METHOD FOR FORMING LEATHER OR FABRIC SUITS, JACKETS OR TROUSERS PROVIDED WITH PROTECTION ELEMENTS, AND ARTICLE OF CLOTHING OBTAINED BY THE METHOD

Description

[0001] This invention relates to a method for forming leather or fabric suits, jackets or trousers provided with protection elements, and an article of clothing obtained by the method.

[0002] Protection elements for body parts, applied to leather or fabric suits, jackets or trousers for motorcyclists, are known consisting of substantially rigid paddings and/or shields which in the case of a fall absorb impact to protect those parts of the motorcyclist's body most exposed to injury and fracture (shoulders, elbows, knees, shin-bone, etc.).

[0003] Such elements generally comprise an outer shell constructed of substantially rigid plastic, and a soft inner layer of low-memory rubber of impact absorption.

[0004] These elements are generally applied to the interior of the suit or jacket lining (in the case of the shoulders) or within suitable pockets provided on the outside of the suit or trousers (in the case of the knees), or within suitable internal pockets of the suit or jacket (for the elbows) or of the suit or trousers (for the shin-bones).

[0005] These known protection elements have however certain drawbacks, namely:

• a difficulty in maintaining correct position during use and in particular in the case of a fall,
• unsatisfactory protection in that their heterogeneous construction material does not ensure effective distribution of the protective effect,
• in the case of a fall by the motorcyclist, possible laceration of the leather or fabric by the rubbing of the constituent rigid material of the outer shell against the leather or fabric.

[0006] FR-A-2600900 discloses a very thin shell covering the part of the body to be protected, produced from a fibrous reinforcement impregnated with a inorganic matrix. A shock absorbing material is placed between the inner face of the shell and the body.

[0007] FR-A-2539007 discloses a protection for a woman's breasts when she takes part in sports, comprising a strip of transpolyisoprene modelled on the thorax of the woman padded with a foam and fitted in a brassiere.

[0008] CH-A-638665 discloses an ice hockey players suit which has firm protective means for the part of the body.

[0009] An object of the invention is to eliminate these drawbacks by providing a suit and/or a jacket and/or trousers comprising protection elements, in which rigorously stable positioning of these elements is ensured.

[0010] A further object of the invention is to provide a suit and/or a jacket and/or trousers which offer very reliable protection over the entire associated with the protection element.

[0011] A further object of the invention is to provide a suit and/or a jacket and/or trousers in which the risk of laceration of the leather or fabric in the case of a fall is considerably reduced.

[0012] These and further objects which will be apparent from the ensuing description are attained according to the invention by a method for forming article of clothing such as suits, jackets trousers provided with protection elements as described in claim 1.

[0013] The invention also provides an article of clothing as described in claim 3. Other particular embodiments of the invention are set out in claims 2 and 4.

[0014] A preferred embodiment of the present invention and a modification thereof are described in detail hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, on which:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through a suit portion provided with protection,

Figure 2 shows a modification thereof, and

Figure 3 shows a second modification thereof.

[0015] As can be seen from the figures, the method for forming the suit or jacket or trousers comprises a first stage in which the leather 1 or fabric is wetted so that during drying it shrinks and hence becomes more elastic.

[0016] The leather or fabric is then positioned within the mould of a thermoforming press and locked along its edges. The press is then operated to thermoform the leather or fabric such as to form a shoulder, elbow, knee etc. according to requirements.

[0017] After being left for a certain period of time the mould is opened and the thermoformed leather or fabric is positioned in a subsequent station in which a perforated plastic shell 2 of suitable shape and dimensions is positioned on the region to be protected.

[0018] The leather or fabric and the shell applied to it are then subjected to the injection of a foam 3 which on one side becomes interposed between the shell and the leather or fabric and on the other side covers the shell in such a manner as to form with it a type of sandwich.

[0019] A fabric 4 consisting of two layers with an interspace of about 3 mm therebetween is then applied to the stratified construction obtained in this manner. The piece of leather or fabric, with the protection applied to it, is then sewn along the two edges to form a band which is then sewn externally to hence increase the degree of reliability of the stitching, and make the appearance of the stitching more attractive.

[0020] In the embodiment shown in Figure 3, which is not relating to the subject-matter of the appended claims, the plastic shell is not included. In this case the protection is more flexible but the foam composition must be appropriate to ensure that the desired level of protection is achieved.

[0021] From the aforegoing it is apparent that the method of the invention offers numerous advantages and in particular:

• it ensures rigorously stable positioning of the protection relative to the anatomical region to be protected,
• it offers a high level of protection given the compactness of the combination and its ability to distribute the effects of an impact over the entire protected region,
• it reduces the risk of laceration of the leather in the case of a fall by the elimination of those sewing runs subjected to the highest risk of opening/breakage.

Claims

1. A method for forming article of clothing such as suit, jacket or trousers provided with protection elements, comprising the step of:

- thermoforming a portion of the leather (1) or fabric forming the article of clothing to obtain a portion shaped in accordance with the anatomy of that part of the body to be protected,

- applying by injection a foam (3) onto said anatomical portion from the inner side of the leather or fabric of said article of clothing,

characterised in that before injecting the foam (3), a perforated plastic shell is applied near the inner side of the leather in the region to be protected, the injected foam being thus interposed between the leather and the shell and covering also the shell.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that an interspaced fabric (4) is applied to said foam covering the shell.

3. A leather or fabric article of clothing obtained by the method of claims 1 to 2, comprising a thermoformed portion of article of clothing shaped in accordance with the anatomy of the part of the body to be protected and lined internally with a layer of injected foam (3), characterised by also comprising a perforated plastic shell (2) retained by being sandwiched by the injected foam.

4. An article of clothing as claimed in claim 3, characterised in that the foamed layer is lined with two layer interspaced fabric (4).

Ansprüche

1. Verfahren zur Herstellung von Kleidungsstücken wie Anzügen, Jacken oder Hosen mit Schutzelementen, das die Schritte aufweist:

- Thermoformung eines Bereichs des Leders (1) oder des Gewebes, welches das Kleidungsstück bildet, zur Erzeugung eines Bereichs, der gemäß der Anatomie des zu schützenden Körperteils geformt ist,

- Anbringen eines Schaumes (3) auf dem anatomischen Bereich von der Innenseite des Leders oder des Gewebes des Kleidungsstückes durch Einspritzen,

dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass vor dem Einspritzen des Schaumes (3) eine perforierte Plastikschale nahe der Innenseite des Leders in dem zu schützenden Bereich angebracht wird, wobei der eingespritzte Schaum zwischen dem Leder und der Schale liegt und zudem die Schale abdeckt.

2. Verfahren nach Anspruch 1 dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass auf dem die Schale abdeckenden Schaum ein Gewebe (4) mit Zwischenraum angebracht wird.

3. Kleidungsstück aus Leder oder Gewebe, das nach dem Verfahren der Ansprüche 1 bis 2 hergestellt wurde und einen thermogeformten Kleidungsstückbereich aufweist, der gemäß der Anatomie des zu schützenden Körperteils geformt ist und innen mit einer Schicht aus eingespritztem Schaum (3) ausgelegt ist, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass er zudem eine perforierte Plastikschale (2) aufweist, die dadurch gehalten wird, dass sie zwischen dem eingespritzten Schaum liegt.

4. Kleidungsstück nach Anspruch 3, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die Schaumschicht mit einem Doppelschichtgewebe mit Zwischenraum (4) ausgelegt ist.

Revendications

1. Un procédé de fabrication d'un vêtement tel qu'un costume, une veste ou un pantalon pourvu d'éléments de protection, comprenant les étapes de :

- thermoformage d'une partie du cuir (1) ou du tissu formant le vêtement pour obtenir une partie mise en forme conformément à l'anatomie de la partie du corps à protéger,

- application par injection d'une mousse (3) sur ladite partie anatomique depuis le côté interne du cuir ou du tissu du vêtement,

   caractérisé en ce qu'avant injection de la mousse (3), une coque de plastique perforée est appliquée au voisinage du côté interne du cuir dans la région à protéger, la mousse injectée étant ainsi interposée entre le cuir et la coque et recouvrant également la coque.

2. Un procédé comme revendiqué en revendication 1, caractérisé en ce qu'un tissu (4) à couches espacées est appliqué sur ladite mousse recouvrant la coque.

3. Un vêtement en cuir ou en tissu obtenu par le procédé des revendications 1 à 2, comprenant une partie de vêtement thermoformée mise en forme conformément à l'anatomie de la partie du corps à protéger et recouverte intérieurement d'une couche de mousse injectée (3), caractérisé en ce qu'il comprend également une coque perforée en plastique (2) qui est retenue en étant prise en sandwich par la mousse injectée.

4. Un vêtement comme revendiqué en revendication 3, caractérisé en ce que la couche de mousse est recouverte d'un tissu (4) à deux couches espacées.

Drawing