Abstract:

To develop heatable weft knitted garment, conductive filaments were knitted into knitted fabric by weft inlaying, furthermore, its electric heating performance was tested and analyzed. A silver-plated filament, two silver-plated filaments, three silver-plated filaments and a stainless steel filament were inlaid to the knitted fabric, respectively, and the maximum load current of the conductive yarn, the heat stability of the fabric, its electric heating warming characteristics and the uniformity of its surface temperature were tested. The results show that the maximum load current of the stainless steel filament is highest, and that of the three silver-plated filaments is the second; after being electrified, the resistance change of the fabric with inlaid silver-plated filament is relatively small; the temperature rise speed of fabric  inlaid with three silver-plated filaments is relatively high and its stable operating temperature is relatively high; in the testing range, the stable temperature rise of the fabric is proportional to its input voltage; and the uniformity of the surface temperature of the fabrics are better. It is concluded that weft knitted fabric inlaid with three silver-plated filaments could be used to manufacture heatable knitted garment.

Key words: weft knitted fabric, electric heating performance, silver-plated filament, stainless steel filament, weft inlaying