Patent Application
20190142084
The cleaning, food preparation, and hostile material management industries require protective garments in order to prevent a worker from contaminating or being contimated by the material that is being handled, such as cleaning supplies, food or food utensils or tools, or very hot, radioactive, or otherwise caustic elements. The protective garments must provide a seal between the worker and the material, but must also allow the worker to utilize the full range of motion, fine motor skills, and general dexterity of the hands and arms. The protective garment may also need to be adjusted, particularly for length, width, tightness, heat regulation, and removal. The disclosure herein addresses this need and solves the underlying problems by modularizing the components of the protective garment and by embedding fit-control mechanisms, as will be described below.
In one embodiment, the outfit comprises a pair of gloves, a pair of sleeves, and a main body.
The gloves may comprise a set of finger portions, a palm portion, and a dorsal portion. The palm portion and dorsal portion may be seamlessly or continuously attached, and the finger portions may be seamlessly or continuously attached to the palm and dorsal portions. The gloves may be removably or seamlessly attached to the sleeves. In one variation, the gloves are removably attachable to the sleeves. In another variation, the gloves are adjustably attached to the sleeves. Specifically, the gloves may be attached to the wrist portions of the sleeves. Attachment means may include, loops & buttons, snap-fit buttons, zippers, Velcro, or tie-strings.
The sleeves may comprise an upper portion, a lower portion, a wrist portion, a shoulder portion, and an under-arm portion. The upper portion and lower portion may be seamlessly or continuously attached, and the wrist portion, shoulder portion, and/or under-arm portion may be seamlessly or continuously attached to the upper portion and lower portion. The shoulder portion and under-arm portion may be seamlessly or continuously attached together. In one variation, the sleeves comprise not wrist portions, but fore-arm, elbow, or bicep portions. In this variation, the gloves may instead comprise wrist portions, fore-arm, or elbow portions. There may be some measurement of overlap between the sleeves and the gloves in order to ensure protection and maintain an impermeable boundary against liquids or other undesirable material.
The gloves dorsal and palm portions of the gloves may comprise a terminal portions and the sleeves may also comprise terminal portions, the former disposed toward an end of the gloves opposite the finger portions and the latter disposed toward an end opposite the shoulder portion and on the other end of the sleeve length.
The sleeves may be removably or seamlessly attached to the main body portion. The main body may also comprise a shoulder portion and an under-arm portion. In one variation, the shoulder portions of the sleeves are seamlessly and continuously attached to the shoulder portions of the main body. In another variation, the shoulders portions of the sleeves and main body are removably attachable. In yet another variation, the shoulder portions of the sleeves are adjustably attached to the shoulder portions of the main body. Attachment means may include, loops & buttons, snap-fit buttons, zippers, Velcro, or tie-strings.
The main body may comprise a front portion and a back portion. The front portion may be continuously attached to the back portion. The sides of the front portion may extend from front portion, forming the back portion. The shoulder portions and/or under-arm portions of the main body may be seamlessly or continuously attached to the front portion and/or back portion.
The back portion of the main body may comprise two segments—a left and right segment. The left and right segment may be measured proportionate to the front portion such that they overlap when they are drawn together, touch when the attach, or attach at some points but substantially do not touch for some fraction of the width and length of the front portion such that when the outfit is worn, the back of the wearer is visible. The left and right segments may be attached by loops & buttons, snap-fit buttons, hooks and loops, zippers, Velcro, or tie-strings.
In one embodiment, the back portion or segments thereof of the main body and/or the under-arm portions of the main body and/or the sleeves may be made, formed, or stitched as a mesh, allowing heat flow, particularly in a direction from the wearer and out and away from the outfit. This mesh may have a high or low density of stitching and thickness of stitching or thread-form depending on the needs of the wearer and based on the intensity of the industry or work.
In one embodiment, the gloves, sleeves, and/or main body may comprise a pull sleeve & string or strand. A pull sleeve is a piece of material, particularly fabric, that is attached at either end to a primary piece of material, such as that which may make up the gloves, sleeves, and/or main body. The string, or cord, is passed through the pull sleeve, and may be fixed to one or more positions on the gloves, sleeves, and/or main body such that when pulled at one end, the other end and the material to which the other end is attached is drawn closer. In this way, the length, principally of the sleeves, is controlled. In one variation, the string is removably attached to the gloves by means of a hook, loop, button, Velcro, or tie-string. There is at least one pair of pull-sleeves and strings for each outfit, one for each side. The first ends of the pull-sleeves and strings are attached at least to the wrist portions of the sleeves, but may also be attached to the gloves. The other ends may be attached or at least comprise a portion of the back portions of the main body. In this way, the user can control the distance between the back portions and tighten the outfit around the user's body by pulling on the strings and tying or otherwise securing the one to the other. The pull-sleeves may be disposed and the strings may pass through the wrist portions, upper portions, lower portions, shoulder portions, and/or under-arm portions of the sleeves and the front portion, shoulder portions, under-arm portions, and back portion of the main body. Particularly, the pull-sleeves and strings may be disposed and pass through either an upper portion of the back portion configured to wrap around the upper shoulders and neck or a middle portion of the back portion configured to wrap around the middle or lower portion of the back or the waist of the wearer. In one variation, the string that is configured to be disposed in each pull-sleeve comprises two or more sub-strings and each pull-sleeve comprises two or more sub-pull-sleeves. The two or more sub-strings may comprise a neck string and/or a waist string and the two or more sub-pull-sleeves may comprise a neck pull-sleeve and/or a waist pull-sleeve. In this way, the outfit may be separately tightened around the neck or upper shoulders and the middle or lower back or waist of the wearer.
The pull-sleeve and string combination also allows the user to remove gloves and/or sleeves in order to use the naked hands and arms without having to place the gloves and/or sleeves on any surface. This is because the gloves and/or sleeves will simply hang down from the string.
Multiple pull-sleeves and strings may be disposed on the sleeves and/or gloves, preferably a front or palm side and a back or dorsal side, so that the sleeves and gloves lengths' can be adjusted equally on both sides. These front and back pull-sleeves and strings may be merged at the shoulder or neck in order to facilitate adjustment. They may also merge with the pull-sleeves situated around the neck.
In one embodiment, the main body comprises a neck line, and the neck line comprises a pull-sleeve and string. The neck line may extend from the front portion to the back portion, and the pull-sleeve of the neck line may feature an opening on the left segment of the back portion and an opening on the right segment of the back portion. Through each opening, an end of the string may pass through, allowing the wearer to tighten the neck portion around his or her neck. The end of the string may be tied together or fixed via a push-gate or length-control button equipped with a spring and two alignable openings. Instead of a string, a cord or long piece of fabric may be used.
The pull-sleeves may be modified so that they intertwine the primary material. Particularly, the primary material itself may comprise the material for the pull-sleeves, additionally featuring a series of holes with the string disposed as to go in one hole and out the other, in a repeating series. When the string is pulled, it will still be able to cause the primary material to bunch up and thereby shorten in overall length along the axis on which the holes are arranged.
In one embodiment, the left and right segments of the back portion comprise a string and a hole. Particularly, one of the segments features the hole and the other segment features the string. The hole is ideally disposed at the end of the fabric of one of the segments and the string extends from the end of the fabric of the other segment and are configured such that the string may be pulled through the hole and then tightened around itself or let loose. In one variation, the string and/or at least a portion of the hole and the surrounding area are coated in a high-friction substance so that the string cannot be pulled back through the hole without the use of some force by the user. This will enable the wearer to tighten the main body of the outfit around his or her waist easily, even if he or she is wearing gloves that would otherwise make the tying, buttoning, or knotting and unknotting difficult due to the decreased dexterity accompanying glove-use. In one variation, each segment has a hole and string that engages with the string and hole, respectively, of the other segment. The string may be long enough to reach the hole across a portion of the body of the wearer, or long enough to wrap once, twice, or even three times around the waist of the wearer before engaging with the hole. In another variation, the hole is disposed closer to the front portion of the main body. In yet another variation, the string and hole are disposed on the same segment, but the string is long enough to wrap around the wearer's body before engaging with the hole. In an additional variation, the string features a first end attached to a segment of the back portion or a side of the front portion and a second end that wraps around the wearer's body—in this variation, the string engages with itself by wrapping the second end around the wearer's body and tucking around the first end. In one variation, the end of the string features a pad of Velcro configured to engage with an opposing Velcro portion disposed elsewhere on the main body of the outfit. In lieu or in addition to the Velcro portions, a hook, made of metal or plastic, and a loop, made of metal, plastic, or cloth, may be used. The string and hole structures described in this paragraph may also apply to the string passing through the pull-sleeves on the sleeves or on the neck line. In any of these embodiments and variations, instead of a string, a cord or long piece of fabric may be used.
The components of the outfit may be made of one or more materials, including PVC, nitrile rubber, polyester, cotton, latex, or any other suitable substance. The components may also be coated in order to increase grip, smoothness, durability, ease of cleaning, heat-resistance, cut-resistance, impermeability, bacterial and fungal protection, odor-resistance, waterproofing, and/or water resistance. Coating material may include polyethylene, neoprene, Actifresh™, Tycgem®, or any other efficacious solution. The primary materials or fabrics may also be selected based on one of the above mentioned characteristics, although the material of the interior may be specifically designed to be comfortable. In one variation, the outfit comprises two or more layers, and may include a coating in addition to those two or more layers.
Different coatings may be applied and different primary materials may be used on different portions or components of the outfit. For example, the finger portions, particularly the on the palm side, may be coated with a material comprising a rough texture, thereby increasing the tactile grip of the wearer, while the dorsal side of the glove, and even the dorsal side of the finger portions, may be uncoated. The gloves generally may be made of more protective material—thicker, cut, thermally, and water-resistant—than the sleeve portions. The lower segments of the sleeve portions, such as those including or closer to the wrist portions, may be made of more protective material than the upper portions, such as those including or closer to the shoulder and/or under-arm portions. The front portion of the main body may similarly be made of more protective material than the back portion of the main body.
In one embodiment, the outfit comprises a belt configured to couple with an opening, with the belt and opening being disposed on opposite segments of the outfit. When the belt is coupled to the opening by placing the belt through the opening, the outfit may be tightened around the wearer. In order to prevent the belt from slipping out of the opening, the belt and the area adjacent to the opening may be coated with a rough texture configured to increase the friction between the two components, thereby decreasing accidental slippage. This rough texture may be noticeably more rough on the belt and around the opening than the texture on other parts of the outfit, which may be slippery to prevent material from adhering to the outfit. The belt and opening, because of their rough texture, may be placed at the back portions of the outfit, in order to reduce the likelihood that material may contact and adhere to them.
As the outfit may comprise multiple layers, each layer may be coated or made of a different material selected for its functional and/or ornamental benefits. These layers may be permanently fixed together, either by heat-forming, sewing, or otherwise, or they may be removably attached by any of the attachment methods already described. Each layer may comprise the entirety and totality of the segments of the outfit, notably the front portion and back portion of the main body, the sleeves, and the gloves, a sub-set of these segments, or regions thereof.
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