NL2036110B1

NL2036110B1 - Cooling garment

Info

Publication number: NL2036110B1
Application number: NL2036110A
Authority: NL
Inventors: Ijsbrand Tiesnitsch Johannes
Original assignee: Tiesnitsch Beheer B V
Priority date: 2023-10-24
Filing date: 2023-10-24
Publication date: 2025-05-06
Also published as: WO2025089957A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a cooling garment that is composed of two types of fabric; a coolant fabric and a secondary fabric, wherein the secondary fabric has a higher drape than the coolant fabric. The cooling garment further comprises a ventilator configured to draw air from the outside side of the cooling garment and to release it in a space between the cooling garment and the wearer of the cooling garment. In this way, more water may evaporate from the cooling garment, which results in a higher cooling capacity. Moreover, sweat excreted by the wearer of the cooling 10 garment may also evaporate in this way, which increases the cooling capacity even more.

Description

COOLING GARMENT

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a cooling garment for cooling a torso of a wearer.

BACKGROUND

People and animals may bring down their body temperature by the evaporation of water on their skin — water that is excreted by themselves in the form of sweat. This principle of evaporative cooling may also be used in technical means to support the natural cooling of a body, for example in cooling garments.

The water is then contained in the garment by a suitable water-absorbing substance, such as cellulose or a super absorbent polymer of the type that is present in diapers and feminine napkins. The latter are known to be capable of holding up to 300 times their weight of water.

The water absorbing substance is typically sandwiched between two outer layers of the fabric that constitutes the garment — one outer layer being configured to face a user's body and one outer layer being configured to face an outside environment. One or both of the outer layers are permeable to water (as a liquid and/or vapor). This allows the transport of water from the water absorbing substance to an outer surface of the garment. Upon evaporation of the water, heat is withdrawn from the garment, which manifests as a cooling effect to a wearer of the garment. In this way, the cooling is independent of the wearer's natural cooling system of water excretion (sweating), requiring less rehydration of the wearer to compensate for his/her sweating.

Obviously, cooling garments that rely on the principle of evaporative cooling lose their water during operation, slowly but steadily. Such cooling garment therefore needs a periodical replenishment of the water (‘activation’ of the cooling garment). Depending on the type of cooling garment, water replenishment may occur by uptake through a semi-permeable surface material or through a filling opening. The first case simply requires immersion of the cooling garment in water,

while in the second case all of the water needs to be directed through a particular filling opening that is in fluid contact with a storage reservoir.

For example, WO 2012/156067 A1 describes a cooling garment wherein the two outer layers are water-permeable. When such garment is contacted with water (e.g. by submerging it in water), the water-absorbing substance in the garment absorbs the water through the outer layers. This activates the garment and makes it ready for use.

For example, WO 2020/263090 A1 describes a cooling garment comprising a water storage reservoir that is formed by two outer layers that are water-impermeable yet permeable to water vapor. Activation of such garment occurs by pouring water through a filling opening that is in fluid contact with the water storage reservoir

The cooling effect obtained with such cooling garments is largest for a side that faces an outside environment, because it is subject to much more air flow and replenishment with fresh air than a side that faces a wearer's body. In the design of conventional cooling garments, most focus is therefore on the water evaporation from the side facing an outside environment. In some conventional cooling garments, the side of the cooling garment facing the wearer's body has even been made impermeable to water.

Such conventional configurations, however, do not make use of the full cooling potential of the cooling garment. If water can also evaporate in substantial amounts from the side of the cooling garment that faces the wearer's body, then a much higher cooling capacity can be anticipated.

Another problem associated with conventional cooling garments is that a wearer of such garment still excretes sweat, despite the cooling capacity of the garment. lt appears that the cooling garment itself prevents evaporation of the sweat as it partially closes off the wearer's body. The result is that there is a cooling potential that is not available to the wearer, who will experience this as a discomfort. Moreover, the sweat itself may cause another discomfort, because it accumulates between the wearer's body and the cooling garment, which gives an unpleasant feeling. Due to the accumulation, sweat may spread to other areas, leading to more discomfort. It may for example become visible to a neighboring person.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a cooling garment wherein the full cooling potential of the cooling garment is used. lt is also an object that the full cooling potential is used of sweat that is still excreted by a wearer of the garment.

It is in particular an object to provide a cooling garment wherein also the side that faces the user's body can substantially contribute to the cooling capacity of the cooling garment. It is also an object that this does not occur at the expense of user comfort.

It has now been found that this can be reached by a modified design of the cooling garment in combination with an active airflow between the cooling garment and the user's body.

Accordingly, the present invention relates to a cooling garment composed of at least a coolant fabric having a first drape and a secondary fabric having a second drape, wherein - the coolant fabric comprises an absorbent material between two opposing outer layers that are permeable to liquid water and/or water vapor; - the second drape is higher than the first drape; - the cooling garment comprises two or more sections adjacent to one another, wherein at least one section is made of the coolant fabric and at least one section is made of the secondary fabric; - the cooling garment comprises a ventilator configured to draw air from an environment on one side of the cooling garment and to release it in an environment on an opposite side of the cooling garment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A cooling garment according to the invention comprises two main types of fabric; a coolant fabric on which the cooling capacity of the cooling garment relies and a secondary fabric that provides more flexibility to the cooling garment as a whole, because the secondary fabric is more flexible than the coolant fabric.

For the purpose of the invention, the flexibility of a fabric is represented by the term ‘drape’ (or ‘drapability’).

Drape of a fabric is the combined effect of its stiffness, flexural rigidity, weight and thickness. It is the fabric's response towards gravity due to its own weight.

Techniques for measuring drape are described in the art, for example in

Chapter 8 of the book “Manikins for Textile Evaluation” (2017), pages 173-195, by

Awadhesh Kumar Choudhary and Payal Bansal. Another description can be found in Journal of Fiber Bioengineering & Informatics 5:4 (2012) 341-358, by Reham

Sanad et al. (doi:10.3993/jfbil 2201201).

The coolant fabric in a cooling garment of the invention forms the part of the garment that provides the water for the evaporative cooling (which is the cooling principle on which the cooling garment relies). It therefore forms the basis of the cooling capacity of the cooling garment. The water is then hold in an absorbent material that is sandwiched between two opposing outer layers (they are called ‘outer layers’ because they face elements outside the cooling garment, which are (during use) the wearer's body and the environment in which the wearer is present). The absorbent material is typically present in the form of a layer.

The coolant fabric may in principle be any coolant fabric that relies for its cooling capacity on evaporative cooling.

For example, the coolant fabric may be of a type that comprises an interior space capable of containing water and a water inlet that is capable of receiving water through a filling opening to fill the interior space with the water and so activate the garment. The two outer layers are then connected to one another to form the interior space. The connection may be made by one or more methods selected from the group of gluing, heat sealing, heat fusion and stitching. The two outer layers that define the interior space have a property that they are impermeable to liquid water. The absorbent material is then positioned within the interior space and so capable of absorbing the water that is used for the evaporative cooling. The water evaporation is then made possible by the permeability of the outer layers to water vapor. Thus, in such embodiment, the two outer layers are both permeable to water vapor and substantially impermeable to liquid water.

Alternatively, the coolant fabric may be of a type that is activated by immersion in water. To this end, both outer layers are permeable to liquid water,

allowing the absorbent material to take up the water through the outer layers. In a cooling garment of this type, the two outer layers are fused or sealed together with the absorbent material, wherein the absorbent material is typically in the form of a layer. 5 The outer layers in any of the above described embodiments for example comprise a thermoplastic material selected from the group of acrylate polymers, acrylate copolymers, methacrylate polymers, methacrylate copolymers, polyesters, polyolefins, polyurethanes, poly(ether-ester) elastomers, poly(vinylacetate), ethylene-vinyl acetate co-polymers, vinyl ester polymers, and mixtures thereof.

The water absorbent material is preferably capable of absorbing high amounts of water, for example they can absorb 200-300 times their weight of water. It comprises for example a superabsorbent polymer. In such case, the water absorbent layer comprises a mixture of support material and the superabsorbent polymer, preferably wherein the support material constitutes 25- 95 wt.% of the water absorbent material. The support material is for example a thermoplastic material, in particular selected from the group of polyethylene, polypropylene, (random or regular) copolymers of polypropylene and polyethylene, poly(ethyleneterephthalate), and mixtures thereof.

A superabsorbent polymer is for example selected from the group of polyacrylates, polyacrylamides, polyvinyl alcohols, ethylene-maleic anhydride copolymers, polyvinylethers, methylcellulose, carboxymethylcellulose, hydroxypropyicellulose, polyvinylmorpholinones, polyacrylamides, polyvinylpyridines, and polyvinylpyrrolidones.

Besides superabsorbent polymers, also other water absorbent materials may be used in a cooling panel in a kit of parts according to the invention, such as a material selected from the group of cellulose, linen, cotton, rayon, bamboo fabric, hemp, wool and terry towelling fabric.

The secondary fabric may in principle be any fabric that has a drape that is higher that the drape of the coolant fabric.

The secondary fabric may be a polyester or a polyamide (e.g. a nylon).

It is for example a parachute fabric.

The secondary fabric is preferably impermeable to air. This is effectively also the case for the coolant fabric, so that the entire cooling garment in such case is substantially impermeable to air. This has the advantage that air that is blown in the space between the wearer's body and the cooling garment by the ventilator has a longer travel distance through that space, allowing it to take up more water vapor. To this end, the cooling garment usually comprises at least one seam that is configured to fit tightly to a body part of a wearer of the cooling garment, typically along the waist. In such case, a neck opening of the cooling garment forms an exhaust opening for the air that has taken up water vapor.

It is of course also possible that the secondary fabric has a certain, significant, permeability to air. In this way, air that has taken up water vapor can leave the garment though the secondary fabric.

A cooling garment of the invention comprises at least one section that is made of the coolant fabric and at least one section is made of the secondary fabric. Usually, a cooling garment comprises at least two sections of each type.

For example, a rear panel is made of one section of coolant fabric and a front panel is made of one section of coolant fabric (in case there is a zipper in the front panel, then the front panel preferably comprises two sections of coolant fabric).

Different sections of coolant fabric may then be connected to one another through one or more sections of secondary fabric.

In an alternative configuration, a panel may be composed of alternating strips or bands of coolant fabric and secondary fabric. In such case, the strips or bands are preferably directed vertically, i.e. in a direction from a waist opening to a neck opening of the cooling garment. This would then facilitate flow of air from the waist to the neck.

The ventilator may in principle be any device that is capable of withdrawing air from a first location and releasing air in a second location. A ventilator is for example a blower, in particular a blower comprising a rotatable fan.

Usually, a ventilator uses power for its operation, which is released from e.g. a battery.

When a cooling garment of the invention is worn by a person (the wearer) and the ventilator is operating, then the atmosphere between the cooling garment and the wearer is substituted by air from the opposite side of the cooling garment, which is the common atmosphere in which the wearer resides. The atmosphere between the cooling garment and the wearer contains high levels of water vapor, formed by evaporation of water from the cooling garment and of water from the wearer's sweat. This atmosphere is then replaced by air with a lower water vapor content, which allows further evaporation of water from the cooling garment and the wearer into the atmosphere between the cooling garment and the wearer. This atmosphere is then subsequently and continuously removed and replaced with fresh air, allowing further evaporation and further cooling, and so on.

The at least one section of secondary fabric allows the formation of a space between the wearer's body and the cooling garment due to an overpressure generated by the ventilator, wherein an atmosphere in this space takes up water vapor and becomes replaced by fresh air in a throughput that is high enough to cause an effective cooling. Without the secondary fabric, the space between the wearer's body and the cooling garment would become too small and/or too fragmented (as would be the case when a conventional cooling garment is used in combination with the ventilator). Due to the ventilation, an overpressure is generated in the space between the wearer's body and the cooling garment, causing the second fabric to get (a bit) inflated and push neighboring coolant fabric away from the wearer's body, thereby increasing and/or defragmenting the space between the wearer's body and the cooling garment.

The present invention thus has the advantage that not only the side of the cooling garment facing a main outside environment contributes to the cooling capacity of the cooling garment, but also the side facing the wearer’s body. In this way, the full cooling potential of the cooling garment can be used.

An initially unforeseen and additional advantage is that the wearer's natural cooling system that operates by the excretion of sweat can now also significantly contribute to the cooling, since the airflow between the garment and the wearer's body not only carries away the water vapor originating from the cooling garment, but also water vapor originating from the wearer's sweat.

Claims

CONCLUSIONS

1. A cooling vest comprising a cooling fabric having a first drapability and a secondary fabric having a second drapability, wherein - the cooling fabric comprises an absorbent material between two opposed outer layers permeable to liquid water and/or water vapour; - the second drapability is higher than the first drapability; - the cooling vest comprises two or more sections adjacent to each other, at least one section being made of the cooling fabric and at least one section being made of the secondary fabric; - the cooling vest comprises a fan configured to draw air from an environment on one side of the cooling vest and to deliver it to an environment on an opposite side of the cooling vest.

2. A cooling vest according to claim 1, comprising alternating bands of cooling fabric and secondary fabric.

3. A cooling vest according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the two outer layers are both permeable to water vapour and substantially impermeable to liquid water.

4. A cooling vest according to claim 3, wherein the two opposing outer layers define one or more internal spaces for storing water, wherein - the one or more internal spaces include an opening for the inlet of water; - water can escape from the one or more internal spaces by evaporation through the two outer layers.

5. A cooling vest according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the two outer layers are both permeable to liquid water.

6. A cooling vest according to claim 5, wherein the two outer layers are sealed together with the absorbent material.

7. A cooling vest according to any one of claims 1 to 6, comprising at least one hem configured to closely fit a body part of a wearer of the cooling vest.

8. A cooling vest according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the secondary fabric comprises a fabric selected from the group consisting of polyesters and nylons.

9. A cooling vest according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the secondary fabric is a parachute fabric.