Patent Application
20250031778
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The disclosure relates to exposure prevention garments and more particularly pertains to a new exposure prevention garment for supporting a user above a cold ground surface and insulating the user from the ground surface.
The prior art discloses myriad garments for insulating a user and includes devices for circulating fluid through the garment. However, the prior art fails to describe such a garment which is worn on the torso of the user and includes an inflatable air bladder which can fold out from within the garment to provide a support to keep the user raised above a cold ground surface and insulate the user via gas stored within the air bladder from the cold ground surface.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a garment with a torso section is configured to be worn on a torso of a user. The torso section has a neck opening extending through a top side of the torso section and a lower torso opening extending through a bottom side of the torso section. A body air bladder is coupled to an inner surface of a back portion of the torso section. The body air bladder has an upper portion which is positioned between the top side and the bottom side of the torso section and a lower portion which is coupled to the upper portion. The lower portion is movable between a stored position wherein the lower portion is positioned between the top side and the bottom side of the torso section and a deployed position wherein the lower portion extends away from the torso section away from the bottom side of the torso section. The body air bladder is hollow and comprises a flexible material such that the body air bladder is inflatable.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
The garment 12 also includes a hood 44, a pair of sleeves 46, and a pair of pouches 48. The hood 44 is coupled to a back portion 31 of the torso section 14 at the top side 16 of the torso section 14. The pair of sleeves 46 is coupled to the torso section 14, and each sleeve 46 of the pair of sleeves 46 is positioned on a respective one of a pair of lateral sides 33 of the torso section 14 adjacent to the top side 16 of the torso section 14. The pair of pouches 48 is coupled to the torso section 14, and each pouch 48 of the pair of pouches 48 is positioned on a respective one of the first front part 26 and the second front part 28. Each pouch 48 has a size such that the pouch 48 is configured for containing a firearm.
A body air bladder 50 is coupled to an inner surface 32 of the back portion 31 of the torso section 14. The body air bladder 50 has an upper portion 52 which is positioned between the top side 16 and the bottom side 18 of the torso section 14 and a lower portion 54 which is coupled to the upper portion 52. The lower portion 54 is movable between a stored position 56 wherein the lower portion 54 is positioned between the top side 16 and the bottom side 18 of the torso section 14 and a deployed position 58 wherein the lower portion 54 extends away from the torso section 14 away from the bottom side 18 of the torso section 14. The body air bladder 50 is hollow and comprises a flexible material such that the body air bladder 50 is inflatable. The lower portion 54 of the body air bladder 50 is in fluid communication with the upper portion 52. The flexible material may also facilitate folding the body air bladder 50 so that the lower portion 54 moves from the deployed position 58 to the stored position 56. When the lower portion 54 is positioned in the deployed position 58 and the body air bladder 50 is inflated, the body air bladder 50 may be used as an air mattress to support the user 88 above a ground surface 86. The body air bladder 50 and any gas contained within serves to insulate the user 88 from the ground surface 86, which could otherwise cause the user's 88 body temperature to decrease to dangerous levels in cold conditions.
A body fill tube 60 is in fluid communication with the body air bladder 50. The body fill tube 60 is configured to facilitate a passage of gas through the body fill tube 60 to alternately inflate and deflate the body air bladder 50. A body valve 62 is coupled to the body fill tube 60 and is moveable between an open position and a closed position. The body valve 62 is configured to permit gas through the body fill tube 60 only when the body valve 62 is open. A body connector 64 is coupled to the torso section 14 and the lower portion 54 of the body air bladder 50. The body connector 64 is releasably couplable to secure the lower portion 54 of the body air bladder 50 to the torso section 14 in the stored position 56. The body connector 64 may comprise another zipper, snap buttons, hook-and-loop fasteners, or the like.
A head air bladder 66 is coupled to an interior surface 45 of the hood 44. The head air bladder 66 is hollow and comprises another flexible material such that the head air bladder 66 is inflatable. The flexible material of the body air bladder 50 and the other flexible material of the head air bladder 66 may be the same material. A head fill tube 68 is in fluid communication with the head air bladder 66 and is configured to facilitate a passage of gas through the head fill tube 68 to alternately inflate and deflate the head air bladder 66. A head valve 70 is coupled to the head fill tube 68 and is moveable between an open position and a closed position. The head valve 70 is configured to permit gas through the head fill tube 68 only when the head valve 70 is open. A head cover 72 is releasably securable to the hood 44 in a securement position 74 to secure the head air bladder 66 between the head cover 72 and the hood 44. A head connector 76 is coupled to the head cover 72 and the hood 44 and is releasably couplable to secure the head cover 72 in the securement position 74. The head connector 76 may comprise another zipper, snap buttons, hook-and-loop fasteners, or the like.
A locator beacon 78, a compass 80, a whistle 82, and a fire striker 84 are each mounted on the garment 12. The locator beacon 78 comprises circuitry configured to wirelessly transmit a signal indicative of a location of the locator beacon 78. The whistle 82 is mounted on a slider 42 of the zipper 40 of the torso closure 34 such that the whistle 82 is mounted near a mouth 94 of the user 88 to be used quickly if needed. The garment 12, the body air bladder 50, and the head air bladder 66 are constructed of aramid fibers (e.g., Kevlar (registered trademark)) or other tear resistant material to prevent damage to the garment 12, the body air bladder 50, and the head air bladder 66 and protect the user 88 from harm. The aramid fibers may be layered to an extent or other materials such as cured resins may be used which facilitate preventing a bullet from penetrating any of the garment 12, the body air bladder 50, and the head air bladder 66.
In use, the user 88 wears the garment 12 over the torso 90 with the lower portion 54 of the body air bladder 50 in the stored position 56 and the head air bladder 66 retained between the head cover 72 and the hood 44. To rest over the ground surface 86, the lower portion 54 of the body air bladder 50 is moved to the deployed position 58, the head cover 72 is released from the hood 44, and each of the body air bladder 50 and the head air bladder 66 are inflated. The body air bladder 50 and the head air bladder 66 may, for example, be inflated by the user 88 exhaling air into each of the body air bladder 50 and the head air bladder 66. The user 88 then lies on the body air bladder 50 and rests a head 92 of the user 88 on the head air bladder 66 with each of the body air bladder 50 and the head air bladder 66 resting on the ground surface 86. The user 88 continues to wear the garment 12 during this use to retain heat. The gas in the body air bladder 50 and the head air bladder 66 spaces the user 88 from the ground surface 86 and insulates the user 88 from potentially dangerous temperature conditions of the ground surface 86.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
