Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6698031
-
Patent Number
6,698,031
-
Date Filed
Friday, May 17, 200222 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, March 2, 200420 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
Agents
- Wood, Phillips, Katz, Clark & Mortimer
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 002 340
- 002 326
- 002 327
- 002 336
- 002 337
- 002 338
- 002 79
- 002 227
- 002 310
- 002 69
- 002 81
- 024 318
- 024 319
-
International Classifications
-
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.
US Referenced Citations (15)