Under body armor cooling vest and fabric thereof

Abstract

A vest made of a light weight spacer fabric material that is permeable to air circulation and voluminous enough to have a significant thermal insulative value is provided. The spacer fabric material is also non-absorbent, hard wearing, compression resistant, readily cleanable, as well as non-burning and non-dripping when exposed to flames. The spacer fabric material includes fabric faces of an open mesh construction connected by a system of monofilament threads for promoting fabric rigidity.

1 . A three dimensional spacer fabric comprising first and second fabric faces having open mesh constructions made from high performance yarns that are resistant to melting, dripping and burning at a temperature of at least 700° F. and a plurality of monofilament yarns connecting said faces and which are resistant to melting, burning and dripping at a temperature of at least 500° F. 
     
     
         2 . The fabric of  claim 1 , wherein the yarns of the fabric faces are selected from the group consisting of modacrylic yarns, aramid yarns and polybenzimadozole yarns, and wherein the connecting yarns comprise polypropylene sulfide yarns. 
     
     
         3 . The fabric of  claim 2 , wherein the yarns of the fabric faces have a yarn count of between about 12/2 c.c. and 32/2 c.c. 
     
     
         4 . The fabric of  claim 2 , wherein the yarn of the fabric faces comprise modacrylic yarns having an LOI value of between about 28 and 33. 
     
     
         5 . The fabric of  claim 4 , wherein the modacrylic yarns have a tenacity up to 2.8 grams/denier, an elongation at break of between about 35 and 40%, and a fusing temperature of between about 371 and 410° F. 
     
     
         6 . The fabric of  claim 4 , wherein the modacrylic yarns have a moisture regain of between about 0.4 and 4.0%. 
     
     
         7 . The fabric of  claim 2 , wherein the yarns of the fabric faces comprise aramid yarns having an LOI value of between about 28 and 30. 
     
     
         8 . The fabric of  claim 7 , wherein the aramid yarns comprise para-aramid yarns. 
     
     
         9 . The fabric of  claim 2 , wherein the yarns of the fabric faces comprise polybenzimadazole, having an LOI value of between about 35 and 40. 
     
     
         10 . The fabric of  claim 2 , wherein the polypropylene sulfide yarns have a denier of between about 300 and 600. 
     
     
         11 . The fabric of  claim 2 , wherein the polypropylene sulfide yarns have a tenacity of between about 3.0 and 4.0 grams/denier and an elongation at break of between about 35% and 45%. 
     
     
         12 . The fabric of  claim 2 , wherein the polypropylene sulfide yarns have modules of flexural rigidity of between about 35 and 165 MGF/CM2 (Megagram Force) Based on Hearle Fiber Stiffness Test. 
     
     
         13 . The fabric of  claim 2 , wherein the fabric has a moisture regain of between about 0.4 and 4.0. 
     
     
         14 . The fabric of  claim 2 , wherein one of said fabric faces has a tenacity of between about 18 and 30 grams/denier. 
     
     
         15 . The fabric of  claim 2 , wherein the yarns of one of said faces are rendered hydrophobic and the yarns of the other of said faces are rendered hydrophillic. 
     
     
         16 . The fabric of  claim 2 , wherein the fabric has a resilience of up to about 2-3% residual deformation after removal of compressive load, ASTM 3574 & 1667. 
     
     
         17 . The fabric of  claim 2 , wherein the open mesh construction of the two fabric faces defines a plurality of openings, each having a size of between about 6 and 12 mm. 
     
     
         18 . The fabric of  claim 2 , wherein the thickness of the fabric is between about 3 and 15 mm. 
     
     
         19 . The fabric of  claim 1 , further including conductive yarns intermixed with the yarns of the fabric faces. 
     
     
         20 . A three dimensional spacer fabric comprising first and second fabric faces of an open mesh construction and made from modacrylic yarns, and a plurality of monofilament polypropylene sulfide yarns connecting said fabric faces. 
     
     
         21 . A three dimensional spacer fabric comprising first and second fabric faces of an open mesh construction and made from yarns selected from the group consisting of modacrylic yarns, aramid yarns and polybenzimodazole yarns, and a plurality of non-filament yarns connecting said fabric faces. 
     
     
         22 . The fabric of  claim 21 , wherein said fabric face yarns comprise modacrylic yarns.