US 12,303,416 B2
Wearable tubular textile article
Roberto Loda, Onore (IT)
Assigned to PUNTO AZZURRO S.R. L., Rovetta (IT)
Appl. No. 17/612,341
Filed by PUNTO AZZURRO S.R.L., Rovetta (IT)
PCT Filed Apr. 22, 2020, PCT No. PCT/IB2020/053806
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Nov. 18, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/234664, PCT Pub. Date Nov. 26, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 102019000007051 (IT), filed on May 21, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0241101 A1, Aug. 4, 2022
Int. Cl. A61F 5/01 (2006.01); A41D 27/24 (2006.01)
CPC A61F 5/0109 (2013.01) [A41D 27/245 (2013.01); A61F 5/0123 (2013.01); A41D 2300/52 (2013.01); A41D 2400/32 (2013.01)] 13 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A wearable textile article to support muscle function, comprising:
a tubular element comprising a lower opening and an upper opening, an internal side configured for contact with a part of a human or animal body, and an external side opposite the internal side,
wherein a first reinforcement band and a second reinforcement band are applied to said external side and/or to said internal side, each one of said first and second reinforcement bands being placed along a path that lies primarily along a direction extending from the lower opening to the upper opening,
said tubular element further comprising a first fabric portion and a second fabric portion, said first fabric portion and second fabric portion each being made of a fabric obtained by weaving weft threads and warp threads of polymeric material, and a first fusing area and a second fusing area along which the first fabric portion is fused to the second fabric portion, so that the tubular element is completely free of stitching,
wherein the first reinforcement band at least partially overlaps the first fusing area and the second reinforcement band at least partially overlaps the second fusing area, and
wherein the second reinforcement band comprises a curved area having a U or V shape so that when the wearable textile article is being worn on a thigh up to and including a knee, said curved area is configured to sit around a kneecap;
said tubular element further comprising a third fabric portion made of a fabric obtained by weaving weft threads and warp threads of polymeric material, and a third fusing area and a fourth fusing area along which the first fabric portion is fused to the third fabric portion;
wherein the third fabric portion comprises a first flap and a second flap placed side by side and at least partially fused together along said fourth fusing area in such a way that the first flap is joined to the second flap and the first fabric portion along said fourth fusing area;
wherein the first and second flaps are on opposing sides of the curved area of the second reinforcement band, and the curved area intersects the fourth fusing area.