Weft knitted spacer fabrics for personal protection equipment

摘要

Flexibility and variability of personal protection equipment especially regarding choice of materials, surface structure, design and air-conditioning for comfort upholstery can be increased using weft knitting technology. The improvements achieved with spacer fabrics in relation to foam cushioning are shown with motorcycle helmets as functional demonstrators. Better ventilation, better moisture transfer and a reduced thickness of the upholstery with equal protective effects are achieved. Beside the extension of the application range for weft knitting technology, different options to improve existing solutions are demonstrated. In order to improve especially comfort and protective effects, approaches are delivered to transfer the knowledge into other fields of application like sports clothing, vehicle interior or protectors in protective clothing and medical textiles.