Patent Application
20180338549
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The disclosure and prior art relates to body coverings and more particularly pertains to a new garment or body covering configured to heat selected portions of a wearer's body.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a garment or body covering configured to heat selected portions of a wearer's body. The body covering comprises a garment body, a pair of arm sleeves and a pair of leg sleeves configured to be worn on the wearer's body. The garment body is configured to be worn on the wearer's body and has a front portion, a back portion, a neck portion, a neck opening, a right upper arm portion, a right arm opening, a left upper arm portion, a left arm opening, a right thigh portion, and a left thigh portion. The pair of arm sleeves is configured for positioning on lower arms of the wearer. The pair of leg sleeves is configured for positioning on lower leg areas of the wearer. The garment body, the pair of arm sleeves and the pair of leg sleeves are made of a garment fabric comprising an interior layer of neoprene, an exterior layer of neoprene, and an intermediate layer 24 sandwiched between the interior and exterior layers of neoprene. The garment body has a center back opening with a zipper.
A plurality of heating elements are in thermal communication with the garment body, the pair of arm sleeves and the pair of legs, the heating elements positioned in the intermediate layer. The heating elements are positioned in the front portion, the back portion, the neck portion, the right and left upper arm portions and the right and left thigh portions of the garment body, and in the pair of arm sleeves and the pair of leg sleeves. A plurality of batteries is electrically coupled to the plurality of heating elements such that each of the heating elements is powered by at least one of the batteries. A plurality of control units are operationally coupled to the plurality of batteries and are configured to selectively turn on or off an associated heating element. A plurality of pockets located on the exterior layer hold associated batteries and control units, an associated one of said pockets, batteries, control units and heating elements defining a set such that a plurality of sets is defined. The body covering includes a plurality of sections, each section being separate from each other, each section including an associated one of the sets, the sections including a torso section including the front portion, back portion, right upper arm portion, left upper arm portion, right thigh portion, and left thigh portion, the pair of arm sleeves, and the pair of leg sleeves.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
The garment body 12, the pair of arm sleeves 14 and the pair of leg sleeves 16 are made of a garment neoprene fabric 18, best shown at
The garment body 12 is configured to be worn on the body of the wearer and comprises a front portion 26, a back portion 28, a neck portion 30, a neck opening 32, a right upper arm portion 34, a right arm opening 36, a left upper arm portion 38, a left arm opening 40, a right thigh portion 42, and a left thigh portion 44. The pair of arm sleeves 14 is configured for positioning on lower arms of the wearer of the garment. The pair of leg sleeves 16 is configured for positioning on lower leg areas of the wearer of the garment.
In one embodiment according to the disclosure, the garment body 12 has a center back opening 46 located at the back portion 28 of the garment body 12, and a closure 48 positioned on the back portion 28 and releasably closing the center back opening 46, the closure 48 comprising a zipper 50.
In one embodiment of the disclosure, the garment body 12 includes a right medial thigh vent 52 located at the right thigh portion 42 of the garment body 12. A right thigh vent closure 54 is mounted on the right thigh portion 42 for closing the right medial thigh vent 52. A left medial thigh vent 56 is located at the left thigh portion 44 of the garment body 12, and a left thigh vent closure 58 is mounted on the left thigh portion 44 for closing the left medial thigh vent 56. Each of the right and left thigh vent closures 54, 58 includes a hook and loop fastener 60.
A plurality of heating elements 62 are in thermal communication with the garment body 12, the pair of arm sleeves 14 and the pair of leg sleeves 16, the heating elements 62 positioned in the intermediate layer 24. The heating elements 62 are positioned in the front portion 26, the back portion 28, the neck portion 30, the right and left upper arm portions 34, 38 and the right and left thigh portions 42, 44 of the garment body 12, and in the pair of arm sleeves 14 and the pair of leg sleeves 16. A plurality of batteries 64 are electrically coupled to the plurality of heating elements 62 such that each of the heating elements 62 is powered by at least one of the batteries 64. The batteries may be rechargeable, and may each include a connector for coupling the batteries to a battery charger. A plurality of control units 66 are operationally coupled to the plurality of batteries 64 and are configured to selectively turn on or off an associated heating element 62. A plurality of pockets 68 located on the exterior layer 22 hold associated batteries 64 and control units 66, an associated one of said pockets 68, batteries 64, control units 66 and heating elements 62 defining a set 70 such that a plurality of sets 70 is defined. The body covering 10 includes a plurality of sections, each section being separate from each other, each section including an associated one of the sets 70, the sections including a torso section 74 including the front portion 26, back portion 28, right upper arm portion 34, left upper arm portion 38, right thigh portion 42, and left thigh portion 44, an arm section 76 comprising the pair of arm sleeves 14, and a leg section 78 comprising the pair of leg sleeves 16.
In one embodiment according to the disclosure, as shown at
In one embodiment of the disclosure, as shown at
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
In use, the wearer of a body covering according to the disclosure may use the control units 66 to selectively turn on and off the heating elements 62. In an alternative embodiment in accordance with the disclosure, each control unit may include a timer, and the wearer may use the control units 66 to turn on the heating elements 62, which may operate to provide heat for a predetermined length of time before automatically shutting off. In one non-limiting example, the heating elements are programmed to operate for 30 minutes before automatically shutting off.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
