Patent Grant
6978481
The present invention relates to a liner system incorporated into a flame resistant coat as used by firefighters as well as rescue and emergency services personnel. Such coats include an outer shell having a body portion, sleeve portions and a collar portion. It is necessary to ensure that water-tight integrity is maintained at the juncture of the outer shell and the collar portion thereof to prevent the personnel using the coat from getting wet when fighting fires where large amounts of water may splash onto the coat.
The liner system includes an outer moisture barrier and an inner thermal barrier which are conventionally stitched together such that they cannot be readily separated from one another when one of the barriers is damaged and needs to be replaced. As a result, when one of the barriers is damaged, the entire liner may be thrown away. Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a construction wherein the two barriers may be readily detached from one another to replace one of the barriers with a new one which in turn can be readily attached to the other original barrier.
When the liner system is wet, either from use in a fire environment or from being laundered, it is necessary to thoroughly dry the liner, and accordingly another object of the invention is to provide an arrangement which allows air to circulate between the barriers in a superior manner to reduce drying time.
When the liner is removed from the coat to launder the liner, it is desirable to prevent contaminates from entering the space between the barriers and to protect the moisture barrier substrate from abrasion as a result of coming into contact the hooks on the fastening portion carried by the moisture barrier.
The invention coat includes a flame resistant shell forming a body portion having sleeve portions and a collar portion. The collar portion has an inner collar part facing the neck of a person wearing the coat when the collar is in an upright position. The collar portion also includes an opposite outer collar part. The liner comprises a thermal barrier and a moisture barrier. Hook and loop structures detachably connect the upper portion of the moisture barrier to the outer collar part. The moisture barrier extends a substantial distance above the thermal barrier when the collar is in vertical position. The upper portions of the thermal barrier and the moisture barrier are free of one another. The opposite side portions of the two barriers are detachably connected to one another by snap fasteners at spaced points along the length thereof, and the side portions of the thermal barrier are detachably connected by snap fasteners to the body portion of the coat. The lower portions of the thermal barrier and the moisture barrier are stitched to one another along a part of the lower portions by a single line of stitching which may be readily manually removed to separate the two barriers from one another along their lower portions. The lower portions of the thermal barrier and the moisture barrier are also detachably connected to one another at spaced points along another part of the lower portions. The lower portions of the barriers are free of the body portion of the coat.
With this arrangement, the two barriers may be separated from one another to provide separate entities except for the stitched connection at the outer ends of the sleeves of the barriers to one another and to associated wristers. This last-mentioned stitched connection can be removed by conventional machines. In this way, either of the barriers which may be damaged may be disconnected from the other and replaced with a new barrier, whereupon the new and old barriers may be connected to one another and cooperating wristers.
The spacing defined between the upper portions of the barriers as well as the open areas between the spaced points at which the side portions and lower portions of the barriers are detachably connected enables air to circulate between the two barriers when drying after use or after laundering, thereby reducing the drying time.
The fastening means on the upper portions of the two barriers comprise hooks on the moisture barrier which can engage loops on the thermal barrier after the liner is removed from the coat in preparation for laundering the liner. When the upper portions of the barriers are so connected the entry of contaminates between the barriers is prevented, and the hook portions are prevented from contacting the moisture barrier substrate and causing abrasion thereof.
Referring to the drawings wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, there is shown in
The body portion includes a pair of face portions 20 and 22 disposed at the opposite front edges of the body portion. A plurality of spaced conventional snap fasteners 24 are mounted on face portion 20, and a further plurality of spaced conventional fasteners 26 are mounted on face portion 22. These fasteners cooperate with cooperating fasteners mounted on the liner as hereinafter described.
A conventional zipper part 30 is mounted on facing portion 22, and a cooperating zipper part 32 is mounted on the inwardly facing side of facing portion 20 as can be seen in the folded over part of the facing portion. The cooperating zipper parts serve as a closure to hold the coat in closed position in the usual manner. The closure may also be of other conventional constructions such as different variations of hook and D-ring or VELCRO closures if desired. A first part 36 of a hook and loop connection such as VELCRO is mounted on a flap 38 of the body portion, and a cooperating part of the hook and loop connection (not shown) is mounted on the opposite side of facing portion 22 so that the two parts of the hook and loop connection are in contact with one another when the coat is in closed position with flap 38 disposed in overlying relationship to the opposite side of facing portion 24 to provide additional means for holding the coat in closed position and preventing the entry of water or contaminates at the front of the coat.
Referring to
A fastening means is indicated generally by arrow 50 and comprises means for detachably fastening an upper portion of moisture barrier 54 to the outer part of the collar portion. The fastening means is a hook and loop mechanism such as VELCRO which includes a first loop part supported on strip 60 which is mounted on the face of layer 42″ by stitching 62. The second hook part of fastening means 50 is supported on strip 64 which is mounted on the face of moisture barrier 54 by stitching 66. The moisture barrier material is conventional and comprises a breathable moisture barrier fabric having a waterproof surface facing outwardly toward the outer collar part 42. The upper edge portion of the moisture barrier has a binding strip 70 defining a U-shaped cross-section wrapped therearound and held in position by stitching 72.
The lower ends of layers 40′ and 40″ are turned over and held in place by stitching 76. A fastening means is indicated generally by arrow 80 and comprises means for detachably connecting the upper edge portion of thermal barrier 82 to the inner part 40 of the collar portion. This fastening means is also a hook and loop mechanism such as VELCRO which includes a first hook part supported on strip 84 which is mounted on the face of layer 40 by stitching 76. The second loop part of fastening means 80 is supported on strip 88 which is mounted on the face of thermal barrier 80 by stitching 90. The moisture barrier material is formed of the usual quilted thermal insulating material.
Referring now to
Moisture barrier 54 has an upper edge portion 111, a pair of opposite side edge portions 112 and 114 and a bottom edge portion 116. Strip 64 extends from side edge portion 112 to side edge portion 114 and is adjacent to and spaced below the upper edge portion as seen in
As seen in
The top fastener 130 on the thermal barrier connects to the top fastener 24 on facing 20 to detachably connect the thermal barrier to the body portion of the shell. The fastener below the top fastener 130 connects to the upper fastener on the side edge portion 114 of the moisture barrier to detachably connect the moisture barrier to the thermal barrier. This arrangement repeats itself with five alternate fasteners 130 being connected to the facing of the coat and another five alternate fasteners 130 being connected to the moisture barrier. A similar arrangement exists between fasteners 26 on facing 22, fasteners 132 on the thermal barrier and fasteners 136 on the moisture barrier. In this manner, the side edge portions of the thermal barrier and the moisture barrier are detachably connected to one another, and the thermal barrier is detachably connected to the body portion of the coat.
As seen in
Referring to
The invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment. Obviously, various modifications, alterations and other edbokiments will occur to others upon reading and understanding this specification. It is our intention to include all such modifications, alterations, and alternate embodiments insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalent thereof.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5406648 | Butzer et al. | Apr 1995 | A |
| 5638547 | Hewitt | Jun 1997 | A |
| 5842229 | Snedeker | Dec 1998 | A |
| 5860163 | Aldridge | Jan 1999 | A |
| 6038700 | Aldridge et al. | Mar 2000 | A |
| 6243872 | Snedeker | Jun 2001 | B1 |
| 6687913 | Aldridge | Feb 2004 | B2 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20050223463 A1 | Oct 2005 | US |
