Refrigeration – Structural installation – With body applicator
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-16
2001-07-10
Doerrler, William (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Structural installation
With body applicator
C165S046000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06257011
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a portable cooling device generally used with body armor systems and which is designed to utilize the body's natural cooling process of convection and the evaporation of sweat and/or other evaporative liquid to provide cooling and comfort to the person wearing the garment while being lightweight, thin, and flexible.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Body armor systems, including vests worn by law enforcement officers, use Kevlar® or similar fibers, which are coated in plastic, as a projectile-resistant shield. The plastic coating is necessary to assure the safe performance of the vest, but makes the garment hot and uncomfortable to wear. This, in turn, decreases the mobility and, thus, the efficiency of the officers who wear them and acts as a deterrent to using the body armor and as a result, increases officer casualties. There have been several attempts to provide a more comfortable protective garment. For example, Parrish et al (U.S. Pat. No. 25 5,113,666), teach a cooling device that can be incorporated into a person's apparel to permit the transfer of water vapor from the wearer's skin. Parrish et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,668), a continuation-in-part of U.S. Patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,666, teach a sealed garment containing a working fluid in an evaporation section of the garment, vaporization occurring by heat generated from the person wearing the garment. Parrish et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,695), a divisional of U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,668, teach cooling devices such as vests, pads or patches used in garments, including space suits, sealed hazardous material suits, and/or vests. All of these embodiments comprise of a desiccant layer which is utilized in the storage of the water vapor resulting from the evaporation process. In the present invention, however, the water vapor resulting from the evaporation process is discharged to the environment thus alleviating the requirement of storage and decreasing the weight and size of the cooling apparatus.
Other examples may also be found in Scaringe et al (U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,294), Szczesuil et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,320,164), Faghri (U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,369), Garner (U.S. Pat. No. 5,818,693), Koon et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,898,570), Coulon et al (U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,645), Buckley (U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,482), and Benson (U.S. Pat No. 4,572,864), which are hereby incorporated by reference.
These cooling systems, however, remain heavy and uncomfortable to the wearer. Therefore, there remains room in the art for a portable, lightweight, thin, and flexible garment which will provide more comfortable thermal conditions under the armor vest (or similar vest type garments) and would induce people to wear them as necessary, and thereby reduce the occurrence of preventable injuries and fatalities.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable, lightweight, thin, flexible, comfortable and adaptable cooling device generally used in conjunction with a body armor protective garment.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a cooling device that uses the body's natural capabilities to cool itself by conduction, convection, and/or evaporation as a part of the garment's cooling system.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a cooling garment that will make body armor protective garments more likely to be worn by those requiring such protection.
It is an even further object of the present invention to provide a cooling system operable in both sealed and unsealed garments.
These and other objects are achieved by a portable lightweight cooling apparatus for cooling an object, comprising some combination of a channeled sheet which absorbs sweat and/or other evaporative liquid, means for moving air through said channeled sheet, and a layer of highly conductive fibers adjacent to said channeled sheet wherein the layer of fibers uniformly distributes heat across the object being cooled, while the air moving within the channeled sheet evaporates sweat and/or other evaporative liquid, absorbs and discharges the heat and moisture generated by the object into the environment.
These and other objects are also achieved by a method for removing heat generated by the human body, comprising the steps of providing a garment to be placed in thermal communication with the body; potentially placing a layer of conductive fibers within the garment adjacent the body for uniformly distributing the heat generated by the body; removably attaching means for moving air in communication with the garment for forcing air into the garment; potentially including an exchangeable heat sink in communication with the means for moving air in order to precondition the air prior to the air entering the garment or becoming in communication with the layer of highly conductive fibers to transfer heat from the body to the heat sink; and, potentially equipping the garment with a channeled sheet in communication with the air-moving device such that air is directed into the channeled sheet adjacent the layer of fibers so that heat and moisture are expelled from the body by the air being directed out of the channeled sheet and into the environment.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the foregoing and other objects are achieved by an apparatus for cooling a living body which apparatus comprises: a layer of thermally conductive material; and a heat sink operably connected to said thermally conductive layer, the apparatus being configured to cause heat from the living body to be conducted through the thermally conductive layer and to the heat sink when the living body is proximate the thermally conductive layer.
In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, the foregoing and other objects are achieved by an apparatus for cooling a living body which comprises: a channeled sheet capable of absorbing evaporative liquid; and means for moving air into and through said channeled sheet and communicably connected thereto; said apparatus configured so that when the living body is proximate the channeled sheet the channeled sheet may absorb evaporative liquid from the living body and air moving through said channeled sheet may vaporize the evaporative liquid.
In accordance with a third aspect of the present invention, the foregoing and other objects are achieved by a method for removing heat generated by a body, comprising the steps of: providing an apparatus including a garment, a layer of thermally conductive material disposed within said garment, and a heat sink connected to said thermally conductive material to permit conduction of heat therebetween; and placing the thermally conductive material in contact with at least a portion of the body to cause the thermally conductive material to conduct heat from the body to the heat sink.
In accordance with a fourth aspect of the present invention, the foregoing and other objects are achieved by a method for removing heat generated by a body, comprising the steps of: providing an apparatus comprising a garment, a channeled sheet for absorbing evaporative liquid disposed within said garment, and a powered air moving device disposed for moving air through channels within said channeled sheet; placing the channeled sheet in contact with at least a portion of the body; and causing the air-moving device to direct air through the channeled sheet and expel air therefrom whereby liquid from the body may be absorbed by the channeled sheet and evaporated to cool the body and whereby heat from the body may be convectively removed by the moving air.
In accordance with a fifth aspect of the present invention, the foregoing and other objects are achieved by an apparatus for cooling a living body which comprises: a continuous layer of thermally conductive material wherein a first portion of the continuous layer is configured to be proximate to the living body for absorbing heat from the body and a second portion of said layer is configured to be exposed to ambient air for disc
Crabtree Jerry Allen
Siman-Tov Moshe
Doerrler William
Hardaway/Mann IP Group
Jiang Chen-Wen
Nexsen Pruet Jacobs & Pollard LLC
O'Toole, Ph.D J. Herbert
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