GB2156655A - Protective clothing - Google Patents

Abstract

A cold-proof water-proof garment is designed to be worn by someone working in cold seas, or aboard a ship in distress at sea, to protect the life of the wearer if he should fall into the sea. In its basic form the garment comprises upper and lower body portions 1, 2 and a hood 3 which are formed integrally of a waterproof material or fabric, said garment being also provided with integral gloves 5 at the ends of sleeves 4 and integral shoes 7 at the ends of leg portions thereof, and which is further characterised in that both sleeves thereof are formed as Dolman sleeves and a fastening means such as a zip fastener 9 is provided along the underside of each sleeve 4 from the armpit to the end of the sleeve so that the size of said sleeves can be increased or reduced to suit circumstances. Similar fastenings (12) may be provided along each leg to increase or decrease the size of the leg portion (6) as required. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements relating to clothing IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO CLOTHING This invention relates to clothing, and in particular to a cold and water-resistant garment designed to be worn by the crew of ships such as fishing boats, especially when they are engaged in hazardous work in cold seas, or by people aboard a ship in distress at sea to protect the wearers if they should fall into the sea.

Work at sea in the cold is difficult, and in particular, work in the rain or stormy weather is not only dangerous, but could also cause physical problems for workers, such as colds or frostbite, as the rain and sea water falls onto the workers and penetrates their clothing. If a worker should accidentally fall overboard, the sea water will penetrate his clothing so that he becomes soaked to the skin, leading to the danger of him dying from cold while awaiting rescue. When a ship sinks in a shipwreck, the crew are obliged to stay immersed in cold sea water while awaiting rescue, so that even if they wear life jackets, it is very likely that they will freeze to death.

The present inventor has already developed several kinds of cold and water-resistant garments specifically designed for this purpose, but it has been found that there is still room for improvement in them.

Conventional cold and water-resistant garments have the disadvantage that the wearer's hands become very cold as he drifts in the sea, and could even become frostbitten if he should stay long in the sea. Also, in conventional cold and water-resistant garments, the leg portions are formed to be large in size so as to facilitate wear, so that the air in the leg portions acts as a buoyant material which makes the wearer,s legs float up to the sea surface. This leaves the wearer in a very unstable posture, and makes his body movements awkward. Consequently, the rescuer's work is made difficult and also the wearer tends to drift away because of the action of the wind or tide, thus hindering the rescue work.

The present invention seeks to provide an improved cold and water-resistant garment which is free of these problems of the conventional garments.

In accordance with the invention there is provided a cold and water-resistant garment of which upper and lower body portions and a hood are formed integrally of a waterproof material or fabric, said garment being also provided with integral gloves at the ends of sleeves and integral shoes at the ends of leg portions thereof, and which is further characterised in that both sleeves thereof are formed as Dolman sleeves and a fastening means such as a zip fastener is provided along the underside of each sleeve from the armpit to the end of the sleeve so that the size of said sleeves can be increased or reduced to suit circumstances.

The invention may be further characterised by any one or more of the following features: (1) a fastening means is also provided so as to extend vertically for a suitable length along each leg portion so that the size of the leg portions can be increased or reduced as desired; (2) a rope of a suitable length is provided at the rear of the garment, one end of the rope being secured to a suitable part of the garment and the other end thereof being connected to a sea anchor of a suitable configuration which is normally housed in a container on the back of the garment so that it can be taken out when so desired; and (3) the garment is so designed that air can be charged into two side portions and a top portion at the rear of the upper half of the garment.

Thus, the cold-proof water-proof garment of this invention provides its wearer with the following benefits at work or at other times: (1) The wearer can zip up the fasteners along both sleeves to make the sleeves narrower so as to improve the practicality of the garment, but if he should fall into the sea by accident, he can unzip the fasteners to enable him to pull his hands in from the gloves and place them close to his body to warm them. This can prevent frostbite of his hands.

(2) The wearer can zip up the fasteners along both leg portions of the wear to make the leg portions narrower and drive out the air therein to improve practicality of the garment, but if he should fall into the sea by accident, he can unzip the fasteners to increase the size of the leg portions to allow him to relax his legs and promote the circulation of his blood.

(3) When the wearer is in the sea, he can remove the sea anchor from its housing on the rear of the garment so that its resistance can prevent him drifting away under the action of the wind or tide, so that he can keep afloat with his head always to windward to expedite his rescue.

(4) Intercommunicating air chambers are provided at two side portions and an upper portion on the rear of the upper half of the garment, and a compressed air cylinder or a similar device is provided in communication with the air chambers so that the wearer can operate the cylinder when in the sea to charge air into the air chambers to make these portions of the wearer buoyant so that he can maintain a stable posture while drifting in the sea.

In order that the invention may be better understood, some embodiments thereof will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a front view of the garment of one embodiment of this invention, shown with the fastener on one of the sleeves closed and the fastener on the other sleeve open; Figure 2 is a front view of the garment of another embodiment of this invention, shown with the fasteners on one of the sleeves and one of the leg portions closed, and the fasteners on the other sleeve and the other leg portion open;; Figures 3 to 5 show a third embodiment of this invention, of which Figure 3 is a front view of the garment with the fasteners on one of the sleeves and one of the leg portions closed, and the fasteners on the other sleeve and the other leg portion open, Figure 4 is a rear view of the garment and Figure 5 shows how the sea anchor is used in the sea; Figures 6 to 8 show a fourth embodiment of this invention, of which Figure 6 is a front view of the garment with the fasteners on one of the sleeves and one of the leg portions closed, and the fasteners on the other sleeve and the other leg portion open, Figure 7 is a rear view thereof and Figure 8 is a partial side view of the garment with the air chambers filled with air; and Figure 9 is a front view of an inner cloth for the cold-proof water-proof garment of this invention.

Referring to Figure 1, A designates generally a cold and water-resistant garment as an embodiment of this invention, which garment consists of an integral upper body portion 1 and a lower body portion 2, both being made of a waterproof material such as rubber, or a waterproof fabric or a synthetic resin, synthetic fibre, etc., an integral hood 3 formed at the top end of the upper body portion 1 of the garment, an integral glove 5 at the end of each of sleeves 4, and an integral shoe 7 at the end of each of leg portions of the lower body portion 2 of the garment. The front of the garment can be opened vertically from the hood portion 3 to a part close to one thigh, the opening being normally closed with a watertight fastener 8.Both sleeves 4 are formed as Dolman sleeves, and a fastener 9 is provided on the underside of each sleeve so as to extend along a length from the armpit of the sleeve 4 to a part substantially at the middle of the sleeve. This design enables an adjustment of the size of the sleeves 4. Although not shown, the hood 3 is of a double structure which is provided with air chambers and is also provided with an air valve through which air can be supplied into or discharged from the air chambers so that the hood can fit the head of the wearer. A belt 10 is provided around the waist of the garment A, and beits 11 are also provided at the joint between each sleeve 4 and the corresponding glove 5 to tighten it. These belts are designed to improve better the practicality of the garment in wear.

When the garment A is worn by, for instance, a worker operating in cold seas, he puts on the garment by opening the upper body portion by unzipping the watertight fastener 8 while the sleeve fasteners 9 are closed, and after putting on the garment, he zips up the fastener 8 and fits the hood 3 over his head. He can then leave the sleeve fasteners 9 zipped up to reduce the size of the sleeves and improve the garment's practicality. If he should fall into the sea by accident, he can unzip the sleeve fasteners 9 so that the sleeves 4 are enlarged into the form of Dolman sleeves, making it easier for him to move his hands in the sleeves, so that he can pull his hands in from the gloves 5 and place them in the main part of the garment A, for example by folding them across his chest, to warm up with his body heat. In this way, the wearer's hands can be kept from being frostbitten.

Figure 2 shows another embodiment of the garment according to this invention, in which a fastener 12 is provided vertically along each leg portion of the garment A of Figure 1 so as to extend from the foot portion upward to a part near the thigh, so that the size of each leg portion 6 can be reduced or increased.

This arrangement enables the wearer to make the leg portions narrower by zipping up the fasteners to facilitate his motions when working, but if he should fall into the sea by accident, he can unzip the fasteners 1 2 to increase the size of the leg portions 6, and thus promote the circulation of blood in his legs and prevent any drop in his body temperature.

In the embodiment shown in Figures 3 to 5, a pouch-like container 1 3 for a sea anchor 1 5 is provided on the rear of the upper body portion of the garment A of Figure 2, and a sea anchor 1 5 is connected to a rope 14 of which the other end is secured to the belt 10.

The sea anchor 1 5 has also attached thereto a rope 1 6 used for pulling the anchor out of the container 1 3. The sea anchor 1 5 is usually kept in its container 1 3 together with most of the rope 14, but when the wearer is in the sea, he can pull on the rope 1 6 so that the sea anchor 1 5 can be easily drawn out of the container 1 3 and open out in the sea, where its resistance acts to prevent the wearer from drifting with the tide or current while keeping his head always into the wind, to make his rescue easy.

In the embodiment shown in Figures 6 to 8, two side portions and a top portion of the rear of the upper body portion of the garment A of Figure 3 have a double structure to provide air chambers 17, 1 8 and 19, respectively, and a headrest 20 is also provided in communication with the air chamber 1 9 at the top rear portion of the garment A. A compressed air cylinder 21 is provided in communication with the air chamber 17, and string 22 for operating the cylinder is at tached thereto. When the wearer drifting in the sea operates the string 22 to open the cylinder 21, air is charged into the air chambers 17, 1 8 and 1 9 to produce buoyancy on both side portions and the top portion of the back of the wearer, enabling him to maintain a stable posture in the sea.The headrest 22 is usually flat and kept folded downward, but when the cylinder 21 is opened to fill the air chambers 17, 18 and 1 9 and expand them the headrest 20 is also filled with air and expands so as to stand upright behind the hood 3 and perform its intended action.

When the garment of this invention is made of a relatively thin material, the garment may be provided with an inner cloth made of a heat-insulating material to improve its protection against cold.

Figure 9 exemplifies such an inner cloth. In the drawing, B designates generally an inner cloth consisting of an integral upper body portion 31 and lower body portion 32, both made of a heat-insulating material, which is designed to be worn inside the garment A.

Each sleeve 33 of the upper body portion 31 of the cloth B is open along its lower side, and several press fasteners 34 are provided at intervals along the length of the sleeve from the armpit to an intermediate part thereof so that when the wearer wearing the cloth B with the press fasteners 34 attached to each other forces the press fasteners apart while pulling his hands in from the ends of the sleeves, the lower sides of the sleeves 33 are opened, enabling him to bring his hands into the interior of the body portion of the cloth B.

Thus, the use of the inner cloth B can further improve the effect of the garment A of preventing the wearer's hands from becoming cold.

The garment must be buoyant, so for this purpose, a buoyant member or a float chamber may be provided integrally with the garment A, or the wearer may wear a life jacket before or after putting on the cold-proof water-proof garment.

Since it is provided with this construction, the device of this invention is best suited as a cold and water-proof garment worn by the crew of a ship when doing dangerous work in cold seas, or aboard a ship in distress.

Claims (8)

1. A cold and water-resistant garment of which upper and lower body portions and a hood are formed integrally of a waterproof material or fabric, said garment being also provided with integral gloves at the ends of sleeves and integral shoes at the ends of leg portions thereof, and which is further characterised in that both sleeves thereof are formed as Dolman sleeves and a fastening means such as a zip fastener is provided along the underside of each sleeve from the armpit to the end of the sleeve so that the size of said sleeves can be increased or reduced to suit circumstances.

2. A garment as claimed in claim 1 further characterised in that a fastening means is also provided vertically along the length of each leg portion of said garment so that the size of said leg portions can be increased or reduced as desired.

3. A garment as claimed in either one of claims 1 or 2 further characterised in that a rope of a suitable length is secured to the rear of said garment and a sea anchor is connected to the end of said rope, said sea anchor being removably inserted into a container provided on the back of said garment.

4. A garment as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 further charaterised in that intercommunicating air chambers are provided in two side portions and a top portion of the rear of said upper body portion of said garment, said air chambers being so designed that air can be charged thereinto to fill them.

5. A garment according to any one of claims 1 to 4 further comprising an inner cloth made of a thermal insulation material fitted into the interior of said garment.

6. A garment as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said waterproof material is rubber.

7. A garment as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein said waterproof fabric is made of synthetic resin or synthetic fibres.

8. A cold and water-resistant garment substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.