CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Provisional Application 61/731,053 Filed 29 Nov. 2012
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not Applicable
REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING
Not Applicable
TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention relates generally to protective clothing, and more particularly relates to protective clothing designed to reduce the amount of shock force transferred to a person from a fall or an impact with an unyielding surface.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
Protective clothing and gear are well known; most common types are designed for use with moving vehicles, sport activities, and industrial safety, while these serve the intended purpose, they are not practical for use with activities daily living. Many Injuries occur while performing daily living tasks, persons having weak bone density have a higher risk of serious injury from accidents that occur while performing these tasks. There exists a need for protective clothing for use with daily living activities that will absorb some of the shock, reduce the amount of injury, and is comfortable to wear, lightweight, and is stylish.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
An object of this invention is to provide a protective garment which is capable of partially absorbing shock from an impact with an unyielding object. It is another object of the invention to provide a protective garment that is comfortable, lightweight, and can be worn while performing daily activities with or without assistance from another person. In one embodiment the protective mechanism of the garment is one or more layers of material having one or more inflatable air chambers that are designed to cushion the shock from an impact, or rupture and release the air when a larger force from an impact is applied. The garment dissipates shock energy by rupturing the air chambers, resulting in less shock transferred to the person wearing the garment.
The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the claims that describe the preferred embodiment but are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The invention will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING
FIG. 1 Front view of the protective garment.
FIG. 2 Side view of a layered structure of the protective material.
FIG. 3 View of novel structure of protective material.
FIG. 4 Side view of configuration of layers for the preferred embodiment
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The protective garment shown in FIG. 1 and designated generally by 10 is disclosed herein as a robe, the garment could be an overcoat, smock, gown, or other types of clothing that covers the region of the body to be protected. The robe shown in FIG. 1-10 has protective material FIG. 1-11 in the neck area, to offer some protection from injury to the back of the head and to provide additional support of the area. The robe FIG. 1-10 uses a polymer material structured with a plurality of air filled chambers, not unlike packing material used in shipping. The protective garment reduces the mechanical energy transferred to the person wearing the garment. The impact force is transferred to the air chamber as the force increases the chamber will rupture. The remaining force is then transferred to the next layer of air chambers rupturing more of the air chambers, this event will continue until there are no remaining air chambers or until the remaining force in less than the force needed to rupture the air chambers. The invention applies this feature to reduce the injury from an impact, and provides a lightweight easy to wear, affordable safety garment.
FIG. 2-15 illustrates several layers of the protective material. The amount of protection needed will determine the number of layers, the size of the air chambers and/or the strength of the polymer material. One layer of the protective material is shown in FIG. 2-19. The size of the air chambers partially determines the protective qualities of the material. Different amounts of protection can be provided by using multiple layers of one or more sizes of air chambers. FIG. 4-17 illustrates the configuration of the layers for the preferred embodiment. The arrangement of the of protective materials using 2 layers of ½ inch or larger air chambers and 2 layers of smaller than ½ inch air chambers for a total of 4 layers of material. FIG. 4-17 also illustrates the orientation of the air chambers and the placement for each layer.
A novel structure of the polymer material shown in FIG. 3 with air chambers inside of air chambers. The inner most layer forms the smallest air chamber FIG. 3-12. The air chambers will increase in size with additional layers of polymer material. The second layer FIG. 3-13 forms a second air chamber that is larger than the first layer. The outer layer will form the largest air chamber FIG. 3-14. The number of air chambers inside of air chambers could be one or more depending on the amount of protection needed.
The robe FIG. 1-10 can easily be worn over clothing. The robe is light weight, inexpensive and offers some protection from impact or a fall. The robe can be made from other materials such as; foam, rubber, cotton padding, sponges, and a variety of other materials. The air chambers can be any size, or one large chamber in the shape of a robe. The air pressure of the chambers could be adjusted to give the desired amount of protection. The preferred embodiment describes air chambers that are sealed. Another embodiment for the protective garment, is made from material with air chambers that allow the release air at a controlled rate when a impact force is applied.
The invention meets the stated needs, by providing a robe that is comfortable, lightweight, and stylish, that can be worn by persons while performing activities of daily living.
Patent Application
20140143943
