Breathable garment

1. A breathable garment for heating or cooling independently the body of a wearer, comprising:

an inner electrically heatable substrate intended to be facing the body of the wearer in use;

forced air supply means for supplying forced air into the space between the inner electrically heatable substrate and the body of the wearer;

an intermediate perforated substrate;

an outer waterproof, water-vapour-permeable substrate; and

a means for maintaining a gap between the intermediate perforated substrate and the outer substrate, making up an air chamber to allow turbulent airflow across the entire garment.

2. The breathable garment according to claim 1 , wherein the inner electrically heatable substrate is a perforated layer wherein the surface of the perforations is comprised between 40% and 80% of the total surface to allow passage of airflow to the body of the wearer.

3. The breathable garment according to claim 2 , wherein the surface of the perforations in the inner electrically heatable substrate is comprised between 50% and 70% of the total surface.

4. The breathable garment according to claim 2 , wherein the diameter of the perforations is comprised between 5 and 20 mm.

5. The breathable garment according to claim 4 , wherein the diameter of the perforations is comprised between 8 and 16 mm.

6. The breathable garment according to claim 1 , wherein the inner electrically heatable substrate is made of a polymer loaded with conductive or semi-conductive particles.

7. The breathable garment according to claim 6 , wherein the inner electrically heatable substrate is made of a carbon-loaded silicone polymer, comprising carbon particles held in a silicone polymer matrix.

8. The breathable garment according to claim 7 , wherein the resistive heating provided by the inner electrically heatable substrate is comprised between 10 and 50 watts when an electric voltage between 2 and 24 V is applied thereto.

9. The breathable garment according to claim 1 , wherein the inner electrically heatable substrate is a textile comprising a semi-conductive yarn component capable of being resistively heated with the application of electrical current.

10. The breathable garment according to claim 1 , wherein the inner electrically heatable substrate is a fabric provided with a pattern of electrical conductors laid across, with a perforate or open-mesh configuration so as to allow airflow through the fabric.

11. The breathable garment according to claim 1 , wherein the intermediate perforated substrate is spaced from the inner electrically heatable substrate.

12. The breathable garment according to claim 11 , wherein the intermediate perforated substrate comprises a plurality of raised protrusions on the surface facing the inner electrically heatable substrate, the raised protrusions having a height in the range of 0.5 to 10 mm.

13. The breathable garment according to claim 12 , wherein the height of the protrusions is in the range of 3 to 6 mm.

14. The breathable garment according to claim 12 , wherein the protrusions are made of a polymeric material.

15. The breathable garment according to claim 1 , wherein the outer waterproof, water-vapour-permeable substrate comprises a plurality of raised protrusions on the surface facing the intermediate perforated substrate, the protrusions having a height in the range of 0.5 to 10 mm.

16. The breathable garment according to claim 15 , wherein the height of the protrusions of the outer substrate is in the range of 3 to 6 mm.

17. The breathable garment according to claim 15 , wherein the protrusions of the outer substrate are made of a polymeric material.

18. The breathable garment according to claim 12 , wherein the intermediate perforated substrate comprises a further plurality of raised protrusions on the surface facing the outer waterproof, water-vapor-permeable substrate, said protrusions being configured in the same way as the raised protrusions provided on the surface of the intermediate perforated substrate facing the inner electrically heatable substrate.

19. The breathable garment according to claim 1 , wherein the outer waterproof, water-vapour-permeable substrate has a water-vapour-permeability of at least 1,500 g/m 2 /24 hrs and lower than 20,000 g/m 2 /24 hrs.

20. The breathable garment according to claim 19 , wherein the outer waterproof, water-vapour-permeable substrate is a 2-layer or 3-layer substrate, wherein one of the layers is a PTFE layer.

21. The breathable garment according to claim 19 , wherein the outer waterproof, water-vapour-permeable substrate is made of a microporous material comprised in the group consisting of a high molecular weight microporous polyethylene or polypropylene, microporous polyurethanes or polyesters.

22. The breathable garment according to claim 1 , wherein the forced air supply means provides an airflow rate comprised between 20 and 1001/m 2 /s.

23. The breathable garment according to claim 1 , wherein a perforated liner is provided between the inner electrically heatable substrate and the body of the wearer in use, said perforated liner intended to be in contact with the wearer in use.

24. The breathable garment according to claim 1 , provided with means to be electrically connected to an external electrical supply.

25. The breathable garment according to claim 1 , comprising an electrical power supply which provides electrical power to the forced air supply means.

26. The breathable garment according to claim 25 , wherein the electrical power supply is a rechargeable battery.

27. The breathable garment according to claim 1 , comprising a wearer operable switch for turning the inner electrically heatable substrate on and off and a further wearer operable switch for turning on and off the forced air supply means.

28. The breathable garment according to claim 1 , comprising a switch with a thermal hysteresis on switch on and a thermal hysteresis on switch off for managing climate comfort of the wearer.

29. The breathable garment according to claim 1 , wherein the inner electrically heatable substrate is provided with an open structure textile facing the body of the wearer in use.

30. The breathable garment according to claim 1 , wherein the outer waterproof, water-vapour-permeable substrate has a water-vapour-permeability of between 5,000 and 10,000 g/m 2 /24 hrs.