Auto-ventilated outerwear

Abstract

An outerwear clothing article is disclosed. The outerwear clothing article may have an outer shell and at least one vent forming a passage through the outer shell. The at least one vent may have a closure element movable between a first position at which flow through the vent is substantially unrestricted, and a second position at which flow through the vent is restricted by the closure element. The outerwear clothing article may also have a sensor configured to generate a signal indicative of a temperature inside the outer shell, and an actuator controllable to move the closure element between the first and second positions based on the signal.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An outerwear clothing article, comprising:
 an outer shell;   at least one vent forming a passage through the outer shell and having a closure element movable between a first position at which flow through the vent is substantially unrestricted and a second position at which flow through the vent is restricted by the closure element;   a sensor configured to generate a signal indicative of a temperature inside the outer shell; and   an actuator controllable to move the closure element between the first and second positions based on the signal.   
     
     
         2 . The outerwear clothing article of  claim 1 , further including a controller in communication with the sensor and the actuator, the controller being configured to receive the signal and responsively control the actuator. 
     
     
         3 . The outerwear clothing article of  claim 2 , wherein the controller is configured to control the actuator to move the closure element from the second position toward the first position when the signal indicates a temperature within the outer shell above a threshold temperature. 
     
     
         4 . The outerwear clothing article of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the outer shell forms a portion of a coat; and   the at least one vent is located in at least one of an upper chest area, a lower back area, and a torsal-side area of the coat.   
     
     
         5 . The outerwear clothing article of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one vent includes multiple vents forming multiple passages through the outer shell. 
     
     
         6 . The outerwear clothing article of  claim 5 , wherein:
 a first of the multiple vents is located at a first side of the outerwear clothing article; and   a second of the multiple vents is located at a second side of the outerwear clothing article opposite the first side.   
     
     
         7 . The outerwear clothing article of  claim 6 , wherein:
 the outer shell forms a portion of a coat;   the first vent is located at a chest area of the coat; and   the second vent is located at a lower back area of the coat.   
     
     
         8 . The outerwear clothing article of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the outer shell forms a portion of pants; and   the vent is located at a back-of-the-knee area of the pants.   
     
     
         9 . The outerwear clothing article of  claim 1 , further including at least one fan associated with the at least one vent and driven by the actuator, activation of the fan being controllable based on the signal to generate flow through the at least one vent. 
     
     
         10 . The outerwear clothing article of  claim 9 , wherein:
 the at least one vent includes a plurality of vents;   the at least one fan includes a plurality of fans associated with the plurality of vents;   at least one of the plurality of fans is configured to draw air into the outer shell; and   at least one of the plurality of fans is configured to push air out of the outer shell.   
     
     
         11 . The outerwear clothing article of  claim 9 , further including a battery configured to power the actuator and the at least one fan. 
     
     
         12 . The outerwear clothing article of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one vent forms at least a partial housing for the sensor, the actuator, the at least one fan, and the battery. 
     
     
         13 . The outerwear clothing article of  claim 1 , wherein the closure element of the at least one vent is rotatable relative to an outer cover between the first and second positions. 
     
     
         14 . A method of cooling an outerwear clothing article, comprising:
 generating a signal indicative of a temperature within an outer shell of the outerwear clothing article; and   automatically opening at least one vent in the outer shell based on the signal.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein automatically opening the at least one vent in the outer shell based on the signal includes automatically opening the at least one vent when the signal indicates a temperature within the outer shell above a desired threshold temperature. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein automatically opening the at least one vent includes activating an electric motor. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the at least one vent includes multiple vents forming multiple passages through the outer shell; and   automatically opening the at least one vent includes:
 opening at least one of the multiple vents located at a first side of the outerwear clothing article; and 
 opening at least one of the multiple vents located at a second side of the outerwear clothing article. 
   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further including driving with the electric motor at least one fan associated with the at least one vent based on the signal. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein driving at least one fan includes:
 driving at least a first of the multiple fans to draw air into the outer shell; and   driving at least a second of the multiple fans to push air out of the outer shell.   
     
     
         20 . A coat, comprising:
 an outer shell forming an upper body portion having a front and a back, a left sleeve connected to a first side of the upper body portion between the front and the back, and a right sleeve connected to a second side of the upper body portion between the front and the back;   at least two vents disposed within the outer shell at spaced apart locations in the upper body portion and forming at least two passages through the outer shell, each of the at least two vents having a closure element movable between a first position at which flow through each of the at least two vents is substantially unrestricted and a second position at which flow through each of the at least two vents is restricted by the closure element;   at least two fans associated with the at least two vents, a first of the at least two fans configured to draw air into the outer shell and a second of the at least two fans configured to push air out of the outer shell;   at least two actuators controllable to move the closure elements of the at least two vents between the first and second positions and drive the at least two fans;   a sensor configured to generate a signal indicative of a temperature inside the outer shell; and   a controller in communication with the at least two actuators, and the sensor, the controller being configured to selectively cause the at least two actuators to move the closure elements and drive the at least two fans when the signal indicates the temperature inside the outer shell above a desired threshold temperature.