• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
• /
• v.42 no.4
• /
• pp.612-625
• /
• 2018

This study designed 16 kinds of basic structure and 4 kinds of modified structure for impact protection pads with a spacer fabric shape. The pad is a structure in which hexagonal three-dimensional units, composed of a surface layer and a spacer layer, are interconnected. Designed pads were printed with flexible $NinjaFlex^{(R)}$ materials using a FDM 3D printer. The printed pads were evaluated for impact protection performance, compression properties and sensory properties. The evaluation of the impact protection performance indicated that basic structures better than CR foam material at 20cm height were DV1.5, DX1.5, DX1.0, DV1.0 and HV1.5. The evaluation of the compression properties for the five types, with good results in the impact protection performance, indicated that DV1.0, DX1.0, DV1.5, HV1.5 and DX1.5 showed good results, respectively. The sensory evaluation of DV1.0, DX1.0, and DV1.5, which with good results when considering both the impact protection performance and the compression performance, showed that DV1.0 were the best for surface, flexibility, compression and weight. Therefore, DV1.0 is shown to be the best structure for protection pads.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
• /
• v.20 no.5
• /
• pp.569-582
• /
• 2018

The purpose of this study is to verify the impact protection performance and to evaluate the activity, design, fit, and pad characteristics of the fall impact protection clothing for elderly women. The protective clothing was designed as pants type and underwear type, and an impact protection pad in the form of a tightly connected regular hexagon piece was inserted in the hip and hip joints. The pad was made of two kinds of foam single pad and foam and gel combination pad so that they could be inserted into pants type and underwear type, respectively. The results of the shock absorption performance of the fall impact protective clothing showed that when the impact force of 4601N was applied to the pants type protective clothing, the impact force was reduced by 29% in the foam pad type and 26% in the gel and foam pad type. When the force of 5113N was applied to the underwear type, it decreased by 40% in the foam pad type and by 34% in the gel and foam pad type. As a result of wearing evaluation of subject group, it was found that fit and activity of underwear type was better than that of pants type. Foam pad type was evaluated to be lighter than gel and foam pad type in both the subject and the expert group and the gel and foam pad was evaluated to be more flexible in the expert group.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
• /
• v.41 no.5
• /
• pp.939-949
• /
• 2017

This study uses 3D printing technology to design and fabricate a fall impact protection pad with a spacer fabric structure. The design of the pads consists of hexagonal three-dimensional units connected in a honey-comb shape; in addition, the unit consists of a surface layer and a spacer layer. Protect pads were designed as either a hexagonal type or diamond type according to the surface layer structure; subsequently, a spacer filament was also designed as the most basic I-shape type. Designed pads were printed using four types of flexible filaments to select suitable material for a fall impact protection pad. Impact protection performance and bending stiffness were evaluated for the eight type of pad outputs. As a result of the impact protection performance evaluation, when the force of 6,500N was applied, the force passed through the pad was in the range of 1,370-2,132N. FlexSolid$^{(R)}$ and Skinflex$^{TM}$ showed good protection performance and cubicon flexible filament showed the lowest protection. NinjaFlex$^{(R)}$ was found to be the most flexible in the bending stiffness evaluation.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.422-428
• /
• 2018

In this study, we developed honeycomb pads using foam and polymer gel and verified the impact protection performance of pads for the development of a fall protection pants for elderly women aged 65 and over who have a high risk of fracture due to falls. The results are as follows; In the first experiment, the impact protection performance was evaluated for four honeycomb pad samples (CR foam, EPDM foam, hardness 15 polymer gel, and hardness 30 polymer gel) manufactured to a thickness of 5 mm using a single material. When the force of about 10757N was applied to the specimens, all four pads reduced the impact force to 3100N or less. Polymer gels showed better protection than foam materials. In the second experiment, the thickness of the protective pad was set to 8 mm in order to improve the shock absorbing performance of the protective pad. As a result of evaluating the impact protection performance of the foam single pad and foam gel composite pad, the impact absorbing performance of the foam single pad was better. Finally, four kinds of protection pads were made by assigning the foam single pad and the foam gel composite pad to pants type and underwear type respectively. The pad thickness of the main protection area was set to 8 mm to enhance the protection, and gradually decreased to 5mm and 3mm toward the edge to improve the appearance and fit.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
• /
• v.41 no.4
• /
• pp.615-632
• /
• 2017

This study conducted a wearing evaluation of fall impact protective clothing developed in the previous study that evaluated activity, appearance, and practicality for elderly women. A total of 6 kinds of pants, which consisted of the three kinds of pads and two kinds of designs, were evaluated and the results are as follows. First, the activity of the protective clothing was tested with six women in their 60's and scored highly in most criterions that indicated satisfactory activity. The honeycomb type pad was superior in four of ten criterions for the activity evaluation results by pad types. Design B without a knee pad was evaluated as more comfortable on two motions that put pressure on the knee area. Second, the expert group considered design A to be better than design B, while the subject group preferred design B over design A in design appearance evaluation. Both the subject group and expert group evaluated that design A is better than design B in consideration of pads. Third, in the assessment of practicability, both the expert group and the subject group provided the highest score on the question of if elderly women needed protective clothing. The evaluation of washing ability indicated no noticeable change in the clothing form and size before and after washing.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
• /
• v.40 no.3
• /
• pp.495-505
• /
• 2016

This study explores and selects an appropriate material that considers light and soft physical properties as well as activity for impact absorption pads that can be used to develop practical impact protective clothes worn during daily life by the elderly to reduce the impact of falls. Physical properties, impact absorption performance, and compression characteristics were evaluated on 5 types of foam, 2 types of 3D spacer fabric, and 3 types of polymer gel to select a material appropriate for the pad to be inserted into impact protective clothes. The evaluation of the physical properties showed that 3D spacer fabrics had lower density compared to other materials and polymer gels had the highest density. The elongation percentage was higher in foams than 3D spacer fabrics and EPDM foam had the highest elongation percentage. The impact absorption performance of honeycomb polymer gel was better than foams and 3D spacer fabrics. As a result of looking into compression energy and compression characteristics of materials, 'CR foam A' was found to absorb the largest amount of compression energy, 24.1%, among foams and polymer gels. A high energy absorption rate of 50.0% (or above) was indicated by 3D spacer fabrics; however, foams and polymer gels showed a progressive deformation of energy compression / recovery curve with 3D spacer fabrics that showed drastic deformation. Based on characteristics of materials, 'CR foam C' and EPDM with relatively high absorption performance can be used as protective pad materials among foams. Among polymer gels, 2 open-type polymer gels that have relatively low impact protective performance but a relatively lighter weight on human body (compared to closed-type) are considered appropriate protective pad materials.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
• /
• v.30 no.3
• /
• pp.403-413
• /
• 2022

The purpose of this study was to develop a 3D mesh-type impact protection pad with excellent motion adaptability and functionality by applying 3D printing technology. The hexagonal 3D mesh, which constitutes the basic structure of the pad, comprises two types: small and large. The bridge connecting the basic units was designed as the I-type, V-type, IV-type, and VV-type. After evaluating the characteristics of the bridge, it was found that the V-type bridge had the highest flexibility and tensile elongation. The hip joint pad and knee pad were completed by combining the hexagonal 3D mesh structure with the optimal bridge design. The impact protection pad was printed using a fused deposition modeling-type 3D printer with a filament made of thermoplastic polyurethane material, and the protection pad's performance was evaluated. When an impact force of approximately 6,500N was applied to the pad, the force attenuation percentage was 78%, and when an impact force of approximately 8,000N was applied, the force attenuation percentage was 75%. Through these results, it was confirmed that the 3D-printed impact protection pad with a hexagonal 3D mesh structure connected by a V-shaped bridge developed in this study can adapt to changes in the body surface according to movement and provides excellent impact protection performance.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
• /
• v.66 no.4
• /
• pp.45-60
• /
• 2016

Elderly women have a high risk of falling down in their daily lives. The purpose of this study is to develop protective pants for elderly women, which will mitigate the impact of falls, and play a major role in reducing injuries. The two types of design were proposed for development of protective pants by selecting pad insertion point and inserting lining for keeping pad in place through the checklist to investigate from the interviews with the medical workers and the investigation of the user requirement. Design A has protective pads in the hip, hip joint, and knee, while design B has protective pads in the hip and hip joint area. For the impact absorbing material, CR (chloroprene rubber) foam was selected for its flexibility, lightness, and impact absorbing capacity, and its pad shapes were designed to produce much flexibility in consideration of the activity and human body fitness of the wearers. Three kinds of pad types, which are the cut type, the porous type, and the honeycomb type, were proposed, and were manufactured to fit into the protective parts according to their design types.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
• /
• v.45 no.2
• /
• pp.253-270
• /
• 2021

This survey provides research into developing knee braces to protect the knee against damage, reduce knee pain, and strengthen the knee. A total of 235 surveys were conducted from December 2019 to January 2020. The subjects were adults in their 20s and over who lived in the Seoul metropolitan area and had experience of using knee braces. In terms of age differences, subjects over 60 years of age purchased knee braces mostly to secure a reduction of pain (ROP), whereas subjects in their 20s and 30s purchased knee braces for physical shock protection (PSP). Subjects in their 40s and 50s purchased knee braces for improvement of muscle movement (IMM). There was no significant difference in shape, material, and locking method based on the reason for wearing the knee brace. These results show that it is conceivable and maybe preferable to produce different knee braces-with a variety of shapes, materials, and locking materials-according to the reason behind wearing a knee brace. Knee braces are worn currently without any differentiation despite the findings of this study. In particular, we argue the need for functional and differentiated development of knee braces specifically for PSP, ROP, and IMM.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.101-110
• /
• 2014

In this study, we investigate characteristics of fall, requirements toward the impact protective clothing, design preferences, etc. to develop the fall impact protective clothing for the silver-aged women. Among the 242 women respondents aging 50s to 70s, 43% experienced the fall in recent 2 years. It is found that the fall mostly occurred in winter season and happened during the regular activities such as walking outside, going up and down stairs. Most of the respondents have no experience buying the impact protective clothing, but they expressed the fall impact protective clothing would help reducing the injury from falls. Moreover, the intention to purchase the impact protective clothing is increasing with an increasing target age. However, the respondents concerned with increasing volume and weight of clothing by the protecting pad inserted into the clothing. The respondents also claimed that the impact protecting clothing should not interfere with their regular physical activities. The survey showed that respondents preferred to embed the impact protective function in pants as a form of the protective clothing. For the design preferences on the pants, casual style and straight silhouette was preferred and stretch fabric was selected. The respondents preferred underwear made of cotton spandex blend with relaxed fit.