Firefighter protective garment having varying composite structures to increase dissipation of metabolic heat

Abstract

A firefighter's protective garment including an outer shell, moisture barrier and thermal barrier in which the composite structure varies according to the sweating cartography of the human body and in so doing enhances the evacuation of metabolic heat.

Claims

1. A firefighter protective garment comprising: a plurality of superimposed layers, the plurality of superimposed layers comprising: an outer shell defining an outermost layer of the firefighter protective garment, said outer shell comprising: one or more lightweight outer shell sections aligned with areas of high rates of perspiration and metabolic heat transfer of a firefighter's body when the firefighter protective garment is worn by the firefighter, wherein the areas of high rates of perspiration and metabolic heat transfer comprise at least one of the back of the firefighter, a side torso of the firefighter, or an ankle of the firefighter; and a remainder section of said outer shell, each lightweight outer shell section having a unit weight smaller than a unit weight of the remainder section of said outer shell; a moisture barrier inwardly affixed to the outer shell; and a thermal barrier inwardly affixed to the moisture barrier, the thermal barrier defining an innermost layer of the plurality of superimposed layers.

2. The firefighter protective garment of claim 1, wherein said one or more lightweight outer shell sections are made from the same material as the remainder section of said outer shell.

3. The firefighter protective garment of claim 1, wherein said one or more lightweight outer shell sections are made from a material different than the remainder section of said outer shell.

4. The firefighter protective garment of claim 1, wherein said one or more lightweight outer shell sections are panels assembled with said remainder section of said outer shell to define the outer shell.

5. The firefighter protective garment of claim 1, wherein said remainder section of said outer shell has a first total heat loss (THL) value and said one or more lightweight outer shell sections have a second THL value, said second THL value being greater than said first THL value.

6. The firefighter protective garment of claim 1, wherein said areas of elevated rates of perspiration and metabolic heat transfer comprise the back of the firefighter.

7. The firefighter protective garment of claim 1, wherein said areas of elevated rates of perspiration and metabolic heat transfer comprise the side torso of the firefighter.

8. The firefighter protective garment of claim 1, wherein said areas of elevated rates of perspiration and metabolic heat transfer comprise the ankle of the firefighter.

9. The firefighter protective garment of claim 1, wherein said outer shell meets all performance requirements of a NFPA 1971 standard.

10. A firefighter protective garment comprising: a plurality of superimposed layers, the plurality of superimposed layers comprising: an outer shell defining an outermost layer of the firefighter protective garment, said outer shell comprising: one or more lightweight outer shell sections aligned with areas of high rates of perspiration and metabolic heat transfer of a firefighter's body when the firefighter protective garment is worn by the firefighter, wherein the areas of high rates of perspiration and metabolic heat transfer comprise at least one of the back of the firefighter, a side torso of the firefighter, or an ankle of the firefighter; and a remainder section of said outer shell, each lightweight outer shell section having a unit weight smaller than a unit weight of a remainder of said outer shell; a moisture barrier inwardly affixed to the outer shell; and a thermal barrier inwardly affixed to the moisture barrier, said thermal barrier defining an innermost layer of the plurality of superimposed layers, said thermal barrier comprising one or more lightweight thermal barrier sections aligned with said areas of elevated rates of perspiration and metabolic heat transfer of the firefighter's body when the firefighter protective garment is worn by the firefighter and the remainder section of said thermal barrier, each lightweight thermal section having a unit weight smaller than a unit weight of a remainder of said thermal barrier.

11. The firefighter protective garment of claim 10, wherein said one or more lightweight outer shell sections are made from the same material as the remainder section of said outer shell.

12. The firefighter protective garment of claim 10, wherein said one or more lightweight outer shell sections are made from a material different than the remainder section of said outer shell.

13. The firefighter protective garment of claim 10, wherein said one or more lightweight thermal barrier sections are made from the same material as the remainder section of said thermal barrier.

14. The firefighter protective garment of claim 10, said one or more lightweight thermal barrier sections are made from a material different than the section of said thermal barrier.

15. The firefighter protective garment of claim 10, wherein at least one of: said one or more lightweight outer shell sections are panels assembled with said remainder section of said outer shell to define the outer shell; and said one or more lightweight thermal barrier sections are panels assembled with said remainder section of said thermal barrier to define the thermal barrier.

16. The firefighter protective garment of claim 10, wherein said remainder section of said outer shell has a first total heat loss (THL) value and said one or more lightweight outer shell sections have a second THL value, said second THL value being greater than said first THL value.

17. The firefighter protective garment of claim 10, wherein said remainder section said thermal barrier has a first total heat loss (THL) value and said one or more lightweight thermal barrier sections have a second THL value, said second THL value being greater than said first THL value.

18. The firefighter protective garment of claim 10, wherein said areas of elevated rates of perspiration and metabolic heat transfer comprise the back of the firefighter.

19. The firefighter protective garment of claim 10, wherein said areas of elevated rates of perspiration and metabolic heat transfer comprise the side torso of the firefighter.

20. The firefighter protective garment of claim 10, wherein said areas of elevated rates of perspiration and metabolic heat transfer comprise the ankle of the firefighter.

21. The firefighter protective garment of claim 10, wherein said outer shell and said thermal barrier meet all performance requirements of a NFPA 1971 standard.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a front and back schematic view of a body illustrating body heat zones.

(2) FIG. 2 is a front and back schematic view of a body with a coat garment thereon in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

(3) FIG. 3 is a front and back schematic view of a body illustrating body heat zones.

(4) FIG. 4 is a front and back schematic view of a body with a pant garment thereon in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

(5) FIG. 5 is a front and back schematic view of a body illustrating body zones subject to high and dangerous heat from exterior sources.

(6) FIG. 6 is a front and back schematic view of a body with a coat and pant garment thereon in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(7) In the following description, the same numerical references refer to similar elements. Furthermore, for the sake of simplicity and clarity, namely so as to not unduly burden the figures with several references numbers, not all figures contain references to all the components and features, and references to some components and features may be found in only one figure, and components and features of the present invention illustrated in other figures can be easily inferred therefrom. The embodiments, geometrical configurations, materials mentioned and/or dimensions shown in the figures are optional, and are given for exemplification purposes only.

(8) Furthermore, although the present invention may be used with various objects, such as firefighter garments, for example, it is understood that it may be used with other types of garments or articles of clothing. For this reason, expressions such as garments, etc. as used herein should not be taken as to limit the scope of the present invention to these garments in particular. These expressions encompass all other kinds of materials, objects and/or purposes with which the present invention could be used and may be useful, as can be easily understood.

(9) As shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 6, there is provided a firefighter garment 10 including an outer shell, a moisture barrier, and a thermal barrier. Weight of the outer shell and/or thermal barrier materials are selectively reduced in pre-determined areas of the garment 10. In some implementations, a specific composite of material is used in pre-determined areas of the garment because of its increased THL value.

(10) In other implementations, the reduction in weight of pre-determined areas of the outer shell and/or thermal barrier is achieved by assembling the garment 10 with panels 12a,12b of the outer shell and/or the thermal barrier having differing weights or based on composite structure performance. The multi panel construction allows the garment to be designed with higher protection against high heat in areas 14 (shown in FIG. 5) where it is needed and better breathability for the body when needed in difficult working conditions

(11) In some implementations, the panels 12a,12b of differing weights comprise lighter weight materials, or are based on composite structure performance, and are placed in locations corresponding to bodily areas of high rates of perspiration and metabolic heat transfer that are illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3. The light weight materials, or composite structures, provide better dispersion of metabolic heat from the body.

(12) In some implementations, the panels 12a,12b of differing weights of the outer shell and the thermal barrier are made of the same materials as the outer shell and the thermal barrier of a body of the garment, and have a lighter weight, or based on composite structure performance.

(13) In other implementations, the panels 12a,12b of differing weights of the outer shell and the thermal barrier are made of different materials from the outer shell and the thermal barrier of a body of the garment.

(14) In some implementations, the panels 12a,12b meet all performance requirements of a NFPA 1971 standard.

(15) In some implementations, the THL value of the composite structure is higher than the THL value for a rest of the garment.

(16) According to the present invention, there is also a provided firefighter garment comprising a plurality of layers, each of the layers having at least one of an outer shell property, a moisture barrier property and a thermal barrier property. At least one of the layers comprises a performance-based composite structure positioned in pre-determined areas of the garment.

(17) In some implementations, the composite structure offers a higher THL value with respect to an adjacent area of the garment and is placed in a location corresponding to a bodily area of high rate of perspiration and metabolic heat transfer.

(18) In some implementations, a layer having a moisture barrier property offers a higher THL value with respect to an adjacent area of the garment and is placed in a location corresponding to a bodily area of high rate of perspiration and metabolic heat transfer.

(19) Of course, numerous modifications could be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.