Southern Mills, Inc.

Denise N Statham

Michael T Stanhope

Thomas J Hejhal

Gregory Alexander

W Douglas Ellis

A face cloth for a thermal barrier of a firefighter's garment made from a fabric woven from fire resistant yarns. The yarns are woven into a twill pattern with, preferably, filament yarns in the filling direction and spun yarns in the warp direction and a finish is applied to the fabric. The finish is accepted by the fabric and renders the face cloth both wickable and hook-and-loop compatible. The face cloth has a smooth and slick surface and is wickable and hook-and-loop fastener compatible.

Firefighter's garment

A fire resistant fabric (10) suitable for use as an inner thermal barrier layer in a layered firefighters' turnout garment (30). The fabric is a 3-end knit fleece having stitch yarns (12), tie yarns (14), and nap yarns (18), all made of fire resistant fibers. The nap yarns are pulled away from the stitch and tie yarns to form a fleece.

Fire resistant fleece fabric and garment

Firefighter's turn-out garment (19) has an outer layer of stretchable flame resistant fabric (10) formed from a series of flame resistant warp yarns (11) interwoven with a series of filling yarns (12). The filling yarns (12) comprise core yarns (15) formed from an elastic material, wrapped with a series of wrap yarns (16) formed from a flame resistant material. The stretchable flame resistant fabric (10) thus provides a desired degree of flame resistance protection, while at the same time is stretchable in one direction to provide the fabric with greater flexibility without sacrificing flame resistance protection.

Stretchable flame resistant garment

A stretchable flame resistant fabric (10) formed from a series of flame resistant warp yarns (11) interwoven with a series of filling yarns (12). The filling yarns (12) comprise core yarns (15) formed from an elastic material, wrapped with a series of wrap yarns (16) formed from a flame resistant material. The stretchable flame resistant fabric (10) thus provides a desired degree of flame resistance protection, while at the same time is stretchable in one direction to provide the fabric with greater flexibility without sacrificing flame resistance protection.

Stretchable flame resistant fabric

A layered insulating fabric (11) for use as a lining for protective garments (34) of the type commonly worn by fire fighters comprises an intermediate layer (14) of pleated material sandwiched between face (12) and inner (13) layers of material. The inner, pleated, and face layers are secured together by lines of stitching (16), which maintain the intermediate layer in position and in its pleated configuration. The pleats of the intermediate layer maintain the inner and face layers in spaced relationship and define therebetween an array of air pockets (19) that function as thermal insulation. The pleats also function to wick moisture away from the face layer and toward the inner layer to help keep a wearer dry.

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Sharpsburg, GA, United States of America

Denise N Statham