VENTILATED COOLING AND PROTECTIVE GARMENT WITH FACIAL SHIELD

Abstract

A ventilated cooling and protective garment including a hood portion (31) with a facial opening (14) surrounded by a facial peripheral ring (13) and a complete or partial body portion (32, 33), and a facial shield (10) comprising a transparent shield (11) and a facial peripheral connector (12) supporting and air-tightly attaching the transparent shield (11) to the facial peripheral ring (13) around the facial opening (14), wherein the facial peripheral ring (13) is pulled against the head of the user by the facial shield support (20) and include spacers (13a, 13b) to provide a permeable close non-air-tight fitting between the facial peripheral ring (13) and the head of the used, and an air inlet (A1) is included in the complete or partial body portion (32, 33) and at least a portion of an air outlet (A2) is included in the facial shield (11), or vice versa.

Claims

1. A ventilated cooling and protective garment comprising: an outer layer comprising an air impermeable material or an air semi-impermeable material, the outer layer comprising a hood portion connected to: a partial body portion with one or more body part openings each one surrounded by an annular body part tight seal, or to a complete body portion, the hood portion comprising a facial opening surrounded by a facial peripheral ring; a facial shield comprising a transparent shield covering the facial opening and, a facial peripheral connector made of a fluid impermeable material air-tightly attaching the transparent shield to the facial peripheral ring of the hood portion; and a facial shield support comprising an adjustment device configured to tighten the facial shield support around a head of a user, and configured to pull the facial peripheral ring against the head of the user; and an air inlet disposed on the complete or partial body portion and configured to insufflate air into the protective garment and at least an air outlet defined by one or more air pressure relieve valves included in the facial shield, or an air inlet disposed on the facial shield and configured to insufflate air into the facial shield and an air outlet defined by one or more air pressure relieve valves included in the complete or partial body portion, producing an airflow path between the air inlet and the air outlet at least through the hood portion; an airflow path being set to produce a cooling airflow on the user body by: spacers disposed on the facial peripheral ring and configured to provide a permeable close non-air-tight fitting between the facial peripheral ring and the head of the used, the spaces further configured to generate a cooling airflow passing through the close non-air-tight fitting, cooling the parts of the user in contact with the facial peripheral ring and surrounding areas; and/or a tightening device of the hood portion adapted to tight the hood portion around a head of a user, the tightening device further configured to define a narrow chamber between the hood portion and the user's head and to generate a cooling airflow close to the head of the user.

2. The ventilated cooling and protective garment according to claim 1 wherein the spacers are discrete protruding spacers or an annular open mesh spacer configured to keep an air-permeable gap between the facial peripheral ring and the head of the user, the spaces being disposed on a surface of the facial peripheral ring and being directed towards an interior of the hood portion.

3. The ventilated cooling and protective garment according to claim 1 wherein the tightening device is: an additional adjustment device, different to the adjustment device to tighten the facial shield support around a head of a user; or the adjustment device, which tightens the facial shield support around a head of a user, the adjustment device being integrated with the hood portion and being adapted to also tighten the hood portion around a head of a user; or the adjustment device which tightens the facial shield support around a head of a user, the adjustment device being integrated with the hood portion and being adapted to also tighten the hood portion around a head of a user, the hood portion being the facial shield support; or an elastic material being a part of the hood portion and configured to tighten the hood portion around a head of the user and to prevent the inflation of the hood portion by an inner air pressure; or an elastic material being a part of the hood portion and configured to tighten the hood portion around a head of the user and to prevent the inflation of the hood portion by the inner air pressure, the hood portion being simultaneously the facial shield support and the respective adjustment device.

4. The ventilated cooling and protective garment according to claim 1 further comprising at least a portion, or at least a torso portion, of the partial or complete body portion is configured to generate a cooling airflow close to the body of the user by being: adapted to be tightened around the body of the user; or adapted to be tightened around the body of the user by an additional adjustment device; or made of an elastic material configured to tighten the protective garment around a body of the user and to prevent the inflation of the protective garment by the inner air pressure.

5. The ventilated cooling and protective garment according to claim 1 wherein an inner side of the hood portion and/or of the partial or complete body portion comprises a plurality of discrete protruding spacer nodes.

6. The ventilated cooling and protective garment according to claim 1 wherein the facial peripheral connector includes a releasable seal selected among a zipper seal, a magnetic seal, a Velcro seal or a snap fit seal, the facial peripheral connection configured to allow a separation of the transparent shield from the protective garment.

7. The ventilated cooling and protective garment according to claim 1 wherein the air outlet of the facial shield is integrated in the facial peripheral connector.

8. The ventilated cooling and protective garment according to claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the protective garment comprises an inner perforated layer spaced from the outer layer by a plurality of discrete protruding spacer nodes, an air source being connectable to the space defined between the outer layer and the inner perforated layer, an inner side of the inner perforated layer also comprises a plurality of discrete protruding spacer nodes.

9. The ventilated cooling and protective garment according to claim 1 wherein the ventilated cooling and protective garment is connected to a wearable autonomous air supply.

10. The ventilated cooling and protective garment according to claim 1 further comprising an annular track formed on the transparent shield as an integral part thereof and made of the same material as the transparent shield, the facial peripheral connector being attached and retained to the annular track through an annular coupling configuration complementary to the annular track and tightly fitted thereto.

11. The ventilated cooling and protective garment according to claim 10 wherein the annular track is defined in an inner side of the transparent shield and is directed towards the facial opening, and the transparent shield extends beyond the annular track on the upper region thereof defining an upper support intended to be vertically supported on a top area of the user head, either directly or through an intermediate padding element attached to an inner side of the upper support.

12. The ventilated cooling and protective garment according to claim 10 wherein: the transparent shield is made of a plastic sheet; or the transparent shield is made of a thermoformed plastic sheet, the annular track being formed by bends of the plastic sheet; or the transparent shield is made of a molded plastic, the annular track being molded on the plastic.

13. The ventilated cooling and protective garment according to claim 1 wherein the transparent shield comprises, on at least one of its surfaces, at least one of the following: an anti-scratch treatment; an anti-fog treatment; a hydrophobic treatment; an anti-microbial treatment; an anti-bacterial treatment; an anti-glare treatment; a light filtering treatment; or a photo-chromic treatment.

14. The ventilated cooling and protective garment according to claim 1 wherein the facial shield further comprises at least one of the following features, connected to a battery and to a control unit: a handsfree microphone and/or speaker; a head-up display; a front-facing camera; a user-facing camera; outer temperature and/or pressure sensor; inner temperature and/or pressure sensor; user temperature, breathing and/or cardiac sensor; wireless connection antenna; or a battery status sensor.

15. The ventilated cooling and protective garment according to claim 14 wherein the control unit is connected to the air supply connected to the cooling and protective garment and is configured to regulate the insufflated air flow in response to temperature measurements, breathing and/or cardiac measurements obtained from the sensors.

16. The ventilated cooling and protective garment with facial shield according to claim 1 wherein the protective garment comprises an outer layer made of a woven textile or a non-woven textile with a hydrophobic, anti-microbial and/or anti-bacterial characteristics, and/or wherein the protective garment further includes non-ventilated garment portions, made of air impermeable or air semi-impermeable material, connected to the body part openings of the partial body portion.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0100] The foregoing and other advantages and features will be more fully understood from the following detailed description of an embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, to be taken in an illustrative and non-limitative manner, in which:

[0101] FIG. 1 shows a ventilated cooling and protective garment according to a first embodiment;

[0102] FIG. 2 shows a ventilated cooling protective garment according to a second embodiment;

[0103] FIG. 3 shows an ampliated view of the hood portion with the facial shield according to the first embodiment shown on FIG. 1.

[0104] FIGS. 4 and 5 shown an ampliated view of a cross section of the facial peripheral connector, including a pressure relieve valve and a releasable seal, according to an embodiment in which the annular track is a protruding rail (FIG. 4) or a groove (FIG. 5) molded in the inner side of the transparent shield;

[0105] FIGS. 6 and 7 shown an ampliated view of a cross section of the facial peripheral connector, including a pressure relieve valve and a releasable seal, according to an embodiment in which the annular track is a protruding rail (FIG. 6) or a groove (FIG. 7) defined by bending of the transparent shield obtained by thermoforming;

[0106] FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 shown a cross section of a portion of the ventilated cooling and protective garment according to an embodiment including an outer layer with discrete protruding spacer nodes on its inner side (FIG. 8), or with a perforated inner layer including discrete protruding spacer nodes on its inner side and separated from the outer layer by discrete protruding spacer nodes attached to the inner side of the outer layer (FIG. 9) or in the outer side of the perforated inner layer (FIG. 10).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT

[0107] The foregoing and other advantages and features will be more fully understood from the following detailed description of an embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, to be taken in an illustrative and not limitative, in which:

[0108] FIG. 1 shows a ventilated cooling and protective garment including a facial shield 10 and a protective garment 30 which, in this embodiment, includes a hood portion 31 and a partial body portion 33 intended to cover neck, shoulders and torso of a user.

[0109] The protective garment includes an outer layer 30a made of an air impermeable or semi-impermeable material, such a non-woven material.

[0110] The hood portion 31 includes a facial opening 14 surrounded by a facial peripheral ring 13 intended to surround the face of the user.

[0111] The facial shield 10 includes a transparent shield 11, which is approximately half an eggshell in shape, covering the facial opening 14 of the hood portion 31, air-tightly connected to the facial peripheral ring 13 by a facial peripheral connector 12, which is a ring connector with an inner edge connected to the facial peripheral ring 13 and with an outer edge connected to an inner side of the transparent shield 11, defining a facial inner space intended to contain the user's face.

[0112] An inner side of the facial peripheral ring 13, facing the interior of the hood portion 31, include spacers, which could be discrete protruding spacers 13a or an annular open mesh spacer 13b intended to keep an air-permeable gap between the facial peripheral ring 13 and the head of the user, preventing the air-tight sealing between the facial peripheral ring 13 and the user's head, allowing a circulation of an air flow between the facial inner space and the interior of the hood portion 31.

[0113] According to the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the facial peripheral connector 12 includes multiple pressure relieve valves which determine an air outlet A2. Said pressure relieve valves are configured to allow exit of the air contained in the facial inner space when the pressure is higher than the ambient pressure and to prevent the entrance of ambient air into the facial inner space.

[0114] To ensure a close fitting between the facial peripheral ring 13 and the user's head, the hood portion 31 further includes a facial shield support 20 including an adjustment device 21 configured to tighten the facial shield support 20 around the user's head, compressing the facial peripheral ring 13 against the user's head.

[0115] According to the embodiment shown on FIGS. 1 and 3 the facial shield support 20 is the portion hood 31 of the protective garment 30 which, when tighten by the adjustment device 21, stretches around the user's head and pulls the facial peripheral ring 13 against the user's head.

[0116] According to an alternative embodiment shown on FIG. 2 the facial shield support 20 are several harnesses surrounding the user's head and connected to the facial peripheral ring 13 or to the transparent shield 11, for example two, three, four, five or six harnesses.

[0117] The partial body portion 33 is connected to the hood portion 31 and further comprises three body part openings each surrounded by a annular body part tight seal 34, one for tightly surrounding the waist of the user and two more for tightly surround the two arms of the user, so that the protective garment 30 define an inner space comprised between the user body and the protective garment 30 covering torso, shoulders, neck and head of the user.

[0118] It will be understood that the partial body portion 33 could also cover other areas of the user body such the arms and legs, in which case the body part openings will be four and the annular body tight seals 34 will be intended to surround the user's wrists and ankles.

[0119] In this particular embodiment shown on FIG. 1 non-ventilated garment portions 36, made of air impermeable or air semi-impermeable material, are attached to the annular body part tight seals 34 and intended to cover additional parts of the user's body not covered by the ventilated cooling and protective garment, in this embodiment the arms and legs, offering protection against environmental hazards but without providing ventilation.

[0120] In this embodiment, the partial body portion 33 of the protective garment 30 further comprises at least one air inlet A1 adjacent to the body part opening corresponding to the waist of the user.

[0121] Said air inlet A1 is connected to one wearable air supply 50 carried by the user, for example supported from the user shoulders as a backpack or as a shoulder bag, or from the user's waist as a fanny bag.

[0122] The air supply 50 comprises a fan actuated by an electric motor connected to an electric battery, and optionally it can further include an air filter. The air supply 50 blows an air flow into the protective garment through the air inlet A1.

[0123] The air flow circulates within the protective garment 30 from the air inlet A1 to the air outlet A2 of the facial shield 10, included in the facial peripheral connector 12, flowing between the outer layer 30a of the protective garment 30 and the user. This air flow produces a cooling effect on the part of the user's body contained in the partial protective garment 33 and the user's head, and later said air flow enters in the facial inner space through the close non-air-tight fitting between the user's head and the facial peripheral ring 13, cooling the user's face and preventing the creation of fog on the transparent shield 11.

[0124] According to an alternative embodiment, shown on FIG. 2, the facial shield 10 includes an air inlet A1 directly connected to the air supply 50, in this case as a backpack, and the complete body portion 32 of the protective garment 30 include several air outlets A2, each including at least one pressure relive valve, away from the hood portion 31, in this example at the extreme ends of each limb. This configuration produces an air flow from the facial inner space towards the air outlets A2 cooling the entire body of the user, The air flow passes from the facial shield 10 to the hood portion 31 through said close non-air-tight fitting between the facial peripheral ring 13 and the user's head, cooling the face and the head of the user, and later flowing through the complete body portion 32 of the protective garment 30.

[0125] It will be obvious that said descending air flow from the facial shield 10 towards the protective garment 30 can be implemented using a partial body portion 33 and that the ascending air flow from the protective garment 30 towards the facial shield 10 described above can be implemented using a complete body portion 32.

[0126] Preferably, the inner side of the outer layer 30a of the protective garment 30 facing the user's body, or parts thereof, includes discrete protruding spacer nodes 35a which protrude separating the inner side of the outer layer 30a from the user, creating an interspace through which the air flow can circulate close to the user, as shown on FIG. 8.

[0127] A close fitting of the protective garment to the user is preferred, because as close is the fitting more rapidly the air flow circulates, and higher cooling effect is achieved. Therefore, it is preferred to include adjustment devices also to the complete or partial body portion 32, 33 to tighten the complete or partial body portion 32, 33 of the protective garment 30 around the body of the user.

[0128] According to an alternative or additional embodiment, shown on FIGS. 9 and 10, the protective garment 30, or parts thereof, it further includes a perforated inner layer 35 parallel to the outer layer 30a and separated thereof by the interposed discrete protruding spacer nodes 35a, creating an interspace through which the air flow can circulate. The discrete protruding spacer nodes 35a can be attached to the inner side of the outer layer 30a or to the outer side of the perforated inner later 35.

[0129] Said perforated inner layer 35 further comprises additional discrete protruding spacer nodes 35b on its inner side facing the user, to separate said perforated inner layer 35 from the user.

[0130] The air inlet A1 is communicated with said interspace, blowing an air flow into said interspace through which the air flow freely circulates through the part of the protective garment 30 including said perforated inner layer 35.

[0131] Said outer layer 30a and perforated inner layer 35 shall be air-tightly joined together on its perimeter, so that the air can only exit the interspace through the perforations of the perforated inner layer 35. The air flow contained in the interspace creates an overpressure on said interspace, urging the air to flow out of the interspace through the perforations included on the perforated inner layer 35.

[0132] Said perforations are configured to produce a lamination effect on the air flow, which increases its cooling effect, and because the perforated inner layer 35 is separated from the user by the additional discrete protruding spacer nodes 35b, each air jet ejected from each perforation produces a cooling effect on an area much wider than the perforation size. Thanks to those features, a small air stream can produce a cooling effect on a wide area.

[0133] In the preferred embodiment, the partial body portion 33 include said inner layer 35 at least on the front and back sides of the partial body portion 33 covering the user's torso. It is also preferred to include, on the inner side of the hood portion 31, the discrete protruding spacer nodes 35a to facilitate the circulation of the air flow around the user's head.

[0134] According to a preferred embodiment, said discrete protruding spacer nodes 35a, 35b are made of printed expanding ink. It is also proposed to include discrete protruding spacer nodes 35a, 35b with an orientation and shape to direct the air flow towards a desired direction, acting as deflectors.

[0135] The discrete protruding spacers 13a included on the inner side of the facial peripheral ring 13 can also be made of printed expanded ink.

[0136] When said spacers are an annular open mesh spacer 13b, the it is proposed to use for example an air permeable foam adhered to the inner side of the facial peripheral ring 13.

[0137] The facial peripheral connector 12, which connects the transparent shield 11 to the facial peripheral ring 13, also separates the transparent shield 11 from the user's face creating the facial inner space and transmits the transparent shield 11 weight to the facial peripheral ring 13.

[0138] It is proposed to connect the facial peripheral connector 12 to the transparent shield 11 through an annular coupling configuration 12a defined on the outer edge of the facial peripheral connector 12 tightly coupled to an annular track 11a included in the inner side of the transparent shield 11 facing the user's head, surrounding a central region of the transparent shield 11 covering the facial opening 14 of the hood portion 31.

[0139] The annular coupling configuration 12a and the annular track 11a will have complementary shapes and sizes, allowing for a tight fitting between them and preventing an accidental extraction by pulling in a transverse direction perpendicular to the transparent shield 11 surface.

[0140] According to examples shown on FIGS. 4 and 6 the annular track 11a can be a protruding rail defined by a longitudinal protrusion of the inner surface of the transparent shield 11 with a longitudinal bulging end, in which case the annular coupling configuration 12a include a longitudinal groove intended to accommodate in its interior the protruding rail, surrounding and retaining the bulging end.

[0141] Alternatively, according to examples shown on FIGS. 5 and 7, the annular track 11a is a longitudinal groove with an access slit, the longitudinal groove being wider than the access slit, in which case the annular coupling configuration 12a is inserted in the longitudinal groove through the access slit and include a longitudinal bulging end contained and retained in the groove.

[0142] In any case, the annular coupling configuration 12a can be coupled to the annular track 11a by sliding the annular coupling configuration 12a from an access point or interruption of the annular track 11a where said annular track 11a is interrupted, or can be attached by a snap fit, producing an elastic deformation of the elements to be coupled by pressing.

[0143] FIGS. 4 and 5 shown embodiments in which the annular track 11a is molded together with the rest of the transparent shield 11.

[0144] Alternatively, FIGS. 6 and 7 shown embodiments in which the transparent shield 11 is made of a thermoformed plastic layer and wherein the annular track 11a is defined by bends of said plastic layer which define the groove or rail constitutive of the annular track 11a.

[0145] The facial peripheral connector 12 can further include a releasable seal 12b, permitting the coupling and uncoupling of the transparent shield 11 to the rest of the protective garment 30, allowing the user to access his face and mouth without having to remove the suit, for example for cleaning, eating, drinking, blow the nose, and also allowing the cleaning of the inner side of the transparent shield 11. This feature also permits the separation of the transparent shield 11 from the rest of the protective garment 30, allowing the substitution of the transparent shield 11, the reuse of the transparent shield with a different single use protective garment 30, or differentiated cleaning treatments of the transparent shield 11 and the protective garment 30.

[0146] Said releasable seal 12b will be preferably a zipper producing a tight coupling, but other alternatives are also contemplated, for example a magnetic coupling, Velcro or re-adherable adhesives such sensitive adhesives, among others.

[0147] It will be understood that various parts of one embodiment of the invention can be freely combined with parts described in other embodiments, even being said combination not explicitly described, provided that such combination is within the scope of the claims and that there is no incompatibility in such combination.