DESC:FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The disclosure of the present invention as claimed is related to apparel fabric. More particularly, the disclosure is related to a non-woven apparel fabric and a process of manufacturing a non-woven apparel fabric for apparel application and apparel thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Typically, textile fabric is generally divided into woven fabrics, knitted fabrics, non-woven fabric, and technical textile.
Woven and knitted fabrics are popular in apparel industry. However, manufacturing method of the woven and knitted fabric is lengthy and complex.

Technical textile is a combination of woven and non-woven fabric and is generally used in applications like suture thread, tire cord, geotextile and special fabric like fire retardant, water proof fire retardant, filter fabric etc. However, technical textiles are generally not used in apparel industry.
Non-woven fabric is neither woven, knitted nor technical textile. Non-woven fabric is typically made from staple fibres that may be short and long fibres bonded together by chemical, mechanical, heat or solvent treatment. Non-woven fabrics are known to be used in several applications including baby diapers, wet wipes, surgical drapers and cover, liquid cartridge and bag filters, face masks, air conditioning filters, soil stabilizers and roadway underlayment, erosion control, drainage system, insulation (fiberglass batting), pillows, cushions, and upholstery padding, carpet backing, automotive headlines and upholstery, house wraps and disposable clothing and the like. However, non-woven fabric is not used for apparel as it does not meet the requirement of apparel fabric such as for example tear and tensile strength, aesthetic look, feel, drapability etc.
The existing apparel fabric are generally woven and knitted fabrics of which manufacturing processes are time consuming as well as complicated and at each process stage, care is required to be taken in order obtain desired quality of end-product. Further, it is a known principle and thumb rule that increase in the process step increases the possibility of mistake. The energy consumption, water consumption, wastage of material in-process inventory, polluting the environment is also high during conventional apparel fabric manufacturing process.

Therefore, there is a need of a process and apparel fabric that solves above mentioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention provides means with various aspects and embodiments of the invention to solve at least one of the problems as discussed above.

In one aspect, the present invention provides a non-woven apparel fabric comprising a dyed or undyed non-woven fabric having a fibrous web needle-punched over a scrim and coated with polyurethane or acrylic.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a process for manufacturing a non-woven apparel fabric comprising steps of providing a fibrous web of blended fibres, needle-punching said fibrous web of blended fibres over a scrim to form a needle-punched non-woven fabric, calendering the needle-punched non-woven fabric, washing the calendered needle-punched non-woven fabric to remove impurities including loosely bonded fibres, and coating the washed needle-punched non-woven fabric with acrylic or polyurethane to provide a non-woven apparel fabric.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the non-woven apparel fabric has a weight in the range of 120-380 GSM.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the scrim is 40 – 100 GSM by weight.
According to one another embodiment of the present invention, the non-woven fabric comprises a blend of synthetic fibers, regenerated cellulosic fibers and/or natural fibers.

In addition to above embodiments, the present invention in further embodiment of the present invention provides the non-woven fabric comprising at least 20% synthetic fibers. Advantageously, the non-woven apparel fabric comprises the synthetic fibers in the range of 20% to 50%. According to the present invention, the synthetic fibers includes polyester fibers, nylon 66, acrylic, polypropylene and the like.

In furthermore embodiment, the present invention provides the non-woven apparel fabric comprising at least 30% regenerated cellulosic fibers. Advantageously, the non-woven apparel fabric comprises regenerated cellulosic fibers in the range of 30%-80%. According to the present invention, the regenerated cellulosic fibers includes viscose, tencel, modal and the like.

Further to above embodiments, according one more embodiment of the present invention, the calendered needle-punched fabric is dyed with oxidative dyes or reactive dyes before coating with the polyurethane or acrylic. Advantageously, the dyed non-woven fabric can be surface dyed with oxidative dyes. The oxidative dye is selected from a group comprising indigo dye, sulphur dye and vat dye. In an alternative embodiment of dyeing or in combination to the said embodiment, the fabric may be coated with the polyurethane or acrylic having color pigments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
Figure 1 shows a block diagram of a system of manufacturing a non-woven apparel fabric according to an aspect of the present invention; and
Figure 2 shows a block diagram of process steps of manufacturing a non-woven apparel fabric according to another aspect of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In general, the disclosed and claimed invention herein provides a non-woven apparel fabric consisting of a dyed or undyed non-woven fabric having a fibrous web needle-punched over a scrim and coated with polyurethane or acrylic. The disclosed invention also provides a method for manufacturing and processing to manufacture the non-woven apparel fabric which performs like a woven fabric and meet the apparel requirements. In general, the preferable process for manufacturing a non-woven apparel fabric comprises steps of providing a fibrous web of blended fibres, needle-punching said fibrous web of blended fibres over a scrim to form a needle-punched non-woven fabric, calendering the needle-punched non-woven fabric to form the needle-punched non-woven fabric having a smooth and lustrous surface, removing loosely bonded fibres and impurities from said needle-punched non-woven fabric by washing, dyeing the washed needle-punched non-woven fabric with a dye, coating said dyed fabric with acrylic or polyurethane and other auxiliaries, and sanforizing to obtain the non-woven apparel fabric.

As shown in Figure 1 and 2, the first step (201,202) of manufacturing the non-woven apparel fabric is to form a fibrous web (20). The forming of the fibrous web (201,202) includes blending (201) the fibres in a blender (110), carding (202) the blended fibres (10) into parallel fibrous web (20) by a carding machine (120). The blending (201) can be done by sorting and feeding a desired proportion of the fibres in a blender. According to the present invention, the blend of fibers plays important role in the manufacturing of the non-woven apparel fabric. The blend of fibres comprises synthetic fibers, regenerated cellulosic fibres and/or natural fibers in a predefined proportion. For example, the blend comprises at least 20% synthetic fibers and at least 30% regenerated cellulosic fibers. Advantageously, the blend comprises the synthetic fibers in the range of 20% to 50% and the regenerated cellulosic fibers in the range of 30%-80%. Preferably, for example 40% polyester and 60% viscose. Blending of the fibers reduces the size of fibre tufts. The blend of fibres (10) from the blender (110) are transferred to the carding machine (120) where entangled fibres are individualized into a parallel fibrous web (20).
According to the present invention, the fibrous web (20) from the carding machine (120) is then oriented in a cross direction in a cross lapper and scrim feeder (130) wherein a scrim (not shown) is fed parallel to the fibrous web (20) shown with a reference step 203. The fibrous web along with scrim (30) is then punched by a series of needles by a needle-punching machine (140) to form a needle-punched non-woven fabric (40) in the needle-punching process step (204). According to the present invention, the scrim used is 40 – 100 GSM by weight and the scrim is woven with warp and weft yarns obtained from either natural fibers or manmade fibers or in combination of both fibers. The design of non-woven apparel fabric is being controlled in the needle punching machine (140). The needle punching operation includes passing the fibres web with the scrim (30) through a pre-needle, drafting, and a finish needle loom. The needle-punched non-woven fabric (40) is then wound on a roll. Needle-punching (204) is a process of bonding non-woven fibrous web structures with the scrim by mechanically interlocking the fibres throughout the non-woven fibrous web within each other and the scrim. Barbed needles, mounted on a board, punches the fibrous web and then are withdrawn leaving the fibres entangled with each other and the scrim. Alternatively, the non-woven fabric with scrim can also be made of adhesive bonding, thermal bonding, through air-bond or hydro entanglement.

The needle-punched non-woven fabric (40) is then passed through the calendering system (150). The process of calendering (205) is used to make the fabric smooth and more lustrous. The needle-punched non-woven fabric is pressed between a pair of rollers (not shown) at a pressure of 100N to 300N at a room temperature. The needle-punched non-woven fabric (40) runs through the rollers (not shown) that polish the surface and make the needle-punched non-woven fabric smooth and more lustrous.

The needle-punched non-woven fabric (40) subjected to calendering process (205) referred as a calendered needle-punched non-woven fabric (50) which is then followed by washing step (206) in a washing system (160) to remove loosely bonded fibres and also to remove impurities if any from the calendered needle-punched non-woven fabric (50). In the washing system (160), the needle-punched non-woven fabric (50) is washed with hot or cold water twice or thrice and then followed by drying process. The temperature of drying range may vary from 100°C to 150°C. The residual moisture in the dried washed needle-punched non-woven fabric (60) can be 4% to 8%.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the next step is dyeing (207) wherein the washed needle-punched non-woven fabric (60) is then dyed by using a dyeing system (170) with oxidative dyes or reactive dyes. The oxidative dyes can be an indigo dye, sulphur dye or vat dye. The dyed fabric (70) is then optionally subjected to a surface dyeing (209). The surface dyeing provides a differential look and appearance to the dyed non-woven fabric (80).

In the coating process (207), the dyed needle-punched non-woven fabric (70 or 80) is then coated by chemical treatments with acrylic or polyurethane by using a coating system (180) to obtain dyed non-woven apparel fabric (90). Optionally, as shown in the Figure 2, the washed needle-punched non-woven fabric (60) can be directly coated to obtain an undyed non-woven apparel fabric (90). Optionally, colour pigments may be added in the coating composition during coating process (207) to colour dyed or undyed washed non-woven fabric (60,70,80) to obtain a colour non-woven apparel fabric (90). The coating is applied by known paste or foam coating technique, wherein paste coating technique comprises 20% - 40 % polyurethane or acrylic, 4% - 6% coating auxiliaries (such as fixer and thickener) and remaining amount of water. The colour pigments may be added in the composition while preparing a coating recipe. The chemical treatment improves abrasion resistance and reduce piling tendency and improves the hand feel and rubbing fastness property. The coated fabric is then subjected to the sanforising step (210) for dimensional stability and improved hand feel of the non-woven apparel fabric (95).
The dyed or undyed non-woven apparel fabric (90,95) can be converted into various type of apparels.

The weight of the fabric depends upon the blend of the fibers and the type of the scrim used for making the non-woven apparel fabric. Preferably, the non-woven apparel fabric has a weight about 120 to about 380 GSM. More preferable, weight of the non-woven fabric is about 140 to about 200 GSM.

The present invention provides a non-woven apparel fabric by modifying a non-woven fabric so that it can be used for apparel purpose. The present invention also provides a method for manufacturing the non-woven apparel fabric. The process requires substantially less time and minimum energy consumption for manufacturing the non-woven apparel fabric as compared to the presently available methods for manufacturing the apparel fabric. The process is substantially controllable and hence the non-woven apparel fabric can be engineered as required. The non-woven apparel fabric has no only aesthetic look, feel, drapability, tear and tensile strength like a woven or knitted apparel fabric but also is economical and price competitive as compared to the woven or knitted apparel fabric. It exhibits various performance due to the unique structure and incorporation of performance fibre.
The following example further illustrate the present invention and is not to be construed as limiting the scope thereof.
Example 1
All materials used herein were commercially purchased as described herein or prepared from commercially purchased materials as described herein.

Non-woven apparel fabrics were manufactured by the process as described and claimed herein. The non-woven apparel fabric was obtained from a blend of polyester and viscose fibres. The non-woven apparel fabric was dyed with sulphur dye and surface dyed with indigo dye and coated with polyurethane. The non-woven apparel fabric was tested for tear and tensile by the test method used for testing apparel fabric

The fabric is tested for tensile strength with ASTM D 5034 method, tear strength with ASTM D1424 method. Test results obtained are as below:
Table 1
Non-woven apparel fabric WIDTH (CMS) WEIGHT (GSM) TEAR
(GRAMS) TENSILE
(KG)
WARP WEFT WARP WEFT
A
Polyester: 25%
Viscose: 75% 161.5 163 8400 5233 22.5 20.3
B
Polyester: 35%
Viscose: 65% 161 167 6467 3700 23.6 18.2
Apparel fabric requirement under ASTM D 5034 and D1424 1200 1000 20 15

The test results as shown in Table 1 shows that the non-woven fabric has tear and tensile strength as required for apparel fabric.

Although a preferred embodiment of the present invention and modifications thereof have been described in detail herein, it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to this precise embodiment and modifications, and that other modifications and variations may be effected by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

,CLAIMS:
1. A non-woven apparel fabric, comprising:
a dyed or undyed non-woven fabric having a fibrous web needle-punched over a scrim and coated with polyurethane or acrylic.

2. The non-woven apparel fabric as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fabric is 120-380 GSM weight.

3. The non-woven apparel fabric as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the scrim is 40 – 100 GSM by weight.

4. The non-woven apparel fabric as claimed in one of the preceding claims 1-3, wherein the non-woven fabric comprises a blend of synthetic fibers, regenerated cellulosic fibers and/or natural fibers.

5. The non-woven apparel fabric as claimed in claim 4, wherein the synthetic fibers are polyester fibers, nylon 66, acrylic, polypropylene and regenerated cellulosic fibers are viscose, tencel, modal and the like.

6. The non-woven apparel fabric as claimed in one of the preceding claims 1 to 5, wherein the non-woven fabric comprises at least 20% synthetic fibers.

7. The non-woven apparel fabric as claimed in one of the preceding claims 1 to 6, wherein the non-woven fabric comprises the synthetic fibers in the range of 20% to 50%.

8. The non-woven apparel fabric as claimed in one of the preceding claims 1 to 7, wherein non-woven fabric comprises at least 30% regenerated cellulosic fibers.

9. The non-woven apparel fabric as claimed in one of the preceding claims 1 to 8, wherein non-woven fabric comprises regenerated cellulosic fibers in the range of 30%-80%.

10. The non-woven apparel fabric as claimed in one of the preceding claims 1-9, wherein the fabric is dyed with oxidative dyes or reactive dyes before coating with the polyurethane or acrylic.

11. The non-woven apparel fabric as claimed in one of the preceding claims 10, wherein the oxidative dye is selected from a group comprising indigo dye, sulphur dye and vat dye.

12. The non-woven apparel fabric as claimed in one of the preceding claims 1-9, wherein the fabric is coated with the polyurethane or acrylic having color pigments.

13. A process for manufacturing a non-woven apparel fabric comprising steps of:
providing a fibrous web of blended fibres;
needle-punching said fibrous web of blended fibres over a scrim to form a needle-punched non-woven fabric;
calendering the needle-punched non-woven fabric;
washing the calendered needle-punched non-woven fabric to remove impurities including loosely bonded fibres; and
coating the washed needle-punched non-woven fabric with acrylic or polyurethane to provide a non-woven apparel fabric.

14. The process as claimed in claim 13, wherein the non-woven apparel fabric is 120-380 GSM weight.

15. The process as claimed in claim 13 or 14, wherein the scrim is 40 – 100 GSM by weight.

16. The process as claimed in one of the preceding claims 13-15, wherein the non-woven apparel fabric comprises a blend of fibers selected from synthetic fibers, regenerated cellulosic fibers and natural fibers.

17. The process as claimed in claim 16, wherein the synthetic fibers include polyester fibers, nylon 66, acrylic, polypropylene and regenerated cellulosic fibers include viscose, tencel, modal and the like.

18. The process as claimed in one of the preceding claims 13-17, wherein the non-woven apparel fabric comprises at least 20% synthetic fibers.

19. The process as claimed in one of the preceding claims 13-18, wherein the non-woven apparel fabric comprises the synthetic fibers in the range of 20% to 50%.

20. The process as claimed in one of the preceding claims 13-19, wherein non-woven apparel fabric comprises at least 30% regenerated cellulosic fibers.

21. The process as claimed in one of the preceding claims 13-20, wherein non-woven apparel fabric comprises regenerated cellulosic fibers in the range of 30%-80%.

22. The process as claimed in one of the preceding claims 13-21, wherein the washed needle-punched non-woven fabric is dyed with oxidative dyes or reactive dyes before coating with the polyurethane or acrylic.

23. The process as claimed in claim 22, wherein the dyeing includes surface dyeing the dyed non-woven fabric with the oxidative dye before coating with the polyurethane or acrylic.

24. The process as claimed in one of the preceding claims 22 or 23, wherein the oxidative dye is selected from a group comprising indigo dye, sulphur dye and vat dye.

25. The process as claimed in one of the preceding claims 13-24, wherein coating composition of the coating step comprises colour pigments.