Patent Application
20200038235
The present invention generally relates to the field of clothing, in particular, devices for warming hands and feet.
Anatomical extremities, such as hands and feet, are powerful thermoregulators in the body forming thermal insulators in the cold and heat radiators in hot environments. Hands and feet have keen thermal sensors that provide feedback to the brain that affects thermoregulatory behavior. In cold environmental conditions, the extremities are particularly susceptible to damage.
When exposed to cold environments, the body lowers blood supply to the extremities by constricting blood vessels in order to preserve body heat in and protect the core. This vasoconstriction along with the high surface area-to-volume ratio, skin temperatures in fingers and toes tend to quickly decrease to a level approaching the cold ambient environment. Without protective clothing or other cold-mitigating devices hands and feet, especially fingers and toes, may experience tactile sensitivity including numbness, reduced manual dexterity, loss of motor function, necrosis, immersion foot, frostbite, tissue crystallization, or loss of limb. Therefore, in occupational and recreational activities occurring in cold environs it is imperative to counter the ambient temperature by protecting anatomical extremities.
While gloves and thermal socks provide an insulating layer of protection between anatomical extremities and cold ambient temperatures, reducing the rate of heat loss through the hands and feet, such gloves and thermal socks merely mitigate the time taken for non-freezing cold injuries to set in due to continued cold exposure. Many devices have been developed and used over the years to provide direct and portable heating to the anatomical extremities. Such devices include hand-held warmers utilizing electricity, combustible fuels, or chemical compounds reacting exothermically. Such hand-held warmers are usually inefficiently positioned in the palm of the hand, against the back of the hand, or tucked in a jacket pocket. Because of where hand-held warmers are placed, such hand-held warmers are inefficient and can impact fine and gross motor function. Specifically, if the hand warmer is held against the palm, and hands and fingers must hold the hand warmer in place and cannot be used for other activities. Where the hand warmer is placed against the back of the hand, venous blood travelling away from the fingers is warmed. Keeping the hand warmer in a jacket pocket means that the hands must stay in the jacket pocket rendering them useless or non-continuous warming when the hands are taken out of the jacket pocket. Similar issues are present in warming devices for feet.
Therefore, a warming device that warms arterial blood flowing towards anatomical extremities and encourages vasodilation bringing more blood to fingers and toes is preferential.
The present disclosure is best understood from the following detailed description when read with the accompanying figures. It is emphasized that, in accordance with the standard practice in the industry, various features are not drawn to scale. In fact, the dimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily increased or reduced for clarity of discussion
It is to be understood that the following disclosure provides many different embodiments, or examples, for implementing different features of various embodiments. Specific examples of components and arrangements are described below to simplify the present disclosure. These are, of course, merely examples and are not intended to be limiting. In addition, the present disclosure may repeat reference numerals and/or letters in the various examples. This repetition is for the purpose of simplicity and clarity and does not in itself dictate a relationship between the various embodiments and/or configurations discussed.
Pocket 103 is adapted to receive and remove heating element 115 at opening 117. In certain embodiments, pocket 103 houses non-removable heating element 115. In some embodiments, pocket 103 is affixed to band 101. As shown in
Band 101 is placed around anatomical appendage, for example, around wrist 10 of a user. Band 101 is initially positioned such that first end 105 and second end 107 will attach on dorsal or back side of wrist 10 of user and pocket 103 is positioned against palmar or inner side of wrist 10 of user. In certain embodiments, band 101 is secured by engaging securing side 111 and receiving side 113 thereby attaching first end 105 to second end 107 of band 101. First end 105 and second end 107 may overlap such that, for example, hook-and-loop material on securing side 111 may engage hook-and-loop material on receiving side 113. In some embodiments, band 101 is an elastic sleeve and hand is threaded through band 101 until band 101 reaches wrist 10. In such an embodiment, the elastic properties of sleeved band 101 will cause band 101 to stretch to circumference of hand and retract to circumference of wrist 10 securing in place against wrist 10 of user.
When band 101 is in place, around wrist 10 of user, personal extremity warming apparatus 100 is positioned such that pocket 103 abuts palmar-side or inner-side of wrist 10 of user. Heating element 115 radiates heat against wrist 10 of user warming arterial blood flowing through wrist 10 and traveling to hands and fingers of user also resulting in dilation of blood vessels thereby bringing additional warmed blood to tips of fingers. Once heating element 115 no longer provides sufficient heat to maintain warmth, heating element 115 may be removed and replaced. Removing heating element 115 may necessitate first end 105 is separated from second end 107 of band 101 such that band 101 is opened. In certain embodiments, heating element 115 may be removed and replaced by accessing heating element 115 though opening 121.
While the principles of the invention have been described herein, it is to be understood by those skilled in the art that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation as to the scope of the invention. Further embodiments are contemplated within the scope of the present invention in addition to the exemplary embodiments shown and described herein. Modifications and substitutions by one of ordinary skill in the art are considered to be within the scope of the present invention, which is not to be limited except by the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62692659 | Jun 2018 | US |
