WO2007099383A1

WO2007099383A1 - Ergonomic garment, particularly for sport and leisure, and method for manufacturing same

Info

Publication number: WO2007099383A1
Application number: PCT/IB2006/000438
Authority: WO
Inventors: Massimo Losio
Original assignee: Technogel Italia S.R.L.
Priority date: 2005-03-01
Filing date: 2006-03-01
Publication date: 2007-09-07
Also published as: ITVI20050057A1

Abstract

An ergonomic garment, particularly for sport and leisure uses. It comprises a base structure (2) at least partly formed from a fabric of natural or synthetic fibers, and at least one protective element (3), which is firmly attached thereto over a contact surface (6). The protective element (3) has at least one viscoelastic layer. The viscoelastic material of the protective element (3) penetrates at least partly the fabric of the base structure (2) while not extending beyond its outer face (4) or inner face (5), as appropriate, to form a monolithic assembly by chemical and/or mechanical bonding over the contact surface (6). Preferably, the viscoelastic material is a polyurethane gel having a defined shape. A method for making the above garment.

Description

ERGONOMIC GARMENT, PARTICULARLY FOR SPORT AND LEISURE, AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SAME

Field of the invention

The present invention finds application in the field of sport and leisure accessories, and particularly relates to an ergonomic garment.

The invention further relates to a method for making it.

Background of the invention

It is known that, during sport activities, sport practitioners often find themselves in discomfort situations, due to contact of parts of their bodies with the ground or other opponents. Furthermore in sports like sailing, skiing or motorcycling, in which an athlete moves at relatively high speeds, there is the need of protecting him or her from bad weather, namely wind, rain or snow.

Specific clothing solutions have been proposed to sportsmen to alleviate the above discomforts, which feature relatively soft inserts at contact areas. Therefore, ski suits are currently available which comprise shock absorbing inserts at the shoulders or knees, or cycling pants having a padded crotch. The inserts of such garments are usually made of neoprene, foams or the like.

One limit of such solutions is that these inserts are sewn or glued to fabric, whereby they are prone to tearing and breaking, especially due to the rough use of such garments.

In an attempt to obviate the above problems, garments have been proposed which comprise sewn or glued pockets having appropriate shapes, to be filled with gel.

One drawback of this prior art solution is that, should the containment pocket be damaged, the gel would unavoidably leak therefrom, and the garment would thereby become useless. i Furthermore, this solution does not allow full deformability of the fabric, which is still rigid at the insert. Therefore the garment cannot fit the user's body, which is a critical need in those activities in which such garment should closely fit the body for aerodynamic efficiency and performance improvement.

Summary of the Invention

The object of this invention is to overcome the above drawbacks, by providing a garment that is highly efficient and relatively cost-effective.

A particular object is to provide a garment that is ergonomic, i.e. easily adapted to various body conformations.

A further object is to provide a garment that is durable, even when subjected to cuts or tears at critical points.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a highly practical and easily repeatable method for making a garment.

These objects, as well as others that will be more apparent hereafter, are fulfilled by an ergonomic garment according to claim 1 , comprising a base structure which is at least partly formed from a fabric of natural or synthetic fibers, and has an outer face and an inner face, the latter at least partly facing a user body, and at least one protective element, which is firmly attached to said base structure over a contact surface, and comprises at least one viscoelastic layer, characterized in that the viscoelastic layer of the protective element is arranged to penetrate at least partly the fabric of the base structure, while not extending beyond the outer face or inner face, as appropriate, of the base structure, to form a monolithic assembly by chemical and/or mechanical bonding over the contact surface.

The provision of a monolithic seamless assembly provides the garment with high strength and durability. As is known, seams and glues are the most fragile areas of a garment, particularly when the latter is used in activities that involve specific efforts or movements. Conveniently, the fabric of fibers may be resilient, and the protective element to be attached to the base structure may be coextensively resilient to accommodate the deformations of the base structure.

Thanks to this particular configuration, the garment of the invention has a highly ergonomic construction, thanks to its being highly deformable and, as a result, easily adapted to different user body conformations. Furthermore, the comfort and aerodynamic properties of the garment are greatly increased.

Also, the garment will have high shock absorbing properties. Thus, it may be advantageously used in any sport activity that involves particular movements or particularly strong shocks against the ground or any other rigid structure and may be, for example a garment to be used by motorcyclists, such as a helmet, a jacket, or the like.

Preferably, the viscoelastic material may be a gel selected from polyurethane gels.

Thanks to these additional features, the garment of the invention will be highly resistant to stresses, and gel will not leak therefrom even when the fabric or the protective element is cut.

W Conveniently, the polyurethane gel may have a thermal conductivity of 0.04 ^mK to w_ w_

0.25 rnK _t preferably of about 0.09 ™K .

Thanks to this feature, the garment of the invention may be used in sport activities that are practiced in hardly accessible places and at extreme temperatures. It may be, for instance, a ski suit, a wet suit or the like.

In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, a method for making an ergonomic garment is proposed, as defined in claim 8, which comprises the following steps: providing a fabric of natural or synthetic fibers, that defines a base structure with an outer face and an inner face, the latter being designed to at least partly face a user body; providing a mold having an inner cavity of a predetermined shape, which corresponds to the external configuration of the protective element; opening the mold and introducing at least a portion of the fabric therein, to define a free surface on said base structure; thermostating it to a predetermined operating temperature; casting at least one layer of a viscoelastic material on said free surface and allowing it to at least partly penetrate the fabric of said base structure without extending beyond the outer face or inner face, as appropriate, of said base structure, to define a monolithic assembly; opening the mold and removing the finished monolithic assembly therefrom.

Thanks to the above sequence of steps of the method according to the invention, a garment can be obtained in a practical and easily repeatable manner. This will accordingly afford advantages in terms of production efficiency and cost- effectiveness.

Brief description of the drawings

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will be more apparent from the detailed description of a preferred, non-exclusive embodiment of a garment according to the invention, which is described as a non-limiting example with the help of the annexed drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an assembly view of a garment according to the invention; FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a detail of FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 3 is a cut away view of a detail of FIG. 2, as taken along a plane Ill-Ill; FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a detail of FIG. 3; Fig. 5 shows a flowchart of a method for making the garment of the invention.

Detailed description of a preferred embodiment

Referring to the above figures, the garment of the invention, generally designated with numeral 1 , may be a sports suit, a pair of shorts or a jacket, as shown in FIG. 1.

Garment 1 generally consists of a base structure 2, at least partly made of natural or synthetic fibers, with one or more protective element 3 attached thereto. These may be disposed in any position, such as on shoulders, elbows, or in the loin region, and generally on areas subjected to greater friction by external stress agents.

The base structure 2 may be made of cotton, wool, nylon, Lycra and the like fibers. A variety of layers may be attached thereto, e.g. having a transpiration, insulation or reinforcement function.

As is apparent, the base structure 2 includes, by its own nature, an outer face 4 and an inner face 5, the latter being designed to face the user of the garment 1. The protective elements 3 may be attached either to the inner face 5 or to the outer face 4, over a contact surface 6.

Members 3 are made of a viscoelastic material, preferably polyurethane gel. Suitably, this may have such physical and/or chemical properties as to have a defined shape at ambient temperature.

According to the invention, as shown in FIG. 4, the viscoelastic material of the protective element 3 is arranged to penetrate at least partly the fibers 7 of the fabric of the base structure 2, without extending beyond the inner face 5 thereof. The viscoelastic material is attached to the fabric by chemical and/or mechanical bonding between the parts in mutual contact.

The base structure 2 may include a waterproofing film 8, preferably a thermoplastic resin, between the fabric and the protective element 3.

If desired, the protective element 3 may be covered by a viscoelastic material retaining layer 9, preferably formed from the same fabric as the base structure 2.

In order to make the above garment, a method may be used, which comprises at least the following steps.

In a first step a) a base structure 2 is provided, which may also be pre-formed. Then, in a second step b) a mold is provided, having an inner cavity of a predetermined shape, which corresponds to the external configuration of the protective element 3. The first two steps are followed by a step c) in which the mold is opened and the fabric of the structure 2 is introduced therein, to define a free surface on which the member 3 will be formed.

As a matter of course, depending on the size of the fabric and on the protection to be provided, the mold size may vary, and either the whole fabric or a part of it will be laid thereon. As mentioned above, the protection 3 may be formed on the inner face 5 or outer face 4 of the structure 2.

Then, in step f), the mold is hermetically sealed and heated to a predetermined operating temperature, which may be in a range of 20 ⁰C to 80 ⁰C, and will preferably be of about 50 ⁰C. This temperature is maintained during the whole step of configuration and forming of the member 3.

Once the mold has reached its operating temperature, a step e) is performed in which the viscoelastic layer is cast on the above mentioned free surface. This is the step during which the viscoelastic material of the member 3 penetrates the fibers 7 and the parts are chemically and/or physically bonded together. As a result of this step, a monolithic assembly is formed from the structure 2 and the protective element 3.

Advantageously, the step e) may have a variable duration, from 10 sec to 20 min, depending on the size and shape of the protection to be formed.

In the last step f) the mold is opened and the finished monolithic assembly is removed therefrom, whereupon the workpiece may be possibly finished to remove any flash resulting from processing.

Suitably, the assembly may be held at ambient temperature for a time adapted to promote a substantially complete polymerization of the viscoelastic material, preferably from 10 minutes to 34 hours, depending on the size of the protection to be formed. The above disclosure clearly shows that the garment of the invention and the method for making it fulfill the intended objects and particularly meet the requirement of providing an ergonomic garment, which may be easily adapted to any user body.

Thanks to the fact that the viscoelastic layer of the protective element 3 is penetrating at least partly the fabric of the base structure 2 while not extending beyond the outer face 4 or inner face 5, as appropriate, a monolithic assembly may be formed from the base structure 3 and the protection 3.

The garment of the invention is susceptible of numerous modification and changes, within the scope of the appended claims. All the details thereof may be replaced by other technically equivalent parts, and the materials may vary depending on different needs, without departure from the scope of the invention.

While the garment has been described with particular reference to the accompanying figures, the numerals referred to in the disclosure and claims are only used for the sake of a better intelligibility of the invention and shall not be intended to limit the claimed scope in any manner.

Claims

1. An ergonomic garment, particularly for sport and leisure uses, comprising:

- a base structure (2) with an outer face (4) and an inner face (5), at least partly facing a user body, said base structure (2) being at least partly formed from a fabric of natural or synthetic fibers;

- at least one protective element (3), which is firmly attached to said base structure (2) over a contact surface (6), said at least one protective element (3) comprising at least one layer of viscoelastic material; characterized in that the viscoelastic material of said protective element (3) is arranged to penetrate at least partly the fabric of said base structure (2) while not extending beyond the outer face (4) or inner face (5), as appropriate, of said base structure (2), to form a monolithic assembly by chemical and/or mechanical bonding over said contact surface (6).

2. Garment as claimed in claim 1 , characterized in that said fabric of fibers is resilient, said protective element (3) to be attached to said base structure (2) being coextensively resilient to accommodate the deformations of said base structure (2).

3. Garment as claimed in claim 1 , characterized in that said viscoelastic material is a gel material.

4. Garment as claimed in the preceding claim, characterized in that said gel is selected from the group of polyurethane gels.

5. Garment as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that said polyurethane gel has w_ w_ w_ a thermal conductivity of 0.04 mK to o.25 mK _t preferably of about 0.09 mK .

6. Garment as claimed in claim 1 , characterized in that said base structure (2) includes a film (8) of waterproofing material between said fabric and said protective element (3).

7. Garment as claimed in claim 1 , characterized in that said waterproofing material (8) is a polymer resin.

8. A method for making an ergonomic garment, particularly for sport and leisure uses, as claimed in one or more of claims 1 to 7, comprising at least the steps of: a) providing a fabric of natural or synthetic fibers, to define a base structure (2) with an outer face (4) and an inner face (5), designed to at least partly face a user body; b) providing a mold having an inner cavity of a predetermined shape which corresponds to the external configuration of a protective element (3); c) opening said mold and introducing at least a portion of said fabric therein, to define a free surface on said base structure (2); d) thermostating it to a predetermined operating temperature; e) casting at least one layer of a viscoelastic material on said free surface and allowing it to at least partly penetrate the fabric of said base structure (2) without extending beyond the outer face (4) or inner face (5), as appropriate, of said base structure (2), to define a monolithic assembly; f) opening said mold and removing said finished monolithic assembly therefrom.

9. Method as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that said predetermined operating temperature is of 20 ⁰C to 80 ⁰C and is preferably of about 50 ⁰C.

10. Method as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that said step e) of casting said viscoelastic material and allowing it to penetrate the fabric of said base structure (2) requires an operating time ranging from 10 seconds to 20 minutes.

11. Method as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that said monolithic assembly is held at ambient temperature for a time adapted to promote a substantially complete polymerization of said viscoelastic material

12. Method as claimed in claim 12, characterized in that said time for promoting polymerization ranges from 10 minutes to 24 hours.