Apparel – Body garments
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-01
2001-09-11
Calvert, John J. (Department: 3741)
Apparel
Body garments
C002S457000, C002S901000, C002S270000, C002S275000, C428S152000, C604S385201
Reexamination Certificate
active
06286144
ABSTRACT:
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to United Kingdom Patent Application No. 9720968.8 filed Oct. 3, 1997 and United Kingdom Patent Application No. 9804692.3 filed Mar. 6, 1998.
The present invention pertains to protective garments that are intended to be discarded when contaminated.
BACKGROUND
Protective garments are worn to protect a wearer from various hazards, including fine particles, solvents, and aggressive liquids and/or to protect a workplace, such as a clean room, from being contaminated by the person wearing the garment. Protective garments may be disposable to eliminate the need for their careful handling and expensive laundering. Disposable protective garments generally have a short service life but have the benefit of being discardable when the service life has expired. Examples of disposable protective garments are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,272,851, 4,683,593, and 5,509,142.
The protection offered by a disposable protective garment is determined to a large extent by the barrier material(s) from which the garment is formed. Even when appropriate barrier materials are used, however, hazardous dusts and vapours can sometimes leak into a garment at various locations, including seams, wrist and ankle openings, and zip closures. For this reason, the number of potential leakage points is preferably kept to a minimum, and those locations are constructed to minimize leakage as best possible. Garment cost is also an important consideration when fashioning a disposable protective garment. Costs should also be held to a minimum—but consistent with the degree of protection required—to discourage continued garment use after the service life has expired.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,190,010, 4,593,418, and 4,683,593 describe methods of constructing seams in protective garments to reduce leakage. In the case of openings at the wrists and ankles, it is known to gather the garment using a sewn-in elastomeric material so that the garment fits more closely to the wearer's limbs at those locations. Leakage nevertheless remains a problem in those areas because of the stitching, and wearers therefore commonly apply tape there to cover the stitch holes and to further seal the garment to their bodies or to their gloves and boots. To protect zip closures, cover flaps typically are used to secure the garment on one side of the closure and, when the garment is in use, is located over the zipper and secured along the other side by an adhesive tape.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is concerned with reducing dust and vapour leakage through protective garments to increase wearer protection while avoiding substantial increases in garment cost.
In brief summary, the present invention provides, in a first aspect, a protective garment that comprises:
(a) a barrier material configured to fit on a wearer and having at least one opening disposed therein to allow an extremity of the wearer to pass therethrough; and
(b) a band of elastomeric material that is joined to the barrier material at the opening(s) by at least one welded or adhesively-bonded seam, the elastomeric material being joined in a stretched condition to the barrier material and being allowed to relax to form gathers in the garment around the opening.
In this aspect, the invention overcomes the disadvantages of known protective garments that have the elastomeric material secured to the barrier material by stitching the two together. Because the invention uses a weld or an adhesive attachment, there is no opportunity for contaminants to pass through the garment's stitch holes. The invention thus eliminates the need for wearers to tape the cuffs to prevent contaminant passage through the stitch openings.
In a second aspect, the present invention provides a protective garment that comprises:
a) a barrier material configured to fit on a wearer and having at least one opening disposed therein to allow an extremity of the wearer to pass therethrough; and
(b) a band of elastomeric material that is joined to the barrier material at the opening(s) by at least one welded or adhesively-bonded seam, the elastomeric material comprising a microtextured surface in at least that part of the band that would face the wearer when the garment is worn.
In this second aspect, the invention is advantageous in that a good, comfortable fit is achieved between the wearer's body and the garment. The microtextured elastomeric band is capable of easily fitting body extremities of various sizes. Microtextured materials also can be comfortably disposed on the wearer's skin.
The present invention also provides a method of forming a band around at least one opening in a protective garment, the method comprising the steps of:
joining a length of stretched elastomeric material to the garment by at least one welded or adhesively-bonded seam, and then allowing the elastomeric material to relax such that the garment forms into gathers at the seam and the elastomeric material extends from the garment; and
joining the ends of the length of elastomeric material to form the said band.
The band of elastomeric material may be located at the end of a sleeve, or at the end of a trouser leg, or around a hood. The method is advantageous because it offers a simple way of finishing the openings of a protective garment providing, in comparison to conventional stitched bands, an equally good fit to the wearer and an enhanced degree of protection without the need for complex seam constructions.
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Fewtrell James
Gloag Nicholas J.
Henderson Christopher P.
Williams Elfed I.
3M Innovative Properties Company
Calvert John J.
Hanson Karl G.
Hill Cecilia A.
Muromoto Jr. Robert H.
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