HEATED GARMENT SYSTEM

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001]This application is a continuation in part of and claims the benefit of priority to International Application No. PCT/US2025/025046, filed Apr. 17, 2025, and is a continuation in part of U.S, patent application No. 18/649,610, filed on Apr. 29, 2024, which claims the benefit of priority to U.S. provisional patent application No. 63/630,202, filed on Jan. 17, 2024; the entirety of all prior applications are hereby incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

[0002] The invention relates to a heated glove system that incorporates a heated glove having ultrathin resistive heaters that extend on both the backside and palm side of the glove to enable higher tactility and use.

Background

[0003] Cold weather gloves incorporate bulky insulation to keep a person’s hands warm. This bulky, thick insulation reduces normal hand function and grip. Delicate or fine hand motor activities are very difficult if not impossible when wearing these bulky thick gloves.

[0004] In particular, athletes have to endure cold temperatures during outdoor sports as these thick gloves limit their performance and ability to catch and/or throw a ball. Their hands become cold and stiff without gloves and this also compromises their performance.

[0005] Also, not everyone is outdoors for fun and recreation. Millions of Americans have to work outdoors in cold temperatures, and perform manual, mechanical duties as part of that work. Unfortunately, the gloves they need to wear to protect their hands and fingers wind up substantially affecting their ability to perform their job.

[0006] Without gloves, performance and results are directly limited, of course. Cold temperature “decreases manual performance (of the hands and fingers) and decreases flexibility due to increased viscosity within the joints and soft tissues which interferes with smooth joint movements,” according to medical studies, and “decreases contraction velocity and maximal strength.” Simply put, low temperature restricts hand and finger motion and the speed of that motion, and also substantially reduces grip strength.

[0007] Standard gloves produce the same negative effects, however. Additional studies found “muscle force was lost in the hand-glove interface” and determined “wearing gloves may be another risk factor among those whose jobs require repetitive motions and large exertion forces.” Those studies on glove use in occupational environments concluded that these “thick, stiff gloves … could be trading one health risk for another.” In other words, the warmth provided by those standard gloves is needed for safety reasons but, in addition to negatively affecting work performance, the limitations applied by those same standard gloves create other safety risks. Therefore, this creates a Catch-22 circumstance. You need gloves to protect your hands from the elements, but those same gloves restrict you from doing needed tasks. Take them off, you’re at risk. Leave them on, you create other risks due to the limitations imposed by those thick, bulky garments.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The invention relates to a heated garment system, for articles of clothing including hats, shirts, jackets, vests, sweatshirts, pants, shoes and socks, and incorporates ultrathin resistive heaters that extend within the fabric, such as between an exterior material and an interior material. The ultrathin resistive heater may extend along both the backside and palm side of the garment to enable independent control of heating of the backside and frontside portions. The resistive heater may extend a substantial percentage of the surface area of the garment, such as 50% or more and preferably about 70% or more.

[0009]An exemplary resistive heater is ultrathin comprising a thin planar resistive layer that is no more than 3mm thick and preferably no more than 2mm or even 1mm thick. The ultrathin resistive heater may extend along a frontside and backside of a garment such as along the front side of a shirt configured to extend over a person’s chest, and along the back side of a shirt that is configured to extend over a person’s back. When a garment forms a tube for insertion of a body part therein, such as an arm, leg, neck, foot, hand, head, the resistive heater may extend around the tube in a continuous manner wherein a front side portion and back side portion are connected.

[0010] For glove or mitten applications, the ultrathin resistive heater may extend along a backside portion of the glove and extend up along the finger portions of the backside portion and also along a palm portion and extend up along the finger portion of the palm portion. In this way, a hand is heated on both the backside and palm side substantially over the entire surfaces. This may improve tactility and the gloves may be configured for sports applications wherein tactile feel is important for effective performance. The heated glove incorporates a battery, that may be a rechargeable battery and a controller interface having an on/off button and temperature indicator. A heated glove may also include a wireless signal transceiver for relaying information about glove temperatures to a remote electronic device, such as a mobile phone.

[0011] An exemplary heated garment has a resistive heater extending along the backside and also along a frontside of the garment, such that the heater extends around a garment conduit for receiving a body part therein. A resistive heater may be a heater grid of a resistive layer that is configured within both the palm portion and backside portion and may extend along the finger portions along both the palm side and backside. A heater grid may substantially cover the frontside area and backside area of the garment, such as about 50% or more of the area, 70% or more, 80% or more, 90% or more, or even 95% or more. A heater grid may extend over substantially all of the surface area of the heated garment to provide effective and uniform heating of a hand configured therein. For glove applications, the heater grid may substantially cover the frontside area and backside area of the glove, such as about 50% or more of the area, 70% or more, 80% or more, 90% or more, or even 95% or more. A heater grid may extend over substantially all of the surface area of the heated glove to provide effective and uniform heating of a hand configured therein.

[0012]An exemplary heater grid includes a grid pattern of a resistive layer on a substrate material and may be an etched material or vapor deposited material, such as a metal or metal alloy. The resistive layer may be a metal or metal alloy foil. A resistive layer may be very thin, such as 2mm or less, 1mm or less, 0.5mm or less or even 0.25mm or less. The substrate layer of the resistive layer may be a polymeric material, such as an olefin, or material that has relatively high thermal stability such as a polyimide. Also, a resistive heater may have a cover layer, a material configured over the resistive layer and this may be thermally conductive but non-electrically conductive material. The substrate layer may be configured toward or adjacent the exterior material of the glove and may provide additional thermal insulation for the cold exterior temperatures.

[0013] The heated glove may include a cuff portion with a cuff opening into the interior of the glove. The heated glove has a hand portion that extends over the palm of the hand and finger portions extending around each of the fingers, including the thumb. The interior may have a fabric for contact with a person’s hand. The heated glove has a backside portion, palm side portion and individual finger enclosures including a thumb enclosure, index finger enclosure, a middle finger enclosure, a ring finger enclosure and a little finger enclosure. The backside of the heated glove may include different materials than the palm side and the palm side may include a high friction material configured to provide better tactile grip on objects, such as tools or sports balls or equipment.

[0014] The interior and/or exterior material of the heated garment may be a thin material, such as a woven or non-woven blend of fibers, such as a blend of woven polyester and nylon. A waterproof coating may be applied to the exterior to ensure that the glove remains waterproof and this waterproof coating may comprise polyethylene. The interior material may be a thin, plush, material, such as a woven or non-woven and may include nylon, or other polymeric materials, such as fibers. As described herein, for glove applications the palm side may include a high friction material configured to provide better tactile grip on objects, such as tools or sports balls or equipment.

[0015] The resistive heater may differ from the backside and the frontside, wherein the frontside heater portion may have different grid patterns, different grid widths of the resistive layer and/or different thicknesses than the backside heater portion. The resistive layer may have a coverage area, such as about 15% or more, about 25% or more, about 35% or more, about 50% or more and any range between and include the coverage areas provided. This coverage area may vary from the backside to the frontside or from region to region within the garment. For a glove application, the coverage area may vary from the frontside to the backside portion of the garment. Also, the fingers may have a higher coverage area than a hand portion of the heated glove as the fingers have more exposure and are prone to getting cold more quickly than the hand portion.

[0016] The hand portion of the heated glove may include different materials or different weight or composition of materials than the finger portions. The finger portions, or the palm side of the finger portions may have a lower weight of fabric, such as about 10% lower or more, about 25% lower, or even 50% lower in weight than a hand portion to enable effective dexterity and hand manipulation of tools, sports equipment, and other objects. The heater grid may have a higher coverage area in the finger portion than the hand portion to accommodate for less insulation on the finger portion.

[0017] The heated garment system includes a controller interface to control the temperature of the garment and a battery to heat the resistive heater. The controller may include a low, medium, and high temperature setting or may allow specific temperature set points to be input. An on/off button may initiate the heating of the garment and provide a flow of electrical current from the battery to the heater grid. A temperature indicator may indicate a relative temperature set point or temperature of the heated garment, wherein a first color, such as green indicates a low temperature or low temperature set point, a second color such as yellow indicates a medium temperature or medium temperature set point and a third color such as red indicates a high temperature or high temperature set point. The on/off button may be used to cycle through different set points and the temperature indicator may be coupled with the on/off button, wherein pushing the on/off button one-time initiates heating as illuminates a first color light, pushing a second time initiates heating to a medium temperature set point and illuminates the second color and pushing a third time initiates a high temperature set point and illuminates the third color to indicate this high temperature set point.

[0018] An exemplary heated garment may include a controller interface including a charging port to charge the battery, an on/off button, a temperature indicator, a controller, and a wireless signal transceiver for sending and/or receiving wireless signals.

[0019] An exemplary heated garment system may be configured to communicate with a remote electronic device, such as a mobile phone. Data regarding the temperature of the garment may be transferred from the wireless signal transceiver of the heated garment to the wireless signal transceiver of the remote electronic device. The display screen of the remote electronic device may display functions and data from the heated garment, such as garment temperature, as measured by a temperature sensor. A separate sensor on the frontside and backside of the garment may enable individual reading and display of the frontside versus the backside of the garment. A heated garment may have a plurality of temperature sensors, such as one on a backside and one on a frontside of the garment and may include one or more temperature sensors along one or more of the fingers, such as near the tip or extended end of each of the fingers, including the thumb. Also, the remote electronic device may have an interface, such as a touch screen to produce a temperature input for increasing or decreasing a set garment temperature, and may enable setting of a backside garment temperature and separately a frontside garment temperature. The remote electronic device may also display battery level and other data regarding the temperature of the garment or system parameters, such as time on, dates and times used, and the like. The remote electronic device may have a controller and operate an App for interfacing with the heated garment.

[0020] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications, combinations, and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the scope of the invention. Specific embodiments, features and elements described herein may be modified, and/or combined in any suitable manner. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications, combinations and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0021] The summary of the invention is provided as a general introduction to some of the embodiments of the invention, and is not intended to be limiting. Additional example embodiments including variations and alternative configurations of the invention are provided herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.

[0023]FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a backside of a heated glove system that includes a glove having a resistive heater powered by a battery and a controller interface to control the temperature of the glove.

[0024]FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of a backside of a heated glove system that includes a heated glove having a heater grid extending from the backside portion of the glove along the backside of the finger portions of the glove.

[0025]FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of a palm side of a heated glove system that includes a glove having a heater grid powered by a battery and a controller interface to control the temperature of the glove.

[0026]FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a palm side of a heated glove system that includes a glove having a heater grid including a heater grid extending from the palm portion of the glove along the palm side of the finger portions of the glove.

[0027]FIG. 5 shows an exemplary heated glove system communicating with a remote electronic device, such as a mobile phone, data regarding the temperature of the glove and wherein the remote electronic device is configured to control the temperature setting of the glove.

[0028]FIG. 6 shows a cross sectional view of the hand portion of the heated glove having a backside portion and palm portion, each with a resistive heater configured between an interior material and exterior material.

[0029]FIG. 7 shows a cross sectional view of finger portion of the heated glove having a backside portion and palm portion, each with a resistive heater configured between an interior material and exterior material.

[0030]FIG. 8 shows a football player wearing an exemplary heated glove and catching a football.

[0031]FIG. 9 shows a cross sectional view of an exemplary resistive heater having a resistive layer, such as a metal foil configured on a heater substrate and a heater cover layer.

[0032]FIG. 10 shows an expanded view of a heater grid having a resistive layer configured in a grid on a substrate and having individual grid elements with a grid width.

[0033]FIG. 11 shows garments including a hat, shirt, sweatshirt, vest, jacket, pants, shoe and sock.

[0034]FIG. 12 shows a cross sectional view of the garment of the heated garment having a backside portion and front side portion, each with a resistive heater configured between an interior material and exterior material.

[0035] Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the figures. The figures represent an illustration of some of the embodiments of the present invention and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner. Some of the figures may not show all of the features and components of the invention for ease of illustration, but it is to be understood that where possible, features and components from one figure may be an included in the other figures. Further, the figures are not necessarily to scale, some features may be exaggerated to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

[0036] As used herein, the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," "including," "has," "having" or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Also, use of "a" or "an" are employed to describe elements and components described herein. This is done merely for convenience and to give a general sense of the scope of the invention. This description should be read to include one or at least one and the singular also includes the plural unless it is obvious that it is meant otherwise.

[0037] Certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described herein and are illustrated in the accompanying figures. The embodiments described are only for purposes of illustrating the present invention and should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the invention. Other embodiments of the invention, and certain modifications, combinations, and improvements of the described embodiments, will occur to those skilled in the art and all such alternate embodiments, combinations, modifications, improvements are within the scope of the present invention.

[0038]Referring now to FIGS. 1 to 5, and exemplary heated glove system 10 comprises a heated glove 11 having a resistive heater 80 extending along the backside and also along a palm side of the glove. A resistive heater may be configured within both the palm portion and backside portion and may extend along the finger portions along the palm side and backside of the finger portions. The heated glove includes a controller interface 30 to control the temperature of the glove and a battery 36 to heat the resistive heater 60. The resistive heater may be a conductive resistor array that is printed of conductive material or etched to produce thin resistive elements.

[0039]As shown in FIG. 1, the exemplary heated glove 11 has a controller interface 30 having a charging port 32 to charge the battery 36, an on/off button 33, a temperature indicator 34, a controller 35, and a wireless signal transceiver 38 for sending and/or receiving wireless signals 40. A temperature indicator may be integral with an on/off button wherein the on/off button can be interfaced with by pressing and may have a light that indicates a set temperature. Pressing the on/off button one time may turn the temperature indicator green, for a low temperature set point, pressing the on/off button a second time may change the temperature indicator yellow, to indicate a medium set temperature and pressing the on/off button a third time may change the temperature indicator red to indicate a high or highest set temperature. Pressing the on/off button may index through the set temperatures and then turn the heater off.

[0040]The heated glove 11 includes a cuff portion 20 with a cuff opening 21 into the interior 22 of the glove. The heated glove has a hand portion 26 and finger portions 25. The interior may have a fabric for contact with a person’s hand. The heated glove 11 has a backside portion 24 including a backside hand portion 28 and finger portion 25 including individual finger enclosures including a thumb enclosure 50, index finger enclosure 51, a middle finger enclosure 52, a ring finger enclosure 53 and a little finger enclosure 54. The backside 23 of the heated glove 11 may include different materials and resistive heaters arrays than a palm side of the heated glove.

[0041] As shown in FIG. 2, an exemplary heated glove has a resistive heater 60 including a heater grid 62 including a backside heater portion 64 extending from the hand portion 26 along a backside portion 24 of the heated glove. The backside heater portion 64 extends from a backside hand heater portion 68 along the backside of the finger portions 25 and includes a thumb heater 70, an index finger heater 71, a middle finger heater 72, a ring finger heater 73 and a little finger heater 74, wherein each of the backside finger heaters extend within the backside portion 24 of the heated glove up along the individual finger portions 25.

[0042]Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, a palm side 27 of a heated glove 11 includes a palm-side hand portion 29 and finger portions 25 and a resistive heater 60 forming a heater grid 62 that includes an array of resistive elements 63. The palm-side heater portion 66 extends from palm-side hand heater portion 69 to palm-side finger heater portions 66 including a thumb heater 80, an index finger heater 81, a middle finger heater 82, a ring finger heater 83 and a little finger heater 84. Also, a conductive material 90, such as a layer or coating is configured over one of the finger portions, such as the index finger enclosure 51 of the heated glove.

[0043] As shown in FIG. 5, an exemplary heated glove system 10 is configured to communicate with a remote electronic device 42, such as a mobile phone 44. Data regarding the temperature of the glove may be transferred from the wireless signal transceiver 38 of the heated glove 11 to the wireless signal transceiver 48 of the remote electronic device 42. As shown on the display screen 43, a glove temperature 421 is displayed. Also, the remote electronic device 42 has an interface 47, such as a touch screen to produce a temperature input 41 for increasing or decreasing a set glove temperature 411. The remote electronic device 42 may also display battery level and other data regarding the temperature of the gloves or system parameters, such as time on, dates and times used, and the like. The remote electronic device 42 may have a controller 45 and operate an App 46 for interfacing with the heated glove.

[0044]FIG. 6 shows a hand portion 26 of a heated glove 11 having an interior 22 of the glove with a backside portion 24 and a palm portion 26 configured around the interior 22. A backside portion has an interior material 244 that contacts the backside of the hand and an exterior material 242. Likewise, the palm portion 26 has an interior material 264 and exterior material 262. The interior materials 244, 264 may be the same material however the exterior materials are preferably different, especially for heated gloves designed for specific activities, such as athletics, wherein a good grip on the palm portion is required. In this case, the exterior material 262 of the palm portion 26 may include a high friction material, 268, as shown. The palm-side heater portion 66 may be configured between the interior material 264 and exterior material 262 of the palm portion 26. Likewise, the backside heater portion 64 may be configured between the interior material 244 and exterior material 242 of the backside portion 24 of the heated glove 11.

[0045]FIG. 7 shows a finger portion 25 of a heated glove 11 having an interior 22 of the glove with a backside portion 24 and a palm portion 26 configured around the interior 22. A backside portion has an interior material 244 that contacts the backside of the hand and an exterior material 242. Likewise, the palm portion 26 has an interior material 264 and exterior material 262. The interior materials 244, 264 may be the same material however the exterior materials are preferably different, especially for heated gloves designed for specific activities, such as athletics, wherein a good grip on the palm portion is required. In this case, the exterior material 262 of the palm portion 26 may include a high friction material, 268, as shown. The palm-side index finger heater 81 may be configured between the interior material 264 and exterior material 262 of the palm portion 26. Likewise, the backside index finger heater 71 may be configured between the interior material 244 and exterior material 242 of backside portion 24 of the heated glove 11.

[0046]FIG. 8 shows a person 15, a football player, wearing an exemplary heated glove 11 on their hand 16 and catching a football 17.

[0047]Referring now to FIGS. 9 and 10, an exemplary resistive heater 60 has a resistive layer 61, such as a metal foil configured on a heater substrate 65 and a heater cover layer 67. The thickness 601 of the resistive heater may be very thin as described herein, such as about 3mm or less, about 2mm or less, or even about 1mm or less. The thickness 611 of the resistive layer may be ultrathin, such as about 1mm or less, about 0.5mm or less, or even 0.25mm or less. This very or ultrathin resistive heater enables effective heating a person’s hand while enabling effective hand use. As shown in FIG. 10, a heater grid 62 has a grid pattern of individual grid elements 622, a resistive element 63 that have a grid width 621 that may be about 1mm or more, 2mm or more, 3mm or more, 4mm or more and any range between and including the values provided. The percent coverage of the resistive layer as shown is about 20% and as described herein may vary from location to location within the glove.

[0048]FIG. 10 shows an expanded view of a heater grid having a resistive layer configured in a grid on a substrate and having individual grid elements with a grid width.

[0049]FIG. 11 shows garments 12 including a hat 121, shirt 122, sweatshirt 129, vest 128, jacket 123, pants 127, shoe 125 and sock 126. A sweatshirt may include a hood that is attached or detachably attached. A jacket may also include a hood. These garments form a tube.

[0050]FIG. 12 shows a cross-sectional view of a garment 12 of the heated garment system 14 having a backside portion 124 and frontside portion 166, each with a resistive heater 60 configured between an interior material and exterior material. The garment 12 is a heated garment 18, such as a shirt 122, and forms a conduit 423 to extend around a portion of the body, a torso for example. The garment 12 has an interior surface 422 and an exterior surface 424. The resistive heater 60 forms a heat grid 62, as shown in FIG. 10 having resistive elements 63 arranged in a grid pattern, wherein the resistive elements are elongated and cross over each other to form intersections of elongated resistive elements. The backside portion 124 and a frontside portion 166 are configured around the interior 22 of the garment. A backside portion has a backside interior material 342 that extends between the conduit and the backside heater portion, and a backside exterior material 344. Likewise, the frontside portion 166 has an interior material 462 and exterior material 464. The interior materials may be the same material however the exterior materials are preferably different, especially for some applications where the frontside may require more or less heating than a backside, such as a cycling garment, wherein the front side may be heated more than a back side due to the high wind velocity onto the front of the garment. The frontside heater portion 168 may be configured between the frontside interior material 462 and frontside exterior material 464 of the frontside portion 26. Likewise, the backside heater portion 164 may be configured between the interior material and exterior material 344 of the backside portion 124 of the heated garment 18.

[0051] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications, combinations, and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the scope of the invention. Specific embodiments, features and elements described herein may be modified, and/or combined in any suitable manner. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications, combinations and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.