Patent Application
20240334991
The present disclosure generally relates to a friction warming apparatus configured to be included within a coat or other garment.
Coats and other garments are used to keep people warm when the temperature is cold. Body heat trapped within the garment operates to keep the wearer of the garment warm. Some coats include a built-in heat source, such as battery powered electric heating elements, flame-based heating elements using lighter fluid or other flammable materials, and so on. While useful, these and other heat sources require batteries or flammable materials.
Improvements are desired.
Various deficiencies in the prior art are addressed below by a friction warming apparatus insertable into a garment such as a winter coat and comprising a first plate configured to be secured to an inner portion of the garment and a second plate configured to rub against the first plate to generate heat via friction between the first and second plates in response to a mechanical urging, the mechanical urging being received by the first plate via a rod having a proximal end operably attached to the first plate and a distal end attached to a handle and protruding outward through an aperture in the garment.
Various embodiments comprise a friction warming garment manufactured with an effective thermal insulating material (e.g., a high R value material, where R is measure of a given material's resistance to the flow of heat therethrough) wherein a plurality of friction plates disposed therein mechanically cooperate with each other to generate heat via friction when the plates are rubbed against each other or some other material within the garment. For example, the plates may comprise disc plates having respective opposing surfaces made of the same high coefficient of friction material such that when the plates are caused to rub against each other the friction between the plates or their opposing surfaces generates heat. For plates located within the garment, such as within an inner layer of the garment, the generated heat will augment the body heat generated by the wearer of the garment and help keep the wearer of the garment warm. Further, the exertions of the wearer of the garment manually causing the plates to rub against each other will also generate additional body heat.
In an embodiment, an apparatus for warming a garment comprises: a first plate secured to an inner portion of the garment; and a second plate configured to rub against the first plate to generate heat via friction between the first and second plates in response to a mechanical urging, the mechanical urging being received by the first plate via a rod having a proximal end operably attached to the first plate (such as via a hinge or gimbal mechanism X) and a distal end attached to a handle and protruding outward through an aperture in the garment. The first and second plates may be formed using a common high coefficient of friction material, or different materials, which when rubbed together resist such rubbing via friction and generate heat thereby. The first and second plates include respective contact faces which, when rubbed together, such rubbing via friction and generate heat thereby. The plates may comprise a substantially fixed plate having disposed thereover in a moveable (rotating and/or lateral motion) configured to mechanically cooperate so as to generate heat in response to such motion. The second plate may be coupled to a rod and/or handle configured for manual manipulation be a wearer of the coat (or other person) to thereby urge the two plates to rub together. The plates may be round, or square, or rectilinear, or some other shape as appropriate to their location within the coat and/or the type of motion (rotating or lateral) used to urge the plates together during operation, such as a round chest plate pair using rotating motion and/or one or more side body pairs using lateral motion. Various embodiments also contemplate the use of thermally conductive materials (e.g., copper or aluminum tubing) to transfer heat from heat-producing plate pairs to other locations within the coat.
Additional objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the present invention and, together with a general description of the invention given above, and the detailed description of the embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the present invention.
It should be understood that the appended drawings are not necessarily to scale, presenting a somewhat simplified representation of various features illustrative of the basic principles of the invention. The specific design features of the sequence of operations as disclosed herein, including, for example, specific dimensions, orientations, locations, and shapes of various illustrated components, will be determined in part by the particular intended application and use environment. Certain features of the illustrated embodiments have been enlarged or distorted relative to others to facilitate visualization and clear understanding. In particular, thin features may be thickened, for example, for clarity or illustration.
The following description and drawings merely illustrate the principles of the invention. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the invention and are included within its scope. Furthermore, all examples recited herein are principally intended expressly to be only for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor(s) to furthering the art and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. Additionally, the term, “or” as used herein, refers to a non-exclusive or, unless otherwise indicated (e.g., “or else” or “or in the alternative”). Also, the various embodiments described herein are not necessarily mutually exclusive, as some embodiments can be combined with one or more other embodiments to form new embodiments.
The numerous innovative teachings of the present application will be described with particular reference to the presently preferred exemplary embodiments. However, it should be understood that this class of embodiments provides only a few examples of the many advantageous uses of the innovative teachings herein. In general, statements made in the specification of the present application do not necessarily limit any of the various claimed inventions. Moreover, some statements may apply to some inventive features but not to others. Those skilled in the art and informed by the teachings herein will realize that the invention is also applicable to various other technical areas or embodiments.
Various deficiencies in the prior art are addressed below by a garment (e.g., a winter coat) or apparatus insertable thereto by which a wearer of the garment may manually generate heat by manipulating the apparatus in a manner causing high coefficient of friction materials within the apparatus to rub against each other or other materials inside the garment so as to generate heat via friction and thereby improve the thermal performance of the garment.
Various deficiencies in the prior art are addressed below by a friction warming apparatus insertable into a garment such as a winter coat and comprising a first plate configured to be secured to an inner portion of the garment and a second plate configured to rub against the first plate to generate heat via friction between the first and second plates in response to a mechanical urging, the mechanical urging being received by the first plate via a rod having a proximal end operably attached to the first plate and a distal end attached to a handle and protruding outward through an aperture in the garment.
Various embodiments comprise a friction warming garment manufactured with an effective thermal insulating material (e.g., a high R value material, where R is measure of a given material's resistance to the flow of heat therethrough) wherein a plurality of friction plates disposed therein mechanically cooperate with each other to generate heat via friction when the plates are rubbed against each other or some other material within the garment. For example, the plates may comprise disc plates having respective opposing surfaces made of the same high coefficient of friction material such that when the plates are caused to rub against each other the friction between the plates or their opposing surfaces generates heat. For plates located within the garment, such as within an inner layer of the garment, the generated heat will augment the body heat generated by the wearer of the garment and help keep the wearer of the garment warm. Further, the exertions of the wearer of the garment manually causing the plates to rub against each other will also generate additional body heat.
In an embodiment, an apparatus for warming a garment comprises: a first plate secured to an inner portion of the garment; and a second plate configured to rub against the first plate to generate heat via friction between the first and second plates in response to a mechanical urging, the mechanical urging being received by the first plate via a rod having a proximal end operably attached to the first plate and a distal end attached to a handle and protruding outward through an aperture in the garment. The first and second plates may be formed using a common high coefficient of friction material, or different materials, which when rubbed together resist such rubbing via friction and generate heat thereby. The first and second plates include respective contact faces which, when rubbed together, such rubbing via friction and generate heat thereby. The plates may comprise a substantially fixed plate having disposed thereover in a moveable (rotating and/or lateral motion) configured to mechanically cooperate so as to generate heat in response to such motion. The second plate may be coupled to a rod and/or handle configured for manual manipulation be a wearer of the coat (or other person) to thereby urge the two plates to rub together. The plates may be round, or square, or rectilinear, or some other shape as appropriate to their location within the coat and/or the type of motion (rotating or lateral) used to urge the plates together during operation, such as a round chest plate pair using rotating motion and/or one or more side body pairs using lateral motion. Various embodiments also contemplate the use of thermally conductive materials (e.g., copper or aluminum tubing) to transfer heat from heat-producing plate pairs to other locations within the coat.
Specifically,
As depicted in
For plates P1, P2 located within the garment, such as within an inner layer of the garment, the generated heat will augment the body heat generated by the wearer of the garment and help keep the wearer of the garment warm. Further, the exertions of the wearer of the garment manually causing the plates to rub against each other will also generate additional body heat.
In various embodiments the plates P1 and P2 are both made of the same material. In various embodiments, the plates P1 and P2 may each comprise an inner portion and a surface portion, wherein the surface portion of each plate is positioned to rub against the surface portion of the other plate to generate heat.
As shown in
The rotating plate P2 has a rod R affixed to its center and protruding therefrom through a small aperture in the front fabric of the coat where the rod R is attached to a handle H, which may be attached at a right angle to an end of the protruding rod R. When the coat's wearer presses down on this handle H while simultaneously rotating the handle H, the rotating plate P2 revolves around the fixed plate P1, thereby overcoming a friction force opposing the rotation of the fixed plate P1 and generating heat in the process. This heat, since generated inside the coat, operates to warm the wearer of the coat. Further, the physical exertion of the wearer, even if relatively slight, causes the generation of additional body heat by the wearer.
Also depicted in
In various embodiments, the manual operation of the friction apparatus by a wearer of a garment so equipped, or by rescue personnel finding a person wearing such a garment, may be used to quickly generate heat and help improve cold weather safety.
The rod may be telescopic in nature, or permanently attached to the plate such as by a folding and/or rotating hinge configured to allow the rod to be folded substantially flush or against the material of the garment so as not to protrude in a manner affection wearer motion, and/or detachably connected to the plate by a quick release hinge, snap-in hinge, or gimbal mechanism X. The rod may be connected to the plate in a semi-permanent manner such as via a hinge or gimbal mechanism X configured to fold the rod against either the inside or outside of the coat.
For each pair of rectangular plates, the fixed rectangular plate is securely attached to an inner surfaces of the coat's fabric on one respective side of the coat, and a respective rod protruding through an aperture in the coat has a proximal end operably attached to the movable rectangular plate and a distal end attached to a handle. The rods may optionally be rotated via hinges so that they protrude through the fabric on the sides of the coat, and when the wearer of the coat grasps these rods, he or she can slide the movable rectangular plates laterally back and forth (or up and down) against the fixed rectangular plates thus generating heat through friction.
In various embodiments, narrow slits on both sides of the coat are configured to enable respective rods to protrude therethrough, thus enabling the coat's wearer to slide the rods up and down through the narrow slits. Further, when the rectangular plates are not being used to generate heat through friction, the slits may be covered with Velcro strips or some other material having insulating material on its outer surfaces to keep heat from escaping. In order to generate heat through friction using the round plates in the front of my heat through friction coat, the wearer holds the handle that is attached to the rod that protrudes through a small hole in the front of the coat and applies a force that is normal to the surface of the rotating plate.
Generally speaking, force is transmitted through the rod to the surface of the rotating plate thus pushing the rotating plate against the fixed plate. While the wearer of the coat is pushing the rotating plate against the fixed plate, he or she simultaneously applies a tangential force to the handle which causes the rotating plate to revolve over the surface of the fixed plate thus creating friction between the two plates so as to generate heat. In like fashion, if the wearer of my invention wishes to generate heat through friction using the rectangular plates on either side of the coat, he or she peels away the insulated Velcro strip covering the narrow slit in the coat's side and pulls out the handle attached by a hinge to the sliding rectangular plate and uses the handle to slide the rectangular plate up and down over the surface of the fixed rectangular plate thus generating heat through friction.
There are 6 modes of operation (means of gaining heat) in various embodiments, as follows:
Further, each of these modes of operation may be augmented by the use of thermally conductive structures or tubes, such as two parallel copper tubes that encircle the coat to distribute heat generated by friction throughout the wearer's upper body.
As has been previously described, when heat is pumped into the coat by the wearer, an equilibrium temperature shall be reached, and at this temperature the heat flowing out of the coat shall equal the heat flowing into the coat, and it is safe to assume that the front of the coat shall reach this equilibrium temperature first since the friction plates are located in the front of the coat, and when the front of the coat bas reached, T (work), as previously defined, we can assume that the temperature in the back of the coat shall still be approximately equal to, t (bod) 11 as previously defined, then the heat flowing through the copper tubes from the front of the coat to the back of the coat shall be approximately equal to, Q=k{T (work)−T(bod)}/R. where, Q is heat and R is the resistance to heat flow of copper, and k is a constant, and where R is defined by the resistivity of copper times the length of the copper tubes divided by the diameter of the copper tubes.
Various modifications may be made to the systems, methods, apparatus, mechanisms, techniques, and portions thereof described herein with respect to the various figures, such modifications being contemplated as being within the scope of the invention. For example, while a specific order of steps or arrangement of functional elements is presented in the various embodiments described herein, various other orders/arrangements of steps or functional elements may be utilized within the context of the various embodiments. Further, while modifications to embodiments may be discussed individually, various embodiments may use multiple modifications contemporaneously or in sequence, compound modifications and the like.
Although various embodiments which incorporate the teachings of the present invention have been shown and described in detail herein, those skilled in the art can readily devise many other varied embodiments that still incorporate these teachings. Thus, while the foregoing is directed to various embodiments of the present invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof.
This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application Ser. No. 63/457,272 filed on Apr. 5, 2023, entitled FRICTION WARMING COAT (Attorney Docket No. PLAIN/006P), which provisional patent application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63457272 | Apr 2023 | US |
