EP1758475B1

EP1758475B1 - Anti-scorching elements and garment thus provided

Info

Publication number: EP1758475B1
Application number: EP04744031A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Giovanni Mazzarolo
Original assignee: Alpinestars Research SpA
Current assignee: Alpinestars Research SpA
Priority date: 2004-06-08
Filing date: 2004-06-08
Publication date: 2012-01-25
Anticipated expiration: 2024-06-08
Also published as: WO2005120262A1; ATE542445T1; CN1960649A; EP1758475A1

Abstract

In order to protect parts of the body of a motorcyclist from burns caused by friction following falls, the garment or suit is provided with patches which are arranged between the lining and the material forming the outer layer of garment and are made of heat-insulating material, said patched being shaped and arranged so as to match and cover entirely the partis of the body to be protected.

Description

The present invention relates to a garment providing heat-insulating protection, in particular a motorcyclist's suit, and to protective elements which can be used for this purpose.
It is known that the manufacturers of sports clothing, in particular clothing intended for activities which may involve danger for the end users, invest considerable resources in the design of garments with increasingly effective features for protecting the user. In the case of activities on high-speed vehicles - from among which two-wheel vehicles and in particular motorcycles will be considered here - the possibility of accidents, falls or injury is very high.
In addition to injury resulting from impact, other possible situations must also be taken into account. In the event of an accident during which the fuel escaping from the tank may also catch fire (including the more serious case of explosion of the tank), the rider is basically fairly well protected, since the materials of which these garments are generally made, i.e. leather or the like, are not particularly flammable. By way of proof of this, specific regulations relating to the fireproof properties of motorcyclists' garments do not exist.
However, suits and garments which are made entirely of fireproof materials are known and are designed for other types of users, such as, for example, racing car drivers, firemen and more generally users who are obliged to work in the presence of naked flames and/or conditions where there is the risk of explosions and fires. The protective garment proposes in this case to prevent direct contact of the user's skin with flames and therefore the risk of bums inevitably resulting therefrom. One aspect, however, which has been completely neglected is that of abrasive burns. In the case of an accident where a motorcyclist is thrown off the motorcycle, very often as a result of the fall he slides along the road surface in frictional contact therewith.
The garments which the motorcyclist wears usually protect him from injury such as wounds caused by abrasion. In fact, precisely for this purpose, often the suit is provided in critical positions with metal plates which are applied externally in order to assist sliding of the motorcyclist on the road surface, preventing somersaults and tumbling which at high speed may result in very serious traumatic injuries.
However, the friction between ground and garment instantaneously generates much heat which from the surface of the garment - which obviously overheats even if the garment does not tear - is transmitted to the underlying skin.
The final consequence is that often this overheating caused by friction results in considerable bums or, at least, in major inflammations.
Usually the parts which are most exposed to this type of danger are the articulations of the limbs (elbows and knees), the shoulders, the back and the sides.
The document US-A-6,070,274 discloses a garment having the features of the preamble of claim 1. The main object of the present invention is to provide a garment which solves the abovementioned problem of overheating of the skin caused by friction, preventing the possibility of dangerous bums in the event of a fall.
This object is achieved by providing the garment with protective elements made of heat-insulating material, at least along the parts of the body which are most exposed to friction burns.
According to the invention these protective elements consist of patches which are made of said heat-insulating material and are applied to the internal lining of the garment, so that said patches are arranged between said internal lining and the material forming the outside of the garment, such as leather or fabric.
The present invention also relates to the protective elements defined above.
The advantages of the present invention will emerge more clearly from the description, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of a preferred example of embodiment of a motorcyclist's garment in the form of a suit, provided by way of a non-limiting example. It is pointed out that in the remainder of this description the term "suit" is understood as meaning also garments comprising an internal lining which is not permanently fixed to the external layer of leather or similar material, but which is detachable (for example by means of buttons or zip fasteners).
In this case, the protective elements according to the invention may be fixed to the external surface of the lining permanently (for example by means of stitching) or in the form of proper patches which replace fabric portions of the lining.
As a further alternative the lining may be provided with seats or pockets inside which the protective elements may be removably inserted, optionally and preferably divided into several parts.
In the drawings:

Figures 1 and 2 are respectively a front and rear view of a suit according to invention;
Figure 3 is an enlarged and exploded view of the arm portion of the suit according to Figs. 1 and 2 in a patch zone; and
Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the patch according to Fig. 3.

Figures 1 and 2 show a suit 10 designed to cover the whole of the user's body, except for the head, the hands and the feet. Said suit 10 comprises two leg portions 12, a trunk portion 14 and two sleeves 16. The suit 10 is able to be put on with the aid of an opening 18 in the chest region, which can be closed with buttons or normal zip fasteners, not shown. At the rear, however, the suit 10 does not have openings, ensuring continuous covering of the rear part of the user's body. In the region of the shoulders 20, the sides 22, the elbows 24, the knees 26 and the back 28, said suit 10 is provided with anti-burn protective elements 30 having a shape and extension such as to match and cover entirely the body portion or the articulation to be protected.
For example, the protective element 30 which covers the elbow has two portions 31, 32 which extend, respectively, to halfway along the upper arm and halfway along the forearm.
Fig. 3 show an exploded view of a sleeve 16 of the suit 10 in the region of a protective patch indicated overall and generically by the number 50. From the cross-section shown in Fig. 4 it can be seen that, in the region of the patch 50, the two usual layers, namely lining 44 and external layer 40 of leather or similar material normally used for the manufacture of motorcyclists' garments, are replaced by a structure which basically consists of three layers, namely outer layer 40, middle layer 30 or patch of heat-insulating material, and lining 44 intended to come into contact with the skin or an underlying intimate garment worn by the user. A further layer 42 consisting of a curved piece of rigid material, used in order to protect the said parts of the body from knocks, is arranged in between.
The heat-insulating layer which forms the patch 30 provides the protection against the burns described above, isolating the user's skin from the intense heat generated as a result of friction between suit 10 and road surface.
The choice of heat-insulating material is very wide and varies from the normal fireproof materials (such as those which are known commercially by the trademarks NOMEX, CARBON-X), cork and resin-based mouldable compositions, glass and/or rock wool, for example in the form of felt, and normal heat-insulating materials based on plastics (such as expanded plastics).
It is also possible to envisage using liquid materials, for example materials which, owing to the action of heat, change state, so that the heat generated by friction of the suit with the road surface is absorbed and used by the liquid in order to change state without a substantial variation in temperature.
In the case of liquid materials it is obvious that they must be enclosed within an impermeable bag to be fixed in turn in position to the lining and/or to the inner surface of the outer layer of leather or the like.
The present invention may be subject to numerous variations.
The protective elements or patches 30 may be modified in terms of shape or divided into several parts in order to favour the insertion in suitable seats or pockets provided on the lining of the suit 10 and/or in order to facilitate flexing of the limbs, so as to allow greater ease of use.
It is possible to envisage several layers of heat-insulating material in order to increase the protection of some parts of the body or overlay different types of heat-insulating materials, taking advantage of their different mechanical and/or thermal characteristics.
Finally, it is also possible for whole parts of the garment or even the whole of the garment to be made with the structure described above, namely with an intermediate layer between lining and outer layer of leather or fabric made of heat-insulating materials.

Claims

Garment, in particular motorcyclists garment, comprising:
- an outer layer (40) of leather or similar material,

- an inner lining (44) intended to come into contact with the skin or an underlying garment worn by an user, and

- a layer (42) consisting of a curved piece of rigid material suitable for protecting from knocks a body portion or an articulation to be protected; said layer (42) being arranged between the outer layer (40) and the inner lining (44) characterized in that it further comprises

- an heat-insulating layer consisting of patches (30) made of heat-insulating material, which are applied to the inner lining (44) so as to be arranged between said inner lining (44) and said outer layer (40);
each patch having a shape and an extension such as to match and cover entirely the body portion or the articulation to be protected by said curved piece of rigid material, thereby protecting the user from overheating of the skin caused by friction and preventing the possibility of dangerous burns in the event of fall.
Garment according to Claim 1, characterized in that said heat-insulating material is chosen from among the normal fireproof materials, cork and resin-based mouldable compositions, glass and/or rock wool, preferably in the form of felt, and normal heat-insulating materials based on plastics, such as expanded plastics.
Garment according to Claim 1, characterized in that said patches comprise an impermeable bag fixed in position to the lining, the bag containing liquid materials which, owing to the action of heat, change state, so that the heat generated by friction of the suit with the road surface is absorbed and used by the liquid in order to change state without a substantial variation in temperature.
Garment according to Claim 1 and/or 2, characterized in that said patches (30) are made of several parts.
Garment according to Claim 4, characterized in that said patches made of several parts can be inserted into special seats or pockets provided in the inner lining (44).
Garment according to any one of the preceding Claims, comprising non-permanent fixing means between the inner lining (44) and the outer layer (40), so that the inner lining (44) is not permanently fixed to the outer layer (40), but is detachable therefrom.
Garment according to Claim 6, characterized in that said patches (30) are either permanently fixed to the external surface of the inner lining (44) or removably inserted into seats or pockets provided in the inner lining, or applied to the inner lining (44) so as to replace portions of the inner lining (44).