Apparel – Head coverings – Convertible
Patent
1995-06-14
1998-01-06
Biefeld, Diana
Apparel
Head coverings
Convertible
128864, A61F 1114
Patent
active
057040699
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a moisture absorbing cover for an earmuff. The invention accordingly relates to a cover for a sealing ring of an earmuff, which sealing ring, after application of the earmuff over a person's ear, is intended to abut the person's head around the ear. The invention also relates to a device for use in moisture absorption in connection with an earmuff, which includes a cover of the above type and additionally a supplementary cover. Finally, the invention relates to use of a special material in a moisture absorbing cover for an earmuff.
Persons who protractedly wear earmuffs, such as hearing protecting muffs and/or communication headsets, are often troubled by sweat and moisture at the sealing rings and within the ear spaces of the earmuffs.
There have been attempts to resolve this problem by attaching exchangable layers of absorbent paper material to the sealing rings of earmuffs. In practice, however, this solution has not been found to give satisfactory results.
The object of the present invention is to provide an improved solution to the abovementioned moisture problems while using a moisture absorbing cover.
In accordance with the invention, this object is attained by a cover, a device and a use which bear the features indicated in the accompanying patent claims.
The invention is thus based on an insight that using a "superabsorbent" material in a moisture absorbing cover which is applied to an earmuff provides significant advantages. Over and above that such material has proven to provide extremely good moisture absorbance in this context, the material has proven to have the capacity to take up and retain moisture even under the present comparatively high pressure forces which are necessitated by the fact that the sealing ring of an earmuff must abut the person's head with a not insignificant force to obtain the desired sealing effect.
The superabsorbent material is preferably incorporated in an inner layer of the cover. With the aim of providing the wearer of the earmuff with a feeling of dryness and to ensure good moisture uptake, the cover should have an outer layer having a high moisture permeability or moisture transport effect so that the moisture is effectively conveyed thereby into the inner layer which contains the superabsorbent material.
The superabsorbent material is advantageously a fibrous material, preferably included in a nonwoven or bonded-fibre fabric layer. A layer of this sort, aside from the superabsorbent fibres, may include other fibres which provide stability and strength and which, in cooperation with similar fibres in optional enclosing other layers, may provide a cohesive and reinforcing elect. Such other fibres may be hydrophilic or wetting agent-treated fibres and/or staple fibres, "staple fibres" being used in a broad sense and not being limited, for example, to cut fibres.
The superabsorbent material is advantageously polyacrylate based.
Advantageously, the cover has an outer layer, an inner layer and a rear or backing layer, each of which is a nonwoven or bonded-fibre fabric layer. The preferred layer configurations and compositions, not least to provide good mechanical properties at a low cost, are apparent in the dependent patent claims.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, a cover of the sort under discussion may also be applied onto an earmuff at a location other than its sealing ring, namely within the ear space of the earmuff, whereby additionally improved moisture uptake is obtained. To this end, an extra, separate cover may be advantageously used, which is complementary to a ring-shaped cover intended for the sealing ring itself. The complementary cover, in other words, preferably has a configuration corresponding to the area which is encompassed by the ring-shaped cover, i.e. a configuration which also corresponds to the opening of the earmuff into the ear space.
A preferred embodiment of a device in accordance with the invention for use in moisture absorption in connection with an earmuff, comprises a first ring-sh
REFERENCES:
patent: 2622159 (1952-12-01), Herman
patent: 3922725 (1975-12-01), Csiki et al.
patent: 4438163 (1984-03-01), Andersson
patent: 4530353 (1985-07-01), Lauritzen
patent: 4573988 (1986-03-01), Pieniak et al.
Biefeld Diana
Dalloz Safety AB
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