Flexible material
DCFirst Claim
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1. A method of manufacturing a flexible material comprising the steps ofproviding a sheet of a resilient material;
- cutting the sheet into a plurality of spaced separate elements using a cutter which is pressed into the sheet to cut therethrough;
making one side of the plurality of spaced separate elements to stand proud of a surface of a jig provided to hold the elements in place; and
bonding a flexible resiliently stretchable substrate to one side of the separate elements by heating the substrate either to activate an adhesive applied between said one side of the separate elements and the substrate or to weld the separate elements to the substrate.
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1 Petition
Accused Products
Abstract
A flexible material includes a plurality of separate resilient elements joined to a flexible, resiliently stretchable substrate. Such a material is suitable for providing protective war for human and animal bodies. Preferably, the elements includes a foam material such as a closed cell polyethylene foam and the substrate includes a knitted fabric. In an advantageous embodiment, a second flexible substrate is bonded over the elements to sandwich them between the two layers of substrate.
104 Citations
43 Claims
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1. A method of manufacturing a flexible material comprising the steps of
providing a sheet of a resilient material; -
cutting the sheet into a plurality of spaced separate elements using a cutter which is pressed into the sheet to cut therethrough; making one side of the plurality of spaced separate elements to stand proud of a surface of a jig provided to hold the elements in place; and bonding a flexible resiliently stretchable substrate to one side of the separate elements by heating the substrate either to activate an adhesive applied between said one side of the separate elements and the substrate or to weld the separate elements to the substrate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An article of protective apparel comprising:
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a plurality of separate resiliently compressible foam elements, the compressible elements having a first surface to provide a plurality of top surfaces configured to face outwardly from a wearer of the apparel, and a second surface to provide a plurality of bottom surfaces configured to face towards the wearer of the apparel, the elements in an adjacent relation with spacing of about 2 mm between the elements; a first resiliently stretchable fabric portion overlying and bonded to the top surfaces; and a second resiliently stretchable fabric portion overlying and bonded to the bottom surfaces, the bonded surfaces holding the elements in spaced apart relation, the bonding selected from the group consisting of adhesively bonding and welding, the first and second fabric portions not bonded to each other between the elements, the top surfaces effective for receiving impacts and the elements effective for absorbing impacts, providing resiliently compressible apparel and protecting the wearer of the apparel from the impacts and wherein there are from about 250 to about 8000 elements/m2 between the fabric portions. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. An article of protective resiliently compressible material comprising:
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a first resiliently stretchable fabric substrate; a plurality of separate resiliently compressible elements having top surfaces and bottom surfaces, the first resiliently stretchable fabric overlying and adhesively bonded to the top surfaces; and a second resiliently stretchable fabric substrate overlying and adhesively bonded to the bottom surfaces, the resiliently compressible elements between the first and second fabric substrates providing a resiliently compressible protective material, the surfaces of the elements adhesively bonded to the substrates holding the elements adjacently spaced apart with a spacing of about 2 mm without the substrates being bonded to each other in the spacing, the elements arrayed in a density of from about 4000 to about 6000 elements/m2. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. An article of protective resiliently compressible material comprising:
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a first resiliently stretchable fabric substrate; a plurality of separate resiliently compressible elements having a top surface and a bottom surface, the top and bottom surfaces of the plurality of separate resiliently compressible elements in a top and bottom array in which adjacent elements are spaced apart about 2 mm, the top array adhesively bonded to the first resiliently stretchable fabric substrate; and a second resiliently stretchable fabric substrate adhesively bonded to the bottom array of bottom surfaces, the fabric substrates overlying the top and bottom arrays in an adhesively affixed and abutting relation with the arrays, adjacent resiliently compressible elements in the arrays spaced apart from each other with the fabric substrates not bonded to each other in spaces between the elements, the resiliently compressible elements having a size and being spaced from each other to provide an element density of from 250 to 8000 elements/m2 to provide a resiliently compressible protective material. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A garment which includes protective resiliently compressible material, the protective resiliently compressible material comprising:
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a first resiliently stretchable knitted fabric substrate; a plurality of separate resiliently compressible foam elements having a top surface and a bottom surface, the top and bottom surfaces of the plurality of separate resiliently compressible foam elements in a top and bottom array in which the adjacent elements are spaced apart about 2 mm, the top array adhesively bonded to the first resiliently stretchable knitted fabric substrate, the spaced apart elements provided by cutting a sheet of foam completely through; and a second resiliently stretchable knitted fabric substrate adhesively bonded to the bottom array of bottom surfaces, the fabric substrates overlying the top and bottom arrays in an adhesively affixed and abutting relation, adjacent resiliently compressible foam elements in the arrays spaced apart from each other with the fabric substrates not bonded to each other in spaces between the elements, the resiliently compressible foam elements having a size and being spaced from each other to provide an element density of from 250 to 8000 elements/m2 to provide the protective resiliently compressible material and garment, one of the knitted fabric substrates adapted to be adjacent the surface of a person wearing the garment and the garment which includes the protective resiliently compressible material effective for providing protection to a person wearing the garment from knocks and injury. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A resiliently compressible material which includes:
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a first resiliently stretchable knitted fabric substrate; a plurality of separate resiliently compressible foam elements having a top surface and a bottom surface, the top and bottom surfaces of the plurality of separate resiliently compressible foam elements in a top and bottom array in which the adjacent elements are spaced apart about 2 mm, the top array adhesively bonded to the first resiliently stretchable knitted fabric substrate, the spaced apart elements provided by cutting a sheet of foam completely through; and a second resiliently stretchable knitted fabric substrate adhesively bonded to the bottom array of bottom surfaces, the fabric substrates overlying the top and bottom arrays in an adhesively affixed and abutting relation, adjacent resiliently compressible foam elements in the arrays spaced apart from each other with the fabric substrates not bonded to each other in spaces between the elements, the resiliently compressible foam elements having a size and being spaced from each other to provide an element density of from 250 to 8000 elements/m2 to provide a resiliently compressible material, one of the substrates adapted to be adjacent the surface of a person wearing the resiliently compressible material and the resiliently compressible material effective for providing protection to the person wearing it from knocks and injury. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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Specification