U.S. patent application number 11/741056 was filed with the patent office on 2007-11-01 for inclement weather garment for sporting functions.
Invention is credited to David R. Norman.
Application Number | 20070250982 11/741056 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38646888 |
Filed Date | 2007-11-01 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070250982 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Norman; David R. |
November 1, 2007 |
INCLEMENT WEATHER GARMENT FOR SPORTING FUNCTIONS
Abstract
A garment for one person detachably fastens to one or more
garments for one or more other persons. Each of the detachably
fastened garments may include indicia or design. The indicia or
design may be configured such that a message or larger design is
produced when the garments are detachably fastened together.
Inventors: |
Norman; David R.; (West
Linn, OR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
MARGER JOHNSON & MCCOLLOM, P.C.
210 SW MORRISON STREET, SUITE 400
PORTLAND
OR
97204
US
|
Family ID: |
38646888 |
Appl. No.: |
11/741056 |
Filed: |
April 27, 2007 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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60745830 |
Apr 27, 2006 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
2/69 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A41D 27/08 20130101;
A41D 15/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
2/69 |
International
Class: |
A41D 13/00 20060101
A41D013/00 |
Claims
1. A garment comprising: a substantially continuous first body
configured to fold along a first axis to create a front side and a
back side; means for detachably fastening a first edge of the front
side of the first body to a first edge of the back side of the
first body; and means for detachably fastening a second edge of the
front side of the first body to a second edge of the back side of
the first body.
2. The garment of claim 1 where the means for detachably fastening
the first and second edge of the front side includes one from the
group consisting of snap fasteners, buttons, clips, hook and loop
fasteners, through hole fasteners, and zippers.
3. The garment of claim 1 where the first and the second edges of
the front side of the first body form two vertical edges of the
front side of the first body; and where the first and the second
edges of the back side of the first body form two vertical edges of
the back side of the first body.
4. The garment of claim 1, the first body comprising an opening
centrally located along the first axis and configured to allow a
wearer's head to pass through the garment.
5. The garment of claim 1 comprising: a substantially continuous
second body configured to fold along a second axis to create a
front side and a back side; means for detachably fastening a first
edge of the front side of the second body to a first edge of the
back side of the second body; and means for detachably fastening a
second edge of the front side of the second body to a second edge
of the back side of the second body.
6. The garment of claim 5 comprising: where the means for
detachably fastening the first edge of the front side of the first
body is configured to detachably fasten the first edge of the front
side of the first body to the first edge of the front side of the
second body; and where the means for detachably fastening the first
edge of the back side of the first body is configured to detachably
fasten the first edge of the back side of the first body to the
first edge of the back side of the second body.
7. The garment of claim 6 where the first body and the second body
can be worn by a first wearer and a second wearer,
respectively.
8. The garment of claim 5 where the front side of the first body
includes a first design; and where the front side of the second
body includes a second design.
9. The garment of claim 8 where the first and second designs are
configured to produce a third design when the first body is
detachably fastened to the second body.
10. The garment of claim 1 where the first body includes water
proof or water resistant material.
11. The garment of claim 1 where the first body includes a
hood.
12. A garment comprising: a first garment configured to be worn by
a first wearer; a second garment configured to be worn by a second
wearer; and means for detachably fastening the first garment to the
second garment.
13. The garment of claim 12 where the first garment includes a
first body having a front and a back side divided by a first axis;
where the second garment includes a second body having a front and
a back side divided by a second axis; where the front side of the
first body is detachably fastened to the front side of the second
body; and where the back side of the first body is detachably
fastened to the back side of the second body.
14. The garment of claim 12 comprising: a third garment configured
to be worn by a third wearer; where the means for detachably
fastening the first garment to the second garment is configured to
detachably fasten the second garment to the third garment.
15. The garment of claim 12 where a front side of the first garment
has a first design; where a front side of the second garment has a
second design; and where the first and second design are combinable
to create another design.
16. A method comprising: detachably fastening a front right edge of
a first garment to a front left edge of a second garment; and
detachably fastening a back right edge of the first garment to a
back left of the second garment; detachably fastening a front left
edge of the first garment to a back left edge of the first garment;
and detachably fastening a front right edge of the second garment
to a back right edge of the second garment.
17. The method of claim 17 where instead of detachably fastening a
front right edge of the second garment to a back right edge of the
second garment, the method includes: detachably fastening the front
right edge of the second garment to a front left edge of a third
garment; and detachably fastening the back right edge of the second
garment to a back left edge of the third garment.
18. The method of claim 16 comprising: affixing a first design to
the first garment; affixing a second design to the second garment;
displaying a third design when the first garment is detachably
fastened to the second garment; where the third design is a
combination of the first and second designs.
Description
[0001] This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional
Application Ser. No. 60/745,830 entitled INCLEMENT WEATHER GARMENT
FOR SPORTING FUNCTIONS, filed Apr. 27, 2006, which is incorporated
by reference.
BACKGROUND
[0002] This disclosure relates generally to garments and more
particularly to garments that detachably fasten to each other.
[0003] Fans of high-school, college, and professional sports often
wear team or organization specific clothing to outdoor games to
show their support for their team. Fans can also wear colored body
paints for the same reason.
[0004] When these same fans must endure the elements (e.g., rain,
sleet, snow) to watch their favorite teams, they can don
weather-resistant garments or household items such as garbage bags,
barrels, or ponchos to stay dry, warm, or comfortable. However,
unless the weather-appropriate garments are themselves supportive
of the team or transparent, the garments will obscure the other
team-specific clothing or body paint, preventing the fans from
supporting their favorite team.
[0005] Accordingly, there is a need to allow fans to snow support
for their favorite team while wearing weather-appropriate garments.
Embodiments of the invention address these and other disadvantages
of the conventional art.
SUMMARY
[0006] A garment for one person detachably fastens to one or more
garments for one or more other persons. Each of the detachably
fastened garments can include indicia or a design. The indicia or
the design can be configured such that a message or large design is
produced when the garments are detachably fastened together.
[0007] The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of
the invention will become more readily apparent from the following
detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention
that proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating two garments that can be
detachably fastened to each other according to some embodiments of
the invention.
[0009] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the garments of FIG. 1
detachably fastened and worn by two fans.
[0010] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing two garments detachably fastened
and worn by two fans according to some other embodiments of the
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0011] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating two garments 1, 2 that can
be detachably fastened to each other according to some embodiments
of the invention. According to the illustrated embodiments, the
garments 1 and 2 are generally rectangular in shape with respective
openings 7 and 8 to accommodate putting the garment over a wearer's
head and draping the garment on the wearer's shoulders around the
neck. When worn, the garments 1 and 2 define front sides 3 and 5
along an axis A that dissects the openings 7 and 8, respectively,
that are mostly in front of the wearer and define back sides 4 and
6 also along the axis A that dissects the openings 7 and 8,
respectively, that are mostly in back of the wearer.
[0012] Each of the garments 1 and 2 includes a detachable coupling
means, generally indicated as 100, arranged along the edges of the
front sides 3 and 5 and the back sides 4 and 6. The detachable
coupling means 100 can be multi-purpose because they can be used
either to detachably couple or fasten the front side 3 and the back
side 4 of garment 1 or they can be used to detachably couple or
fasten the front side 3 of garment 1 to the front side 5 of garment
2 and the back side 4 of garment 1 to the back side 6 of garment
2.
[0013] For example, garment 1 can include female snap fasteners
11A, 13A, 15A, 17A, 19A, and 21A arranged along an edge of the
front side 3. These female snap fasteners can be detachably coupled
or fastened to corresponding male snap fasteners 11B, 13B, 15B,
17B, 19B, and 21B arranged on an edge of the front side 5 of
garment 2. Alternatively, the female snap fasteners 11A, 13A, 15A,
17A, 19A, and 21A can be detachably fastened to corresponding male
snap fasteners 11C, 13C, 15C, 17C, 19C, and 21C arranged on an edge
of the back side 4 of garment 1. Any other snap fasteners, such as
an interlocking disc type fastener, can be used instead of the male
and female snap fasteners.
[0014] When the female snap fasteners 11A, 13A, 15A, 17A, 19A, and
21A are detachably fastened to the male snap fasteners 11C, 13C,
15C, 17C, 19C, and 21C, the garment 1 is in the closed position.
This closed position is used when a wearer does not want his
garment to be detachably fastened to another garment, e.g., garment
2.
[0015] When the female snap fasteners 11A, 13A, 15A, 17A, 19A, and
21A can be detachably fastened to the corresponding male snap
fasteners 11B, 13B, 15B, 17B, 19B, and 21B, the front sides 3 and 5
of the garments 1 and 2 can be detachably fastened with each other.
That is, front side 3 of garment 1 can be detachably fastened to
front side 5 of garment 2. To detachably fasten the back sides 4
and 6, the male snap fasteners 11C, 13C, 15C, 17C, 19C, and 21C can
be detachably fastened to corresponding female snap fasteners 11D,
13D, 15D, 17D, 19D, and 21D on the back side 6 of garment 2.
[0016] Several advantages can be realized by detachably fastening
the garments 1 and 2. First, the detachable fastening produces a
garment 200 with a relatively large combined front side that
includes each of the front sides 3 and 5 of garments 1 and 2. The
combined front side can be used to display a much larger design or
message showing support for a team. For example, each of the front
sides 3 and 5 can have a single large letter, which when read
together with other letters deliver a message, e.g., U and O
together can indicate the name of the University of Oregon.
Additionally, the combined back side can also be used to display a
much larger design or message. The garments 1 and 2 can be made of
a material that allows the design to vary from event to event. For
example, the garments 1 and 2 can be made of any material capable
of allowing a design to be written and erased, e.g., with erasable
pens, thus allowing the wearer to change designs from one game to
another or from one event to another.
[0017] As another example, the front side 3 can have an image of a
front half of a beaver mascot and the front side 5 can have an
image of a back half of a beaver mascot. When the two garments 1
and 2 are detachably fastened, a relatively large image of a beaver
mascot extends across the garments 1 and 2. Thus, two persons can
use the detachably fastened garments 1 and 2 to display a mascot
that is larger than any mascots that can be displayed on any
conventional garment worn by a single individual.
[0018] According to other embodiments, several garments (e.g., two
or more) can be detachably fastened to create an even larger
display. Each garment 1 or 2 can have a single letter that, when
combined with letters from other garments, forms a large message in
support of the choice team. The large message can include the name
of the team or the name of a preferred athlete on the team.
[0019] It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the
designs are optional and a garment according to the inventive
principles of this disclosure may not have any such design.
Alternatively, only one of the garments 1 and 2 may have a design.
In yet another embodiment, the design of the garments 1 and 2 may
not match to display a much larger design.
[0020] A second advantage of detachably coupling the garments 1 and
2 to create a garment 200 is shown in FIG. 2. The wearers of the
garments 1 and 2 can conceal their hands and arms under the
combined garment 200. Having an arm and a hand concealed in this
manner leads to several advantages. In one example, the wearers of
the combined garment 200 can desire to share refreshments such as a
bag of peanuts. Without the combined garment, the peanuts are
exposed to the elements as the bag is passed back and forth.
However, the wearers shown in FIG. 2 can use the detachably
fastened garment 200 to protect the bag of peanuts from the
elements while it is being shared. Another advantage is that if the
combined garment 200 is used in seating areas that include
bleachers, the combined garment 200 can effectively keep rain and
snow off of large areas of the bleachers, ensuring dry seating for
the people wearing the combined garment 200.
[0021] A third advantage of detachably coupling the garments 1 and
2 is shared body heat. When the elements are particularly bad, the
wearers of the combined garment 200 can stay warm and continue to
watch their teams while other fans with non-combined garments are
forced to go home cold.
[0022] Although the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 shows the
garments 1 and 2 being detachably fastened using snap fasteners,
any means of detachably coupling a garment can be used along the
edges. For example, zippers, buttons, laces, clips, hook and loop
fasteners (e.g. Velcro.RTM.), and the like could be used according
to alternative embodiments of the invention.
[0023] When certain through-hole fasteners are used an additional
advantage can be realized. Through-hole fasteners are those
fasteners that function by way of openings in a garment. Examples
include a button that operates by being slipped through an opening
in a garment or a lace that is strung through an opening in a
garment. These through-hole fasteners allow wearers of the garments
to optionally configure their combination garment in a closed
position even while being detachably fastened to another garment.
Namely, one edge of the front side of a first garment can be
simultaneously detachably fastened to a corresponding edge on the
back side of the first garment and a corresponding edge on a front
side of a second garment. In this manner, privacy can be retained
because there is no shared space within the combined garment.
[0024] FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of a combined garment. Each
of the garments 31 and 32 are detachably fastened to produce a
large front display area while still retaining privacy with respect
to each other. Privacy is retained because each wearer has an
adjacent arm over the combined garment. Moreover, privacy is also
retained because there is no shared space under the combined
garment.
[0025] We have described several examples with reference to the
accompanying drawings. Various other examples of the invention are
also possible and practical. The system can be exemplified in many
different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the
examples set forth above. For example, example garments may include
one or more layers of waterproof fabric, of which many conventional
types are known. However, other example garments can use one or
more layers of water-resistant fabric. Other conventional materials
and fibers are also contemplated. Other examples can include hoods,
sleeves, or both hoods and sleeves. According to some examples, a
child-sized garment can be detachably fastened to an adult-sized
garment because the spacing between the fasteners is approximately
the same on both the child-sized and the adult-sized garments.
[0026] The figures listed above illustrate examples of the
application and the operation of such examples. In the figures, the
size of the boxes is not intended to represent the size of the
various physical components. Where the same element appears in
multiple figures, the same reference numeral is used to denote the
element in all of the figures where it appears.
[0027] Only those parts of the various units are shown and
described which are necessary to convey an understanding of the
examples to those skilled in the art. Those parts and elements not
shown are conventional and known in the art.
[0028] It should be apparent that the example garments can be
modified in arrangement and detail without departing from such
principles. I claim all modifications coming within the spirit and
scope of the accompanying claims.
* * * * *