A self-ventilating vest having a plural number of conduits extending through the vest, the conduits having an intake opening and one-way intake valve through which outside air can be drawn into the conduit, one or more compressible members, such as a tube, bulb or bladder retaining the air so that it absorbs body heat, and a one-way exhaust valve and exhaust opening through which the warmed air is expelled. The compressible members are compressed by the expansion of the chest during breathing or exertion to expel the warmed air, and when the compressive forces are removed, the compressible members expand to draw fresh air back into the compressible members through the intake opening to repeat the cycle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates generally to the field of vests or other body-worn 
devices or articles of clothing which contain means to cool the wearer by 
removing body heat and exhausting it to the ambient air. In particular, 
the invention relates to such vests and devices where the body heat is 
removed by passing air through tubes mounted on or within the vest or 
device, the air absorbing the body heat prior to it being exhausted. 
Many occupations require the wearing of heavy, stiff, thick or padded 
articles of clothing, and in particular vests which have these properties. 
For examples, many workers must wear vests or body suits containing 
multiple pockets or retainers for equipment, or workers such as policemen 
wear protective bullet-proof vests. While of obvious benefit to the 
wearer, these vests can be uncomfortable in hot weather or when the wearer 
performs exerting tasks, as they tend to trap the body heat produced by 
the wearer. In southern climates, this uncomfortable heat-trapping side 
effect sometimes results in a personal decision not to wear the vest, 
which is not desirable. 
Attempts have been made to solve the heat-trapping problem by providing 
internal circulation systems within the vest or article of clothing. Such 
devices are shown for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,390 to Gross et al., 
U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,240 to Sayre U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,216 to Blackburn et 
al., and U.S. Pat. No. 3,348,236 to Copeland. These devices utilize an 
outside source of pressurized air or fluid to pass cool air or fluid into 
the internal conduits, which is then exhausted or recirculated after 
absorbing body heat from the wearer. Siple, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,648,325, 
while directed at producing a body warming vest, is relevant in that it 
discloses a closed circulating system with no outside fluid source, where 
the temperature of the fluid is raised by chemical means and the 
circulation occurs as a function of the breathing or movement of the 
wearer, the expansion and contraction of the chest pressing against bulbs 
which force fluid flow in a single direction because of the presence of a 
single one-way valve in each conduit. This construction would not work for 
cooling the wearer, since there is not provided any means to exhaust and 
replace, or to cool the fluid, once it has absorbed body heat from the 
wearer. 
It is an object of this invention to provide an article of clothing, and in 
particular a vest, which cools the wearer by removing body heat, where the 
heat is absorbed by relatively cooler air drawn from the outside ambient 
air which is passed through conduits in the article of clothing and 
exhausted, such that the system does not recirculate the air. It is a 
further object to provide such a device where the air is drawn into and 
expelled from the device with no outside pressurization means or forced 
air pumping apparatus, such that the device is self-ventilating. It is a 
further object to provide such a device where the expansion and 
contraction of the chest of the wearer, or physical body movement, is 
sufficient to cause air warmed by body heat to be exhausted from the 
device into the outside atmosphere and is sufficient to cause relatively 
cooler air to be drawn into the device from the outside atmosphere. It is 
a further object to provide such a device which contains multiple pairs of 
one-way check valves mounted in individual conduits, where the valve pairs 
are oriented such that flow through the conduit occurs in a single 
direction only, where the conduits may comprise tubes, bladders, bulbs or 
combinations thereof to provide the self-ventilation means to pass air 
through the device. These and other objects not expressly stated will be 
accomplished as set forth in the disclosure below. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The invention is a device which may comprise an article of clothing, and in 
particular an article of clothing worn on the chest, such as a shirt, vest 
or the upper portion of a body suit, which cools the wearer by providing a 
means for relatively cool outside air to be drawn into the device and then 
exhausted. The cool air absorbs body heat from the wearer, such that the 
temperature of the air within the vest is elevated. This warmer air is 
then expelled or exhausted from the vest, with fresh cooler air drawn in 
to repeat the cycle continuously. The device is provided with air 
conduits, either positioned within the device or mounted on its interior 
side, which comprise tubes, bladders, bulbs or combinations thereof, where 
some of the components are compressible by the expansion of the chest of 
the wearer or from body movement, such that air within the compressible 
components is forced from the components and expelled from the conduits. 
The compressible components are constructed of material having a resilient 
memory, typically a plastic or rubber, and are designed with a wall 
structure and thickness such that when pressure is removed from the 
components the components expand back to their non-compressed 
configuration, thereby drawing air into the components and the conduits. 
Each of the conduits is arranged to communicate with an intake opening and 
an exhaust opening. A one-way check valve, such as a plastic duck-billed 
slit valve or the like, is positioned adjacent the intake opening and 
oriented such that air flow can only occur into the conduit through the 
intake opening. Likewise, a one-way check valve is positioned adjacent the 
exhaust opening and oriented in the same direction as the other valve, so 
that air flow can only occur from the conduit through the exhaust outlet. 
The intake and exhaust openings communicate with the outside ambient air, 
and multiple conduits may be connected to a manifold with an extension 
tube of sufficient length to be positioned external to any articles of 
clothing surrounding the self-ventilating device. In this manner, pressure 
against the compressible components forces warmed air within the conduits 
out the exhaust openings, while the expansion of the compressible 
components when the pressure is removed causes cooler air to be drawn back 
into the conduits. This cycle is repeated with every expansion/contraction 
cycle of the chest, such that the device is self-ventilating with no need 
for a powered means to force the air through the device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
With reference to the drawings, the invention will now be described in 
detail with regard to the best mode and the preferred embodiment. The 
invention comprises a self-ventilating article of clothing or a device to 
be worn on the body, preferably in the form of a vest, which acts to cool 
the wearer by drawing relatively cool outside air from the atmosphere into 
the device, where the air absorbs body heat produced by the wearer and is 
exhausted back into the atmosphere, with the cycle repeating. The 
operational force for the device is the movement of the wearer's body, and 
in particular the expansion and contraction of the wearer's chest from 
breathing or exertion, with no requirement for a powered or pressurized 
means to force air through the device. For simplicity, the invention will 
be described in the preferred embodiment of the vest configuration, but it 
is to be understood that the invention can comprise other articles of 
clothing, including shirts, coats, jackets, body suits, etc., and may also 
comprise articles of clothing such as pants or shorts where the 
operational force for the device is the movement of the legs during 
walking or running. The invention may be provided as a cooling vest which 
is worn underneath and in addition to other articles of clothing or bulky 
devices, such as a coat, shirt, vest (and in particular, bullet-proof 
vests), etc., or the invention may comprise the actual coat, shirt, vest, 
device, etc., where the operational components are built directly into or 
attached to the article of clothing or device in an integral manner. The 
invention works with optimum efficiency when it is positioned directly 
against the skin of the user or when separated from the user's skin only 
by thin material which allows relatively unimpeded passage of body heat. 
As shown in FIG. 1, the invention comprises a plural number of 
self-ventilating conduit means 20 affixed to some manner of webbing or 
other material such that the relative positions of the conduit means 20 
are maintained when the device is worn on the body. As illustrated, the 
conduit means 20 are positioned within a vest 10 having two arm openings 
11, a torso opening 12 and a head opening 13. Side panels or straps 14 may 
be provided to further structure the vest 10. The vest 10 can be made of 
any suitable material, including cloth, plastics, plastic foams, etc., so 
long as any material which covers the conduit means 20 or resides between 
the conduit means 20 and the wearer is permeable to heat. The conduit 
means 20 may be incorporated within the body of the vest 10, as shown in 
FIG. 2, or may be mounted on the interior side of the vest 10, as shown in 
FIG. 3. 
The self-ventilating conduit means 20 comprise a relatively large number of 
ventilating means defined as compressible members 30, the compressible 
members 30 defining hollow bodies where the wall structure of the 
compressible members 30 is such that they may be relatively easily 
compressed, such as by the expansion of the wearer's chest during 
breathing. The compressible members 30 are retained such that the interior 
walls 35 of the compressible members 30 are deflected inward relative to 
the exterior walls 36 of the compressible members 30. In addition, the 
material of construction, the interior wall 35 thickness and the overall 
shape of the compressible members 30 are chosen such that the compressible 
members 30 rebound to the neutral position when all compressive forces are 
removed, such that the interior space of the compressible members 30 is 
maximized. Preferably the compressible members 30 are composed of a 
plastic or rubber material. 
In one embodiment, the compressible members 30 are compressible tubes 31 
which extend through the body of the vest 10. The tubes 31 may extend 
horizontally as shown, vertically or any desired direction. They may be 
relatively straight as shown, or configured in more intricate patterns. 
Adjacent each end of each tube 31 is an intake valve 41 and an exhaust 
valve 42, which comprise one-way valves which are self-closing and opened 
by air pressure, such as a duck-billed or slit valve of the type well 
known in the art. As shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, the intake valve 41 and 
the exhaust valve 42 are positioned such that air flow through the conduit 
means 20 and compressible member 30 is possible in only one direction. The 
end of the tube 31 adjacent or near the intake valve 41 is the intake 
opening 21 to receive relatively cool air from the atmosphere, while the 
end of the tube 31 adjacent or near the exhaust valve 42 is the exhaust 
opening 22 through which air warmed by body heat is exhausted. The tubes 
31 may extend some distance beyond the vest 10 in order to communicate 
with the atmosphere when the vest 10 is covered by other clothing. 
The operation of the self-ventilating conduit means 20 begins with the 
compressible members 30 in the passive or neutral position, as shown by 
compressible tube 31 in FIG. 4. The interior within the tube 31 is 
maximized such that a good volume of air resides within the tube 31. This 
air absorbs body heat from the wearer, such that the air is warmed and the 
body is cooled. When the wearer expands the chest or performs certain 
physical movements, the interior wall 35 of the tube 31 is compressed 
outward against the exterior wall 36, as shown in FIG. 5. This forces the 
warmed air out through exhaust valve 42 and exhaust opening 22 into the 
atmosphere, with intake valve 41 remaining closed. When the compressive 
forces are removed, as shown in FIG. 6, the resilient nature of the 
interior wall 35 causes it to expand inward to ward the wearer's body, 
which draws cooler air from the atmosphere through the intake opening 21 
and intake valve 41, filling the compressible tube 31 with new air to 
absorb body heat. The exhaust valve 42 remains closed during this intake 
process. With every chest expansion or movement, the cycle repeats, with 
warmed being exhausted to atmosphere and cooler being drawn in to replace 
it. 
Alternative configurations for the compressible members 34 are shown in 
FIG. 7, where the compressible members 30 comprise rounded bulbs 33 
connected in series by connecting tubes 34, and in FIG. 8, where the 
compressible members 30 comprise relatively large bladders 32 joined by 
connecting tubes 34. The self-ventilating operation of the bulbs 33 and 
bladders 32 is the same as described above for the compressible tubes 31. 
Depending on the particular construction chosen for the invention, and 
depending on the types of clothing or devices which may be worn external 
to the invention, it may be necessary to provide extension means for the 
intake openings 21 and exhaust openings 22 to reach and communicate with 
the outside air. In a simple form, the conduit means 20 may simply extend 
some distance beyond the vest or other article of clothing. Alternatively, 
multiple conduit means 20 may be connected to common manifold bodies 50, 
as shown in FIG. 9, where each manifold 50 has an extension tube 51 which 
may be positioned with its opening communicating with the atmosphere. In 
this configuration the intake air will be drawn through a manifold 50 
communicating with the intake valves 41 of the conduit means 20 and the 
exhaust air will be expelled through a second manifold 50 communicating 
with the exhaust valves 42 of the conduit means 20. 
It is contemplated that equivalents and substitutions to certain elements 
set forth above may be obvious to those skilled in the art, and therefore 
the true scope and definition of the invention is to be as set forth in 
the following claims.