Cooling garment

Abstract

The invention relates to a cooling garment for cooling a torso of a wearer, comprising a front and a rear panel with a neck opening therebetween, wherein the front panel and the rear panel together comprise one single cooling section composed of two outer layers with a water absorbent layer sandwiched therebetween. The two outer layers are sealed together along their edges to form a single compartment for the storage of water, wherein the portions of the compartment that are at the front and the rear panel are in fluid communication with one another over the shoulders. Both outer layers are impermeable to water but permeable to water vapor. The cooling garment may be activated by filling the compartment with water via an inlet in one of the outer layers.

1 . A cooling garment for cooling a torso of a wearer, comprising a front and a rear panel with a neck opening therebetween, wherein
 the front panel and the rear panel comprise one single cooling section that forms at least a portion of the front panel and at least a portion of the rear panel, the cooling section comprising
 a neck opening that coincides with the neck opening of the cooling garment, the neck opening defining a neck opening surface area; 
 a cooling surface area; 
 a circumferential edge and a neck edge; 
   the cooling section is made of a cooling material comprising
 two outer layers that are impermeable to liquid water, at least one of the outer layers being permeable to water vapor; 
 a water absorbent layer that is enclosed between both outer layers; the two outer layers are sealed together along the circumferential edge and the neck edge to form a single compartment for the storage of water, the compartment having a first portion at the front panel and a second portion at the rear panel, both portions being in fluid communication with one another; 
   the compartment comprises an inlet for water.   
     
     
         2 . A cooling garment according to  claim 1 , wherein the cooling section comprises vent holes through which a fluid may pass, wherein
 the vent holes are defined by coinciding vent hole edges of the two layers;   the outer layers are sealed together along the vent hole edges to form a seal around each vent hole having a seal surface area;   the vent holes define an open surface area.   
     
     
         3 . A cooling garment according to  claim 2 , wherein the vent holes have a shape selected from the group of circular shape, elliptical shape, triangular shape, square shape and other polygonal shapes. 
     
     
         4 . A cooling garment according to  claim 2 , wherein the ratio of cooling surface area to open surface area is in the range of 80:20 to 98:2.0, in particular it is in the range of 90:10 to 95:5.0, wherein the open surface area is the sum of the neck opening surface area and the vent holes surface area. 
     
     
         5 . A cooling garment according to  claim 2 , wherein the seal around each vent hole has a width in the range of 1-10 mm, in particular in the range of 2-5 mm. 
     
     
         6 . A cooling garment according to  claim 2 , wherein the vent holes have their largest cross-sectional dimension in the range of 1-10 cm, in particular in the range of 1-5 cm. 
     
     
         7 . A cooling garment according to  claim 2 , wherein the number of vent holes is in the range of 10-100, preferably in the range of 20-50. 
     
     
         8 . A cooling garment according to  claim 1 , comprising a
 a first connection means capable of connecting a first section of the circumferential edge of the front panel with a first section of the circumferential edge of the rear panel; and   a second connection means capable of connecting a second section of the circumferential edge of the front panel with a second section of the circumferential edge of the rear panel;   
       wherein the connection realized with the first connection means defines a first arm hole of the garment and the connection realized with the second connection means defines a second arm hole of the garment. 
     
     
         9 . A cooling garment according to  claim 8 , wherein one or both realized connections are made by releasable connection means such as a zipper, velcro or buttons. 
     
     
         10 . A cooling garment according to  claim 1 , wherein the front panel is divided into a first part and a second part along a line that runs from the neck opening to the circumferential edge, wherein the first portion of the compartment is also divided into two parts, each part being in fluid communication with the second portion of the compartment of the cooling section. 
     
     
         11 . A cooling garment according to  claim 10 , wherein the first part and the second part of the front panel can be attached to one another along the line that runs from the neck opening to the circumferential edge, for example by means of a zipper, velcro or buttons. 
     
     
         12 . A cooling garment according to  claim 1 , wherein the outer layers comprise a thermoplastic material selected from the group of acrylate polymers, acrylate copolymers, methacrylate polymers, methacrylate copolymers, polyesters, polyolefins, polyurethanes, poly(ether-ester) elastomers, poly(vinylacetate), ethylene-vinyl acetate co-polymers, vinyl ester polymers, and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         13 . A cooling garment according to  claim 1 , wherein the water absorbent layer comprises a support material and a superabsorbent polymer, preferably wherein the support material constitutes 25-95 wt,% of the water absorbent layer. 
     
     
         14 . A cooling garment according to  claim 13 , wherein the support material is a thermoplastic material selected from the group of polyethylene, polypropylene, (random) copolymers of polypropylene and polyethylene, poly(ethyleneterephthalate), and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         15 . A cooling garment according to  claim 1 , wherein both outer layers are permeable to water vapor.