Design and manufacture of 3D rectangular box-shaped fabrics

Multi-ply woven fabric consists of many layers and can be used to form three-dimensional shapes, which finds its application in a variety of end-uses. One of the advantages is that this type of products requires no seams or cuts. This paper presents a novel method to facilitate the design of 3D rectangular box-shaped fabrics made of multi-ply weaves. A preliminary folding-down process is a must for fabric manufacture and two folding approaches were developed accordingly. Approach A has been found to be more suitable for boxes with X ≥ 2Z. The elimination of quadruple-layer fabric region simplifies the design and weaving process. In this regard, plain weave was used sections form box body and basket weave was employed for bound-layer regions so that fabric recoiling could be avoided. The diagonal lines connecting the bound-layer and double-layer regions is required to have an angle of 45°, and hence a Jaquard loom was in use for manufacturing. As the fabric is formed by different parts, thread density varies, leading to uneven yarn tension. This problem can be solved using additional warp beams. Approach B requires the two side planes to be folded in, the design process of which is similar to that of approach A. Theoretically, boxes with multiple cells could also be designed using this technique. Approach A has been found to be able to deal with boxes of various geometrical parameters. One problem of the 3D fabric is the soft edges, which requires further investigations.