Thermally adaptive fabrics and methods of making same

Abstract

A thermally adaptive material configured to assume a lofted configuration and flat configuration in response to different temperatures. The thermally adaptive material includes an adaptive first textile layer with one or more sections of a first material that has a first thermal expansion coefficient and one or more sections of a second material disposed adjacent to the one or more sections of the first material, the one or more sections of the second material having a second thermal expansion coefficient that is different from the first thermal expansion coefficient. The thermally adaptive material also includes a second textile layer disposed opposing the adaptive first textile layer; a plurality of engaging portions between the first textile layer and second textile layer; and one or more cavities defined by the first and second layers that are generated while the adaptive textile is at least in a lofted configuration.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A thermally adaptable garment wearable by a user and configured to change configurations based on at least one of the body temperature of the user and the temperature of an environment immediately external to the adaptable garment, the configurations including a lofting and flattening to provide for increased and decreased insulation based on temperature, the adaptable garment comprising:
 an adaptive material configured to assume a lofted configuration and a flat configuration in response to different temperatures, the adaptive material including:
 an adaptive first textile layer including:
 a plurality of sections of a first material that has a first thermal expansion coefficient, and 
 a plurality of sections of a second material that has a second thermal expansion coefficient that is different from the first thermal expansion coefficient, the adaptive first textile layer having a plurality of alternating successive sections of the first and second materials along a length of the first adaptive textile layer with respective adjoining sections of the first and second materials being coupled at respective linear junctions, the first and second materials configured to change from a planar configuration to opposite respective non-planar curved configurations in response to a change in temperature to generate the lofted configuration; 
 
 a second textile layer disposed opposing the adaptive first textile layer; 
 a plurality of linear engaging portions between the first textile layer and second textile layer, the engaging portions at alternating successive opposing pairs of the first and second materials; and 
 a plurality of elongated cavities defined by the first and second layers and respective adjacent pairs of the linear engaging portions, the cavities generated while the adaptive textile is at least in the lofted configuration and the cavities at least partially filled by a third material. 
   
     
     
         2 . The thermally adaptable garment of  claim 1 , wherein the second textile layer comprises an adaptive second textile layer, the adaptive second textile layer including:
 a plurality of sections of the first material, and   a plurality of sections of the second material, the adaptive second textile layer having a plurality of alternating successive sections of the first and second materials along a length of the adaptive second textile layer with respective adjoining sections of the first and second materials being coupled at respective linear junctions, the first and second materials configured to change from a planar configuration to opposite respective non-planar curved configurations in response to a change in temperature to generate the lofted configuration.   
     
     
         3 . The thermally adaptable garment of  claim 2 , wherein the first and second adaptive textile layers are disposed in an opposing configuration with the plurality of sections of the first material of the first textile layer opposing respective sections of the second material of the second textile layer, and the plurality of sections of second material of the first textile layer opposing respective sections of the first material of the second textile layer. 
     
     
         4 . The thermally adaptable garment of  claim 1 , wherein the third material comprises a plurality of additional layers extending within the cavities and coupled to respective opposing sides of an internal face of a portion of the cavities defined by the adaptive first textile layer. 
     
     
         5 . The thermally adaptable garment of  claim 1 , wherein the third material comprises a plurality of fibers disposed within the cavities. 
     
     
         6 . The thermally adaptable garment of  claim 5 , wherein each of the plurality of fibers extend between and are coupled to opposing internal faces of the first and second textile layers. 
     
     
         7 . A thermally adaptive material configured to assume a lofted configuration and flat configuration in response to different temperatures, the thermally adaptive material comprising:
 an adaptive first textile layer including:
 one or more sections of a first material that has a first thermal expansion coefficient, and 
 one or more sections of a second material disposed adjacent to the one or more sections of the first material, the one or more sections of the second material having a second thermal expansion coefficient that is different from the first thermal expansion coefficient; 
   a second textile layer disposed opposing the adaptive first textile layer;   a plurality of engaging portions between the first textile layer and second textile layer; and   one or more cavities defined by the first and second layers and respective adjacent pairs of the engaging portions, the cavities generated while the adaptive textile is at least in a lofted configuration, the one or more cavities at least partially filled by a third material.   
     
     
         8 . The thermally adaptive material of  claim 7 , wherein the thermally adaptive material is configured to assume the lofted configuration at a temperature of less than 36° C. and configured to assume the flat configuration at a temperature greater than 36° C. in response to different temperatures. 
     
     
         9 . The thermally adaptive material of  claim 7 , wherein the adaptive first textile layer comprises:
 a plurality of sections of the first material, and   a plurality of sections of the second material disposed adjacent respective sections of the first material.   
     
     
         10 . The thermally adaptive material of  claim 9 , wherein the second textile layer comprises an adaptive second textile layer that includes:
 a plurality of sections of the first material, and   a plurality of sections of the second material.   
     
     
         11 . The thermally adaptive material of  claim 7 , further comprising a plurality of additional layers extending within the cavities and coupled to respective opposing sides of an internal face of a portion of the cavities defined by the adaptive first textile layer. 
     
     
         12 . The thermally adaptive material of  claim 7 , wherein the third material comprises a plurality of fibers extending between opposing internal faces of the first and second textile layers. 
     
     
         13 . The thermally adaptive material of  claim 12 , wherein the plurality of fibers extending between internal faces of the layers within the cavities wick fluid associated with the body of a user away from the body of the user toward the external environment by wicking fluid from the second layer toward the first layer. 
     
     
         14 . The thermally adaptive material of  claim 7 , wherein changing from the flat configuration to the lofted configuration in response to different temperatures results in an increase of 100% in a thickness of the thermally adaptive material. 
     
     
         15 . The thermally adaptive material of  claim 7 , wherein the difference in coefficient of thermal expansion values for the first and second materials is at least 1000 μm/m/K. 
     
     
         16 . The thermally adaptive material of  claim 15 , wherein a thermal expansion coefficient of at least one of the first and second materials is negative. 
     
     
         17 . The thermally adaptive material of  claim 15 , wherein the first material possesses a larger magnitude coefficient of thermal expansion than the second material, and wherein the mass of the first material is 60% or less of the mass of the thermally adaptive material. 
     
     
         18 . The thermally adaptive material of  claim 7  wherein at least one of the first and second materials comprises a plurality of coiled polymer actuators. 
     
     
         19 . The thermally adaptive material of  claim 18 , wherein the average space between respective coiled polymer actuators is 50% or greater than the average diameter of the coiled polymer actuators. 
     
     
         20 . The thermally adaptive material of  claim 7 , wherein the second textile layer comprises an adaptive second textile layer and a first flat temperature of the first adaptive layer is configured to be different than a second flat temperature of the second adaptive layer.