Patent Application
20100212061
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a protective garment, preferably configured as a jacket or coat, although the invention is not so limited. That is, the garment may be configured as a poncho or coverall, if desired. Most preferably, the garment is especially configured and structured for wear by participants in motor sports activities, who are thus exposed to the elements outdoors. Participants in motor sports also need physical protection for their person. Particularly, they need to wear a helmet while operating or riding on a sports motor vehicle, such as a motorcycle. The garment should also provide protection to the body of the participant in the event of a crash or fall. The present garment offers protection from the elements while the person wearing the garment is also wearing a helmet, and also while no helmet is being worn. Thus, the present inventive garment is particularly well suited for use by motorcycle riders, and other operators and passengers of motor sports vehicles.
During warm weather conditions, operators and passengers of sports motor vehicles desire an adequate ventilation air flow. But, during cold or wet weather conditions, operators and passengers of motor sports vehicles also need protection from the wet and cold. Such protection is needed both while the motor sports vehicle is in operation and moving, and also after the operator or passenger dismounts from the vehicle. In many respects, operators and passengers of motor sports vehicles are engaged in an outdoor activity, exposing them to the weather both while they are on the sport motor vehicle and also after they dismount from the vehicle. The present garment provides for all these differing wear conditions and needs. Additionally, in the event of a mishap, such as a spill from the sports motor vehicle, the garment also provides important physical protections against impact and abrasion.
2. Related Technology
Operators of motorcycles and other sports motor vehicles have for years sought to protect themselves from injury in the event of a mishap. Competition motorcycle riders have commonly worn full “leathers”, which are a full cover-all type of leather suit, many having doubled leather in areas of high abrasion, or with built in panels of protective body armor. For warm-weather wear, such “leathers” made in part from perforated leather panels have been available. These “leathers”, are generally not practical for wear by the street motorcycle rider. For example, these leather suits, whether made of un-perforated or perforated leather, provide virtually no protection against rain.
Nevertheless, street motorcycle riders have favored various leather jackets and coats because of the abrasion resistance provided by the leather in the event of a spill from the moving motorcycle. Many of these conventional leather motorcycle jackets traditionally do not have any form of body armor for the rider. Some leather jackets have no particular provision for ventilation to the rider in warm and hot weather. Particularly in hot weather leather can be uncomfortably warm to wear. However, even in hot weather some motorcycle riders endure the discomfort of a leather jacket, not because it is needed for protection from the elements, but because of concerns for personal safety and survival in the event of a spill from the motorcycle at any speed. On the other hand, in hot weather some cavalier motorcycle riders partially or fully open the front zipper or snaps of their jacket in order to allow the moving air stream to rush in. But, this greatly reduces the protection offered by a leather jacket. In hot weather, really foolish riders forgo the protection of a leather jacket and are seen riding in a T-shirt.
However, these hot weather expedients are very unsafe because a partially or fully open jacket billows or whips in the air stream, possibly compromising the rider's ability to control the vehicle, and certainly contributing to rider fatigue after a period. Fatigue reduces the rider's situational awareness and may be a contributing factor in many motorcycle accidents. Importantly, in the event of a spill, an open jacket or coat is more likely to slide up the wearer's torso, and provide little or no protection against abrasion. Of course, a T-shirt offers no protection at all.
Consequently, leather jackets and coats with provisions for ventilation while closed and still providing adequate protection to the wearer have been developed. Examples of leather coats and jackets which are conventional are seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,715, issued Sep. 2, 1986 to Richard Miller and John Wyckoff; in U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,715, issued Apr. 21, 1992 to Paul Golde, and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,042, issued Apr. 16, 1996 to Michael van der Slessen. German patent publication No. DE 3818-566-A1 published Dec. 7, 1989, provides another example of this conventional approach to providing protection and ventilation to riders of motorcycles.
However, leather has a significant shortcoming in use for protection to motorcycle riders and other such sport vehicle operators and occupants. This shortcoming was alluded to above with respect to the leather suits generally worn by competition motorcycle riders. That is, leather is not of itself very good at protecting the wearer from the elements. In the event the wearer encounters a rain storm while riding a motorcycle or other motor sports vehicle, such as an open aircraft, for example, or encounters wet snow or water spray in the event of a snowmobile or boat operator or occupant, then the leather jacket or coat will quickly soak up enough water to become sodden and heavy, and will let water reach the wearer. Some very slight and generally temporary increase in the water resistance of leather garments can be achieved by treating them with a water repellant, such as ScotchGuard™, for example. However, this expedient is really not very long lasting and is not satisfactory. Consequently, motorcycle riders and other motor sports vehicle operators have had to carry a rain suit with them for use in foul-weather conditions.
A rain suit worn over a leather jacket does provide adequate foul-weather protection (i.e., it protects the rider against rain and vehicle water spray), and the rider still has the abrasion resistance provided by the leather jacket, but ventilation is completely cut off. Consequently, after the rain passes unless the rider stops to take off the rain suit, he finds himself in a virtual sauna of humidity trapped inside the rain suit with almost no ventilation. Further, if the wearer is traveling on a day with intermittent rain, the inconvenience of stopping to put on the rain suit when rain is encountered and stopping again to take it off again after the rain passes is very frustrating and time consuming.
Some sport vehicle rain suits made of Gortex™ and similar fabrics which are water-proof but breathable have been available for some time. Some of these suits are simply snowmobile suits put to this purpose. These snowmobile suits tend to have much more insulation than is desirable for many conditions of motorcycle riding. Other such fabric rain suits are made especially for motorcycle riders, and have less insulation. In general, all of these suits are worn over street clothes, and although some may have protective features such as body armor sections, none are known to provide ventilation for warm-weather wear.
Some garments have been developed which provide both rain protection and ventilation. U.S. Pat. No. 3,045,243 discloses a cold-weather garment intended for wear by military personnel. The garment disclosed does appear to provide protection against both rain and cold, and to allow ventilation when rain protection is not needed. However, this garment would not be suitable for wear by a motor sports vehicle occupant or operator. Such is the case because of the garment's bulk, lack of physical protection features for the wearer, and especially lack of protection against rain being driven through the ventilation openings by the moving air stream encountered by a sports vehicle operator or occupant.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,513,451, issued Apr. 30, 1985; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,722,099, issued Feb. 2, 1988, appear to relate to garments specifically intended for use by motorcycle riders and other sport vehicle operators and occupants. The '451 patent appears to disclose a ventilated suit. Ventilation is provided by opening panels of the suit. This suit appears to provide no protection against foul weather, and would require use of a rain suit also under such conditions. The '099 patent appears to disclose a suit made of real or synthetic leather, and having provisions for supplying a ventilation air flow through the suit which varies with speed. Again, this suit appears to provide no protection against foul weather, and also would require use of a rain suit under such conditions.
In view of the deficiencies of the related technology, a primary object of this invention is to avoid one or more of these deficiencies.
More particularly, it is an object of this invention to provide a protective garment for wear by operators and occupants of sport vehicle, which will provide protection against water entering the garment at the neck opening during wet weather.
Another object is to provide such a garment which has provision for wearer's head and neck to be protected by a hood even when the wearer is also wearing a motorcycle helmet.
Still another object is to provide such a garment which has a duality of stowage areas located at a collar of the garment, with one stowage area receiving a hood constructed and configured to be worn under a motorcycle helmet, and with the other stowage area receiving a protective hood constructed to be worn without a motorcycle helmet.
Accordingly, the present invention according to one aspect provides a garment having an outer shell made of water-impermeable material, and having a nested pair of hoods for protection of a wearer's head in a variety of conditions. The garment comprises a garment shell made of water resistant or waterproof material, and the garment shell defines a neck opening and a pair of sleeves. A collar structure at said neck opening, said collar structure including an inner hood in a stowed position disposed circumferentially about said collar structure, and in an unfurled position said inner hood covering the wearer's head. The said collar structure also includes an outer hood in a stowed position also disposed circumferentially about said collar structure, and in an unfurled position said outer hood covering said wearer's head, and also possibly covering said inner hood.
A better understanding of the present invention will be obtained from reading the following description of a single preferred exemplary embodiment of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the appended drawing Figures, in which the same features (or features analogous in structure or function) are indicated with the same reference numeral throughout the several views. It will be understood that the appended drawing Figures and description here following relate only to one or more exemplary preferred embodiments of the invention, and as such, are not to be taken as implying a limitation on the invention. No such limitation on the invention is implied, and none is to be inferred.
a respectively provide front and rear elevation views of the garment seen in
Viewing first
Because the motorcycle 10 includes a protective fairing (not numbered in the drawing Figures), so long as the motorcycle is moving as some speed the air stream 14 will carry rain and traffic mist past the rider's lower body, so that water-proof pants (i.e., the pants of a rain suit, for example) may not be required for the rider's comfort. Alternatively, a rider of an un-faired motorcycle or one who is going to be riding for some time in foul weather conditions may choose to wear a pair of water or wind proof pants or the pants of a rain suit over ordinary jeans, for example.
As is seen in
In order to obtain multi-faceted protection, the rider is wearing coat 16. This coat includes many features in combination providing several different kinds of unique protection for the rider 10. Viewing
The shell 18 includes a front panel 20 divided into left and right parts (20l and 20r) by a vertically extending opening 22 providing for the rider 10 to put the coat on and take it off. The coat 16 also includes a back panel 24 (seen in
Although it is not seen in the drawing Figures, it will be understood that within the shell, the coat 16 may include an insulating liner, or liners. In the case of a coat provided with more than one such liner, the liners are conventionally of differing weights, and the lighter one of these may be permanently installed in the coat. A heavier inner liner for use in cold weather may be installed into and removable from the coat, usually by means of snaps or zipper attachments, according to the needs dictated by weather conditions.
The panels 20 and 24 and a collar structure 28 cooperatively form an opening 28b for the riders neck. In order to provide physical protections to the rider 10, both against the possibilities of abrasion and impact in the event of a spill, and against traffic-thrown pebbles, rocks, other road debris, as well as against impacts with large insects, the coat 16 includes a rather tall band collar 28 (best seen in
When it is closed across the wearer's throat, the collar 28 provides protection against pebbles, rocks and insects impacting the rider's throat below the helmet. It is to be noted also that in order to provide resistance against the coat 16 sliding up the rider's arms or up the rider's torso during a slide following a spill from the moving motorcycle, for example, the sleeves 26 are provided with wrist bands 30 similarly secured with a hook-and-loop type material, or with snaps or other fasteners (not seen in the drawing Figures). The torso is provided with a waist band 32 which may be adjustable or elasticized (or both) helping to keep the coat 16 at the rider's waist. This waist band helps contribute to resistance of the coat 16 against billowing in the air stream 14.
Also, in order to provide protection against abrasion and impacts, the coat 16 is provided at the elbows, shoulders, and back with internal body armor panels, indicated generally on
As is seen in
Returning to a consideration of
Thus, by undoing these snaps 48, the wearer may open the flap 46 and withdraw the inner hood 42 downwardly from within pocket 46a, and then may unfurl upwardly the upper part of the inner hood 42 (see especially
Next, above the portion 50, the inner hood 42 is configured to include a somewhat stretchy and conformal portion 52. This portion 52 may be formed, for example, of a tricot material, providing for the material of portion 52 to conform closely and comfortably to the wearer's head under a helmet. That is, the portion 52 of hood 42 is close-fitting to the wearer's head. The tricot material of the portion 52 is not waterproof, but is air-permeable and moisture-permeable. Accordingly, the portion 52 is “breathable” to allow perspiration to evaporate. Thus, it will be understood that the wearer may comfortably don a helmet over the inner hood as this hood is shown in
Turning now to
Because the outer hood 54 is made preferably of the same waterproof material as the shell 18 of the jacket 16, the rider will not wear a helmet over the hood 54. That is, the outer hood 54 is configured to be worn when complete weather protection is needed, but while the wearer is not operating a motorcycle or other sport motor vehicle. If desired, both the inner hood 42 and outer hood 54 may be worn together for best warmth and protection.
A distinct advantage of the present invention resides in its versatility. An operator, passenger, or occupant of a sport motor vehicle may wear the garment with comfort in virtually any weather conditions, and while also wearing a helmet. That is, the inner hood 42 provides increased weather protection while the wearer is a motorcycle rider, for example, and needs also to wear a helmet. On the other hand, once the rider dismounts from a motorcycle, in bad weather conditions, the outer hood 54 may be deployed in order to obtain great weather protection, all with use of features of the garment 16.
While the present invention has been depicted, described, and is defined by reference to a single particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, such reference does not imply a limitation on the invention, and no such limitation is to be inferred. The invention is capable of considerable modification, alteration, and equivalents in form and function, as will occur to those ordinarily skilled in the pertinent arts. The depicted and described preferred embodiment of the invention is exemplary only, and is not exhaustive of the scope of the invention. Consequently, the invention is intended to be limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims, giving full cognizance to equivalents in all respects.
