EP1554941A1 - Piece of clothing comprising a subdivided insulating area - Google Patents

Abstract

The garment, e.g. an insulated jacket (10) with a body section (12) and sleeves (14), is padded with down, except for its underarm areas (26) which are padded with synthetic fibres in thinner layers to allow greater freedom of movement, especially when engaged in sports. The underarm areas extend down the inside of the sleeves and part of the body section so that they do not create two adjacent layers of thick padding when the wearer has his/her arms down by the sides. The sides of the body have ventilation slits (28) adjacent to the underarm layers, where the padding is more moisture repellent and gas permeable.

Description

The invention relates to articles of clothing, in particular articles clothing intended to protect against the cold.

Natural down is well known for its excellent ability to isolate cold. Again currently, it is an insulation material of choice for clothing items but also for sleeping bags. Indeed, at equal weight, it provides a thermal barrier superior to those of other materials, in particular that of other synthetic materials such as synthetic wadding.

However, down has three major well-known disadvantages.

First of all, down is very sensitive to moisture. Once wet, he loses a great part of its effectiveness as a thermal barrier. In addition, it only dries very slowly and, if it has been really wet, it tends, after drying, to remain in a ball or in a pack, leaving large areas devoid of any insulation.

Moreover, the down is very light, but, for equal weight, it is also very bulky. This congestion is directly the price to pay for its good insulation performance because we know that the performance of the insulation / weight ratio of down is due to the fact that it imprisons a large amount of air. The thickness of a layer of insulation consisting of down usually several centimeters. However, this thickness sometimes poses problems clutter when trying to make clothes. Indeed, especially at joints, the thickness of the down layer limits the ability to move. By elsewhere, for example in the armpits, one can be with two layers of down opposite, which further impairs the flexibility of the garment, thus also the comfort felt by whoever wears it.

Finally, the down has the disadvantage of being composed of discrete elements, individual, which insulating layer made of down is not intrinsically continuous, and therefore has no no coherence clean. In this way, this insulating layer is likely to be broken at certain places, for example at the level of flexion folds. Indeed, the two walls of tissues between which the down is trapped can locally compress the down and force the feathers on one side or the other of the bending crease, without any fuzz remaining fold level. In this way, the bending fold is devoid of insulation.

For all of these reasons, it is often preferred to replace down, as insulation material, by other materials, especially in the field of clothing specifically designed for the practice of sports activities. However, it deprives itself of a high performance insulation material.

The invention therefore aims to propose a solution for producing articles clothing with a layer of fuzz-based insulation that is not affected by the problems mentioned above.

For this purpose, the invention proposes an article of clothing having at least one layer insulation comprising natural down, characterized in that it comprises at least one zone in which the insulating layer comprising down is replaced by a synthetic insulating layer.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from reading the description described below, as well as in view of the accompanying drawings in which FIGS. 1 and 2 are schematic views, respectively front and back, illustrating an embodiment of the invention.

The invention will be more particularly described in the context of an article of clothing of type jacket or parka intended to cover the trunk and the arms of a user. However, the invention could also be implemented for the construction of other types of articles clothing, such as pants or overalls.

As can be seen in the figures, the jacket 10 has a trunk portion 12, corresponding to the trunk of a user, and sleeves 14, for receiving his arms. The front face 16 of the trunk portion is provided with a vertical opening 18 which opens towards the high in the neckline 20 of the jacket and down in the lower edge 22 thereof, which is preferably intended to be arranged below the size of the user, or even below from his pelvis in the case of a parka.

As can be seen in the figures, most of the article of clothing is provided with an insulating layer comprising down. In known manner, the down is contained in compartments formed between an inner wall and an outer wall of the article in order to prevent the down from being fully grouped together place of the garment, for example under the effect of gravity. These compartments are delimited by seams 24 which join the two walls along predefined lines. Of course, the number, size, geometry and arrangement of the compartments are here represented by totally arbitrary, and they could be distributed differently.

According to the teaching of the invention, the article of clothing comprises at least one zone differentiated insulation 26 in which the insulating layer comprising down, which is used on a major part of the article of clothing, is replaced locally by a layer synthetic insulation. In this case, the illustrated garment is equipped with two differentiated zones 26 arranged symmetrically under the armpits. These zones 26 are each arranged in part on the trunk portion 12, and in part on the corresponding sleeve 14, in the area of connection of these two parts and along their surfaces opposite.

In the example shown, the differentiated insulating zone 26 extends on the inner face of the sleeve 14 from the armpit to the elbow and on the corresponding side of the trunk portion 12 on the height of the rib cage.

The synthetic insulating layer remains, as the insulating layer based on the down, included between two inner and outer walls. These inner and / or outer walls will be fabric example, and may be supplemented by a so-called waterproof-breathable membrane, resistant to water and wind but allowing moisture to pass through. They will be able also contain elastic materials, or materials particularly resistant to abrasion.

The synthetic insulating layer may for example comprise a synthetic wadding. We thus know many materials formed of mattresses of synthetic threads (often based on polyester, polyamide or polypropylene) of varying lengths and agglomerates between them in the manner of a cotton wadding (ie non-woven) to "imprison" a maximum air between the wires, the air can actually flow through the materials and formed. Such materials are known for example under the names "Thinsulate", "Thermolite", etc.

The synthetic insulating layer can also be made in materials of the type of those called "polar fleece", also known under the trademark "Polartec" of the Malden Mills company. These are materials based on polyester yarns manufactured according to the technique of velvet or knitted and scraped knits

We can also consider using three-dimensional woven materials which are also able to "trap" air and therefore have, like the previously mentioned materials, a good ratio between their effectiveness as a thermal barrier and their weight. Often, equivalent thermal efficiency, these materials will certainly have a higher surface weight than that of a down, but they will present a smaller thickness, pledge of a clutter lesser of the insulating layer.

All these materials also have in common to be made from synthetic materials and therefore have the particularity of being very little hydrophilic, so to absorb little water and moisture. In addition, the little water or moisture they are likely to accumulate will be quickly evacuated during drying. Moreover, these materials still allow a slow diffusion air (and gases in general) through them. In the field of clothing, this allows guarantee a gradual evacuation to the outside of the moisture produced by the body under the form of perspiration.

In addition, these materials are available in the form of a coherent material layer, having a shape and strength of its own, which is no longer required to maintain compartmentalization and which ensure the presence of a uniform quantity of insulating material at all points in the zone in which they are arranged, which is difficult to insure with a down.

Having a differentiated zone 26 under the armpits makes it possible to take full advantage of part of the three main features of the synthetic insulation layers that have just been recalled, namely a low moisture absorption, a relatively small footprint, and a coherent structure.

Indeed, these armpit areas are each arranged near a production area Humidity of the human body, moisture that should be evacuated as best as possible. We will note more than this moisture comes from inside the garment, that is to say often on the side of the insulating layer that is the least protected from moisture. Now the synthetic insulating layer is precisely the most able on the one hand not to lose its qualities of isolation, and secondly to let this moisture escape to the outside.

Of course, the underarm areas also benefit from the small footprint of the diaper because in these areas, they are two thicknesses of the insulating layer (the one carried by the sleeve 14 and that carried by the trunk portion 12) which are facing each other and which are interposed between the user's arm and his ribcage. Using a layer thicker than that of the down, it reduces the inconvenience caused by the user.

Moreover, at the junction zone of the sleeve 14 with the trunk portion 12 (corresponding to armpit stricto sensu), the coherence of the synthetic insulating layer ensures that always remains a certain quantity of insulating material, including in this zone of flexion.

In the illustrated example, it can be seen that a reclosable opening 28 can be arranged across the differentiated area. This opening 28 allows, in the open position, to significantly increase the ventilation of the area in question, for example when the wearing the garment is in full physical effort, while being reclosable to ensure a maximum insulation when the wearer of the garment is at rest. This reclosable opening can be made in any known manner, for example using a zipper or using self-gripping tape. In the illustrated example, these reclosable openings extend across the differentiated zone 26, but one could also predict that they extend to the periphery of zone 26.

The arrangement of the differentiated zone 26 in the underarm areas, as illustrated on the figures, is a preferred embodiment of the invention because this is where the invention finds its best application, at least in the case of a jacket or parka. In the case pants or a combination, this differentiated area could for example be arranged in the crotch area.

However, it could be expected that other areas of the article of clothing may be concerned. So the area of the shoulders and upper back is the one that is most exposed to water when the article of clothing is a jacket or a parka. This area would therefore benefit fully hydrophobic properties and fast drying of an insulating layer synthetic. In addition, by choosing a synthetic layer having a resistance to compression greater than that of a down, it would limit the known phenomenon of loss insulation in this shoulder area, which is due to the fact that the weight of the garment (and objects that can be hooked or put in the pockets) tends to compress the diaper insulation at the shoulders, thus reducing its thickness, and consequently direct, to reduce its effectiveness as a thermal barrier.

The differentiated zone within the meaning of the invention is differentiated by the nature of insulating layer. It may possibly, but not necessarily, be further differentiated by one or the other of its inner or outer walls that surround the insulating layer. This differentiation of the inner / outer wall may be appropriate to draw take full advantage of a particular property of the synthetic insulating layer, or to adapt to a particularity of the area considered. So the armpit area is a lot less exposed to rainwater and may not require the same degree of impermeability that the rest of the garment, or the shoulder area perhaps requires a larger impermeability and greater resistance to abrasion. Of course, one can also foresee a simple aesthetic differentiation, in addition to differentiation in terms of layer insulating.

Claims (9)

An article of clothing having at least one insulating layer comprising natural down, of the type having a trunk part (12), a pair of sleeves (14), and armpit areas extending at the junction of each of the sleeves ( 14) with the trunk part (12), each of said armpit zones having facing surfaces belonging to the trunk part and the corresponding sleeve, characterized in that it comprises, in the armpit area, at least a differentiated zone (26) in which the insulating layer comprising down is replaced by a synthetic insulating layer. Apparel article according to claim 1, characterized in that the differentiated area (26) extends partly on the sleeve (14) and partly on the trunk portion (12). An article of clothing according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the synthetic insulating layer comprises a mat of synthetic nonwoven fibers. Apparel article according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the synthetic insulating layer has a lower thickness than that of the layer comprising down. Apparel article according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises at least one reclosable air opening (28) arranged in or bordering the differentiated zone (26). An article of clothing as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the synthetic insulating layer is more hydrophobic than the insulating layer comprising down. An article of clothing according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the synthetic insulating layer has a greater gas permeability than the insulating layer comprising down. An article of clothing according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the synthetic insulating layer is covered on the outside with a layer of extensible material. Article of clothing according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the synthetic insulating layer is covered on the outside by a waterproof-breathable membrane

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