined speed, to a first padding mangle and rotating mangle cylinders of the first padding mangle at a fifth predetermined speed for providing a second predetermined pressure to obtain a second stretched fabric having a moisture content in the range of 60% to 90%;
optionally, transferring the second stretched fabric to a fifth set of guiding rollers at a sixth predetermined speed keeping the second stretched fabric in a stretched condition to obtain a third stretched fabric;
optionally, transferring the third stretched fabric to a treatment unit via a sixth set of guiding rollers at a seventh predetermined speed wherein the treatment unit is filled with at least one finishing agent for treating the third stretched fabric while maintaining the lengthwise stretching for a second predetermined time period to obtain a fourth stretched treated fabric and feeding the fourth stretched treated fabric at an eighth predetermined speed through a second padding mangle having mangle cylinders rotating at a ninth predetermined speed for providing a third predetermined pressure to obtain a fifth stretched fabric having a moisture content in the range of 60% to 90%; and
keeping the second stretched fabric or the fifth stretched fabric under a relaxed condition for a third predetermined time period to obtain a relaxed fabric, followed by subjecting the relaxed fabric to a high velocity air drier at a predetermined temperature, wherein the fabric moves in a ‘to and fro’ motion, inducing alternate tensed and relaxed states, to obtain a finished pile fabric.

In accordance with the present disclosure, the wet pile fabric is prepared by the following sub-steps:
providing a plurality of ground warp yarns, a plurality of pile warp yarns, and a plurality of weft yarns;
interweaving the ground warp yarns at high tension with the weft yarns to form a substrate of the fabric, wherein at least one of the weft yarn is a soluble weft yarn;
interweaving the pile warp yarns with the weft yarns at a low tension to obtain a pile fabric of a weight in the range of 300 grams/m2 to 700 grams/m2 having a plurality of pile loops on at least one surface of the pile fabric;
adding water in a material to liquor ratio (MLR) in the range of 1:5 to 1:7 to the pile fabric having plurality of pile loops and heating to a temperature in the range of 90 oC to 100 oC for a time period in the range of 25 minutes to 35 minutes to combine said plurality of pile loops to obtain a pile fabric having ultra-long pile loops; and
sequentially, subjecting the pile fabric having said ultra-long pile loops to scouring, dyeing, soaping and washing to obtain the wet pile fabric.

In accordance with the present disclosure, the rope opening process comprises passing the squeezed fabric through a detwister at a speed in the range of 10 meters/minute to 14 meters/minute to obtain an opened fabric.
In accordance with the present disclosure, the first predetermined time period in step (b) is in the range of 20 minutes to 30 minutes.
In accordance with the present disclosure, in step (c), the first predetermined speed of the first set of guiding rollers is in the range of 14 meters/minute to 18 meters/minute and the first predetermined pressure by the squeezing cylinders is in the range of 2 bar to 4 bar.
In accordance with the present disclosure, in step (d), the second predetermined speed of the second set of guiding roller is in the range of 10 meters/minutes to 15 meters/minutes.
In accordance with the present disclosure, in step (e) the third predetermined speed of the third set of guiding rollers and the fourth pre-determined speed of the fourth set of guiding rollers are independently in the range of 11 meters/minutes to 15 meters/minutes and the fifth predetermined speed of the first padding mangle is in the range of 2 rounds/minute to 8 rounds/minute.
In accordance with the present disclosure, in step (e) the second predetermined pressure by the first padding mangle is in the range of 2 bar to 8 bar.
In accordance with the present disclosure, in step (f) the sixth predetermined speed of the fifth set of guiding rollers is in the range of 12 meters/minute to 16 meters/minute.
In accordance with the present disclosure, in step (g), the seventh predetermined speed of the sixth set of guiding rollers and
In accordance with the present disclosure, in step (g), the eighth pre-determined speed of feeding the fourth stretched treated fabric is in the range of 12 meters/minute to 16 meters/minute; the second predetermined time period is in the range of 10 seconds to 16 seconds and the ninth predetermined speed of the second padding mangle is in the range of 3 rounds per minute to 8 rounds per minute.
In accordance with the present disclosure, in step (h) the third predetermined time period is in the range of 6 minutes to 12 minutes and the predetermined temperature is in the range of 150oC to 165oC.
In accordance with the present disclosure, in step (h) ‘to’ motion is in the range of 40 m/s to 50 m/s for a time period in the range of 2 seconds to 3 seconds and ‘fro’ motion is in the range of 30 m/s to 40 m/s for a time period in the range of 2 seconds to 3 seconds.
In accordance with the present disclosure, the second stretched or the fifth stretched fabric has more than 95% and upto 99.5% of ultra-long pile loops extended to their full height.
In accordance with the present disclosure, the finished pile fabric obtained in step (h) has 99. 5 % to 100% of ultra-long pile loops extended to full height.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the finished pile fabric obtained by using the process of the present disclosure is characterized by at least one of the following;
a percent increase in bulkiness in the range of 55% to 65%;
a percent increase in absorbency in the range of 65% to 75%;
a percent reduction in drop absorption in the range of 62% to 72%;
a percent increase in absorption capacity in the range of 24% to 62%; and
a percent reduction in drying time is in the range of 25% to 40%.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the finished pile fabric has ground warp yarns in the range of 20 ends/ cm to 28 ends/ cm, weft yarn in the range of 12 weft /cm to 30 weft /cm and a pile ratio in the range of 1:4 to 1:8.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the finished pile fabric has 99.5 % and to 99.9% of ultra-long pile loops extended to the full height.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWING:
The present disclosure will now be described with the help of the accompanying drawing, in which:
Fig.1(a) illustrates microscopic images at 20X magnification showing the ultra-long pile loops with air pockets created within the loop (intra-loop), due to the dissolution of soluble yarn of the finished pile fabric prepared in accordance with the present disclosure;
Fig. 1(b) illustrates microscopic images at 20X magnification showing the ultra-long pile loops with air pockets created within between two loops (inter-loop) due to the dissolution of soluble yarn of the finished pile fabric prepared in accordance with the present disclosure;
Fig. 2(a) illustrates a comparative image of a towel (finished pile fabric) having ultra-long pile loops finished in accordance with the present disclosure (right side image) and a towel (pile fabric) finished by a regular finishing process (left side image) showing that the towel (finished pile fabric) finished in accordance with the present disclosure displays higher bulkiness as compared to the towels prepared by using regular method;
Fig. 2(b) illustrates a comparative image of a towel (finished pile fabric) having ultra-long pile loops finished in accordance with the present disclosure (right side image) and a towel finished by a regular finishing process (left side image) showing that the towel (pile fabric) finished in accordance with the present disclosure displays more aesthetic and uniform appearance as compared to the towel finished by using regular method;
Fig. 2(c) illustrates a comparative image of a towel (finished pile fabric) having ultra-long pile loops finished by the process in accordance with the present disclosure (right side image) and a towel (pile fabric) finished by a regular finishing process (left side image) showing final looks of finished towels when comparing the weft sides (width view of the towels);
Fig. 2(d) illustrates a comparative image of a towel (finished pile fabric) having ultra-long pile loops finished by the process in accordance with the present disclosure (right side image) and a towel (pile fabric) finished by a regular finishing process (left side image) showing final looks of finished towels when comparing the warp sides (length view of the towels);
Fig. 2(e) illustrates a magnified loop structure of a towel (pile fabric) finished by using a regular method, wherein the middle pile loop remains unreleased and trapped;
Fig. 2(f) illustrates a magnified loop structure of the towel (finished pile fabric) finished in accordance with the present disclosure; images taken at 20X magnification using an USB textile microscope;
Fig. 3(a) illustrates comparative images taken at 20X magnification using an USB textile microscope of ultra-long pile fabric loops of a towel (finished pile fabric) finished in accordance with the present disclosure, wherein the image shows ultra-long pile loops and intra-loop/inter-loop air pockets (double faced arrows) in the ultra-long pile in accordance with the present disclosure;
Fig. 3(b) illustrates a comparative image representing a control towel fabric made without any soluble pick.
Detailed description
The present disclosure relates to textile fabrics.
Embodiments, of the present disclosure, will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing.
Embodiments are provided so as to thoroughly and fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to the person skilled in the art. Numerous details are set forth, relating to specific components, and methods, to provide a complete understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to the person skilled in the art that the details provided in the embodiments should not be construed to limit the scope of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, known processes or well-known apparatus or structures, and well known techniques are not described in detail.
The terminology used, in the present disclosure, is only for the purpose of explaining a particular embodiment and such terminology shall not be considered to limit the scope of the present disclosure. As used in the present disclosure, the forms "a,” "an," and "the" may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly suggests otherwise. The terms "comprises," "comprising," “including,” and “having,” are open ended transitional phrases and therefore specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, modules, units and/or components, but do not forbid the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The particular order of steps disclosed in the method and process of the present disclosure are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance as described or illustrated. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed.
The terms first, second, third, etc., should not be construed to limit the scope of the present disclosure as the aforementioned terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another component, region, layer or section. Terms such as first, second, third etc., when used herein do not imply a specific sequence or order unless clearly suggested by the present disclosure.
As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed elements.
A pile fabric or a terry fabric is primarily used for removing excess moisture from a surface. A large number of modifications have been made to make a terry towel dry faster, most of which concentrate on using synthetic fibres like a polyester as a part of ground warp yarn. Polyester does not absorb water to a great extent and therefore such a towel retains less moisture as compared to a towel made from a natural fibre. Polyester towels dry faster. The counterbalancing action being that the absorbency and the bulkiness of the towel is affected. Another option for making a high absorbency yet quick-drying towel is to make empty-core pile yarns, where the core of a pile yarn is made from a water soluble yarn with cotton yarn being wrapped around the core. Upon heating, the core dissolves, leaving an air-space within the cotton yarn, leading to retention of bulkiness, increase in absorbency and faster drying of a towel.
The process of creating ultra-long pile loops in a fabric through specific weaving processes is known. Even though the end product has an impressive performance, it suffers from one major disadvantage, such as during processing of the fabric, about 5% to 10% of the ultra-long pile loops, because of their larger dimensions, tend to get trapped within the ground warp and weft yarns and remain confined even after the towel has been dried. This necessitates that a significant portion of the finished towels to be tumble dried again for releasing of the trapped pile loops.
The present disclosure provides a process for finishing a pile fabric having ultra-long pile loops for obtaining a finished pile fabric.
The process comprising preparing a wet pile fabric having moisture content in the range of 150% to 500% (w/w). The wet pile fabric is having ultra-long pile loops. The wet pile fabric is kept in a relaxed state for a first predetermined time period to obtain a wet relaxed fabric. The wet relaxed fabric is in a form of a disarrayed fabric. The wet relaxed fabric is transferred to a rope squeezer unit by a first set of guiding rollers at a first pre-determined speed and subjected to a rope squeezing process through at least a pair of squeezing cylinders for providing a first predetermined pressure to obtain a squeezed fabric having moisture in the range of 80% to 250%. The squeezed fabric is subjected to a rope-opening process to obtain an opened fabric. The opened fabric is stretched lengthwise over at least one set of serrated infeed rollers and subsequently passing it to a third set of guiding rollers at a third pre-determined speed to obtain a first stretched fabric by using alternately placed a fourth set of guiding rollers having a fourth pre-determined speed to a first padding mangle and rotating mangle cylinders of the first padding mangle at a fifth predetermined speed for providing a second predetermined pressure to obtain a second stretched fabric having a moisture content in the range of 60% to 90%. Optionally, the second stretched fabric is transferred to a fifth set of guiding rollers at a sixth predetermined speed keeping the second stretched fabric in a stretched condition to obtain a third stretched fabric. The third stretched fabric is optionally transferred to a treatment unit via a sixth set of guiding rollers at a seventh predetermined speed wherein the treatment unit is filled with at least one finishing agent for treating the third stretched fabric while maintaining the lengthwise stretching for a second predetermined time period to obtain a fourth stretched treated fabric and feeding the fourth stretched treated fabric at an eighth predetermined speed through a second padding mangle having mangle cylinders rotating at a ninth predetermined speed for providing a third predetermined pressure to obtain a fifth stretched fabric having a moisture content in the range of 60% to 90%. The second stretched fabric or the fifth stretched fabric is kept in a relaxed condition for a third predetermined time period to obtain a relaxed fabric, followed by subjecting the relaxed fabric to a high velocity air drier at a predetermined temperature, wherein the fabric moves in a ‘to’ and ‘fro’ in a rapid motion, inducing alternate tensed and relaxed states to obtain a finished pile fabric.
In accordance with the present disclosure, the pile fabric is a woven fabric having at least one of the weft yarn as a soluble weft yarn.
In accordance with the present disclosure, a plurality of pile loops (Z) of the woven fabric combine to form a single pile loop having Z times height than an original woven fabric upon dissolution of the soluble weft yarn. In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the pile fabric has a multitude of ultra-long pile loops. In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, 2 to 6 loops may be combined to form an ultra-long single pile loop.
In a first step, a wet pile fabric having ultra-long pile loops is prepared having a moisture content in the range of 150% to 500% (w/w).
A process of the preparation of the wet pile fabric is disclosed hereunder:
In accordance with the present disclosure, a plurality of a ground warp yarns, a plurality of a pile warp yarns and a plurality of a weft yarns are obtained.
In accordance with the present disclosure, the ground warp yarns are interwoven at high tension with the weft yarn to form the substrate of the fabric wherein s at least one of the weft yarns is a soluble weft yarn.
In accordance with the present disclosure, the pile warp yarns are interwoven with the weft yarns at low tension to obtain a pile fabric of a weight in the range of 300 grams/m2 to 700 grams/m2 having a plurality of pile loops on at least one surface of the pile fabric
In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the pile loops are formed by using a multiple pick terry method, with the terry loops extruding from the surface of the fabric either on one side or on both the sides.
In accordance with the present disclosure, the soluble weft yarns on the fabric material having a plurality of pile loops are dissolved by adding water in a material to liquor ratio (MLR) in the range of 1:5 to 1:7 followed by heating to a temperature in the range of 90 oC to 100 oC for a time period in the range of 25 minutes to 35 minutes to combine the plurality of pile loops (Z) to obtain a pile fabric having ultra-long pile loops.
The insoluble pile yarns are placed in a manner such that upon dissolution of the soluble yarn, two flanking loops on either side of the soluble yarn join to form a larger loop, creating larger pile loops. The soluble weft yarns are solubilized to allow the at least two flanking pile loops to combine into a single large pile loop, called an ultra-long pile loop.
In accordance with the present disclosure, the fabric having ultra-long pile loops is sequentially subjected to the steps of scouring, dyeing soaping and washing by following regular protocols, to obtain a wet pile fabric having moisture content in the range of 150% to 500% (w/w). The weight of the wet pile fabric is in the range of 300 grams/m3 to 700 grams/m3.
In an exemplary embodiment, the weight of wet pile fabric is 450 grams/m3. In an exemplary embodiment, the moisture content of the wet pile fabric is 380% (w/w).
During the preparation of pile fabric having moisture content in the range of 150% to 500%, the length of the fabric s decreased by about 7% to 11% due to shrinkage during wet processing.
In accordance with the embodiment of the present disclosure, the wet pile fabric has ultra-long pile loops in the range of 90% to 95% which are extended to their full height.
In the second step, the wet pile fabric is kept in a relaxed state for a first predetermined time period to obtain a wet relaxed fabric wherein the wet relaxed fabric is in the form of a disarrayed fabric.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first predetermined time period is in the range of 20 minutes to 30 minutes. In an exemplary embodiment, the first predetermined time period is 25 minutes.
In a third step, the disarrayed wet relaxed fabric is transferred to a rope squeezer unit by a first set of guiding rollers at a first pre-determined speed and subjecting to a rope squeezing process.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first pre-determined speed of the first set of guiding rollers is in the range of 14 meters/minute to 18 meters/minute. In an exemplary embodiment, the first pre-determined speed of the first set of guiding rollers is 16 meters / minute.
In accordance with the present disclosure, the rope-squeezing process comprises the steps feeding the disarrayed wet relaxed pile fabric to the rope squeezer through at least a pair of squeezing cylinders to provide a first predetermined pressure to obtain a squeezed fabric having a moisture content in the range of 80% to 250%.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first predetermined pressure so achieved by the squeezing cylinders is in the range of 2 bar to 4 bar. In an exemplary embodiment, the first predetermined pressure is 3 bar.
In accordance with the present disclosure, the squeezed fabric has a moisture content in the range of 80% to 250%. In an exemplary embodiment, the squeezed fabric has a moisture content of 190%.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the wet relaxed fabric in the form of the disarrayed fabric is collected in a trolley. The trolley carrying the disarrayed fabric is placed on the rotatable turn-table and the fabric is pushed inside an aperture in the rope squeezing unit through a hanging guide roller. The rope squeezing unit comprises two stainless steel rollers that squeezes the fabric as it passes removing moisture. The pressure applied by the rollers is in the range of 2 bar to 4 bar.
In a fourth step, the squeezed fabric is passed by a second set of guiding rollers at a second predetermined speed and subjected to a rope-opening process to obtain an opened fabric.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the rope opening process comprises passing the squeezed fabric through a de-twister at a speed in the range of 10 meters/minute to 14 meters/minute to obtain an opened fabric. In an exemplary embodiment, the squeezed fabric is passed through the detwister at a speed of 12 meters/minute.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the squeezed fabric passes over a guide roller and is dropped into a J-box. The fabric from the J-box is lifted up to about 4 meters to 5 meters vertically onto a stainless steel detwister AP06 with dimensions in the range of 60 cm by 50 cm. The function of the detwister is to untwist the fabric performing the “rope opening” function. The detwister comprises a circular passageway whose entrance is fitted with multiple smoothly curved protuberances that extend radially inward so as to contact the rope-like bundle tightly as it enters the passageway. Two sensors are placed on either end of the detwister which detects twists in the fabric and rotates the circular passageway in an opposite manner to counteract the twist.
In a fifth step, the opened fabric is stretched lengthwise over at least one set of a serrated infeed rollers and subsequently passing it to a third set of guiding rollers at a third pre-determined speed to obtain a first stretched fabric, followed by feeding the first stretched fabric by using alternately placed a fourth set of guiding rollers having a fourth predetermined speed to a first padding mangle and rotating mangle cylinders of the first padding mangle at a fifth predetermined speed for providing a second predetermined pressure to obtain a second stretched fabric having a moisture content in the range of 60% to 90%.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, after passing through the detwister, the fabric is subjected to a beater which helps in spreading the fabric over the rollers. The gradually spreading out fabric enters into an infeed serrated stainless steel rollers having length in the range of 310 cm to 330 cm and diameter in the range of 20 cm to 25 cm. The grooves on the roller surface firmly grip the fabric ensuring that the fabric is spread out to a flat, single layer form, accompanied by lateral distention of the fabric to its entire width.
In accordance with the present disclosure, the third predetermined speed of the third set of guiding rollers and the fourth predetermined of the fourth set of guiding rollers are independently in the range of 11 meters/ minute to 15 meters/minute. In an exemplary embodiment, the third predetermined speed of the third set of guiding rollers is 12 meters/minute. In an exemplary embodiment, the fourth predetermined speed of the fourth set of guiding rollers is 14 meters/minute.
In accordance with the present disclosure, the fifth predetermined speed of rotating the mangle cylinders of the first padding mangle is in the range of 2 rounds/minute to 8 rounds/minute. In an exemplary embodiment, the third predetermined speed of rotating the mangle cylinders of the first padding mangle is 5 rounds/minute.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the second predetermined pressure so achieved by the first padding mangle is in the range of 2 bar to 8 bar. In an exemplary embodiment, the second predetermined pressure is 4 bar.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the second stretched fabric may be optionally transferred to a fifth set of guiding rollers at a sixth predetermined speed keeping the second stretched fabric in a stretched state, obtaining a third stretched fabric.
In accordance with the present disclosure, the sixth predetermined speed if the fifth set of the guiding rollers is in the range of 12 metres/minute to 16 meters/minute. In an exemplary embodiment, sixth predetermined speed is 14 meters/minute.
Further, optionally, the third stretched fabric is transferred to a treatment unit via a sixth set of guiding rollers at a seventh predetermined speed wherein the treatment unit is filled treated with at least one finishing agent for treating the third stretched fabric while maintaining the lengthwise stretching for a second predetermined time period to obtain a fourth stretched treated fabric. The fourth stretched treated fabric is fed at an eighth predetermined speed through a second padding mangle having mangle cylinders rotating at a ninth predetermined speed to provide a third predetermined pressure to obtain a fifth stretched fabric having a moisture content in the range of 60% to 90%.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the third stretched fabric is fed to a treatment unit via a sixth set of guiding rollers. The treated fabric is fed into the second padding mangle via a three guide roller system, with each guiding roller having a diameter in the range of 10 cm to 12 cm and a length in the range of 290 cm to 310 cm. The second padding mangle comprises two vertically placed stainless steel cylinders that are coated with acrylonitrile butadiene rubber making it resistant to oil, fuel or chemicals. The coating also ensures a homogeneous force is applied to any passing fabric without causing it to tear. Each cylinder has a diameter in the range of 34 cms to 36 cms and a length in the range of 290 cms to 310 cms. The distance between the mangle and its rotation can be varied by a hydraulic control unit, comprising an oil pump and a diaphragm. In an exemplary embodiment, the first padding mangle is rotated at a speed of 5 rounds per minute (RPM) and the fabric is allowed to pass through in a stretched out format. The pressure applied is 5 bars which allows the fabric to be completely stretched out in the longitudinal direction to its limit.
Stretching the fabric over padding mangle helps to release the deformed, trapped and confined pile yarns to project to the actual height. The stretched out, the padded fabric is removed from the padding mangle by a series of four guiding rollers.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the second predetermined time period is in the range of 10 seconds to 16 seconds. In an exemplary embodiment, the second predetermined time period is 14 seconds.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the seventh predetermined speed of the sixth set of guiding rollers and the eighth predetermined speed the feeding the fourth treated stretched fabric are independently in the range of 12 meters/minutes to 16 meters/minute. In an exemplary embodiment, the seventh predetermined speed is 13 meters / minute and the eighth predetermined speed is 12 meters/minute.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the ninth predetermined speed of rotating the second padding mangle is in the range of 3 rounds/minute to 8 rounds/minute. In an exemplary embodiment, the ninth predetermined speed of rotating the second padding mangle is 5 rounds/minute.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the third predetermined pressure is in the range of 2 bar to 8 bar. In an exemplary embodiment, the third predetermined pressure is 5 bar.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the finishing agent is selected from the group consisting of softening agents, anti-microbial agent, insect-repelling agent and fragrance agent.
In an embodiment, stretching in the second padding mangle can be carried out if the fabric needs to be added with a value-added finishing agent. In such cases, the fabric from the four guiding rollers is guided onto a trough that has been filled with the desired agent. A set of three pairs of guiding rollers, one pair of which lies at the bottom of the trough ensure that the fabric stays stretched in the longitudinal direction and remains dipped for a desired amount of time. After the immersion in the desired agent, the stretched out fabric is again passed through a second padding mangle with similar parameters as before. Overall, it is ensured that the fabric stays stretched for the distorted loops to be opened. However, this step is only required if an additional finishing agent is desired by the customer. The stretched, squeezed fabric is guided out of the padding mangle by a set of four guiding rollers.
The stretching in this step increases the length of the fabric by about 8% to 12%, which is then brought to original length in the next step.
In a seventh step, the second stretched fabric or the fifth stretched fabric is kept in a relaxed condition for a third pre-determined time period to obtain a relaxed fabric.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the third predetermined time period is in the range of 6 minutes to 12 minutes. In an exemplary embodiment, the third predetermined time period is 8 minutes.
In the last step, the relaxed fabric obtained from the second stretched fabric or from the fifth stretched is subjected to a high velocity air drying in a drier, at a predetermined temperature wherein the fabric moves in a ‘to and fro’ motion inducing alternate tensed and relaxed states to obtain a finished pile fabric.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the predetermined temperature is in the range of 150 oC to 165 oC. In an exemplary embodiment, the predetermined temperature is 155 oC.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the alternate tensed state and the relaxed state of the fabric is maintained in the drier by pull-push mechanism.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the high velocity air drier pulls a part of the fabric at a speed in the range of 40 meter/sec to 50 meter/sec for a time period in the range of 2 seconds to 3 seconds to maintain the fabric in the tensed state. Immediately, a part of the fabric is pulled away by flowing air in an opposite direction through the tunnel at a speed in the range of 30 meters/second to 40 meters/second for a time period in the range of 2 second to 3 seconds to maintain the fabric in the relaxed state. In an exemplary embodiment, the speed of pulling the fabric is 45 meters/second, and the speed of pushing away the fabric is 35 meters/second.
This alternate push and pull continues to maintain the fabric in alternate tensed and relaxed condition till the entire fabric passes through the high velocity air drier.
After the finishing process in accordance with the present disclosure, the finished pile fabric has more than 99% and upto 100% of ultra-long pile loops extended to the full height. In an exemplary embodiment, the pile fabric has 99.9% ultra-long pile loops which are extended to the full height.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the finished pile fabric is characterized by at least one of: a percent increase in bulkiness in the range of 55% to 65%, a percent increase in absorbency in the range of 65% to 75%, a percent reduction in drop absorption in the range of 62% to 72%, a percent increase in absorption capacity in the range of 24% to 62%, and a percent reduction in drying time is in the range of 25% to 40% with respect to a regular pile fabric of weight in the range of 300 grams/m2 to 700 grams/m2.
In an exemplary embodiment, the ultra-long pile fabric is characterized by having a percent increase in the bulkiness of 62% with respect to regular pile fabric, a percent increase in absorbency of 72% with respect to regular pile fabric, a percent reduction in drop absorption of 67% with respect to regular pile fabric, a percent increase in absorption capacity of 42.2% with respect to regular pile fabric, and a percent reduction in drying time is 32% with respect to regular pile fabric with respect to a regular pile fabric of weight in the range of 300 grams/m2 to 700 grams/m2.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the finished pile fabric has 99.9% of the ultra-long pile loops extended to their full height.
The finished pile fabric having ultra-long pile loops has a multitude of ground warp yarns in the range of 20 ends/ cm to 28 ends/ cm, a multitude of weft yarns in the range of 12 wefts /cm to 30 wefts /cm, pile ratio in the range of 1:4 to 1:8. In an exemplary embodiment, the pile fabric having ultra-long pile loops has ground warp yarns of 26 ends/ cm, weft yarn of 16.5 weft /cm and a pile ratio of 1:5.
In accordance with the present disclosure, the finished pile fabric has a moisture content in the range of 4% to 8%. In an exemplary embodiment, the finished pile fabric has a moisture content of 5%.
The finished pile fabric having ultra-long pile loops of the present disclosure has intra-loop and inter-loop in-built air pockets within and surrounding the pile loops, consequently leading to higher absorbency, quick absorbance rate, faster wicking and quick drying rate without compromising the aesthetics and hand feel of the towel. The air pockets are created within two piles and also within a single pile loop by removing the binding between two or more multiple consequent pile formation during the processing of the fabric. The binding between two or more consequent pile is solubilized by heating and solubilizing the soluble weft yarn in a solvent, ensuring complete dissolution of the soluble weft yarn.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the height of the pile loop in the finished pile fabric is in the range of 6 mm to 12 mm. In an exemplary embodiment, the height of the pile loop in the finished pile fabric is 9 mm.
The finished pile fabric of the present disclosure is capable to be woven in various combinations to form a different design and patterns that are acceptable for towels, bathrobes, garments, furnishing fabrics, industrial fabrics and technical fabric.
The finished pile fabric having ultra-long pile loops can be woven in a combination of regular pile fabric along with weaves in the similar manner of the present disclosure in a variety of possible combinations to form various design patterns. The ultra-long pile fabric may be used for producing towels, blankets, rugs, carpets and the like.
The finished pile fabric having ultra-long pile loops of the present disclosure is homogenous, bulkier and highly adsorbent.
The process of the present disclosure does not require repeated steps of drying of a regular fabric having ultra-long pile loops.
The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Individual components of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, are interchangeable. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the present disclosure, and all such modifications are considered to be within the scope of the present disclosure.
The present disclosure is further illustrated herein below with the help of the following experiments. The experiments used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of the ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the experiments should not be construed as limiting the scope of embodiments herein. These laboratory scale experiments can be scaled up to industrial/commercial scale and the results obtained can be extrapolated to industrial/commercial scale.
EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS
Process for finishing a pile fabric having ultra-long pile fabric, in accordance with the present disclosure
Example 1
In accordance with the present disclosure, the wet pile fabric was dried in a fashion that enabled the deformed and trapped piles to be released, increasing the bulkiness and aesthetics of the towel fabric. In the present example, the process of finishing pile fabric was performed by the following steps:
(a) A terry fabric (pile fabric) of 450 grams/m2 having a moisture content of 380% was taken as wet pile fabric.
(b) The wet pile fabric was kept in a relaxed state for 25 minutes to obtain a wet relaxed pile fabric; wherein the wet relaxed fabric was in a form of a disarrayed fabric.
(c) The wet relaxed fabric was subjected to rope-squeezing process to obtain a squeezed fabric having a moisture content of 190%.
The wet relaxed fabric in the form of the disarrayed fabric was collected in a trolley. The trolley carrying the disarrayed fabric was placed on the rotatable turn-table and the fabric was pushed inside an aperture in the rope squeezing unit through a hanging guide roller at a speed of 16 meters/minute. The rope squeezing unit comprises two stainless steel rollers that squeezes the fabric as it passes. The pressure applied by the rollers was 3 bar.
(d) The squeezed fabric is subjected to a rope-opening process to obtain an opened fabric.
The squeezed fabric was passed over a guide roller and dropped into a J-box. The fabric from the J-box was lifted up to about 4 meters to 5 meters vertically onto a stainless steel detwister AP06 with dimensions in the range of 60 cm by 50 cm. The function of the detwister was to untwist the fabric performing the “rope opening” function. The detwister comprises a circular passageway whose entrance was fitted with multiple smoothly curved protuberances that extend radially inward so as to contact the rope-like bundle tightly as it enters the passageway. Two sensors were placed on either end of the detwister which detects twists in the fabric and rotates the circular passageway in an opposite manner to counteract the twist. The movement of the fabric through detwister was at a speed of 12 meters/minute, obtaining detwisted or opened fabric.
(e) After passing through the detwister, the opened fabric was subjected to a beater which helped in spreading the fabric over the rollers. The gradually spreading out fabric entered into an infeed serrated stainless steel rollers having length of 320 cm and diameter of 22 cm. The grooves on the roller surface firmly grip the fabric ensuring that the fabric was spread out to a flat, single layer form, accompanied by lateral distention of the fabric to its entire width to obtain a first stretched fabric.
The first stretched fabric was then subjected to tension by stretching it out lengthwise over a set of alternately placed rollers and feeding it at a speed of 12 meters/minute, in its stretched-out state at onto a first padding mangle where it was subjected to a pressure of 4.5 bar to obtain a second stretched fabric having moisture content of 82.%.
The pressure applied along with stretching in wet condition increased the length of the fabric by about 8% to 10%. This means that a fabric with a pile-to-pile length of 111 cm after processing was stretched out to about 120 cm. Due to this increased length, the picks/cm for a padding mangle-treated fabric decreased by about 7% to 9%, to 14 to 16 picks/cm. The decreased picks/cm allowed for an increased distance between two picks. This additional space allowed for 5% to 10% deformed or trapped ultra-long pile loops to be released and projected to their actual length. The wet opened fabric was kept under tension with 99.2% to 99.5% of its piles stretched to obtain a second stretched fabric.
(g) The second stretched fabric was passed over a plurality of rollers at a speed of 13 meters /minute to keep the second stretched fabric in a stretched condition to obtain a third stretched fabric.
(h) The third stretched fabric was then allowed to be in a relaxed state for 9 minutes, followed by drying in a BIANCLANI AIRO 24TM drier under a constant state of agitation involving alternating tensing and relaxing at 155 oC till the entire fabric passed through the drier to obtain a dried fabric.
The drier was designed in such a way that the fabric was pulled at about 45 meters/sec for about 2.5 seconds through a narrow tunnel like structure that was fitted with SS grills, maintaining it at a tensed state. Immediately afterwards, the fabric was let loose and pushed away by air flow in opposite direction through the narrow tunnel like structure at a speed of about 35 meters/ second.
The alternate brushing against the metallic grills during the to and fro motion allowed the ground structure to be loosened transiently for any remaining trapped large pile loops to be released. The temperature of the drier was maintained at 155oC allowing the evaporation at a rate of 700 kg/h to 1100 kg/h to obtain a finished pile fabric.
The finished pile fabric was then further passed through a stenter, for widening the fabric and correction of width-wise distortions.
Example 2: Process of preparing pile fabric
The process of preparing pile fabric entailed the steps of weaving, processing and the like. The process is disclosed as follows:
Preparation of sized yarns: The pile and ground warp yarns were warped on sizing beams followed by subjecting the beams to chemical sizing. The sizing was done by applying size paste to the warp yarn, consequently the ability to endure weaving tensions was enhanced by providing additional strength. Additionally, sizing served to encapsulate the protruding fibers within the yarn, reducing the risk of yarn breakage during weaving caused by entanglement with neighboring ends. Furthermore, sizing contributed to heightened abrasion resistance of the yarns.
The weight (A) of size used in lbs was calculated as
A=(Length of warp in yards ×number of ends)/(840×Counts)
The percentage of size on warp (B) was calculated as
B=(Weight of size ×100)/(Weight of unsized warp)
Drying of the sized yarn: The sized yarns were passed over drying cylinder for the size to dry and set. The diameter of the drying cylinders was about 80±10cm with a width of 200±40cm; the speed of warp on the slasher was about 115±25 meters/min and the creep speed 1.9±0.1 meters/min. The winding tension was about 1050±150 kg and the squeezing pressure of the roller was 875±75 kg. The drying temperature was maintained between 90±5 ᵒC and the water evaporation rate was about 475 kg/hour. The dried sized yarns were warped upon loom beams.
Preparing the yarn for weft feeder: The sized ground warp beams were loaded onto the terry loom along with the pile beam. Cotton yarn in the range of 6’s to 30’s count, and PVA yarn in the range of 30’s to 80’s count was warped in cones as weft yarns and were loaded in the weft feeder.
Weaving of fabric: Weaving of the towel fabric was accomplished by using either a Rapier or an Air-Jet loom running under a specific programming. To understand the weaving pattern changes were made, it was important to visualize the weaving pattern used commonly for regular terry fabrics. A terry fabric consisted of two faces, depicting its up and down orientation. The matrix of a terry fabric was woven by drawing in three yarns – a multitude of ground warp yarns, released from the ground warp beam at a constant rate that created the length of the fabric, a multitude of pile yarns which were released from the pile beam at a faster rate that create the length of the fabric and a multitude of weft yarn moving across the fabric. The loom weaved the three yarns into a compact fabric following the below mentioned three steps:
Shedding, in which the ground warp yarns and pile warp yarns were pried apart in the loom;
Picking, in which the weft yarn was interlaced across the width of the fabric, and
Beating, in which the newly woven row was pushed back against the fabric for compaction.
Since the pile yarn was let off at a faster rate than the ground warp yarn, the greater length of the same allowed it to form a terry loop with the yarn being “locked” in place by the weft yarn. The process was continued till the entire length of the fabric was woven.
In the example, a three pick terry having terry loops on both faces was chosen. A three pick terry means the pile yarn crosses below/over a weft yarn designated “a”, moves over two weft yarns, and changes orientation at the “a+3”rd weft yarn. The term “on both faces” ascribed to the fact that the fabric consists of two pile yarns, each running on either face of the fabric.
Yarn made of Polyvinyl alcohol, a synthetic polymer having molecular weight near to 1 lakh Daltons, was preferred as the soluble yarn. The solvent chosen was water as PVA had high solubility in hot water. However, any other yarn which may be soluble in a different solvent could have been utilized. Additionally, two different types of soluble yarns, both being soluble in different solvents might also be used in the construction of the fabric. In the present example being discussed, Y = PVA yarn whereas S = water.
For weaving, a multitude of ground warp yarns, spun from virgin cotton, recycled cotton, bast fibers including flax, bamboo or hemp or any combination of the above with count varying from 8’s count to 30’s count, was released from the ground warp beam at a constant rate and a multitude of pile yarns spun from virgin cotton, recycled cotton, bast fibers including flax, bamboo or hemp or any combination of the above with count varying from 8’s count to 30’s count, was released from the pile beam at a pile ratio ranging from 10:42 to 10:80. The ground warp and pile warp yarns were subjected to shedding, in which the ground warp yarn and pile warp yarns were pried apart in the loom, followed by picking, in which a weft yarn was interlaced across the width of the fabric.
Two different types of weft yarns were loaded in the weft feeder creels. The insoluble weft consisted of yarn made from virgin cotton, recycled cotton, bast fibers including flax, bamboo or hemp or any combination of the above with English count that ranged from 6’s to 30’s. The soluble weft yarns consisted of PVA yarn of count ranging from 30’s to 80’s. The loom was programmed to release a weft of soluble yarn after a fixed number of insoluble weft yarns were released. For the example, using a 3-pick terry, the soluble yarns were released at multiples of 6, i.e., if two triplets were considered, the n-1 pick and the n-1 pick after 5 wefts, were replaced with soluble yarn.
After threading a weft yarn, the loom performed a beating step in which the newly woven row was pushed back against the fabric for compaction. The pile height was formed by the beat up length setting for the loose pile on the terry loom. The pile height of the fabric during weaving was at least 1 mm and was woven up to the maximum height equivalent to the technological capability of terry machines.
The other details for weaving the ultra-long pile fabric consisted of the following: Ends/cm = 20 to 28, weft/cm = 12 to 24, pile ratio = 10:42 to 10:80. The pile height during weaving was fixed as 3 mm to 7 mm so that after the soluble yarn was removed, the pile height increased in the range of 6 to 14 mm. For the current example the picks/cm chosen were in the range of 17 to 19 picks/cm.
Once the fabric was woven using soluble yarn as weft in certain pre-determined positions, it underwent simultaneous pile opening and desizing step where the soluble yarn and the size material dissolved. The fabric was added to water at MLR in the range of 1:5 to 1:7, and it was heated at 95oC to 100ᵒC for 30 minutes. The soluble yarn Y was dissolved during this step, consequently releasing the binding between two consecutive piles. Now, if every 6thweft yarn, designated as (n-1), was soluble, the pile formed between the first triplet (n-1) and the 2nd triplet (n-1) was now free. Similarly, the pile that formed between the 2nd (n-1) and the 3rd (n-1) was also free. Therefore, these two pile yarns joined together and form one continuous large loop which extended from the (n-1)th weft of the first triplet to the (n-1)th weft of the third triplet.
The cross-section of the pile fabric showed that the soluble yarn Y in every alternate (n-1)th position was dissolved. Consequently, two pile sequences that were held by the soluble yarn became a single pile with the resultant pile height denoted as Z×H. The single large pile formed depicted a height that was Z times more than that of the original woven fabric. This created a large air pocket within the loop and in between two loops.
The first boiling washings were discarded.
Since a percentage of the loops were partially free or still trapped, the fabric was subjected to a second pile opening for which the fabric was added to water at Material-to-Liquor ratio (MLR) in the range of 1:5 to 1:7, and it was heated at 95 oC to 100ᵒC for 30 minutes. A major issue with the ultra-long pile fabric manufacturing technique was that some of the long loops were getting entangled during processing. A further issue was that some 5% to 10% of the loops still remain trapped within the ground warp yarn.
The washings were discarded.
The fabric with majority of its pile opened underwent bleaching at MLR of 1:5 to 1:7, and at 93oC to 97ᵒC for 60 minutes with 10 GPL to 15 GPL peroxide and 2 to 3 g/L of NaOH.
The scoured and bleached fabric was washed with water at 80ᵒC for 10 minutes. The washed fabric was neutralized with the addition of organic acid.
The neutralized fabric was dyed with standard reactive or natural dyes in the presence of sodium carbonate or sodium sulphate, the amount of which varied depending on the shade of the fabric desired.
The dyed fabric was subjected to soaping and finishing to obtain pile fabric. A regular fabric generally showed shrinkage of 5% to10% in dimensions after wet processing, resulting in a similar 5% to 10% increase in its picks/cm. However, the loss of multiple wefts partially compensated for this effect, subsequently leading to a 4% to 8% decrease in picks/cm. The picks/cm of the wet processed fabric were calculated to be in the range of 15 to 17 picks/cm, which was about 8% to 8.5% lower than the woven fabric. The pile fabric in this step can also be used as a pile fabric in example 1.
Example 3 (Comparative example): Finishing of the pile fabric in accordance with the conventional process
The post-boiling pile fabric with moisture retained of upto 300% was removed from the soft flow dyeing machine and was loaded into a hydro-extractor (centrifuge), where the residual moisture was lowered to 60% to 80% to obtain a regular terry fabric.
The pile fabric, at this stage, was subjected to a rope opener followed by drying in a tumble drier. The fabric was fed from one end of the machine via rollers with the fabric being kept in a relaxed state. Drying commenced at temperatures of 100oC to 160ᵒC and the dried fabric, also maintained in a relaxed state was dropped into trolleys via rollers. The length correction was done by running the fabric through stenters at high temperatures. However, this drying technique did not help in releasing the ultra-long pile loops (5% to 10% of the total piles) that were still trapped under the ground warp yarn structure. Passing through a stenter rectified dimensions but the process was unable to lift the trapped/confined pile loops.
Characterization of the towel fabric having ultra-long pile loops:
The final moisture present in the finished fabric by using the process of example 1 was 3% to 7% by weight and the total number of released piles is 99.9%.
Table 1 provides the average change in dimensions and picks/cm of a finished pile fabric having ultra-long pile loops, which may be referred to as a towel fabric, dried in accordance with present disclosure while comparing it to a towel of similar GSM (grams per square meter) having ultra-long pile loops dried in regular manner and a regular towel / regular pile fabric of similar GSM, dried in a regular manner.
Towel fabric with 9 mm pile height dried/finished in accordance with example 1 of present disclosure Towel fabric with 9 mm pile height dried/ finished in a regular fashion (comparative example)
Regular Towel with 5.4 mm pile height dried in a regular fashion (comparative example)

Length (cm) Picks/ cm Total picks Fully extended Pile loops Length (cm) Picks/ cm Total picks Fully extended Pile loops Length (cm) Picks/ cm Total picks
Weaving 131 18 2358 131 18 2358 131 18 2358
Picks dissolved during wet processing 393 393 0
Post-wet processing 119 16.5 1965 92.5 ± 2.5 % 119 16.5 1965 92.5 ± 2.5 % 119 19.8 2358
Decrease % 9.2 8.3 16.7 9.2 8.3 16.7 9.2 -10.1 0.0
Post mangle-stretch 131 15 1965 99.50%
% decrease from post-mangle stretching -10.1 9.2
Post drying & stenter 128 15.4 1965 99.90% 128 15.4 1965 92.5 ± 2.5 % 128 18.4 2358
Re-drying Not necessary 96 ± 1.5 % Not necessary
The negative sign represents a ‘% decrease’ row; the term ‘pick/cm’ is same as the term ‘weft/cm’
As seen in the table, both the pile fabrics having ultra-long pile loops of the present disclosure and the regular towel undergo shrinkage during wet-processing, displaying a decrease of about 8% to 10% in their length. The shrinkage was a common phenomenon associated with wetting textiles resulting from changes in fiber characteristics upon contact with water. Shrinkage in length of a towel led to an increase in picks/cm. However, for the towels finished in accordance with the present disclosure, wet processing removed every 6th weft yarn, culminating in a loss of about 393 wefts, consequently decreasing the total picks to 1965. Thus, the picks/cm decreased by 8.3% to 16.5. Contrastingly, in the regular towel fabric, since the number of picks remained the same while the length decreased, the picks/cm increases by 10.1% to 19.8. It was also worth noticing that upon a visual inspection, 5% to 10% of the loops were found to be deformed or confined within the fabric ground structure with only 92.5 ± 2.5 % loops in fully extended form for towel having ultra-long pile loops dried in a regular fashion.
The towel having ultra-long pile loops dried in a regular fashion in tumbler and /or in stenter displayed length regain to 129 cm (an increase of 8.4%) and decrease in picks/cm to 15.2, but absolutely no improvement in the fraction of fully extended loops. This proved that a towel dried in a regular fashion still retained 5% to 10% of deformed and confined loops giving it a non-uniform look, and required a further re-drying and shuffling in a tumble drier, resulting in loop extension for 96 ± 1.5 % of all loops.
The towel subjected to the finishing process of the present disclosure, i.e. wet stretch-drying presents a different result. As visualized in the table, wet stretching the towel in a mangle restored the length to 131 cm while the picks/cm decreased to 15 (9.2% increase from the previous step). This wet stretch step thus, counters the wet shrinking. The low values of picks/cm indicated that the space between the picks was stretched to a quite high limit, thus creating space for the entangled and confined loop to emerge. It was noticeable that the percentage of fully extended loops noticeable on the towel face increased from 95 % to 99.5%. The increase was only possible under the conditions described. The drying step induces a ‘to and fro’ motion of the fabric in a confined space, releasing a further 0.4% of the piles to be opened allowing 99.9% of the pile loops to be extended to their fullest height. This renders any re-drying unnecessary.
The regular towel, given for comparison, was subjected to tumbler drying and dimension correction in the stenter which increased its length by 7.6% while decreasing the picks/cm by 7% from the previous step.
To summarize, both the towels having ultra-long pile loops and the regular towel of comparative examples displayed similar 2% to 3% length decrease in the final product. However, the towel finished in accordance with the present disclosure displayed 16.7% loss of weft picks, leading to a 14.7% decrease in the final picks/cm, with resultant 99.9% loops extended to its full height.
Tests to check performance of the Finished fabric of the present disclosure
The towel finished in accordance with the present disclosure was tested via various standard tests and the data compared with two control towel of similar dimensions and GSM: Control 1 represents a towel having ultra-long pile loops dried in regular tumble drier/stenter method while Control 2 represents a regular towel dried in regular tumble drier/stenter method. Pile structure was noted by using an USB Microscope. Bulkiness was checked using the ASTMD 1777 method. Absorbency of the towel was checked using the AATCC-79 drop sink method and the ASTM D-7242 method while vertical wicking properties of the towel in both weft and warp direction was measured by AATCC 197. Drying time was tested using internal standard procedures. Dimensional stability of the towels to washing and measurement of lint generated during washing was measured as AATCC 135/150-2018.
Results of performance testing
Fig.1(a-b) illustrates microscopic images at 20X magnification showing the ultra-long pile loops with air pockets. Fig 1(a) illustrates air pockets in the within a loop, i.e., intra-loop air pockets. Fig 1 (b) illustrated air pockets between two loops, i.e., inter-loop air pockets. The air pockets are created due to the dissolution of soluble yarn of the pile fabric having ultra-long pile loops prepared in accordance with the present disclosure.
Fig. 2 illustrates comparative images for a finished pile fabric having ultra-long pile loops finished in accordance with the present disclosure and a towel having ultra-long pile loops finished by using regular drying process, wherein Fig. 2(a), illustrates that the towel finished in accordance with present disclosure (right side image) displays higher bulkiness as compared to the towels finished / dried by using regular method (left side image). Fig. 2(b) illustrates that the towel finished in accordance with the present disclosure (right side image) displays a more aesthetic and uniform appearance as compared to the towel finished by using regular method (left side image). Fig. 2(c) illustrates the final look of the towel finished in accordance with the present disclosure (right side figure) when comparing the weft side (width view) as compared to the towel finished by using regular method (left side image). Fig. 2(d) illustrates final look of the towel finished in accordance with the present disclosure (right side image) when comparing the warp side (length of the towel) as compared to the towel finished by using regular method (left side image). Fig. 2(e) illustrates a magnified loop structure of the towel finished by using a regular method, wherein the middle pile loop remains unreleased; and Fig. 2(f) illustrates a magnified loop structure of the towel finished in accordance with the present disclosure, wherein trapped loops are not observed. Images were taken at 20X magnification using an USB textile microscope.
Fig. 3 illustrates comparative images taken at 20X magnification using an USB textile microscope of the ultra-long pile fabric, wherein Fig. 3(a) shows ultra-long pile loops and intra-loop/inter-loop air pockets (double faced arrows) in the ultra-long pile fabric finished in accordance with the present disclosure, and Fig. 3(b) illustrates a control fabric made without any soluble loop.
Observations from Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 is given below:
The pile loop on the terry towel surface was an “ultra-long” pile loop as it was a prime multiple of the pile loops in a control towel samples. The pile fabric finished in accordance with the present disclosure were fully extended to the surface and provided a homogenous surface undulation, which increased its aesthetic value.
The ultra-long pile loop had an intra-loop gap, which accommodated an air pocket. The gap was a direct result of the weaving structure and results from 2 or more loops joining together with the area under the long pile creating the intra-loop air pocket.
The pile loops also displayed an inter-loop gap where the ultra-long pile loops produced a large gap between two piles. A homogenous pile-loop surface produced these inter-loop gap in a repetitive sequence.
A combined consequence of these three characteristics culminated in two phenomena: a greater bulkiness of the towel and large increase in the surface area of the pile loops when compared to towels having regular pile loops. The augmented surface area allowed significantly higher amounts of moisture exchange with the surrounding media allowing for several phenomenon as listed below:
Faster water uptake increased the wicking properties of towel having ultra-long pile loops and finished in accordance with the present disclosure when compared to regular towels / regular pile fabric;
Enhanced retention volume after absorption when compared to regular towels / regular pile fabric; and
Augmented rates of drying when compared to regular towels / regular pile fabric.
The above phenomena can be further clearly observed in Table 2.
Table 2 Water absorption properties of the towel having ultra-long pile loops finished in accordance with the present disclosure compared to a towel having ultra-long pile loops finished in a regular method and to a control regular towel / regular pile fabric.

Test Performed 450 GSM towel fabric having ultra-long pile loops finished in accordance with the present disclosure(Avg. of 3 trials) 450 GSM towel fabric having ultra-long pile fabric finished in regular tumble drier/ stenter method (Avg. of 3 trials) % improvement of towel fabric finished in accordance with the present disclosure compared to the towel finished in regular tumble drier / stenter 450 GSM Control regular towel / regular pile fabric (Avg. of 3 trials) % improvement of towel fabric finished in accordance with the present disclosure compared to the regular towel / regular pile fabric
ASTMD 1777 Fabric bulkiness (mm) 112.6 ± 0.2 110.5 ± 0.4 5.5% 69.6 ± 0.75 61.8 ± 1.5*
ASTM D 4772 Absorbency 85.3 ± 3.05 74.7 ± 4.2 16.7 ± 2.9% * 50.4 ± 1.12 71.8 ± 6.1*
ATCC 79 Drop absorption < 1 sec < 1 sec 0 3 ± 0 sec > 67*
JIS L1907 clause 7.1.3 Sink test < 1 sec < 1 sec 0 4 ± 0.1sec >75*
ISO 20158 Absorption Capacity 1074 ± 22.3 % 996.6 ± 26.08% 7.8 ± 0.7% * 670.7 ± 18.2 % 60.1 ± 18.2%*
AATCC 197 Short wick (2.5cm) 65.2 ± 1.4 sec 69.4 ± 1.8 sec 0 68.4 ± 1.5 sec 0
AATCC 197 Long wick (10 cm) >10 min >10 min 0 >10 min 0
Drying Time - Internal standard (min) 22.7 ± 2.1 24.2± 3.4 6.3% 32.7 ± 1.2 31.6 ± 6.2*
The notation * indicates a statistically significant change with p < 0.05
Comparison of test of a towel finished in accordance with the present disclosure with towel finished in a regular method (Control 1)
As seen in Table 2, the towel depicted a small 5.5% increase in bulkiness when compared to a towel finished in a regular method, a phenomenon which was attributable to the uniform pile density with 99.9% of the piles being exposed to their full length. On the other hand, Control 1 was dried in regular method and failed to release 5% to10% its loops, giving it a non-uniform look and lowering its bulkiness. Although, it is to be noted that based on the number of samples tested, the increase was not statistically significant.
An effect of the increased homogenous pile density is increased absorbency. As seen in Table 2, the towel finished in accordance with the present disclosure depicts 16.7 ± 2.9% higher absorbency when compared to a towel having ultra-long pile loops but finished in a regular method. The drop absorption and sink test provided similar results. Additionally, wicking did not involve terry piles and hence the wicking rate of the present disclosure towel was not improved. Nevertheless, towel/fabric finished in accordance with the present disclosure displayed a significant 7.8 ± 0.7% increase in total absorption capacity. This was a direct consequence of the fully extended 99.9% piles when compared to 92% to 95% fully extended pile loops in Control 1. The drying time of the towel finished in accordance with the present disclosure was slightly lower than Control 1.
Comparison of test of the towel finished in accordance with the present disclosure with a regular towel / regular pile fabric finished in a regular method (Control 2)
The towel of the present disclosure displayed 61.8 ± 1.5% higher bulkiness when compared to similar gsm control towel (Control 2). It depicted 71.8 ± 6.1% higher absorbency, >67% faster drop absorption, >75% water absorption and 60.1 ± 18.2% higher absorption capacity. The increased parameters were attributed to the phenomenon described in the earlier paragraph. As like before, wicking values did not increase significantly as wicking does not involve pile loops. Nevertheless, the towel of the present disclosure dries 31.6 ± 6.2% faster than a regular towel / regular pile fabric dried in a regular method.
Table 3 depicts the dimensional stability of the ultra-long pile loop of the present disclosure.
Table 3 Dimensional Stability of ultra-long pile loop of the present disclosure to washing
Dimensional stability to washing Width before wash (cm) Width after wash (cm) Shrinkage in width (%) Length before wash (cm) Length after wash (cm) Shrinkage in length (%) Lint generation (%)
Average of 3 towels in accordance with the present disclosure 76.5± 0.12 74.6 ± 0.1 2.5 ± 0.03 148.5 ± 0.6 142.1 ± 0.84 4.2 ± 0.22 0.34 ± 0.02
Acceptable 5% 8% 0.4

As seen in Table 3, the change in width and length after 3 home laundry was about 2.5 ± 0.03 and 4.2 ± 0.22% respectively, which were well within the accepted limits. The lint generated after 3 home laundries was 0.34 ± 0.02% which was also within the acceptable limit.
Colour fastness
Colour fastness is defined as the resistance of a fabric to change in any of its colour characteristics due to a chemical or physical process. Colour fastness to washing and rubbing was checked by AATCC 61-2A and AATCC 8 respectively. Briefly, the towel fabrics were made to be in close contact with a chemical or physical agent for a predetermined amount of time followed by measuring the colour difference between the original and treated using a Grey scale. The scale ranging from 1 to 5 with intermediate values being, 1 to 2, 2, 2 to 3, 3, 3 to 4, 4, 4 to 5, and 5 with 1 being very high difference (poor performance) and 5 being no difference post-treatment (Ideal performance). A towel with scores above 3 is generally desired.
Table 4 illustrates colour fastness of the ultra-long pile fabric of the present disclosure to washing and rubbing.
Table 4: Colour fastness of the ultra-long pile fabric of the present disclosure to washing and rubbing
Towel: The ultra-long pile fabric of the present disclosure
Shade: White Very Light Light Medium Dark Very Dark
AATCC 61-2A:Colour fastness to washing
Colour change 4 4 4 3 to 4 4 4
Colour staining 4 4 4 4 4 4
AATCC 8: Colour fastness to rubbing
Dry Rub 4 4 3 to 4 4 4 3 to 4
Wet rub 4 4 4 4 4 4

As seen in Table 4, the ultra-long pile fabric of the present disclosure displayed acceptable levels of colour fastness, in all the shades tested.
TECHNICAL ADVANCEMENTS
The present disclosure described hereinabove has several technical advantages including, but not limited to, the realization of:
a process of finishing a pile fabric having ultra-long pile loops that:
is simple and economical;
can be run on the available machines and does not require a new set up; and
does not result in any shrinkage in the finished fabric.
and
a finished pile fabric that
has ultra-long terry loops which are fully extended from the body of the towel providing a uniform, aesthetic look, while increasing the bulkiness of the towel;
has terry loops creating more air pockets within its structure, resulting in faster solvent / gas exchange rates; and
is capable of producing towels having increased absorbency, higher water holding capacity, and faster drying.
The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained with reference to the non-limiting embodiments in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.
The foregoing description of the specific embodiments so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the embodiments as described herein.
The use of the expression “at least” or “at least one” suggests the use of one or more elements or ingredients or quantities, as the use may be in the embodiment of the invention to achieve one or more of the desired objects or results. While certain embodiments of the inventions have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Variations or modifications to the formulation of this invention, within the scope of the invention, may occur to those skilled in the art upon reviewing the disclosure herein. Such variations or modifications are well within the spirit of this invention.
The numerical values given for various physical parameters, dimensions and quantities are only approximate values and it is envisaged that the values higher than the numerical value assigned to the physical parameters, dimensions and quantities fall within the scope of the invention unless there is a statement in the specification to the contrary.
Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like that has been included in this specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the disclosure. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form a part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the disclosure as it existed anywhere before the priority date of this application.
While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the specific features of the preferred embodiment, it will be appreciated that many additional features can be added and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiment without departing from the principles of the disclosure. These and other changes in the preferred embodiment of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the disclosure and not as a limitation. , Claims:WE CLAIM:
1. A process for finishing a pile fabric having ultra-long pile loops to obtain a finished pile fabric, said process comprising the following steps:
a) obtaining a wet pile fabric with ultra-long pile loops having a moisture content in the range of 150% to 500% (w/w);
b) keeping said wet pile fabric in a relaxed state for a first predetermined time period to obtain a wet relaxed pile fabric, wherein said wet relaxed pile fabric is in the form of a disarrayed fabric;
c) transferring said disarrayed wet relaxed pile fabric to a rope squeezer unit by a first set of guiding rollers at a first predetermined speed and subjecting to a rope squeezing process through at least a pair of squeezing cylinders for providing a first predetermined pressure, to obtain a squeezed fabric having a moisture content in the range of 80% to 250%;
d) passing said squeezed fabric by a second set of guiding rollers at a second predetermined speed and subjecting to a rope-opening process to obtain an opened fabric;
e) stretching said opened fabric lengthwise over at least one set of serrated infeed rollers and subsequently passing it to a third set of guiding rollers at a third predetermined speed to obtain a first stretched fabric, followed by feeding said first stretched fabric by using alternately placed a fourth set of guiding rollers having a fourth predetermined speed, to a first padding mangle and rotating mangle cylinders of said first padding mangle at a fifth predetermined speed for providing a second predetermined pressure to obtain a second stretched fabric having a moisture content in the range of 60% to 90%;
f) optionally, transferring said second stretched fabric to a fifth set of guiding rollers at a sixth predetermined speed keeping said second stretched fabric in a stretched condition to obtain a third stretched fabric;
g) optionally, transferring said third stretched fabric to a treatment unit via a sixth set of guiding rollers at a seventh predetermined speed wherein said treatment unit is filled with at least one finishing agent for treating said third stretched fabric while maintaining the lengthwise stretching for a second predetermined time period to obtain a fourth stretched treated fabric and feeding said fourth stretched treated fabric at an eighth predetermined speed through a second padding mangle having mangle cylinders rotating at a ninth predetermined speed for providing a third predetermined pressure to obtain a fifth stretched fabric having a moisture content in the range of 60% to 90%; and
h) keeping said second stretched fabric or said fifth stretched fabric under a relaxed condition for a third predetermined time period to obtain a relaxed fabric, followed by subjecting said relaxed fabric to a high velocity air drier at a predetermined temperature, wherein the fabric moves in a ‘to and fro’ motion, inducing alternate tensed and relaxed states, to obtain a finished pile fabric.
2. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein said wet pile fabric is prepared by the following sub-steps:
i. providing a plurality of ground warp yarns, a plurality of pile warp yarns, and a plurality of weft yarns;
ii. interweaving said ground warp yarns at high tension with said weft yarns to form a substrate of the fabric, wherein at least one of said weft yarn is a soluble weft yarn;
iii. interweaving said pile warp yarns with said weft yarns at a low tension to obtain a pile fabric of a weight in the range of 300 grams/m2 to 700 grams/m2 having a plurality of pile loops on at least one surface of said pile fabric;
iv. adding water in a material to liquor ratio (MLR) in the range of 1:5 to 1:7 to said pile fabric having plurality of pile loops and heating to a temperature in the range of 90 oC to 100 oC for a time period in the range of 25 minutes to 35 minutes to combine said plurality of pile loops to obtain a pile fabric having ultra-long pile loops; and
v. sequentially, subjecting said pile fabric having said ultra-long pile loops to scouring, dyeing, soaping and washing to obtain said wet pile fabric.
3. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein in step (d), the rope opening process comprises passing the squeezed fabric through a de-twister at a speed in the range of 10 meters/minute to 14 meters/minute to obtain an opened fabric.
4. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein in step (b), said first predetermined time period is in the range of 20 minutes to 30 minutes.
5. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein in step (c),
• said first predetermined speed of said first set of guiding rollers is in the range of 14 meters/minute to 18 meters/minute; and
• said first predetermined pressure by said squeezing cylinders is in the range of 2 bar to 4 bar.
6. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein in step (d), said second predetermined speed of said second set of guiding rollers is in the range of 10 meters/minutes to 15 meters/minutes.
7. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein in step (e),
• said third predetermined speed of said third set of guiding rollers and said fourth pre-determined speed of said fourth set of guiding rollers are independently in the range of 11 meters/minutes to 15 meters/minutes;
• said fifth predetermined speed of said first padding mangle is in the range of 2 rounds/minute to 8 rounds/minute; and
• said second predetermined pressure by said first padding mangle is in the range of 2 bar to 8 bar.

8. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein in step (f) said sixth predetermined speed of said fifth set of guiding rollers is in the range of 12 meters/minute to 16 meters/minute.
9. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein in step (g),
• said seventh predetermined speed of said sixth set of guiding rollers and said eighth pre-determined speed of feeding said fourth stretched treated fabric are independently in the range of 12 meters/minute to 16 meters/minute;
• said second predetermined time period is in the range of 10 seconds to 16 seconds; and
• said ninth predetermined speed of said second padding mangle is in the range of 3 rounds per minute to 8 rounds per minute.
10. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein in step (h),
• said third predetermined time period is in the range of 6 minutes to 12 minutes;
• said predetermined temperature is in the range of 150oC to 165oC; and
• said ‘to’ motion is in the range of 40 m/s to 50 m/s for a time period in the range of 2 seconds to 3 seconds and said ‘fro’ motion is in the range of 30 m/s to 40 m/s for a time period in the range of 2 seconds to 3 seconds;
11. The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein said second stretched fabric or said fifth stretched fabric has 95% to 99.5% of its ultra-long pile loop loops extended to their full height.
12. The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein in step (h) said finished pile fabric has 99.5% to 100% of ultra-long pile loops extended to their full height.
13. A finished pile fabric obtained by the process as claimed in claim 1 is characterized by at least one of the following:
• a percent increase in bulkiness in the range of 55% to 65%;
• a percent increase in absorbency in the range of 65% to 75%;
• a percent reduction in drop absorption in the range of 62% to 72%;
• a percent increase in absorption capacity in the range of 24% to 62%; and
• a percent reduction in drying time in the range of 25% to 40%.
14. The finished pile fabric as claimed in claim 13, has ground warp yarns in the range of 20 ends/cm to 28 ends/cm, weft yarns in the range of 12 wefts/cm to 30 wefts/cm and a pile ratio in the range of 1:4 to 1:8.
15. The finished pile fabric as claimed in claim 13 has 99.5% to 99.9% of its ultra-long pile loops extended to their full height.

Dated this 19th day of October, 2024

_______________________________
MOHAN RAJKUMAR DEWAN, IN/PA – 25
OF R. K. DEWAN & CO.
AUTHORIZED AGENT TO THE APPLICANT

TO,
THE CONTROLLER OF PATENTS
THE PATENT OFFICE, CHENNAI