Weft inserted warp knit construction

Abstract

A large water and air impervious textile panel suitable for use as a pond liner, tarpaulin, or the like, is constructed from a plurality of smaller panels. Each small panel comprises a weft inserted warp knit fabric having reinforcing substrate strips disposed at the selvedge edges thereof, and the strips spaced from each other along the width of the fabric. The small panels are chemically finished by first applying an adhesive system such as an isocyanate, and then a thermoset or thermoplastic polymer coating. The selvedge edges are prepared for attachment to each other by buffing and then applying an adhesive cement. The buffing does not extend along the width of each small panel any further than the width of the selvedge reinforcing substrate strip. Adjacent selvedge edges of the small panels are overlapped, and then attached to each other with the cement adhesive. Alternatively the overlapped small panel edges may be ultrasonically or thermally bonded to each other. The selvedge reinforcing substrate strips provide, irrespective of the manner of attachment of the small panels together, a greater resistance to tear, and longer life, for the large textile panel produced. Also such strips facilitate the chemical finishing of the small panels.