WEARABLE ARTICLE”

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to wearable articles. Particularly but not exclusively, the present disclosure relates to a protective layer for a wearable article such as shoe and vests. Further embodiments of the present disclosure disclose the method of manufacturing the protective layer for the wearable articles which is resistant to puncture or intrusion from spikes and sharp objects.

BACKGROUND

Generally, in the field of construction, the sites are often full of sharp objects such as protruding nails which may be harmful to unwary workers. When the workers step on the upturned nails or the like, it may easily penetrate the worker's boot and foot causing considerable pain and injury. Such a puncture wound can hobble a worker for weeks and requires particular medical attention to avoid tetanus or other anaerobic bacterial infections. Not limiting particularly to field of construction, other such scenarios can be often seen in the rescue operations or anti terrorist or any such operation which involve immobilizing the criminal activities. The armed troops may be prone to traps laid by convicts. Such traps include spikes or sharp components grouted to the ground by convicts to injure or immobilize the armed troops. Also, in close encounters the armed troops may be stabbed using sharp objects such as knives and like by the convicts as an act of escaping. In order to prevent such injuries that may be caused to the construction site workers or the armed troops during the operations in their respective fields, protective wearable articles may be of prime importance. The protective wearable articles may be shoes, vests, gloves and the like. The conventional wearable articles for protecting the user from such unexpected hazards do not intend to serve the purpose completely. Most of the conventional wearable articles cause discomfort to the user. Also, such articles may be heavier when a protective layer is included in the wearable article. One such example of the wearable article may be a shoe and the same is considered and explained below for easy understanding.

A shoe is type of footwear generally designed to cover entire foot of a user. Shoes come in various forms, but primarily shoes are intended to protect and impart comfort to the foot of the user while the user is engaged in various activities. The design of shoes have evolved enormously with time. Shoes are generally made of leather, wood or canvas. In recent times, shoes are increasingly made from rubber, plastics and other petrochemical derived materials.

The basic anatomy of the shoe is recognizable regardless of the specific design of the footwear. All shoes have a sole, which is the bottom of the shoe. The sole portion of the shoe comes in contact with the ground and is generally made of natural rubber, polyvinyl chloride etc. Further, the sole can be divided into an insole, a midsole and an outsole. The insole of the shoe is that part of the shoe which comes in contact with the foot of the user. The outsole is that portion of the shoe which comes in contact with the ground. The midsole is that portion of the shoe in between the insole and outsole typically provided for shock absorption. Shoes may be used for many purposes such as walking, running, recreational activities and the like. The main aim of wearing the shoe is to provide safety for the user’s feet, this happens primarily through the outsole of any shoe.

Conventionally, the outsole of the shoe is the one which is prone or susceptible to wear and tear. During entire lifespan of the shoe, several factors such as frictional wear, debris impact, water damage etc., impact the life of the outsole. Even though the outsole manufactured conventionally does provide some sort of protection from the above mentioned factors, the outsole fails in resisting puncture or intrusion from spikes and sharp objects. Such sharp objects may easily puncture or pierce through the outsole and may penetrate the user’ s feet, thereby immobilizing them or cause severe injuries. To overcome this, conventional shoes with a metal layer may be provided as a midsole to the shoe to resist such sharp objects from penetrating or piercing into the feet of the user. However, the provision of a metal layer or such materials deters the flexibility offered by the shoe due to the rigid nature of the metal layer. Also, inclusion of such metal layers increases the overall weight of the shoe which is not desirable. These implements also cause discomfort to the user wearing such shoes. Although the aforementioned paragraphs are explained with respect to a shoe, similar disadvantages may be found in the other wearable articles also, such as hand gloves, vests, coats or jackets.

The present disclosure is directed to overcome one or more limitations stated above or similar limitations associated with the conventional wearable articles. SUMMARY

The shortcomings of the conventional product and process are overcome, and additional advantages are provided through the provision of product and process as disclosed in the present disclosure.

Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniques of the present disclosure. Other embodiments and aspects of the disclosure are described in detail herein and are considered a part of the disclosure.

In one non-limiting embodiment of the disclosure, a method of manufacturing a protective layer of a wearable is disclosed. The method includes subjecting a stack of layers made of composite material to a compressive load ranging from about 5 bar to about 20 bar at room temperature for a pre-set period of time. The method further includes heating the stack of layers to a first pre-determined temperature range at a predetermined heating rate and gradually increasing the compressive load on the stack of layers to a load ranging from about 150 bar to about 200 bar for a first pre-set time period. The temperature of the stack of layers is increased to a second pre-determined temperature range at a pre-determined heating rate at a constant load range of about 150 bar to about 200 bar for a second pre-set time period. Also, the method includes cooling of the stack of layers to a temperature range of about 60°C to room temperature at a predetermined cooling rate and gradually decreasing the load on the stack of layers to zero bar. The protective layer processed by the method exhibit an improved penetration resistance.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the method includes stacking of a plurality of layers of composite material one above the other to a pre-determined thickness to obtain the stack of layers of composite material. The composite materials is at least one of aramid and polyethylene. The thickness of each of the plurality of layers of composite materials ranges from 0.24mm to 0.26mm.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the plurality of layers of composite material are stacked using an adhesive.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the first predetermined temperature ranges from about 70 °C to 90 °C. The second pre-determined temperature ranges from about 120 °C to about 135 °C. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the pre-determined heating rate ranges from about l°C/minute to about 5°C/minute and the pre-determined cooling rate ranges from about l°C/minute to about 8°C/minute.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the load on the plurality of layers through a hydraulic press.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the protective layer is at least one of a sole of a shoe and a stab proof layer of a vest.

It is to be understood that the aspects and embodiments of the disclosure described above may be used in any combination with each other. Several of the aspects and embodiments may be combined together to form a further embodiment of the disclosure.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING FIGURES

The novel features and characteristics of the disclosure are set forth in the appended description. The disclosure itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying figures. One or more embodiments are now described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying figures wherein like reference numerals represent like elements and in which:

FIG.1 illustrates an exemplary exploded view of a puncture or intrusion resistant shoe with multiple layer and includes a protective layer manufactured as per method of the present disclosure.

FIG.2 illustrates a flowchart depicting a method for manufacturing a protective layer of a wearable article, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The figures depict embodiments of the disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The foregoing has broadly outlined the features and technical advantages of the present disclosure in order that the detailed description of the disclosure that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the disclosure.

It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other systems for carrying out the same purposes of the present disclosure. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent processes do not depart from the scope of the disclosure as set forth in the appended claims. The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the disclosure, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration and description only and is not intended as a definition of the limits of the present disclosure. It will be readily understood that the aspects of the present disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated in the figures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, and designed in a wide variety of different configurations, all of which are explicitly contemplated and make part of this disclosure.

Embodiments of the present disclosure describe a method for manufacturing a protective layer of a wearable article. In an embodiment, the protective layer may be used in wearable articles such as but not limiting to shoes or stab proof vests. The method of manufacturing the protective layer may include stacking a plurality of layers of composite materials one above another. The plurality of layers of composite materials may be stacked one above the other up to a pre-determined thickness. In an embodiment, the thickness of each of the individual layer of the plurality of layers of composite materials may range from about 0.24mm to about 0.26mm. In an embodiment, about 15 to 16 layers of composite materials may be initially stacked in a mould (not shown). In another embodiment, the overall thickness of the stacked layers may be from range of about 3 mm to 6mm but not limiting it to this particular thickness. An adhesive may be provided in between each of the plurality of layers of composite materials. Further, the stacked layers which may be placed in mould may be subjected to a compressive load. Further, the stacked layers may be subjected load varying load and temperature cycle. The varying temperature cycle may include subjecting the stacked layers to a plurality of heating cycles under room temperature and gradually increasing the temperature to a first and second pre-determined range for a pre-set period of time. Further, after the heating cycle is complete the stacked layer may be subjected to a cooling at a pre-determined temperature for a pre-set time period. During the heating cycle the stacked layers may be subjected to a desired or pre-determined compressive load by a press and when the stacked layers are being cooled the load on the stacked layers are gradually decreased to zero.

The stacked layers or hereinafter referred to as panels that may be processed by such method may then be removed from the mould and subjected to further processing. In an embodiment, the panels may be subjected to twisting and rolling operation to achieve desired flexibility. Further, the panels are cut into required shapes and sizes based on the wearable article in which the panel is intended to be used. In an embodiment, the wearable article could be at least one of a shoe or a stab proof vest.

In an embodiment, the panels or the stacked layers thus produced may act as a protective layer in wearable articles. The panels produced by the aforementioned process exhibits an improved penetration resistance i.e. it restricts the intrusion of sharp objects through the wearable article.

The terms“comprises”,“comprising”, or any other variations thereof used in the specification, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that an assembly that comprises a list of components or steps does not include only those components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such setup or method. In other words, one or more elements in an assembly proceeded by“comprises... a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the assembly.

Henceforth, the present disclosure is explained with the help of one or more figures of exemplary embodiments. However, such exemplary embodiments should not be construed as limitation of the present disclosure. In the figures neither the stacked layers nor the complete method of manufacturing the same is depicted for the purpose of simplicity. One skilled in the art would appreciate that the protective layers produced by the method as described herein below and above may be employed in the wearable articles including but not limiting to shoes, stab proof vests, hand gloves, and the like.

The following paragraphs describe the present disclosure with reference to FIGS.l and 2. In the figures, the same element or elements which have similar functions are indicated by the same reference signs.

FIG.1 is an exemplary exploded view of a puncture or intrusion resistant wearable article (100), here a shoe is shown, that may be used for protecting a user from injuries arising from intrusion of spikes, knives stab and sharp objects into the wearable article. In an embodiment, the puncture resistant wearable article may be a stab resistance or stab proof vests, hand gloves or any such wearable articles. The present disclosure hereinafter is explained considering the wearable article as a shoe. The wearable article (100) such as shoe is configured to accommodate a foot of the user and the shoe is divided into a first layer (101), a protective layer (102) and a third layer (103).

The first layer (101) as shown in FIG.1, is the outer most layer or the outer sole of the shoe that comes in contact with the ground during its usage. The first layer (101) may be manufactured of materials such as but not limited to rubber, polyvinyl substrates, ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) rubber and the like. The first layer (101) may further include a gripping pattern (105) such as buttons and ridges in order to provide traction to the shoes during usage. These buttons or ridges may be of varying sizes and specifications based on the requirement for each shoe. The gripping pattern (105) increases the friction between the ground and the shoe (100), thereby providing adequate grip to the user. In an embodiment, the first layer (101), comes in contact with the ground initially and hence takes the majority of impact load during contact with the ground. However, the first layer (101) may fail to withstand impact during usage of the shoe (100) in harsh terrain conditions. For instance, the first layer (101) may fail to withstand impact that may be caused due to piercing of nails or similar sharp objects. These objects may lead to injury of foot/leg of the user. Such rough terrain conditions may be experienced by the user in areas such as remote jungles, where there may be spikes or sharp nails present. Hence, there may be a need for the provision of a resistant layer, in order to resist the piercing of such sharp objects. Therefore, in the present disclosure a second layer (102) is provided in the shoe. The protective layer (102) may be manufactured in a manner to achieve the required hardness and flexibility. The protective layer (102) as shown in FIG. l, may be manufactured of a plurality of layers of composite materials. In an embodiment, the protective layer (102) may hereinafter be referred to as a second layer. Each of the plurality of layers may be stacked one over the other with the aid of adhesives. In an embodiment, the composite material used may be such as but not limited to aramid or polyethylene.

Now referring to FIG.2 which is a flowchart depicting a method for manufacturing a protective layer of a wearable article. As shown in the flowchart of FIG.2, the plurality of layers of composite materials may be subjected to heat and pressures cycles in order to obtain the required hardness and flexibility and thus making the wearable article penetration resistant.

As shown at block 201, the stacked layers of composite materials may be subjected to a compressive load using a loading machine. In an embodiment, the loading machine may be at least one of a hydraulic press and pneumatic press. In another embodiment, an adhesive such as epoxy resin may be used to stack the layers, but the present disclosure is not limited to usage of epoxy resin as adhesive and other adhesives may also be used. The stacked layers may be subjected to loads ranging from about 5-20 bars at room temperature when the stacked layers are placed in a mould under the press. Further, as shown at block 202, the stack of layers may be subjected for heating using a suitable heat source. During heating, the temperature may be gradually increased at a pre-defined heating rate until the temperature reaches a first temperature range. In an embodiment, the pre-defined rate of increase in temperature while heating may be in the range of 1-5 °C per minute. The first range of temperature may be in the range of about 70 °C to 90 °C but not limiting to this particular temperature. It should be noted that, these temperature ranges are only indicative, and the temperature ranges may vary for different composite materials and also based on the wearable article under consideration. In an embodiment, the load acting on the stacked layers may be gradually increased to 150-200 bars. The stacked layers may be held at the first range temperature, under the said increased load for a first pre-set time period. In an embodiment, the first pre-set time period may range from about 10 minutes to about 25 minutes. During the course of manufacturing and as shown at block 203, the temperature may be gradually increased to the second pre-determined temperature range under the same load range of about 150-200 bars. In an embodiment, the temperature is gradually increased to second pre-determined range of temperature at the predetermined heating rate. The second predetermined temperature range is maintained for a second pre-set time period. In an embodiment, the second pre-set time period may range from about 5 minutes to about 20 minutes and the second pre-determined temperature range may be in the range of about 120 °C to 135 °C.

As shown at block 204, the temperature on the protective layer (102) may be reduced to a temperature of 60°C to about room temperature at a pre-determined cooling rate. In an embodiment, the pre-determined cooling rate may be in the range of 1-8 °C per minute but not limiting to a certain rate of cooling. As the temperature reaches to about 60°C to about room temperature, the load may be completely reduced to zero bars. The stacked layer or the protective layers or the panels are allowed to cure. The cured panels are removed out of the loading machine and cut into required sizes of the wearable articles.

Further, as shown at block 205, the cut panels may be twisted and rolled to make them flexible and to give the wearing comfort for the user. The cut panels form the second layer (102) or the protective layer (102) of the wearable article (100) as shown in FIG.l. The hardness of the second layer (102) may be increased by the above said process. This layer (102) acts as the fail-safe layer, wherein this layer (102) may resist the puncturing or intrusion of sharp objects into the foot/leg of the user when used in shoes or it resists the intrusion of knives when used in vests. The sharp objects that passes through the first layer (101) may be completely resisted by the second layer (102), thereby not allowing the sharp objects to puncture or penetrate the foot of the user, thereby immobilising the user. Once the protective layers (102) is removed from curing, it may further subjected to a wrapping process, wherein the protective layer is wrapped with a water-resistant fabric (not shown) to protect the panel (not shown) from sweat, moisture and water.

Referring back to FIG.l, the shoe may include the third layer (103), the third layer (103) is a comfort layer used within the shoe to impart comfort to the user. The third layer (103) provides required cushioning for the user while using the shoes. The manufactured layers (101, 102 and 103) are then arranged and adhesively fixed to one another in an order to make a complete shoe (100).

The shoe (100), manufactured by this process is light in weight and also resists puncture or intrusion from sharp objects. Also, the sole so manufactured by the method of present disclosure is flexible and retrofittable to the existing shoes with minimum or no modifications. Further, since the thickness of the protective layer (102) is minimum, it does not increase the overall weight of the wearable article and hence not compromising on the comfort level. Additionally, since the protective layer undergoes various heat and pressure cycles, the durability of the protective layer so manufactured also improves.

With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.

It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as "open" terms (e.g., the term "including" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at least," the term "includes" should be interpreted as "includes but is not limited to," etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles "a" or "an" limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least one" and indefinite articles such as "a" or "an" (e.g., "a" and/or "an" should typically be interpreted to mean "at least one" or "one or more"); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of "two recitations," without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B, and C, etc." is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, and C" would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B, or C, etc." is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, or C" would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase "A or B" will be understood to include the possibilities of "A" or "B" or "A and B." While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims. Table of Referral Numerals :