Multi-Layer Cooling Garment with Spacer and Perforations
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current athletic garments fail to provide adequate cooling during high-intensity activities and hot weather conditions, as they lack effective cooling mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
A multi-layer apparel construction comprising a first layer with cooling fabrics for conductive cooling, a second layer with spacer material for convective airflow, and a third layer with perforated holes for enhanced airflow, utilizing evaporative cooling principles to manage moisture and heat transfer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If standard athletic garments are used, then they provide basic coverage and comfort, but they fail to provide adequate cooling during high-intensity activities and hot weather
Solution Approach 1:
The garment is divided into multiple functional layers: an inner layer with cooling fabric, a middle spacer layer for airflow, and an outer shell layer with perforations. Each layer performs a specific cooling function, collectively providing superior temperature management while maintaining manageable complexity through modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
The garment combines different materials with complementary cooling properties: evaporative cooling fabrics, spacer materials for convection, and perforated shell materials. This composite construction integrates multiple cooling mechanisms (evaporative, convective, conductive) to achieve 40% greater cooling power than standard garments.
2Temperature
If cooling fabrics are used to provide conductive cooling, then cooling effect is improved, but moisture management and evaporation are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The garment merges evaporative cooling (inner layer), convective cooling (middle spacer layer), and conductive cooling (outer shell) into a single integrated system. This combination of multiple cooling mechanisms works synergistically to provide comprehensive temperature management and enhanced moisture evaporation.
Solution Approach 2:
The middle spacer layer acts as an intermediary between the inner cooling fabric and outer shell, facilitating airflow and moisture transport. This intermediary layer enables efficient convective cooling and enhances the evaporation rate by creating air circulation pathways.
3Productivity
If spacer material is used to allow convective airflow, then evaporation is enhanced, but overall cooling power is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The garment combines spacer material for convective airflow with evaporative cooling fabrics and perforated shell materials to create a multi-mechanism cooling system. This composite construction integrates evaporative, convective, and conductive cooling to achieve 40% greater overall cooling power than garments using single mechanisms.
4Temperature
If the garment is wetted and wringed to activate evaporative cooling, then cooling effect is improved, but the process is complex and requires user action
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling fabric is pre-treated or pre-configured to enable easy activation through simple user actions like wetting and wringing. The garment design incorporates features that facilitate rapid water distribution and evaporation activation, reducing the complexity of the activation process.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The multi-layer construction provides a 40% greater cooling power than standard garments, maintaining a temperature decrease of thirty degrees below body temperature for approximately two hours, with instant cool touch effects and extended cooling duration.
Implementation Method 1
a first layer (104) can be adjacent to a wearer's skin and can include cooling fabrics capable of providing a conductive cooling effect
Implementation Method 2
a second layer (106) can be adjacent to the first layer and can include a spacer material, which can allow for convective air flow, thereby aiding in the evaporation of liquid from the first layer
Implementation Method 3
The evaporative cooling effect of material/construction 100 in FIGS. 1A and 1B is activated when the material/construction 100 is wetted, wringed, snapped and/or twirled in the air. The cooling effect for the material 100 described herein utilizes the principles of evaporative cooling (heat of evaporation). This principle states that water requires heat energy to change from a liquid into a vapor. In order for evaporation to occur, heat must be taken from the liquid water, which leaves cooler liquid in material 100.
Implementation Method 4
a third layer (108) can be adjacent to the second layer and can include perforated holes in order to enhance the airflow to the first and second layers
Data Source
AI summary
A cooling garment, and a method of construction thereof, includes: a first layer configured to be adjacent to a wearer's skin and comprising exemplary cooling fabrics capable of providing a conductive cooling effect when preferably when wet-activated; a second layer adjacent to the first layer and comprising a spacer material that allows for convective air flow; and a third layer adjacent to the second layer and comprising perforated holes in order to enhance the airflow to the first and second layers.