Two-piece protective suit for hazardous environments
A two-piece protective suit for use in hazardous environments includes a coat and trousers each of which includes an outer garment and a removable liner, the outer garment including an outer shell made of a flame protective material and an inner layer of a material which is moisture resistant and resistant to the passage of hazardous chemical and/or biological agents and liquids, the coat including a bottom closure mechanism to tighten the bottom of the coat towards the waist of a wearer and inhibit hazardous material entry in the coat from below, left and right cuff closure mechanisms to tighten the left and right cuffs towards the left and right arms of a wearer and inhibit hazardous material entry into the left and right sleeves, and a hood and neck tab which are deployable over the head and neck of a wearer and over a face mask worn by the wearer to protect the head and neck of a wear from the hazardous materials and inhibit entry into the coat through its neck opening.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/600,833, filed Aug. 12, 2004.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to protective clothing for use in hazardous environments, and in particular to protective suits for use in environments which not only may contain smoke, soot and heat from a fire but also harmful chemical and/or biological agents.
2. The Prior Art
Protective clothing for use by first responders (EMS, fire and rescue personnel, hazmat and public health personnel, etc.) is commonly available. In order to meet the requirements of various mandated standards, such clothing is commonly in the form of coordinated coats and trousers which include a layer of material resistant to flames and a layer of breathable moisture barrier material to help keep the wearer dry. They also may contain a liner of a thermal material to protect the wearer from the heat of a fire. Such suits are easy to put on as the wearer can don the trousers first (possibly by stepping into them as the wearer steps into boots) and then put on the accompanying coat. However, such known two-piece suits have not been tailored to prevent ingress of environmental air together with particles (smoke and soot) or vapors (carbon monoxide, etc.) which may be contained therein, because exposure of a wearer's skin to these materials has not been considered hazardous (the wearer will be breathing using a face mask of an SCBA air supply apparatus). Thus, for example, although the coat will overlap the top of the trousers, a gap will be present therebetween through which contaminated air can pass upwardly into the interior of the coat.
One-piece protective suits for use by workers dealing with radioactive or hazardous chemical or biological materials are known, these suits being made of impermeable materials and designed to extend around the feet (and footwear), torso, arms and head of a wearer so as to completely insulate the wear from the surrounding environment. However, such suits, if used in a hot environment near a fire, will quickly become very hot inside, and they are exceeding cumbersome to put on. One-piece suits of this type are not considered acceptable for use by people such as first responders who typically must don protective clothing in great haste and who may need to function in high temperature environments, i.e., near fires.
A need exists for a two-piece protective suit which can be donned in the same way that protective suits can be donned currently but which is constructed to protect the wearer from hazardous environmental materials such as airborne smoke, soot, hazardous chemical and biological agents, as well as hazardous liquids, for a period of time sufficient to complete desired activities such as fire fighting and/or rescue operations. We have invented such a protective suit.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAccordingly to this invention, a two-piece protective suit includes a coat and trousers, each of which includes an outer garment provided by an outer shell of flame-resistant material and an inner barrier layer lacated therein, the inner barrier layer being made of a breathable material that resists passage of moisture, hazardous chemical and/or biological agents, and liquids. The coat includes a bottom closure mechanism which, after the coat has been donned, can be manually activated to tighten the coat bottom toward the torso of a wearer and against the waist collar of the trousers of the suit to thereby inhibit entry of hazardous environmental materials upwardly into the coat.
The coat also includes a hood and throat tab which can be manually deployed over the head and neck of a wearer and around a face mask of an SCBA apparatus worn by the wearer to thereby inhibit hazardous environmental materials from contacting the head and neck of a wearer or from passing downwardly into the closed coat through its neck opening.
The coat of the two-piece protective suit also includes cuff closure means at the ends of its sleeves which can be manually activated to tighten the cuffs around the wearer's arm and onto gloves worn by the wearer to thereby inhibit entry of hazardous environmental materials upwardly into the sleeves.
The trousers of the two-piece protective suit includes cuff closure means at the bottoms of its legs which can be manually activated to tighten the leg bottoms towards the wearer's legs and against boots worn by the wearer to thereby inhibit hazardous environmental materials entering upwardly into the legs of the trousers.
In a preferred embodiment, each of the coat and the trousers can include a removable inner liner of a thermal material within the outer garment thereof. In one embodiment the lower portions of the legs of the removable inner liner of the trousers can be made of the same material as that of the inner barrier layer of the outer garment, and can include boot straps for placement inside of boots to facilitate donning of the trousers.
The invention will be better understood by reference to the attached drawings, taken in conjunction with the following discussion.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A preferred embodiment of a two-piece protective suit according to this invention is shown in
The coat, generally labeled 10 in
Referring first to the removable liner 200, which is made of a layer of thermal material connected to a layer of moisture-resistant material by quilt stitching, it defines a back panel 201 (see
Turning now to the outer shell 30 (see
The back panel 40, which is depicted in pattern form in
The left front panel 50, which is depicted in pattern form in
The right front panel 70 (same pattern as shown in
The left front panel 50 also includes an outer flap 58 which is attached by stitching 58a to the left front panel near side edge 53 and a strip 59 of hook fasteners. The right front panel 70 also include an outer flap 77 which is attached by stitching 77a to the right front panel near side edge 73 and a strip 78 of loop fasteners. The strip 78 of loop fasteners can engage the strip 59 of hook fasteners to overlay the zipper halves 76 and 55. The outer flap 58 includes a free portion 58b which can be folded into a U-shaped cross section (see
Due to the configuration of the patterns used to form panels 40, 50 and 70 and sleeves 90 and 100, the coat 10 will be in a relaxed (unbiased) state when the sleeves 80 and 90 are extended horizontally forwardly, unlike conventional coats wherein the relaxed state is when its sleeves are hanging downwardly.
As can be understood from
The left pouch 60 is attached to the left front panel 50 by stitching 61, 62 and 63 along its respective upper, lower and right sides, leaving its left side open to provide a pocket between the left pouch and the left front panel 50. The right pouch 80 is likewise attached to the right front panel 70 by stitching 81, 82 and 83 along its respective upper, lower and left sides, thus leaving its right side open to provide a pocket between the right pouch and the right front panel 70. Attached by an anchor 205 to the left front panel at the lower right corner of the pocket behind left pouch 60 is a releasable friction clamp 204 (see FIGS. 9 and 10). One end of the cord 203 extends from channel 202 in the strip 201 behind the pouch 60 through a hold in the left front panel (and the lower reflective strip R2) into the pocket behind the left pouch 60 and through the releasable friction clamp 204. Attached by an anchor 207 to the right front panel at the lower left corner of the pocket behind the right pouch 80 is a releasable friction clamp 206. The other end of the cord 203 extends from channel 202 in the strip 201 behind the pouch 80 through a hole in the right front panel 70 (and the lower reflective strip R2) into the pocket behind the right pouch 80 and through the releasable friction clamp 206. Pulling on the ends of the cord 203 will cause the channel 202 to tighten against the inner barrier layer 130 and press it inwardly toward the wearer of the coat (and toward a waist collar of trousers worn by the wearer as shown in
As seen in
The removable liner 500 includes a waist band 501 having spaced snap studs 502 mounted thereon, a hip portion 503, a left leg 504 and a right leg 505. Two snap fastener studs 506 are mounted at the bottoms of the legs 504 and 505 (only the snap fastener studs at the bottom of the left leg 504 are shown in
As seen in
Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail modifications therein can be made and still fall within the scope of the appended claims. For example, the inner barrier layer can be laminated to the outer shell instead of connected thereto by stitching if desired. The coat and trousers of the inventive two-piece suit need not include the respective removable liner to be usable, depending on the operations the wearer intends to be conduct.
Claims
1. A protective suit for use in environments which may contain hazardous chemical and or biological agents, said protective suit including a coat and trousers,
- said trousers including an outer garment comprised of an outer shell and an inner barrier layer, said outer shell defining a waist portion, a hip portion, left and right leg portions, and a waist collar which extends upwardly from said waist portion, and
- said coat including an outer garment comprised of an outer shell and an attached inner barrier layer, said outer shell including a back panel, a left front panel, a right front panel, a left sleeve, a right sleeve, and a coat collar, said outer garment including a manually-operable bottom closure mechanism for tightening said inner barrier layer towards the torso of a wearer and against the waist collar of said trousers when both said coat and said trousers are worn by a wearer so as to inhibit contaminated environmental air or liquids from entering the closed coat.
2. A protective suit according to claim 1, wherein said bottom closure mechanism includes a first releasable friction clamp attached to said left front panel, a second releasable friction clamp attached to said right front panel, and a first stretch cord which extends from said first releasable friction clamp, between said outer shell and said inner barrier layer and through said second releasable friction clamp.
3. A protective suit according to claim 2, including a left pouch attached to said left front panel to define a left pocket between said left pouch and said left front panel, and a right pouch attached to said right front panel to define a right pocket between said right pouch and said right front panel, and wherein said first releasable friction clamp is located in said left pocket and said second releasable friction clamp is located in said right pocket.
4. A protective suit according to claim 3, including a strip attached to said bottom edge of said outer shell which is located between said outer shell and said inner barrier layer and extends from behind said left pouch to behind said right pouch, said strip defining a channel through which said stretch cord extends.
5. A protective suit according to claim 1, wherein said coat collar includes a center panel, a front flap attached to periphery of said center panel, and a rear flap attached to the periphery of said center panel so as to provide a hood storage chamber therebetween, and a hood with throat tab located in said hood storage chamber, said hood and throat tab being deployable from said hood storage chamber to cover the head and neck of a wearer and the face mask of an air supply apparatus worn by the wearer and inhibit exposure to hazardous environmental air or liquids.
6. A protective suit according to claim 5, wherein a front edge of the hood defines a channel, wherein third and fourth releasable friction elements are attached to said hood on opposite sides thereof, and wherein a second stretch cord extends through said hood channel and said third and fourth releasable friction clamps so that pulling ends of said second stretch cord will cause the front edge of said hood to tighten toward the forehead of the wearer and against a face mask worn by the wearer.
7. A protective suit according to claim 6, wherein said throat tab is connected to a side of said hood and includes a first releasable attachment means at a free end thereof, said throat tab being positionable between and against a face mask worn by the wear and the front left and right panels of the outer shell, and the first releasable attachment means being releasably attached to a second releasable attachment means on a back side of the hood.
8. A protective suit according to claim 1, including a left cuff closure member attached to an end of the left sleeve of the coat outer shell, said left cuff closure member including a first tubular member made of the same material as said inner barrier layer and a first belt which can tighten said first tubular element towards a left arm of a wearer or a wristlet of a left sleeve of a removable liner mounted within the outer garment and thereby inhibit entry of contaminated air or liquids into the left sleeve.
9. A protective suit according to claims 8, wherein said first tubular member defines a first channel therearound, wherein said first belt extends through said first channel, and including a first buckle, one end of said first belt being fixedly attached to said first buckle and a second end adjustably extending through said first buckle and gripped thereby.
10. A protective suit according to claim 9, including a right cuff closure member attached to an end of the right sleeve of the coat outer shell, said right cuff closure member including a second tubular member and a second belt which can tighten the second tubular member towards a right arm of a wearer or a wristlet of a right sleeve of a removable liner mounted within the outer garment and inhibit entry of contaminated air or liquids into the right sleeve..
11. A protective suit according to claim 10, wherein said second tubular member defines second channel therearound, wherein said second belt extends through said second channel, and including a second buckle, one end of said second belt being fixedly attached to said second buckle and a second end extending through and being adjustably gripped by said second buckle.
12. A protective suit according to claim 1, wherein said back panel of said coat defines an upper edge and a bottom edge, wherein said left front panel defines an upper edge, a side edge and a bottom edge, and said right front panel defines an upper edge, a side edge and a bottom edge, and wherein said inner barrier layer is sewn to the upper edges of said back, left front and right front panels the side edges of said left and right front panels and the bottom edges of said left and right front panels.
13. A protective suit according to claim 12, wherein said inner barrier layer is releasably attached to the bottom edge of said back panel.
14. A protective suit according to claim 12, wherein said left sleeve defines a cuff end and said right sleeve defines a cuff end, and wherein said inner barrier layer is sewn to said left and right sleeves at the cuff ends thereof.
15. A protective suit according to claim 1, including a removable coat liner mounted within said outer garment of said coat, said removable coat liner being made of a heat protective material.
16. A protective suit according to claim 1, wherein the left leg of the outer shell of said trousers includes a bottom closure means and the right leg of the outer shell of said trousers includes a bottom closure means.
17. A protective suit according to claim 16, including a removable liner for the trousers mounted within said outer garment of said trousers, said removable trouser liner being made of a heat protective material.
18. A protective suit according to claim 17, wherein said removable liner for the trousers includes legs having bottom portions made of the same material as is used for said inner barrier layer, and said bottom portions include straps for placement within boots to be worn by the wearer.
19. A protective coat for a two-piece hazardous material-protective suit, said coat including an outer shell made of a flame-resistant material and an inner layer made of a material which is resistant to moisture, chemical agents and biological agents, said outer shell including a back panel, a left front panel, a right front panel, a left sleeve and a right sleeve, a bottom closure mechanism for manually tightening a bottom of the coat towards the torso of a wearer, and cuff closure mechanisms at the ends of the respective left and right sleeves for inhibiting hazardous material entry into the respective left and right sleeves.
20. Trousers for a two-piece hazardous material-protective suit, said trousers including an outer garment and an inner layer, said outer garment including an outer shell made of a flame-resistant material and said inner layer made of a material resistant to moisture, chemical agents and biological agents, said outer shell including a waist portion, a hip portion, a left leg, and a right leg, and including cuff closure mechanisms at the bottoms of the respective left and right legs for inhibiting airborne and liquid hazardous material entry into the left and right legs.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 9, 2005
Publication Date: Jan 25, 2007
Inventors: Julie Snedeker (Northwood, NH), Susan Watkins (Ithaca, NY), Mark Mordecai (Hampton, NH), Mike Towle (Pittsfield, NH), Patrick Bousquet (Pittsfield, NH)
Application Number: 11/199,375
International Classification: A41D 13/12 (20060101);