Flexible material

Abstract

A flexible material includes a plurality of separate resilient elements joined to a flexible, resiliently stretchable substrate. Such a material is suitable for providing protective war for human and animal bodies. Preferably, the elements includes a foam material such as a closed cell polyethylene foam and the substrate includes a knitted fabric. In an advantageous embodiment, a second flexible substrate is bonded over the elements to sandwich them between the two layers of substrate.

1. A method of manufacturing a flexible material comprising the steps of
 providing a sheet of a resilient material;   cutting the sheet into a plurality of spaced separate elements using a cutter which is pressed into the sheet to cut therethrough;   making one side of the plurality of spaced separate elements to stand proud of a surface of a jig provided to hold the elements in place; and   bonding a flexible resiliently stretchable substrate to one side of the separate elements by heating the substrate either to activate an adhesive applied between said one side of the separate elements and the substrate or to weld the separate elements to the substrate.   
     
     
       2. The method as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the sheet is cut into a plurality of separate elements using a cutter which acts as the jig after cutting through the resilient material to hold the elements in place while the substrate is applied thereto. 
     
     
       3. The method as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein the cutter is adapted so that said one side of each of the cut elements is made to stand proud of a surface of the cutter after cutting through said sheet of resilient material. 
     
     
       4. The method as claimed in  claim 3 , wherein any excess resilient material located between the plurality of spaced separate elements is retained in the cutter. 
     
     
       5. The method as claimed in  claim 3 , wherein any excess resilient material is removed from between the plurality of spaced separate elements prior to the elements being bonded to the substrate. 
     
     
       6. The method as claimed in any of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of spaced separate elements comprise a foam material. 
     
     
       7. The method as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 bonding a second flexible substrate to an opposite side of the plurality of spaced separate elements to said one side.   
     
     
       8. The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein at least said one side of the sheet is coated with a hot-melt adhesive prior to being cut into the plurality of spaced separate elements. 
     
     
       9. The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the side of the substrate adjacent said one side of the plurality of spaced separate elements is coated with a hot-melt adhesive. 
     
     
       10. The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein a sheet of hot-melt film is interposed between said one side of the plurality of spaced separate elements and the substrate so as to provide said adhesive. 
     
     
       11. The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the sheet of resilient material is cut into strips in a first direction using a plurality of rolling cutters and then cut in a second direction at an angle to the first direction to form the plurality of spaced separate elements. 
     
     
       12. The method as claimed in  claim 11  wherein the rolling cutters are moved sideways after each cut to cut narrow strips of material in both directions to space the elements apart, the narrow strips of material being removed to leave the plurality of spaced separate elements spaced from one another. 
     
     
       13. The method as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the substrate is heated by a heated platen which either activates the adhesive or melts the surface and thereby bonds the substrate and the plurality of spaced separate elements together. 
     
     
       14. The method as claimed  claim 10 , wherein the substrate is heated by passing the substrate and the adjacent plurality of spaced separate elements between heated nip rollers. 
     
     
       15. A method of manufacturing a flexible resiliently compressible material, the method comprising:
 providing a first resiliently stretchable fabric substrate;   cutting a sheet of resiliently compressible foam with a cutter that goes completely through the foam to provide a plurality of separate individual resiliently compressible elements in a spaced apart relationship, the separate elements having a top surface and bottom surface;   providing a second resiliently stretchable fabric substrate;   contacting the top surfaces and the bottom surfaces of the plurality of resiliently compressible elements with the first and second resiliently stretchable fabric substrates;   bonding the top surfaces of the plurality of separate individual compressible elements to the first resiliently stretchable fabric substrate while adjacent elements are held so that a distance between the adjacent elements is about 2 mm, the bonding selected from the group consisting of adhesively bonding and welding; and   bonding the bottom surfaces of the plurality of separate individual compressible elements to the second resiliently stretchable fabric substrate while adjacent elements are at the distance of about 2 mm, the bonding selected from the group consisting of adhesively bonding and welding, to provide the flexible resiliently compressible material with the plurality of separate resiliently compressible elements being distributed between the substrates at a density of from about 250 to about 8000 elements/m 2 , and the first and second substrates not bonded to each other between the adjacent elements.   
     
     
       16. The method according to claim 15 wherein the elements are distributed between the substrates at a density of from about 4000 to about 8000 elements/m 2 . 
     
     
       17. The method according to claim 15 wherein the top and bottom surfaces of the elements are flat. 
     
     
       18. The method according to claim 17 wherein the elements are distributed between the substrates at a density of from about 4000 to about 6000 elements/m 2 . 
     
     
       19. The method according to claim 15 wherein the elements are comprised of layers of foam having different densities. 
     
     
       20. The method according to claims 15 wherein the elements are comprised of polyethylene foam. 
     
     
       21. A method of manufacturing a flexible resiliently compressible material, the method comprising:
 cutting a sheet of resiliently compressible foam with a cutter that goes completely through the foam to provide a plurality of separate individual resiliently compressible elements with side walls of adjacent elements being spaced apart at a distance of about 2 mm, the separate individual elements having a top surface and bottom surface;   holding the separate individual elements;   bonding the top surfaces of the separate individual compressible elements to a first resiliently stretchable fabric substrate while adjacent elements are held so that the distance of about 2 mm is between the side walls of the adjacent elements, the bonding selected from the group consisting of adhesively bonding and welding; and   bonding the bottom surfaces of the separate resiliently compressible elements to a second resiliently stretchable fabric substrate to provide the resiliently compressible material with the fabric substrates not bonded to each other between the separate elements while walls of adjacent elements are held about 2 mm apart and the separate elements being distributed between the substrates at a density of from about 250 to about 8000 elements/m 2 .   
     
     
       22. The method according to claim 21 wherein the separate elements are distributed between the substrates at a density of from about 4000 to about 6000 elements/m 2 . 
     
     
       23. The method according to claim 22 wherein the top and bottom surfaces of the separate elements are flat. 
     
     
       24. The method according to claim 23 wherein the separate elements are comprised of layers of foam having different densities. 
     
     
       25. The method according to claim 21 wherein the top and bottom surfaces of the separate elements are flat. 
     
     
       26. The method according to claim 25 wherein the separate elements are comprised of layers of foam having different densities. 
     
     
       27. The method according to claim 26 wherein the separate elements are distributed between the substrates at a density of from about 4000 to about 6000 elements/m 2 . 
     
     
       28. The method of claim 26 wherein the layers of foam having different densities are closed cell foam. 
     
     
       29. The method according to claim 21 wherein the separate elements are comprised of layers of foam having different densities. 
     
     
       30. The method according to claim 21 wherein the separate elements are comprised of closed cell foam. 
     
     
       31. The method according to claims 21 wherein the separate elements are comprised of polyethylene foam. 
     
     
       32. A method of manufacturing a flexible resiliently compressible material, the method comprising:
 providing a first resiliently stretchable fabric substrate;   cutting a sheet of resiliently compressible foam with a cutting grid that goes completely through the foam to provide a plurality of separate individual resiliently compressible elements in a spaced apart relationship, separate individual elements of the plurality of resiliently compressible elements having top surfaces and bottom surface which are flat;   providing a second resiliently stretchable fabric substrate;   contacting top surfaces and bottom surfaces of the plurality of resiliently compressible elements with the first and second resiliently stretchable fabric substrates;   holding the separate individual resiliently compressible elements in spaced apart relation after the cutting grid cuts the resiliently compressible foam;   bonding the top surfaces of the resiliently compressible elements to the first resiliently stretchable fabric substrate while adjacent elements are held so that a distance between the elements is about 2 mm, the bonding selected from the group consisting of adhesively bonding and welding; and   bonding the bottom surfaces of the resiliently compressible elements to the second resiliently stretchable fabric substrate while adjacent elements are at a distance of about 2 mm, the bonding selected from the group consisting of adhesively bonding and welding, to provide the resiliently compressible material with the fabric substrates not bonded to each other between adjacent individual elements and to provide the flexible resiliently compressible material with the individual resiliently compressible elements being distributed between the substrates at a density of from about 250 to about 8000 elements/m 2 .   
     
     
       33. A method of manufacturing a flexible resiliently compressible material, the method comprising:
 providing a first resiliently stretchable fabric substrate;   cutting a sheet of resiliently compressible foam with a cutting grid that goes completely through the foam to provide a plurality of separate individual resiliently compressible elements, the separate individual elements having a top surface and a bottom surface;   providing a second resiliently stretchable fabric substrate;   holding the plurality of separate individual resiliently compressible elements so that adjacent separate elements are at a distance of about 2 mm after cutting the resiliently compressible foam;   bonding the top surfaces of the separate compressible elements to one of the first and second resiliently stretchable fabric substrates while the plurality of separate individual resiliently compressible elements are at a distance of about 2 mm between adjacent separate elements to provide a fabric/element combination; and   bonding one of the first and second fabric substrates to the surface of the elements of the fabric/element combination to provide the resiliently compressible material, the bonding selected from the group consisting of adhesively bonding and welding, the fabric substrates of the resiliently compressible material not bonded to each other between the adjacent separate elements and the separate elements being distributed between the substrates at a density of from about 250 to about 8000 elements/m 2 .