Tubed lamination heat transfer articles and method of manufacture
AssigneeDelta Temax Inc.
InventorsJoseph Lorney Rose, Kirk Alan Dobbs
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A human heat transfer article in the form of pads, blankets, or garments which is a bilayer or trilayer lamination, incorporating flexible fluid-carrying tubes, to contact the skin to modulate the flow of heat to or from the human body, and a method of manufacture therefor. The tubes are stress-relieved to prevent their return to their original configuration. The manufacturing method provides for the mass automated or semi-automated production of flexible, breathable heat transfer pads, blankets, and garments which have fluid-carrying plastic tubing in a self-sustaining, stress-relieved pattern captured between two layers of flexible breathable fabric.
Claims16
A heat transfer pad, blanket, or garment comprising,
- stress-relieved flexible tubing disposed in a self-sustaining serpentine configuration without being externally supported and adapted to receive heating/cooling fluids therethrough;
- a first flexible fabric substantially permeable to vapor and air;
- and
- means for supporting said stress-relieved flexible tubing to said first flexible fabric.
A laminated fabric product having a flexible fabric substrate, a flexible fabric liner and a stress-relieved flexible tubing disposed in a self-sustaining serpentine configuration sandwiched between said substrate and liner, said flexible fabric product for use in forming heating/cooling pads, blankets, or garments, said laminated fabric product formed by the process of:
- (a) forming a stress-relieved, self-sustaining flexible tubing disposed in a serpentine configuration upon a tubing fixture by the steps of;
- (1) providing a tubing fixture having tubing retaining means for receiving and retaining flexible plastic tubing in a predetermined serpentine configuration,
- (2) inserting the tubing into said tubing retaining means to orient said tubing in the predetermined serpentine configuration and to restrain the tubing into said predetermined serpentine configuration,
- (3) heating the restrained tubing to a temperature sufficient to impart a memory to said tubing so that the tubing is in a substantially stress-relieved condition, and,
- (4) cooling the tubing;
- (b) providing a flexible fabric substrate that is substantially permeable to vapor and air;
- (c) applying adhesive material, in a substantially uniform pattern, to the flexible fabric substrate in an amount and pattern that does not significantly interfere with the vapor and air permeability of the fabric substrate;
- (d) orienting the tubing fixture to overlie the fabric substrate such that the flexible tubing faces the applied adhesive material surface of the fabric substrate;
- (e) moving the tubing fixture in the direction toward the fabric substrate such that the flexible tubing contacts the adhesive material surface of the fabric substrate;
- (f) releasing the flexible tubing from the tubing fixture so that the serpentine-shaped tubing is supported upon the fabric substrate;
- (g) providing a flexible fabric liner overlying the tubing and fabric substrate;
- (h) applying pressure between the fabric liner and fabric substrate to adhesively bond the fabric liner to the fabric substrate so that the stress-relieved, self-sustaining tubing is retained therebetween, to thus form the laminated fabric product.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.