Seat Protective Garment

Abstract

A seat protective garment made from sheet plastic film, rubber coated nylon fabric and like material in a general configuration to fit on the waist of the wearer and extend below the seat around a portion of the back of each leg. A simple tie string at the top and tie strings for each bottom leg portion hold the garment in place over the seat of the wearer. The protective garment may be left in place on the waist and rolled up at the back when not in use or incorporated as part of the inner flap of the lining of a coat or parka, and may be used to protect the seat from moisture when sitting and ascending on a ski lift.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Body protective devices and especially water resistant or retardent protective garments and the like; protective clothing and covers.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Water resistant or retardent protective garments and the like are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,411,922; 2,571,202; 2,896,216; 2,898,597; 3,111,680; 3,268,914; 3,381,306. Some of these garments are in the nature of protective clothing for the purpose of reducing discomfort to outdoor people such as hunters, workmen and the like. Trouser or pants-like garments which are made from protective material are well known and have been used for centuries by fishermen, military personnel and the like. These garments are somewhat bulky, restrictive to the wearer and relatively expensive as compared with the present protective device. Furthermore, such protective arrangements are not easily put on or taken off, are restrictive to body movement and unattractive and would not be desirable for use outdoors for placement over the seat to protect it from moisture as when riding up a ski lift to the top of the slope. Thus, the primary problem with all of these garments is the bulkiness, weight, appearance, cost and relative difficulty of putting them on or taking them off and storing them during non-use. Since a skier already wears protective clothing including usually underwear and water resistant ski pants it is superfluous to provide such a skier with an additional unattractive, bulky protective garment that is put on or taken off like a pair of pants. Therefore, the restrictive nature of prior art garments is an important factor and a problem insofar as use for convenience in special situations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One advantage of the present protective garment is its lightweight and simple construction which makes it possible to be worn without any sensation to the wearer or to be stored in a pocket or rolled up and tied out of place as contrasted with prior art garments which must be donned like shirts or pants or must be snapped together and the like. The present seat protector can be made from very inexpensive plastic film and rolled up into a very small package and sold from a vending machine at a ski slope or by vendors at an outdoor sports contest such as a football or baseball game to protect the seat from moisture when sitting down. Unlike the prior art protective garments it does not have to be removed from the body like a pair of pants or shirt to be made inoperative and put out of the way but can be rolled into a small roll around the waist or could be folded up inside a jacket or parka.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a seat protector before it is worn.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic side elevation view of the seat protector shown in FIG. 1 in place on a skier sitting on the ski lift chair.

FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of a skier with the present seat protector in place for use.

FIG. 4 is a rear perspective view similar to FIG. 3 but with the seat protector rolled to inoperative position at at the back of the waist of the skier.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a modified form of the present invention folded underneath like the lining of a jacket when not in use.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of another form of the present invention rolled as part of the bottom hem of a jacket or parka.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The seat protector shown in FIG. 1 is designated generally and overall by reference numeral 10 and comprises a main body 12 which may be constructed from flexible sheet material such as any plastic film, fabric, rubber coated nylon fabric, lightweight waterproofed canvas and the like. The body 12 is tapered somewhat from a top marginal edge 14 to respective bottom marginal edges 16, 18 of leg portions 20, 22 having a crotch portion 24 therebetween. The marginal edge 14 is rolled into a hem to receive a drawstring 26 which extends on both sides with terminal ends 28, 30 that are tied about the waist. Similarly, the edges 16, 18 are rolled into a hem and each has a tie string 32, 34 respectively therein to be tied about the respective legs.

In FIG. 3 it is seen that the seat protector 10 body portion 12 is placed into operation and use on a skier having a body 38 by tying the tie string 26 about the waist 40 and each of the respective tie strings 32, 34 about a respective leg 42, 44 of the skier 38.

In FIG. 2 the skier 38 is seated on a conventional ski lift chair designated generally by reference numeral 50 and comprising a back 52 and a seat 54 which is hung by a bracket assembly 56 to a cable 58. The seats 54 of these lift chairs 50 are usually wet and if the skier 38 sat on such a chair up the slope even the water resistant ski pants 58 would probably soak some of the moisture into the seat and cause the skier to be wet and uncomfortable when he starts down the slope.

Whenever the skier 38 wishes to place the seat protector 10 in inoperative condition he may either remove it altogether by untying the drawstrings 26, 32 and 34 and rolling this seat cover into a very small package and putting it into the pocket of the jacket or ski pants. However, if the skier only wishes to place the seat protector 10 into temporary inoperative condition as when for example going down the ski slope the skier may simply roll it up the back and then temporarily secure the roll in place by means of a strap 60 which extends around the marginal edge 14 to provide a strip 62 on one side with the male snap 64 thereon and another strip 66 on the other side with the female matching snap 68 thereon so that the strip 62 may be attached to the strip 66 in the manner shown in FIG. 4 with the snap 64 closed.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 the seat protector 10 which is designated by reference numeral 70 is exactly the same as the seat protector 10 in the previous embodiments except that fastening means such as snaps 72 are provided along the edges 16, 18 to be snapped in place to the back of a parka which has been provided with matching snaps thereon so that the seat protector 70 may be folded up inside the parka and out of the way and conversely unsnapped and allowed to drop over the seat to be tied in place exactly the same as in the manner of previous embodiments. The seat protector 70 may be held as part of the inner lining of the jacket in the manner shown in FIG. 5 by means of another snap 78.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 the seat protector 80 which is the same as in the previous embodiments is snapped in place at the margin 82 of a jacket 84 and then rolled inwardly like the hem of the jacket and secured in place by means of snaps 86 attaching to the back 88 of the jacket 84.

Of course, in either of the embodiments of FIG. 5 or FIG. 6 the seat protector 70 and 80 respectively, in each embodiment could be cut as part of the jacket 74 or 84 respectively and in that case would be a continuation of the material of the jacket without any fasteners to attach it thereto or to remove it therefrom in which case of course the seat protector would always be a permanent part of the jacket. In such an arrangement the respective seat protector 70 or 80 could either be folded up as part of the lining in the manner shown in FIG. 5 or could be rolled up as part of the bottom hem in the manner shown in FIG. 6. The crotch 24 could be made solid and the leg portions 20, 22 would then become one solid sheet portion which could be made as long as desired even far below the knees of the legs 42, 44 as for example, to be used over a dress or a long coat. The bottom hem would be one continuous hem and only one drawstring would be necessary instead of two drawstrings 32, 34. Also, fastening means (not shown) can be located at any place both on the seat protector 10 as well as on the garment to which the seat protector is applied. "VELCRO" is a well known fastening means used in strip form on many garments as well as for attachment of medical appliances and strips of "VELCRO" could be substituted for the fasteners 64, 68 as well as for the drawstrings 26, 32 and 34. Of course, such elaboration will result in more expense and should be applied to more permanent of the seat protectors 10 made from more lasting materials whereas the seat protector 10 is capable of expression in very inexpensive materials such as waterproofed paper which can be die-cut in great quantities and provided with some sort of adhesive sticking means at selected locations near the margin thereof which would reduce the unit cost of the seat protector 10 made in that fashion to a very small amount in quantity making the seat protector 10 in that form very saleable for outdoor sports attractions on days when the weather is very bad.

While I have shown and described a particular embodiment of this invention together with a suggested arrangement thereof and several alternative embodiments and arrangements this is by way of illustration only and also serves to demonstrate that these are not the only forms of my invention since various alterations, changes, substitutions, deviations, additions, removals, integrations, combinations and departures may be made in the embodiments shown and described without departing from the scope of my invention as defined by a proper interpretation of the appended Claims.

Claims

I claim:

1. In a seat protector:

a. a substantially flat sheet of protective material including inexpensive plastic film of a size and shape adapted to cover the seat of the wearer,

b. a tie string extending from each side near the top of the seat protector for supporting same generally in the locality of the middle part of the wearer, said sheet extending below the bottom of the seat area of the wearer and below the seat of the wearer to protect same as when sitting on a moist surface,

c. said seat protector having separate leg portions extending therefrom separated by a space therebetween and each leg portion having a tie string thereon for attachment to a respective leg of the wearer,

d. said seat protector being rollable upon itself to a location substantially about the waist of the wearer,

e. said seat protector having a strap thereon for holding said seat protector in raised position after it has been rolled upon itself

said strap having fastening means thereon and said strap being placed about said rolled seat protector and fastened in place.