US 5,072,455 AGranted

Heat-intercepting garment or blanket

OwnerThomas A. St. Oursinventor

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Abstract

A heat-intercepting shield or shroud in the form of a garment, blanket or belt having on at least one surface thereof one or more pockets to receive replaceable packets of refreezable material which absorb large quantities of heat as the material melts. Each pocket has two coextensive fabric layers stitched together to form opposite pocket walls. Over the entire pocket area and next to the one wall are coextensive layers of non-breathable continuous reflective material and of insulating material. These materials are flexible and are stitched next to that one pocket wall in seams at the edge of the pocket so that both heat reflection and retardation of heat flow by the insulation occurs over the entire pocket area. Between the layer of insulation and the other pocket wall is a space for a heat absorbing packet or packets of frozen gel. The side of the shield or shroud with the packet or packets is placed toward the object to be cooled or protected from external radiant, conductive or convective heat.

Claims16

Dependent claims

A shield comprising heat-intercepting means wrappable in a circumferential direction around at least a major portion of an object for protecting a portion of said object against an external source of radiant, conductive and convective heat comprising a flexible casing having front and rear flexible fabric members, said members being secured together and providing a plurality of elongated rectangular facial heat-intercepting areas of equal size extending in said circumferential direction and constituting essentially the primary heat-intercepting means at the exterior of said shield, each said area having four peripheral sides and generally rectangular corners, said shield having within said casing throughout each said area three layers comprising, successively, in the direction away from the source of said heat, a flexible layer of heat-reflective non-breathable material, a flexible layer of heat-insulating material, and a generally flat flexible multi-sectioned removable and replaceable packet layer of heat-dissipating material for absorption of heat, said packet layers being of the same size and covering an area substantially coextensive in size with the respective heat-interception each of said three layers for each area being between two respective flexible casing members with said heat-reflective and said heat-insulating layers being permanently stitched to both of the flexible members along two parallel sides and a third side of the periphery of the respective heat-intercepting area, the three parts comprising said heat-reflecting and heat-insulating layers and one of said flexible casing members being permanently stitched to each other along the fourth side of said respective area, and manually separable means for releasably securing said three parts to the other flexible member along the entire fourth side of each said area to permit removal and insertion of a respective packet and to enclose and to closely confine said packet layer of heat-dissipating material against movement relative to said periphery, said shield being supportable when separated from the object to be protected in a position wherein said manually separable means for all said areas area arranged with respect to each other whereby all said packets may be inserted into said shield along parallel paths in a common direction, said heat reflecting and heat insulating layers each being unattached to one another and unattached to either of said flexible members over the area of each packet layer within said four sides at each heat-intercepting area.

A heat-intercepting field for controlling the temperature of a portion of an object, said shield comprising a flexible casing having front and rear flexible members, said members being secured together and providing at least one facial primary heat-intercepting area of said shield, each said primary area having four sides and generally rectangular corners and being divided into a plurality of elongated four-sided rectangular smaller heat-intercepting areas, all such smaller heat-intercepting areas being identical in size, said shield having within said casing throughout each of said smaller areas three successive layers comprising in order a flexible layer of heat-reflective non-breathable material, a flexible layer of heat-insulating material, and a third layer comprising for each smaller area a flexible multi-sectioned packet of heat-dissipating material for absorption of heat, said flexible layers of heat-reflecting and heat-insulating materials each being at least coextensive over each respective said primary heat-intercepting area, said three layers being between the flexible casing members with said heat-reflective and said heat-insulating layers being stitched to both of the flexible members along two parallel sides and a third side of each of the intercepting areas to define a plurality of elongated side-by-side four-sided pockets co-extensive, respectively, with the four-sided smaller areas, with common sides of said side-by-side pockets coinciding with a common seam of stitching forming one of said parallel sides of each of the adjacent side-by-side areas, the three layers at each said smaller area, comprising the heat-reflecting and heat-insulating layers and one of the flexible members, being permanently secured to each other along the fourth side of the periphery of the smaller heat-intercepting area, each of said elongated pockets having an opening to the outside of said shield along said fourth side of said periphery, and manually separable means for releasably securing said three layers as a unit to the other of the flexible members to form a separate closure for each of said pockets along said fourth side of a respective smaller heat-intercepting area, each said packet being of identical size and essentially filling a respective pocket whereby the sides of that pocket closely confine therein the respective packet of said heat-dissipating material against movement relative to the four sides of the pocket, said heat reflecting and heat insulating layers each being unattached to one another and unattached to either of said flexible members throughout each said smaller area within its four sides.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.