GB2356127A

GB2356127A - Low friction protection guards with high resistance to abrasion for technical sportswear

Info

Publication number: GB2356127A
Application number: GB0026272A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Martinazzo Giacomo
Original assignee: STILMA Srl
Current assignee: STILMA Srl
Priority date: 1999-11-12
Filing date: 2000-10-27
Publication date: 2001-05-16
Anticipated expiration: 2020-10-27
Also published as: DE20018786U1; FR2800975B3; GB0026272D0; FR2800975A3; IT248131Y1; ES1047586Y; ES1047586U; ITTV990049U1; GB2356127B

Abstract

Localised low-friction protective elements, particularly for use in technical sportswear includes at least one fixed protective element (A) which attaches to the article of clothing by reciprocal fixing means; the structure having at least one support (3) on which, on the outside, there is at least one irregular area. This comprises a protruding seat (32) into which an element (4) made of highly abrasion-resistant material is attached. The element (4), which may be replaced if necessary, has a tip (41) that protrudes from its seat (32).

Description

2356127 LOCALISED LOW FRICTION PROTECTION GUARDS WITH HIGH RESISTANCE TO

ABRASION, USED PARTICULARLY FOR TECHNICAL SPORTSWEAR AND RELATIVE ACCESSORIES This invention relates to a series of localised low-friction protection guards with high resistance to abrasion, used particularly for technical sportswear and relative accessories.

The invention has particular, but not necessarily exclusive, application in the motorcycle clothing sector, and in all high-risk sports on wheels, such as mountain biking, roller-blade skating, or similar.

Various articles of clothing are used for carrying out sporting activities.

Usually, each article is designed to guarantee comfort to the user while, at the same time, offering a certain degree of protection to various parts of the body.

Generally these articles of clothing are made up of various types of natural cloth together with other types of modern material, in order to offer a certain degree of climatic comfort for the user's body, including waterproofing.

Some of these articles of clothing have been developed even further, and are designed to offer protection against injury while carrying out the various sports, and in particular protect the skin which is the most vulnerable part of the body.

For some sports, and in particular articles (suc h as jackets and trousers), 30 garments have been developed which have localised protection areas, the area depending on the type of sport for which they are used.

2 For example, it is common to find jackets and trousers used in motorcycling that have elbow guards in the jacket and knee guards in the trousers. These guards are made up of rigid inserts that are more rigid than the base material of the clothing. The inserts are sewn or moulded into certain points of the clothing, that is, various types of impactabsorbing materials are attached. This material was initially made of hide leather, which was thicker than the rest of the garment. It was later replaced by rubber-like, semi-rigid plastics or plastics foam, then by rigid PCV, nylon or other material. Nowadays, composite fibre materials are used in the manufacturing of the garment.

Apart from this fixed-type of protection for the body, there is now a second type of protection available that is detachable. Typical examples are knee pads and elbow pads that are different from the fixed-type of guard in that they are not an integral part of the garment, thus allowing more freedom of movement to the body. These accessories are usually made up of a rigid frame in plastics and, according to the part of the body to be protected, various thickness of padding on the inside. The methods used to attach the guards to the garments also differ. Initially, a typical method employed was a series of straps and buckles or similar that were not particularly reliable, followed by the use of Velcro (Registered Trade Mark) strips or other quick release systems such as snap-on types or with studs, which were certainly easier and more practical to use.

The importance of the protection is well known to motorcycle enthusiasts, for example the so-called street bikers, since nowadays it is widely accepted as being essential to use such type of clothing.

A motorcycle enthusiast is perhaps best able to appreciate his motorcycle when he carries out certain manoeuvres that, to the bystander, may seem 3 on the brink of recklessness. When taking a bend, a street-biker leans the motorcycle over, commonly called "cranking over", and it is this typical characteristic of the manoeuvre that makes it seem reckless or even dangerous. This manoeuvre may be more or less accentuated depending on the position taken up by the motorcyclist and the speed at which he takes the bend. Apart from the apparent recklessness of this manoeuvre, it is clear that even a novice motorcyclist, when riding along a mountain road full of bends, will have to crank his motorcycle over a number of times consecutively according to the layout of the road. This movement, which can be described as pendulum like, gives rise to lateral acceleration which may even provoke an uncontrolled cranking over of the motorcycle, leading to the motorcycle leaning over further until the lower parts of the frame come into contact with the road.

While this style of riding is quite rare for a novice motorcyclist, an expert will often find himself in these conditions, not only on tortuous mountain roads, but also on simple runs, for example when taking a 901 bend at a more moderate speed. Finally, cranking over is certainly the general rule on the racetrack where bends are taken at high speeds, leading to the motorcycle leaning over almost to the limit of its roadholding capacity.

Because of this excessive cranking over from one side to another, it is inevitable that some parts of the motorcycle, or even of the rider's body, come into contact with the road. This is due to the natural position that the rider assumes, leading to scraping on the road and localised abrasion of the item of clothing, and therefore of the guards that protect and cover those parts of the body that stick out the most. Apart from the localised wear that is very common with motorcycle boots, there is also wear at the knees, the elbows, the shoulders and the sides of the hands. For this reason the aforementioned protective guards are used. The phenomenon 4 previously described is particularly noticeable among professional motorcyclists for example who, because of the excessive wear and tear to the clothing, replace their garments almost every race.

The most common drawback for these types of protective guards, whether integrated into the garment or detachable, is due to the fact that, being made of plastics, they have a limited resistance to wear and, after only a few laps of the track and limited contact with the road, are considerably worn and no longer offer efficient protection.

Furthermore, because of the friction between the two parts that come into contact, it is not a rare occurrence to find that the protective guard has fallen off, sometimes ruining the garment, and losing any residual protection.

A further aspect is that, because of the friction generated by the contact between the plastics element and the road surface, the motorcyclist feels the contact to such an extent that he instinctively moves the part of the body that has come into contact with the road. Apart from the physical pain, this quick movement changes the position taken when entering the bend, with negative repercussions on the overall set-up of the motorcycle.

One of the aims of the invention contained herein is to overcome the aforementioned problems.

This invention provides localised low-friction protection elements, particularly for use in technical sportswear and relative accessories, comprising at least one fixed protective element adapted to be attached to an article of clothing, or detachable due to its being attached to the garment by reciprocal fixing means, the structure having at least one support on which, on the outside, there is at least one irregular area comprising a protruding seat into which an element made of highly abrasion-resistant material is attached and the element having a tip that protrudes from of its said seat. The element may be replaced if necessary.

In this way, through the creative contribution that has the effect of constituting an immediate technical progress, various advantages are achieved. First of all, the use of low-friction materials which are highly resistant to abrasion, allows the part with the protective element to practically slide on the road surface when it comes into contact, without suffering significant abrasion.

Because of this aspect, if he comes into contact with the road, the motorcyclist is not unnecessarily disturbed and does not need to generate unforeseen, sudden movements that force the motorcyclist into changing the set-up of the motorcycle. Basically, therefore, the protective element helps in maintaining the correct set-up that is assumed by the motorcyclist when entering a bend. The motorcyclist may round the bend without causing undesired and sudden movements and changes to his centre of gravity.

A second advantage is that the invention reduces and limits the amount of abrasion to the protective surface of the article of clothing that accidentally touches the road surface. This protects both the motorcyclists skin and the article of clothing. If particularly hard materials are used, for example steel or special alloys, the wear is more or less non-existent, because the surface tends to slide on the road surface.

Another advantage is that the invention impedes the protective guard being detached from the article of clothing. This advantage is achieved 6 due to the reduced friction between the guard and the road surface, which favours a sliding effect.

A further advantage is that a specific highly protective guard can be made, which at the same time, and in certain points, is an integral part of the article of clothing, such as the elbows, the shoulders, the knees and the sides of the hands.

These and other advantages, with the aid of the included drawings, will be outlined in the following detailed description of a typical embodiment of the invention. In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side view of the structure of a protective guard, and in particular a knee guard with a series of protective elements on the outer surface; Figure 2 is a partial three-dimensional view of a support for protective elements, taken from the knee guard in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a side view of the support for protective elements, as in Figure 2; Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view of the support for protective elements as in Figure 3, along the A-A axis in Figure 3, and Figure 5 is another transverse sectional view of the item in Figure 3, showing a different system for attaching the low friction elements.

Figure 1 shows a protective structure and in particular a knee guard (A), or similarly a guard for the elbows or for any other part of the body, of 7 the type with a rigid body (1) with a large surface in the form of a shell, attached to a softer material (2) on the outer surface that overlaps the shell, in order to adapt its form to the part of the body that is to be protected.

Also on the outside (not shown) there may be reciprocal attachment means, for example by embedded screws, Velcro (Registered Trade Mark) strips or similar, in order to attach the protective guard to the article of clothing. After use under sporting conditions, these can be removed quickly whilst the article of clothing is still being worn, thus improving the comfort for the user.

On the outer surface of the knee guard (A), there is a series of inserts (3) in plastics or metal, or even carbon fibre, titanium or other special alloys, joined to the body (1) during the manufacturing phase and, therefore, partially embedded into it.

In this case the inserts (3), preferably shock absorbing, are positioned longitudinally in the form of a fan, in order to cover the large surface of the body (1), and follow tangent points to reflect imaginary contact points with the road surface. Each one of the inserts (3) has a more or less longitudinal support (31) with monolithic seats (32). The seats (32) are aligned equidistantly, and have a cylindrical or conical shape. If necessary, a longitudinal stiffener that joins the single seats may be applied to increase the rigidity of the support (31).

Since the insides of the seats (32) are hollow, elements (4) made of hard, low-friction material are inserted so that a tip (41) of each one of the said elements, in this case semi-spherical, protrudes with respect to its corresponding seat (32).

8 The shape and the material for each element (4) inserted into the support (3) may be of various types, as long as the aim of reducing the friction is taken into consideration. For this reason, metal studs, rivets, screws and strips, or carbon fibre, titanium or other special alloys may be used for the attachment, with the tip (41), preferably rounded, of the element protruding from its seat (32). Other solutions, for example, may be the use of metallic or even glass balls, which in this case are embedded for more than 180' of their circumference into the respective seats (32).

In the solution described, two different embodiments are shown. In the first one (Figure 4), there is a metallic stud which, at one end (41), protrudes with respect to its seat (32) and has a semi-spherical portion, while at the other end it has a base (42) embedded in the support (31). In the second one (Figure 5), instead of the embedded base, there is a threaded portion (43) so that the elements (4) can be screwed to the support (31). With this embodiment, inside each of the seats (32) there may be a metallic element that is also threaded to hold the element (4) in place.

In a third embodiment, the article of clothing in question may have protective guards.that cannot be removed or replaced. This is the case in which the said protective guard, in this case a knee guard, an elbow guard, a shoulder guard or protection for the gloves, is permanently attached by means of stitching, melting-in, or other means, to the part of the article of clothing as required.

A further embodiment of the inserts (3) (not shown) has a support (31) with only one seat (32) that emerges from it, and that is not necessarily cylindrical, but may be linear, for example, with an element (4) embedded in it, with a low-friction portion (41) protruding from the seat (32).

Claims

9 CLAIMS

1. Localised low-friction protective elements, particularly for use in technical sportswear and relative accessories, comprising at least one fixed protective structure adapted to be attached to an article of clothing, or detachable due to its being attached to the article by reciprocal fixing means, the structure having at least one support on which, on the outside, there is at least one irregular area comprising a protruding seat into which an element made of highly abrasion-resistant material is attached, and the element having a tip that protrudes from its said seat.

2. Localised protective elements according to claim 1, wherein, on the outer surface only of the structure, there is a series of longitudinal inserts in plastics or metal, or even carbon fibre, titanium or other special alloys, joined to the body thereof during the manufacturing phase and, therefore, partially embedded into it, the said inserts being made up of a support with monolithic seats that emerge from it, and pressed inside the said emerging seats are elements made of hard, low-friction material, so that the tip of each one of the said elements protrudes with respect to its corresponding seat.

3. Localised protective elements according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the support for the said elements is made of impact-absorbing material.

4. Localised protective elements according to any preceding claim, wherein the inserts on the body of the structure are distributed longitudinally in order to cover the surface of the body, of an article of clothing or of a protection structure.

5. Localised protective elements according to any preceding claim, wherein the shape and the material for each single element fixed into the support are of a low friction material and the end of the element protruding from the seat is rounded.

6. Localised protective elements according to any preceding claim, wherein the protective structure is adapted to be permanently attached to the article of clothing.

7. Localised protective elements according to any preceding claim, wherein the element is made up of a metallic stud, that at one end has a semi-spherical portion that protrudes with respect to its respective seat, while on the other end there is a base embedded in the support.

8. Localised protective elements according to any preceding claim, wherein the protective structure, which can be detached from the article of clothing, has reciprocal attachment means on the inside, one part of which is attached to the protective structure with the other part attaching to a localised portion of the article of clothing.

9. Localised protective elements according to any preceding claim, wherein an insert has a support from which one or more seats protrude on the inside of which an element is embedded or held, with a low-friction portion that protrudes from the seat.

10. Localised protective elements according to any preceding claim, wherein the elements are made of metallic or glass balls, partially embedded for more than 180' of their circumference into each respective seat.

11. An article of clothing supplied with localised protective elements according to any preceding claim.

12. An article of clothing supplied with localised protective elements according to claim 2, the protective structure, at least in localised positions, having attachment means for the inserts.

13. Localised low-friction elements substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings. 10

14. A protective guard substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.