Clothing combination, as for firefighter, with pants and with suspenders attached in improved way

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6698031
  • Patent Number
    6,698,031
  • Date Filed
    Friday, May 17, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, March 2, 2004
    20 years ago
Abstract
A combination of protective clothing, as for a firefighter, utilizes a pair of pants having a waist portion and a pair of suspenders having straps, which are attachable detachably to the waist portion. The waist portion has a plurality of horizontally extending slots, one said slot for each said strap, which slots in one contemplated embodiment are defined by strips of fabric, webbing, or other material sewn at opposite ends to the waist portion and which slots in another contemplated embodiment penetrate the waist portion and may have bound edges. Each strap when attached to the waist portion extends through an associated one of the slots, whereupon such strap is folded upwardly and is fastened releasably to itself by a fastener, such as a snap fastener, which is separated from a wearer by a portion of said strap, or such as a hook-and-loop fastener.
Description




TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION




This invention pertains to a clothing combination, which may be advantageously worn by a firefighter, a rescue worker, a construction worker, or an agricultural worker and which utilizes a pair of pants having a waist portion and a pair of suspenders having straps to be detachably attached to the waist portion. This invention provides an improved way to attach straps of a pair of suspenders to a waist portion of a pair of pants.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




Commonly, firefighters, rescue workers, construction workers, and agricultural workers wear pants with suspenders, which facilitate donning and doffing. As exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 2,437,714, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,784,987, and in U.S. Pat. Des. 415,331, it is known to fasten straps of a pair of suspenders around a belt, which is worn with the pants.




As exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 4,481,682, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,092, and in U.S. Pat. No. 6,026,516, it is known to utilize hook-and-loop fasteners to fasten straps of a pair of suspenders to other elements. As exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,057, in U.S. Pat. Re. 34,094, and in U.S. Pat. No. 6,167,573, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference, it is known to utilize wire fasteners, which coact with buttons on a pair of pants, to fasten straps of suspenders to the pair of pants.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




This invention provides a clothing combination, which may be advantageously worn by a firefighter, a rescue worker, a construction worker, or an agricultural worker and which comprises a pair of pants having a waist portion and a pair of suspenders having straps that are attachable detachably to the waist portion. This invention contemplates that the waist portion has a plurality of horizontally extending slots, one said slot for each said strap, and that each strap when attached to the waist portion extends downwardly, through an associated one of the slots, whereupon said strap is folded upwardly and is fastened releasably to itself.




Preferably, each strap when attached to the waist portion is fastened releasably to itself by fastening means separated from a wearer by a portion of said strap. As an example, the fastening means may be snap-fastening means, which possibly comprises metall parts. Alternatively, the fastening means may be hook-and-loop fastening means, which typically does not comprise metal parts. If the fastening means comprises metal parts, which can become hot in a firefighting environment or in another hot environment, the strap portion separating the fastening means from a wearer provides some thermal insulation between those parts and the wearer.




In a preferred embodiment, each slot is defined by a strip of fabric, webbing, or other material, which strip has two opposite ends and which strip is attached, as by being sewn, at the opposite ends to the waist portion. In the preferred embodiment, each strap when attached to the waist portion extends downwardly through an associated one of the slots, between the fabric strip defining the associated one of the slots and the waist portion. In an alternative embodiment, which omits such strips, each slot penetrates the waist portion.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a front, perspective view of a man wearing a clothing combination, which embodies this invention. The clothing combination comprises a pair of pants having a waist portion and a pair of suspenders having straps, which are attached detachably attached to the waist portion. Each strap when attached to the waist portion extends downwardly through an associated slot, between a fabric strip defining the associated slot and the waist portion, whereupon said strap is folded upwardly and is fastened releasably to itself by snap-fastening means.





FIG. 2

, on a larger scale, is a fragmentary, perspective detail of one strap extending downwardly through an associated slot, between a fabric strip defining the associated slot and the waist portion, being is folded upwardly and being fastened releasably to itself by snap-fastening means.





FIG. 3

, on an even larger scale, is a sectional detail taken along line


3





3


of

FIG. 2

, in a direction indicated by arrows.





FIG. 4

, on a scale like the scale of

FIG. 2

, is a fragmentary, perspective detail of one strap extending downwardly through an associated slot, between a fabric strip defining the associated slot and the waist portion, being is folded upwardly, and being fastened releasably to itself by hook-and-loop fastening means.





FIG. 5

, on a scale like the scale of FIG.


2


and of

FIG. 4

, is a fragmentary, perspective detail of one strap extending downwardly through an associated slot, which penetrates the waist portion and which has bound edges, being is folded upwardly and being fastened releasably to itself by snap-fastening means.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS




As illustrated in

FIGS. 1

,


2


, and


3


, a clothing combination constituting a preferred embodiment of this invention comprises a pair of pants


10


, such as a pair of bunker pants for a firefighter, which has a waist portion


12


and two leg portions


14


. The clothing combination further comprises a pair of suspenders


20


comprising two straps


22


, which cross in a back portion of the pair of suspenders, as disclosed in the aforenoted patents, the disclosures of which have incorporated herein by reference. Each strap


22


has a front end and a back end, which is not illustrated, and each strap


22


is attachable detachably near each of its front and back ends to the waist portion


12


in an improved way, which is provided by this invention. This invention contemplates that the waist portion


12


has a plurality of horizontally extending slots


14


, one said slot for each said strap


22


, and that each strap


22


when attached to the waist portion


12


extends through an associated one of the slots


14


, whereupon said strap


22


is folded upwardly and is fastened releasably to itself.




As illustrated in

FIGS. 1

,


2


, and


3


, each horizontally extending slot


14


is defined by a fabric strip


30


, which has two opposite ends


32


and which is sewn at the opposite ends


32


to the waist portion


12


. Moreover, each strap


22


when attached to the waist portion


12


extends downwardly through an associated one of the slots


14


, between the fabric strip


30


defining the associated one of the slots


14


and the waist portion


12


. After extending downwardly through an associated one of the slots


14


, between the fabric strip


30


defining the associated one of the slots


14


and the waist portion


12


, each strap


22


is folded upwardly and is fastened releasably to itself by a snap-fastening means


40


, which is separated from a wearer by a portion


24


of said strap


22


.




As illustrated in

FIGS. 1

,


2


, and


3


, the snap-fastening means


40


comprises a male member


42


, which is attached in a conventional way to a fabric strip


44


affixed, as by sewing, to the same portion


24


of said strap


22


, and the snap-fastening means


40


comprises a female member


46


, which is affixed in a conventional way to said strap


22


, near its end being attached. If the male member


42


and the female member are metal parts, which can become hot in a firefighting environment or in another hot environment, the strap portion


24


separating the snap-fastening means


40


from the wearer provides some thermal insulation between those parts and the wearer.




As illustrated in

FIG. 4

, each horizontally extending slot


14


penetrates the waist portion


12


and has bound edges


16


, which resist unraveling of the waist portion


12


where penetrated by said slot


14


. Moreover, each strap


22


when attached to the waist portion


12


extends outwardly through an associated one of the slots


14


, between the fabric strip


30


defining the associated one of the slots


14


and the waist portion


12


. After extending outwardly through an associated one of the slots


14


, each strap


22


is folded upwardly and is fastened releasably to itself by a snap-fastening means


40


, which is separated from a wearer by a portion


24


of said strap


22


, as described above.




As illustrated in

FIG. 5

, the embodiment illustrated in

FIGS. 1

,


2


, and


3


and described above, may be modified so that, after extending downwardly through an associated one of the slots


14


, between the fabric strip


30


defining the associated one of the slots


14


and the waist portion


12


, each strap


22


is folded upwardly and is fastened releasably to itself by a hook-and-loop fastening means


50


, which comprises a hook-faced tape


52


affixed, as by sewing, to the strap portion


24


mentioned above and a loop-faced tape


54


affixed, as by sewing, to said strap


22


, near its ends being attached.




Moreover, the hook-and-loop fastening means


50


is useful in the embodiment of

FIG. 4

, as a substitute for the snap-fastening means


40


. In the hook-and-loop fastening means


50


, as utilized in any embodiment disclosed herein, the hook-faced tape


52


and the loop-faced tape


54


are interchangeable.



Claims
  • 1. A clothing combination comprising a pair of pants having a waist portion and a pair of suspenders having straps, which are attachable detachably to the waist portion, wherein the waist portion has a plurality of horizontally extending slots, one said slot for each said strap, wherein each slot is defined by a horizontally extending strip of fabric, webbing, or other material, wherein the strip has two opposite ends and is attached at the opposite ends to the waist portion, and wherein each strap when attached to the waist portion extends through an associated one of the slots, between the fabric strip defining the associated one of the slots and the waist portion, whereupon said strap is folded upwardly and is fastened releasably to itself.
  • 2. The clothing combination of claim 1 wherein each strap when attached to the waist portion is fastened releasably to itself by fastening means separated from a wearer by a portion of said strap.
  • 3. The clothing combination of claim 1 wherein each strap when attached to the waist portion is fastened releasably to itself by snap-fastening means.
  • 4. The clothing combination of claim 1 wherein each strap when attached to the waist portion is fastened releasably to itself by hook-and-loop fastening means.
  • 5. The clothing combination of claim 3 or claim 4 wherein the fastening means used to fasten each strap releasably to itself is separated from a wearer by a portion of said strap.
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3784987 Bryant Jan 1974 A
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4888830 Putnam Dec 1989 A
4901408 Hermann Feb 1990 A
5129105 Kleinman Jul 1992 A
5133092 Altinger Jul 1992 A
5623735 Perry Apr 1997 A
D415331 Garcia Oct 1999 S
6105169 Colorado Aug 2000 A
6163890 Utamaru Dec 2000 A
6167573 Lewis Jan 2001 B1
6490733 Casaubon Dec 2002 B1