Garment Mobility-Enhancing Arm Pleat Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional fire-resistant coveralls restrict arm movement and can expose wrists and lower arms due to restrictive sleeves, while mobility-enhancing stretch panels compromise protection.
Innovation Solution
A garment with a mobility-enhancing arm pleat that spans along the upper-arm portion, allowing for increased surface area when reaching upward or forward, maintaining protection by moving between a closed and open position without exposing the interior and using the same material as the sleeve.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional fire-resistant coveralls are used, then protection against harmful materials and fire resistance are maintained, but arm mobility is restricted and sleeves may ride up exposing wrists and lower arms
Solution Approach 1:
The sleeve incorporates a pleat that transitions from a static, flat configuration to a dynamic, expanded configuration as the arm moves upward. This dynamic transformation allows the sleeve to adapt its shape and volume during movement, providing additional material where needed while maintaining protection. The pleat expands to accommodate the increased surface area required during upward arm movement, preventing the sleeve from riding up and exposing the wrist.
Solution Approach 2:
The pleat is positioned within the sleeve structure in a nested configuration, where the pleated material is contained within the sleeve's volume when not in use. As the arm moves upward, the pleat unfolds and expands outward from its nested position, providing the necessary additional surface area without requiring the sleeve to be larger in its resting state. This nested arrangement allows the sleeve to maintain its protective coverage while enabling mobility.
2Ease of operation
If mobility-enhancing stretch panels are added to the garment, then arm mobility is improved, but the degree of protection against harmful materials is reduced and fire resistance is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of changing the material properties (as stretch panels would), the invention changes the geometric parameters of the sleeve by incorporating a pleat. The pleat modifies the sleeve's shape, volume, and surface area distribution without altering the material's protective properties. This geometric transformation provides mobility enhancement while maintaining the same level of protection and fire resistance as the base fabric.
3Ease of operation
If the sleeve material is expanded to provide greater range of motion, then mobility is improved, but the sleeve may ride up and expose the wrist to the environment
Solution Approach 1:
The pleat adds a third dimension to the sleeve structure by creating a folded, volumetric element within the two-dimensional sleeve fabric. When the arm moves upward, this third-dimensional pleat unfolds and expands, providing additional surface area in the radial direction without compromising the longitudinal coverage of the sleeve. This dimensional transformation allows the sleeve to accommodate movement while maintaining continuous protection from the environment.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure describes a garment comprising a mobility-enhancing pleat positioned on the upper-arm portion of a sleeve. The pleat may be configured to move between a closed position, in which an outer layer lies substantially flat against the sleeve, and an open position, in which the outer layer is configured to provide the upper-arm portion of the sleeve with an increased surface area. Due to the increased surface area, the wearer is not restricted when reaching forward or upward and the sleeve is prevented from riding up so as to expose the wrists or lower arms of the wearer. Moreover, when the pleat is in an open position, the interior of the garment is not exposed. Accordingly, the pleat will not compromise a fire-resistant garment.