Apparel Panel Configuration for Arm Mobility and Ventilation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Sleeveless and tank-style garments often restrict arm mobility and limit the ability to fully extend arms due to their design, which also prevents vents along the seams from opening during movement, reducing thermal regulation and comfort.
Innovation Solution
An article of apparel with a unique panel configuration where the first panel is joined to a second panel to form openings, with seams positioned to allow greater arm mobility and vents to open as the wearer moves, enhancing both mobility and thermal regulation by aligning vents with areas of movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If sleeveless and tank-style garments are constructed from two panels of fabric joined at seams extending along the midline of the garment, then the garment structure is simplified and easier to manufacture, but the wearer experiences restricted range-of-motion and limited arm mobility
Solution Approach 1:
The garment is divided into multiple panels (front panel, back panel, and side panels) with specific seam placements. The side panels are positioned to align with the wearer's side seams, creating segmented sections that allow independent movement. This segmentation enables the garment to accommodate arm elevation and extension without restricting mobility, while maintaining a relatively simple construction process.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces vents along the side seams that extend in the vertical dimension. These vents are positioned and oriented such that they open during arm elevation and extension movements. By adding this vertical dimension of ventilation openings, the garment provides both mobility enhancement and thermal regulation without complicating the basic two-panel construction.
2Ease of manufacture
If vents are integrated along the seam on the side of the garment in areas not usually associated with movement, then the vents remain closed during activity, but thermal regulation is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The vents are strategically positioned along the side seams in areas that correspond to natural movement patterns of the wearer. Specifically, the vents are located where the fabric naturally stretches and opens during arm elevation and extension. This local placement ensures that the vents open during activity to provide thermal regulation, while maintaining a simple integration process that requires minimal additional manufacturing steps.
3Stability of the object's composition
If seams extend along the midline of the garment up the sides between the waist opening and arm openings, then the garment structure is stable and well-defined, but the wearer's ability to fully extend arms back or up is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The side seams are designed with dynamic characteristics that allow them to stretch and open during arm movements. The vents along the side seams are positioned to facilitate this dynamic behavior, opening during arm elevation and extension while maintaining garment structure during rest. This dynamic design enables full arm extension without compromising the stability and defined structure of the garment composition.
Data Source
AI summary
An article of apparel comprising a first panel joined to a second panel such that a neck opening, a right arm opening, a left arm opening, and a waist opening are formed, and a midline plane extends through the article of apparel from one side to the other and through at least the neck opening, right arm opening, and left arm opening to define an anterior portion and a posterior portion of the article of apparel. In some aspects, the first panel extends from the anterior portion to the posterior portion proximate to the neck opening. In other aspects, the second panel extends to the anterior portion inferior to the right arm opening and left arm opening to a right seam and a left seam, respectively.