U.S. patent number 3,751,620 [Application Number 05/214,498] was granted by the patent office on 1973-08-07 for electric garment.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Yuasa Battery Company Limited. Invention is credited to Teruhisa Yuasa.
United States Patent |
3,751,620 |
Yuasa |
August 7, 1973 |
ELECTRIC GARMENT
Abstract
An electric garment having heating elements on the inside
surface of the garment, the heating elements connecting to a power
source outside the garment through a cord so as to generate heat
from the elements. The heating elements comprise an
electroconductive fabric knitted of a chemical fiber and a metallic
fiber coated on the surface of the fabric with an electroconductive
agent prepared from a mixture of thermosetting resin, carbon powder
and metal powder, the heating element being further covered with a
spongelike heat retaining layer having independent bubbles.
Inventors: |
Yuasa; Teruhisa (Takatsuki,
JA) |
Assignee: |
Yuasa Battery Company Limited
(Osaka Prefecture, JA)
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Family
ID: |
12107759 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/214,498 |
Filed: |
December 30, 1971 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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99833 |
Dec 21, 1970 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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Mar 10, 1970 [JA] |
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45/23337 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
219/211; 338/211;
338/225; 219/527; 338/224 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H05B
3/342 (20130101); A43B 7/025 (20130101); H05B
2203/013 (20130101); H05B 2203/036 (20130101); H05B
2203/017 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A43B
7/02 (20060101); A43B 7/00 (20060101); H05B
3/34 (20060101); H05b 001/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;219/211,212,527-529,549
;338/211,224,308,225 ;128/379-382 ;2/2.1A,2.1R
;161/62,83,92,160 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Albritton; C. L.
Parent Case Text
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 99,833, filed Dec.
21, 1970, now abandoned.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An electric garment having heating elements located on the
inside surface of a garment, a power source located outside the
garment, and a cord interconnecting said heating elements and said
power source so as to generate heat from the elements, said heating
elements comprising an electroconductive fabric knitted of a
chemical fiber and a metallic fiber, and a coating on the surface
of said fabric, said coating being an electroconductive agent
prepared from a mixture of thermosetting resin, carbon powder and
metal powder, said heating elements being further covered with a
spongelike heat retaining layer having independent bubbles.
2. An electric garment according to claim 1 characterized by gloves
being used as the garment.
3. An electric garment according to claim 1 characterized by socks
being used as the garment.
Description
This invention relates to a cold protection garment, and more
particularly to an electric garment for use in protection from cold
by incorporating heating elements into a garment and subjecting the
heating elements to generation of heat through electric energy.
The cold protection garment heretofore used in cold districts was
of the type in which cotton flock or rayon flock was stuffed
between the outer fabric and regular lining of fur or synthetic
fiber and was sewn together. But the garments of this type are all
designed to keep the temperature of the human body, and have to
worn one over another in layers to prevent the transpiration of
body heat in a colder climate, and accordingly they are not free
from the disadvantage in that the wearer of such a garment is
deprived of his quick and easy actions. Furthermore, it may be easy
to keep the body warm, but in the case of keeping hands and feet
warm it does not answer the purpose merely to wear one garment over
another. Consequently, it is all the more problematic how to keep
those regions warm and the type of garments conventionally used has
much to be desired as a cold protection garment in that it cannot
prevent the frequent outbreak of frost-bite in frigid
districts.
This invention, in view of the disadvantages of the kind described,
has incorporated heating elements into a garment.
A primary object of this invention is to provide an electric
garment that is thin, yet capable of fully protecting a wearer from
cold.
Another object of the invention is to provide a flexible and
functional electric garment for cold protection.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a low-priced
electric garment for cold protection.
A detailed description of this invention in one form will be made
with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:
FIG. 1 is a front elevation, broken in part, of an electric garment
according to this invention;
FIG. 2 is a front elevation, broken in part, of an embodiment of
the invention in a glove;
FIG. 3 is a front elevation, broken in part, of an embodiment of
the invention in a sock; and
FIG. 4 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional front elevation
showing the structure of a heating element used in the
invention.
Referring now to FIG. 1, a garment 1 is made of a synthetic resin
fiber such as polyamide resin or of fur or the like and is a
one-piece type. The garment is designed to put on and off by means
of a zip fastener.
This garment is of the construction in which pockets 2 are formed
at several points in the regular lining and heating elements 3 are
inserted in the pockets 2 or of the construction in which the
heating elements are inserted between the outer fabric and the
regular lining and sewn thereto so as to prevent movement
therebetween. The heating elements are each provided adjacent to
their side edges with two small holes 4 and the small holes 4 of
other heating elements adjacent to said heating elements are
electrically connected to said small holes 4 by means of lead wires
5. Each of the heating elements, as shown in FIG. 4, is made into
the clothlike form of a knitted fabric of a thickness of about 0.5
mm alternately knitted of chemical fiber such as vinyl chloride and
metallic fiber on a knitting machine and coated on the surface with
an electroconductive agent prepared from a mixture of thermosetting
resin such as epoxy resin and carbon powder and metal powder such
as silver powder, whereby the whole of each heating element is
formed into a platelike form about 1.5 mm in overall thickness.
Also, the heating element is covered on the entire surface with a
spongelike heat retaining layer 6 made of polyethylene, polyvinyl
chloride, rubber, etc. as a chief material and having independent
bubbles. As the heat retaining layer is excellent in insulating
property, the heating element can sufficiently obtain a cold
protection effect with a small amount of heating.
As shown in FIG. 1, when four heating elements in all are used on
the upper, lower, left and right portions of the garment, the small
holes 4 formed on each heating element are connected by wires 5 to
each other, and the last small holes are connected to a cord 7
which is in turn connected to a power source. The cord 7 is
connected to both poles of the power source of a cell, battery or
the like. The heating elements described above are conected in
series but they may be connected in parallel. Furthermore in the
drawing, the heating elements 3 are shown as being provided at four
places, upper, lower, left, and right, on the front part of the
garment, but they may be positioned additionally in the rear part,
i.e., on the back part of the garment. In short, the number of the
heating elements provided may depend upon the amount of current to
be supplied thereto so as to freely control the heating temperature
for obtaining optimum temperature.
Referring now to FIG. 2, in which the invention is embodied in a
glove, the glove is made of a synthetic resin fiber or leather, and
the heating element 3 covered with a heat retaining layer is
mounted on the inside of the glove and lead wires 5 taken out from
the element 3 are connected through a snap terminal to the power
source.
FIG. 3 shows the invention in another form in which it is embodied
in a sock. The cold protection sock is knitted of a synthetic resin
fiber and the heating element 3 covered with the heat retaining
layer is mounted on the inside bottom of the sock and is connected
through the cord 7 to the power source.
This heating element is designed to depend upon a cell for its
portable power source. Namely, when the cell is used, the heating
element is enabled to be heated to temperatures in the range of
40.degree. to 60.degree.C, which provides an optimum temperature
while walking or working out of doors. Also, when riding on a motor
cycle or the like, the use of a 12 volt battery mounted on the
motor cycle as a power source could make the heating elements
produce temperatures in the range of 70.degree. to 90.degree.C at
the power consumption of 28.9 W and thus could sufficiently protect
the rider from even temperatures below zero in the open air.
Since the invention can dispense with bulkiness as a garment for
protection from a cold climate, it has a characteristic feature in
that work efficiency can be raised by wearing the garment in the
districts where it is extremly cold. Also, the use of socks can not
only protect the workman from cold-bite but also, when used in bed,
sleeping with the socks on can provide a simple method of keeping
warmth. Also, the heating element is readily flexible and free from
breaking, and therefore very easy of handling. It should be
understood that various modifications could be made in the
invention without departing from the scope and spirit of the
invention.
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