Firefighter protective hood and gloves with regenerated cellulose fiber
A firefighter protective hood that protects the coat/helmet/self-contained breathing apparatus facepiece interface area of a user, and a firefighter protective glove that protects the hand and wrist of the user are provided. The firefighter protective hood and glove respectively include a hood-shaped structure and a glove-shape structure. The hood-shaped structure and the glove-shaped structures each include a body-contacting layer made of a fabric of flame-retardant regenerated cellulose fibers. The structure and composition of the body-contacting layer promote comfort of the user and evaporative cooling. Outer layer(s) extend outwardly over the body-contacting layer and act as thermal and mechanical barriers. The combination of such layers allows maintaining relatively high perspiration transmission and evaporation, and substantially good thermal and mechanical properties.
1 . A firefighter protective hood comprising:
a hood-shaped structure comprising a plurality of superimposed layers, the plurality of superimposed layers comprising:
a body-contacting layer made of a fabric of multifilament flame-retardant cellulose fibers and defining an innermost one of the plurality of superimposed layers, wherein the body-contacting layer is porous, the fabric having a porosity and wicking characteristics promoting evaporative cooling of a user when the firefighter protective hood is worn by the user, the fabric comprising:
a first type of fibers, the first type of fibers being multifilament flame-retardant cellulose fibers, the multifilament flame-retardant cellulose fibers comprising yarns with more than one filament running a whole length of the yarns; and
a second type of fibers, the second type of fibers being selected from the group consisting of meta-aramids, para-aramids, polybenzimidazole, melamine, polyamide, polyacrylonitrile and carbon fibers; and
at least one outer layer extending over at least a portion of the body-contacting layer,
wherein the fabric includes at least 75% by weight of the first type of fibers and up to 25% by weight of the second type of fibers, wherein the fabric comprises more than 0% of the second type of fibers.
2 . The firefighter protective hood of claim 1 , wherein the multifilament flame-retardant cellulose fibers are rayon fibers.
3 . The firefighter protective hood of claim 2 , wherein the rayon fibers are viscose fibers.
4 . The firefighter protective hood of claim 1 , wherein the at least one outer layer is made from a material selected from the group consisting of: spun yarns, multifilament yarns and combinations of spun and multifilament yarns.
5 . The firefighter protective hood of claim 1 , wherein the at least one outer layer comprises a particulate barrier, the particulate barrier being configured to block particulates having a diameter of 1 micrometer or more.
6 . The firefighter protective hood of claim 5 , wherein the particulate barrier is laminated with the body-contacting layer.
7 . The firefighter protective hood of claim 5 , wherein the particulate barrier is made of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene.
8 . The firefighter protective hood of claim 5 , wherein the particulate barrier is made of meta-aramid nanofibers.
9 . The firefighter protective hood of claim 1 , wherein the firefighter protective hood is compliant to NFPA 1971 (2013 edition) Standard on Protective Ensembles for Structural Fire Fighting and Proximity Fire Fighting.
10 . The firefighter protective hood of claim 1 , wherein said at least one outer layer comprises a layer made of a fabric of multifilament flame-retardant cellulose fibers.
11 . The firefighter protective hood of claim 1 , wherein said at least one outer layer comprises a layer made of a knitted or woven material.
12 . The firefighter protective hood of claim 1 , wherein said at least one outer layer comprises:
a first outer layer comprising a semi-permeable particulate barrier; and
a second outer layer extending over an entirety of the first outer layer, the second outer layer being made of a knitted or woven material.
13 . The firefighter protective hood of claim 1 , wherein said at least one outer layer comprises:
a first outer layer comprising a semi-permeable particulate barrier;
a second outer layer made of an aramid material knitted on one side of the first outer layer; and
a third outer layer extending over the first outer layer or the second outer layer, the third outer layer being made of a knitted or woven material.
14 . The firefighter protective hood of claim 1 , wherein said at least one outer layer comprises:
a first outer layer comprising a semi-permeable particulate barrier;
a second outer layer made of an aramid material knitted on one side of the first outer layer;
a third outer layer made of an aramid material knitted on another side of the first outer layer; and
a fourth outer layer extending over the second outer layer or the third outer layer, the third outer layer being made of a knitted or woven material.
15 . The firefighter protective hood of claim 1 , wherein said at least one outer layer comprises:
a first outer layer comprising a semi-permeable particulate barrier laminated to the body-contacting layer; and
a second outer layer extending over the first outer layer, the second outer layer being made of a knitted or woven material.
16 . The firefighter protective hood of claim 1 , wherein said at least one outer layer comprises:
a first outer layer comprising a semi-permeable particulate barrier laminated to the body-contacting layer;
a second outer layer comprising a fabric made of aramid fibers knitted on one side of the body-contacting layer; and
a third outer layer extending over the first outer layer or the second outer layer, the third outer layer comprising a fabric made of a knitted or woven material.
17 . The firefighter protective hood of claim 1 , wherein said at least one outer layer comprises:
a first outer layer comprising a semi-permeable particulate barrier made of meta-aramid nanofibers; and
a second outer layer extending over the first outer layer, the second outer layer being made of a knitted or woven material.
18 . The firefighter protective hood of claim 1 , wherein said at least one outer layer comprises:
a first outer layer comprising a semi-permeable particulate barrier, the semi-permeable particulate barrier being made of meta-aramid nanofibers;
a second outer layer comprising a fabric made of meta-aramid laminated to the first outer layer; and
a third outer layer extending over the second outer layer, the third outer layer being made of a knitted or woven material.
19 . The firefighter protective hood of claim 1 , wherein said at least one outer layer comprises:
a first outer layer laminated to the body-contacting layer, the first outer layer comprising a semi-permeable particulate barrier made of meta-aramid nanofibers;
a second outer layer laminated to the first outer layer, the second outer layer comprising a fabric made of meta-aramid; and
a third outer layer extending over the second outer layer, the third outer layer being made of a knitted or woven material.
20 . The firefighter protective hood of claim 1 , wherein the multifilament flame-retardant cellulose fibers are regenerated fibers.
21 . The firefighter protective hood of claim 1 , wherein the body-contacting layer has a low dynamic load, such that the body-contacting layer is adapted to slide over the user's head.
22 . The firefighter protective hood of claim 1 , wherein the wicking characteristics are selected from the group consisting of: a surface area of the fabric, a thickness of the fabric, materials used in the fabric, a size of perforations present in the fabric and a density of yarns of the fabric.
23 . The firefighter protective hood of claim 1 , wherein the fabric comprises 75% by weight of the first type of fibers and 25% by weight of the second type of fibers.