Yarns, particularly yarns incorporating recycled material, and methods of making them
Enhanced performance yarns which are functional alternatives to 100% petroleum oil based virgin continuous filament yarns, and yarns of natural fibers and methods of making them. The yarns may comprise an inner portion of spun staple fibers of recycled plastic and an outer portion comprising a different material and incorporate highly significant amounts of recycled plastics, particularly post consumer recycled, thermoplastic material such as polyethylene terephthalate which contains medium to high levels of contamination. One embodiment of yarn comprises a core, an inner portion of spun staple fibers surrounding the core, and an outer portion comprising an inner helix and an outer helix.
1. A yarn suitable for weaving or knitting into fabric, the yarn comprising an inner portion of spun staple fibers of post consumer recycled (PCR) polyethylene terephthalate (PET) formed from a pre-extruded liquid polymer insufficiently pure to pass through a twenty micron opening without clogging it and an outer portion comprising fibers selected from the group consisting of fire retardant fibers, moisture management fibers, bacterial resistant fibers, ultraviolet ray resistant fibers, low surface friction fibers, textured fibers, high-tenacity fibers having a tenacity greater than five grams per denier, nylon, aramid, and natural fibers.
2. The yarn of claim 1 wherein the PCR-PET comprises at least about 30 percent by weight of the yarn.
3. The yarn of claim 1 further comprising a continuous filament core.
4. The yarn of claim 3 wherein the core comprises a high tenacity material having a tenacity greater than five grams per denier.
5. The yarn of claim 4 wherein the core has a tenacity between 8 and 35 grams per denier.
6. The yarn of claim 3 wherein the core has a texturized surface.
7. The yarn of claim 3 wherein the core is corespun, the core comprising at least one continuous filament and spun staples surrounding the filament.
8. The yarn of claim 3 wherein the core is a stretch material.
9. The yarn of claim 1 wherein the yarn is a fasciated yarn.
10. The yarn of claim 1 wherein the outer portion comprises spun staple fibers.
11. The yarn of claim 1 wherein the outer portion comprises a continuous helically wrapped cover yarn.
12. The yarn of claim 11 wherein the cover yarn comprises a continuous filament.
13. The yarn of claim 12 wherein the cover yarn is a monofilament.
14. The yarn of claim 1 wherein the outer portion comprises two helically wrapped cover yarns, wrapped in opposite directions.
15. The yarn of claim 11 wherein the cover yarn comprises a spun yarn.
16. A yarn comprising an inner portion of spun staple fibers of post consumer recycled (PCR) polyethylene terephthalate (PET) formed from a pre-extruded liquid polymer insufficiently pure to pass through a twenty micron opening without clogging it and an outer portion comprising an inner helix and an outer helix, at least one of the inner helix and outer helix comprising fibers selected from the group consisting of fire retardant fibers, moisture management fibers, bacterial resistant fibers, ultraviolet ray resistant fibers, low surface friction fibers, textured fibers, high-tenacity fibers having a tenacity greater than five grams per denier, nylon, aramid, and natural fibers.
17. A yarn comprising a core formed of at least one strand of a continuous filament having a tenacity of at least about five grams per denier, a sheath of staple fibers surrounding the core, the sheath comprising PCR-PET, and a cover comprising an inner helix and an outer helix, the outer helix being formed of a material different from the inner helix, the outer helix comprising fibers selected from the group consisting of fire retardant fibers, moisture management fibers, bacterial resistant fibers, ultraviolet ray resistant fibers, low surface friction fibers, textured fibers, high-tenacity fibers having a tenacity greater than five grams per denier, nylon, aramid, and natural fibers.
18. A fabric woven or knitted of the yarn of claim 17 .
19. The fabric of claim 18 wherein the fabric has a tensile strength greater than that of a fabric formed of the core material of a denier equal to the denier of the yarn.
20. A method of forming a yarn containing staple fibers of PCR plastic formed from a pre-extruded liquid polymer insufficiently pure to pass through a twenty micron opening without clogging it, comprising spinning a plastic-surfaced yarn from the staple fibers of PCR plastic, and thereafter forming a cover over the plastic surfaced yarn with a cover wrapping machine or an air jet machine , the cover comprising fibers selected from the group consisting of fire retardant fibers, moisture management fibers, bacterial resistant fibers, ultraviolet ray resistant fibers, low surface friction fibers, textured fibers, high-tenacity fibers having a tenacity greater than five grams per denier, nylon, aramid, and natural fibers.
21. A method of producing a spun yarn comprising two layers of sheath over a continuous core, the method comprising simultaneously feeding two different staple fibers into a spinning device to simultaneously form the two layers over the core, an inner layer over the core being predominantly PCR-PET and the other layer being predominantly a fiber selected from the group consisting of fire retardant fibers, moisture management fibers, bacterial resistant fibers, ultraviolet ray resistant fibers, low surface friction fibers, textured fibers, high-tenacity fibers having a tenacity greater than five grams per denier, nylon, aramid, and natural fibers.
22. The method of claim 21 wherein the staple fibers are fed through a T-trumpet.
23. The method of claim 21 wherein the other fiber is a natural fiber.
24. A method of producing a spun yarn comprising two layers of sheath over a continuous filament core, the method comprising forming an intermediate yarn by feeding a first staple fiber into a spinning device to form a sheath of the first staple fiber over the core, the first staple fiber being PCR-PET, and thereafter feeding a second staple fiber into a spinning device to form a sheath of the second staple fiber over the intermediate yarn , the second staple fiber being selected from the group consisting of fire retardant fibers, moisture management fibers, bacterial resistant fibers, ultraviolet ray resistant fibers, low surface friction fibers, textured fibers, nylon, aramid, and natural fibers.
25. The method of claim 24 wherein the second fiber comprises a natural fiber.
26. The method of claim 25 wherein the second fiber is cotton.
27. A corespun yarn comprising a core and two sheaths over the core, the first sheath being formed of spun staple fibers of PCR-PET, the second sheath comprising a minor portion of the material of the first sheath in addition to at least one other material selected from the group consisting of fire retardant fibers, moisture management fibers, bacterial resistant fibers, ultraviolet ray resistant fibers, low surface friction fibers, textured fibers, high-tenacity fibers having a tenacity greater than five grams per denier, nylon, aramid, and natural fibers.
28. A method of producing a yarn comprising a core, a sheath, and a cover, the method comprising forming an intermediate yarn by feeding a first staple fiber into a spinning device to form a sheath of the first staple fiber over the core, the first staple fiber comprising PCR-PET, and thereafter feeding the intermediate yarn into a cover wrapping machine or an air jet machine to form at least one helix of a continuous yarn around the intermediate yarn.
29. The method of claim 28 comprising forming an inner helix and an outer helix around the intermediate yarn.
30. A yarn comprising an inner portion of spun staple fibers of post consumer recycled (PCR) polyethylene terephthalate (PET) formed from a pre-extruded liquid polymer insufficiently pure to pass through a twenty micron opening without clogging it and an outer portion comprising two helically wrapped cover yarns, wrapped in opposite directions, the outer portion covering from 70% to 100% of the surface of the inner portion , the outer portion comprising fibers selected from the group consisting of fire retardant fibers, moisture management fibers, bacterial resistant fibers, ultraviolet ray resistant fibers, low surface friction fibers, textured fibers, high-tenacity fibers having a tenacity greater than five grams per denier, nylon, aramid, and natural fibers.
31. The yarn of claim 30 further comprising a continuous filament core.
32. The yarn of claim 14 wherein the outer portion covers from 70% to 100% of the surface of the inner portion.
33. The method of claim 20 wherein the cover is formed over the plastic surfaced yarn with a cover wrapping machine.