CLOTHING HAVING INSULATING MEMBERS

BACKGROUND

[0001]The present application relates generally to clothing, and more particularly, to clothing having insulated areas that have different sizes and spacing between the insulated areas to control the amount of insulation provided to a person's body.

[0002]Different types of clothing are worn in different environmental climates. For example, short-sleeved shirts and shorts are worn in warmer climates and long-sleeved shirts, long pants and coats are worn in colder climates. Further, colder climates require more thermal insulation to retain body heat than in warmer climates. Insulation is the process of keeping heat, such as body heat, from spreading or dissipating. Thus, clothing having more insulation will help to retain a person's body heat better over time than clothing having less insulation.

[0003]Moisture is also a factor in retaining a person's body heat. Water absorbed by clothing quickly evaporates, taking heat away from a person's body and reducing the body's ability to maintain a normal temperature. Additionally, wet clothing can make the body feel much colder, leading to decreased blood flow and increased risk of hypothermia.

[0004]Different types of textile materials provide different amounts of insulation and water absorption. Thus, the selection of textile materials for clothing significantly affects the body heat of the wearer of the clothing and thereby the comfort of the wearer. Different textile fibers hold individual properties that suit different environments. For example, natural fibers are breathable and absorb moisture, while synthetic fibers are hydrophobic in that they repel moisture and do not allow air to pass. The insulation properties of textile materials varies depending on the density and thickness of the textile material used to make the clothing.

[0005]It is therefore desirable to provide clothing with different insulation properties that help to maintain a person's body temperature in different climates when a person's active and at rest.

SUMMARY

[0006]The present article of clothing includes insulating members that have different sizes and spacing between the insulating members to control the amount of thermal insulation and breathability provided to different areas of a wearer's body for regulating body temperature during activities and at rest.

[0007]In an embodiment, an article of clothing is provided and includes a body member having a base material and a plurality of insulating members on the base material, where the insulating members each having a thickness and are spaced a distance from each other. The base material and the insulating members being configured to help regulate the thermal temperature of a wearer's body.

[0008]In another embodiment, an article of clothing is provided and includes a body member having a base material, where the base material has a thickness and a plurality of insulating members on the base material, the insulating members each having a common shape and being spaced a distance from each other.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009]FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment of the present article of clothing.

[0010]FIG. 2 is a rear view of the article of clothing of FIG. 1.

[0011]FIG. 3 is front view of an embodiment of an insulated member.

[0012]FIG. 4 is a side view of the insulated member of FIG. 3.

[0013]FIG. 5 is a fragmentary front view of another embodiment of the article of clothing, where the rear view is a mirror image of this view.

[0014]FIG. 6 is a side view of the article of clothing of FIG. 5.

[0015]FIG. 7 is a fragmentary front view of a further embodiment of the article of clothing, where the rear view is a mirror image of this view.

[0016]FIG. 8 is a side view of the article of clothing of FIG. 7.

[0017]FIG. 9 is a front view of another embodiment of the article of clothing, where the rear view is a mirror image of this view.

[0018]FIG. 10 is a front view of a further embodiment of the article of clothing, where the rear view is a mirror image of this view.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019]The present article of clothing includes insulating members that have different sizes and spacing between the insulating members to control the amount of thermal insulation and breathability provided to different areas of a wearer's body for regulating body temperature during activities and at rest.

[0020]Referring now to FIGS. 1-4, an article of clothing 20, such as a long-sleeved shirt, includes a body member 22 made with a base material 24 and a plurality of insulating members 26 on the base material. The article of clothing 20 in this embodiment is a long-sleeved shirt but it is contemplated that the article of clothing may be a short-sleeved shirt, shorts, pants, vest, shrug, coat, or any suitable article of clothing or clothing accessory such as a hat or arm sleeves.

[0021]In this embodiment, the base material 24 is sewn together to form the body member 22, where the body member 22 has a central portion 28 having a front side 30 and an opposing back side 32, and an upper opening 34 and lower opening 36. The central portion 28 of the body member 22 is configured to cover the upper and lower parts of a wearer's body. The body member 22 also includes two arms members 38a and 38b that are attached to the central portion 28 by stitching or any suitable attachment method. The arm members 38a, 38b having end openings 40a and 40b and are configured to receive the arms of a wearer. In the illustrated embodiment, the base material is wool, but it is contemplated that the base material may be nylon, polyester or any suitable material or combination of materials as known in the art.

[0022]Referring to FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, the plurality of insulating members 26 each have a hexagonal shape, which provides multi-dimensional stretchability and/or flexibility, i.e., stretchability/flexibility in different directions on the body member 22. It should be appreciated that the insulating members 26 may have a square shape, a circular shape, a triangular shape, a polygonal shape, a non-traditional shape, an undefined shape or any suitable shape. In this embodiment, the insulating members 26 all have the same shape. In another embodiment, one or more of the insulating members have different shapes. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the size and spacing of the insulating members 26 on the base material 24 varies along the body member 22. In the illustrated embodiment, the insulating members 26 have a first size and are spaced at a first distance from each other on the upper area 42 of the central portion 28 of the body member 22, and have a second size and are spaced at a second distance from each other on the lower area 44 of the central portion 28, where the first size is greater than the second size and the first distance is less than the second distance. It should be appreciated that the size and spacing of the insulating members 26 on the body member 22 may all be the same, the size and spacing of a plurality of the insulating members but not all of the insulating members may be the same, or the size and spacing of all of the insulating members 26 may be different.

[0023]In the illustrated embodiment, the insulating members 26 on the upper area 42 of the body member 22 are each 30 square centimeters and have a thickness of 2.0 to 10 mm, and preferably 2.0 to 5.0 mm, where the first distance is 1.0 to 3.0 cm. The insulating members 26 on the lower area 44 of the body member are each 15 square centimeters and have a have a thickness of 2.0 to 10 mm, and preferably 2.0 to 5.0 mm, where the second distance is 1.0 to 3.0 cm. It should be appreciated that the size, thickness and distance between the insulating members 26 on the body member 22 may be any suitable size and thickness and may be spaced apart by any suitable distance, where the insulating members may be equidistance from each other or the distance varies between at least two of the insulating members.

[0024]In this embodiment, the first size of the insulating members 26 on the upper area 42 of the body member 22 is greater than the second size of the insulating members 26 on the lower area 44 of the body member 22 to provide greater thermal insulation in the upper area than in the lower area of a wearer's body. Similarly, the first distance between the insulating members 26 on the upper area 42 is less than the second distance of the insulating members 26 on the lower area 44 to provide more thermal insulation in the upper area of a wearer's body. On the lower area 44 of the body member 22, the smaller size of the insulating members 26 and the greater distance between the insulating members provides less thermal insulation than the thermal insulation on the upper area 42 of the body member 22 to the wearer's body while also providing more air penetration through the body member and thereby more breathability than the upper area 42 of the body member 22. Specifically, the greater size and close spacing of the insulating members 26 on the upper area 42 of the body member 22 enables the insulating members 26 to cover more area of the base material 24 than the insulating members on the lower area 44 of the body member 22 thereby enabling the insulating members 26 on the upper area 42 to provide more thermal insulation to a wearer's body than the lower area 44 of the body member 22 while providing more air circulation or breathability on the lower area of the wearer's body.

[0025]In this embodiment, the base material 24 has a first thickness in the upper area 42 of the body member 22 and a second thickness in the lower area 44 of the body member 22, where the first thickness is greater than the second thickness. The difference in thicknesses in the upper area 42 relative to the lower area 44 provides more thermal insulation to the upper area than the lower area of a wearer's body. It should be appreciated that the second thickness may be greater than the first thickness, the thickness of the base material 24 may be the same on the entire body member 22 or the base material 24 may have two or more thicknesses along the body member 22.

[0026]Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, in the above embodiments, an insulating member sheet 54 includes a layer 56 of foam material attached to an adhesive sheet 58, and a laser machine directs a laser at the foam material to cut the foam material and form the insulating members on the adhesive sheet 58. The laser machine may cut the foam material to form the hexagon-shaped insulating members 60, similar to the insulating members shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, or to form insulating members having any suitable shape or combination of shapes as shown in FIG. 10. After cutting the insulating members 60 in the layer 56 of foam material, the adhesive 62 on the surface of the adhesive sheet 58 is exposed between the insulating members 60. Also, the adhesive sheet 58 is formed to have a size that is greater than the size of the layer 56 of foam material so that the adhesive 62 on the adhesive sheet 58 is exposed along a portion of the perimeter or along the entire perimeter of the insulating member sheet 54. The insulating member sheet 54 is then placed on and adhered to the inner surface of the base material by placing the adhesive 62 on the adhesive sheet 58 against the inner surface of the base material. After adhering the insulating member sheet 54 to the inner surface of the base material, the insulating members 60 are between the adhesive sheet 58 and the base material. Another insulating member sheet 54, or a plurality of insulating member sheets 54 may be formed as described above and adhered to the inner surfaces of the base material on the front side, the rear side, the arm members or to any part of the base material to provide a desired level of insulation.

[0027]Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, the base material includes a plurality of pockets 64 that are formed on or attached to the inner surfaces and/or the outer surfaces of the base material 66 where at least one side of the pockets has an opening 68. The pockets 64 may have a hexagon shape as shown in FIG. 7, or have a different shape or combination of shapes. In this embodiment, an insulating material 70 is inserted through the openings 68 in the pockets 64 and filled into each pocket. The insulating material 70 may be down, a down material, a foam material, synthetic fibers or any suitable material or fibers or any suitable combination of materials and/or fibers. In an embodiment, an adhesive sheet 72 has a size that is greater than a size of the area including the pockets 64, where the adhesive sheet 72 is placed on the pockets 64 so that the adhesive 74 on the surface of the adhesive sheet 72 adheres to the pockets 64 and to the inner surface of the base material to close or seal the pockets 64 and to provide a barrier between the pockets 64 and a wearer's body to enhance comfort.

[0028]Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the arm members 38a and 38b of the body member 22 do not have insulating members 26. In another embodiment shown in FIG. 9, the arm members 38a, 38b each include insulating members 26. It should be appreciated that the size and shape of the insulating members on the arm members may be the same, the size and shape of at least two of the insulating members 26 may be different or the size and shape of all of the insulating members 26 on the arm members 38a, 38b may be different. Similarly, the distances between the insulating members on the arm members may be the same, the distances between at least two of the insulating members 26 may be different or the distances between all of the insulating members 26 on the arm members 38a, 38b may be different. In the illustrated embodiment, the insulating members 26 are on a portion of the arm members 38a and 38b. In another embodiment, the insulating members 26 are on the entire surfaces of the arm members 38a and 38b. It should be appreciated that the insulating members 26 may be on one of the arm members 38a or 38b or on both arm members 38a and 38b as shown in FIG. 9.

[0029]Referring to FIG. 10, another embodiment of the article of clothing is shown where the article clothing 46 includes a body member 48 made with a base material 50, and a plurality of insulating members 52. In this embodiment, the insulating members are different shapes, namely, a hexagon shape 52a, a circle or circular shape 52b, a triangle shape 52c and a square shape 52d. The different shapes of the insulating members 52 vary the dimensional flexibility of the insulating members. In this way, the flexibility of the insulating members 52 may be varied in different areas of the body member 22. As stated above, the insulating members 52 may have any suitable shape.

[0030]While particular embodiments of the present article of clothing are shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the invention in its broader aspects and as set forth in the following claims.