a2) United States Patent
`US 6,709,993 B2
`(10) Patent No.:
`
`Strength etal. Mar. 23, 2004
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`US006709993B2
`
`(54)
`
`(75)
`
`CAMOUFLAGE
`
`Inventors:
`
`John David Strength, Spartanburg, SC
`(US); Allan W. Smith, Gaffney, SC
`(US); Gary K. Greene, Spartanbug, SC
`(US); Thomas E. Godfrey, Moore, SC
`(US)
`
`(73)
`
`Assignee:
`
`Milliken & Company, Spartanburg, SC
`(US)
`
`Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`US.C. 154(b) by 163 days.
`
`(21)
`
`(22)
`
`(65)
`
`(51)
`
`(52)
`
`(58)
`
`Appl. No.:
`Filed:
`
`09/994,087
`
`Nov. 21, 2001
`Prior Publication Data
`
`US 2003/0096546 Al May 22, 2003
`
`Int. Cl.” ...
`
`cectestuteesseneeestses B32B 27/02; B32B 27/12;
`B32B 27/18
`..
`US. Cl.
`dese ceeseeeeaeees 442/131; 428/195.1; 428/196;
`428/919; 442/132; 442/164; 442/286; 442/294
`Field of Search «0.0.0.0... 442/131-133,
`442/164, 286-294, 65-68, 70-72, 74; 428/195.1,
`196, 919
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`4,576,865 A *
`5,591,530 A *
`6,194,329 B1 *
`2002/0127361 Ail *
`
`3/1986 Akao
`1/1997 Warneretal.
`2/2001 Nelsonetal.
`9/2002 Sandt et al. oe. 428/40.1
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`PCT International Search Report; PCT/US02/30710; Inter-
`national Filing Date Sep. 27, 2002.
`
`* cited by examiner
`
`Primary E’-xaminer—Cheryl A. Juska
`Assistant Examiner—Jenna-Leigh Befumo
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Terry T. Moyer; Jeffery E.
`Bacon
`
`67)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`A base textile has a camouflage pattern on the first surface
`and a coating on the second surface. The coating is a
`ethylene methyl acrylate thermoplastic with a carbon black
`pigment. The base textile and coating have a visible light
`transmission such that shadowsof hunters or others inside a
`blind of the camouflage are not visible on the opposite side
`of the camouflage.
`
`6 Claims, 2 Drawing Sheets
`
`10
`
`
`
`Page 1 of 5
`Page 1 of 5
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`DBR Finance, Inc., Ex. 1003
`DBR Finance, Inc., Ex. 1003
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`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar.23, 2004
`
`Sheet 1 of 2
`
`US 6,709,993 B2
`
`
`
`Page 2 of 5
`Page 2 of 5
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`DBR Finance, Inc., Ex. 1003
`DBR Finance, Inc., Ex. 1003
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`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar.23, 2004
`
`Sheet 2 of 2
`
`US 6,709,993 B2
`
`PIGMENT(%BYWEIGHTOFCOATING)
`CARBONBLACK
`
`
`—2-
`FIG.
`
`4
`
`N
`
`Qa
`
`o
`
`es
`oo ao
`2¢8 8
`
`Fs
`mom
`&€
`
`|S
`SF
`wo oO
`Oo
`a FF
`
`( yn )
`NOISSINSNVYL LHOM]
`
`Page 3 of 5
`Page 3 of 5
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`DBR Finance, Inc., Ex. 1003
`DBR Finance, Inc., Ex. 1003
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`

`

`US 6,709,993 B2
`
`1
`CAMOUFLAGE
`
`BACKGROUND
`
`The primary purpose of camouflage is to hide a person or
`an object. This is often accomplished using a fabric printed
`with a camouflage pattern. The pattern may resemble tree
`limbs, leaves, rocks, and attempts to appear three dimcn-
`sional. The colors selected for use in the printed pattern help
`blend the object into the environment, while the pattern
`provides an artificial depth and contrast to break up the
`outline of the person or object.
`In camouflage used for applications such as blinds, trans-
`lucent fabrics can result in the creation of silhouettes on the
`
`camouflage from a light source, such as the sun. For
`example, in a blind having a translucent camouflage, the sun
`behind the blind can create a silhouette on the camouflage
`material of a hunter inside the blind that is visible on the
`exteriorof the blind. To overcome this problem,the prior art
`has used heavier weight material that will be less translu-
`cent. However, the increased bulk and weightof the heavier
`material makes the camouflage less desirable for packing in
`and out of hunting areas. Therefore,
`there is a need for
`camouflage material that is light blocking and light weight.
`Additionally, for applications such as hunting, the camau-
`flage will need to be quiet, and have a high degree of
`flexibility at varying temperatures.
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`FIG. 1 is a camouflage material incorporating the present
`invention.
`
`FIG. 2 is a graph illustrating the opacity of one embodi-
`ment of the present invention.
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
`
`Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a camouflage
`material 10, incorporating the present invention. The cam-
`ouflage material 10 is a base textile 100 having a camouflage
`pattern 110 on an first side or surface 111 of the base textile
`100, such as a pattern resembling tree trunks, branches,
`limbs, twigs, leaves, rocks, grass, weeds, or other natural
`designs. The camouflage pattern 110 can also be regions or
`zonesof dittering colors and/or shadesthat have a tendency
`to blend with the surrounding environment. The camouflage
`material 10 also includes a coating 200 on a second side or
`surface 112 of the base textile 100.
`
`The base textile 100 can be natural materials, synthetic
`materials, or a blend thereof. The base textile can be woven,
`knit, nonwoven, or the like. The base textile 100 can be
`formed of monofilament, multifilament, and/or staple yarns.
`Additionally, the yarns forming the base textile 100 can be
`textured yarns. It has been found that textured yarns provide
`a better bond with the coating 200. It has also been found
`that textiles with lower weights per square area generally
`perform better in the field as the base textile 100 than heavier
`textiles.
`
`The camouflage pattern 110 can be place ontothefirst side
`111 of the base textile 100 by printing, silk screening, air
`brushing, transfer printing, lithograph, jet printing, screen
`printing or any other suitable method of applying a design to
`a textile. Alternatively, the base textile 100 can be formed
`with materials that create the camouflage pattern 110 on the
`first side of the base textile 100.
`
`In the present invention, the coating 200 is a thermoplastic
`material that blocks light. The combination of the coating
`
`10
`
`15
`
`,,
`
`,
`
`30
`
`35
`
`40
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`60
`
`65
`
`2
`200 and the base textile 100 provides a barrier to light such
`that shadows, such as shadowscreated by sunlight, are not
`visible on the opposite side of the camouflage material 10.
`When a 1000 ft.-candle light source (or 380 wA) (visual
`spectrum) is located adjacent to the camouflage pattern 110
`side of the camouflage material 10, and a sensor is located
`adjacent to the coating 200 side of the camouflage 10, it was
`determined that a transmission of about 100 uA or less
`provides adequate blocking of light to prevent shadows or
`silhouettes on the opposite side of the camouflage material
`100, and more preferably of about 60 #A or less. In one
`preferred embodiment, the coating 200 is an opaque coating.
`The coating 200 should be flexible to allow movement,
`and a quiet coating to avoid sound detection. Additionally,
`the coating 200 should also be a material that is flexible
`without cold cracking to temperatures down to twenty
`degrees Fahrenheit below zero (-20° F.). Thermoplastic
`materials that can be used in the present invention include
`ethylene methyl acrylate, polypropylene, polyethylene,
`polyesters, or the like. It has been found by the present
`inventors that
`thermoplastic coating materials provide a
`coating that
`is flexible, quiet, and good cold cracking
`resistance. In particular,
`it has been found that ethylene
`methyl acrylate provides a flexible and quiet coating with
`good cold cracking resistance.
`The coating 200 can be placed onto the second side 112
`of the base textile 100 by hot melt coating, extrusion coating,
`laminating a sheet
`to the base textile, or other similar
`methods. In one preferred embodiment, the base material
`100 and the coating 200 are selected such that the weight of
`the camouflage material 10 is about 5 oz/yd° orless, thereby
`providing a lighter weight camouflage material.
`In one embodiment, the coating 200 is a thermoplastic
`material with a pigment. Pigments can include materials
`such as carbon black, iron oxide, or other light blocking
`pigments.
`In one preferred embodiment of the present
`invention,
`the coating 200 is a ethylene methyl acrylate
`thermoplastic with a carbon black pigment.
`In one
`embodiment, the coating 200 comprises about 2% or more
`of carbon black in the total weight of the coating 200. A
`surprising result of the present invention with a thermoplas-
`tic material having a carbon black pigment was, that the
`coating side of the camouflage material irradiated more heat
`from sunlight on the opposite side than the base textile
`without the coating.
`The present
`invention can be better understood with
`reference to the Examples illustrated below. FIG. 2 is a
`graph illustrating a plot of the light transmission for the
`various Examples below. ‘The values in FIG. 2 were deter-
`mined with a 1000 ft.-candle light source (or 380 4A) (visual
`spectrum) being located adjacent to the camouflage pattern
`side 111 of the camouflage material 10, and a sensor located
`adjacent to the coating 200 side of the camouflage material
`10. With the details of the Examples below, and the knowl-
`edge of FIG. 2, a person of ordinary skill in the art will
`understand how to extrapolate the desired light transmission
`values of the present
`invention to a specific working
`embodimentof the present invention.
`EXAMPLE 1
`
`In a first example of the camouflage material, the base
`textile was a plain weave textile formed of 70 denier per
`yarn textured polyester yarn, with about 85 yarns per inch in
`the warp direction and about 90 yarns per inch in the fill
`direction, and a weight of about 2 oz/yd*. The basetextile
`had a camouflage pattern 110, such as a Mossy Oak®,
`
`Page 4 of 5
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`DBR Finance, Inc., Ex. 1003
`DBR Finance, Inc., Ex. 1003
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`

`

`US 6,709,993 B2
`
`3
`RealTree®, or Advantage® camouflage pattern, printed onto
`the first side of the base textile by transfer printing, or other
`suitable methods. The coating in this embodiment of the
`camouflage material was about a 3 mil. extrusion coating on
`the second side of about 94% by weight of ethylene methyl
`acrylate and about 6% carbon black. The coating was placed
`on the second side of the base textile by hot melt extrusion.
`The resulting camouflage material had a total weight of
`about4 07/yd*. The camouflage material of this example had
`a transmission of about 0 wA, as illustrated in FIG. 2.
`
`EXAMPLE 2
`
`In a second example of the camouflage material, the base
`textile, camouflage pattern, and coating were the sameas in
`Example 1, with the exception that the coating was of about
`98% by weightof the ethylene methyl acrylate and about 2%
`of the carbon black. The camouflage material of this
`example had a transmission of about 180 A,as illustrated
`in FIG. 2.
`
`10
`
`15
`
`EXAMPLE3
`
`In a third example of the camouflage material, the base
`textile, camouflage pattern, and coating were the same as in
`Example 1, with the exception that the coating was of about
`99% by weight of the ethylene methyl acrylate, and about
`1% carbon black. The camouflage material of this example
`had a transmission of about 260 wA,as illustrated in FIG. 2.
`
`EXAMPLE4
`
`30
`
`In a forth example of the camouflage material, the base
`textile, camouflage pattern, and coating were the sameas in
`
`4
`Example 1, with the exceptionthat the coating was of about
`100% by weight of the ethylene methyl acrylate, with no
`contributing carbon black. The camouflage material of this
`example had a transmission of about 360 wA,as illustrated
`in FIG. 2.
`
`Whatis claimedis:
`
`1. Acamouflage material comprising a basetextile having
`a first side and a second side, said base textile comprising
`woven textured polyester yarns and having a camouflage
`pattern on the first side, and a coating including ethylene
`methyl acrylate and carbon black disposed on the second
`side of the base textile, wherein the base textile and the
`coating, have a visible light transmission of about 100 “A or
`less of a 380 wA light source.
`2. The camouflage material according to claim 1, wherein
`the camouflage pattern includes images of objects.
`3. The camouflage material according to claim 2, wherein
`the images of the object in the camouflage pattern comprise
`items selected from the group consisting of:
`tree trunks,
`branches, leaves, twigs, rocks, weeds, and grass.
`4. The camouflage material according to claim 1, wherein
`the base textile and coating have a transmission rate of about
`60 uA or less of the 380 uA light source.
`5. The camouflage material according to claim 1, whercin
`the coating comprises about 2% or more of the carbon black
`in the total weight of the coating.
`6. The camouflage material according to claim 1, wherein
`the base textile and the coating have a weight of about 5
`oz/yd? orless.
`
`Page 5 of 5
`Page 5 of 5
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`DBR Finance, Inc., Ex. 1003
`DBR Finance, Inc., Ex. 1003
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`