U.S. patent application number 09/949501 was filed with the patent office on 2003-03-20 for athletic shorts with removable contoured pads.
Invention is credited to Dugan, Anthony J..
Application Number | 20030051288 09/949501 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 25489181 |
Filed Date | 2003-03-20 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030051288 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Dugan, Anthony J. |
March 20, 2003 |
ATHLETIC SHORTS WITH REMOVABLE CONTOURED PADS
Abstract
A pair of athletic shorts with removable contoured pads is
presented. The elastic shorts have thigh, hip and tailbone pockets
permanently affixed to the main shell of the shorts. Each of the
pockets has upper flaps, which are fastened to the lower portion of
the pocket by VELCRO.TM. fasteners. The pad itself is a
semi-flexible cushioned type pad having a serrated configuration
such that only portions of the pad actually come in contact with
the athlete's body. These pads have peaks and valleys such that
they are fully compressed only during a fall or a collision,
remaining only in partial contact with the athlete's body at other
times. The pads may be removed, washed, and replaced easily because
they are not permanently sewn or attached to the main shell of the
athletic shorts.
Inventors: |
Dugan, Anthony J.;
(O'Fallon, IL) |
Correspondence
Address: |
DON W. WEBER
101 WEST VANDALIA
SUITE 325M
EDWARDSVILLE
IL
62025
US
|
Family ID: |
25489181 |
Appl. No.: |
09/949501 |
Filed: |
September 10, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
2/228 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A41D 1/089 20180101;
A41D 13/0575 20130101; A41D 13/0543 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
2/228 |
International
Class: |
A41D 001/06 |
Claims
Having fully described my invention, I claim:
1. An athletic sports pants garment, comprising: (a) a main pair of
elastic shorts covering an athlete from the waist to the knees, (b)
a plurality of pockets attached to said main shell at the thigh,
hip and tailbone areas adapted to receive pads, wherein each pocket
has a lower outer side having one end attached to the main shell of
the shorts and the other end free, (c) upper pocket flaps attached
to the main shell of said shorts for closing each of said pockets;
(d) serrated, irregularly shaped pads removably inserted into said
plurality of pockets.
2. An athletic sports pants garment as in claim 1, wherein said
means for closing said pockets and flaps is a hook-and-pile
fastener.
3. An athletic sports pants garment as in claim 1, wherein said
irregularly shaped pads have peaks and valleys such that the pad is
pressed against the athlete's body only at certain points.
4. An athletic sports pants garment as in claim 1, further
comprising light padding permanently attached to the buttock area
of the sports pants.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This invention relates to the field of athletic equipment.
More particularly, an athletic short is provided which has
removable, contoured pads to protect vital areas of the hips,
thighs and tailbone.
[0002] In the field of athletic equipment, special clothing and
padding is often utilized. For example, football players normally
wear pads around their shoulders, hips and thighs in order to
prevent serious injury upon falling. Other sports such as baseball,
basketball and tennis also include padded apparel, which oftentimes
provide various types of padding for the hips, thighs, tailbones,
buttocks and other areas of the body.
[0003] One type of sports pants with pocketed pads is found in the
1994 patent issued to Lubahn. In this U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,610, a
garment is provided to wear while playing sports. The garment has
protective pads usually formed of foam, which are permanently
affixed to pockets located strategically about the garment. Lubahn
illustrates the use of pads to protect the thighs and portions of
the hip (see FIGS. 1 and 5 of Lubahn). One drawback to having
permanently affixed pads is that they are not removable for washing
or replacement. It is an object of this invention to provide a
padded sports garment which has removable and washable pads, which
may be easily and readily reinserted into the garment once the pads
have been cleaned.
[0004] Another type of padded skating shorts is found in U.S. Pat.
No. 5,572,737 issued to Valice in 1996. The Valice invention
embodies a padded core shell including pads for the ball joint,
thigh, hip, tailbone, kidney and buttocks. These pads may be curved
to somewhat simulate the actual contours of the body. As in the
Lubahn patent, the Valice pads are sewn into the structure and are
thus not removable. While Valice does approach the problem of
conforming the pads to the contour of the athlete's body, a more
comprehensive solution would improve upon the prior art. It is a
further object of this invention to provide a removable and
contoured pad capable of providing both safety and comfort to the
wearer.
[0005] Other types of pads for various parts of the hips and legs
are known in the art. However, it is an object of this invention to
provide a new type of athletic short with removable and contoured
pads such that the pads contact the body in the least amount of
area and thus contour themselves to the athlete. Since the instant
pads are removable and washable as well, a further object is to
provide a padded athletic short with features that have heretofore
been unknown in the art.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0006] A padded athletic short is provided having pockets around
the thigh, hip, and tailbone area of the body. The athletic shorts
are made of an elastic material such as the trademarked material
Spandex.TM. or Lycra.TM.. Contoured and serrated pads are inserted
into the respective pad pockets and removably secured in place by a
pocket flap. The contoured pad tends to adapt its shape to the
surface of the part to be protected (thigh, hip or tailbone). The
pads may be removed for washing and cleaning and may then be
reinserted into the pocket using the flap closure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the athletic
shorts.
[0008] FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the athletic
shorts.
[0009] FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of the athletic shorts
shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
[0010] FIG. 4 is a detailed cutaway view of the thigh pocket taken
along lines 4-4 of FIG. 3.
[0011] FIG. 5 is a side cutaway view of the thigh pocket shown in
FIG. 3, taken along lines 4-4 shown with the pads inserted and the
flap closed.
[0012] FIG. 6 is a partial side view of the actual pad, showing the
contours of the pad.
[0013] FIG. 7 is a rear perspective view of a second embodiment of
the device, also including a thin buttock pad stitched permanently
into the seat of the athletic shorts.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0014] A pair of athletic shorts 1 is shown in FIGS. 1 through 3.
The shorts are made principally of an elastic and deformable
material such as the trademarked material Spandex.TM., Lycra.TM. or
other similar materials. The main shell of the athletic shorts 1
thus becomes form fitting when the athletic shorts are put on by
the athlete. The shell 18, as well as the pockets, may be thin,
solid and stretchable or may be made of a mesh type of
material.
[0015] The athletic shorts 1 have a plurality of pockets adapted to
receive contoured pads. Thin pockets are sewn into the left 2 and
right 2' thigh areas. Left 3 and right 3' hip pockets are also sewn
into the upper portion of the athletic shorts 1, as shown in FIGS.
1 and 2.
[0016] As best shown in FIG. 2, an irregularly, diamond-shaped
tailbone pocket 4 is also sewn into the upper central rear portion
of the athletic shorts 1. Although the tailbone pocket 4 may have
the irregular shape as shown, its function and operation is similar
to both the thigh 2 and hip 3 pads shown in FIG. 1.
[0017] Each of the thigh 2, hip 3, and tailbone 4 pockets have an
upper flap 8 attached to the main shell of the athletic shorts 1.
As shown in FIG. 4, taken along lines 4-4 of FIG. 3 and shown in
cross-section, the thigh pocket 2 has a lower outer side 15
connected at its lower end to the lower leg 16 of the athletic
shorts. The thigh pocket 2 also includes an upper pocket flap 8.
This upper pocket flap 8 has one edge attached to the main shell of
the shorts and has its other end free.
[0018] A contoured pad 9 generally has the contoured shape as shown
in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6. This contoured pad 9 is inserted into the
thigh pocket 2 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Once the pad 9 is
inserted into the pocket, the upper flap 8 is secured to the lower
outer side of the pocket 15, as shown in FIG. 5. The preferred
method of joining the free ends of the lower outer side 15 of the
thigh pocket and the upper pocket flap 8 is by means of VELCRO.TM.
hook-and-pile fasteners. While VELCRO.TM. fasteners are the
preferred fastening means, other means such as buttons, zippers, or
other detachable fasteners may be used while still keeping within
the spirit and disclosure of this invention.
[0019] Due to the presence of the upper pocket flap 8 and fastening
means, the contoured pads 9 may be readily removed. It is to be
understood that the configuration of the upper flap 8 and the lower
front side 15 of the thigh pocket and the upper main shell of the
shorts 18 matches the configuration of the upper thigh pockets, the
upper hip pad pockets and the upper tailbone pockets. While the
configuration of the flap 8 is essentially an arc for the thigh
pads, as best shown in FIG. 3, the upper flap for the hip pockets 3
and 3' and the tailbone pocket 4 matches the configuration of those
pockets, respectively, but is slightly different in shape in order
to conform the shape of the respective upper flap for the thigh,
hip, and tailbone pockets to the configuration of the upper portion
of those pockets. For example, the pocket flap 17 for the tailbone
pocket 4 is irregularly shaped as best shown on FIG. 2.
[0020] Turning now to FIG. 6, the contour and general
characteristics of the pads to be inserted into the pockets is
shown. In the Drawing Figures, the dotted lines numbered 5, 6 and 7
illustrate the location and shape of the thigh, hip or tailbone
pads respectively. These pads are made of semi-resistant
lightweight material such as is used to construct a molded grip for
a baseball bat. The pad itself would be similar to covers used for
soft drinks or other types of semi-deformable padding.
[0021] Each of the pads has a serrated cross section as shown in
FIG. 6. This serrated cross section creates valleys 10 and peaks 11
in the general shape of the padding. An important advantage to the
use of this type of padding is that only the peak 11' portions of
the padding will normally be in contact with the athlete's body.
For example, as shown particularly in FIG. 5, only the portions 11'
of the padding as shown will normally remain against the surface of
the athlete's body. The other void spaces (or valleys 10) would not
be in contact with the athlete's body. The pad is fully compressed
only during collisions or falls. This has the advantage of further
cushioning most of the area of the body to be protected from
outside pressure and from the contact brought about by the elastic
athletic shorts pressing the pads against the thigh, hip or
tailbone.
[0022] Turning now to FIG. 7, a further and additional embodiment
of the athletic shorts is shown. This embodiment is quite similar
to the embodiment shown and described in FIGS. 1 through 5, but
also includes a lightweight buttock pad 12 similar to the type of
padding found in athletic shorts used by bicyclists. This
permanently stitched-in buttock pad 12 covers the area as shown in
FIG. 7. The padding in this area is not as thick as for the thigh,
hip or tailbone pads. However, this thin layer of padding, commonly
comprised of several layers of white cloth or chamois type material
is permanently affixed to the buttock area as shown in Drawing FIG.
7. This buttock pad has stitching 13 irregularly sewn in the
buttock area as shown in FIG. 7. The outline of the perimeter of
the buttock pad 14 generally describes the area of the athletic
shorts to which the buttock padding is added.
[0023] The body of the athletic shorts should generally be made of
a breathable mesh material that is both elastic, flexible, and that
will conform to the general shape of the wearer. The shell of the
athletic shorts is of a lightweight material. The front side 15 of
the pockets may also be made of a breathable mesh material. The
pads themselves are bendable, flexible, and adapted to conform the
shape of the pad to the contour of the athlete's body.
[0024] These particular shorts are designed specifically for use in
athletic endeavors such as baseball, tennis, lacrosse, field
hockey, and volleyball, as well as other sports. These athletic
shorts could be utilized by the weekend athlete when exercising
with rollerblades, bicycles, or other types of activities during
which falls are sometimes encountered. The shorts protect the vital
areas of the thighs, hips and tailbone from injury due to falls,
collisions, or other types of physical contact.
[0025] The shorts themselves generally run from approximately the
waist area of the athlete to the knee area of the athlete. However,
utilization of further pockets to protect other parts of the body
is also within the spirit and keeping of this invention. The
advantageous aspects of this particular device, being the removable
and washable pads as well as the contoured pads, provide a flexible
yet effective means of protecting the athlete from injuries to
vital areas of the body.
* * * * *