Articles of apparel including encapsulated insulation panels and methods of making the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10231504-B2
Application number	US-201815996317-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 1, 2018
Priority date	Oct 13, 2015
Publication date	Mar 19, 2019
Grant date	Mar 19, 2019

Abstract

Articles of apparel including an encapsulated insulation panel with a plurality of spaced apart insulation sections, methods of making the encapsulated insulation panels, and methods of making the articles of appeal are provided. Methods of making articles of apparel may include bonding an encapsulated insulation panel to a first fabric layer with an adhesive film. Methods of making articles of apparel may also include coupling the encapsulated insulation panel to a second fabric layer with an adhesive tape to form a multilayer fabric. The bonding and coupling of an encapsulated insulation panel to the fabric layers may be performed with using one or more presses.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An article of apparel, comprising:
an encapsulated insulation panel comprising a plurality of insulation sections in a spaced apart configuration and encapsulated between two polymeric films, each insulation section comprising an aerogel material;
a first fabric layer bonded to a first side of the encapsulated insulation panel with an adhesive film comprising a plurality of openings corresponding to exterior shapes of the plurality of insulation sections; and
a second fabric layer coupled to a second side of the encapsulated insulation panel,
wherein the first fabric layer comprises an embossed exterior surface corresponding to a shape of the plurality of insulation sections.

2. The article of apparel of claim 1 , wherein the aerogel material comprises a fibrous sheet of aerogel material.

3. The article of apparel of claim 1 , wherein the encapsulated insulation panel is waterproof.

4. The article of apparel of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the two polymeric films comprises a thermoplastic material.

5. The article of apparel of claim 1 , wherein the two polymeric films comprise a first polymeric film heat sealed to a second polymeric film.

6. The article of apparel of claim 5 , wherein the first polymeric film is heat sealed to the second polymeric film between two adjacent spaced apart insulation sections.

7. The article of apparel of claim 5 , wherein the first polymeric film is heat sealed to the second polymeric film around a perimeter of at least one of the plurality of insulation sections.

8. The article of apparel of claim 5 , wherein the plurality of spaced apart insulation sections are arranged in a group, and wherein the first polymeric film is heat sealed to the second polymeric film around a perimeter of the group of spaced apart insulation sections.

9. The article of apparel of claim 1 , wherein the two polymeric films comprise a first polymeric film bonded to a second polymeric film.

10. The article of apparel of claim 9 , wherein the first polymeric film is bonded to the second polymeric film between two adjacent spaced apart insulations sections.

11. The article of apparel of claim 1 , wherein the second fabric layer is adhesively bonded to the second side of the encapsulated insulation panel.

12. The article of apparel of claim 1 , wherein the embossed exterior surface of the first fabric layer is visible to an individual looking at the article of apparel.

13. An article of apparel, comprising:
an encapsulated insulation panel comprising an insulation section encapsulated between two polymeric films, the insulation section comprising an insulation material;
a first fabric layer bonded to a first side of the encapsulated insulation panel with an adhesive film comprising an opening corresponding to an exterior shape of the insulation section; and
a second fabric layer coupled to a second side of the encapsulated insulation panel,
wherein the first fabric layer comprises an embossed exterior surface corresponding to a shape of the insulation section.

14. The article of apparel of claim 13 , wherein the insulation material comprises an aerogel material.

15. The article of apparel of claim 13 , wherein the encapsulated insulation panel comprises a plurality of insulation sections encapsulated between the two polymeric films, and
wherein the embossed exterior surface of the first fabric layer comprises a surface corresponding to a shape of the plurality of insulation sections.

16. The article of apparel of claim 13 , wherein the two polymeric films comprise a first polymeric film heat sealed to a second polymeric film.

17. An article of apparel, comprising:
a body;
two sleeves extending from the body;
a first encapsulated insulation panel located on one of the sleeves and comprising:
a plurality of first insulation sections in a spaced apart configuration and encapsulated between a first polymeric film and a second polymeric film, each first insulation section comprising an insulation material;

a second encapsulated insulation panel located on the body and comprising:
a plurality of second insulation sections in a spaced apart configuration and encapsulated between a third polymeric film and a fourth polymeric film, each second insulation section comprising an insulation material;

a first fabric layer bonded to a first side of the first encapsulated insulation panel and a first side of the second encapsulated insulation panel;
a second fabric layer coupled to a second side of the first encapsulated insulation panel; and
a third fabric layer coupled to a second side of the second encapsulated insulation panel,
wherein the first fabric layer comprises an embossed exterior surface comprising a first embossed area corresponding to a shape of the plurality of first insulation sections and a second embossed area corresponding to a shape of the plurality of second insulation sections, and
wherein the embossed exterior surface of the first fabric layer is visible to an individual looking at the article of apparel.

18. The article of apparel of claim 17 , wherein the insulation material of the first insulation sections and the insulation material of the second insulation sections comprises an aerogel material.

19. The article of apparel of claim 17 , wherein the first fabric layer is bonded to the first side of the first encapsulated insulation panel with a first adhesive film comprising a plurality of openings corresponding to exterior shapes of the plurality of first insulation sections, and
wherein the first fabric layer is bonded to the first side of the second encapsulated insulation panel with a second adhesive film comprising a plurality of openings corresponding to exterior shapes of the plurality of second insulation sections.

20. The article of apparel of claim 17 , wherein the first fabric layer comprises a plurality of fabric sheets coupled together at one or more seams.

Assignees

• Reebok Int Ltd

Inventors

• O'SULLIVAN Patrick Schuller
• Stableford Emily

Classifications

• B32B37/12

  characterised by using adhesives · CPC title

• B32B2405/00

  Adhesive articles, e.g. adhesive tapes · CPC title

• B32B37/14

  characterised by the properties of the layers · CPC title

• B32B37/06

  characterised by the heating method · CPC title

• B32B2037/268

  Release layers · CPC title