Not all the work of Gorix Ltd has been to do with creating Heated Clothing Systems, during the early days, the company looked to evaluating the thermal efficiency of clothes rather than heating them. The following text gives some insight into the degree of research typically involved in a Gorix project.

The INFRA-THERM Thermal Manikin was a data acquisition system that represented a major breakthrough in the field of none destructive testing for thermal efficiency. The system took the form of an anthropometric mannequin that is a proportional mimic of the average maritime worker, the Manikin can have the same buoyancy and movement characteristics as a human being if the client requires this feature. Built into the Manikin are Gorix E-CT heating elements that are driven and controlled by a computer system. By measuring the temperature differential of the Manikin and the environment in which the Manikin is placed, the thermal value of any clothing that the Manikin is dressed in can be calculated.

This is achieved by a process of heating up the skin surface of the Manikin, the temperature of the 28 separate skin areas is controlled by the output voltage reading from a linearised thermistor circuit located on and reacting to the skin, the output voltage governs the flow of energy to the Gorix heating elements that lay just below the skin's surface, thus controlling the temperature to a very fine tolerance.

The data acquisition system collects data from the thermistors that are located around the anatomy of the Manikin, as the system receives back gathered data from the Manikin the energy consumption of each individual heating element is calculated and logged for the final calculation of the 'clo' value of the garment being tested.

THERMAL MANIKIN TEMPERATURE CONTROL

The flexible Gorix E-CT heater elements have been made in such a way as to allow a small temperature sensor to be attached directly to the outer face of the outermost layer of the Gorix element sandwich. By being in such close proximity to the Gorix E-CT element, the temperature is sensed very accurately and response time is kept to a minimum. The quick response coupled with the fact that there is a very even distribution of temperature over the whole area of the Gorix element ensures that the data received by the data acquisition system is very precise.

COMPUTER CONTROLLED TEMPERATURE LEVEL

The Command flow of the data acquisition system is initiated by power on to the Manikin skin, a pre designated set temperature and test time duration are keyed into the control computer as the run is commenced. The computer receives sample temperatures from 4 ambient sensors, the computer compares the average ambient temperature with the current temperature of the skin. The resultant differential will initiate further issue of energy to the elements if the pre-designated temperature has not been reached.

DATA ACQUISITION & ANALYSIS

The Cumulative energy consumed during the test period is logged against differential temperature and skin area to arrive at the insulation value and expressed as 'clo' The information options offered by the system are:-

* 'clo' value for each individual area of the Manikin anatomy

* 'clo' value for the total area of the Manikin

* Momentary power consumption

* Power consumption of each area of the Manikin

* Skin temperature at each individual area

* Ambient temperature at 4 separate locations (air & water)

* Differential temperature between average ambient / environment and each individual area of the skin

* Time elapsed during test run

* Anatomic area powered or inactive