MATERIALS AND METHODS OF PRODUCING MATERIALS FOR ENHANCING TACTILE PERCEPTION

Abstract

Materials and methods for producing materials to enhance tactile perception, and articles produced from or incorporating such a material. The materials include a substrate having first and second surfaces and surface patterns of texture on the surfaces. The surface patterns include sensitivity pegs having first portions that project from the first surface and second portions that project from the second surface. The first and second portions of the sensitivity peg are axially aligned and extend in opposite directions from each other to enhance tactile perception at the second surface.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/56,302, filed Dec. 8, 2017, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to materials adapted to directly or indirectly contact the skin of a user and are capable of enhancing tactile perception of the skin, for example, of the hand. The invention particularly relates to materials with unique textures derived from geometrically designed micro-structures that enhance tactile perception of the skin. Tactile perception can be further enhanced by aligning the micro-structures to unique reflexology markers of a user's skin.

Reflexology markers identify areas of the human body connected through the nervous system to other parts of human body. These areas also contain the greatest density of mechanoreceptors, which are sensory receptors that respond to mechanical pressure and distortion that, in turn, enable the skin to detect touch.

The human hand is critical for a variety of tasks and activities of daily living as well as activities related to occupational tasks, athletics, recreation, hobbies, etc. The primary purpose of gloves is to provide hand protection and gripping ability. The protective benefit of gloves in many instances inhibits the tactile perception necessary to achieve acceptable performance levels.

In view of the above, it can be appreciated that there is an ongoing desire to identify materials and/or methods of producing materials that are capable of providing a level of protection while also enhancing tactile perception, particular but not limited to the human hand. Further, there is a need for materials that can be, for example, made into articles or applied to articles, including apparel or equipment, as a more effective solution to further enhance tactile perception.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides materials and methods for producing materials that enhance tactile perception, and to articles produced from or incorporating such a material.

According to one aspect of the invention, a material is provided that includes a substrate having first and second surfaces, and first and second surface patterns of texture on the first and second surfaces, respectively. The first and second surface patterns comprise sensitivity pegs having first portions that project from the first surface and second portions that project from the second surface. The first and second portions of the sensitivity peg are axially aligned and extend in opposite directions from each other to enhance tactile perception at the second surface.

According to another aspect of the invention, a method of producing a material includes providing a substrate having first and second surfaces, and using an additive or subtractive process on the first and second surfaces to produce first and second surface patterns of texture on the first and second surfaces, respectively. The first and second surface patterns comprise sensitivity pegs having first portions that project from the first surface and second portions that project from the second surface. The first and second portions of the sensitivity peg are axially aligned and extend in opposite directions from each other to enhance tactile perception at the second surface.

According to another aspect of the invention, a method of producing a glove is provided that includes the use of a three-dimensional (3D) scanner to scan the hand of an individual, and then from the output of the scan create a precise personalized glove for the hand that incorporates surface patterns of texture on interior and exterior surfaces of the glove. The surface patterns comprise sensitivity pegs that correspond to mapping of reflexology markers on the hand. Each sensitivity peg has exterior and interior portions that project from the exterior and interior surfaces, respectively, of the glove. The exterior and interior portions of each sensitivity peg are axially aligned and extend in opposite directions from each other to enhance tactile perception at the interior surface. The precise personalized glove incorporating the sensitivity pegs significantly enhances tactile perception.

Other aspects and advantages of this invention will be appreciated from the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an image of a material that incorporates sensitivity pegs in accordance with a nonlimiting embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an image of a glove that includes a material of the type shown in FIG. 1, wherein the glove incorporates sensitivity pegs at reflexology markers appropriate for a golfer in accordance with a nonlimiting embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 schematically represents a portion of a material in which a sensitivity peg has been incorporated into a single-layer substrate in accordance with a nonlimiting embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 schematically represents a portion of a material in which a sensitivity peg has been incorporated into a two-layer substrate in accordance with a nonlimiting embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 schematically represents a portion of a material in which a sensitivity peg has been incorporated into a three-layer substrate in accordance with a nonlimiting embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1 through 5 depict nonlimiting embodiments of materials 10 adapted to be directly or indirectly positioned in contact with the skin of a user for the purpose of enhancing tactile perception of the skin. The materials 10 described herein comprise a substrate 12 into which at least one and typically a plurality of sensitivity pegs 14 have been incorporated.

The materials 10 may be manufactured to produce entire articles or applied or otherwise incorporated into articles to define opposite surface regions of the articles. As nonlimiting examples, such articles include equipment and apparel that may be formed of a wide variety of materials, as nonlimiting examples, equipment and apparel fabricated from leather, cotton, polyesters, and various other natural and man-made materials. FIG. 2 depicts a glove 16 that incorporates pieces or sections of the material 10 of FIG. 1 located at fingertip regions of the glove 16. The material 10 preferably defines at least opposite interior and exterior surface regions of the glove 16, such as the glove fingertips as shown in FIG. 2. In this example, the fingertips of a wearer's hand contact interior surface regions of the glove 16 formed by inner surfaces of the material 10, and opposite surfaces of the material 10 are exposed and define exterior surface regions at the fingertips of the glove 16, such that only the thickness of the material 10 separates the user's fingertips from the environment at the exterior of the glove 16. As such, tactile perception at the user's fingertips is transmitted through the thickness of the material 10. The material 10 comprises sensitivity pegs (not labeled) that are located so that the particular embodiment of the glove 16 in FIG. 2 is appropriate for use by a golfer.

As depicted by the nonlimiting examples represented in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5, the substrate 12 may have a single or multiple-layer construction, such as a construction consisting of a single layer 18 (FIG. 3) or a construction consisting of two layers 18 and 20 (FIG. 4) or three layers 18, 20, and 22 (FIG. 5) that may be laminated together and formed of the same material or different materials. Suitable compositions for the substrate 12 include, without limitation, leather, any synthetic fiber including synthetic fibers of high tensile strength for protective gear, aramid fibers, silicone, resins including tough synthetic resin made by polymerizing tetrafluoroethylene, nylon, and conductive materials. In certain embodiments, the substrate 12 may be constructed as a touchscreen sensitive substrate to allow for use of electronic equipment, as nonlimiting examples, touchscreens of tablets and phones. The substrate 12 may be constructed to have a wide range of thicknesses that are capable of transmitting tactile perception to a user's skin. Preferred but nonlimiting examples of suitable thicknesses for the substrate 12 include up to about five millimeters, more typically up to about three millimeters in thickness, for example, from about one millimeter to about three millimeters.

The materials 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 have been subjected to one or more subtractive or additive processes to generate the sensitivity pegs 14 that define a surface pattern with texture on its exterior surface 24 visible in FIGS. 1 and 2, and preferably also on its interior surface. In the particular embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the sensitivity pegs 14 have been created on the surface of the substrate 12 by an additive manufacturing process, in particular, a UV LED (ultraviolet light emitting diode) printing process using a UV LED printer commercially available from Direct Color Systems Inc., and the particular pattern and geometric shape of the pegs 14 was generated using graphical design software commercially available under the name CoreIDRAW from the Corel Corporation. It should be understood that graphical design software can be utilized to create pegs 14 having an unlimited number of different patterns and geometric shapes.

The sensitivity pegs 14 may be described as micro-structures and may have a variety of shapes and formed as a uniform or random pattern on the substrate 12 with any desired spacing between pegs 14. For purposes of promoting tactile perception, the sensitivity pegs 14 preferably protrude at least about 0.25 millimeter from either and preferably both surfaces of the substrate 12 and have an aspect ratio greater than two. More generally, a particularly suitable height for the sensitivity pegs 14 is believed to be up to about 50% of the thickness of the substrate 12. In the nonlimiting example of the substrate 12 of the glove 16 of FIG. 2 formed from leather having a thickness of about 0.8 mm to 3.0 mm, the sensitivity pegs 14 preferably protrude a distance of about 0.25 to 1.5 millimeters. Also, for the purpose of promoting tactile perception, the sensitivity pegs 14 are preferably formed in a pattern in which the pegs 14 are spaced less than five millimeters from each other.

As schematically represented in FIG. 3, a nonlimiting example of a sensitivity peg 14 can be formed by a subtractive process, preferably laser engraving, performed on opposite surfaces 24 and 26 of a substrate 12 consisting of a single layer 18. Alternatively, the sensitivity peg 14 may be formed by an additive process, preferably UV-LED printing by which jetted ink droplets are printed directly onto the surfaces 24 and 26 to form the pegs 14. In either case, portions of the peg 14 protrude from both surfaces 24 and 26 of the substrate 12. In FIG. 3, the top portion of the sensitivity peg 14 extending from the upper surface 24 has a cylindrical shape, which is believed to be a shape particularly effective for tasks requiring light gripping. The bottom portion of the sensitivity peg 14 extending from the lower surface 26 has a conical shape terminating with a point, which is believed to be a shape that promotes enhanced tactile perception. As such, the upper and lower surfaces 24 and 26 would ordinarily be intended as exterior and interior surfaces, respectively, of a garment, such as the glove 16 of FIG. 2, in which case the exterior upper surface 24 serves as a gripping surface and the interior lower surface 26 serves as a tactile surface that contacts the user's hand. Both portions of the sensitivity peg 14 act in concert to enhance tactile perception, whereby sensitivity is transferred through the peg 14 from its upper portion located at the surface 24 to its lower portion located at the surface 26.

FIG. 4 schematically represents a nonlimiting example of a sensitivity peg 14 projecting from opposite surfaces 24 and 26 of a laminated substrate 12 consisting of two layers 18 and 20. The upper and lower portions of the sensitivity peg 14 can be formed from the materials of the layers 18 and 20, respectively, using a subtractive process. An article comprising the two-layer substrate 12 is intended to provide a greater level of protection to the user, yet yield an enhanced level of tactile perception as a result of sensitivity being transferred via the peg 14 from its upper portion to its lower portion through the thickness of the substrate 12.

FIG. 5 schematically represents a nonlimiting example of a sensitivity peg 14 projecting from opposite surfaces 24 and 26 of a laminated substrate 12 consisting of three layers 18, 20, and 22. In this embodiment, the sensitivity peg 14 has been formed on the interior layer 22 of the substrate 12 and its upper and lower portions protrude through perforations formed in the outer layers 18 and 20, respectively. As a nonlimiting example, the portions of the peg 14 may be formed by an additive process that deposits the portions on opposite surfaces of the interior layer 22 through preexisting perforations formed in the outer layers 18 and 20, for example, by a laser engraver. To promote the gripping function of the upper surface 24, the upper portion of the peg 14 is in the form of a jagged “claw” that projects much farther from the upper surface 24 than the distance that the lower portion of the peg 14 projects from the lower surface 26. The integrity of the interior layer 22 maintains desired protection characteristics of the substrate 12. Sensitivity is transmitted via the peg 14 from its upper portion to its lower portion through the thickness of the interior layer 22.

In each case of FIGS. 3 through 5, the upper and lower portions of the sensitivity peg 14 are axially aligned and extend in opposite directions from each other, the conical-shaped lower portion of the peg 14 projecting from the interior surface 26 of the substrate 12 provides tactile perception, for example, as a result of a user's skin contacting the peg 14, and the upper portion of the peg 14 projecting from the outer layer 18 provides or promotes a gripping capability, for example, if the material 10 forms part of a glove 16 as shown in FIG. 2. Though discrete and separated by the substrate 12 or one or more layers thereof, the sensitivity pegs 14 are aligned so as to be able to transmit feel and sensitivity from an object being handled with or otherwise contacted by the upper portion of the peg 14 at the outer surface 24 of the substrate 12 to mechanoreceptors of the skin contacting the lower portion of the peg 14 at the inner surface 26 of the substrate 12.

By forming a plurality of sensitivity pegs 14 on an article, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, the resulting textured surface pattern on a surface contacted by a user's skin (e.g., the lower surfaces 26 of FIGS. 3-5) enhances tactile perception (feel and sensitivity), and the resulting textured surface pattern on a surface opposite the surface contacted by a user's skin (e.g., the upper surfaces 24 of FIGS. 3-5) enhances grip. In the nonlimiting example of the glove 16 of FIG. 2, the material 10 can be selectively located on the glove 16 to allow the sensitivity pegs 14 to align with reflexology markers on the hand to enhance feel and sensitivity. The principles of reflexology may be utilized to identify reflexology markers of the hand and align of the material 10 with the reflexology marker to promote feel and sensitivity and enhance tactile perception of the hand.

Articles incorporating the material 10 can be customized for an individual user. For example, the surface pattern, substrate thickness, and location of the material 10 on an article may be customized based on physiological characteristics of the user and the intended application. As a nonlimiting example, for incorporation into a glove an image of the intended user's hand may be taken to provide a custom fit glove and to align the surface pattern formed by the sensitivity pegs 14 with reflexology markers of the user's hand to enhance tactile perception. As a particular but nonlimiting example, a Go!Scan 50™ scanner commercially available from Creaform Inc., can be used to scan a hand of an intended user to generate a 3D model of the hand. The scan data from the 3D model is then converted to a DXF file that represents a 2D glove pattern. An appropriate substrate material and substrate thickness is selected with design characteristics based on the requirements of the task(s) to be performed by the user with the glove. Additional design specifications include, but are not limited to, the composition, geometric design/shape, and surface pattern of the sensitivity pegs 14. A laser engraver, for example, a 30-Watt model commercially available from Epilog Laser, is then used to generate the desired pattern(s) of pegs 14 in the substrate based on the DXF file representing the 2D glove pattern. The particular size and location of each pattern of pegs 14 formed on the substrate can correspond to the locations of the reflexology markers of the intended user's hand A robotic sewing machine may then be utilized to assemble the substrate and various other components of the glove.

Variations in material properties, for example, without limitation, properties of the substrate 12 and sensitivity pegs 14, may be made to provide better gripping offered by the outer portions of the pegs 14 projecting from the outer surface 24 of the substrate 12, while enhancing feel and sensitivity transmitted from the outer portions of the pegs 14 and through the pegs 14 to the inner portions of the pegs 14 projecting from the inner surface 26 of the substrate 12.

In view of the above, the material 10 can be advantageously utilized in a variety of articles, including but not limited to gloves and equipment used in sports and leisure activities such as golf, football, baseball, soccer, driving, and skiing. Still other nonlimiting applications for the material 10 include articles for occupational safety, hobby and craft, household activities, and therapeutic uses.

Methods of fabricating the material 10 include the above-noted laser engraving, laser cutting, and 3D printing techniques performed on at least one surface of a substrate to generate sensitivity pegs 14 that project from the surface to define a surface pattern on the surface, and preferably are continuous through the substrate to define a complementary surface pattern on the opposite surface of the substrate. Laser engraving is a technique known to be capable of producing micro-structures over a wide range of specifications in a wide variety of materials. Sensitivity peg shapes and surface patterns can be created with appropriate software, saved in a computer file, and sent to the laser used to produce the pegs, offering a knowledge management capability that enables the pegs to be safely and efficiently mass-produced.

The above-noted UV-LED printing technique is a type of 3D printing process also suitable for forming sensitivity pegs 14 that project from at least one and preferably opposite surfaces of a substrate to define surface patterns on the surfaces. UV-LED printing allows for 3D structures to be deposited on a variety of substrate materials. Similar to laser engraving, sensitivity peg shapes and surface patterns can be created with appropriate software, saved in a computer file, and sent to the UV-LED printer as needed.

Other aspects and advantages of this invention will be further appreciated from the nonlimiting embodiments represented in the drawings.

While the invention has been described in terms of specific or particular embodiments, it should be apparent that alternatives could be adopted by one skilled in the art. For example, the material 10 and its components could differ in appearance and construction from the embodiments described herein and shown in the drawings, functions of certain components of the material 10 could be performed by components of different construction but capable of a similar (though not necessarily equivalent) function, processes could be modified, and appropriate materials could be substituted for those noted. In addition, the invention encompasses additional or alternative embodiments in which one or more features or aspects of a particular embodiment could be eliminated or two or more features or aspects of different disclosed embodiments may be combined. Accordingly, it should be understood that the invention is not necessarily limited to any embodiment described herein. It should also be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed above are for the purpose of describing the illustrated embodiments, and do not necessarily serve as limitations to the scope of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention is to be limited only by the following claims.

Claims

1. A material comprising:

a substrate having first and second surfaces; and

first and second surface patterns of texture on the first and second surfaces, respectively, the first and second surface patterns comprising sensitivity pegs having first portions that project from the first surface and second portions that project from the second surface, the first and second portions of the sensitivity peg being axially aligned and extending in opposite directions from each other to enhance tactile perception at the second surface.

2. The material according to claim 1, wherein the material is a component of an article used in occupations, sports, hobbies, and household activities.

3. The material according to claim 2, wherein the article is a glove.

4. The material according to claim 2, wherein the second surface pattern of texture is aligned with reflexology markers on skin of a user of the article to enhance tactile perception of the skin.

5. The material according to claim 1, wherein the first portions of the sensitivity pegs project from the first surface of the substrate to enhance grip at the first surface.

6. The material according to claim 1, wherein the substrate comprises a single layer.

7. The material according to claim 1, wherein the substrate comprises multiple layers and the first portions of the sensitivity pegs project from a first of the multiple layers and extend through a second of the multiple layers.

8. The material according to claim 1, wherein the substrate comprises first and second layers and a third layer therebetween, and the first and second portions of the sensitivity pegs project from the third layer and extend through each of the first and second layers.

9. The material according to claim 1, wherein the sensitivity pegs are spaced apart less than five millimeters.

10. The material according to claim 1, wherein the first and second portions of the sensitivity pegs each have an aspect ratio of greater than one.

11. A method comprising:

providing a substrate having first and second surfaces; and

using an additive or subtractive process on the first and second surfaces to produce first and second surface patterns of texture on the first and second surfaces, respectively, the first and second surface patterns comprising sensitivity pegs having first portions that project from the first surface and second portions that project from the second surface, the first and second portions of the sensitivity peg being axially aligned and extending in opposite directions from each other to enhance tactile perception at the second surface.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the additive or subtractive process used is laser engraving.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein the additive or subtractive process used is LED printing.

14. The method according to claim 11, further comprising applying the material to an article used in occupations, sports, hobbies, and household activities.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the article is a glove.

16. The method according to claim 14, wherein the second surface pattern of texture is aligned with reflexology markers on skin of a user of the article to enhance tactile perception of the skin.

17. The method according to claim 11, wherein the substrate comprises a single layer.

18. The method according to claim 11, wherein the substrate comprises multiple layers and the first portions of the sensitivity pegs project from a first of the multiple layers and extend through a second of the multiple layers.

19. The method according to claim 11, wherein the substrate comprises first and second layers and a third layer therebetween, and the first and second portions of the sensitivity pegs project from the third layer and extend through each of the first and second layers.

20. The method according to claim 11, wherein the sensitivity pegs are spaced apart less than five millimeters and the first and second portions of the sensitivity pegs each have an aspect ratio of greater than one.