AT521460B1 - functional underwear - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a functional underwear (100, 200) made of a base material (110) with a protector element (120, 120A) attached to it in a non-detachable manner, the protector element (120, 120A) being formed from a molded rubber part with an essentially plate-shaped base body (122), and a multiplicity of damping bodies (121) in the form of hollow bodies with an essentially circular, elliptical, triangular, quadrangular and / or polygonal cross section are arranged on the plate-shaped base body (122).

Description

The invention relates to a functional underwear made of a textile base material with a protector element permanently attached to it, the protector element having an essentially plate-shaped base body with a large number of damping bodies.

Conventional functional underwear is usually made of an elastic material and is optionally provided with protectors, which are usually constructed in several layers. This multilayer structure consists, for example, of a hard shell in which a foam structure is arranged as a damping element. Such a protector can be found, for example, in WO 1995/19154 A1.

A major disadvantage of such functional underwear is that the comfort is very reduced due to the stiffness and lack of breathability in the area of the protectors. If such protectors are sewn into the laundry and are therefore washed for cleaning them, the long drying time and the structure of the foam in the protector can lead to hygienic problems and / or reduced protective function. Therefore, the protector is often placed in a pocket of the garment to be removed from the pocket for separate cleaning if necessary.

Structures made of elastic foam (honeycomb), as described in US 2009/0307829 A1, are also used in protectors as alternative damping elements. This protector, which is also made of a foam material, is also arranged in a pocket and can be removed if necessary, in particular for cleaning.

Is a protector element is described, which is non-detachably arranged on the textile fabric. Here, the protector element is preferably made of a foam material and arranged between two textile material layers in order to again form a pocket for the actual protector element. In this solution according to the prior art, the protector element remains on the item of clothing and is optionally washed, but here too there is again the problem with regard to cleaning and drying the protector on the item of clothing. A similar item of clothing with protector elements can also be found in US 2015/0157066 A1 or US 5,014,354 A.

It is an object of the invention to eliminate the aforementioned disadvantages of the prior art and to provide a functional underwear which offers a high level of comfort with optimal protection against mechanical influences, in particular on the joints or along the spine.

This object is achieved by a functional underwear of the type mentioned in that the protector element is formed from a molded rubber part, and the damping body in the form of hollow bodies with a substantially circular, elliptical, triangular, square and / or polygonal cross-section the substantially plate-shaped base body are arranged.

Under plate-shaped base body is understood in the context of this application that flat part of the protector element on which the damping elements are arranged, wherein the longitudinal axes of the damping elements designed as hollow bodies intersect the surface of the base body at an angle which is preferably substantially 90 °. Base plate and damping elements are preferably made in one piece, in particular made of the same material. The base plate itself can actually be designed as a flexible plate, as a film or as a plate-shaped network structure.

The term functional underwear tops and bottoms / trousers parts are understood together or viewed on their own, the tops long-sleeved or short-sleeved or as a carrier camisole and the bottom parts can be designed with short or long legs.

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AT 521 460 B1 2020-02-15 Austrian Patent Office [0010] The damping bodies arranged on the base body are particularly well suited for reducing the energies occurring during mechanical action, for example as a result of a fall, these being dissipated into heat by elastic deformation and transformation of the energy become. It is preferably provided here that the interior of these hollow bodies penetrates the plate-shaped base body, so that it has a multiplicity of ventilation holes. The damping bodies thus not only function as damping elements, but also serve to ventilate the functional underwear in the area of the protector in order to obtain improved breathability in this area as well.

A significantly improved breathability is achieved if the essentially plate-shaped base body has additional ventilation holes which preferably penetrate the plate-shaped base body essentially vertically to its surface extension. It can also be provided, for example, that the essentially plate-shaped base body has a flat network structure formed by means of webs, the respective damping bodies being arranged at the intersection points of these webs. Thus, according to the invention, a highly flexible and breathable molded rubber part is permanently attached to the functional underwear. The protector element according to the invention is particularly light and, due to its rubber material, also unproblematic in cleaning and drying, although it is arranged in an inseparable manner in the functional underwear or sewn onto it and is thus washed or cleaned together with the same.

It is preferably provided that the protector element has a height of 3 to 20 mm, preferably 7 mm. This low overall height further improves wearing comfort, while the elastic rubber material optimally adapts to the movements of the wearer of the functional underwear according to the invention.

To produce the molded rubber part of the protector element, the following material has proven itself in a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention due to its particularly good protective function. Here, the protector element, namely the rubber component, is made of a compounded plastic polymer, the plastic polymer being in a second step with at least one further polymer and / or resin by means of a mixture of trans-polynorbornene, which is first prepared with at least one preferably aromatic process oil in a ratio of 1: 0.1 to 1: 5, preferably 5: 3.

A further improved protective effect with increased wearing comfort is obtained if the at least one further polymer and / or resin is an indene-coumarone resin.

In a preferred first embodiment of the invention, the protector element is sewn onto the base material of the functional underwear. As an alternative to this, it can be provided that the protector element is sewn into a pocket of the functional underwear, for example. In both cases, the protector element remains at the intended location even after repeated washing and optimally protects the wearer of the functional underwear according to the invention.

In order to obtain an improved breathability of the functional underwear according to the invention, it is provided that the textile material is breathable and sweat-transporting, it being preferably made of fibers which are selected from a group consisting of polyamide, polypropylene, polyester, Contains merino sheep wool fibers, cotton fibers or mixtures thereof. It can also be provided that additional elastic fibers such as elastane are added to the material in order to obtain a tight-fitting functional underwear.

It can also be provided that the base material of the functional underwear according to the invention has recesses into which a mesh-like textile material, for example Coolmax® Mesh, is arranged in order to obtain improved cooling, in particular at higher temperatures.

The functional underwear made according to the invention with a flexible, breathable and washable protector meets the requirements of EN 1621-1 and EN 1621-2 as well as comparable international standards for corresponding sports.

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AT 521 460 B1 2020-02-15 Austrian Patent Office [0019] The invention is explained in more detail below on the basis of a non-limiting exemplary embodiment with associated figures. 1 shows a front view of the functional underwear according to the invention, [0021] FIG. 2 shows a back view of the functional underwear from FIG. 1, a short-legged variant also being shown, [0022] FIG. 3 shows a side view of the functional underwear from FIG. 1, and [0023] FIG. 4 shows a sectional illustration of the protector element arranged on the functional underwear.

The functional underwear according to the invention in the embodiment variant shown in the figures consists of an upper part 100 and a trouser part 200.

The upper part 100 in this long-sleeved version consists of a base material 110 on which protector elements 120 are arranged in joint areas, namely in the area of the shoulders and the elbows of a person. Furthermore, an elongated protector element 120A is provided in the back area of the upper part 110 for protecting the spine of the person (FIG. 2).

The base material 110 can be different depending on the requirement, so it consists, for example, in the variant for cooler seasons of pure merino wool or warming mixed fibers of merino wool and elastane. For summer, on the other hand, light, highly elastic fibers, such as Lycra, are the preferred base material 110 for summer shirts.

The protector element 120, as shown in the sectional view according to FIG. 4, rests on the base material 110, the damping elements 121, which are of essentially hollow cylindrical design in this embodiment, facing the base material 110 and thus the wearer of the functional underwear. The essentially plate-shaped base body 122 faces away from the base material 110 and is covered by a fabric 130, for example a CoolMax® mesh, which is preferably mesh-like for improved breathability and at the same time additionally fixes the protector element 120 in its position on the base material 110.

The upper part 100 also has inserts 131 made of mesh-like material 130 for better breathability in the front chest area and in the back area.

The pants part 200 is also made of the basic material 110 described above, protector elements 120 being provided in the hip area, in the knee area and in the area of the coccyx. In the short variant of the trousers part 200 (shown on the right side of FIG. 3), the knee protectors are omitted.

It is understood that the invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiments. The protector elements can be shaped in a wide variety of ways and placed at different locations in the functional underwear. Likewise, further areas can be provided on the functional underwear, in which mesh-like materials are used instead of the base material 110 in order to achieve cooling and thus greater comfort at higher temperatures. It is essential to the invention that the functional underwear has protector elements which are inextricably linked to the base material of the functional underwear and can be washed or cleaned with the functional underwear without any problems.

Claims (6)

1. functional underwear (100, 200) made of a base material (110) with a protector element (120, 120A) attached to it in a non-detachable manner, the protector element (120, 120A) having an essentially plate-shaped base body (122) with a plurality of damping bodies (121) , characterized in that the protector element (120, 120A) is formed from a molded rubber part, and the damping bodies (121) in the form of hollow bodies with a substantially circular, elliptical, triangular, square and / or polygonal cross section on the essentially plate-shaped base body (122) are arranged. 2. functional underwear (100, 200) according to claim 1, characterized in that the substantially plate-shaped base body (122) has a plurality of ventilation holes, which are preferably arranged between the hollow bodies. 3. functional underwear (100, 200) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the protector element (120, 120A) has a height of 3 to 20 mm, preferably of 7 mm. 4. functional underwear (100, 200) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the protector element (120, 120A) is sewn onto the base material (110). 5. functional underwear (100, 200) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the base material (110) is breathable and sweat-transporting, wherein it is preferably made of fibers selected from a group consisting of polyamide, polypropylene - Contains polyester, merino sheep, cotton fibers or mixtures thereof. 6. functional underwear (100, 200) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the base material (110) has recesses (131) into which a mesh-like textile material (130) is inserted.