Individual Climate Equipment rapid prototype

For most of my adult life, I have had to wear either a flak jacket (while in the USMC), or a bullet-proof vest (CERT team with the Sheriffs Department). On a long enough timeline, these protective devices get incredibly hot and uncomfortable. At the end of the day, my undershirt would be either drenched in sweat, or have salt stains. Out of curiosity, I measured what the temperature was inside the vest vs what it was in the room. On average, it was 10-15 degrees hotter. I looked into ways of cooling down, but many of them were either impractical or inefficient.
Individual Climate Equipment (ICE) is meant to fix these problems. It uses tubing to transport coolant to a pad located between the vest and the user. As it cycles through, it collects body heat, and returns to the reservoir located outside of the vest, allowing it to cool down. A low-power pump is connected to a thermostat, so that ICE only engages when cooling is necessary. The reservoir, battery, pump, and thermostat will be in a low profile pouch mounted on the outside of the body armor, so the user doesnt have to manage a bunch of tubing every time they put it on. All in all, this whole system weighs in at two pounds.


The whole intent of this device is longevity: I don't want the users to have to constantly replace parts while on the field. One of my requirements while talking to production vendors is to use high-quality materials in production to make a robust device.

At this stage of development, I am applying for transition from a provisional patent to a Non-provisional Patent. I am also in the process of finding a vendor to create a production representative version of the device.