EP1446628A1

EP1446628A1 - Protective garment

Info

Publication number: EP1446628A1
Application number: EP02782962A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Christian Kurt BÖTTGER; Joe Krummel
Original assignee: Teijin Twaron GmbH
Current assignee: Teijin Aramid GmbH
Priority date: 2001-11-10
Filing date: 2002-10-19
Publication date: 2004-08-18
Anticipated expiration: 2022-10-19
Also published as: PL368715A1; EP1446628B1; AU2002346953B9; JP4325932B2; US7150046B2; DE50212714D1; BR0214033A; ATE406557T1; US20050066400A1; JP2005509757A; AU2002346953B2; PL200090B1; WO2003042622A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a protective garment comprising at least one protective material consisting of an array of one or more superimposed plies of fabric, wherein each ply of fabric is flexible and consists of at least one fabric connected to at least one polymer film, the yarns of said fabric having a strength of at least 900 MPa and wherein the protective material has an outer surface facing the side of attack and an inner surface opposite the side of attack. The invention is characterized in that the protective material also has at least another ply made of felt, which is arranged on one of the plies of fabric.

Description

protective clothing

Description:

The invention relates to protective clothing comprising at least one protective material.

Clothing for protection against attacks by firearms or stabbing weapons is known. WO 00/08411 describes an stab protection material composed of at least two fabrics which are connected to one another via a polymer film, the fabrics consisting of yarns having a strength of at least 900 MPa, and the polymer film connecting the fabrics having a strength of at least 10 MPa and a flexural modulus of 1500 to 4500 MPa.

The material disclosed in WO 00/08411 already shows a high stab protection effect. However, there is still a need for protective clothing with a protective material that guarantees even better protection with the same basis weight. Protective clothing of this type would have the additional advantage that a certain degree of protection could be achieved with a smaller basis weight than before, which would increase the wearing comfort.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide protective clothing with a protective material which provides improved protection with the same basis weight or has a lower basis weight with the same protection. This object is achieved by protective clothing comprising at least one protective material which comprises an arrangement which consists of one or more fabric layers lying one on top of the other, each fabric layer being flexible and comprising at least one fabric made of yarns with a strength of at least one and connected to at least one polymer film 900 MPa, and wherein the protective material has an outer surface facing the attack side and an inner surface facing away from the attack side, and which is characterized in that the protective material further comprises at least one further layer of felt, each of which is arranged on one of the fabric layers.

Surprisingly, it was found that the fact that the protective material still has at least one further layer of felt, which is each arranged on one of the fabric layers, results in protective clothing which offers better protection with the same basis weight and thus makes it possible to provide the same protection a lower basis weight, ie with higher wearing comfort.

The fact that the protective material of the protective clothing according to the invention also has at least one further layer of felt, which is arranged in each case on one of the fabric layers, means that the at least one layer of felt is sewn or glued on only one of the fabric layers at points, or is only applied, whereby the latter embodiment is preferred because of the simplicity of its execution.

Protective clothing in which at least one layer of felt is arranged on the outer surface and / or on the inner surface of the protective material is particularly protective and therefore preferred according to the invention.

Furthermore, a further embodiment of the protective clothing according to the invention is particularly effective and therefore preferred, which comprises at least three fabric layers and at least one layer of felt between the fabric layers. is ordered and the number of fabric layers to the outer surface is smaller than the number of fabric layers to the inner surface.

It is advantageous if the at least one layer of felt made from an aromatic polyamide, i.e. consists of an aramid and in particular a p-aramid.

The felt layer can be made by any of the known felt manufacturing processes, thereby creating a felt layer, e.g. is thermally solidified by the action of a jet of water or air or by needles. The felt layer is preferably a needled felt. Such a felt is available, for example, from Job (Kinna, Sweden).

It is further preferred for the protective clothing according to the invention that each fabric of each fabric layer consists of yarns with a strength of 900 to 8000 MPa, even more favorably from 1500 to 6000 MPa and most advantageously from 3000 to 6000 MPa. Such strengths have practically all yarns which are also suitable for use in ballistic protection, such as yarns made of polyolefin, in particular polyethylene, made of polyamide, polyimide, polyester or poly (p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole). Yarns made from aramids have proven to be particularly favorable, especially those made from p-aramids.

For the protective clothing according to the invention, it has proven to be very effective that every fabric of each fabric layer has a plain weave.

Furthermore, it has proven to be very useful for the protective clothing according to the invention that each fabric of each fabric layer has a fabric density, calculated according to Walz, of 15 to 80%, preferably 15 to 60%. The Walz fabric density is determined using the following formula:

DG = (d _k + d _s ) ² - f _k - f _s Here: d _k = warp yarn substance diameter in mm d _s = weft yarn substance diameter in mm f _k = warp threads per cm f _s = weft threads per cm

The substance diameter d _k or d _{s of} the yarns is calculated as follows: d = (titer) ^y X [88.5 • (density) ⁷² ] where d means either d _k or d _s , the titer of the corresponding yarn in dtex and the density of the yarn in g / cm ^{3 is} used.

The values given above apply in particular to plain weave fabrics. If there are weaves that differ from the plain weave, a weave correction factor must be included in the calculation. For this weave correction factor, the following values are used, for example, for fabrics in special weave types:

The tissue density DG calculated according to the Walz formula is multiplied by these correction factors.

The fabric density DG according to Walz is given in% fabric density. Values over 100% can occur with very dense fabrics.

That in the protective clothing according to the invention each fabric layer consists of at least one fabric connected to at least one polymer film means, for example, that a fabric is connected to a polymer film. Either the polymer film or the fabric can be closer to the outer surface of the protective material facing the attack side.

In a preferred embodiment of the protective clothing according to the invention, each fabric layer consists of a fabric which is connected on both sides to a polymer film.

In a further preferred embodiment of the protective clothing according to the invention, each fabric layer consists of two fabrics connected via a polymer film, it having proven particularly advantageous that each fabric layer consists of two fabrics laminated together via a polymer film.

It is favorable if the polymer film connecting the two fabrics of the layer has an elongation at break of at least 80%, for example 100% or 120%.

As in WO 00/08411, the flexural modulus according to ASTM D-790, the strength of the film according to ASTM D-638, the elongation at break according to ASTM D-638 and the strength of the yarn according to ASTM D- 885 can be determined. The polymer film contained in the protective clothing according to the invention preferably has a strength of at least 10 MPa and a flexural modulus of 1500 to 4500 MPa, a flexural modulus of 2000 to 3000 MPa having proven particularly favorable. Suitable polymers are rigid PVC with a flexural modulus between 3500 and 4000 MPa or polyurethanes with a flexural modulus between 4000 and 4500 MPa.

Polymer films made from a polycarbonate have proven particularly useful for connecting the fabrics to form a fabric layer. Such a polycarbonate is sold, for example, under the name POKALON N 38 by Color Print (Frankenthal, Germany). Another example of a suitable polycarbonate is the polycarbonate sold under the name LEXAN 103 by GE Plastics. LEXAN 103 has a flexural modulus of 2500 MPa, a strength of 70 MPa and an elongation at break of 120%.

It has been found that protective clothing according to the invention, which comprises a protective material which consists of an arrangement of a plurality of fabric layers lying one on top of the other and a layer of felt is placed on both the outer surface and the inner surface, shows particularly good protection. Therefore, this embodiment is preferred, in particular when the protective material comprises an arrangement of 6 to 30 layers of fabric lying one on top of the other, and it is particularly preferred from the point of view of protective effect and wearing comfort if the protective material comprises an arrangement of 6 to 25 layers of fabric lying on top of one another.

A further preferred embodiment of the present invention consists in protective clothing which comprises at least two of the protective materials as described above. A protective material or a plurality or all or all of the protective materials are preferably arranged in a cover made of textile material in the protective clothing according to the invention, because this provides better handling.

The invention is illustrated by the following examples. The protective effect is illustrated by the stab protection effect which protective materials of the protective clothing according to the invention show. The stab protection effect was tested according to the NU (National Institute of Justice) - Standard - 0115.00, protection class KR 2. To do this, drop a skewer with a drop device onto the stab protection material. The stab protection material is fixed with a tension belt on a background material, which consists of different foams defined in the standard mentioned. The spit falls on the stab protection material, penetrates the material and penetrates a certain distance into the background material. The penetration into the background material is measured in mm and the arithmetic mean is determined from several drop tests. In a modification of the above-mentioned standard, this mean value is referred to as puncture resistance.

Examples 1 to 6

Fabrics were made from aramid yarns with a titer of 930 dtex and a breaking strength of 3380 MPa in plain weave. The warp and weft contained approximately the same number of threads. The Walz fabric density was 18.5%, the fabric weight 140 g / m ² . A polymer film made of polycarbonate (POKA-LON N 38, company Color Print, Frankenthal, Germany) with a weight per unit area of 75 g / m ^{2 was} placed between two fabrics which had been washed beforehand. The two fabrics were laminated with the polymer film to form a fabric layer in a temperature range between 220 and 230 ° C. at a pressure of about 100 bar.

In Example 1, 16 of the above Lay layers of fabric on top of each other, fasten them to the background material with a tension belt and measure the puncture resistance as described above.

In Example 2, 16 layers of felt were placed on top of one another, fastened to the background material with a tension belt and the puncture resistance measured as described above. Each layer of felt consists of a 100% p-aramid felt, the fibers of which are made of Twaron ^® fibers with a titer of 1.7 dtex and a length of 60 mm. These fibers are available from Teijin Twaron. The felt has a basis weight of 350 g / m ² , is needled and calendered and has a thickness of 2.3 mm. Such a felt is available from Job (Kinna, Sweden).

In Example 3, 14 of the above-mentioned fabric layers are placed on 2 of the layers just described. The protective material according to the invention formed in this way is fastened to the background material with a tension belt, the layers of felt facing the background material, and the puncture resistance measured as described above. In Example 4, two of the layers of felt just described are placed on 14 of the above-mentioned fabric layers. The protective material according to the invention formed in this way is fastened to the background material with a tension belt, the fabric layers facing the background material, and the puncture resistance measured as described above.

In Example 5, 1 of the layers of felt just described is applied to 15 of the above. Layers of fabric. The protective material according to the invention formed in this way is fastened to the background material with a tension belt, the fabric layers facing the background material, and the puncture resistance measured as described above.

In Example 6, 14 of the above-mentioned fabric layers are placed on 1 of the layers of felt just described and 1 of the layers of felt just described on the 14 fabric layers. The protective material according to the invention thus formed is fastened to the background material with a tension belt and the puncture resistance is measured as described above. The structure of the tested materials, their weights per unit area, the individual values of the penetration and the associated arithmetic mean values, which, as already mentioned, are referred to as puncture strengths in a modification of the standard described above, are summarized in the following table. The smaller the specified value, the better the puncture resistance.

The table shows that the replacement of a fabric layer with a layer of felt significantly improves the puncture resistance (compare Examples 1 and 5). In general, the puncture resistance is better in protective materials in which the layer of felt is placed on the outer surface facing the falling skewer than in protective materials in which the layer of felt is placed on the inner surface facing the background material ( compare examples 3 and 4).

The best puncture resistance was achieved with the protective material from Example 6. In the two individual tests, which resulted in individual values of penetration of 0 mm, the skewer was even bent. Translated into a real threat situation, ie into an attack with a stab weapon corresponding to the spear, the result means that if the 16 fabric layers of the prior art were used, the spike would penetrate the body about 28 mm (see example 1), while the invention Protective material from Example 6 means that the skewer would only penetrate into the body about 12 mm and thus 16 mm less. At 5670 g / m ² , the weight per unit area of the protective material according to the invention is even somewhat less than that of the 16 fabric layers of the prior art just mentioned (5680 g / m ² ). Consequently, a protective material according to the invention can be made available which, with a puncture resistance of 28 mm, has a basis weight that is significantly smaller than 5680 g / m ² and thus offers a significantly better wearing comfort with the same puncture resistance as with the 16 fabric layers of the prior art ,

Example 7

With the in the above NIJ standard-prescribed skewers, which were fixed in a hand holder, were manually trimmed by a test person with the highest possible force

a) 15 superimposed fabric layers, which were produced as in the first paragraph of Examples 1-6, and b) a protective material according to the invention consisting of 9 superimposed fabric layers, which were produced as in the first paragraph of Examples 1-6, and on the outer surface facing the direction of attack a layer of felt was placed, which was produced as in Example 2,

carried out. The test materials were unsecured on the above-mentioned NlJ standard prescribed background material.

While the skewer clearly penetrated the 15 fabric layers in a), no penetration was found in b). The spit was even bent.

Claims

Protective clothing patent claims:

1. Protective clothing comprising at least one protective material which comprises an arrangement consisting of one or more superimposed fabric layers, each fabric layer being flexible and consisting of at least one fabric connected to at least one polymer film of yarns with a strength of at least 900 MPa, and wherein the protective material has an outer surface facing the attack side and an inner surface facing away from the attack side, characterized in that the protective material further comprises at least one further layer of felt, each of which is arranged on one of the fabric layers.

2. Protective clothing according to claim 1, characterized in that the protective material further comprises at least one further layer of felt, which is in each case placed on one of the fabric layers.

3. Protective clothing according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that at least one layer of felt is arranged on the outer surface and / or on the inner surface of the protective material.

4. Protective clothing according to one or more of claims 1 to 3, which comprises at least three fabric layers, characterized in that at least one layer of felt is arranged between the fabric layers, the number of fabric layers to the outer surface being smaller than the number of fabric layers to the inner surface ,

5. Protective clothing according to one or more of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the at least one layer of felt consists of an aromatic polyamide.

6. Protective clothing according to one or more of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the layer of felt is a needled felt.

7. Protective clothing according to one or more of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that each fabric of each fabric layer consists of yarns with a strength of 900 to 8000 MPa.

8. Protective clothing according to one or more of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that each fabric of each fabric layer has a plain weave.

9. Protective clothing according to one or more of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that each fabric of each fabric layer has a fabric density, calculated according to Walz, of 15 to 80%.

10. Protective clothing according to one or more of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that each fabric layer consists of a fabric which is connected on both sides to a polymer film.

11. Protective clothing according to one or more of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that each fabric layer consists of two fabrics interconnected via a polymer film.

12. Protective clothing according to claim 11, characterized in that each fabric layer consists of two fabrics laminated together via a polymer film.

13. Protective clothing according to one or more of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that the polymer film has a strength of at least 10 MPa and a flexural modulus of 1500 to 4500 MPa.

14. Protective clothing according to claim 13, characterized in that the polymer film has a flexural modulus of 2000 to 3000 MPa.

15. Protective clothing according to one or more of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that the polymer film connecting the fabrics to a fabric layer consists of a polycarbonate.

16. Protective clothing according to one or more of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that the protective material consists of an arrangement of a plurality of fabric layers lying one on top of the other and a layer of felt is placed both on the outer surface and on the inner surface.

17. Protective clothing according to claim 16, characterized in that the protective material comprises an arrangement of 6 to 30 superimposed fabric layers.

18. Protective clothing according to claim 16, characterized in that the protective material comprises an arrangement of 6 to 25 superimposed fabric layers.

19. Protective clothing comprising at least two protective materials according to one or more of claims 1 to 18.

20. Protective clothing according to one or more of claims 1 to 18, characterized in that a protective material or several or all protective materials are arranged in a cover made of textile material.