GB2281191A

GB2281191A - Working apron

Info

Publication number: GB2281191A
Application number: GB9415230A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Paul Heilemann
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1993-08-27
Filing date: 1994-07-28
Publication date: 1995-03-01
Anticipated expiration: 2014-07-28
Also published as: GB2281191B; DE9312870U1; FR2709234A1; FR2709234B1; GB9415230D0

Abstract

The apron, e.g. for persons working in slaughterhouses and butchers' shops, comprises an apron body (4) of a steel ring mesh in which the steel rings engage into each other such that the steel ring mesh is strong in tension in a first direction (X) and is stretchable in a second direction (Y), and a strap element (20) including at least one strap (21) extending in the second direction (Y) by means of which the working apron (1) may be put-on the wearer. Furthermore the apron comprises a stabilising part (10) which extends in the second direction (Y) and serves for reducing the stretching of the apron body (4) in this region. The stabilising part (10) is made of a steel ring mesh which is strong in tension in the second direction (Y) and, preferably, is stretchable in the first direction (X). <IMAGE>

Description

WORKING APRON The invention relates to a working apron, particularly for persons working in slaughterhouses or butcher's shops for example.

One type of apron comprises an apron body of a steel ring mesh in which the steel rings engage into each other such that the steel ring mesh is strong in tension in a first direction and is stretchable in a second direction extending substantially perpendicularly to the first direction, a strap element including at least one strap extending in the second direction by means of which the working apron may be put on the wearer, wherein at least one strap is attachable at either side of the apron body and a stabilising part which is arranged in the region of the attachment points of the at least one strap, extends in the second direction and serves for reducing the stretching of the apron body in this region.

Such a working apron has an upper trapezial part and a lower rectangular part, the trapezial part being attached above the hips and reaching up to the breast bone. A European standard prescribes for such working aprons which are made of a steel ring mesh that their width should be 55 cm. For wearers of such working aprons who are up to 165 cm tall the length of the apron should be 60 cm and for taller wearers the length should be 75 cm. There is a problem associated with known working aprons, namely that when the apron is worn, tensile stresses caused by the strap of the strap element are exerted in the second direction, by which the steel ring mesh of the known working apron is stretched in this transverse direction.This stretching reduces the dimension in the first direction which is effectively available to the wearer of the working apron for protection, and as a consequence in certain circumstances the protective function prescribed by the future European standard is no longer available.

To avoid this, a plastics strip is provided in a known working apron which acts as a stabilisation element and which is inserted into rear pockets of the steel ring mesh in the region of the strap which acts as a hip strap and is firmly connected at its ends to this metal mesh.

It is further known to obtain the tensile strength of the steel ring mesh in the region of the hip strap in that a silicone strap is injected in this region or in that a steel wire or a chain is connected in the region of the hip strap to the steel ring mesh by rivets or rings.

A disadvantage of these known stabilising elements is that this separate component is not without problems as regards hygiene of these working aprons which could become very dirty, because cleaning of the known working aprons due to the "pockets" between the individual components and the steel ring mesh can be carried out only with difficulty. In addition, working aprons in which the stabilising element is formed by a plastics strip or by a silicone strap, have the disadvantage that they are large when packed, because they cannot be folded sufficiently narrowly. A further disadvantage is that for this purpose the stabilising element must be bent which results in a danger of breaking which should not be underestimated.

The plastics strip or the silicone strap become, in addition, porous after a certain period. Finally, the stabilising element used in known working aprons impairs the appearance of the apron.

In order to avoid these disadvantages, the aim of the invention is to further develop a working apron of the above mentioned kind in that by simple means a design is obtained which meets the requirements of the European standard and enables more advantageous manipulation.

According to the present invention there is provided a working apron comprising an apron body of a steel ring mesh in which the steel rings engage into each other such that the steel ring mesh is strong in tension in a first direction and is stretchable in a second direction extending substantially perpendicularly to the first direction, a strap element including at least one strap extending in the second direction by means of which the working apron may be put on the wearer, wherein at least one strap is attachable at either side of the apron body and a stabilising part which is arranged in the region of the attachment points of the at least one strap, extends in the second direction and serves for reducing the stretching of the apron body in this region, wherein the stabilising part which forms part of the apron body is made of a steel ring mesh, and wherein the steel rings of the steel ring mesh of the stabilising part engage into each other such that the steel ring mesh is strong in tension in the second direction.

The invention provides that in the regions of the working apron subject to tensile stresses, in order to reduce tension and prevent stretching in the second direction a metallic mesh is provided also for the apron body. This steel ring mesh of the stabilising part is so arranged that on the one hand in the stabilising part and on the other hand in the apron body mutually corresponding directions extend perpendicularly to each other. This provision enables the stabilising part to be made integral with the apron body, ie. interconnected ring by ring, while preferably in a particularly advantageous manner the same metallic mesh is used for the stabilising part as is used for the apron body. This achieves, inter alia, that the area of the apron body available for effective protection of the wearer of the working apron meets the requirements of the European standard.In addition the working apron according to the invention is characterised by improved hygiene because it has no "pockets" and can therefore be better and more simply washed and may therefore be more easily looked after, which is important from the point of view of use. Furthermore there is no danger that the stabilising part made of a metallic mesh could be broken or become porous in time. In addition the working apron according to the invention has small dimensions when packed because it has no plastics strips or silicone straps in the region of the hip strap.

An advantageous further development of the invention provides that the working apron according to the invention has two pairs of attachment pieces for the at least one strap of the strap element, so that the length of the working apron according to the invention as its dimension in the first direction, may be particularly easily adapted to different body sizes of the wearers of the working apron. This achieves advantageously that the stabilising part according to the invention extends in the longitudinal direction of the working apron at least from the upper end of the upper attachment piece to the lower end of the lower one of the two attachment pieces provided on a longitudinal side of the working apron according to the invention. However, with each of the two pairs of the attachment pieces for the strap may be associated a separate stabilising part in the form of a strap made of a metallic mesh.

Further advantages and further development of the invention will be apparent from the claims and description.

Further details of the invention will be apparent from the embodiment shown by way of example and described below with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows an embodiment of a working apron, and Figure 2 is an enlarged representation of the region II in Figure 1.

The embodiment of a working apron 1 shown in Figure 1 comprises substantially a trapezial upper part 2 and a rectangular lower part 3. Preferably the length of the working apron 1 in the direction X from the upper edge 2b of the trapezial part 2 up to the lower edge 3a of the rectangular part 3 is 60 cm or 75 cm. Correspondingly the working apron 1 preferably measures 55 cm in the second direction Y in Figure 1 from the left longitudinal edge 3c of the rectangular part 3 to the right longitudinal edge 3d.The apron body 4, formed by the trapezial part 2 and the rectangular part 3, is made of a non-corrosive steel mesh, preferably of CrNi steel or another high-grade steel, while the individual steel rings of this steel ring mesh - with the exception of a region of the apron body 4 forming a stabilising part 10 - engage with each other in such a way that the metallic mesh of the apron body 4 is in the first direction X strong in tension, ie. not stretchable, while it is stretchable in the second direction Y which extends substantially perpendicularly to the first direction X. Such a steel ring mesh is well known to a person skilled in the art from known working aprons so that further explanation to this point is unnecessary.

The design of the region of the apron body 4 which forms the stabilising part 10 is important. The steel ring mesh in this region is so made - as shown diagrammatically in Figure 2 - that it is strong in tension in the second direction Y and preferably stretchable in the first direction X. This provision results particularly favourably in that during putting on and particularly during wearing of the working apron 1, the tension exerted by a hip strap 21 of a strap element 20 onto the apron body 4 is compensated by the stabilising part 10, so that the described working apron 1 does not suffer from disadvantageous shortening of its length. The steel ring mesh of the stabilising part 10 is ring by ring joined between the steel ring mesh of the remaining parts of the apron body 4 which extends perpendicularly thereto.

It should be noted in connection with Figure 2, that this Figure shows only a diagrammatic representation of the steel ring mesh of the region II in Figure 1, as has already been briefly mentioned above. In particular the representation in Figure 2 does not necessarily truly reproduce the orientation of the rings of the steel ring mesh. The sole function of Figure 2 is to show that the stabilising part 10 and the parts 2 and 3 of the apron body 4 are made as a coherent area, while - as mentioned the steel ring mesh of the trapezial part 2 and of the rectangular part 3 and also the corresponding steel ring mesh of the stabilising part 10 are so arranged that mutually corresponding directions strong in tension and stretchable directions extend substantially perpendicularly to each other.

The above described design of working apron 1 is particularly simply obtained in that the same metallic mesh is used for the stabilising part 10 as is used for the remaining part of the apron body 4, but care is taken that on insertion this metallic mesh is turned through 900 so that - as has already been mentioned - the directions strong in tension and the stretchable directions of the steel ring mesh of the apron body 4 and the stabilising part 10 extend in pairs perpendicularly to each other.

The described working apron 1 has two attachment pieces 5a, 5b for the hip strap 21 which are made as Ushaped or V-shaped metal loops and which are attached at the longitudinal edges 10a and lOb of the stabilising part 10. It is preferably ensured that the attachment pieces 5a, 5b are situated on the stabilising part 10 and not on the adjacent portions of the apron body 4, so that a disadvantageous tilting effect, which would be possible due to the different properties of the metallic mesh in these two regions, is avoided.

An alternative design of the described working apron 1 provides that the apron has in addition to the already mentioned attachment pieces 5a, 5b, also two further attachment pieces for the attachment of the hip strap 21 of the strap element 20 at a height below the attachment pieces 5a, 5b. These attachment pieces are not shown in Figure 1 and are arranged displaced in the first direction X with respect to the first mentioned attachment pieces. This provision has the advantage that in this manner the working apron 1 may be particularly easily adapted to the different body sizes of the persons wearing the apron. In this case the stabilising part 10 is so made that it extends either from the edge 2a or from the upper end of the attachment pieces 5a, 5b, up to the lower end of the further attachment pieces situated below the attachment pieces 5a, 5b.Alternatively every pair of attachment pieces 5a, 5b, can have its own strap-shaped stabilising element 10.

As shown in Figure 1, the strap element 20 of the working apron 1 can be arranged as a so-called Xshaped carrying strap, namely so that a first strap 22a of the strap element 20 extends from an upper attachment piece 7b, which is arranged at the upper end of the trapezial part 2 of the apron body 4, up to an attachment piece 8a, situated on the left-hand side of the apron body 4. A second strap 22b of the strap element 20 extends correspondingly from the left-hand upper attachment piece 7a to a right-hand lower attachment piece 8b.

It is also possible to make the strap element 20 as a so called Y-shaped carrier strap, in which two straps 22a, 22b, each of which starts from one of the two upper attachment pieces 7a, 7b, extend over the shoulders of the person wearing the working apron 1, join at the back and continue as a single strap between the shoulder blades downwards, where they are attached to a peripheral strap (not shown) which co-operates with the lower attachment pieces 8a, 8b.

The described working apron 1 has on the upper edge 2b of its trapezial part 2 a further stabilising element 30 which serves to meet the requirements of the European standard that the upper part of the working apron 1 must always extend above the breast bone of the wearer.

This part can be made to correspond to the above described stabilising part 10. It is, however, also possible to make this part, as has been customary, as a plastics strip, silicone strap or an annular spring, because in this region practically no loading in tension is exerted on the working apron 1 in the second direction Y.

Claims

1. A working apron comprising an apron body of a steel ring mesh in which the steel rings engage into each other such that the steel ring mesh is strong in tension in a first direction and is stretchable in a second direction extending substantially perpendicularly to the first direction, a strap element including at least one strap extending in the second direction by means of which the working apron may be put on the wearer, wherein at least one strap is attachable at either side of the apron body and a stabilising part which is arranged in the region of the attachment points of the at least one strap, extends in the second direction and serves for reducing the stretching of the apron body in this region, wherein the stabilising part which forms part of the apron body is made of a steel ring mesh, and wherein the steel rings of the steel ring mesh of the stabilising part engage into each other such that the steel ring mesh is strong in tension in the second direction.

2. A working apron according to Claim 1, wherein the steel ring mesh of the stabilising part is stretchable in the first direction.

3. A working apron according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the steel ring mesh used for the stabilising part is the same steel ring mesh used for the remaining part of the apron body but turned with respect to it through 900.

4. A working apron according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the stabilising part is made as at least one strap-shaped element extending in the second direction from one longitudinal side of the apron body to its other longitudinal side.

5. A working apron according to any one of Claims 1 to 4, wherein at least one pair of attachment pieces for the attachment of the strap of the strap element of the working apron is provided on the longitudinal edges of the stabilising part.

6. A working apron according to Claim 5, wherein two pairs of attachment pieces are provided on the longitudinal sides of the stabilising part of the working apron, and the stabilising part extends in the first direction from the upper end of each of the attachment pieces of the first pair up to the lower end of each of the attachment pieces of the second pair.

7. A working apron according to Claim 5, wherein a separate stabilisation part is provided for every pair of attachment pieces of the strap of the strap element.

8. A working apron according to any one of Claims 1 to 7, wherein the strap element is made as an X-shaped strap which comprises two further straps which extend, respectively, from two upper attachment elements, situated at the upper end of the apron body, to further attachment pieces of the apron body.

9. A working apron according to Claim 8, wherein the further attachment pieces are situated on the longitudinal sides of the stabilising part.

10. A working apron according to any one of Claims 1 to 7, wherein the strap element is made as a Y-shaped strap.

11. A working apron according to any one of Claims 1 to 10, wherein the apron body comprises a trapezial part and a rectangular part.

12. A working apron according to Claim 11, wherein the working apron has a length of at least 60 cm in the first direction and a width of at least 55 cm in the second direction.

13. A working apron according to any one of Claims 1 to 12, wherein a further stabilising part is provided on an upper edge of the trapezial part of the working apron.

14. A working apron according to any one of Claims 1 to 13, wherein the steel ring mesh of the apron body and/or of the stabilising part is of non-corrosive material.

15. A working apron according to Claim 14, wherein the non-corrosive material is a high-grade steel.

16. A working apron as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, which is for persons working in slaughterhouses or butcher's shops.

17. A working apron substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated by, the accompanying drawings.