HK1172801B - Compression garments and method of manufacture - Google Patents

Description

Compression garment and method of manufacture

Technical Field

The present invention relates to compression garments and to methods of manufacture. In particular, the present invention relates to compression garments comprising an upper body garment and a lower body garment.

Background

Prior art compression garments are typically designed to fit snugly against the body, but do not take into account the degree to which muscles increase in volume and mass during activity. In this case, such prior art garments may become non-static or inversely graded. Once a person wearing a static compression garment increases muscle mass through activity, the garment can become tighter near the muscle, which can increase in volume by as much as 3-5%. This changes the effect of the static pressurization and can produce an undesirable effect of becoming undesirably tight or providing more pressurization in the wrong location. Which can impede circulation and reduce the effects of lymphatic drainage.

The prior art compression garments do not take into account the difference in the degree of shortening that occurs during activity and exposure to increased eccentric loads (lengthening) for some muscle groups.

It would also be desirable to provide a compression garment that, at least in preferred embodiments, can take into account the effects of excessive pressure in particular areas in order to reduce or avoid the problem of injury.

As an example, one of the most common running injuries is the iliotibial band friction syndrome (ITBFS), sometimes referred to as the "runner's knee". The iliotibial band is a thickened portion of the lateral or outer soft tissue surrounding the leg called the fascia. The iliotibial band extends from the hip to the lateral side of the knee. The muscles inserted into the upper part of the bundle are the tensor fascia latae and part of the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius. Injury is often manifested as pain and inflammation on the lateral side of the knee.

The illiotibial band may become taut for various reasons and pain may be transmitted down the side of the leg. Friction may be caused in the femoral region lateral to the iliotibial band across the knee joint.

It has been found that excessive pressure provided by the compression garment can cause rubbing of the iliotibial band on the hip and knee joints, resulting in or increasing ITBFS. In particular, this type of injury can occur with repeated hip and knee flexion during bouncing and running movements.

It is an object of the present invention, at least in some embodiments, to improve upon prior art compression garments by providing a compression garment that may reduce the likelihood of injury due to ITBFS and/or that may provide focused support and compression on critical areas and muscle groups, including the iliotibial band, gluteus muscles, achilles tendon, calf muscles (triceps surae), and scapula.

Disclosure of Invention

In one aspect, the present invention provides a compression garment for covering a body part, the compression garment having a first panel of stretchable material (panel) joined to a second panel of stretchable material by a seam, wherein the stretchable material of the second panel has higher stretch and recovery properties than the stretchable material of the first panel, and wherein, in use, the first panel of stretchable material is adapted to support a larger, more powerful muscle group than the second panel.

The body part may be an arm, a leg, an upper torso, a lower torso, or a combination of these. For example, compression garments of the present invention may include shorts, long tights, or top body suits (tops) as a single garment or in combination with garments intended to be worn as a suit.

The compression garment of the present invention may be made of two or more different elastomeric materials.

The material from which the compression garment of the invention is made may be selected from a wide variety of fabrics or different fabrics. Preferably, however, the garment of the present invention is made of panels of spandex (elastane) or fabric of similar stretch material, typically combined with nylon or polyester or similar stretch material of 40 to 60 or up to 500 denier material. The fabric preferably has exceptional stretch and recovery properties. It is highly preferred that the stretch along the warp threads of the fabric is between 120% and 225% and the recovery number is between 5% and 40%.

According to a first aspect of the invention, the stretchable material of the second panel has higher stretch and recovery properties than the stretchable material of the first panel. The properties of the second panel may be implemented in any desired manner. For example, the second panel may be made of a material having a lower denier or greater elasticity than the material of the first panel.

Preferably, the first panel of the compression garment of the present invention can achieve a compression value between 5mmHg and 25 mmHg. It is envisioned that compression garments of the present invention may be used for treatment, and in that case, the level of compression may be greater, for example, up to 40 mmHg. In most embodiments of the compression garment of the present invention, the compression will have a lower rating, being less than 25mmHg ranging down to 5mmHg for active wear and 30mmHg ranging down to 8mmHg for inactive or non-athletic use.

The material of the first and/or second panel preferably has a "wicking" effect such that in use it absorbs moisture from the body. Such materials are known.

The tiles used in the first aspect of the invention may have any suitable shape.

A first aspect of the invention is based on the idea of providing panels in compression garments to represent a pattern of arrangement of muscle structures. This concept considers that the larger, more powerful muscle groups have the most muscle fibers, but their degree of shortening is small. Examples of such muscle groups are gluteus (gluteus maximus), quadriceps (quadriceps, located at the front of the thigh), hams (hams, located at the back of the thigh), calves (located at the back of the lower limb), trapezius (trapezius, located in the upper back of the torso), latissimus (latissimus dorsi, mid-side back of the torso), and rectus abdominis (anterior abdominus). In a preferred embodiment, the first panel completely covers the muscle belly of such muscle groups. It is believed that in this way, vasoconstriction of the muscle belly may be reduced and more effective compression on muscle groups with more blood supply may be achieved.

An example of a muscle group with a greater degree of shortening and generally with longer tendons is the achilles tendon. This can be exposed to increased eccentric loads (elongation) during activity. The second panel of the first aspect of the invention can support this type of muscle group, which panel allows stretching with good recovery with minimal force.

The seam is preferably a flat stitched seam joining panels of elastomeric material. However, the seam is not limited thereto. For example, the seam may be a line or ridge having a greater thickness than the surrounding area of the compression garment. Thus, the seam may be formed by gluing, stitching or any other means.

The stitching is preferably flat stitching using a four or six needle process.

In particular, in the case of the first panel of the compression garment of the invention, it is preferred that the seam or stitch line follows the origin or insertion point of the muscle and follows the fascia line or bony prominence where blood supply is low. In embodiments providing an upper body garment, it is preferred that the seam follows the fibre direction of the external oblique muscle (the external abdominal muscle). This may allow the panels of the compression garment to assist in the transverse plane or twisting motion of torso function during throwing and running activities.

When a suitable embodiment of an upper body garment according to the invention is worn together with a suitable embodiment of a lower body garment according to the invention, a simultaneous mechanism of action may be created during dynamic motion to introduce gradient compression.

In a second aspect, the present invention provides a compression garment for covering a lower body portion of a wearer, the compression garment comprising: a first panel of stretchable material connected by a first seam to a second panel of stretchable material connected by a second seam to a third panel or the first panel, wherein the second panel is adapted to be positioned along a substantial portion of the illiotibial band of the wearer in use.

In one embodiment, the second panel is adapted in use to extend substantially from the tensor fasciae latae of the wearer along the illiotibial band towards the knee.

It is particularly preferred to combine the first and second aspects of the invention, and the second panel is connected to a fourth, more resilient panel, the fourth panel being designed to lie above the knee in use. In particular, if the second panel has greater elasticity than the first and second panels and the fourth panel has greater elasticity, the lower body garment of the second aspect of the invention may be designed to reduce excessive pressure above the iliotibial band and the tensor fasciae latae, while allowing a desired degree of knee flexion.

In a third aspect, the present invention provides a compression garment for covering a body part which is a lower limb of a wearer, the compression garment having a first panel of stretchable material joined to a second panel of stretchable material by a seam adapted, in use, to at least partially divide the triceps surae of the wearer.

Preferably, in the third aspect of the invention, the seam segmentation connects the lateral and medial gastrocnemius muscles of the upper part of the archives (achilles) at the muscle tendon (musculo-tendonous) junction.

A third aspect of the invention is based on the idea that strong contraction of the calf muscles of the lower limbs is required in running and bouncing sports. If the calf muscles become fatigued or functionally weakened during over-contraction over a period of time, eccentric contractions (such as landing one leg on the ground during running) can cause these muscles to tear. The third aspect of the invention may in fact provide a double block system which may allow for individual specific support and compression of the gastrocnemius muscle belly. This can help reduce local fatigue in the triceps surae region of the lower leg and help limit lower leg muscle damage.

In one embodiment of the third aspect of the invention, the compression garment is in the form of an elongated sock or stocking.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the first, second and third aspects of the invention are combined to obtain a lower body compression garment, such as a long or short compression garment, having the features of all three aspects. In this particularly preferred embodiment, the compression garment comprises Archimedes tiles representing the second tiles according to the first aspect of the invention.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that the compression garment of the present invention may, in appropriate aspects, utilize a combination of compressed and high stretch/recovery fabric in the rear outer panels of the waist and thighs. This may help create complementary mechanisms of action for the oblique muscles, gluteus maximus, iliotibial band, and tensor fasciae latae.

In a preferred embodiment, for compression garments that are lower body garments, it is preferred that the waistband be made from a panel of stretchable material having selected stretch and recovery characteristics designed such that the waistband need not include an elastic insert in the back portion of the garment. In this embodiment, there is optionally an elastic insert in the front of the garment. It will be appreciated that this is different from prior art arrangements (in which the elastic insert encircles the waist, or in which the elastic insert is included in only a portion of the waistband), the elastic insert being used in the rear of the garment rather than in the front. Constructions of the type described in relation to the lower body garment of the present invention may provide vertical stability.

The above-described embodiments of the waistband represent the fourth aspect of the invention, but are preferably used in combination with any or all of the first, second and third aspects of the invention.

In a fifth aspect, the present invention provides a compression garment for covering an upper body part of a wearer, the compression garment having a first panel of stretchable material joined to a second panel of stretchable material by a seam, wherein the seam is adapted to lie in a fibre direction along the external oblique muscle of the wearer in use.

In a preferred embodiment, the upper body compression garment of the fifth aspect of the invention has a seam joining the first and second panels, the seam being arranged such that at the front of the garment, the seam is located above the wearer's diaphragm region. It is further preferred that at the rear of the garment, the seam is shaped to curve upwardly to provide compression to the scapula muscles, while allowing the lower portion of the wearer's torso to be more flexible.

It is particularly preferred that a third panel of higher elasticity is inserted on the rear of the upper body garment in the region of the wearer's spine to allow stretching and twisting.

Optionally, the compression garment of the present invention may include one or more mesh inserts in any of its aspects to assist in ventilation or to assist in dissipating body heat. In the case of a lower body garment, for example, the mesh insert may be arranged to be located under the waistband at the upper back. Alternatively, a second mesh insert may be present in the crotch region.

For upper body garments, for example, the mesh insert may be placed in the underarm area or at the neckline or any other desired location.

The present invention also provides a method of making a compression garment of any aspect of the present invention, the method comprising the steps of: providing a first panel of stretchable material and a second panel of stretchable material; and joining the first panel to the second panel by a seam.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many of the preferred embodiments described above in relation to the first aspect of the invention are also applicable to other aspects of the invention.

Drawings

To assist in understanding the invention, reference will now be made to certain non-limiting embodiments in the drawings, in which:

fig. 1 shows a front view of a first embodiment of a lower torso compression garment in accordance with the first, second, third and fourth aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a side view of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a rear view of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 illustrates a front view of a first embodiment of an upper body compression garment showing first and fifth aspects of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the embodiment of FIG. 4; and is

Fig. 6 is a rear view of the embodiment of fig. 4 and 5.

Detailed Description

Referring first to fig. 1 through 3, compression garment 10 is shown as a lower torso garment in the form of a long compression garment intended to cover the body portion of the lower torso from approximately the waistline of the wearer to the ankle of the wearer.

The longbody suit 10 has first panels 12A and 12B of stretchable material and a second panel 14 of stretchable material. The first panel 12A is joined to the second panel 14 by a second seam 18. The first panel 12B is joined to the second panel 14 by a first seam 16. Effectively, the first panel 12 is divided into two portions, 12A and 12B, the panel 12A covering the front of the wearer's thighs as shown in FIG. 1, and the panel 12B covering the back of the wearer's thighs as shown in FIG. 3, with the seam (not shown) joining the panels 12A and 12B extending along the inner thighs of the wearer.

The first panels 12A and 12B require a greater force to stretch and are therefore less elastic than the second panel 14.

First panel 12B is adapted to support the gluteus maximus of the wearer, located at 20, and the hamstrings, located at 24. The first panel 12A is adapted to support the quadriceps at 22.

It will be noted from fig. 1 and 2 that the second seam 18 is positioned such that it traverses the upper leg of the wearer above the knee region 26 and therefore does not impede knee flexion.

It will also be noted from fig. 2 that second panel 14 is located along a majority of the wearer's illiotibial band, terminating at a third seam 28 above knee region 26.

In this embodiment, the knee region 26 is covered by an additional panel 30. This further panel may be of a material with similar elasticity as the second panel 14, but is preferably made of a material with greater elasticity than the second panel 14, so as not to hinder knee flexion.

In the lower leg of compression garment 10, seam 16 continues around to the back of the lower leg such that it at least partially divides the triceps surae of the lower leg at 32. A seam 34 similarly extends from the area of the inner thigh of the wearer to meet the seam 16 at 32. It will be noted that seams 16 and 34 effectively divide calf muscles 36 and 38 of the wearer's lower limbs where they merge at 32.

In this embodiment, panel 40 is bounded by seam 42 and seam 34 along the bony prominence (bonypromism) of the tibia (see fig. 1).

Panel 44 is bounded by the extension of seam 42, seam 16, and lower seam 46 to knee panel 30. Preferably, panels 40 and 44 are made of the same material as first panels 12A and 12B.

As shown in FIG. 3, additional panels 48 support the wearer's achilles tendon, formed between the extensions of seams 16 and 34. Preferably, panel 48 is made of a more resilient material such as the material of second panel 14 or the material of knee panel 30.

As shown in figure 1, long compression garment 10 has a crotch panel 50 that connects two first panels 12A by seams 52 and 54. The crotch panel 50 may have the same elasticity as the first panel 12A or a different elasticity.

Crotch panel 50 is joined to upper panel 56 by seam 58. Also, the tiles 56 may have the same elasticity or a different elasticity than the surrounding tiles.

As can be seen from fig. 3, seam 60 connects panels 12B and extends between gluteus maximus regions 20. Panels 62 are positioned above seam 60 and below waistband 64. If desired, the tiles 62 may be made up of or may include grid tiles to assist in ventilation. Additional mesh panels may be included in crotch panel 50 or elsewhere located near the crotch of the wearer.

As can be seen from each of fig. 1 to 3, the waistband 64 is formed by seams 66 so that the compression garment 10 sits flat on the waist of the wearer.

In this embodiment, the waistband 64 has no separate elastic insert except in the front portion of the waistband 64 between the seams 68 and 70.

Compression garment 10 is manufactured by providing each respective panel and connecting them by each respective seam to provide the desired shape to the intended wearer.

Although fig. 1 to 3 show the compression garment 10 in the form of a long compression garment, it will be appreciated that the first and second aspects of the invention may be embodied in the form of a short compression garment which is cut over the knee region 26.

Referring now to fig. 4 to 6, a compression garment 80 is shown in the form of an upper body garment, which in this embodiment has long sleeves 82 and 84. However, it will be understood that it is within the scope of the present invention for long sleeves 82 and 84 not to be included or to be present in the form of shorter sleeves.

Compression garment 80 has a first panel 86 joined to a second panel 88 by seam 90. Seam 90 is intended to follow the fiber direction of the wearer's external oblique muscle at 92 to assist the twisting motion of the wearer during activity. First panel 86 is of a less elastic material than second panel 88. This provides compression to the upper portion of the wearer's torso while allowing greater elasticity in the membrane region 94.

As can be seen from fig. 5, seam 90 is intended to extend along the lower extremity of the latissimus dorsi at 96.

As can be seen from fig. 6, seam 90 is raised again at the rear of upper body garment 80 to support the scapula.

In the illustrated embodiment, and as can be seen in FIG. 6, upper body garment 80 has panels 98 and 100 separated by additional panels 102. Panels 98 and 100 are made of the same relatively low elasticity material as panel 86. However, panel 102 is made of a material that is relatively elastic (the same or a different elasticity than the material of panel 88), and the purpose of panel 102 is to allow proper movement of the wearer's back during activity, while still providing compression through panels 98 and 100.

In the illustrated embodiment, additional seams 104 are provided to help anchor the arm muscles.

Side seams 106 are provided to assist in shaping upper body garment 80. Optionally, side seams 106 may allow side panels 108 and 110 to have different elasticity compared to other panels (such as panel 86 and panels 98 and 100).

As with the long compression garment 10, the upper body garment 80 may have mesh inserts to assist with ventilation. These may be used, for example, in the neck panel 112 or in the underarm panel 114.

All seams mentioned in the above embodiments are made using 4-needle lockstitch and can be used to anchor muscle groups and assist in compression.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that numerous modifications and variations may be made to the embodiments described herein without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

Industrial applicability

The present invention has industrial applicability in that compression garments are able to take into account the effects of excessive pressure in particular areas in the body of the wearer, thus alleviating or avoiding the problem of injury.

Claims (7)

1. A compression garment for covering a lower body portion of a wearer, the compression garment having a first panel of stretchable material joined to a second panel of stretchable material by a first seam and a second seam, wherein the stretchable material of the second panel has higher stretch and recovery properties than the stretchable material of the first panel, and wherein, in use, the first panel of stretchable material is adapted to support a larger, more powerful muscle group than the second panel; the first panel is divided into two portions, the first portion adapted to support the gluteus maximus and hamstrings of the wearer, the second portion adapted to support the quadriceps; wherein the second panel is connected to a third panel by a third seam, the second panel being adapted to be located along a majority of the illiotibial band of the wearer in use; the third tile is designed to cover the knee area in use; the third panel has a greater elasticity than the second panel, thereby allowing the knee to flex.

2. The compression garment of claim 1, further comprising a waistband made from a panel of stretchable material having selected stretch and recovery properties designed such that the waistband does not need to include an elastic insert in the back of the garment.

3. The compression garment of claim 2, further comprising an elastic insert in the front of the garment.

4. The compression garment of claim 2 or 3, further comprising one or more mesh inserts to assist in ventilation or to assist in dissipating body heat.

5. The compression garment of claim 4, wherein the mesh insert is located under the waistband at an upper back.

6. The compression garment of claim 4, wherein a second mesh insert is present in the crotch region.

7. The compression garment of claim 5, wherein a second mesh insert is present in the crotch region.