WO2007129098A1

WO2007129098A1 - Cooling and protecting mammalian bodies

Info

Publication number: WO2007129098A1
Application number: PCT/GB2007/001699
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kay Russel
Original assignee: Kay Russel
Priority date: 2006-05-09
Filing date: 2007-05-08
Publication date: 2007-11-15
Also published as: TW200800112A; GB0708817D0; HK1156466A1; HK1115030A1; GB2438067A; GB2438067B

Abstract

A flexible multi-layer product is described that supports, protects and cools a limb or joint. The product is fastened around the limb or joint concerned with adjustable releasable fastenings. The product has an inner synthetic fibre fabric layer conforming to the limb or joint and impregnated with an evaporative liquid comprising water and alcohol. A flexible protective layer is provided outside the inner layer. It allows circulation of air and vapour within the layer and between layers, and serves, at least in part, to cushion the inner layer and the limb or joint from impact. A garment is also described that provide rapid and sustained cooling of a mammalian body. The garment is formed of an artificial fibre formed with channels on the fibre surface adapted to provide enhanced wicking of fluids. The garment is impregnated with an evaporative liquid comprising water and alcohol. The product and the garment may be provided in sealed pouches fully impregnated with the evaporative liquid. Alternatively, they may be provided as a kit comprising the product or garment proper in unimpregnated state together with a supply of evaporative liquid for impregnating the product or garment.

Description

Background

This disclosure relates to cooling and protecting mammalian bodies.

As will become apparent from the description of preferred embodiments hereinbelow, the teachings of this disclosure were developed primarily for application to equine use, but are equally applicable to human use, or to use for any other mammal that requires cooling.

The tendons in the leg of a horse are susceptible to damage through strikes, knocks and blows. The hooves of the hind legs may sometimes strike the rear of the front legs or the front hooves may strike the front of the hind legs in a gallop. The arrangements described by Daly in EP 1449497 and GB 2407777, including the earlier arrangements to which he refers in distinguishing his articulated boot, are typical of arrangements previously proposed. Rigid or semi-rigid structures might provide protection, but tended to restrict mobility and cause a build-up of heat. Daly's articulated boot represented some improvement, but did not entirely overcome the problem. In Fig. 22 of GB 2407777, something akin to a ram-air effect is used to cause air to flow through Daly's articulated boot in the limb-embracing rigid or semi-rigid collar above the fetlock joint, to provide some cooling. Daly's arrangement is so horse-specific that it could not readily be adapted for human use.

Summary

The present disclosure in its different aspects adopts an entirely different approach, and concentrates primarily upon enhanced cooling, coupled, in the case of equine boots, with a measure of protection, as the present Inventor has found that it is primarily the unrestricted build-up of heat, produced during exercise or through injury or inflammation, that results in pain, swelling and long-term and possible permanent damage. The embodiments described below all rely upon the fact that evaporation causes cooling. Applicant's teachings are as equally applicable to the human condition as they are to equine applications. In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a flexible multi-layer product for support, protection and cooling of a limb or joint; the product having an inner side and an outer side and being adapted to be fastened around the limb or joint concerned, with its inner side in contact therewith, by means of adjustable releasable fastenings; the product comprising an inner synthetic fibre fabric layer on its inner side conforming to the limb or joint and impregnated with an evaporative liquid comprising water and alcohol, and a flexible protective layer outside the inner layer, allowing circulation of air and vapour within the layer and between layers, and serving, at least in part, to cushion the inner layer and the limb or joint from impact.

In particular embodiments, described hereinbelow, the product is configured for use as an equine exercise boot, as an equine travel boot, as a human knee support or as a human wrist support. Other possible arrangements include supports for a human shin, thigh, upper arm, lower arm, elbow or ankle.

In an equine working or exercise boot, the outer layer may comprise an additional outermost layer comprising nitrile rubber providing additional protection against impact, but this outermost layer need not cover the entire exterior surface of the boot, being positioned where impact in use is most likely.

For human use to support a knee or wrist, for example, a close woven outermost layer may be provided to resist water and dirt, but the outermost layer must remain sufficiently perforate for evaporation not to be hindered.

The product may be supplied in a sealed pouch ready impregnated, or may be supplied as a kit comprising the product proper together with a supply of evaporative liquid for application to the inner layer before use, the supply being provided as a pouch of liquid, a spray can of liquid or a bottle of liquid.

In a second and alternative aspect of this disclosure, there is provided a garment for wear by a mammal and adapted to provide rapid and sustained cooling, the garment being formed of an artificial fibre formed with channels on the surface of individual fibres and adapted to provide enhanced wicking of fluids, the garment being impregnated with an evaporative liquid comprising water and alcohol.

In a first embodiment of this second aspect, the garment comprises a T-shirt, polo shirt, vest, long or short sleeved shirt, a suit providing body cover, all to be worn by a human, or a wrap to be worn by a human. In an alternative embodiment, the garment comprises a horse-blanket or an equine neck wrap.

Brief Description of the Drawings

A number of embodiments are described hereinbelow, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: -

Fig. 1 is a schematic view showing an exercise boot applied to the fore-limb of a horse, as seen from the outer side of the leg; Fig. 2 is a similar view to Fig. 1, as seen from the inner side of the leg;

Fig. 3 is a flattened plan view of the boot shown in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a schematic view showing a travel boot applied to the fore-limb of a horse, as seen from the outer side of the leg;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, showing a travel boot applied to the fore-limb of a horse;

Fig. 6 is a schematic view showing a wrist support applied to a human wrist;

Fig. 7 is a schematic view showing a knee support applied to a human knee;

Fig. 8 is a schematic view illustrating a horse blanket worn by a horse;

Fig. 9 is a much enlarged schematic view illustrating a multi-channel fibre; and Fig. 10 is a schematic view of a T-shirt.

Description of Preferred Embodiments

Example: Equine Working Boot

Referring first to Figs 1 to 3 of the drawings, a working boot has an inner side and an outer side, with an inner layer 1 on its inner side formed of a fabric formed from a synthetic material and that has a relatively open structure that is breathable and has moisture management properties that allow sweat to wick away from the skin. Preferably, the fabric 1 has multi-directional stretch to conform to the surface of the leg and to move as the leg is used. A preferred such technical fabric is available from Polartec LLC under the Trademark Power Stretch-KX?** and has a brushed inner surface that is soft to the horse's skin. A second layer 2 is formed from a spacer fabric. Such fabrics are available commercially from a number of sources including 3D Spacer Fabric™ available from Scott & Fyfe Ltd, AirX^rM available from Tytex A/S and Culzean™ available from Culzean Textile Solutions Ltd, and commonly comprise three-dimensional open mesh knitted polyester or polyester mix fabrics that may be knitted using a Raschel knitting machine. The face yarns and pile yarns may be different, but are combined in knitting the fabric to ensure that delamination is impossible. The open three-dimensional nature of this fabric provides a lightweight structure that both allows ready passage of circulating air within the fabric and passage of moisture, and also serves as a pressure-elastic fabric to at least partially cushion the inner layer, and hence the horse's leg, from impact. An outer layer 3 is formed of a hydrogenated nitrile rubber, suitably perforated at 4, which has a nylon inner weave which provides a tough durable pad that resists tearing. It will be seen from Fig. 3 that, in this embodiment, the boot is of generally inverted-T form, and that the outer protective artificial rubber layer 3 does not cover the entire surface of the spacer material 2 but is positioned centrally 5 and around the lower portion 6 to protect the delicate heel area, where a strike by the hoof of the hind leg is most likely. In an alternative arrangement, the outer layer may cover the whole of the outer surface provided that it is sufficiently perforate for evaporation not to be hindered, and the boot may form a total enclosing wrap for the relevant portion of the horse's leg. The several layers of the boot are suitably sewn together. The outer layer 3 has good mechanical properties including strength, stretch and abrasion resistance, while maintaining flexibility. The boot is fitted to the horse's leg by wrapping it around the leg and fastening with a releasable and adjustable fastening, such as cooperating Velcro® hook-and-loop fastener strips 7 attached to cooperating tongues 8 fastened to respective side edges of the boot.

The resultant boot is lightweight and flexible and so will not cause pressure points or hinder movement of joints and tendons as in conventional boots of the kind discussed in the Daly Specifications.

The inner layer 1 is impregnated with an evaporative liquid comprising water and alcohol, preferably at least 10% and more preferably at least 15% Ethanol. The most preferred evaporative liquid has an Ethanol content of about 20%. The boot may be provided ready impregnated, but is preferably supplied as a kit comprising the boot proper and a pouch, spray can or bottle of the evaporative liquid. The preferred liquid is described below.

I have found that with this structure and with just enough coolant mixture [See Example below] to dampen the Power Stretch-RX inner layer 1, there is a prolonged cooling effect over two hours with the boot fitted to a horse's leg.

Example: Evaporative Liquid

The most preferred cooling liquid is a mixture of rapidly evaporating alcohols and water designed to draw heat away from the horse's leg quickly when applied to inner layer 1. Cooling occurs as a result of the latent heat required to evaporate the liquid.

A preferred formulation is described below, percentages being by weight:

Purified Water 78%

Denatured Ethanol 20%

Glycerine 0.5%

Menthol 0.2%

Oleyl alcohol 0.2% the remainder being made up of minor amounts of preservatives, emulsifiers and colorant.

To make 400kg of mixture, 10kg of ethanol is first dispensed into a steel bucket and the menthol added and mixed until dissolved. This is repeated in a second bucket for the oleyl alcohol using a further 10kg of ethanol. The remaining 60kg of ethanol is dispersed in 300kg of water in a mixing vessel and the glycerine added and mixed with an air mixer at high speed for ten minutes. The preservatives, emulsifiers and the colorant individually dispersed in minor amounts of the remaining water are then added. Finally, the first two ethanol solutions and any remaining water are added to the mixing vessel and the whole mixed for a further fifteen minutes.

The resultant mixture is stable and may be sealed in pouches, or filled into spray cans or bottles. Example: Equine Travel Boot

Figs. 4 and 5 show travel boots 9 formed substantially of the spacer fabric discussed above. The boot is shaped for the fore legs (Fig. 4) to protect the whole leg from knee 10 to the floor, and for the hind legs (Fig. 5) to protect the whole leg from hock

11 to the floor. The boot is applied over a bandage impregnated with the evaporative liquid described above, and fastened in place by cooperating strips of Velcro fasteners. An additional nitrile rubber layer 12, as discussed above, here shown for the hind leg boot, may protect the delicate heel region.

The illustrated boots will comfort and protect the legs of a horse in transit. Research has shown that a horse's legs generate considerable heat during transit. Use of the illustrated boots will ensure that the legs remain cool even during lengthy travel periods and without causing pressure points or hindering movement of joints or tendons as in prior arrangements. The spacer fabric provides cushioning protection while allowing air circulation to enhance evaporation and cooling. Its multidirectional stretch and recovery provides compression and support with padding to prevent skin chafing. Impacts are absorbed and dispersed avoiding knocks and bruising. The use of Velcro hook-and- loop fasteners enables the boots to be applied rapidly, avoids pressure points and provides good adjustability and ensures that the boot will remain in position in use.

Because the above described equine working boot and equine travel boot both have a degree of flexibility in the boot itself that is absent in Daly's arrangements without added articulation of his otherwise rigid boots, equine boots utilising the teachings of this disclosure can be provided to enclose the whole leg to give total protection and cooling, while still allowing the animal to move.

Example: Human Wrist Support

Referring to Fig. 6, which shows a support 13 fitted to a human right hand, an opening 14 is provided for the thumb 15 at one end of a strip 16 which is passed across the palm, around the back of the hand at 17, and is then looped around the underside of the wrist to be fastened at 18 on the back of the wrist by hook-and-loop fasteners 19. This arrangement allows a single size of wrist support to be fitted to people with differing sizes of wrists. An inner layer suitably formed of Power Stretch-RX or similar material is covered by an outer protective layer, suitably of spacer fabric, as discussed above, with a close woven outermost layer 20 to resist water and dirt. The openings in the weave of the outermost layer 20 should not hinder evaporation. The support may be provided ready impregnated in a sealed pouch with evaporative liquid, or may be impregnated from a pouch, spray can or bottle of the evaporative liquid. The cooling effect will last for around two hours, as in the case of the equine boots, after which, if required, the inner layer may be impregnated with additional evaporative liquid. The resultant structure provides both support and cooling, aiding recovery particularly from sport injuries, and aiding in the reduction or prevention of inflammation and swelling.

Example: Human Knee Support

A human knee support 21 is illustrated in Fig. 7, and comprises the same arrangement of layers as in the wrist support described above. The knee support is fastened around the knee by Velcro hook-and-loop fasteners at the back of the leg. As shown by stitching lines 22, the support is formed in three sections, the centre section 23 having greater flexibility than the other two. To provide additional protection for the knee- cap, a nitrile rubber outer protective layer (described above for the equine boot) could be added to the centre section.

A similar additional outer protection may be provided for a shin support and cooling product, not illustrated, but otherwise with similar layers to those of the illustrated knee protection, enabling a footballer to continue playing, provided the bone was not broken, even after sustaining a severe kick to their shin, while cooling the site of the injury, making swelling and inflammation less likely.

As in the equine arrangements described above, because supports produced according to the teachings of this disclosure retain a degree of flexibility, a support may be provided that cools and protects substantially an entire limb, rather than just a portion of a limb as in the illustrated embodiments. Example: Horse Blanket

Fig. 8 illustrates a horse blanket 24 constructed according to the teachings of the present disclosure. It is in effect a garment for a horse. It is shaped to cover the horse down to the level of the knees and hocks and up to the top of the neck and is fastened around the underneath of the neck by two tapes 25 with Velcro hook-and-loop fastenings

26, and by a further tape 27 with similar fastenings 26 around the front of the body.

In this way the horse blanket follows and covers all the major deep muscle groups that drive the horse. It is in these muscles that a large amount of heat is built up during extensive exercise or in extremes of temperature or stress. A horse may increase the heat it produces by as much as 50% during intense exercise, as compared with heat production at rest. In response to this, a horse will increase its sweating rate, move blood to the capillaries under the skin and increase its rate of breathing in an effort to release this build up of heat.

Horse blanket 24 is an open weave polyester fibre fabric in which individual fibres are formed with multiple channels on their surface designed to channel moisture away from the skin. Fig. 9 is a schematic illustration of such a fibre 28 showing the channels 29, here four in number, on the surface of the fibre. A suitable fabric made from such fibres is available from the Invista Division of DuPont under the Trademark Coolmax™. This material has been used extensively for performance clothing for humans, as it enables air to reach the skin and perspiration to evaporate. I have found that this material is very suitable for my horse blanket as it readily absorbs large quantities of the evaporative liquid disclosed above within the fabric, for example as a result of spraying the horse blanket immediately before use. I have found that this leads to rapid and sustained cooling. The rapid cooling of the muscles allows quicker recovery so that a horse in competition is ready to go again sooner.

The above teachings may be applied, equally well, to an equine neck wrap. Example: T-shirt

In exactly the same way that a horse blanket for horses made of Coolmax fabric and impregnated with evaporative liquid provides cooling after exercise, making a T-shirt or similar garment, such as a polo shirt or running vest, from Coolmax fabric and impregnating the fabric with the evaporative liquid provides rapid and sustained cooling for a human wearer. A T-shirt impregnated with the liquid is schematically illustrated in

Fig. 10. The teachings of the present disclosure are thus directly applicable to performance garments for humans and to garments for wear in hot climates. The garment may be sprayed with the liquid from a supply thereof, or be resoaked and kept sealed until required.

The above teachings may be applied, equally well, to other specific garments for human use, including long or short sleeved shirts or full body suits. Such garments are of particular use for the military or for construction, mining or extraction workers working in regions of high temperature.

Claims

1. A flexible multi-layer product for support, protection and cooling of a limb or joint; the product having an inner side and an outer side and being adapted to be fastened around the limb or joint concerned, with its inner side in contact therewith, by means of adjustable releasable fastenings; the product comprising an inner synthetic fibre fabric layer on its inner side conforming to the limb or joint and impregnated with an evaporative liquid comprising water and alcohol, and a flexible protective layer outside the inner layer, allowing circulation of air and vapour within the layer and between layers, and serving, at least in part, to cushion the inner layer and the limb or joint from impact.

2. A product according to Claim 1, wherein the protective layer is formed of a three- dimensional spacer fabric.

3. A product according to Claim I, configured as a protective product selected from the group comprising an equine exercise boot, an equine travel boot, a human knee support, a human wrist support, a support for a human upper arm, a support for a human lower arm, a support for a human thigh, a support for a human shin, a support for a human elbow and a support for a human ankle.

4. A product according to Claim 3 configured for use as an equine boot, wherein the protective layer additionally comprises an outermost layer comprising nitrile rubber providing additional protection against impact.

5. A product according to Claim 4, wherein the outermost layer is provided around the heel region.

6. A product according to Claim 4, wherein the outermost layer is provided along the rear of the canon bone, the boot being intended for a fore leg.

7. A product according to Claim 4, wherein the outermost layer is provided along the front of the leg bone, the boot being intended for a rear leg.

8. A product according to Claim 4 for use as an equine travel boot, wherein the boot covers substantially the whole of the leg from knee or hock to the floor; and wherein the inner layer is formed separately as an equine bandage.

9. A product according to Claim 3 for human use, wherein the protective layer comprises an outermost layer formed of a close woven material adapted to resist water and dirt, and sufficiently perforate for evaporation not to be hindered.

10. A product according to Claim 1, wherein the evaporative liquid comprises about 20% Ethanol.

11. A product according to Claim 1 supplied in a sealed pouch ready impregnated.

12. A kit of parts for a product according to Claim 1, comprising the product proper, but unimpregnated, and a supply of said evaporative liquid for application to the inner layer before use, the supply being selected from the group comprising a pouch of liquid, a spray can of liquid and a bottle of liquid.

13. A garment for wear by a mammal and adapted to provide rapid and sustained cooling, the garment being formed of an artificial fibre formed with channels on the fibre surface adapted to provide enhanced wicking of fluids, the garment being impregnated with an evaporative liquid comprising water and alcohol.

14. A garment according to Claim 13, comprising a garment selected from the group comprising a T-shirt, a polo shirt, a short sleeved shirt, a long sleeved shirt, performance clothing, an athletic vest, a full body suit, a wrap, all to be worn by a human, a horse- blanket to be worn by a horse, and an equine neck wrap to be worn by a horse.

15. A garment according to Claim 13, wherein the evaporative liquid comprises about 20% Ethanol.

16. A kit of parts for a garment according to Claim 13, comprising the garment proper, but unimpregnated, and a supply of evaporative liquid for application to the garment before use, the supply being selected from the group comprising a pouch of liquid, a spray can of liquid and a bottle of liquid.