A new way to create jobs...

[4est_4est_Gump]

Welding clothes instead of sewing them.

Lighter and more durable.

The U.S. Navy could be turning to ultrasonic welding to make its uniforms lighter, stronger and cheaper. And if the project by a Rhode Island company and the Navy Clothing and Textile Research Facility is a success, it could help bring manufacturing back from overseas.

Welded seams — created when two pieces of fabric are essentially melted together by sound waves — are already used in some clothing that some Americans have in their closets. Patagonia and North Face both sell models of jackets with welded seams. But so far, most, if not all, of that manufacturing is done overseas.

Propel LLC is trying to figure out how to make one of the Navy's more expensive and challenging garments to assemble — the Navy parka, which it buys for $190.50 each — without stitches. It has spent the past year testing welded seams, adhesive techniques and other bonds using a federal grant from the Navy.

"This was a good way for us to start to get an understanding of what the current state of the art is," said Cleveland Heath, the technical program manager at the Navy facility in Natick, Massachusetts.

Current garment assembly methods can be cumbersome and costly, Heath said. Different kinds of stitches are used and garments have to be moved from sewing machine to sewing machine as they are formed. One welded seam could replace several stitch types and the sewing machines associated with them, he said.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/navy-tests-making-clothes-welding-26037876

 

[about_average]

I wonder how weldable fabrics are that are flame retardant, which really should be all that's allowed on a combat ship where fire is a risk.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

The articles are really short on details. It does say something about straight lines, so the first stage might be a hybrid, weld the main seams, sew the corners...

But it is an interesting question.

 

[MrRandyWatson]

Do welded clothes repel barbecue sauce stains? Because if they do, they might be useful to a klutz like me...

 

[HellBenttoo]

How is this a new way to create jobs? The methods being re-invented by a US company with a federal grant are already in use overseas. The US military is required by law to buy uniforms made in the US. The parkas are already made here just with an older, out-dated method. Reuters had a more in depth report on this several days ago.

 

[tactful]

For a start, get both Houses to pass a damn job creation bill, instead of having people with families working in retail and fast food places.

 

[rosco rathbone]

Seems like a process highly adaptable to automation.

 

[Noor]

Short term under most conditions more durable, but longer term it's much harder to repair.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

For a start, get both Houses to pass a damn job creation bill, instead of having people with families working in retail and fast food places.

Congress proved beyond a shadow of doubt that it cannot stimulate an economy, save Detroit, create meaningful jobs and create green energy out of good intentions and butterfly farts.

 

[RobDownSouth]

Congress proved beyond a shadow of doubt that it cannot stimulate an economy, save Detroit, create meaningful jobs and create green energy out of good intentions and butterfly farts.

an article of faith amongst teh Rabid Right.
:nods: