IPC분류정보
| 국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
|
| 국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
|
| 출원번호 |
US-0485167
(2012-05-31)
|
| 등록번호 |
US-RE44851
(2014-04-22)
|
| 우선권정보 |
GB-9916291.9 (1999-07-13); GB-9921804.2 (1999-09-16) |
| 국제출원번호 |
PCT/GB00/02687
(2000-07-13)
|
| §371/§102 date |
20020423
(20020423)
|
| 국제공개번호 |
WO01/03530
(2001-01-18)
|
|
발명자
/ 주소 |
|
| 출원인 / 주소 |
- Stirling Mouldings Limited
|
| 대리인 / 주소 |
Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery, LLP
|
| 인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
0 인용 특허 :
73 |
초록
▼
A flexible material includes a plurality of separate resilient elements joined to a flexible, resiliently stretchable substrate. Such a material is suitable for providing protective war for human and animal bodies. Preferably, the elements includes a foam material such as a closed cell polyethylene
A flexible material includes a plurality of separate resilient elements joined to a flexible, resiliently stretchable substrate. Such a material is suitable for providing protective war for human and animal bodies. Preferably, the elements includes a foam material such as a closed cell polyethylene foam and the substrate includes a knitted fabric. In an advantageous embodiment, a second flexible substrate is bonded over the elements to sandwich them between the two layers of substrate.
대표청구항
▼
1. A method of manufacturing a flexible material comprising the steps of providing a sheet of a resilient material;cutting the sheet into a plurality of spaced separate elements using a cutter which is pressed into the sheet to cut therethrough;making one side of the plurality of spaced separate ele
1. A method of manufacturing a flexible material comprising the steps of providing a sheet of a resilient material;cutting the sheet into a plurality of spaced separate elements using a cutter which is pressed into the sheet to cut therethrough;making one side of the plurality of spaced separate elements to stand proud of a surface of a jig provided to hold the elements in place; andbonding a flexible resiliently stretchable substrate to one side of the separate elements by heating the substrate either to activate an adhesive applied between said one side of the separate elements and the substrate or to weld the separate elements to the substrate. 2. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the sheet is cut into a plurality of separate elements using a cutter which acts as the jig after cutting through the resilient material to hold the elements in place while the substrate is applied thereto. 3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the cutter is adapted so that said one side of each of the cut elements is made to stand proud of a surface of the cutter after cutting through said sheet of resilient material. 4. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein any excess resilient material located between the plurality of spaced separate elements is retained in the cutter. 5. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein any excess resilient material is removed from between the plurality of spaced separate elements prior to the elements being bonded to the substrate. 6. The method as claimed in any of claim 1, wherein the plurality of spaced separate elements comprise a foam material. 7. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: bonding a second flexible substrate to an opposite side of the plurality of spaced separate elements to said one side. 8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least said one side of the sheet is coated with a hot-melt adhesive prior to being cut into the plurality of spaced separate elements. 9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the side of the substrate adjacent said one side of the plurality of spaced separate elements is coated with a hot-melt adhesive. 10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein a sheet of hot-melt film is interposed between said one side of the plurality of spaced separate elements and the substrate so as to provide said adhesive. 11. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sheet of resilient material is cut into strips in a first direction using a plurality of rolling cutters and then cut in a second direction at an angle to the first direction to form the plurality of spaced separate elements. 12. The method as claimed in claim 11 wherein the rolling cutters are moved sideways after each cut to cut narrow strips of material in both directions to space the elements apart, the narrow strips of material being removed to leave the plurality of spaced separate elements spaced from one another. 13. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the substrate is heated by a heated platen which either activates the adhesive or melts the surface and thereby bonds the substrate and the plurality of spaced separate elements together. 14. The method as claimed claim 10, wherein the substrate is heated by passing the substrate and the adjacent plurality of spaced separate elements between heated nip rollers. 15. A method of manufacturing a flexible resiliently compressible material, the method comprising: cutting a sheet of resiliently compressible foam with a cutter that goes completely through the foam to provide a plurality of separate individual resiliently compressible elements in a spaced apart relationship, the separate elements having a first surface and second surface;bonding the first surfaces of the plurality of separate individual compressible elements to a first resiliently stretchable fabric substrate while adjacent separate individual elements are held by a grid in a spaced apart relation with about 2 mm between the adjacent elements, the bonding selected from the group consisting of adhesively bonding and welding; andbonding the second surfaces of the plurality of separate individual compressible elements to a second resiliently stretchable fabric substrate while adjacent separate individual elements are in a spaced apart relation with about 2 mm between the adjacent elements, the bonding selected from the group consisting of adhesively bonding and welding, to provide the flexible resiliently compressible material with the plurality of separate resiliently compressible elements being distributed between the substrates at a density of from about 250 to about 8000 elements/m2, and the first and second substrates not bonded to each other between the adjacent elements. 16. The method according to claim 15 wherein the elements are distributed between the substrates at a density of from about 4000 to about 8000 elements/m2. 17. The method according to claim 15 wherein the first and second surfaces of the elements are flat. 18. The method according to claim 17 wherein the elements are distributed between the substrates at a density of from about 4000 to about 6000 elements/m2. 19. The method according to claim 15 wherein the elements are comprised of layers of foam having different densities. 20. The method according to claim 19 wherein the elements are distributed between the substrates at a density of from about 4000 to about 6000 elements/m2. 21. The method according to claim 15 wherein the elements are comprised of polyethylene foam. 22. A method of manufacturing a flexible resiliently compressible material, the method comprising: applying adhesive to a surface of a sheet of resiliently compressible foam;cutting a sheet of resiliently compressible foam with the adhesive thereon with a cutter that goes completely through the foam and adhesive to provide separate individual resiliently compressible elements, the separate individual elements having a surface with adhesive thereon and an opposite surface which is opposite to the surface with the adhesive;bonding the surfaces of the separate compressible elements with the adhesive thereon to a first resiliently stretchable fabric substrate while holding the compressible elements with a jig in spaced apart relation with about 2 mm between the elements, the bonding selected from the group consisting of adhesively bonding and welding; andbonding the opposite surfaces of the separate compressible elements to a second resiliently stretchable fabric substrate, the separate elements in spaced relation to each other and the fabric substrates not bonded to each other between the separate elements to provide the flexible resiliently compressible material, the elements being distributed between the substrates at a density of from about 250 to about 8000 elements/m2. 23. The method according to claim 22 wherein the elements are distributed between the substrates at a density of from about 4000 to about 8000 elements/m2. 24. The method according to claim 22 wherein the surfaces and opposite surfaces of the elements are flat. 25. The method according to claim 24 wherein the elements are distributed between the substrates at a density of from about 4000 to about 6000 elements/m2. 26. The method according to claim 22 wherein the elements are comprised of layers of foam having different densities. 27. The method according to claim 26 wherein the elements are distributed between the substrates at a density of from about 4000 to about 6000 elements/m2. 28. The method according to claim 26 wherein the surfaces and opposite surfaces of the elements are flat. 29. The method according to claim 22 wherein the elements are comprised of polyethylene foam. 30. A method of manufacturing a flexible resiliently compressible material, the method comprising: cutting a sheet of resiliently compressible foam with a cutter that goes completely through the foam to provide separate individual resiliently compressible elements, the separate individual elements having a first surface and second surface;bonding the first surfaces of the separate individual compressible elements to a first resiliently stretchable fabric substrate while holding the elements with a jig so that there is about 2 mm between side walls of the elements, the bonding selected from the group consisting of adhesively bonding and welding; andbonding the second surfaces of the separate resiliently compressible elements to a second resiliently stretchable fabric substrate to provide the resiliently compressible material, the fabric substrates not bonded to each other between the separate elements, the separate elements being distributed between the substrates at a density of from about 250 to about 8000 elements/m2. 31. The method according to claim 30 wherein the separate elements are distributed between the substrates at a density of from about 4000 to about 6000 elements/m2. 32. The method according to claim 31 wherein the first and second surfaces of the separate elements are flat. 33. The method according to claim 32 wherein the separate elements are comprised of layers of foam having different densities. 34. The method according to claim 30 wherein the first and second surfaces of the separate elements are flat. 35. The method according to claim 34 wherein the separate elements are comprised of layers of foam having different densities. 36. The method of claim 35 wherein the layers of foam having different densities are closed cell foam. 37. The method according to claim 30 wherein the separate elements are comprised of layers of foam having different densities. 38. The method according to claim 30 wherein the separate elements are comprised of closed cell foam. 39. The method according to claim 30 wherein the separate elements are comprised of polyethylene foam. 40. A method of manufacturing a flexible resiliently compressible material, the method comprising: cutting a sheet of resiliently compressible foam with a cutter that goes completely through the foam to provide a plurality of separate individual resiliently compressible elements, the separate individual elements having a first surface and a second surface;bonding one of the first or second surfaces of the separate individual resiliently compressible elements to a first resiliently stretchable fabric substrate while the elements are held by a jig and adjacent elements are about 2 mm apart and the elements are at a density of from about 250 to about 8000 elements/m2 to provide a fabric/element combination; andbonding a second fabric substrate to the elements of the fabric/element combination to provide the resiliently compressible material, the bonding selected from the group consisting of adhesively bonding and welding, the fabric substrates of the resiliently compressible material not bonded to each other between the separate elements and with the elements being distributed between the substrates at a density of from about 250 to about 8000 elements/m2. 41. The method according to claim 40 wherein the separate elements are comprised of closed cell foam. 42. The method of claim 41 wherein the elements are comprised of layers of foam having different densities. 43. A method of manufacturing a flexible resiliently compressible material, the method comprising: providing a first resiliently stretchable fabric substrate;cutting a sheet of resiliently compressible foam with a cutting grid that goes completely through the foam to provide separate individual resiliently compressible, elements having top surfaces and bottom surface which are flat;providing a second resiliently stretchable fabric substrate;bonding the top surfaces of the resiliently compressible elements to the first resiliently stretchable fabric substrate while adjacent elements are held by a jig so that a distance between the sidewalls of adjacent elements is about 2 mm, the bonding selected from the group consisting of adhesively bonding and welding; andbonding the bottom surfaces of the resiliently compressible elements to the second resiliently stretchable fabric substrate while the sidewalls of adjacent elements are at a distance of about 2 mm, the bonding selected from the group consisting of adhesively bonding and welding, to provide the resiliently compressible material with the fabric substrates not bonded to each other between adjacent individual elements and to provide the flexible resiliently compressible material with the individual resiliently compressible elements being distributed between the substrates at a density of from about 250 to about 8000 elements/m2.
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