PROTECTIVE PAD OR GARMENT PORTION

Abstract

A protective pad or garment portion, garments, and individual layers, being a moisture wicking layer, a core moisture absorbing layer and a moisture impermeable layer, and combinations thereof are disclosed.

Claims

1. A moisture wicking layer for incorporation into a protective pad or garment portion, the moisture wicking layer having at least one-way stretch, the moisture wicking layer being a double knit fabric constructed from yarn, wherein a first portion of the yarns are hydrophilic cotton and a second portion of the yarns are hydrophobic cotton, and the linking yarn is elastane, whereby a technical face of the fabric forms an eyelet mesh utilising both hydrophilic and hydrophobic yarns and a technical back of the fabric forms an interlock utilising only hydrophilic yarns, and whereby the hydrophobic yarns only outwardly present to the technical face of the fabric, and the technical face forms eyelet openings formed by a tuck stitch being held in a repeated pattern to expose the underlying hydrophilic yarns of the technical back to wick moisture away from the technical face, the elastane contributing to the stretch properties of the layer.

2. A moisture wicking layer according to claim 1, wherein the elastane has odour absorption properties.

3. A moisture wicking layer according to claim 2, wherein approximately 25% of the cotton yarn is chemically treated to make it hydrophobic.

4. A moisture wicking layer according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the technical face is a 2 course repeat of 1 course hydrophilic yarn×1 course hydrophobic yarn.

5. A moisture wicking layer according to claim 1, wherein the tuck stitch being held is hydrophobic yarn.

6. A protective pad or garment portion, that includes a moisture wicking layer according to claim 1, together with a moisture impermeable layer.

7. A protective garment with a protective pad or garment portion according to claim 6.

8. A moisture absorbing layer for incorporation into a protective pad or garment portion, the moisture absorbing layer having at least one-way stretch and having a sinker terry fabric knit comprising sinker loops with plush loops protruding from the fabric knit on at least one side, wherein the plush loops are made from synthetic fibres treated with a hydrolysing enzyme that splits the fibres into fibrils.

9. A moisture absorbing layer according to claim 8, wherein the yarn includes elastane having odour absorption properties.

10. A moisture absorbing layer according to claim 8, laminated with a moisture impermeable sheet.

11. A protective pad or garment portion that includes at least one moisture absorbing layer in accordance with claim 8, together with a moisture wicking layer and a moisture impermeable layer.

12. A protective pad or garment portion according to claim 11, wherein the moisture wicking layer has at least one-way stretch, the moisture wicking layer being a double knit fabric constructed from yarn, wherein a first portion of the yarns are hydrophilic cotton and a second portion of the yarns are hydrophobic cotton, and the linking yarn is elastane, whereby a technical face of the fabric forms an eyelet mesh utilising both hydrophilic and hydrophobic yarns and a technical back of the fabric forms an interlock utilising only hydrophilic yarns, and whereby the hydrophobic yarns only outwardly present to the technical face of the fabric, and the technical face forms eyelet openings formed by a tuck stitch being held in a repeated pattern to expose the underlying hydrophilic yarns of the technical back to wick moisture away from the technical face, the elastane contributing to the stretch properties of the layer.

13. A garment with a protective pad or garment portion according to claim 11.

14. A moisture impermeable layer for incorporation into a garment including a protective pad or garment portion layer including a base fabric knit laminated with a polyurethane sheet.

15. A moisture impermeable layer according to claim 14, wherein the base fabric knit is a polyester jersey.

16. A protective pad or garment portion, that includes a moisture impermeable layer according to claim 14 together with at least a moisture wicking layer.

17. A protective pad or garment portion according to claim 16, including a moisture wicking layer having at least one-way stretch, the moisture wicking layer being a double knit fabric constructed from yarn, wherein a first portion of the yarns are hydrophilic cotton and a second portion of the yarns are hydrophobic cotton, and the linking yarn is elastane, whereby a technical face of the fabric forms an eyelet mesh utilising both hydrophilic and hydrophobic yarns and a technical back of the fabric forms an interlock utilising only hydrophilic yarns, and whereby the hydrophobic yarns only outwardly present to the technical face of the fabric, and the technical face forms eyelet openings formed by a tuck stitch being held in a repeated pattern to expose the underlying hydrophilic yarns of the technical back to wick moisture away from the technical face, the elastane contributing to the stretch properties of the layer.

18. A protective pad or garment portion, that includes a moisture absorbing layer according to claim 8, and a moisture impermeable layer including a protective pad or garment portion layer including a base fabric knit laminated with a polyurethane sheet, together with a moisture wicking layer.

19. A protective pad or garment portion according to claim 18, wherein the moisture wicking layer has at least one-way stretch, the moisture wicking layer being a double knit fabric constructed from yarn, wherein a first portion of the yarns are hydrophilic cotton and a second portion of the yarns are hydrophobic cotton, and the linking yarn is elastane, whereby a technical face of the fabric forms an eyelet mesh utilizing both hydrophilic and hydrophobic yarns and a technical back of the fabric forms an interlock utilizing only hydrophilic yarns, and whereby the hydrophobic yarns only outwardly present to the technical face of the fabric, and the technical face forms eyelet openings formed by a tuck stitch being held in a repeated pattern to expose the underlying hydrophilic yarns of the technical back to wick moisture away from the technical face, the elastane contributing to the stretch properties of the moisture wicking layer.

20. A garment having a protective pad or garment portion according to claim 16.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] Further aspects of the present invention and further embodiments of the aspects described in the preceding paragraphs will become apparent from the following description, given by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0032] FIG. 1 is a representative view of a protective garment according to an embodiment on a wearer;

[0033] FIG. 2a is a front view of an undergarment according to an embodiment;

[0034] FIG. 2b is a rear view of the undergarment of FIG. 2a;

[0035] FIG. 3a is a front view of an undergarment according to another embodiment;

[0036] FIG. 3b is a rear view of the undergarment of FIG. 3a;

[0037] FIG. 4a is a front view of an undergarment according to another embodiment;

[0038] FIG. 4b is a rear view of the undergarment of FIG. 4a;

[0039] FIG. 5a is a front view of an undergarment according to another embodiment;

[0040] FIG. 5b is a rear view of the undergarment of FIG. 5a;

[0041] FIG. 6 is a top view of a protective pad or garment portion according to an embodiment;

[0042] FIG. 7 is an exploded representative view of the layers of a gusset according to an embodiment;

[0043] FIG. 8a is an exploded representative view of the layers of a protective pad according to an embodiment;

[0044] FIG. 8b is an exploded representative view of the central absorbing and impermeable layer of FIG. 8a;

[0045] FIG. 9a is an exploded representative view of the layers of a protective pad according to another embodiment;

[0046] FIG. 9b is an exploded representative view of the central absorbing and impermeable layer of FIG. 9a;

[0047] FIG. 10a and 10b are representative drawings of a section of eyelet mesh knitting on the technical face and technical back of a moisture wicking layer

[0048] FIG. 10c is a representative drawing of a section of eyelet mesh knitting showing the combined faces of FIGS. 10a and 10b;

[0049] FIG. 11a is a representative drawing of a section of knitting of a moisture absorbing layer according to a first embodiment;

[0050] FIG. 11b is a representative drawings of a moisture impermeable layer;

[0051] FIG. 11c is a representative drawing of a side view of a section of knitting of the moisture absorbing layer of FIG. 11a;

[0052] FIG. 12a is a representative drawing of a section of knitting of a moisture absorbing layer according to a second embodiment;

[0053] FIG. 12b is a representative drawings of a moisture impermeable layer;

[0054] FIG. 13a and FIG. 13b are representative images of a yarn fibre before and after splitting;

[0055] FIG. 14a and FIG. 14b are microscopic images of yarn fibres before and after splitting;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0056] The embodiments illustrated and described are in relation to light bladder leak underwear and gussets or protective pads for use in underwear. However, it will be appreciated that the underlying inventive concepts of the layers can be tailored for use in other protective garments, such as other incontinence underwear, period underwear, breast leakage pads and brassieres, reusable toddler nappies and the like. Whilst a gusset is described, it may be a removable protective pad.

[0057] Whilst the underwear illustrated are briefs, the protective pads may be incorporated into other garments that sit against the skin on the lower half of the body, for example swimwear or bodysuits.

[0058] FIG. 1 illustrates a protective garment 10 on a wearer 12. The briefs 10 have a body portion 14 that sit around wearers hips below a waistband 16. Extending over at least the crotch region is a gusset 18. As shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b, the body portion 14 may include a front panel 20 and a rear panel 22. Extending around the leg openings are leg bands 24.

[0059] The shape of the briefs shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b are a Hi Top brief. FIGS. 3a and 3b illustrate a boyleg brief, FIGS. 4a and 4b illustrate a G-string brief and FIGS. 5a and 5b illustrate a tanga brief. However it will be appreciated that different shaped briefs can incorporate the inventive gusset. Like reference numerals have been used across the different embodiments illustrated. A similar or slightly altered shaped gusset 18 can be used across each of the different styles of briefs.

[0060] An example gusset shape is illustrated in FIG. 6. The gusset 18 includes a front edge 25, a rear edge 26 and two sides 28. The gusset 18 has a top surface 30 that sits against the wearer's skin in the crotch region. Turning back to FIG. 5a, it can be seen that the gusset 18 can be stitched to the body portion 14 across the front edge 25 and the rear edge 26. The two sides 28 of the gusset can also be stitched to the body portion along the edges of the leg openings before the leg bands 24 are affixed or the leg bands 24 can be used to affix the sides of the gusset to the body portion. The leg bands 24 and the thread used to stitch the gusset may be coated with a durable water repellent (DWR) to prevent wicking of blood to the edges and safe guard against compression leakage.

[0061] The gusset 18 is flared towards the rear edge 26 to minimise back leakage over the edge. The gusset 18 may also be slightly flared towards the front edge 25 to minimise the potential for fluid to gush over the front.

[0062] FIG. 7 illustrates a representative exploded view of a gusset 18 made for light or moderate flow of fluid 31, such as blood or urine. Light to moderate flow is specified in standards as being capable of holding 5-10 ml of fluid.

[0063] The gusset 18 in this embodiment is made from three layers, which are positioned inside of the body fabric layer 32 that is used to create the body portion 14 of the garment 10. In FIG. 7 the body fabric layer 32 has been illustrated as a rectangle for ease of understanding, but it will be appreciated that this layer extends outside of the broken line periphery to form the shape of the garment.

[0064] The top layer 34 is a moisture wicking layer that has a top surface 30 that sits against the wearer. The wicking layer 34 pulls fluid away from the user's skin to the core layer 36. The core layer is moisture absorbing and holds the fluid during use. The bottom layer 38 of the gusset is a moisture impermeable layer that ensures fluid does not escape onto the fabric layer 32.

[0065] FIG. 8a is similar to FIG. 7, such that it illustrates a representative exploded view of a gusset 18, however this version is made for light bladder leakage. Bladder leakage is specified in standards as being capable of holding 10-15 ml of fluid. For completeness, in embodiments not illustrated or described to be used for incontinence purposes, the holding volume required is 40 ml.

[0066] In this embodiment, the top moisture wicking layer 34 is the same as the previous embodiment. However, as minimal absorbency is required, there is provided a single sided core layer 36 laminated to a moisture impermeable layer 38. This lamination is represented in FIG. 8a. This provides a very thin gusset that can be used in everyday underwear. FIGS. 9a and 9b show an alternative embodiment, that is designed for active wear, be that underwear or, for example, gymnastic leotards. The layers are very thin and are intended to absorb bodily fluids, in particular perspiration in the groin area during active movement. This particular embodiment does not incorporate a moisture absorbent layer as such. It includes a moisture wicking layer 34, which is the same as the previous embodiments. However, the core layer is a stretch polyester jersey fabric 36 laminated with a polyurethane layer 38, as shown in FIG. 9b. Efficiency is measured in terms of absorbency being wetting time, where the requirement is a maximum of 5 seconds, and wicking, the ability to draw moisture away from the body.

[0067] The details of the individual gusset or protective pad layers, being a moisture wicking layer, a core moisture absorbing layer and a moisture impermeable layer, will now be described in relation to each of their own novel features. However, it will be appreciated that each of the individual layers disclosed below may be exchanged with other types of moisture wicking layer, core moisture absorbing layer and moisture impermeable layer, to produce a novel gusset or protective pad, and different combinations of individual layers are contemplated.

[0068] FIG. 10a through 10c illustrate a representative knitting pattern for the top moisture wicking layer 34. This layer has moisture repellent cotton yarns blended with absorbent cotton yarns to create channels on the fabric surface that allows moisture to move away from the skin and keep the area cool and dry. The knitting is done using a combination of hydrophobic yarn and hydrophilic yarn. The yarn is a natural cotton, which is naturally hydrophilic and attracts moisture. A portion of the cotton yarns are chemically treated to make them hydrophobic. One preferred treatment is known as TransDry® Technology by CottonWorks™. The hydrophobic and hydrophilic yarns are double knit to create a different face on each side of the fabric. The interlocking yarn is elastane yarn to provide stretch to the wicking layer. Odour absorption is an inherent part of the elastane yarn used, such yarn may be Roica™ CF by Asahi Kasei. The ionic effect at the filament surface makes it permanent and eliminates odour by absorbing their main sources i.e. ammonia, acetic acid, isovaleric acid or products of their bacterial decomposition. This allows the fabric to withstand wear and repeated washing without reducing the anti-odour effects.

[0069] The technical face that sits against the wearer's skin is an eyelet mesh where the yarns alternate per course equally between the hydrophobic and hydrophilic yarns. The technical back that sits against the core layer, is an interlock, which only uses hydrophilic yarn. In this construction, the eyelets on the technical face create openings by a tuck stitch being held in a repeated pattern to expose the underlying hydrophilic yarns of the technical back and encourage the moisture, in particular blood, urine or sweat, to pass through the eyelet openings and wick through to the back. The combination of 50% of the yarns on the technical face being hydrophobic and the concentration of hydrophilic wicking yarns on the technical back, discourage moisture from returning to the technical face. The use of 50% of the yarns on the technical face being hydrophilic, rather than 100% hydrophobic, encourages increased wicking across a greater surface area. The interlocking elastane yarn is not exposed to the technical face that sits against the wearer's skin, as seen in FIG. 10a.

[0070] FIG. 10c illustrates the technical face of the moisture wicking layer, whereby the eyelets 40 are visible and the stiches behind the front face are exposed. The knitting terminology for a single transition of yarn across knitting needles is called a course 42, and runs horizontally across the fabric. A vertical line of stitches is called a wale 44, and when combined with a course creates a knit construction. The technical face is created as an eyelet jersey fabric. In eyelet jersey, a tuck stitch is held, in this example for 3 courses, to create an eyelet 40, being a mesh hole in the technical face of the fabric. A tuck stich is a commonly understood knitting technique to one skilled in the art, including when used on a double knit construction. The novelty of this construction is that it is only the hydrophobic yarn that is held. In this embodiment, it is the hydrophobic yarn 46 that is held every “even” course (2/4/6/8/10/12), and hydrophilic yarn 48 knitted every “odd” course (1/3/5/7/9/11) in a pattern repeat of 6 wales×12 courses.

[0071] In a double knit construction, two sets of needles (dial and cylinder) are “gaited”—spaced in relation to one another, which means needles can be used at the same time to create double knit fabrics. The technical back shown in FIG. 10b presents a standard interlock, a “gaited” construction of uniform stitches. All cotton yarns 48 used on the technical back are hydrophilic, although you can see the interlocking yarns 49 on this face. The interlocking yarn 49 is a polymer that has inherent ionic absorption properties, resulting in an ionic effect at the filament surface. The fabric of the moisture wicking layer uses approximately 75% hydrophilic cotton yarns and 25% hydrophobic cotton yarns.

[0072] The unique way that the hydrophobic and hydrophilic cotton yarns are knitted create channels for moisture to move away from the skin and directional one-way wicking is achieved. For the technical face sitting against the skin, 50% of the surface repels fluid such that it is guided to the other 50% of yarn, which draws it to the back face. As the back face is 100% hydrophilic yarn, the wicking is always away from the skin. This layer may also include an anti-stain repellent finish to increase the washability of the garments. By having this 50/50 split of hydrophobic/hydrophilic yarn against the wearer's skin, rather than 100% hydrophobic, the instance of moisture pooling on the surface is greatly reduced. By incorporating hydrophobic yarns, rather than being 100% hydrophilic, prevents the moisture from backflowing to the surface against the wearer's skin once it has wicked to the back face.

[0073] FIG. 11a and 11b show representations of the construction of a core moisture absorbing layer according to an embodiment. A large number of known period underwear utilise natural fibres such as wool or bamboo to construct an absorbent core, as these fibres are naturally hydrophilic and attract fluid. However, fluid moves into the fibres themselves whereby they swell to become very bulky, lumpy and heavy, which can be uncomfortable for the wearer. Synthetic fibres like polyester and nylon don't break the surface tension of fluid, so don't absorb as well as natural fibres, but they do allow a product to be made that is much thinner and less heavy. The present inventors have created a core layer out of synthetic fibres that provides similar absorbency to natural fibres, without some of the disadvantages of natural fibres.

[0074] In the core moisture absorbing layer, terry looped pile has been used, which acts like a sponge. The terry looped pile is created using a sinker terry knitting machine which is capable of varying the loop height and creating a high density pile. A fabric knit is created of sinker loops 50 with plush loops 52 protruding from at least one side. A person skilled in the art will appreciate how sinker terry loop pile is created as opposed to single construction knitting where loops are formed by miss stitches.

[0075] FIG. 11a and 11c illustrate a single face looped pile. Loops 52 protrude from one face. This makes the layer suitable for light flow and makes the gusset thinner, where an absorbency capacity equates to 10-15 ml. The plush loop height may be in the range of 1.5 mm to 3.5 mm, but more preferably around 2.5 mm.

[0076] In one embodiment, the yarn used for the sinker loops 50 is a polyester and elastane interlaced yarn. The elastane yarn provides stretch to the layer, and odour absorption is an inherent part of the elastane yarn used. The polyester in the interlaced portion may have a C-shaped hollow core cross-section, such as Aerolight™ yarn.

[0077] The yarn used for the plush loops is polyester or a polyester and nylon blend, typically 80% polyester and 20% nylon. To make the synthetic fibres of the plush loops more absorbent they are treated with a hydrolysing enzyme that splits the fibres into fibrils. Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) is used before dying the yarn to split the polyester fibres. If nylon is used, the NaOH at least partially dissolves and removes a large amount of the nylon. With 100% polyester, the NaOH removes oil and grease from the fibres, which allows the filaments to separate and not stick together. A lower amount of NaOH is used on 100% polyester yarn, particular when that yarn is being used in a knit with elastane, as high levels of NoAH may damage the elastane yarn and affect the odour absorption properties. However, a person skilled in the art will be familiar with methods for splitting of synthetic fibres depending on the yarn used.

[0078] In one example, the yarn is split from 90D/36F (36 fibres) into approx. 90D/300F (300 fibres or fibrils). The wording fibrils is being used to describe the individual threads into which a fibre can be split. Example images of fibre splitting are shown in FIGS. 13a, 13b, 14a and 14b. FIG. 13a shows a single fibre 54 and FIG. 13b shows fibre 54 after splitting into eight fibrils 56. FIG. 14a shows a plurality of fibres 54 making up a yarn, with FIG. 14b showing the yarn after splitting the fibres 54 into fibrils 56. The fibres 54 may remain intact in the centre, with just the edges splitting, as shown in FIG. 14b. This may occur when the nylon does not fully dissolve.

[0079] In one example embodiment, a single face terry looped pile was made using a 30 inch diameter, 16 gauge, sinker terry knitting machine manufactured by Tien Yang Knitting Machinery Co. and a combination of polyester and nylon blended yarns. The single face terry looped pile was subjected to a micro-fibre splitting treatment with an alkali solution of 12 grams sodium hydroxide per litre at 98 degrees Celsius for 45 minutes. The treatment at least partially dissolved and removed the nylon core of the blended yarn used in the knitting of the single face terry looped pile resulting in the formation of a plurality of fibrils 56. Next, the single face terry looped pile was dyed in a circular dying machine.

[0080] The moisture impermeable layer 38 is shown in FIG. 11b that is laminated to the back face of the moisture absorbing layer shown in FIG. 11a. In another embodiment, represented in FIG. 12a and 12b, a base knit 58 is a stretch jersey construction, as shown in FIG. 12a, using a polyester yarn, preferably recycled. Polyester yarn is somewhat hydrophobic due to grease, however the grease is removed during finishing of the fabric so that the base knit becomes hydrophilic to allow lamination with a polyurethane (PU) sheet 38. The lamination techniques used are common to those skilled in the art and are not explained in detail here. In some embodiments, a moisture absorbing layer is not provided, and this stretch polyester jersey layer laminated with PU sits directly against the moisture wicking layer.

[0081] The PU sheet 60 is stretchable and has high breathability. The benefit of laminating the PU sheet to a base knit is that it makes the layer less “plasticky” in feel, movement and noise. It also creates a strong base to make the PU sheet more durable allowing for repeated washing minimising degradation or ripping of the PU sheet.

[0082] Hydrostatic pressure testing was performed on sample moisture impermeable layers to determine the resistance to fluid penetration. The samples were subjected to a mean kPa of 250 and no droplets passed through the samples, with the sample bursting when the pressure exceeded 250 KPa. The moisture impermeable layer 38 therefore successfully prevents leakage of fluid to the body fabric 32.

[0083] One example of body fabric 32 may be a combination of cotton/elastane, with 93% cotton yarn and 7% elastane yarn to provide a cotton-rich fabric with 4-way stretch, providing freedom to move and elevated comfort. Odour absorption is an inherent part of the elastane yarn used, such yarn may be Roica™ CF by Asahi Kasei. The ionic effect at the filament surface makes it permanent and eliminates odour by absorbing their main sources i.e. ammonia, acetic acid, isovaleric acid or products of their bacterial decomposition. This allows the fabric to withstand wear and repeated washing without reducing the anti-odour effects. Alternatively, a combination of recycled polyester/elastane jersey knit is used, which has an odour absorption property inherent in filament of the elastane yarn. The jersey knit preferably includes 23 or more % of elastane. A stain release finish is applied to either jersey knit in the case of non-black colours to ensure any blood migration, urine leaks or vaginal discharge that occurs during wear is easily washed out without staining. A suitable stain release formula may be: HPC (20 g/1), CDO (2 g/1), GSI (20 g/1) & PURE (20 g/1).

[0084] The present invention relates to individual novel layers that can be used in different combinations to create protective pads, gussets or like, for use in garments. The combined benefits of the gusset layers results in a gusset that is relatively thinner, has high wicking and absorbency, superior leak resistance and a comfortable natural fibre surface that sits against the wearer's skin. This enables them to be incorporated into everyday garments, without impacting on the comfort of the wearer.

[0085] It will be understood that the invention disclosed and defined in this specification extends to all alternative combinations of two or more of the individual features mentioned or evident from the text or drawings. All of these different combinations constitute various alternative aspects of the invention.