Stretchable Metal Mesh Protective Material and Garments

Abstract

Protective materials and protective garments make using the materials are disclosed. The protective materials include metallic mesh layers sandwiched between inner and outer layers of fabric. The mesh is joined at one or both ends to pieces of elastic material that are also sandwiched between the layers of fabric and are joined to them. The metallic meshes are woven from stainless steel fiber having a diameter of less than 0.20 mm and have a largest space between fibers of less than 0.20 mm. The meshes may be regular cut or bias cut or a combination thereof. Multiple meshes may be overlaid such that their respective warp-fiber directions are oriented at an angle of 22.5 +/−5 degrees with respect to each other. The protective material may be used protective clothing such as, but not limited to, gloves, knee and elbow guards as described in detail in the specification.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a structure and a method for making a stretchable protective fabric suitable for use in protective garments, and more particularly to a protective material having a metallic mesh stretchably attached to, and sandwiched between, two layers of fabric; and to protective garments made using such a material including protective gloves and knee and elbow protectors.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to fabrics suitable for use in protective garments, particularly personal protection equipment (PPE) such as, but not limited to, protective gloves, and joint protectors such as, but not limited to, knee and elbow protectors.

Protective garments ideally provide a high degree of protection against a variety of potential injuries such as, but not limited to, cuts or stabs or some combination thereof. The material they are made of should also be sufficiently flexible that the garments are comfortable to wear and use.

Existing protective fabrics used for PPE include a wide range of materials such as, but not limited to, knitted materials made from para-aramid threads (Trade name: Kevlar™), High Performance Poly Ethylene (HPPE) (Trade name: Dynema™ and PVA (Trade name: SupraBlock™). All these materials exhibit high cut-resistance, but limited puncture resistance.

Puncture resistance materials may be made by methods, such as, but not limited to, very tight woven fabrics, small ceramic plates in fabric coating or tight woven fabrics with a coating of hard crystals, all of which significantly reduce the softness and flexibility of the fabric.

One form of material that exhibits both high cut and high puncture resistance is a fine, thoroughly graded, stainless steel mesh that may be sandwiched between more conventional fabrics to provide additional advantages including, such as, but not limited to, comfort and more durability.

One shortcoming of variants of this material is that they sometimes are slow to recover their original shape after they have been bent to a tight radius.

This may be a hindrance to its use in both protective gloves and in protective garments intended to cover joints such as knees and elbows that exhibit a significant range of flexion and extension, and are difficult to protect while allowing a reasonably full range of only slightly restricted movement.

An object of the present invention is to incorporate elements of elastic materials into the protective fabric so as to eliminate this undesired characteristic.

DESCRIPTION OF THE BACKGROUND ART

The relevant background art includes:

U.S. Pat. No. 6,581,212 issued to Andresen on Jun. 24, 2003 entitled “Protective garment” that describes a protective garment designed for the protection of body parts against cuts or puncture wounds. The protective garment comprises an inner layer, a protective layer and an outer layer, the protective layer being composed of a wire mesh of woven metal wires, the thickness of the metal wires being between 0.03 mm and 0.20 mm and the apertures in the wire mesh being between 0.05 mm and 0.45 mm.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,472,769 issued to Goerz, Jr. et al. on Dec. 5, 1995 entitled “Soft body armor material with enhanced puncture resistance comprising at least one continuous fabric having knit portions and integrally woven hinge portions” that describes a soft body armor material with enhanced puncture resistance is fabricated from knitted light weight, durable fibers, such as aramid fibers. The knitted portions are joined by interwoven portions providing an integrally formed hinge-like effect for flexibility. A deflection shield formed from a thin mesh of stainless steel or titanium wire or a sheet of light weight metal, such as titanium, with corrugations or dimples on the externally facing surface provides additional penetration resistance for sharp pointed objects. An inner resilient trauma shield and a removable moisture absorbing inner layer are also optionally included. Hollow fibers are employed in some of the layers to provide a ventilation or cooling capability, and fibers having an electrically resistive component can be employed in conjunction with a battery to provide resistance heating for warmth and moisture dissipation.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,220,073 issued to Lopez et al. on Jul. 17, 2012 entitled “Leg protection arrangement” that describes a protection device for a person's legs that includes a knee pad that has a concave portion for receiving the knee of the person, and further includes a protective covering. A pair of flexible upper straps each has a lower end coupled with 5 the knee pad, and an upper end adapted to be selectively coupled to the belt. Each upper strap mutually crosses at a point behind the person's upper leg. A pair of flexible lower straps each have an upper end coupled with the knee pad, and a lower end adapted to be selectively coupled with one of the person's shoes proximate a heel thereof, either to a loop of the shoe or to a shoe-attachable ring of the invention.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,194,770 issued to Fecenko on Mar. 27, 2007 entitled “Work pants with built-in knee pads” that describes a pair of work pants that include a right leg member and a left leg member. Each of the leg members has a lower edge, a knee section extending downwardly from the lower edge of each of the leg members, padded material housed within each of the knee sections and a plurality of straps where each of the straps has a clip attached thereto so that the straps may be releasably attached to the worker's shoes. The work pants may be in the form of shorts.

Various implements are known in the art, but fail to address all of the problems solved by the invention described herein. Embodiments of this invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and will be described in more detail herein below.

Various implementations are known in the art, but fail to address all of the problems solved by the invention described herein. Various embodiments of this invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and will be described in more detail herein below.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention discloses protective materials and protective garments make using the materials.

In a preferred embodiment the protective material may include inner and outer layers of fabric. Sandwiched between the fabric layers may be a metallic mesh that may be joined at one end to a piece of elastic material. The elastic material may also be sandwiched between the layers of fabric and joined to them.

At the other end, the metallic mesh may be joined directly to the layers of fabric between which it may be sandwiched. Alternately, at the other end, the metallic mesh may be joined to a second piece of elastic material that may in turn be joined to the layers of fabric.

In one embodiment of the invention, the metallic mesh may be bias cut so as to provide further flexibility.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the fabric may include a second metallic mesh that may also be sandwiched between the layers of fabric and located adjacent to the first metallic mesh. The second metallic mesh may also be fixed directly to the layers of fabric at one end, and via an elastic piece at the other end. Alternately, the second metallic mesh may be fixed indirectly to the layers of fabric via elastic pieces at both ends.

In a preferred embodiment, the metallic meshes may be woven meshes, woven from stainless steel fiber having a diameter of less than 0.20 mm and woven such that a largest space between said fibers is less than 0.20 mm.

In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the first and second metallic meshes may be cut and overlaid such that the first metallic mesh has a warp-fiber direction oriented at an angle of 22.5+/−5 degrees with respect to a warp-fiber direction of the second metallic mesh. This arrangement has been found theoretically to have a good puncture resistance. In a yet a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the protective material may be incorporated into a protective garment such as, but not limited to, a protective glove or a garment for covering a hinged-type joint such as, but not limited to, an elbow or a knee.

Therefore, the present invention succeeds in conferring the following, and others not mentioned, desirable and useful benefits and objectives.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a protective material that is both cut resistant and stab resistant and can recover well after being flexed.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a protective material that may be used economically to provide protective garments that are effective, comfortable to wear and introduce minimal restriction of movement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A shows a partially cut-away plan view of a protective material of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1B shows a cross-sectional view of a protective material of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2A shows a regularly cut piece of woven material.

FIG. 2B shows a bias cut piece of woven material.

FIG. 3A shows a partially cut-away plan view of a protective material of a further preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3B shows a cross-sectional view of a protective material of a further preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of a protective material of a yet a further preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows a plan view of two pieces of normally cut woven material overlapping so that a direction of their respective warp threads cross at an acute angle.

FIG. 6A shows a schematic plan view of a palm side of a stretched mesh safety glove of the present invention.

FIG. 6B shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a palm-side of a stretched mesh safety glove of the present invention.

FIG. 6C shows a schematic plan view of a top-side of a stretched mesh safety glove of the present invention.

FIG. 6D shows a schematic, close up, plan view of a portion of metallic mesh.

FIG. 7A shows a schematic plan view of a palm side of a stretched mesh safety glove of a further preferred embodiment of the invention present invention.

FIG. 7B shows a schematic cross-sectional view on “AA” of a stretched mesh safety glove of a further preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8A shows a cutting pattern of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8B shows a composite palm-side mesh of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9A shows a side view of an exemplary protective garment for covering a hinged type joint, of the present invention.

FIG. 9B shows a front view of an exemplary protective garment for covering a hinged type joint, of the present invention.

FIG. 10A shows a plan view of another preferred embodiment of a protective garment for covering a hinged-type joint of the present invention, prior to being worn.

FIG. 10B shows a cross-sectional view of another preferred embodiment of the protective portion of a protective garment for covering a hinged-type joint, of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. Identical elements in the various figures are identified with the same reference numerals.

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention. Such embodiments are provided by way of explanation of the present invention, which is not intended to be limited thereto. In fact, those of ordinary skill in the art may appreciate upon reading the present specification and viewing the present drawings that various modifications and variations can be made thereto.

FIG. 1A shows a partially cut-away plan view of a protective material of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The protective material 100 may include an inner layer of fabric 110 and an outer layer of fabric 105. Sandwiched between the inner and outer layers of fabric may be a first metallic mesh 120 and a first elastic piece 115. The first metallic mesh 120 may be fixedly joined at a lower end to the inner and outer layers of fabric by a joining mechanism 140. The first metallic mesh 120 may be fixedly joined at an upper end to the first elastic piece 115 by a joining mechanism 135. The first elastic piece 115 may in turn be joined to the inner and outer fabric layers by another joining mechanism. The inner and outer layers of fabric may also be joined to each other at either or both a top and a bottom end by a further joining mechanism 125.

In a preferred embodiment, the mechanism joining the inner and outer fabric 125, the mechanism joining the first elastic piece to the inner and outer fabric 130, the mechanism joining the first elastic piece to the first metallic mesh 135 and the mechanism joining the first metallic mesh to the inner and outer fabric layers 140 may all be cotton stitching, as that may provide a robust yet simple to implement and economical means of fixed joining. The joining mechanisms may, however, be any suitable means of joining fabrics and mesh such as, but not limited to, gluing, welding, stapling or stitching, or some combination thereof.

In a preferred embodiment, the outer layer of fabric 105 may be a hardwearing woven fabric such as, but not limited to, a cotton denim fabric that may be waterproofed, while the inner layer of fabric 110 may be a softer cotton weave that may be coated to help wick away moisture. This arrangement may, for instance, provide protective fabrics that may be both rugged yet comfortable to wear. One of ordinary skill in the art will, however, appreciate that the inner and outer fabric layers may be any suitable fabric such as, but not limited to, woven, knitted or braided fabrics made from cotton, silk, nylon, rayon, polyester, linen, jute, wool, plastic, polymer or metal or some combination thereof or non-woven fabric made from any suitable fibers such as, but not limited to, cotton, nylon, rayon, linen, jute, plastic, polymer or metal or some combination thereof.

In a preferred embodiment, the first metallic mesh 120 may, for instance, be a square woven mesh made from metallic threads. The metallic threads may have a diameter that is less than 170 μm, and may be woven to have an open area of less 5 than 55%. The metallic mesh may preferably be woven from threads of a chromium steel such as, but not limited to, Grade 316 L stainless steel, as this may provide the best combination of strength, durability and corrosion resistance. In alternative embodiments the, wire used may be a metal or metal ally such as, but not limited to, stainless steel, steel, aluminum, iron, copper, bronze, brass, magnesium, magnelium, titanium, zinc or some combination thereof. The metal may be chosen to optimize some quality such as, but not limited to, cost, wear, durability, weight or wearability or some combination thereof. The woven material may, for instance, have a combination of such metals and may, for instance, use a different thread for the warp and the weft threads, or may alternate threads in either the warp or weft threads or some combination thereof. The may be done to optimize some quality such as, but not limited to, cost, wear, durability, weight or wearability or some combination thereof.

The first metallic mesh 120 may also be made of a regularly cut piece of material 165.

In a preferred embodiment, the first elastic piece 115 may be made of a suitably elastic material or fabric such as, but not limited to, a textile made of or incorporating polyurethane-polyurea copolymer threads as available from Du Pont, Inc. of Delaware under the trade name of SPANDEX™; a fabric made of or incorporating latex or latex fibers, or some combination thereof.

FIG. 1B shows a cross-sectional view of a protective material of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The protective material 100 may have a metallic mesh 120 that may be rigidly attached at one end to an elastic piece 115 by a joining mechanism 135. Both the metallic mesh 120 and the elastic piece 115 may be sandwiched between an inner layer of fabric 110 and an outer layer of fabric 105. The elastic piece 115 may be joined to the inner and outer layers of fabric by a joining mechanism 130. The metallic mesh 120 may be joined at its other end directly to the inner and outer fabric layers by the joining mechanism 140.

The inner layer of fabric 110 and the outer layer of fabric 105 may themselves be directly joined to each other in a vicinity of a perimeter of the fabric by a joining mechanism 125.

The inner and outer fabric-layers 105/110 may, for instance, be made of materials that may provide qualities such as, but not limited to, comfort, durability, water resistance, breathability, abrasion resistance, or some combination thereof. Suitable materials are detailed above.

FIG. 2A shows a regularly cut piece of woven material. The regularly cut piece of material 165 may, for instance, be a square woven material, such as, but not limited to, a woven metallic mesh. The material may have a directionality that may, for instance, be defined by the length of the material 145 that may be aligned with the warp threads 155. The material may also have a bias direction 150 that may be at a 45 degree angle to both the weft threads 160 and the warp threads 155 of the woven material. In a regularly cut material, the bias direction may also be oriented at a 45 degree angle to the length of the material 145. Material is typically cut as a regular cut material as doing so may minimize waste and therefore cost.

FIG. 2B shows a bias cut piece of woven material. In a bias cut piece of material 170 the length of the material 145 may be aligned with the bias direction of the material 150. The length of the material 145 and the bias direction of the material 150 may, therefore, both be aligned at a 45 degree angle to both the warp threads 155 and the weft threads 160. Material that is bias cut has a greater degree of stretch along the length of the material 145 than regularly cut material. The bias cut material also has greater resistance to tear perpendicular to the length of the material 145.

Although FIG. 1A illustrates a fabric in which the metallic mesh 120 is a regularly cut piece of material 165, in an alternative embodiment of the protective fabric of the present invention, the metallic mesh may be bias cut. In such an embodiment, the bias cut material may add extra spring, and help return the metal mesh to a flat orientation after it has been flexed. There may be applications where the spring provided by the mesh being bias cut is sufficient to return the mesh. In such an application, the elastic piece 115 may be dispensed with, and the mesh attached directly to the two layers of fabric at both ends of the mesh. Such an arrangement may be desirable to save material or labor costs.

FIG. 3A shows a partially cut-away plan view of a protective material of a further preferred embodiment of the present invention.

In the protective fabric shown in FIG. 3, the metallic mesh 120 is shown as being a bias cut piece of material 170. Additionally there are now two elastic strips, the first elastic piece 115 and the second elastic piece 175. In the protective fabric of FIG. 3, the metallic mesh 120 may be fixidly connected at one end to the first elastic piece 115 by joining mechanism 135 and at the other end to the second elastic piece 175 by joining mechanism 135. Each of these elastic pieces may then be fixidly connected to the outer layer of fabric 105 and the inner layer of fabric 110 by joining mechanism 130. The inner and outer fabric layers may also be joined to each other by joining mechanism 125. In this way, the first metallic mesh 120 is only connected to the inner and outer fabric layers indirectly via the elastic pieces. Such an arrangement may provide for more spring to return the metallic mesh 120 to a flat orientation after it has been flexed. This may allow both for the protective material to flex to smaller radii, and for the metallic mesh to be more resistant to wear or fatigue from repeated flexing.

Although FIG. 3 shows the first metallic mesh 120 as being a bias cut piece of material, in an alternate embodiment, the mesh may be a regularly cut material. Although this may reduce the protective material's ability to flex, the may be applications where such an embodiment is more desirable for, for instance, reduced cost due to less waste from regular cut material than bias cut material.

FIG. 3B shows a cross-sectional view of a protective material of a further preferred embodiment of the present invention.

In the embodiment displayed in FIG. 3B, the protective material 100 may have an inner layer of fabric 110 and an outer layer of fabric 105 that enclose, or “sandwich” a metallic mesh 120 and a first elastic piece 115 and a second elastic piece 175. The first metallic mesh 120 may be fixedly joined at one end to the first elastic piece 115 by a joining mechanism 135 and at the other end to the second elastic piece 175 by another joining mechanism 130. The first and second elastic pieces may in turn be joined to the inner and outer layers of fabric by joining mechanisms 130. In this way the first metallic mesh 120 may be freely suspended by the two elastic pieces. When the protective material 100 is flexed, the elastic pieces may stretch and develop a return elastic force that may prevent the metal mesh from buckling and may help restore the mesh to a flat orientation when the protective fabric is no longer being flexed.

The materials in this embodiment may be the same as the corresponding materials in the embodiments discussed above.

FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of a protective material of a yet a further preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 4 may have two layers of metal mesh, a first metallic mesh 120 and a second metallic mesh 180 that may, for instance, be made of materials described above, to specifications described above.

The two meshes may each be fixedly joined at one end to a first elastic piece 115 by joining mechanism 185 and at the other end to a second elastic piece 175 by joining a joining mechanism 185. The elastic pieces may then in turn be joined to the inner layer of fabric 110 and the outer layer of fabric 105 by joining mechanisms 130. In this way the metallic meshes may be sandwiched between the inner and outer layers of fabric, but only joined to them indirectly via the first and second elastic pieces. The metallic meshes may be regular cut pieces or bias cut pieces or a combination thereof.

FIG. 5 shows a plan view of two pieces of normally cut woven material overlapping so that a direction of their respective warp threads cross at an acute angle.

In a preferred embodiment, a first metallic mesh 120 may be overlaid with a second metallic mesh 180 such that the direction of a warp thread 190 of the first metallic mesh 120 is at an off-set angle 195 to the direction of a warp thread 190 of the second metallic mesh 180. The off-set angle 195 may preferably be 22.5+/−5 degrees, and in an even more preferred embodiment to be 22.5+/−1 degree. This angle of off-set has been determined by Moire fringe analysis to provide, on average, the smallest “largest space between fibers”, and is therefore of importance to providing cut and stab protection characteristics to the protective fabric 100.

The metallic meshes of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 may, for instance, have the first and second meshes cut so as in a region of overlapping mesh 205 the direction of their warp threads are off set at the appropriate angle for good stab protection, i.e., an off-set angle of 22.5+/−5 degrees.

Although FIG. 4 only shows two metallic meshes, in alternate embodiments there may be more layers of metallic mesh.

FIG. 6A shows a schematic plan view of a palm side of a stretched mesh safety glove incorporating elements of the protective fabric of the present invention, while FIG. 1B shows a schematic cross-sectional view on “AA” of the glove.

In a preferred embodiment, as shown clearly in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the stretched mesh protective glove 210 may include a palm-side inner metallic-mesh layer 255 that may be sandwiched between a palm-side, inner fabric-layer 285 and a palm-side, outer fabric-layer 290.

The palm-side inner metallic-mesh layer 255 may be selected primarily for providing protection against both cut and puncture injuries.

The inner and outer fabric-layers 290/285 may, for instance, be made of materials that may provide qualities such as, but not limited to, comfort, durability, water resistance, breathability, abrasion resistance, or some combination thereof. Suitable material include, but are not limited to, woven, knitted or non-woven fabrics made from suitable fibers such as, but not limited to, cotton, nylon, rayon, polymers, or may be or include polymer coatings.

The inner and outer fabric-layers 290/285 may be sized and shaped to be substantially the same as each other, and may be joined together in at least a portion of their periphery by any suitable means such as, but not limited to, stitching, gluing, welding, stapling or some combination thereof.

The palm-side inner metallic-mesh layer 255 may be made of two separate pieces, a palm-side, thumb-and-palm metallic-mesh layer 215 and a palm-side, palm-and-finger, metallic-mesh layer 245. The palm-side, thumb-and-palm metallic-mesh layer 215 may, for instance, be attached directly to the palm-side, inner fabric-layer 285 in a thumb-tip region 220, but indirectly in a wrist region 270. In the wrist region 270, the palm-side, thumb-and-palm, metallic-mesh layer 215 may be attached to a palm-side wrist stretch band 260 that in turn may be attached to the palm-side, inner fabric-layer 285.

The palm-side, palm-and-finger, metallic-mesh layer 245 may also be attached to the palm-side, thumb-and-palm metallic-mesh layer 215 by a palm-side, mid-hand, stretch-band 250, and to the palm-side, inner fabric-layer 285 in a vicinity of the fingertip region 240.

Both the wrist and the mid-hand stretch-bands 260 and 250 may be made of a suitably elastic material or fabric such as, but not limited to, a textile made of or incorporating polyurethane-polyurea copolymer threads as available under Du Pont, Inc. trade name of SPANDEX™; a fabric made of or incorporating latex or latex fibers, or some combination thereof. The wrist and the mid-hand stretch-bands 260 and 250 may be joined to the metallic-mesh layers and to the fabric layer by any suitable means such as, but not limited to, stitching, gluing, welding, stapling or some combination thereof.

In a preferred embodiment, the thumb-and-palm mesh 215 may be joined to the inner fabric-layer 285 only in a vicinity of a thumb-tip region 220 by thumb-tip stitches 225. Similarly, the wrist stretch-band 260 that is attached to the thumb-and-palm mesh 215 may be attached to the inner fabric-layer 285 only in a vicinity of the wrist region 270 by palm-side wrist-stitches 265. The palm-and-finger mesh 245 may be attached to the inner fabric-layer 285 only in a vicinity of the four fingertip regions 240 by fingertip stitches 235. Similarly, the mid-hand, stretch-band 250 that is attached to the thumb-and-palm, mesh 215, may be attached to the palm-and-finger, mesh 245 by means of palm stitches 230.

The thumb-tip, fingertip, palm and wrist-stitches 225, 235, 265 and 230 may all be made using a suitable sewing thread such as, but not limited to, cotton, nylon, rayon, polyester, silk, wool, acrylic or metal thread, or some combination thereof. Stitching with threads may be the preferred method of joining the meshes and fabrics because it is a well-established, proven, reliable and cost-effective method of joining fabrics.

FIG. 6C shows a schematic plan view of a top side of an embodiment of a stretched mesh safety glove incorporating material of the present invention. In one alternate embodiment, the top side of the stretched mesh protective glove 210 may simply consist of one or more layers of a suitably durable and comfortable material such as, but not limited to, woven, knitted or non-woven fabrics made from suitable fibers such as, but not limited to, cotton, nylon, rayon, polymers, or may be or include polymer coatings.

In a preferred embodiment, however, as shown more clearly in FIGS. 6B and 6C, a top-side metal-mesh layer 340 may be sandwiched between a top-side inner fabric-layer 280 and a top-side outer fabric-layer 275.

The top-side inner metallic-mesh layer 340 may be selected primarily for providing protection against both cut and puncture injuries.

The inner and outer fabric-layers 280 and 275 may, for instance, be made of materials that may provide qualities such as, but not limited to, comfort, durability, water resistance, breathability, abrasion resistance, or some combination thereof. The top-side inner and outer fabric-layers 280/276 may be sized and shaped to be substantially the same as each other, and to the palm-side inner and outer fabric-layers 285/290. All four layers may be joined together in at least a portion of their periphery by any suitable means such as, but not limited to, stitching, gluing, welding, stapling or some combination thereof.

The top-side mesh 340 may, for instance, be joined to the inner fabric-layer 280 only in a vicinity of the four fingertip regions 240. The wrist end of the top-side mesh layer 340 may be joined to a top-side wrist stretch band 330 that may in turn be joined to the inner fabric layer 280.

The top-side wrist stretch band 330 may be made of a suitably elastic material or fabric of the type detailed previously, and may be joined to the metallic-mesh layer and to the fabric layer by any suitable means such as, but not limited to, stitching, gluing, welding, stapling or some combination thereof.

In a preferred embodiment, the top-side inner mesh 340 may be joined to the top-side inner fabric-layer 280 only in a vicinity of the fingertip regions 240 by fingertip stitches 235. Similarly, the top-side wrist stretch band 330 that is attached to the top-side inner mesh 340 may be attached to the top-side inner fabric-layer 280 only in a vicinity of the wrist region 270 by palm-side wrist-stitches 265. The fingertip and wrist-stitches 235 and 235 may all be made using a suitable sewing thread as detailed above for the reasons detailed above.

As seen clearly in FIG. 6B, peripheral stiches 345 may join all four fabric layers, i.e., the palm-side, inner and outer layers 285 and 290, and the top-side, inner and outer layers 280 and 275. These four layers may, for instance, be joined at their periphery for the entire glove except the glove cuff in the vicinity of the wrist region 270. In the wrist region, palm-side cuff-stiches 315 may join the palm-side, inner and outer fabric-layers 285 and 290, while top-side cuff-stiches 320 may join the top-side, inner and outer fabric-layers 280 and 275. In this way an inlet may be created so that a hand may be inserted into the glove.

In yet a further preferred embodiment of the invention, palm-side fingertip stitches 235 or top-side fingertip stitches 235 or both may be eliminated, and the peripheral stiches 345 used for the limited anchoring of the palm-and-finger mesh 245 and the top-side mesh 340 in the vicinity of the fingertip regions 240.

FIG. 6D shows a schematic, close up, plan view of a portion of metallic mesh. As shown in FIG. 6D, the rectangular, metallic mesh 355 may be square, and may have a plurality of weft threads 160 interwoven with a plurality of warp threads 155. An relevant dimension in a metallic mesh when used for puncture resistance may be the largest space between fibers 350 as this may be indicative of the size of a needle, or other sharp point, that may penetrate the material.

Interlacing of the weft threads 160 and the warp threads 155 may, for instance, be accomplished by a variety of techniques such as, but not limited to, weaving, knitting, warp knitting, weft knitting and platting or a combination thereof. With a woven deformable mesh 355, a variety of flexibilities may be obtained by techniques such as, but not limited to, floating warp threads over a plurality of weft threads. For use in protective garments, the threads may typically be made of a metal alloy such as, but not limited to, a stainless steel alloy. The diameter of the fibers are typically in a range of 0.03 to 0.20 mm in diameter, and the mesh apertures, as measured by the largest space between fibers 350, are typically in a range of 0.05 mm to 0.45 mm. Meshes are typically square, but may be rectangular and even parallelograms.

The threads may be cylindrical or they may be flattened into tapes, or partly flatted. In addition to metal alloys, the threads may also be made of metals such as, but not limited to copper, tungsten, titanium; natural or synthetic fibers such as, but not limited to, cotton, jute, carbon fibers, Kevlar™, Spandex™ or some combination thereof. Elasticized fibers may, for instance, be used in conjunction other fibers to impart a degree of elasticity to the flexible mesh. The fibers may be coated with materials such as, but not limited to, Teflon™ to alter their surface properties such as, but not limited to, their coefficient of friction or their conductivity of electricity or heat. The metallic mesh 355 may also include piezoelectric fibers as a means of providing electrically controlled shape or shape change.

In a preferred embodiment, the rectangular, metallic mesh 355 may be square and may be constructed so that the largest space between fibers 350 is less than or equal to 0.20 mm, as this is approximately the outside diameter of a 33 gauge hypodermic needle, which is the smallest hypodermic needle currently in common use.

FIG. 7A shows a schematic plan view of a palm side of a stretched mesh safety glove of a further preferred embodiment of the invention present invention, and FIG. 7B shows a schematic cross-sectional view on BB of the same embodiment.

In this further preferred embodiment of the invention, the palm-side, palm-and-finger, metallic-mesh layer 245 extends down to the cuff, creating a region of region of overlapping mesh 205 that may cover a user's palm. This region of overlapping mesh 205 may provide additional stab and puncture protection in the palm region, which is the region that is typically most susceptible to such injury.

The extended palm-side, palm-and-finger, metallic-mesh layer 245 may be joined to the palm-side, inner fabric-layer 285 via a palm-side wrist stretch band 260 in a vicinity of the wrist region 270, and via fingertip stitches 235 in a vicinity of the fingertip regions 240.

As in the previously detailed embodiment, the palm-side, thumb-and-palm metallic-mesh layer 215 may be joined to the palm-side, inner fabric-layer 285 by thumb-tip stitches 225 in a region of the thumb-tip region 220, and via an palm-side, upper wrist stretch-band 260 at the glove cuff in a vicinity of the wrist region 270. The thumb-and-palm, mesh 215 may also be joined to the palm-side, palm-and-finger, metallic-mesh layer 245 via a palm-side, mid-hand, stretch-band 250 in a vicinity of a top of the palm.

The arrangement of having the meshes joined to the glove via elastic fabric may mean that when a glove wearer clenches their first, or holds on to an object, the elastic stretch-bands stretch, allowing the mesh layers to move slightly with respect to each other and to the fabric layers. When the hand is release or straightened out, the stretch bands contract, pulling the meshes back to their starting point. As the meshes may be under tension throughout the grasping operation, they may be prevented from, or be less susceptible, to crinkling, i.e., of the metal mesh bending irrecoverably.

One of ordinary skill in the art will, however, appreciate from examining FIG. 7B, that the amount of stitching may be reduced. For instance, the peripheral stiches 345 may be used to replace the fingertip stitches 235 in the vicinity of the palm-side, palm-and-finger, metallic-mesh layer 245.

Similarly the palm-side, upper wrist stretch-band 260 and the palm-side wrist stretch band 260 may be a single piece of elasticized fabric forming a single wrist stretch-band. In such an instance, the palm-side wrist-stitches 265 and the palm-side, lower, wrist-stitches 365 may be combined into one set of stiches.

FIG. 8A shows a cutting pattern of one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8B shows the composite palm mesh formed when the meshes cut out to the pattern shown in FIG. 8A are overlaid and ready for insertion into a glove.

As shown in FIG. 8A, the palm-side, palm-and-finger, metallic-mesh layer 245 may be cut from a sheet of square or rectangular metal mesh. In laying out the pattern a first wrist-end glove line 375 of the palm-side, palm-and-finger, metallic-mesh layer 245 may be oriented at a first cutting angle 380 with respect to a first mesh horizontal-fiber direction 370. The first cutting angle 380 may for instance, be in a range of 11+/−5 degrees as this angle may lead to both an economical pattern layout and to a glove that may have an overlapping mesh alignment that may provide additional protection against puncture and cutting.

An inverted pattern 405 of the palm-side, thumb-and-palm metallic-mesh layer 215 may also be cut from the same sheet of square or rectangular metal mesh. In laying out the inverted pattern 405 a second wrist-end glove line 395 may be oriented at a second cutting angle 385 with respect to the second mesh horizontal-fiber direction 410. In a preferred embodiment the second cutting angle 385 may, for instance, be equal to the cutting angle 380 and may for instance, be in a range of 11+/−5 degrees as this angle may, as described previously, lead to both an economical pattern layout and to a glove that may have an overlapping mesh alignment that may provide additional protection against puncture and cutting.

FIG. 8B shows the palm-side, palm-and-finger, metallic-mesh layer 245 laid on top of the palm-side, thumb-and-palm metallic-mesh layer 215 with the first wrist-end glove line 375 placed coincident with the second wrist-end glove line 395. With this arrangement, there may be an off-set angle 415 between the second mesh horizontal-fiber direction 410 of the palm-side, thumb-and-palm metallic-mesh layer 215 and the first mesh horizontal-fiber direction 370 of the palm-side, palm-and-finger, metallic-mesh layer 245.

In a preferred embodiment, the off-set angle 415 may be in a range of 22.5+/−5 degrees.

This angle is specified as it may provide the most effective reduction in average mesh size that is independent of relative positioning of the top and bottom mesh, as may be shown by an assessment of moire patterns produced by the overlapping grids as their relative orientation is adjusted. This arrangement may, therefore, achieve a maximum improved resistance to puncture by sharp objects that may be consistent with manufacturing techniques having adequate process latitude.

One of ordinary skill in the art will, however, appreciate that an off-set angle 408 within this range may be produced by a variety of different cutting patterns, and that what is presented here is merely one specific method of arriving at an end product having the off-set angle 4158 of the overlapping grids to be within the desired range of 22.5+/−5 degrees, and more preferably of 22.5+/−1 degree.

FIG. 9A shows a side view and FIG. 9B shows a front view, of an exemplary protective garment 400 for covering a hinged-type joint, of the present invention.

In the views of FIG. 9, the exemplary hinged-type joint is a knee that flexes when line AB moves anti-clockwise with respect to line BC.

The protective garment 400 may have three parts. There may, for instance, be an upper tubular support 420 that may be made of a flexible fabric and may be shaped and sized to fit a human lower thigh 465. The protective garment 400 may be available in a range of sizes suitable for fitting the range of sizes of human limbs. There may also be a lower tubular support 435 that may be made of the same, or similar, flexible fabric, and may be shaped and sized to fit a human upper shin 440.

The third part of the protective garment 400 may be a protected region 445, that may, for instance, be partially attached to the upper and lower tubular supports and may be situated to cover the front portion of the hinge-type joint, i.e., the patella in the example of the knee joint shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B.

In a preferred embodiment, the protected region 445 may consist of a layer of ayer of flexible metallic mesh 450 sandwiched between an inner flexible fabric layer 455 and an outer flexible fabric layer 460.

The upper and lower tubular supports may each be attached to the appropriate section of the protected region 445, and may the tubular supports may constitute the inner flexible fabric layer 455 of the protective sandwich.

In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the upper and lower tubular supports may, for instance, be joined together. The joining may be such that all, or a portion of an upper end 425 of the lower tubular support 435 may be joined to all, or a portion of a lower end 430 of the upper tubular support.

In a preferred embodiment, the flexible fabric of the upper and lower layers, and the upper and lower tubular supports, may include some percentage of elasticized fibers to create a flexible, stretchable material. The flexible fabric may, for instance, be woven from threads such as, but not limited to, cotton, nylon, rayon, polyester, silk, wool, acrylic or metal, or some combination thereof. This may also include some stretchable fibers such as, but not limited to, natural latex, Spandex™—a polyurethane-polyurea copolymer, or some combination thereof.

FIG. 10A shows a plan view of another preferred embodiment of a protective garment for covering a hinged-type joint of the present invention, prior to being worn and FIG. 10B shows a cross-sectional view of the protective portion of the garment.

The garment may have a left extension piece 470 that may have a first part of a joining mechanism 495 attached to its front surface, and a right extension piece 485 with a second part of a joining mechanism 490 attached to its lower surface. By wrapping the upper, left extension piece 470 over the lower thigh and then wrapping the upper, right extension piece 485 over the lower thigh and the upper, left extension piece 470, the joining mechanism may engage and form an upper tubular support.

Similarly, the garment may haves a lower left extension piece 505 that may have a joining mechanism 495 attached to its front surface, and a lower right extension piece 515 with a second part of the joining mechanism 490 attached to its lower surface. By wrapping the lower, left extension piece 505 over the upper shin and then wrapping the lower, right extension piece 515 over the upper shin and the lower, left extension piece 505, the joining mechanism may engage and form a lower tubular support.

A protected region 445 may include an upper stretchable piece 480 and a lower lower stretchable piece 510. The upper stretchable piece 480 may, for instance, be attached at one end by a fixed connector 520 to the layer of flexible metallic mesh 450, and at its opposite end to the inner and outer flexible fabric layers 455/460 by another fixed connector 520.

The lower elastic piece 510 may be attached by a fixed connector 520, to the other end of layer of flexible metallic mesh 450. The lower elastic piece 510 may also be attached to the inner and outer flexible fabric layers 460, 455 by a fixing mechanism 475.

The fixing mechanisms 475 may, for instance, be an adhesive or stitching or some combination thereof.

In this way, the combination of the layer of flexible metallic mesh 450 and the upper elastic piece 480 and lower elastic piece 510 may be sandwiched between the inner and outer flexible fabric layers. In this way, the layer of flexible metallic mesh 450 may be restored towards its original position after the protected region 135 is flexed, thereby helping prevent or reduce any tendency of the layer of flexible metallic mesh 540 to crinkle or otherwise maintain a deformed state.

The inner flexible fabric layer 455 may, in further alternate embodiments, take the form detailed in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, i.e., it may only be attached by elastic pieces at one end, the metal mesh may be regular cut or bias cut, there may be two or more layers, and the multiple layer may be overlaid so that the direction of warp fibers are angled at an angle of 22.5+/1 5 degrees, or some combination thereof. Each of the arrangements may provide some or all of the advantages detailed above. The metal mesh may have the composition and construction as detailed above.

In further embodiments of the invention, the protected region 445 may encompass the entire protective garment. The upper and lower tubular elements may be formed by a single piece of fabric that preferably has a cut out or notched region located at the rear of the knee to accommodate full flexure of the joint.

The cutout region may further include a lighter more stretchable fabric than used on the rest of the garment.

Although the examples above have been described with reference to the knee, one of ordinary skill in the art of garment construction will, however, appreciate that the concepts and designs described above may readily be adapted to accommodate any hinge-type joint such as, but not limited to, an elbow joint.

Although this invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of illustration and that numerous changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A protective material, comprising: an outer layer of fabric;an inner layer of fabric;an first elastic piece, sandwiched between said inner and outer layers of fabric, and fixedly joined in a vicinity of an upper end to an upper end of said inner and outer layers of fabric; anda first metallic mesh sandwiched between said inner and outer layers of fabric and fixedly joined a vicinity of an upper end to a lower end of said first elastic piece.

2. The protective material of claim 1 wherein said first metallic mesh is fixedly joined in a vicinity of a lower end to a lower end of said inner and outer fabric layers.

3. The protective material of claim 1 further comprising a second elastic piece and wherein said first metallic mesh is fixedly joined in a vicinity of a vicinity of a lower end to an upper end of said second elastic piece, and wherein said second elastic piece is fixedly connected to a lower end of said inner and outer layers of fabric in a vicinity of a lower end of said outer layers of fabric.

4. The protective material of claim 3 wherein said first metallic mesh is a bias cut piece of material.

5. The protective material of claim 3 comprising a second metallic mesh adjacent to said first metallic mesh and wherein said second metallic mesh is fixedly joined in a vicinity of an upper end to a lower end of said first elastic piece and is fixedly joined in a vicinity of a lower end to an upper end of said second elastic piece.

6. The protective material of claim 5 wherein said metallic meshes are woven mesh, woven from stainless steel fiber having a diameter of less than 0.20 mm and woven such that a largest space between said fibers is less than 0.20 mm.

7. The protective material of claim 6 wherein both said first and second metallic mesh are bias cut.

8. The protective material of claim 6 wherein said first and second metallic meshes are overlaid such that said first metallic mesh has a warp-fiber direction oriented at an angle of 22.5+/−5 degrees with respect to a warp-fiber direction of said second metallic mesh.

9. A protective garment comprising the protective material of claim 7.

10. A protective garment comprising the protective material of claim 8.

11. The protective garment of claim 9, wherein said protective garment is a protective glove.

12. The protective garment of claim 9, wherein said protective garment is a garment for covering a hinged-type joint.

13. A stretched-mesh protective glove, comprising: a palm-side, inner fabric-layer;a palm-side, outer fabric-layer substantially the same size and shape as said palm-side,inner fabric-layer and wherein both said inner and outer palm-side fabric-layers are fixedly joined along at least a portion of their peripheries; anda palm-side inner metallic-mesh layer, sandwiched between said inner and outer palm layers, said palm-side inner metallic mesh layer comprising: a palm-side, thumb-and-palm, metallic-mesh layer;a palm-side, palm-and-finger, metallic-mesh layer;a palm-side, mid-hand, stretch-band joining said palm-side, thumb-and palm,metallic-mesh layer to said palm-side, palm-and-finger, metallic-mesh layer;a palm-side, wrist stretch-band joining said palm-side, thumb-and-palm, metallic-mesh layer to said palm-side, inner fabric-layer in a vicinity of a wrist region; andwherein said palm-side, thumb-and-palm, metallic-mesh layer is joined to said palm-side, inner fabric-layer in a thumb-tip region, and said palm-side, palm-and-finger, metallic-mesh layer is joined to said palm-side, inner fabric-layer in at least one fingertip region.

14. The stretched mesh protective glove of claim 13 further comprising: thumb-tip stitches joining said palm-side, inner fabric-layer to said palm-side, thumb-and-palm, metallic-mesh layer;fingertip stitches joining said palm-side, palm-and-finger, metallic-mesh layer to said palm-side, inner fabric-layer;palm stitches joining said palm-side, mid-hand, stretch-band to said palm-side, palm-and-finger, metallic-mesh layer; andpalm-side wrist-stitches joining said palm-side, mid-hand, stretch-band to said palm-side, inner fabric-layer.

15. A protective garment for covering a hinged-type joint, comprising: an upper tubular support made of a flexible fabric and shaped and sized to fit a human lower thigh;a lower tubular support made of said flexible fabric, shaped to fit a human upper shin and joined at an upper end of said lower tubular support to a lower end of said upper tubular support; anda protected region, comprising a sandwich of an inner flexible fabric layer and an outer flexible fabric layer and a layer of flexible metallic mesh sandwiched between said inner and outer fabric layers.

16. The protective garment of claim 15 wherein said protected region further comprises an upper layer of flexible metallic mesh and a lower layer of flexible metallic mesh sandwiched between said inner and outer fabric layers.

17. The protective garment of claim 16 wherein said upper tubular support and said lower tubular support comprise said inner flexible fabric layer.