GB2248174A

GB2248174A - Improvements in or relating to protective garments

Info

Publication number: GB2248174A
Application number: GB9021230A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Robin Middlemass Howie
Original assignee: INST OF OCCUPATIONAL MEDICINE
Current assignee: INST OF OCCUPATIONAL MEDICINE
Priority date: 1990-09-28
Filing date: 1990-09-28
Publication date: 1992-04-01
Also published as: WO1992005716A1; GB9021230D0

Abstract

A protective garment including a suit (2) for encapsulating substantially the whole of a wearer's body has a body-mounted air conditioning unit (8) including a fan (10), a power pack (14) and a filter (16) associated with an inlet (6) to the suit.

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO PROTECTIVE GARMENTS This invention concerns improvements in or relating to protective garments of the kind employed in contaminated environments.

Protective garments are widely used to prevent the interchange of contamination between the wearer's body and the environment.

Currently the performance of protective garments is limited by such mechanisms as contaminant penetration of the garment's fabric, seams, fasteners or of the seals between the garment and the body. The control of such penetration is limited to the body's critical requirement to lose the heat generated by metabolic process and this requirement increases with the work rate of the wearer. A minor restriction in the heat loss ability can cause discomfort and a possible reduction in the wearer's mental and physical efficiency. A major restriction can result in excessive sweating, coma or death. When excessive sweating occurs, the relative humidity in the microclimate between the garment and the wearer's body approaches 100 per cent. Consequently, sweat evaporation, the major mechanism by which the body loses heat, largely ceases, and heat storage by the body begins.It is generally accepted that deleterious health effects can occur when the body temperature increases by more than about 10 C.

An earlier Patent Application No 2 219 486A describes a means of reducing the thermal stress generated by wearing a protective garment by recirculating hot humid gases from the microclimate between the garment and the wearer's body through a water vapour absorbent/adsorbent thereby reducing the relative humidity in the microclimate and thus permitting further evaporation of sweat.

However, it is not always necessary to recirculate the gases within the microclimate, for example where for the sake of coolness and cleanliness of the microclimate, air is merely needed as a coolant fluid and a carrier for the vapour generated by the wearer.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved protective garment.

According to the invention there is provided a protective garment for use in a contaminated environment including a suit for encapsulating substantially the whole of a wearer's body and thereby defining a microclimate therewithin around the wearer's body, an air inlet to the suit, an air outlet from the suit, a conditioning unit mounted on or in the suit, the unit including an air mover and a power pack for the air mover, and a filter associated with the inlet to the suit.

Conveniently the conditioning unit is self-contained, is preferably body-mounted and incorporates the air mover.

The filter is advantageously of a type for removing particulates and/or noxious gases or vapours. In practice, when the nature of the atmospheric contaminant is known the filter can be selected accordingly and the garment can thus be customized for a particular environment.

The outlet from the suit may itself be provided with a non-return valve and/or an outlet filter.

Conveniently, ducts may be provided for delivering dried or filtered air from the air mover to the most appropriate regions within the microclimate of the suit, and for removing humid air from the regions.

By way of example only, one embodiment of protective garment according to the invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a digrammatic representation of the protective garment; and Figure 2 is a diagrammatic representation of a detail shown in Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, a protective garment for use in a hazardous environment is shown generally at 2 and comprises a one- piece suit or a multi-piece suit (not shown) which encapsulates most of the wearer's body 4 as illustrated, with appropriate sealing provided as required such as at the ends of the limbs, and, in suits not fitted with head covers, at the neck, a microclimate thereby being defined between the wearer's body and the enclosing suit. The suit has an air inlet 6 and an air outlet 7.

Located within the volume of the garment 2 is a self-contained unit 8 incorporating an air mover in the form of a fan 10, and a power source, for example a battery pack 14. A filter 16 is associated with the inlet 6 for filtering incoming air. The unit 8 is conveniently carried as on a belt 17 by the wearer. Additionally, but optionally, ducts 18 may be connected to the fan 10 for distributing air within the garment, namely for delivery of conditioned air to and for withdrawal of hot humid air from the regions of high vapour generation.

In operation, the suit 2 is worn as a garment for the protection of an individual working or serving in a contaminated environment.

The individual wearer will wish to remain in the garment in as safe and as comfortable a manner as possible. The fan 10 is operated to induce air into the suit 2 through the inlet 6 and the filter 16, the air thence passing through the ducts 18 to the parts of the body where sweat generation is potentially the greatest, for example the axillary regions among others.

The microclimate is thus at a positive pressure which assists in preventing accidental ingress of contaminant material. The air flows through the microclimate and becomes humid, the water vapour-laden air exhausting through the outlet 7.

The invention allows simple air irrigation of the suit from a contaminated environment through a filter to the microclimate for circulation therewithin and exhaust to the environment. Greater mobility for the wearer is afforded because both the conditioning unit and the filter are mounted on the suit.

Claims

1. A protective garment for use in a contaminated environment including a suit for encapsulating substantially the whole of a wearer's body and thereby defining a microclimate therewithin around the wearer's body, an air inlet to the suit, an air outlet from the suit, a conditioning unit mounted on or in the suit, the unit including an air mover and a power pack for the air mover, and a filter associated with the inlet to the suit.

2. A protective garment according to claim 1 in which the conditioning unit is self-contained and incorporates the air mover, and the power pack.

3. A protective garment according to claim 1 or 2 in which the conditioning unit includes the filter.

4. A protective garment according to any one of the preceding claims in which ducts are provided for delivering dried or filtered air from the air mover to the most appropriate regions within the microclimate of the suit and for withdrawal of hot humid air from the regions.

5. A protective garment according to claim 4 in which the ducts are formed in an undergarment to be worn beneath the garment.

6. A protective garment according to any one of the preceding claims in which in use the fan is operable to create a positive pressure in the microclimate.

7. A protective garment substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.