Importance

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Abstract

Protective articles that provide an unprecedented level of safety and comfort are made of a composite fabric in a continuous, one-step process. The composite fabric incorporates two or more dissimilar yarns or materials, such as thermoplastics, elastomers, metals and other materials not commonly viewed as textiles, each having dissimilar mechanical properties and characteristics that provide optimum protection against the threats of injury associated with a particular application. The continuous, one-step manufacturing process overcomes the disadvantages of the existing labor intensive, costly process of piecing together a protective article from a plurality of separate fabrics made of different materials. Thus, the invented process is both cost effective and minimizes the inefficient use of a heavy weight fabric in regions of the article where exceptional protection is not critical to avoid the accompanying loss of tactile sensitivity and increase in the stiffness and rigidity of the article. In preferred embodiments, the article is a protective garment, such as a glove or a sleeve, which is made of a composite fabric comprising at least one region including a cut-resistant yarn or material and at least one other region including a yarn or material designed to provide tactile sensitivity, or to provide protection against the harmful effects of electromagnetic energy (such as is emitted from wireless communication devices), chemical exposure, abrasion, repetitive motion injury, blunt instrument trauma and cumulative trauma injury from exposure to, for example, vibration.

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First Claim