US20060059599A1

US20060059599A1 - Method for reducing cost of waterproof breathable clothes and improving breathing quality of waterproof non-breathable clothes

Info

Publication number: US20060059599A1
Application number: US11/136,481
Authority: US
Inventors: Tien-Te Lai
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2004-09-23
Filing date: 2005-05-25
Publication date: 2006-03-23
Also published as: TW200610498A

Abstract

A method of reducing cost of waterproof breathable clothes and improving breathing quality of waterproof non-breathable clothes uses more than two kinds of waterproof cloths with different water vapor permeability according to the physical characteristics of moisture, along with the structures of clothes themselves. The waterproof cloth with higher water vapor permeability is applied to parts of clothes most requiring heat dissipating and breathing (the place where moisture accumulates or generates), and the waterproof cloth with lower water vapor permeability or the waterproof non-breathable cloth is applied to parts of clothes less or not requiring heat dissipating and breathing. In other words, the proper moisture-permeable cloth is applied to each part of the clothes with respect to the requirement of heat dissipating and breathing. Therefore, the method can reduce the cost of the existing waterproof breathable clothes, and can improve the breathing quality of the existing waterproof non-breathable clothes.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for reducing cost of waterproof breathable clothes and improving breathing quality of waterproof non-breathable clothes, and more particularly to a method by which the cost of existing waterproof breathable clothes can be reduced and the breathing quality of existing waterproof non-breathable clothes can be improved.
b) Description of the Prior Art
Waterproof breathable cloth, which is also called waterproof moisture-permeable cloth, is made of a specialized high technology material. A coating membrane of the waterproof breathable cloth has about several billions of micro-pore per square inches of area. The key of having both a waterproof capability and permeability lies in that the micro-pore is smaller than the size of a chunk of molecules formed by water a in liquid phase; therefore, water in the liquid phase cannot pass through the micro-pore, thereby enabling the membrane to have a waterproof capability. On the other hand, the micro-pore is larger than the size of a small molecule in a gas phase; therefore, the small molecule in the gas phase can easily pass through the micro-pore, thereby enabling the membrane to have permeability. By coating this kind of material on the cloth or forming into a membrane and pasting it on the cloth, the cloth is equipped with a waterproof capability and permeability.
For the aforementioned waterproof breathable cloth, the standard of waterproof capability is the water pressure resistance, which is usually expressed as mm H₂O representing how many millimeters of a water column can be sustained on a fixed area of cloth without having water to penetrate. Whereas the standard of permeability is the water vapor permeability, which is usually expressed as g/m²/day representing the amount of vapor that can pass through in 24 hours per square meters of a cloth area. The price of the waterproof breathable cloth varies by the magnitudes of water pressure resistance and water vapor permeability of the cloth; the larger the magnitudes of water pressure resistance and water vapor permeability are, the higher the price is. Most of the existing waterproof breathable cloths are used for leisurely and sporting clothes with a high unit price, enabling the leisurely and sporting clothes to have an additive function of waterproof capability and breathing. On the other hand, the waterproof breathable cloth can be used in a rain coat, whose price is about more than three times of an ordinary non-breathable rain coat. Due to the cost and price, most of the real rain coat products on the existing market are still made of muggy and non-breathable plastic cloth or cloth of Nylon/PVC. For most of the rain coat users, it is usually a hardship because of sweating inside the rain coat with a heavy rain outside the rain coat.
For known waterproof clothes, the waterproof cloth must be used as a primary surface cloth (the outermost), thereby achieving a function of waterproof capability. There are two kinds of waterproof clothes on the existing market: the waterproof breathable clothes, and the waterproof non-breathable clothes. However, there is a common feature between these two kinds of clothes, that is, only a single kind of waterproof cloth is used for the primary surface cloth of the waterproof clothes. In other words, there has never been any waterproof clothes whose primary surface cloth is made by mixing the waterproof breathable cloth and the waterproof non-breathable cloth; not to mention using a mixture of more than two kinds of waterproof breathable cloths with different water vapor permeability for the primary surface cloth. For example, if a piece of waterproof clothes is marked with 8000 (mm H₂O) of the water pressure resistance and 5000 (g/m²/day) of the water vapor permeability, then the waterproof breathable cloth used for that clothes is with 8000 (mm H₂O) of the water pressure resistance and 5000 (g/m²/day) of the water vapor permeability; on the other hand, if a piece of waterproof clothes is marked as waterproof non-breathable, then the water vapor permeability of its waterproof cloth is 0 (g/m²/day).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention can be implemented by two ways, including that:
1. More than two kinds of waterproof cloths with different water vapor permeability are used and then divided into several levels of permeability according to the magnitude of water vapor permeability of each cloth. Each part of a piece of clothes is also divided into the same number of levels as that of the cloth according to requirement of heat dissipating and breathing. Next, the waterproof cloth with the level of permeability corresponding to the level of requirement of heat dissipating and breathing of the clothes is applied to each part of the clothes.
2. Each part of a piece of clothes is divided into more than two levels according to requirement of heat dissipating and breathing. Then, the same number of waterproof cloths of different water vapor permeability as that of the levels divided for each part of the clothes is used. These cloths are also divided into levels of permeability according to the magnitude of water vapor permeability of each cloth. Next, the waterproof cloth with the level of permeability corresponding to the level of requirement of heat dissipating and breathing of the clothes is applied to each part of the clothes.
To enable a further understanding of the said objectives and the technological methods of the invention herein, the brief description of the drawings below is followed by the detailed description of the preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a flow of moisture of clothes in a wind coat style.
FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of a flow of moisture of clothes in a two-pieces style.
FIG. 3 shows a front view of a configuration of parts and cloths of clothes in a wind coat style of the present invention (four levels of permeability).
FIG. 4 shows a rear view of a configuration of parts and cloths of clothes in a wind coat style of the present invention (four levels of permeability).
FIG. 5 shows a front view of a configuration of parts and cloths of clothes in a wind coat style of the present invention (two levels of permeability).
FIG. 6 shows a rear view of a configuration of parts and cloths of clothes in a wind coat style of the present invention (two levels of permeability).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention uses more than two kinds of waterproof cloths with different water vapor permeability (including the waterproof non-breathable cloth with zero water vapor permeability) for a piece of clothes, and then divides the cloths into several levels of permeability according to the magnitude of water vapor permeability of each cloth. Each part of the clothes is also divided into the same number of levels as that of the cloths according to requirement of heat dissipating and breathing of the clothes. Then, the waterproof cloth with the level of permeability corresponding to the level of requirement of heat dissipating and breathing of the clothes is applied to each part of the clothes, so as to achieve a best heat dissipating and breathing between each part of the clothes and the waterproof cloths.
The detailed description of the present invention is as follows:
1. More than two kinds of waterproof cloths with different water vapor permeability (including the waterproof non-breathable cloth with zero water vapor permeability) are used and then divided into several levels of permeability according to the magnitude of water vapor permeability of each cloth.
Example:

- (1) If four kinds of waterproof cloths with different water vapor permeability (including the waterproof non-breathable cloth with zero water vapor permeability) are used in a piece of clothes to be manufactured, then the cloths are divided into four levels of permeability, including the high permeable cloth a, the medium permeable cloth b, the low permeable cloth c, and the non-permeable cloth d.
- (2) If only breathable and non-breathable waterproof cloths are used for a piece of clothes to be manufactured, then the cloths are divided into two levels of permeability, including the breathable cloth e and the non-breathable cloth f.

2. Each part of a piece of clothes is divided into the same number of levels as that of the cloths according to requirement of heat dissipating and breathing. In other words, according to the number of levels of permeability of the waterproof cloths, each part of clothes is also divided into the same number of levels of requirement of heat dissipating and breathing.
Example:
(1) If the waterproof cloth is divided into four levels of permeability, then each part of the clothes is also divided into four levels according to the requirement of heat dissipating and breathing, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4: the important part A, the enhanced part B, the moderately enhanced part C, and the ordinary part D.
(2) If only breathable and non-breathable waterproof cloths are used, then each part of the clothes is divided into two levels according to the requirement of heat dissipating and breathing, as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6: the breathable part E and the non-breathable part F.
3. The waterproof cloth with the level corresponding to the level of requirement of heat dissipating and breathing of the clothes is applied to each part of the clothes.
Example:
(1) If four kinds of waterproof cloths with different water vapor permeability are used, and four levels are divided for the clothes according to the requirement of heat dissipating and breathing, then the high permeable waterproof cloth a is applied to the important part A of the clothes, the medium permeable waterproof cloth b is applied to the enhanced part B of the clothes, the low permeable waterproof cloth c is applied to the moderately enhanced part C of the clothes, and the non-permeable waterproof cloth d is applied to the ordinary part D of the clothes, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4.
(2) If breathable and non-breathable waterproof cloths are used, and the clothes is divided into two levels according to the requirement of heat dissipating and breathing, then the breathable cloth e is applied to the breathable part E of the clothes, and the non-breathable cloth f is applied to the non-breathable part F of the clothes, as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6.
For a piece of existing waterproof breathable clothes, as its primary cost lies in the waterproof breathable cloth, and the higher the water vapor permeability of the waterproof breathable cloth is, the more expensive the cost is. Therefore, more than two kinds of waterproof breathable cloths with different water vapor permeability are used in the aforementioned method, wherein the waterproof breathable cloth with the higher water vapor permeability is applied to the part of clothes most requiring heat dissipating and breathing (the place where moisture accumulates or generates), so as to sufficiently develop an effect of heat dissipating and breathing; whereas the waterproof breathable cloth with the lower water vapor permeability or the waterproof non-breathable cloth is applied to the part of clothes less or not requiring heat dissipating and breathing, so as to reduce the cost. In other words, the waterproof cloth with the proper water vapor permeability is applied to each part of the clothes with respect to the requirement of heat dissipating and breathing. Therefore, by applying the present invention to the waterproof breathable clothes, the objects of not affecting the original effect of breathing and reducing the cost can be achieved.
For a piece of existing waterproof non-breathable clothes, as its original effect of breathing is zero, therefore in the aforementioned method, the object of improving the breathing quality of the clothes can be achieved by just applying the waterproof breathable cloth to the part of clothes requiring more heat dissipating and breathing.
Accordingly, the present invention can effectively reduce the cost of the existing waterproof breathable clothes, and improve the breathing quality of the existing waterproof non-breathable clothes.
In the aforementioned method, the number of levels of cloths used is determined first before differentiating the number of levels for each part of the clothes. On the other hand, the number of levels for each part of the clothes can also be determined first before determining the number of levels of the cloths used. The method is to divide each part of the clothes into more than two levels according to the requirement of heat dissipating and breathing, and then the same number of waterproof cloths of different water vapor permeability (including the waterproof non-breathable cloth with zero water vapor permeability) is used according to the levels for each part of the clothes. Next, the waterproof cloth is divided into levels of permeability according to the magnitude of water vapor permeability of each cloth. Finally, the waterproof cloth with the level of permeability corresponding to the level of requirement of heat dissipating and breathing of the clothes is applied to each part of the clothes, so as to achieve a best heat dissipating and breathing between each part of the clothes and the waterproof cloth.
Notes:
1. The division of parts of clothes by levels of requirement of heat dissipating and breathing usually depends on styles, structures, purposes or budgets of cost of the clothes, for example:
(1) The important parts of heat dissipating and breathing for a wind coat could be the back side and shoulders of the clothes. Whereas the important parts of heat dissipating and breathing for a rain coat could be the back side, shoulders, and sleeves (as the cuffs are sealed, therefore it is harder to dissipate moisture for the sleeves). The difference in division is caused by discrepancy of structures.
(2) The styles and structures for the coat style clothes and for the two-pieces style clothes are apparently different, therefore their divisions into levels of requirement of heat dissipating and breathing are different, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.
2. The division of parts of the clothes by levels of requirement of heat dissipating and breathing usually depends on the magnitude of water vapor permeability of each cloth.
3. The manufacturing technique, method, design, or material for the waterproof breathable cloth itself does not affect the implementation of the present invention.
4. The addition of other additive design such as feather, cotton, etc, for the purposes of keeping warm or making comfort for the clothes does affect the implementation of the present invention.
5. The method of applying other cloths to the clothes for the purpose of adding some functions to the clothes is different than the present invention, such as using anti-wear cloth at shoulders, elbows, or knees for increasing the durability of the clothes.
6. The waterproof breathable clothes described in the present invention refer to the clothes made from the waterproof breathable cloths, and the waterproof non-breathable clothes refer to the clothes made from the waterproof non-breathable cloths.
7. As the waterproof breathable cloths have the functions of waterproofing and breathing, their prices also depend on the magnitudes of the water pressure resistance and the water vapor permeability. Therefore, the effects of waterproofing and breathing of the cloths should be taken into consideration for reducing the cost of the waterproof breathable clothes. To avoid the complication and confusion upon describing the combination of these two functions, the effect of waterproofing of the present invention is temporarily neglected, and the water pressure resistance is assumed to be a constant, in order to illustrate the principle of reducing cost of the waterproof breathable clothes of the present invention more clearly and simpler. Then, the function of waterproofing is inferred, as the principle of reducing cost of the waterproof breathable clothes with the waterproofing function is the same as that with the breathing function. In other words, the waterproof cloth with the proper water pressure resistance is applied to each part of the clothes with respect to the requirement of waterproofing.
8. Another implementation method extended from the present invention is to adjust the overall breathing effect of the clothes according to the budget of cost, or to adjust a range of application of the waterproof breathable cloths by the magnitude of water vapor permeability under a fixed budget of cost. For example:
(1) If the budget of cost is plenty, then (a) a part of the clothes can be replaced with the cloth with higher water vapor permeability; (b) the range of application of the original cloths with higher water vapor permeability can be expanded, so as to narrow the range of application of the original cloths with lower water vapor permeability.
(2) If the budget of cost is scarce, then (a) a part of the clothes can be replaced with the cloth with lower water vapor permeability; (b) the range of application of the original cloths with higher water vapor permeability can be narrowed, so as to expand the range of application of the original cloths with lower water vapor permeability.
(3) If the budget of cost is fixed, then (a) if the cloth with higher water vapor permeability is used, then the range of application of that cloth is narrowed; (b) if the cloth with lower water vapor permeability is used, then the range of application of that cloth is expanded.
Example: The manufacturing of a waterproof breathable coat (wind coat)
1. If four kinds of cloths are used, including the waterproof cloth with high water vapor permeability, the waterproof cloth with medium water vapor permeability, the waterproof cloth with low water vapor permeability, and the waterproof non-breathable cloth. These four kinds of cloths are divided into four levels of permeability, including the high permeable cloth a, the medium permeable cloth b, the low permeable cloth c, and the non-permeable d. The unit price (in NT dollars) of each cloth is assumed as follows:

- High permeable cloth a: 90 NT$ per yard
- Medium permeable cloth b: 70 NT$ per yard
- Low permeable cloth c: 50 NT$ per yard
- Non-permeable cloth d: 30 NT$ per yard

2. For this kind of loose clothes having an opening at a lower part and a similarity to a smock, when moisture is formed inside by body temperature of a user, the moisture will float upward and accumulate at an upper part of the clothes including the back side, front chest, shoulders, and sleeves, as shown by the legend 1 in FIG. 1. Therefore, the back side and shoulders are the important part A, as shown by legend A in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, and the front chest and sleeves are the enhanced part B, as shown by legend B in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4. On the other hand, the cloths at middle and lower parts are in a shape of vertical cylinder, as shown by legends 2 and 3 in FIG. 1. In terms of features of moisture, as the moisture has upward buoyancy, the transversal breathing formed by a vertical cylinder is not as direct and fast as the breathing from bottom to top at an upper part of the clothes. When air inside the clothes starts to circulate from bottom to top, the closer the air approaches the lower part, the more the amount of transversal breathing is, and the less the effect of moisture dissipating is. Furthermore, the moisture will not hold there but keep floating upward. Therefore, it is a kind of waste if waterproof breathable cloth is also applied there. Hence, the middle part is the moderately enhanced part C, as shown by legend C in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, and the lower part is the ordinary part D, as shown by legend D in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4. Assume that the yards used for the cloths of the entire clothes is 3 yards, including 0.3 yards for the important part A, 0.5 yards for the enhanced part B, 0.1 yards for the moderately enhanced part C, and 1.2 yards for the ordinary part D.
4. According to items 1, 2 described above, the back side and shoulders of the clothes are the important part A, to which applied the high permeable cloth a; the front chest and shoulders are the enhanced part B, to which applied the medium permeable cloth b; the middle part is the moderately enhanced part C, to which applied the low permeable cloth c; and the lower part is the ordinary part D, to which applied the non-permeable cloth d (as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4).
Cost Evaluation:
The cost of the above example of the present invention is

- 148 NT$=0.3 yards×90 (high permeable)+0.5 yards×70 (medium permeable)+1 yard×50 (low permeable)+1.2 yards×30 (non-permeable);
- whereas the cost of conventional waterproof breathable clothes using cloth with single water vapor permeability is
- 270 NT$=3 yards×90 (high permeable).

Therefore, the cost can be reduced by 270−148=122 NT$, which is about 45% of cost savings.
If the above example is the waterproof clothes using breathable and non-breathable waterproof cloths (the upper part of the clothes uses the waterproof breathable cloth, whereas the middle and lower parts of the clothes use the waterproof non-breathable cloth), then the cost is

- 138 NT$=0.3 yards×90 (high permeable)+0.5 yards×90 (high permeable)+1 yard×30 (non-permeable)+1.2 yard×30 (non-permeable).

Hence, the cost is reduced by 270−138=132 NT$, which is about 49% of cost savings.
Accordingly, for the waterproof breathable clothes, the present invention can save a lot of cost under the condition of not greatly affecting the original breathing function, thereby having a real effect of reducing cost of the clothes.
On the other hand, for waterproof non-breathable clothes, as the original breathing function of the clothes is zero, therefore, the breathing quality can be really improved by just applying waterproof breathable cloth to the part of clothes requiring more heat dissipating and breathing. However, it is better to increase the breathing effect within the price limit that customers can accept. It is because that the waterproof non-breathable clothes are cheaper products, and most of the users of ordinary waterproof non-breathable clothes are motorcycle riders, bicycle riders, or low level workers, etc. For these users, it is not that they cannot afford the waterproof breathable clothes with higher prices, nor do they want to wear more comfortable clothes, but that the purpose is not proper or the chance of using is not too often. Therefore, they have an acceptable limit for the price of product. If the price exceeds this limit, they will still not accept despite how comfortable they may feel by wearing more comfortable clothes. Accordingly, the present invention can achieve the advantage of keeping the price of product within an acceptable limit by the users, while improving the breathing quality of the clothes. For example, the cost of conventional waterproof non-breathable clothes is

- 90 NT$=3 yards×30 (non-permeable).

If the present invention only uses breathable and non-breathable waterproof cloths (the upper part of the clothes uses the waterproof breathable cloth, and the middle and lower parts of the clothes use the waterproof non-breathable cloth), then the cost is

- 106 NT$=0.3 yards×50 (low permeable)+0.5 yards×50 (low permeable)+1 yard×30 (non-permeable)+1.2 yards×30 (non-permeable).

Therefore, the cost increases by 106−90=16 NT$.
According to the comparison of cost above, the original cost is 90 NT$, and it increases to 106 NT$ after using the low permeable cloth to improve the breathing quality. If the range of price limit accepted by the customers can be wider, the range of application of the low permeable cloths can be expanded, or the medium permeable cloths or the high permeable cloths can be used to gradually improve the breathing quality. For example, if 106 NT$ is higher than the price limit accepted by the customers, the range of application of the waterproof breathable cloths can be narrowed. The cost is

- 96 NT$=0.3 yards×50 (low permeable)+0.5 yards×30 (non-permeable)+1 yard×30 (non-permeable)+1.2 yards×30 (non-permeable).

Therefore, the breathing effect can be increased with only 96−90=6 NT$ increase of the cost.
Accordingly, the present invention can improve a muggy and impermeable rain coat on the existing market, and enable the customers to enjoy a breathing rain coat with a fair price.
It is of course to be understood that the embodiments described herein is merely illustrative of the principles of the invention and that a wide variety of modifications thereto may be effected by persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

Claims

1. A method of reducing cost of waterproof breathable clothes and improving breathing quality of waterproof non-breathable clothes, wherein more than two kinds of waterproof cloths with different water vapor permeability are used and divided into several levels of permeability according to the magnitude of water vapor permeability of each cloth; each part of the clothes divided into the same number of levels as that of the cloths according to requirement of heat dissipating and breathing, and then the waterproof cloth with the level of permeability corresponding to the requirement of heat dissipating and breathing of the clothes applied to each part of the clothes;

2. A method of reducing cost of waterproof breathable clothes and improving breathing quality of waterproof non-breathable clothes, wherein each part of the clothes is divided into more than two levels according to requirement of heat dissipating and breathing, and the same number of waterproof cloths of different water vapor permeability is used according to the number of levels for each part of the clothes; these cloths also divided into several levels of permeability according to the magnitude of water vapor permeability of each cloth, then the waterproof cloth with the level of permeability corresponding to the requirement of heat dissipating of and breathing of the clothes applied to each part of the clothes;

3. The method of reducing cost of waterproof breathable clothes and improving breathing quality of waterproof non-breathable clothes according to claim 1 and claim 2, wherein the waterproof cloth can include the waterproof non-breathable cloth having zero water vapor permeability.