Oregon Patent of the Month – November 2020
Wouldn’t it be nice if your sweater worked to cool you down after you exercised? Or for your clothes to actively warm you up when stuck in a cold environment? Nike, Inc. has been working on thermoregulated apparel to make your clothes work harder at keeping your body temperature in check.
The clothing itself will just be a part of a system designed to regulate your temperature and either actively heat you up or cool you down. This system would also require thermoelectric modules (TEM) to transfer heat from one side to the other – against the temperature gradient. This TEM would use voltage differentials to provide the power to transfer heat from one side to the other – which could either cool or heat the wearer. When heat is moving to the outside (away from the wearer) it needs to be released – and this is where most thermoregulatory apparel has struggled before. Nike’s design would actually use the wearer’s sweat to evaporate heat out of the system.
In an example of cooling you down; the TEM begins with the ‘cool’ surface of the TEM facing your skin and the ‘hot’ surface facing outward. As you exercise, you produce heat and sweat. This heat and sweat heats up the cool surface of the TEM and reverses the polarity so that the heat gets pulled through to the outside – cooling you down – and uses your sweat to evaporate out.
Nike believes this could help athletes, firefighters, military personnel and so on but the possibilities are pretty extensive.
Are you developing a new product? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.
Who We Are:
Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.
Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.
