CLOTHING AND CLOTH STRUCTURE THEREOF

A piece of clothing and a cloth structure thereof are provides. The cloth structure is used for making the piece of clothing and the piece of clothing is adapted to be worn by an object for keeping the object warm. The cloth structure comprises a surface layer, a thermal storage layer, and a thermal isolation layer. The thermal storage layer is configured to absorb heat radiated from the object when the piece of clothing is worn by the object. The thermal isolation layer is between the surface layer and the thermal storage layer and faces the thermal storage layer. The thermal isolation layer is configured to isolate heat from radiating out the thermal isolation layer.

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Description
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a piece of clothing and a clothe structure thereof. More specifically, the present invention relates to a piece of clothing and a cloth structure for making the piece of clothing. When the piece of clothing is worn by an object, the cloth structure is able to keep the object warm.

2. Descriptions of the Related Art

A feature of nearly all human societies is the wearing of garments, a category encompassing a wide variety of materials that cover the body. One of the primary purposes of garments is to keep the wearer warm, which is especially important in cold climates. In some specific activities under the very cold climates, such as mountaineering or polar exploration, keeping the wearer warm is a critical requirement of garments. The garments with the formidable ability of keeping warm may be called the “cold protection garments.”

To achieve the requirement of keeping warm, a person usually wears several pieces of garments on himself or herself at the same time when the weather is cold, which usually makes that person feel awkward. To prevent from being awkwardness, many people wear sweaters or garments made of warm materials, such as wool, cashmere, and furs. However, garments made of these warm materials are usually expensive. Furthermore, making garments by furs is against our environment.

In summary, a garment that can keep a person warm and that is also affordable to users and friendly to our environment is highly demanded.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the present invention is to provide a piece of clothing and a cloth structure thereof. The cloth structure is used for making the piece of clothing and the piece of clothing is adapted to be worn by an object. The cloth structure comprises a surface layer, a thermal storage layer, and a thermal isolation layer. The thermal storage layer is configured to absorb heat radiated from the object when the piece of clothing is worn by the object. The thermal isolation layer is between the surface layer and the thermal storage layer and faces the thermal storage layer. The thermal isolation layer is configured to isolate heat from radiating out the thermal isolation layer.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a cloth structure for making a piece of clothing being adapted to be worn by an object. In addition to the aforementioned three layers, the cloth structure further comprises a heat generating layer, which is between the thermal isolation layer and the thermal storage layer and is configured for generating an amount of heat.

In summary, the present invention provides the cloth structure for making a piece of clothing. The piece of clothing may effectively prevent heat losing from a person who wears it and further generate an amount of heat to keep a warm temperature for the person. Hence, the present invention may effectively overcome the defects of the conventional technique.

The detailed technology and preferred embodiments implemented for the present invention are described in the following paragraphs accompanying the appended drawings for people skilled in this field to well appreciate the features of the claimed invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a garment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a cloth structure for making the garment of a first embodiment of the present invention in cross-section;

FIG. 3 illustrates a cloth structure for making the garment of a second embodiment of the present invention in cross-section; and

FIG. 4 illustrates the connection relationship between a heat generating layer, a thermal controller, and a battery in the second embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention provides a piece of clothing and a cloth structure thereof. The cloth structure is used for making the piece of clothing. The piece of clothing is adapted to be worn by an object to keep a warm temperature for the object. In the following embodiments, the piece of clothing may be a garment and the object may be a person who may wear the garment to prevent heat losing. Furthermore, the garment can generate an amount of heat to keep a warm temperature for the person. It should be noted that in other embodiments the piece of clothing may be gloves, socks, shoes, sleeping bags, etc, which may be easily understood by people skilled in the art based on the disclosures and suggestions of the present invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a garment 1 of the present invention, which is adapted to be worn by the person. The garment 1 is made of a cloth structure which comprises a surface layer 101 and a plurality clothing layers (not shown). The functions and corresponding relations of the surface layer 101 and the piece of clothing layers will be interpreted in the following paragraphs. In is noted that in other embodiment, the garment may be worn by other objects, such as a pet.

A first embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 2, which is a cross-sectional view of the cloth structure for making the garment 1. In this embodiment, the cloth structure comprises the surface layer 101 and two clothing layers (i.e. a thermal isolation layer 103 and a thermal storage layer 105 as shown in FIG. 2). The surface layer 101 may be made from any windproof, waterproof or insulated material.

The thermal isolation layer 103 is between the surface layer 101 and the thermal storage layer 105. The thermal isolation layer 103 has a surface facing to the thermal storage layer 105, more specifically, it is right beneath, attached or laminated the surface layer 101. The thermal isolation layer 103 is made with an Al2O3 material, an TiO2 material or a combination thereof to reflect heat off the thermal isolation layer 103. In detail, the thermal isolation layer 103 is made with any thermal reflection material that can make heat be reflected off the thermal isolation layer 103, where the heat is radiated from the person's body. That is to say, the thermal isolation layer 103 reflects heat inward to reduce the leakage of thermal energy. In addition, the thermal isolation layer 103 may have a thickness substantially equal to 20 μm. It also should be noted that, in this embodiment, the thermal isolation layer 103 has the thickness of 20 μm, but it may have other thicknesses in other embodiment. In other words, the thickness of the thermal isolation layer 103 does not limit the present invention. Furthermore, in other embodiments, the thermal isolation layer 103 may be made of air, instead of the thermal reflection material

When the garment 1 is worn by the person, the thermal storage layer 105 is the layer that is closest to the person's body. The thermal storage layer 105 may have a thickness substantially equal to 20 μm, and may be made from a far infra-red emission material or a phase change material (PCM). For example, the far infra-red emission material can be titanium, bamboo charcoal, or a combination thereof. It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the thermal storage layer 105 has the thickness substantially equal to 20 μm, but it may have other thicknesses in other embodiment. In other words, the thickness of the thermal storage layer 105 does not limit the present invention.

In practice, the thermal storage layer 105 made from the far infra-red emission material can absorb the heat radiated from the person's body when the garment 1 is worn by the person. Specifically, the heat radiated from the body of the person is thermal energy, whose wavelength is several micrometers and could be absorbed by the far infra-red emission material. Moreover, after absorbing the thermal energy, the far infra-red emission material generates the energy of longer wavelength around 10 micrometers, which can penetrate the human body to provide the warmness for the person. People skilled in this field may have known how the far infra-red emission material generates the energy of longer wavelength. Thus, no further details are given.

Similarly, the thermal storage layer 105 also absorbs the heat reflected from the thermal isolation layer 103. In particular, the thermal storage layer 105 may absorb the heat radiated from the person's body or reflected from the thermal isolation layer 103, and radiate the absorbed heat in the way of emitting the “far-infra-red.” As a result, the thermal storage layer 105 helps the thermal isolation layer 103 to keep the heat inside the garment to reduce the heat losing from the portions of the garment that are not covered by the thermal isolation layer 103. In addition, the thermal isolation layer 103 also helps the thermal storage layer 105 to reabsorb the heat dispersed from the thermal storage layer 105 by reflecting the heat.

A second embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 3, which is another cross-sectional view of the cloth structure for making the garment 1. As same as the first embodiment, the cloth structure also comprises the surface layer 101, the thermal isolation layer 103, and the thermal storage layer 105 in the second embodiment. Similarly, when the garment 1 is worn by the person, the thermal storage layer 105 is the layer that is closest to the person.

In the second embodiment, the garment 1 further comprises a heat generating layer 107 between the thermal isolation layer 103 and the thermal storage layer 105. The heat generating layer 107 may be made with stainless steel fiber, carbon fabrics, metal film or a combination thereof, and is configured to generate an amount of heat. The thermal storage layer 105 further absorbs the amount of heat generated by the heat generating layer, and the thermal isolation layer 103 further reflect the amount of heat, which is generated by the heat generating layer, off the thermal isolation layer 103.

In other words, the thermal storage layer 105 can not only absorb the heat from the person's body, but also absorb the heat generated by the heat generating layer 107. Further, the thermal storage layer 105 may radiate the absorbed heat in the way of emitting the “far-infra-red.” The thermal isolation layer 103 can not only reflect the heat radiated from the person's body, but also reflect the heat generated by the heat generating layer 107 so that the garment 1 can keep a warm temperature for the person.

Please refer to FIG. 4 together. The garment 1 further comprises a controller 13 and a battery 15, where the battery 15 is electrically connected to the controller 13 and two terminals of the heat generating layer 107. The controller 13 is capable of measuring a temperature 102 inside the garment 1 periodically and enabling the battery 15 to supply a voltage 104 to the heat generating layer according to the temperature 102. Moreover, the controller 13 can directly enable the battery 15 to supply the voltage 104 with a controlling duty cycle, such as 50% in a period, without measuring the temperature 102 inside the garment 1. The battery 15 supplies the voltage 104 to the heat generating layer 107 via the two ends of the heat generating layer 107. Thus, the heat generating layer 107 generates the amount of heat according to the voltage 104.

There are many scenarios. For example, when the temperature 102 inside the garment 1 measured by the controller 13 is below 20° C., the battery 15 will be enabled to supply a 5V voltage to the two terminals of the heat generating layer 107; when the temperature 102 exceeds 30° C., the battery 15 will stop to supply the 5V voltage. For another example, the controller 13 enables the battery 15 to supply the 5V voltage for 30 minutes per hour to generate the amount of heat when the temperature 102 is below 20° C. Still another example, the controller 13 can directly enables the battery 15 to supply the 5V voltage for 30 minutes per hour without measuring the temperature 102. Thus, the heat generating layer 107 can be seemed as a resistor with a current flow through it for generating the amount of heat.

In summary, the cloth structure of the present invention can be used for making a piece of clothing being adapted to be worn by an object (e.g. a person). Thanks to the advantage of combing the thermal isolation layer 103 and the thermal storage layer 105, the heat losing from the person's body can be effectively kept inside the piece of clothing. Moreover, the heat generating layer 107 can further provide the additional heat to make the temperature inside the garment 1 warmer. Hence, the present invention can effectively prevent heat losing from the garment 1 when a person wears the garment 1 and further keep a warm temperature for the person, and then it may successfully overcome the defects of the conventional technique.

The above disclosure is related to the detailed technical contents and inventive features thereof. People skilled in this field may proceed with a variety of modifications and replacements based on the disclosures and suggestions of the invention as described without departing from the characteristics thereof. Nevertheless, although such modifications and replacements are not fully disclosed in the above descriptions, they have substantially been covered in the following claims as appended.

Claims

1. A cloth structure for making a piece of clothing being adapted to be worn by an object, comprising:

a surface layer;
a thermal storage layer, being configured to absorb heat radiated from the object when the piece of clothing is worn by the object; and
a thermal isolation layer, between the surface layer and the thermal storage layer, facing the thermal storage layer, and being configured to isolate heat from radiating out the thermal isolation layer.

2. The cloth structure as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a heat generating layer between the thermal isolation layer and the thermal storage layer for generating an amount of heat.

3. The cloth structure as claimed in claim 2, wherein the heat generating layer is made with stainless steel fiber, carbon fabrics, metal film or a combination thereof.

4. The cloth structure as claimed in claim 2, wherein the thermal storage layer further absorbs the amount of heat generated by the heat generating layer.

5. The cloth structure as claimed in claim 2, wherein the thermal isolation layer is made with an Al2O3 material, an TiO2 material or a combination thereof to reflect heat off the thermal isolation layer.

6. The cloth structure as claimed in claim 5, wherein the thermal isolation layer further reflect the amount of heat, generated by the heat generating layer, off the thermal isolation layer.

7. The cloth structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thermal isolation layer has a thickness substantially equal to 20 μm.

8. The cloth structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thermal isolation layer is formed of air.

9. The cloth structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thermal storage layer is made from a far infra-red emission material.

10. The cloth structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thermal storage layer is made from a phase change material (PCM).

11. The cloth structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thermal storage layer has a thickness substantially equal to 20 μm.

12. A piece of clothing having the cloth structure as claimed in claim 1.

13. A piece of clothing having the cloth structure as claimed in claim 2.

14. The piece of clothing as claimed in claim 13, further comprising:

a battery, being configured to supply a voltage; and
a controller, electrically connected to the battery, being configured to enable the battery to supply the voltage,
wherein the heat generating layer has at least one terminal electrically connected to the battery, so as to generate the amount of heat according to the voltage.
Patent History
Publication number: 20110041230
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 21, 2009
Publication Date: Feb 24, 2011
Applicants: TEX-RAY INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD. (Taipei), KING'S METAL FIBER TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. (Taipei), GUANGZHOU CHONGYU ENGINEERING MATERIALS SCIENTIFIC CO., LTD. (Guangzhou)
Inventors: Hong Hsu Huang (Taipei), Jen-Yi Chiu (Taipei County), Jai-Cheng Liu (Taipei County)
Application Number: 12/545,137
Classifications
Current U.S. Class: Body Garments (2/69); Woven Fabric (i.e., Woven Strand Or Strip Material) (442/181)
International Classification: A41D 1/00 (20060101); D03D 25/00 (20060101);