Patent Grant
10531697
This application claims priority to Australian Provisional Patent Application No. 2016901480, filed Apr. 21, 2016, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
The present disclosure generally relates to sealing sleeves, and more particularly relates to sealing sleeves suitable for use in waterproof garments (e.g., dry suits, survival suits, smocks, jackets, etc.) used for aquatic sports (e.g., surfing, sailing, paddling, swimming, diving, scuba diving, etc.) and other aquatic activities (collectively, “aquatic activities”).
There are many types of waterproof garments used in aquatic activities. An example is a waterproof sailing suit known as a dry suit. The sailor can wear thermal garments underneath the dry suit for warmth and comfort, and the dry suit features water-tight sealing sleeves (sometimes referred to simply as “seals” or “sleeves”) at the neck, wrist, and other openings to prevent the ingress of water. Full-body dry suits generally have a large waterproof zipper to allow for donning and doffing of the dry suit. Other waterproof garments commonly used in aquatic activities include smocks and jackets, which can also feature water-tight sealing sleeves at the neck and/or wrist to prevent the ingress of water.
The waterproof garments are commonly made from a waterproof laminated or coated textile joined by stitching and/or gluing. The seams are commonly made water-tight by the application of hot-melt adhesive tape. The textiles used to construct these waterproof garments generally have limited stretch and therefore are not capable of forming a water-tight seal around the body at openings in areas such as the wrists, neck, ankles, or other areas. It is commonly known in the art to provide water-tight sealing sleeves made from an elastomeric rubber material formed into a tubular cuff, with a narrower opening sealing around the wearer's body and a larger opening joined to the opening of the waterproof garment.
Water-tight sealing sleeves known in the art are made of an elastomeric rubber material that provides adequate elongation so that the sealing sleeve can be stretched over the head, hands, and/or ankles when donning and doffing the waterproof garment, and so that the sealing sleeve can fit securely around the neck, wrist, and/or ankle once in place to provide a substantially water-tight seal.
Known sealing sleeves are generally manufactured by a dipping process, whereby a form is dipped into a liquid rubber and allowed to set. The rubber material used in these sealing sleeves degrade over time due to exposure to ultraviolet light from the sun and/or ozone from pollution, and therefore need to be frequently replaced. While some products also provide a neoprene or other synthetic rubber material coating on the outer face of the sealing sleeve to provide improved protection from the degradation, it is still common for the sealing sleeve to degrade during the normal working life of the waterproof garment.
Another common issue with known rubber sealing sleeves is the poor tearing strength of the rubber, which causes the sealing sleeves to be easily damaged during use. Any minor scratch or puncture in the rubber creates a stress point in the material, and commonly leads to the propagation of a tear when the sealing sleeves are stretched. In cases where a user needs to cut the rubber sealing sleeve to increase its size, it is also common that the trimming process leaves the sealing sleeve even more susceptible to tearing due to increased stress points created by imperfect trimming. Importantly, it is common that when a rubber sealing sleeve is damaged due to tearing, it is not easily repairable as the tear propagates across the entire length and/or width of the rubber sealing sleeve.
Known rubber sealing sleeves are generally attached to a garment textile using a solvent-based adhesive. This is difficult to apply at a mass-production level, and makes the rubber sealing sleeves difficult to replace. U.S. Pat. No. 6,576,337 to Radford-Hancock discloses a rubber sealing sleeve having an additional surface coating of a thermoplastic polymer that allows the rubber sealing sleeve to be bonded with the waterproof garment textile via a hot-melt tape, thereby providing an easier method of attachment on a regular production line of waterproof garments.
It is also known in the art to provide sealing sleeves that include a neoprene foam and textile composite. While known neoprene sealing sleeves provide improved tearing resistance compared to known rubber sealing sleeves, they do not provide sufficient waterproofness for many applications, as they do not provide a sufficiently tight fit around the user's neck or wrist. Neoprene sealing sleeves also have a substantially greater thickness than conventional rubber sealing sleeves, making them bulky and too warm for aquatic activities. The use of neoprene can also cause irritation issues with many users.
In addition, neoprene sealing sleeves present similar difficulties to rubber sealing sleeves in mass-production, as they are generally attached to garments using a solvent-based adhesive, which is a time-consuming process.
Aspects of the present invention are directed at overcoming the above-described problems and providing an improved sealing sleeve for use in waterproof garments. Aspects of the present invention relate to an improved sealing sleeve that provides an adequate water-tight seal around the wearer's body, with improved durability and reparability, and that is easy to join to waterproof garments using common manufacturing techniques known in the art.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a waterproof garment is provided that includes a waterproof garment textile defining a garment opening, and a sealing sleeve joined at the garment opening. The sealing sleeve includes a substantially waterproof textile composite in the form of a tube extending between (i) a first end having a first opening and configured to fit tightly around a wearer's body part and (ii) an opposing second end having a second opening and joined to the waterproof garment textile by a seam around the garment opening. The textile composite includes a stretchable textile with a substantially waterproof coating layer applied to the stretchable textile.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a sealing sleeve is provided for use in a waterproof garment. The sealing sleeve includes a substantially waterproof textile composite in the form of a tube extending between (i) a first end having a first opening and configured to fit tightly around a wearer's body part and (ii) an opposing second end having a second opening and configured to be joined to a waterproof garment textile by a seam around a garment opening. The textile composite includes a stretchable textile with a substantially waterproof coating layer applied to the stretchable textile.
In addition to, or as an alternative to, one or more of the features described above, further aspects of the present invention can include one or more of the following features, individually or in combination:
These and other aspects of the present invention will become apparent in light of the drawings and detailed description provided below.
The present disclosure describes water-tight sealing sleeves suitable for use in the neck, wrist, ankle, and/or other openings of waterproof garments, as well as waterproof garments including such sealing sleeves.
Examples of waterproof garments including the sealing sleeves 30, 40 are shown in
The waterproof textile 1 generally has limited stretch. The neck opening 3 is generally sized to be larger than the wearer's head, allowing the head to fit through the neck opening 3. The wrist opening 4 is generally sized to be larger than the wearer's hand, allowing the hand to fit through the wrist opening 3. The neck sealing sleeve 30 and the wrist sealing sleeves 40 are each provided in a tubular shape. The neck sealing sleeve 30 and wrist sealing sleeves 40 have respective first openings 31, 41 (see
In some embodiments, the textile composite 43 is stretchable to allow at least 100% elongation around the wrist opening 4 before tensile failure. In some embodiments, the textile composite 43 is stretchable to allow an elongation greater than 300% around the wrist opening 4 before tensile failure. In some embodiments, the textile composite 43 is also stretchable along the length of the wrist sealing sleeve 40, between the first opening 41 and second opening 42, to allow improved movement of the wearers body. In some embodiments, the stretchability of the textile composite 43 along the length of the wrist sealing sleeve 40 is limited to 200% before tensile failure to allow for easier donning and doffing of the wrist sealing sleeve 40. In some embodiments, the stretchability of the textile composite 43 along the length of the wrist sealing sleeve 40 is limited to less than 100% before tensile failure to allow for easier donning and doffing of the wrist sealing sleeve 40. The reduced stretchability along the length relative to the circumference of the openings 41, 42 allows the tight-fitting wrist sealing sleeve 40 to be more easily pulled over the wearer's hand without overstretching the wrist sealing sleeve 40.
The respective circumferences of the second opening 42 and the wrist opening 4 of the waterproof garment are configured to allow the hand to pass through the wrist opening 4 when donning and doffing the waterproof garment. If the textile 1 of the waterproof garment has minimal stretch, then the circumference of the wrist opening 4 should be larger than the largest circumference of the wearer's hand.
In some embodiments, the substantially waterproof textile composite 43 includes a stretchable woven, knitted, or non-woven textile with at least one waterproof coating layer 48 applied to one or both sides of the textile. The textile composite 43 provides significantly improved resistance to tearing compared to the rubber sealing sleeves commonly used in the art. In the embodiment shown in
In some embodiments, the stretchable textile 47 is a stretchable knitted, woven, or non-woven textile that includes synthetic yarns (e.g., nylon, polyester, polypropylene, and/or stretchable elastane yarns) and/or natural yarns. In some embodiments, the stretchable textile 47 is configured to provide at least 100% elongation around the circumference of the first opening 41 of the wrist sealing sleeve 40 before tensile failure. In some embodiments, the stretchable textile 47 is configured to allow an elongation greater than 300% around the first opening 41 of the wrist sealing sleeve 40 before tensile failure. In some embodiments, the stretchable textile 47 is configured to provide stretchability along the length of the wrist sealing sleeve 40 between the first opening 41 and the second opening 42 to allow improved movement of the wearer's body. In some embodiments, stretchability of the stretchable textile 47 is configured to limit elongation along the length of the wrist sealing sleeve 40 to around 200% before tensile failure to allow for easier donning and doffing of the wrist sealing sleeve 40. In some embodiments, stretchability of the stretchable textile 47 is configured to limit elongation along the length of the wrist sealing sleeve 40 to less than 100% before tensile failure to allow for easier donning and doffing of the wrist sealing sleeve 40.
In some embodiments, the substantially waterproof coating layer 48 is made of a substantially water impermeable polyurethane film lamination that provides adequate stretch modulus and recovery to fit tightly around the wearer's body to provide a water-tight seal. The polyurethane film can be made of materials such as polyether-polyurethane, polyester-polyurethane, polycarbonate-polyurethane, and composites thereof. In some embodiments, the coating layer 48 includes a polyurethane coating or composite coating and film lamination. In some embodiments, the polyurethane coating or film lamination is moisture vapor permeable to allow moisture built up within the waterproof garment from perspiration to escape through the textile composite 43. In some embodiments, the polyurethane film has a thickness of between 0.01 mm and 0.1 mm. In some embodiments, the polyurethane film has a thickness of between 0.1 mm and 0.5 mm, and includes a foamed polyurethane that allows greater elongation of the textile composite 43.
In some embodiments, the waterproof coating layer 48 is selected from a polyurethane material that can bond to a hot-melt waterproof seam sealing tape or adhesive film commonly used in the art to form a water-tight seal between the second opening 42 of the wrist sealing sleeve 40 and the wrist opening 4 of the waterproof garment 1. The ability to bond with hot-melt seam sealing tapes allows for easy mass production of the waterproof garments using conventional sealing techniques known in the art. It also allows for ease of replacement or repair of damaged sealing sleeves by the application of hot-melt adhesive seam tape or patches.
In the embodiment shown in
In some embodiments, the wrist sealing sleeve 40 can be trimmed by the user around the circumference of the first opening 41 to thereby increase the circumference of the first opening 41 to allow for a looser fit around the body.
Referring to
In some embodiments, the elastomeric reinforcement material 51 includes a knitted or woven textile, polymeric film or coating or fabric and film composite applied the to the textile composite 43 by laminating, bonding, printing, stitching, gluing or other process. In some embodiments, the reinforcement is an elastomeric polyurethane film with a thickness between 40 μm and 300 μm comprising a hot-melt adhesive on one side that is used to bond the film to the textile composite 43.
In some embodiments, a second elastomeric reinforcement material 52 is combined with the textile composite 43 around the second opening 42 of the sealing sleeve 40 where the seam is joined to garment textile 1. The second reinforcement material 52 is provided for embodiments where the waterproof textile composite 43 is stretchable along the length of the sealing sleeve between the first opening 41 and second opening 42. The second reinforcement material 52 is configured to have a higher elastic modulus and/or lower elongation than the waterproof textile composite 43 to reduce the stretch in the area where the stretchable sealing sleeve 40 is joined to the waterproof garment textile 1 thereby providing a gradual reduction in stretch between the sealing sleeve and the non-stretch textile reducing stress at the seam and increasing the durability of the sealing sleeve attachment.
The second elastomeric reinforcement material 52 includes a knitted or woven textile, polymeric film or coating or fabric and film composite applied the to the textile composite 43 by laminating, bonding, printing, stitching, gluing or other process. In some embodiments, the reinforcement is an elastomeric polyurethane film with a thickness between 40 μm and 300 μm comprising a hot-melt adhesive on one side that is used to bond the film to the textile composite 43.
Referring to
Another embodiment is shown in
In the embodiment of
The present disclosure describes aspects of the present invention with reference to the exemplary embodiments illustrated in the drawings; however, aspects of the present invention are not limited to the exemplary embodiments illustrated in the drawings. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that aspects of the present invention include many more embodiments. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention are not to be restricted in light of the exemplary embodiments illustrated in the drawings. It will also be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that variations and modifications can be made without departing from the true scope of the present disclosure. For example, in some instances, one or more features disclosed in connection with one embodiment can be used alone or in combination with one or more features of one or more other embodiments.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016901480 | Apr 2016 | AU | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4438531 | Long | Mar 1984 | A |
| 4946453 | Monson | Aug 1990 | A |
| 5924130 | Fragomeli | Jul 1999 | A |
| 6415449 | Duplock | Jul 2002 | B2 |
| 6530090 | Ambrose | Mar 2003 | B1 |
| 6576337 | Radford-Hancock | Jun 2003 | B1 |
| 7062786 | Stinton | Jun 2006 | B2 |
| 7155746 | Schorr | Jan 2007 | B2 |
| 7302711 | Tanenbaum | Dec 2007 | B1 |
| 7631363 | Myerscough | Dec 2009 | B2 |
| 8677513 | Mathis | Mar 2014 | B2 |
| 20020108160 | Griffiths | Aug 2002 | A1 |
| 20070000014 | Rotella | Jan 2007 | A1 |
| 20070012397 | de Jong | Jan 2007 | A1 |
| 20070067886 | Hunter | Mar 2007 | A1 |
| 20080092280 | Johnson | Apr 2008 | A1 |
| 20090210987 | Demetropoulos | Aug 2009 | A1 |
| 20090320177 | Lin | Dec 2009 | A1 |
| 20100005576 | Andrews | Jan 2010 | A1 |
| 20110000003 | Shiue | Jan 2011 | A1 |
| 20110173732 | Gordon | Jul 2011 | A1 |
| 20120023631 | Fischer | Feb 2012 | A1 |
| 20130247267 | Luomala | Sep 2013 | A1 |
| 20140033389 | Falken | Feb 2014 | A1 |
| 20150197324 | Marlin | Jul 2015 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20170303611 A1 | Oct 2017 | US |
