US-12624514-B2 - Woven silt fences including integrally woven pockets for support posts

US12624514B2US 12624514 B2US12624514 B2US 12624514B2US-12624514-B2

Abstract

Disclosed are exemplary embodiments of woven silt fences including integrally woven pockets for support posts. In exemplary embodiments, a woven silt fence fabric includes one or more integrated pockets integrally woven within the woven silt fence fabric. The one or more integrated pockets are configured for receiving one or more support posts therein. In exemplary embodiments, a woven silt fence comprises the woven silt fence fabric and one or more support posts configured to be received within corresponding ones of the one or more integrated pockets integrally woven within the woven silt fence fabric. The one or more support posts may be configured to be positioned within corresponding ones of the one or more integrated pockets and driven into the ground for supporting the woven silt fence without requiring any fasteners for attachment of the one or more support posts to the woven silt fence fabric.

Inventors

Kevin William Ray
Eric Lee Booth
Melissa Grace

Assignees

Willacoochee Industrial Fabrics, Inc.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20230313

Claims (20)

1 . A woven silt fence fabric comprising interlaced warp yarns and weft yarns integrally woven together in-line on a loom such that the warp yarns and weft yarns define one or more integrated pockets integrally woven within the woven silt fence fabric and formed by intermittently weaving two or more woven layers from the same warp yarns and weft yarns and then returning to a single woven layer, the one or more integrated pockets configured for receiving one or more support posts therein.
2 . The woven silt fence fabric of claim 1 , wherein the warp yarns and weft yarns are integrally woven together such that the warp yarns and weft yarns define the one or more integrated pockets within the woven silt fence fabric without having to manually add the one or more integrated pockets separately to the woven silt fence fabric.
3 . The woven silt fence fabric of claim 1 , wherein the one or more integrated pockets are integrally woven within the woven silt fence fabric such that transition points between the woven silt fence fabric and the one or more integrated pockets do not include any manually applied staples or sewn seams connecting the one or more integrated pockets to the woven silt fence fabric.
4 . The woven silt fence fabric of claim 1 , wherein warp ends are manipulated during in-line weaving on the loom by intermittently altering the weave pattern so that fabric formation transitions from a single woven layer to two or more woven layers for a distance and then transitions back to a single woven layer, thereby defining the one or more integrated pockets by the two or more woven layers.
5 . The woven silt fence fabric of claim 1 , wherein the one or more integrated pockets are defined by two or more layers of the woven silt fence fabric intermittently woven from the warp yarns and weft yarns on the loom.
6 . The woven silt fence fabric of claim 1 , wherein the one or more integrated pockets comprise a plurality of integrated pockets integrally woven within the woven silt fence fabric and spaced apart from each other along a length of the woven silt fence fabric, each pocket being formed in-line by multi-layer weaving on the loom.
7 . The woven silt fence fabric of claim 1 , wherein: the warp yarns and weft yarns comprises polypropylene yarn and/or a UV-stabilized yarn system; and/or the one or more integrated pockets are integrally woven in a cross-machine direction along the woven silt fence fabric.
8 . A woven silt fence comprising the woven silt fence fabric of claim 1 , and further comprising the one or more support posts configured to be slidably received within corresponding ones of the one or more integrated pockets and driven into the ground for supporting the woven silt fence without requiring any fasteners for attachment of the one or more support posts to the woven silt fence fabric and without having to manually add any separate pockets for the one or more support posts to the woven silt fence fabric.
9 . A woven geotextile fabric product comprising the woven silt fence fabric of claim 1 having the one or more integrated pockets integrally woven within the woven geotextile fabric product.
10 . A method comprising weaving, on a loom, interlaced warp yarns and weft yarns to thereby provide a woven silt fence fabric having one or more integrated pockets integrally woven within the woven silt fence fabric and formed in-line during weaving by intermittently creating two or more woven layers from the same warp yarns and weft yarns and then returning to a single woven layer, the one or more integrated pockets configured for receiving one or more support posts therein.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the method includes weaving the warp yarns and weft yarns together in a single operation on the loom to thereby provide the woven silt fence fabric having the one or more integrated pockets integrally woven within the woven silt fence fabric during the single operation on the loom.
12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the method includes weaving the warp yarns and weft yarns together in-line on the loom to thereby provide the woven silt fence fabric having the one or more integrated pockets integrally woven within the woven silt fence fabric during the in-line weaving on the loom.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the method includes weaving the warp yarns and weft yarns together in-line on the loom such that the one or more integrated pockets are integrally woven in a cross-machine direction along the woven silt fence fabric during the in-line weaving on the loom.
14 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the method includes weaving the warp yarns and weft yarns such that the woven silt fence fabric having the one or more integrated pockets is provided as a single woven component that integrally includes the woven silt fence fabric and the one or more integrated pockets integrally woven together, without having to manually add the one or more integrated pockets separately to the woven silt fence fabric after weaving of the woven silt fence fabric.
15 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the method includes integrally weaving the one or more integrated pockets within the woven silt fence fabric while the woven silt fence fabric is being initially woven from the warp yarns and weft yarns such that transition points between the woven silt fence fabric and the one or more integrated pockets do not include any manually applied staples or sewn seams connecting the one or more integrated pockets to the woven silt fence fabric.
16 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the method includes altering a weave pattern intermittently during an initial weaving of the warp yarns and weft yarns into the woven silt fence fabric such that the warp yarns and weft yarns define the one or more integrated pockets integrally woven within the woven silt fence fabric.
17 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the method includes manipulating warp ends during weaving on the loom by intermittently altering the weave pattern so that fabric formation transitions from a single woven layer to two or more woven layers for a distance and then transitions back to a single woven layer, whereby the one or more integrated pockets are defined by the two or more woven layers.
18 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the method includes intermittently weaving the warp yarns and weft yarns such that the one or more integrated pockets are defined by two or more layers of the woven silt fence fabric intermittently woven from the warp yarns and weft yarns.
19 . The method of claim 10 , wherein: the method includes weaving the warp yarns and weft yarns together to thereby provide a plurality of integrated pockets integrally woven within the woven silt fence fabric and spaced apart from each other along a length of the woven silt fence fabric; and/or the warp yarns and weft yarns comprises polypropylene yarn and/or a UV-stabilized yarn system; and/or the method further comprises producing and preparing the warp yarns and weft yarns before weaving the warp yarns and weft yarns to thereby provide the woven silt fence fabric having the one or more integrated pockets integrally woven within the woven silt fence fabric.
20 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the method includes: positioning the one or more support posts within corresponding ones of the one or more integrated pockets without fastening the one or more support posts to the woven silt fence fabric; and driving the one or more support posts into the ground whereby the one or more support posts are operable for supporting the woven silt fence fabric.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/322,543 filed Mar. 22, 2022 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/449,214 filed Mar. 1, 2023. The entire disclosures of these provisional applications are incorporated herein by reference. FIELD The present disclosure relates to woven silt fences including integrally woven pockets for support posts. BACKGROUND This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art. Silt fences are commonly used in erosion control applications. A silt fence may also be referred to as a filter fence or sediment barrier. For example, FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a conventional silt fence 1 installed within a 6-inch deep trench 5 and supported by posts 9. By way of further example, Appendix A illustrates typical temporary silt fence specifications from the Department of Transportation for the State of Georgia. The contents of Appendix A is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Conventionally, there are two different methods of deploying silt fences with posts/stakes. A first conventional method includes preassembling a silt fence fabric to the posts/stakes and then deploying the silt fence fabric and the preassembled posts/stakes at the site. In this first conventional method, the silt fence fabric including the attached posts/stakes are placed beside a trench. Installer(s) then manually place the silt fence fabric into the trench and individually drive the posts/stakes into the ground, which posts/stakes were previously attached or preassembled to the silt fence fabric prior to being driven into the ground. A second conventional method includes burying a silt fence fabric in a trench, where the silt fence fabric does not include any posts/stakes previously attached or preassembled to the silt fence fabric. Instead, posts/stakes are driven into the ground adjacent to the silt fence fabric previously buried in the trench. The silt fence fabric is thereafter attached to the posts/stakes utilizing various types of fasteners. With this second conventional method, static slicing of the soil may be used during installation. But as recognized herein, the attachment process used to attach the silt fence fabric to the posts/stakes can result in the silt fence failing if the attachment is not performed correctly. And as further recognized herein, silt fences attached directly to wood, metal, or synthetic post/stakes with conventional fasteners can fail during the service life of the silt fence when exposed to common weather events such as heavy rains or high winds. DRAWINGS The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. FIGS. 1 and 2 are front and side views of a conventional silt fence installed within a 6-inch deep trench and supported by posts. FIG. 3 illustrates a portion of a woven silt fence (broadly, woven geotextile fabric product) including an integrally woven open-ended pocket or sleeve (broadly, holder, containment compartment and/or device) to accommodate a support post or stake (broadly, support member or fill material) according to exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. As disclosed herein, exemplary embodiments include pockets integrally formed from two or more layers of fabric woven in-line on the same loom (e.g., a flat loom, etc.) and from the same fabric used to weave the woven silt fence. By weaving the pockets in-line on the same loom as the woven fabric of the silt fence, the transition points or junctions between the woven silt fence fabric and the pockets do not require or necessarily include any manually applied staples, sewn seams, or other mechanical means for connection of the pockets to the woven fabric after the fabric(s) has been woven to create the silt fence. FIG. 4 illustrates a portion of a conventional woven silt fence 201 including a support post pocket 205 that is manually sewn, stapled, or otherwise manually mechanically connected 209 to the silt fence after the fabric(s) 213 has been woven to create the silt fence. As shown in FIG. 4, the support post pocket 205 is connected or attached to the continuous woven fabric 213 of the silt fence 201 via a manually applied connection point 209, e.g., manually sewn seam or staple. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Silt fences are commonly used in erosion control applications. For example, silt fence fabrics may be positioned adjacent to or generally around construction areas or other activities where native soils may be disturbed. When the soils are disturbed and it rains, the soil can “runoff” to waterways and contaminate the waters as well as result in significant erosion to the disturbed soils. A silt fence