Abstract: A textile fabric comprising synthetic yarn coated with an ionomer resin, fabric made from the textile fiber and a felt for use in papermaking machines comprising a mesh base and a fibrous upper layer, the mesh base comprising the fabric made from the textile fiber which is an ionomer resin-coated synthetic yarn.

Abstract: A woven fabric having a textured, multicolor appearance is disclosed. The fabric is formed from a weave of expansible threads, wherein each thread comprises a core yarn, a first plastisol coating surrounding the core yarn, and a second plastisol coating surrounding the first coating and eccentric thereto. The first and second coatings are of different colors. The expansible threads are woven into a substantially planar fabric and then fused by heat activation. At the fusion temperature, the melt viscosity of the second coating is sufficiently high so that the first coating emerges through the second coating at the thin areas of the second coating. Preferably, the first coating has a substantially greater amount of blowing, or foaming, agent than the second coating so that the first coating expands to a greater degree than does the second coating.

Abstract: A generally planar fabric having a plurality of solid colored stripes. The fabric comprises a first plurality of warp yarns having a first color, a second plurality of warp yarns having a second color different from said first color, and a plurality of transparent filling yarns. All of the yarns are interwoven according to a desired weave pattern. At the yarn crossover points or junctions of the fabric, the transparent yarns allow the colors of the warp yarns to show through. In a preferred embodiment, a multifilament core yarn encapsulated in a plastisol containing a foaming agent constitutes the warp yarns, and a multifilament transparent core yarn encapsulated in a clear plastisol constitutes the filling yarns.

Abstract: A fabric is prepared from a latent foam-encapsulated filament yarn, the fabric being either woven or non-woven. The fabric is taken to a temperature high enough to activate the foaming agent within the thread under conditions such that thread junctions are bonded together and the thread itself is flattened. The degree of flattening is controlled in order to achieve a selected percentage of open area in the resultant fabric.