Patent Application
20120174296
Protective or hazardous duty garments are used in a variety of industries and settings to protect the wearer from adverse conditions such as heat, flames, smoke, cold, sharp objects, chemicals, liquids, vapors, fumes and the like. Many such garments are worn overtop of street clothes or work garments, for example, one-piece chemical and/or biological protective garments with connectable hood and/or face shield, gloves, booties, etc. Protective garments worn over the outermost layer make the wearer noticeable to an observer.
For secret service, military, FBI, or other government and/or undercover personnel, it may be desirable to wear a chemical and/or biological protective garment that fits under street clothes and/or a jacket such that it is undetectable to an observer. The protective garment may be worn as a precautionary measure and additional pieces such as a hood and/or face shield, breathing apparatus, and/or gloves may be donned quickly if needed.
In one aspect, two-piece protective garments are disclosed that provide protection against chemical and/or biochemical hazards. The protective garments include a top part having a body portion and sleeves, the body portion having a vapor skirt that is self-tightenable towards the torso of a wearer, and a bottom part having a fold-over waistband extension, a waistband, a seat portion, and left and right leg portions, the fold-over waistband extension being foldable over the waistband to reveal a backside of the fold-over waistband extension when the bottom part is worn by the wearer. When the top and bottom parts are worn by the wearer, the vapor skirt is positioned against the backside of the fold-over waistband and is self-tightened thereagainst as a seal that is generally impermeable to gases. In one embodiment, the backside of the fold-over waistband includes a non-slip and/or grippable surface, coating, or material to enhance the seal between the vapor skirt and the fold-over waistband extension.
The protective garment may be a multi-purpose protective garment that may be worn in a variety of configurations. In one embodiment, the top part and bottom part are wearable between the undergarments of a wearer and a layer of clothes of the wearer with the layer of clothes fully covering the top and bottom parts of the protective garment such that they are undetectable by an observer. In another embodiment, the top and bottom parts are wearable over a layer of clothing of the wearer. In another embodiment, the top and bottom parts are integrally formed into other clothing such that when the clothing is worn the top and bottom part are undetectable by an observer. In yet another embodiment, at least one of the top and bottom parts is a releasably couplable liner couplable to an outer garment.
The protective garments may include a variety of other features such as a hood that may be stowable, a tail, a vapor resistant fly, integral foot coverings, and combinations thereof.
The following detailed description will illustrate the general principles of the invention, examples of which are additionally illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements.
Protective garments, preferably a multi-purpose two-piece garment, generally identified as garment 10 in
Referring to
The chemical and/or biochemical resistant material for construction of the garment 10 desirably prevents or reduces the introduction of harmful substances or chemicals into the garment. Such harmful substances may include liquids (including chemical warfare agents, biological warfare agents and toxic industrial chemicals), vapors and aerosols (including chemical warfare agents and toxic industrial chemicals), and contaminated particulates (such as biological warfare agents). Examples of chemical warfare agents include soman (GD) nerve agent and distilled mustard (HD) blister agent. Examples of toxic industrial chemicals include acrolein (liquid), acrylonitrile (liquid), ammonia (gas), chlorine (gas), and dimethyl sulfate (liquid).
In one embodiment, the chemical and/or biochemical resistant material may be made of or include polypetrafluroethylene (PTFE) (such as GORE-TEX® or CROSSTECH® materials), polyurethane or polyurethane-based materials, neoprene or neoprene-based materials, cross-linked polymers, polyamid, or GORE® CHEMPAK® materials, sold by W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. including GORE® CHEMPAK® Ultra Barrier Material, GORE® CHEMPAK® Selectively Permeable Material, or GORE® CHEMPAK® Sorptive Material. Besides the materials outlined above, the garment 10 can be made of nearly any material that is generally impermeable to a particular harmful material. In general, since gases typically are able to permeate many materials, if the garment 10 is able to block gases, it may similarly be able to block other undesirable materials, such as vapors or aerosols. In one embodiment, the chemical and/or biochemical resistant material is non-stretchy.
In one embodiment, the chemical and/or biochemical resistant material is preferably GORE® CHEMPAK® Ultra Barrier Material, which is a tri-laminate having a layer that is generally fluid/gas impermeable layer to form a barrier layer which provides the majority of the resistance of the garment 10 to gas influx, such as PTFE. The other layers of the tri-laminate may be made of a blend of aramid, para-aramid and carbon fibers. An outer layer may be a woven material that consists of about 95% aramid material, about 3% para-aramid material and about 2% carbon, for example, NOMEX® material sold by E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Company of Wilmington, Del., and more particularly may be NOMEX® 3A material. An inner layer may be made of knitted material (such as NOMEX®) to provide comfort to the wearer and provide protection to the intermediate layer. The outer layer, PTFE, and inner layer may all be laminated together to form a single integral sheet of material. Thus, the chemical and/or biochemical resistant material may be a chemical/biological protective fabric including a continuous fluoropolymer barrier film 34 laminated between outer and inner aramid textiles.
In one embodiment, the chemical and/or biochemical resistant material includes only two layers of material rather than being a tri-laminate. Having two layers rather than three provides a lighter weight material. The two layer material preferably includes thin, durable, high-strength layer that is generally fluid/gas impermeable to form a barrier layer which provides a majority of the chemical resistance of the garment 10. In one embodiment, the thin, durable, high strength layer is a PTFE film. The PTFE film is bonded to a layer of lightweight textiles. A lighter weight chemical and/or biochemical resistant material is preferred for protective garments 10, since the garment 10 is designed to be worn under other garments, such as street clothes, for extended periods of time.
Suitable chemical and/or biochemical resistant materials are those that meet the Chem/Bio Option of the NFPA 1971 standards (the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference). The Chem/Bio Option provides specifications that protective ensembles must meet in order to be certified thereunder. For example, the garment must pass a Man In Simulant Test (“MIST”, sometimes referred to as a “shower test”), which includes introducing the garment into a chamber filled with a vaporized test material (such as oil of wintergreen), placing an absorbent padding on the wearer and/or inside the garment, and after exposure, typically about a twenty minute exposure, to the vaporized oil of wintergreen, the absorbent pads are removed and analyzed to determine how much of the vaporized test material they have absorbed. The standards for the MIST test are available as the ASTM F 1359 shower test. The protective garment 10 may provide a garment/ensemble which passes the MIST.
The two-piece protective garment 10 is closer fitting than a one-piece protective suit that is worn over the wearer's clothes or other garments as an outer layer. The two-piece protective garment 10 is constructed with the top part 12 and bottom part 14 such that they are more similar in fit to regular street clothes such that the protective garment 10 can be worn underneath other garments. In one embodiment, the protective garment 10 may have a stretchy quality that enhances the fit to the wearer thereby making the garment have a closer fit. Being two pieces and constructed for chemical and/or biochemical protection provides a unique challenge in constructing the protective garment 10 to have a air-tight, vapor-tight, and/or moisture-tight seal where the two pieces join, yet allowing the suit to be movable with the wearer. The two-piece protective garment 10, as shown in
Coat
In
Vapor Skirt
Garment 10, as shown on coat 13 of
In particular, still referring to
When the coat 13 is opened (i.e. the left front panel 26 is not attached to the right front panel 28 and the panels 26, 28 are moved apart, and/or when the coat 13 is not being worn), the elastic material 62 retracts to its unstressed or un-deformed shape, thereby gathering the material of the vapor skirt 60. The elastic material 62 may stretch between about 15%-75% (about 50%, in one case) when the coat 13 moves from its open position to its closed position, and returns to its original state when the stretching forces are removed. It may be desired to configure the elastic material 62 so that when the coat 13 is closed and the vapor skirt 60 is deployed, the vapor skirt 60 is stretched smooth and flat, with little or no bunching at or adjacent to the elastic material 62 so that the vapor skirt 60 forms a good and relatively tight seal with the wearer. If there is too much elastic material 62 (or the elastic material 62 is too strongly elastic), then the vapor skirt 60 will not be pulled tight and will remained bunched up at or adjacent to the elastic material 62 when the vapor skirt 60 is employed. Conversely, if there is not enough elastic material 62 (or the elastic material 62 is too weakly elastic) the vapor skirt 60 may not be about to be stretched about a wearer. Accordingly, the amount and strength of the elastic material 62 may be selected to ensure a proper seal is formed with wearers of a variety of sizes and shapes.
In the embodiment of
The seal formed by the vapor skirt 60 can help prevent the introduction of harmful materials into the torso cavity of the protective garment 10. Such harmful materials may include liquids (including chemical warfare agents, biological warfare agents and toxic industrial chemicals), vapors and aerosols (including chemical warfare agents and toxic industrial chemicals), and contaminated particulates (such as biological warfare agents). Examples of chemical warfare agents include soman (GD) nerve agent and distilled mustard (HD) blister agent. Examples of toxic industrial chemicals include acrolein (liquid), acrylonitrile (liquid), ammonia (gas), chlorine (gas), and dimethyl sulfate (liquid). However, it should be understood that the vapor skirt 60 can be utilized to prevent or minimize the introduction of nearly any desired material, gas, fluid, liquid, particulate solids, etc. into the protective garment 10, including smoke, water vapor, liquid water, etc.
Cuffs
The coat 13, as shown in
In one embodiment, as shown in
In another embodiment, the cuffs 35 and/or the sleeves 18 may include releasable attachment members for connecting gloves (not shown) to the coat 13. The gloves may cover the hands and wrists of a wearer and provide chemical/biochemical protection.
Hood
Still referring to
In one embodiment, as shown in
In one embodiment, the hood 20 may be removeably attachable to the body portion 16 and when disconnected therefrom may be stowed in an accessible receptacle to the wearer. In one embodiment, the receptacle may be a pocket on the body portion or any other garment worn by the wearer. The hood 20 may include a releasable attachment member (not shown) that may be the same as or different from the other releasable attachment members used on other aspects of the garment 10. The body portion 16 proximate the neck includes a mating releasable attachment member (not shown) that may be the same as or different from the other releasable attachment members used on other aspects of the garment 10 for mating with the releasable attachment member on the hood 20. However, to maintain the protective quality of the garment 10, the hood 20 and the body portion 16 need to provide a air-tight, vapor-tight, and/or moisture-tight barrier. In one embodiment, the releasable attachment member and the mating releasable attachment member may be a zipper such as a vapor resistant zipper.
The zipper is preferably an air-tight, vapor-tight, and/or moisture-tight closure when closed, i.e., the connecting mechanism itself as its two sides are mated together form vapor-tight, and/or moisture-tight connections with one another. In one embodiment, the zipper includes interlocking teeth, “press-to-close” strips (i.e., a seal analogous to those on ZIPLOC® plastic bags), or slide-to-close strips (similar to those in U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,795, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). The zipper may be a watertight zipper, such as those commercially available from YKK Corporation under the trademarks Aquaseal® and Aquaguard® and/or described in YKK Corporation's U.S. Pat. No. 7,591,051, No. 7,500,291, and No. 7,337,506, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Aquaseal® zippers are smooth and flexible and offer protection from water as a result of a film-coated tape and a zip element mechanism that seals the zipper completely. The zippers are available in various sizes and formats (such as rubber or polyurethane tape, opened-end or closed-end).
If the body portion 16 comprises a left front panel 26 and a right front panel 28 that are joinable, the fastener(s) 34 that releasably attach the two panels 26, 28 together should provide an air-tight, vapor-tight, and/or moisture-tight barrier. In one embodiment, fastener 34 is a vapor tight zipper such as those just described. The fastener 34 may extend from the body portion 16 into the hood 20. Thus, when the hood 20 is deployed, the fastener 34 may be fully closed providing protection that extends from the waist up to the face, to a level where the hood 20 can form a vapor/liquid resistant seal with a SCBA facemask and/or a respiratory hood. When the hood is not deployed, the fastener halves may not be fully connected, and when the coat is donned, may be connected or closed up to a spot just below the chin or a point where coat 13 can be fully covered by an outer garment so that coat 13 is undetectable to an observer.
Hood 20 may include a face plate opening 44 in the hood 20 with a rubber seal 46 located thereabout. The face plate opening 44 is configured to sealingly engage a face plate/mask of a wearer, such as a mask associated with a self-contained breathing apparatus (“SCBA”) or respirator. In this manner, when the garment 10 is worn, it can form a completely sealed arrangement to seal out the ambient environment of the garment.
The hood 20 in its deployed position passes the “shower test” of the Emergency Medical Garment (EMS) standard of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) which test requires a wearer's torso to be perfectly dry after being subjected to a shower of surfactant water from all directions during a 20 minute exposure.
Trousers
In
Trousers 15 include a waistband 72 that fits the wearer about the waist in or about in the general position for most trousers. Extending from the waistband 72, away from the legs 22, is a fold-over waistband extension 70. The waistband extension 70 folds outwardly and downwardly over the waistband 72 to reveal a backside 74 thereof that is available for engagement with the vapor skirt 60 of the top part 12 of the protective garment 10 to provide an air-tight, vapor-tight, and/or moisture-tight barrier. The backside 74 may include a non-slip and/or grippable surface, coating, or material to enhance the seal between the top part 12 and the bottom part 14. The backside 74 may prevent or reduce the possibility of the vapor skirt 60 sliding upward, and potentially off of, the waistband extension. The backside 74 may also provide a more uniform surface for mating with the vapor skirt 60 for a better seal.
Suitable non-limiting examples of non-slip and/or grippable surfaces, coatings, or material to enhance the seal include silicone beading, elasticized silicone coated material, and/or rubbers or other similar polymers, including printed rubber or printed polymers.
The protective garment 10 with the top part 12 mated with the bottom part 14, as shown in
In one embodiment, the waistband extension 70 is made from or includes a stretchable material such that the waistband extension 70 may be a continuous piece of material extending about the waistband 72 of the trouser 15. In this manner, the waistband extension 70 provides an improved seal. In another embodiment, the waistband 72 and the waistband extension 70 are large enough to fit over the wearer's thighs and hips without being stretchable. The waistband 72 may be cinchable to tighten the garment 10 against the waist of the wearer. The waistband 72 may include a cinching mechanism (not shown) therein. In one embodiment, the cinching mechanism may be positioned at the center front of the waistband 72. In another embodiment, the cinching mechanism may be positioned at one or both of the left and right sides of the waistband 72. The cinching mechanism may be a gusset, drawstring, or any other mechanism that can reduce the diameter of the waistband 72 and hold the waistband 72 securely in the reduced diameter position.
As shown in
For another embodiment, the trousers merely have the non-slip and/or grippable surface, coating and/or material on the outer surface of a more traditional waistband against which the vapor shirt 60 will form an air-tight, vapor-tight, and/or moisture-tight barrier.
In another embodiment, the waistband extension 70 may have the non-slip and/or grippable surface, coating and/or material on both sides thereof to provide options to the wearer to leave the waistband extension 70 up instead of folding it over.
Tail
Now referring to
The tail 90 is generally a flap of material extending, in one embodiment as shown in
Vapor Resistant Fly
The trousers may include a vapor resistant fly 80 as illustrated in
As shown in
The vapor resistant closure may be a vapor resistant zipper and may include a flap 82 that covers the zipper when in the zipped position. The zipper is preferably an air-tight, vapor-tight, and/or moisture-tight closure when closed, i.e., the connecting mechanism itself as its two sides are mated together forming vapor-tight, and/or moisture-tight connections with one another. In one embodiment, the zipper includes interlocking teeth, “press-to-close” strips (i.e., a seal analogous to those on ZIPLOC® plastic bags), or slide-to-close strips (similar to those in U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,795, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). The zipper may be a watertight zipper, such as those commercially available from YKK Corporation under the trademarks Aquaseal® and Aquaguard® and/or described in YKK Corporation's U.S. Pat. No. 7,591,051, No. 7,500,291, and No. 7,337,506, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Aquaseal® zippers are smooth and flexible and offer protection from water as a result of a film-coated tape and a zip element mechanism that seals the zipper completely. The zippers are available in various sizes and formats (such as rubber or polyurethane tape, opened-end or closed-end).
The compressible body becomes compressed between the zipper and the underlying material when the vapor resistant zipper is closed. As such, the compressible body provides a secure air-tight, vapor-tight, and/or moisture-tight seal. In one embodiment, the compressible body is compressed at least 10% by volume or at least 5% by volume. The compressible body may be inserted after the zipper is partially closed, so that the zipper and underlying material amount will hold the compressible body in place for compression as the zipper is further closed. In another embodiment, the compressible body is connected to the underlying material, for example, by stitching and/or an adhesive.
The compressible body may be any suitable compressible material that can be compressed tightly between the zipper and the underlying material. A material that is itself generally impermeable to gases is preferred. The compressible body may be rubber such as solid natural rubber, synthetic rubber, open or closed cell sponge or foam rubber, composite rubber, or plastic. The compressible body may be or include neoprene, natural rubber, SBR, butyl rubber, butadiene, nitrile, EPDM, ECH, polystyrene, polyethylene, polypropylene, EVA, EMA, Metallocene Resin, Polyurethane, PVC, and blends thereof.
The seal provided by the vapor resistant zipper with the compressible body may be sufficiently air-tight/vapor-tight to meet and pass the NFPA Chem/Bio Option specifications described below.
Garment as Liner
In one embodiment, the protective garment 10 may include releasable attachment members 110, 111 as shown in
The releasable attachment members 110, 111 may be or include snaps, zippers, buttons, hook-and-look fastening material or the like and combinations thereof. The outer garment includes mating releasable attachment members 112 (
Depending on the application of the outer garment, the outer garments may include various layers that provide additional protective qualities to the resulting garment, different from the chemical and/or biochemical protection provided by the protective garment 10 that is now acting as a liner. The outer garment may provide various heat, moisture, chemical, and abrasion resistant qualities so that the garments can be used as a protective, hazardous duty, and/or firefighter garment. The outer garments may include various layers, as shown in
The garment may also include an optional inner liner or inner face cloth (not shown) located inside of (closer to the wearer when worn) and adjacent to the inner shell 124. The inner face cloth, which may be the innermost layer, can provide a comfortable surface for the wearer and protect the inner shell 124 and/or thermal liner from abrasion and wear. It should be understood that any number of layers, liners, and the like may be included and may be layered in various arrangements as desired, in which the various layers described herein are included, omitted, and/or rearranged.
The outer shell 120 may be made of or include a variety of materials, including a flame, heat and abrasion resistant material such as a compact weave of aramid fibers and/or polybenzamidazole fibers. Commercially available aramid materials include NOMEX® and KEVLAR® fibers (both trademarks of E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., Inc. of Wilmington, Del.), and commercially available polybenzamidazole fibers include PBI fibers (a trademark of PBI Performance Materials of Charlotte, N.C.). Thus, the outer shell 120 may be an aramid material, a blend of aramid materials, a polybenzamidazole material, a blend of aramid and polybenzamidazole materials, or other appropriate materials. If desired, the outer shell 120 may be coated with a polymer, such as a durable, water repellent finish (i.e. a perfluorohydrocarbon finish, such as TEFLON® finish sold by E. I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company of Wilmington, Del.). The materials of the outer shell 120 may have a weight of, for example, between about five and about ten oz/yd2.
The thermal liner 122 and/or inner shell 124 may be generally coextensive with the outer shell 120, or spaced slightly inwardly from the outer edges of the outer shell 120 (i.e., spaced slightly inwardly from the upper ends of the waist and from the lower edge of the garment) to provide moisture and thermal protection throughout the garment. The optional thermal liner 122 may be made of nearly any suitable material that provides sufficient thermal insulation. In one embodiment, the thermal liner 122 may constitute or include a relatively thick (i.e. between about 1/16″- 3/16″) batting, felt or needled non-woven bulk or batting material. The bulk material can also take the form of one or two (or more) layers of E-89® spunlace material made of a combination of NOMEX® and KEVLAR® material. The bulk material can also, or instead, include aramid fiber batting (such as NOMEX® batting), aramid needlepunch material, an aramid non-woven material, an aramid blend needlepunch material, an aramid blend batting material, an aramid blend non-woven material, foam (either open cell or closed cell), or other suitably thermally insulating materials. The bulk material may trap air and possess sufficient loft to provide thermal resistance to the garment. In one embodiment, the thermal liner 122 may have a thermal protective performance (“TPP”) of at least about twenty, and in another embodiment, at least about thirty-five. Moreover, in one embodiment, the garment as a whole has a TPP of at least about twenty, and in another embodiment has a TPP of at least about thirty-five.
The inner shell 124 may be a gas barrier, vapor barrier, and/or moisture barrier. In one embodiment, the inner shell 124 may include a semi-permeable (selectively permeable) or impermeable membrane material. The selectively permeable membrane material may be generally water vapor permeable but generally impermeable to liquid moisture. The membrane material may be made of or include expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (“PTFE”) such as GORE-TEX or CROSSTECH materials (both of which are trademarks of W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. of Newark, Del.), polyurethane-based materials, neoprene-based materials, cross-linked polymers, polyamid, GORE® CHEMPAK® materials, sold by W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. including GORE® CHEMPAK® Ultra Barrier Material, GORE® CHEMPAK® Selectively Permeable Material, or GORE® CHEMPAK® Sorptive Material, or other materials.
The semi-permeable membrane material may have microscopic openings that permit moisture vapor (such as water vapor) to pass therethrough, but block liquids (such as liquid water) from passing therethrough. The semi-permeable membrane material may be made of a microporous material that is either hydrophilic, hydrophobic, or somewhere in between. The semi-permeable membrane material may also be monolithic and may allow moisture vapor transmission therethrough by molecular diffusion. The semi-permeable membrane material may also be a combination of microporous and monolithic materials (known as a bicomponent moisture barrier), in which the microporous or monolithic materials are layered or intertwined.
In one embodiment, the semi-permeable membrane material, optionally, may be bonded, adhered or otherwise attached to a substrate (not shown). The substrate may be a flame and heat resistant material that provides structure and protection to the semi-permeable membrane material. The substrate may be or include aramid fibers similar to the aramid fibers of the outer shell 120, but may be thinner and lighter in weight. The substrate may be woven, non-woven, spunlace or other materials. If desired, and in certain embodiments, the inner shell 124 may lack a substrate, or may include a substrate on both sides of the semi-permeable membrane material.
The outer garment or the garment as a whole (i.e., outer garment with protective garment 10 as a liner), may meet the National Fire Protection Association (“NFPA”) 1971 standards for protective firefighting garments (“Protective Clothing for Structural Firefighting”), which are entirely incorporated by reference herein. The NFPA standards specify various minimum requirements for heat/flame resistance and tear strength. For example, in order to meet the NFPA standards, the garment must be able to resist igniting, burning, melting, dripping, separation and/or shrinking by more than 10% in any direction at a temperature of 500° F. for at least five minutes. Furthermore, in order to meet the NFPA standards, the combined layers of the garment must provide a thermal protective performance rating of at least thirty-five.
Although the invention is shown and described with respect to certain embodiments, it should be clear that modifications will occur to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the specification, and the present invention includes all such modifications.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/420,458, filed Dec. 7, 2010, the complete disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61420458 | Dec 2010 | US |
