Improved flame resistant thermal liners and garments made with same
AssigneeSouthern Mills, Inc.
InventorsMatthew Lucius Colatruglio, Michael T. Stanhope
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention replace relatively bulky nonwoven thermal insulating materials used in thermal liners with thin, lightweight, flexible films that maintain or improve TPP performance while reducing the thickness, and enhancing the flexibility, of the thermal liner so as to increase wearer comfort. Moreover, the films incorporated into the thermal liners can be both air and vapor permeable such that the TPP performance is not realized at the expense of THL performance. Rather, the THL performance of garments incorporating embodiments of thermal liners contemplated herein is comparable to—if not improved over—garments formed with traditional thermal liners.
Claims20
A garment composite comprising:
- a. an outer shell layer comprising a flame resistant fabric;
- b. a moisture barrier layer;
- and
- c. a thermal liner layer comprising a flame resistant facecloth and at least one film layer attached to the facecloth, wherein the at least one film layer is air and vapor permeable and water resistant,
- wherein the flame resistant facecloth is exposed on a first side of the garment composite and the outer shell layer is exposed on a second side of the garment composite opposite the first side.
A garment composite comprising:
- a. an outer shell layer comprising a flame resistant fabric;
- b. a moisture barrier layer;
- and
- c. a thermal liner layer comprising a flame resistant facecloth, at least one film layer, and at least one textile layer, wherein the at least one film layer is air and vapor permeable and water resistant and wherein the thermal liner layer comprises at least one of (1) a stiffness in at least one of a warp direction and a weft direction of less than 5 microjoules/meter, when tested pursuant to ASTM D 1388 (Option A, Cantilever Test, Flexural Rigidity) and (2) a stiffness in at least one of a warp direction and a weft direction of less than 4 pounds force (lbf), when tested pursuant to ASTM D 4032,
- wherein the flame resistant facecloth is exposed on a first side of the garment composite and the outer shell layer is exposed on a second side of the garment composite opposite the first side and wherein the garment composite has a thermal protective performance rating of at least 35 calories/cm2 when tested pursuant to ISO 17492 and a thermal heat loss of at least 205 watts/m2 when tested pursuant to ASTM F 1868.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.