Patent Publication Number: US-11028505-B1

Title: Protective apparel

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present disclosure relates to protective apparel. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to protective apparel that may be used as a protective gear against electromagnetic frequencies in electromagnetic fields. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Typically, human body feels different in harmful radiation areas, such as high-frequency areas, low-frequency areas, or naturally occurring electromagnetic fields (EMF) or radio frequencies (RF). Thus, the body requires to be shielded from such harmful electromagnetic radiation so that the dangerous after-effects could be mitigated. 
     Several types of such protective apparel have been presented in the past. None of them, however, presents a smart, light-weight, and casual wear protective apparel that is comfortable to wear and at the same time shields the body from the harmful radiations. 
     Applicant believes that a related reference corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 4,196,355A by SHIELDING Inc. that discloses a two-piece radiation shield garment for the human body. The two-piece radiation shield garment comprises an adjustably overlapping vest to protect the upper body and a wraparound skirt to protect the lower body. The vest and skirt are constructed of multiple inner layers of flexible radiation shielding material covered with non-shielding fabric or other material. The vest and skirt may be attractively fashioned and decorated to encourage their use as a shield garment for women. The vest includes a rear shield panel joined to a pair of overlapping front shield panels. Similarly, the skirt includes a rear shield panel connected to a pair of overlapping front shield panels. The overlapping front panels of the vest and skirt have wide cooperating horizontal bands of Velcro-type tape closures providing an adjustable fit and a secure closure for the heavy materials. The vest and skirt overlap in the waist region when worn to provide continuous vertical and all-around protection to the body while allowing freedom of movement to the wearer. However, this vest, due to its construction and weight, is much too heavy and uncomfortable to be suitable for normal applications. 
     Other documents describing the closest subject matter provide for a number of more or less complicated features that fail to solve the problem in an efficient and economical way. None of these patents suggest the novel features of the present invention. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide protective apparel that may comprise a textile fabric of a defined material. Defined material may include textile clothing fiber embedded with microfilaments of a metal forming a Farady cage around a wearer that may block electromagnetic field and/or radio frequency waves. Textile fabric may sheath electromagnetic and/or radio frequencies of wearer stimulating body internal communication. In various embodiments, protective apparel may be one of at least a hat, a trench coat, a pant, a shirt, a thermal innerwear, or a hoodie. Further, in various embodiments, protective apparel may be one of at least a plurality of sizes and a plurality of colors. Metal may be one of at least a designed mu-metal, copper, gold, or such conductive metal or alloy. Protective apparel is antimicrobial. In various embodiments, textile clothing fiber may correspond to one or more of thermoplastic polymers, cotton, and wool. Thermoplastic polymers may correspond to polyethylene. 
     Further objects of the invention will be brought out in the following part of the specification, wherein detailed description is for the purpose of fully disclosing the invention without placing any limitations thereon. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       With the above and other related objects in view, the invention consists in the details of construction and combination of parts as will be more fully understood from the following description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  represents protective apparel  12  of present invention in a first use case  10 , according to an embodiment described herein. 
         FIGS. 2 to 2B  demonstrate various use cases for protective apparel  12 , according to various embodiments described herein. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring now to the drawings,  FIGS. 1-2B , where the present invention is generally referred to with numeral  12 , it can be observed that protective apparel, in accordance with one embodiment, is provided that includes various components, a described hereinafter. 
       FIG. 1  represents protective apparel  12  of present invention in a first use case  10 , according to an embodiment described herein. Specifically, there are shown a front side  12 A and a back side  12 B of protective apparel  12 , for example a hoodie jacket. Protective apparel  12  may be made up from a textile fabric of a defined material. Defined material may be thermoplastic polymers embedded with microfilaments of a metal, as depicted in microscopic views  14 A and  14 B. 
     For shielding body of a wearer against the EMF/RF radiation, textile fabric is woven by orthogonally crossing single warp threads and weft threads, as illustrated in microscopic view  14 A, in accordance with an embodiment. Such warp threads and weft threads may be made up of spun mixed yarn thermoplastic polymers, such as polyethylene embedded with microfilaments of a metal. In accordance with another embodiment, as illustrated in microscopic view  14 B, there is shown an alternating warp and weft pattern. Such pattern may include double fibers, for example, two weft threads crossing two warp threads. Therefore, textile fabric has quality of fabrics for usual clothing for casual and/or formal wear. In some example, fiber of textile fabric may include polyethylene embedded with microfilaments of copper, gold, or a mu-metal. In other examples though, fiber of textile fabric may include cotton embedded with microfilaments of steel or other such alloy. Thus, such textile fabric when worn by wearer as protective apparel  12  forms a Farady cage around wearer. Thus, protective apparel  12  blocks electromagnetic and/or radio frequency field waves. 
     In certain embodiments, textile fabric sheaths wearer from electromagnetic and/or radio frequencies against stimulating body internal communication. For example, wearer may have an implanted pacemaker that is typically susceptible to EMF/RF radiation interference. In such cases, EMF/RF radiation interference may stimulate pacemakers that they start malfunctioning that may be very dangerous for wearer. Hence, usage of protective apparel  12  becomes utmost important for such wearers. In various examples, protective apparel  12  may be one of at least a hat, a trench coat, a pant, a shirt, a thermal innerwear, or a hoodie. Further, protective apparel  12  may be one of at least a plurality of sizes and a plurality of colors, as depicted in  FIGS. 2 to 2B . 
     Based on type of base clothing fiber, such as cotton or polyethylene, and fineness (and type as well) of metal microfilaments, effective shielding against excessive or low EMF/RF radiation may be obtained in protective apparel  12 . At the same time, it may be ensured that textile fabric is not too stiff to be comfortable worn. For a suitable and effective the shielding effect, it may be required that metal microfilaments are embedded in base clothing fiber in such a manner that a substantial part of metal microfilaments is exposed on the exterior surface of the textile fabric and hence protective apparel  12 . Further, sufficient mutual electrical contact of fibers may be achieved in warp and weft threads at crossings to form a Faraday cage. Typically, an average number of the metal microfilaments in the fiber cross-section may be 10 to 15. 
     As an exemplary embodiment, measurements of such fiber may vary between 5 to 10 micrometers in diameter. Distribution of warp and weft threads in textile fabric and the composition of warp and weft threads may be substantially the same. In certain examples, count of, for example thermoplastic polymers embedded with microfilaments of a metal, in warp and weft direction may be 17 to 20 threads per cm. Fineness of fiber in textile fabric may be in the range of 35 to 45 tex, such that a shielding of 20 to 40 dB against EMF/RF radiation at a frequency of 10 GHz may be established by textile fabric. 
     Different types of base clothing fibers may offer different advantages. For example, cotton as base clothing fibers may be capable of absorbing moisture and thus, may improve the electrical conductibility with increasing moisture absorption. However, such cotton based textile fabric may be cumbersome to maintain. On the other hand, polyethylene as base clothing fibers may be very light-weight and easy to maintain but absorption capability may be less. Thus, in different working environments, preference for base clothing fibers may be different. For example, in temperature-controlled environments, for example hospitals, polyethylene as base clothing fiber may be preferred. On the other hand, in warehouses, cotton as base clothing fiber may be preferred. However, in all such embodiments, it may be ensured that textile fabric is anti-microbial to prevent against any type of infection. 
       FIGS. 2 to 2B  demonstrate various use cases for protective apparel  12 , according to various embodiments described herein. For example, in one use case, protective apparel  12  is demonstrated in  FIG. 2  as a bucket style hat. In another use case, protective apparel  12  is demonstrated in  FIG. 2A  as a warm trench coat. In yet another use case, protective apparel  12  is demonstrated in  FIG. 2B  as underwear thermals. In each of first, second, and third use cases, protective apparel  12  is of a different size and may be of a different color. Stiffness may also be different, for example bucket style hat demonstrated in  FIG. 2  may be stiffer as compared to warm trench coat demonstrated in  FIG. 2A  and underwear thermals demonstrated in  FIG. 2B . Further, in each of first, second, and third use cases, protective apparel  12  may be comprising different base textile fibers according to the usage and application area. For example, bucket style hat demonstrated in  FIG. 2  may be comprising polyethylene as base textile fibers, warm trench coat demonstrated in  FIG. 2A  may be comprising wool as base textile fibers, and underwear thermals demonstrated in  FIG. 2B  may be comprising cotton as base textile fibers. 
     The foregoing description conveys the best understanding of the objectives and advantages of the present invention. Different embodiments may be made of the inventive concept of this invention. It is to be understood that all matter disclosed herein is to be interpreted merely as illustrative, and not in a limiting sense.