Movement-reactive athletic apparel and methods of making the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11758953-B2
Application number	US-202016916230-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 30, 2020
Priority date	Apr 4, 2017
Publication date	Sep 19, 2023
Grant date	Sep 19, 2023

Abstract

Articles of athletic garments, particularly sports bra and methods of treating the athletic garments with a shear thickening fluid (STF) are disclosed. The athletic garment comprises a STF treated fabric. The STF treated fabric in contact with the wearer's body part restricts movement of the body part when the shear stress exceeds the shear stress threshold value and stretches and conforms to the wearer's body part when the shear stress is less than the shear stress threshold value. The STF treatment method may include immersing the untreated fabric in a diluted STF bath, metering an amount of the fluid on the fabric, and removing the diluent from the treated fabric.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An article of sportswear, the article comprising:
a fabric treated with a shear thickening fluid having a shear stress threshold value,
the treated fabric configured to stretch and conform to a wearer's body part when the treated fabric is secured to the body part when a shear stress in the treated fabric is less than or equal to the shear stress threshold value, and
wherein the treated fabric is configured to restrict movement of the wearer's body part when the shear stress in the treated fabric is greater than the shear stress threshold value.

2. The article of claim 1 , wherein the article is a sports bra.

3. The article of claim 1 , wherein the article is an article of footwear.

4. The article of claim 1 , wherein the shear thickening fluid comprises particles that are selected from a group consisting of: silicon dioxide, titanium dioxide, calcium carbonate, and polymers.

5. The article of claim 4 , wherein the size of the particles ranges from 5 nm to 50 μm.

6. The article of claim 1 , wherein the concentration of particles in the fluid medium ranges from 5% to 90% by weight.

7. The article of claim 1 , wherein the ratio of a diluent of the shear thickening fluid to the particles dispersed in the shear thickening fluid ranges from 1:1 to 10:1.

8. A sports bra, comprising:
a fabric treated with a shear thickening fluid having a shear stress threshold value,
wherein the treated fabric is configured to restrict movement of at least a part of a wearer's body when a shear stress acting on the treated fabric is greater than the shear stress threshold value.

9. The sports bra of claim 8 , wherein the treated fabric is configured to stretch and conform to a wearer's body part when the treated fabric is secured to the body part when a shear stress in the treated fabric is less than or equal to the shear stress threshold value.

10. The article of claim 8 , wherein the shear thickening fluid comprises particles that are selected from a group consisting of silicon dioxide, titanium dioxide, calcium carbonate, and polymers, and
wherein the size of the particles range from 5 nm to 50 μm.

11. A method of manufacturing an article of sportswear, comprising:
collecting kinematic data of an individual engaged in a physical activity;
processing the kinematic data to determine a relative level of motion of at least one body part of the individual versus an anchor point on the individual;
determining a corresponding level of support needed for the at least one body part based on the level of motion;
dispersing particles in a fluid medium to form a suspension, wherein the suspension comprises a shear thickening fluid;
diluting the formed suspension with a diluent to form a diluted shear thickening fluid;
selectively treating a fabric with the diluted shear thickening fluid, wherein an area of the fabric corresponding to the at least one body part is treated based on the previously determined level of support required;
removing the diluent from the fabric treated with the diluted shear thickening fluid such that the particles in the shear thickening fluid adhere to the fabric; and
forming the athletic garment with the fabric.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein collecting the kinematic data further comprises positioning at least one sensor on the body part while the individual engages in physical activity.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the at least one body part is a breast, and the anchor point is one of the sternum or the ribcage.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein collecting the kinematic data includes recording a series of images or continuous video of the individual engaged in the physical activity.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the ratio of diluent to the suspension in the diluted shear thickening fluid ranges from 1:1 to 10:1.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the article of sportswear is a sports bra, and wherein a portion of a front section of the sports bra is treated with the diluted shear thickening fluid.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the entire front section is intercalated with the diluted shear thickening fluid.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein a portion of a rear section of the sports bra is intercalated with the diluted shear thickening fluid.

19. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
applying a finishing treatment to the fabric, wherein the finishing treatment is configured to enhance washability of the fabric.

20. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
applying a finishing treatment to the fabric before treating the fabric with the diluted shear thickening fluid, wherein the finishing treatment is configured to enhance adhesion of the shear thickening fluid to the fabric.

21. The article of claim 1 , wherein the treated fabric is disposed within the article of sportswear when secured to the wearer's body part.

Assignees

• Reebok Int Ltd
• Stf Tech Llc

Inventors

• Witek Danielle Marie
• Dombrowski Richard
• Wagner Norman Joseph

Classifications

• A41C3/0057 Primary

  for sport activities · CPC title

• A41C3/12

  Component parts · CPC title

• D10B2401/06

  Load-responsive characteristics · CPC title

• D04B1/246

  Upper torso garments, e.g. sweaters, shirts, leotards · CPC title

• A41C3/0028

  with size and configuration adjustment means · CPC title