Panel for absorbing mechanical impact energy and method of manufacturing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10245807-B2
Application number	US-201615252645-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 31, 2016
Priority date	Jun 1, 2012
Publication date	Apr 2, 2019
Grant date	Apr 2, 2019

Abstract

A panel for absorbing mechanical impact energy includes a substrate and a multiplicity of fibers attached, by one of their ends, to the substrate with their other ends extending away from the substrate. The panel may include a thin, porous covering layer that overlies the free ends of the fibers. The porosity of the cover and the fiber density of the fibers may allow for breathability of the panel. The panels may be flexible and may be used in body protection devices such as helmets, body armor as well as in other environments. Panels may be configured in a variety of energy absorbing arrangements for differing applications.

First claim

We claim:

1. A panel for absorbing energy from an impact load comprising:
a substrate;
a multiplicity of flocked monofilament flock fibers, each having first and second ends, the fibers being attached, at their first ends to a surface of the substrate with the second ends of the multiplicity of monofilament flock fibers extending away from the substrate;
the multiplicity of monofilament flock fibers extending away substantially perpendicular to the substrate;
the multiplicity of monofilament flock fibers being closely spaced to each other sufficiently to buckle resiliently and absorb a portion of the energy imparted to the panel by an impact load;
wherein the multiplicity of monofilament flock fibers further comprises:
a first group of fibers, each fiber having a first denier and a first fiber length and a second group of fibers, each fiber of the second group of fibers having a second denier lower than the first denier and a second length shorter than the first length; and
wherein the second group of fibers are interspersed among the first group of fibers.

2. The panel as defined in claim 1 further comprising a flexible protective cover attached to the substrate and overlying the multiplicity of monofilament fibers.

3. The panel as defined in claim 2 wherein the protective cover is unsecured from the free second ends of the multiplicity of monofilament flock fibers.

4. The panel as defined in claim 2 wherein the protective cover is secured to the free second ends of the multiplicity of monofilament flock fibers.

5. The panel as defined in claim 2 wherein the protective cover is porous to enable airflow through the protective cover.

6. The panel as defined in claim 1 wherein the first group of fibers are between about 2 mm to about 6 mm in length; and
wherein the first group of fibers have a denier in the range of about 10 to about 60.

7. The panel as defined in claim 6 wherein the flock density of the multiplicity of monofilament flock fibers is in the range of about 50 to 600 fibers per square millimeter.

8. The panel as defined in claim 1 wherein the flock density of the multiplicity of monofilament flock fibers is in the range of about 50 to 600 fibers per square millimeter.

9. The panel as defined in claim 1 wherein the first group of fibers have a first denier of between about 10 and 60 and a first length of between about 2 mm to about 6 mm; and wherein the second group of fibers have a second denier between about 1.5 to about 9 and a second length of between about 0.5 mm to about 2.0 mm.

10. The panel as defined in claim 9 wherein the second group of fibers have a second denier of about 3.0 and a second length of about 0.028 inches and the fibers in the first group have a first denier of about 45 and a first length of about 0.060 inches.

11. The panel as defined in claim 1 wherein the panel is sufficiently flexible to conform or bend to varying contours.

12. The panel as defined in claim 1 wherein the spacing between the multiplicity of monofilament flock fibers enables air to flow between the substrate and the thin flexible, porous, fabric, protective cover.

13. The panel as defined in claim 12 further comprising at least one of the substrate and the thin flexible, porous, fabric, protective cover being porous to permit airflow therethrough.

14. The panel as defined in claim 1 wherein the multiplicity of monofilament fibers are flocked onto the substrate in a flock density so that they frictionally engage adjacent ones of the multiplicity of monofilament fibers when deforming in response to an applied impact load wherein the frictional engagement increases the ability of the panel to absorb a portion of an impact force.

15. The panel as defined in claim 1 wherein the substrate is formed from material adapted to absorb impact energy from an external impact force.

16. The panel as defined in claim 15 wherein the substrate comprises compressible foam.

17. The panel as defined in claim 1 further comprising:
a second multiplicity of flocked monofilament fibers each having first and second ends, the fibers being attached, at their first ends to a second surface of the substrate opposite the surface of the substrate, with the second ends of the fibers extending away from the substrate;
the second multiplicity of flocked monofilament fibers being of a denier and length and being closely spaced to each other sufficiently to buckle resiliently and absorb a portion of the energy imparted to the panel by an impact load.

18. The panel as defined in claim 17 further comprising:
a porous protective cover enveloping the first and second multiplicity of fibers.

19. The panel as defined in claim 18 further comprising:
a plurality of airflow holes formed by needle punching the panel including the attached multiplicity and attached second multiplicity of fibers.

20. The panel as defined in claim 1 wherein the interspersed monofilament flock fibers of the first group of fibers will frictionally engage adjacent ones of the second group of fibers when deforming in response to an applied impact load providing a greater energy absorption capability than either group of fibers alone.

Assignees

• Univ Massachusetts

Inventors

• Lewis Armand F
• Kim Yong K

Classifications

• B32B5/12

  characterised by the relative arrangement of fibres or filaments of {different layers, e.g. the fibres or filaments being parallel or perpendicular to each other} · CPC title

• B32B2262/0261

  Polyamide fibres · CPC title

• B32B3/266

  characterised by an apertured layer, the apertures going through the whole thickness of the layer, e.g. expanded metal, perforated layer, slit layer regular cells B32B3/12 · CPC title

• A41D13/015

  with shock-absorbing means (A41D13/05 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B32B5/02 Primary

  characterised by structural features of a {fibrous or filamentary} layer {(layer formed of metallic wires B32B15/02; layer formed of natural mineral fibres B32B19/02; layer formed of wood fibres B32B21/02)} · CPC title