Movement-reactive athletic apparel and methods of making the same
AssigneesReebok International Ltd., STF Technologies, LLC
InventorsDanielle Marie Witek, Richard Dombrowski, Norman Joseph Wagner
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Articles of athletic garments, particularly sports bra and methods of treating the athletic garments with a shear thickening fluid (STF) are disclosed. The athletic garment comprises a STF treated fabric. The STF treated fabric in contact with the wearer's body part restricts movement of the body part when the shear stress exceeds the shear stress threshold value and stretches and conforms to the wearer's body part when the shear stress is less than the shear stress threshold value. The STF treatment method may include immersing the untreated fabric in a diluted STF bath, metering an amount of the fluid on the fabric, and removing the diluent from the treated fabric.
Claims19
A method of manufacturing an athletic garment, comprising:
- dispersing particles in a fluid medium to form a suspension, wherein the suspension comprises a shear thickening fluid, and wherein the size of the particles ranges from 5 nm to 50 um;
- diluting the formed suspension with a diluent to form a diluted shear thickening fluid;
- intercalating a fabric with the diluted shear thickening fluid;
- removing the diluent from the fabric intercalated with the diluted shear thickening fluid such that the particles in the shear thickening fluid adhere to the fabric;
- and
- forming the athletic garment with the fabric.
A method of treating fabric with a shear thickening fluid, the method comprising:
- dispersing particles in a fluid medium to form a suspension, wherein the suspension comprises a shear thickening fluid, and wherein the size of the particles ranges from 5 nm to 50 um;
- diluting the formed suspension with a diluent to form a diluted shear thickening fluid;
- intercalating the fabric with the diluted shear thickening fluid;
- and
- removing the diluent from the fabric intercalated with the diluted shear thickening fluid such that the particles in the shear thickening fluid adhere to the fabric to form the fabric treated with the shear thickening fluid.
A method of manufacturing a sports bra, comprising:
- dispersing particles in a fluid medium to form a suspension, wherein the suspension comprises a shear thickening fluid;
- diluting the formed suspension with a diluent to form a diluted shear thickening fluid;
- intercalating a portion of a fabric for making a sports bra with the diluted shear thickening fluid;
- removing the diluent from the portion such that the particles in the shear thickening fluid adhere to the fabric;
- and
- forming the sports bra with the fabric.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.