Patent Grant
10231496
The present disclosure relates generally to deployable rain pants. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to pants that quickly and easily deploy downwardly from the waist without requiring the removal of footwear.
Sports enthusiasts and nature lovers engage in a wide variety of outdoor activities. Along with the enjoyment of being outdoors, however, comes the possibility of sudden inclement weather.
Getting caught in an extreme downpour can be unpleasant and unhealthy. When hiking, mountain climbing, cycling, and engaging in similar activities, it is not uncommon to be miles or hours from shelter. Accordingly, protective gear must be carried to avoid having even a short downpour ruin your day.
Rain pants are typically made of a waterproof material, and are donned over existing pants or shorts. Putting on rain pants usually requires that the user step into each pant leg with each foot, and have each foot exit through an ankle opening. While engaging in outdoor activities, however, the user will typically be wearing footwear and possibly heavy boots. Most footwear will not fit through the ankle openings provided by typical rain pants.
Thus, suddenly having to put on rain pants, then, might require the user to remove his footwear, and step on the bare (and probably wet) ground. While the user might thereafter avoid getting his legs wet due to protection from the rain pants, he must, however, suffer through the day with wet feet, socks, and shoes.
In addition, under most circumstances, rain gear will need to be removed from one's backpack or gear, and be unpacked and unfolded. Doing so might require two free hands, and depending on the activity currently engaged in, might require more dexterity and attention than is currently available or possible to offer. Also, in the time it takes to get the rain gear out, ready, and on—the user might already be soaked from the rain.
While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present disclosure as disclosed hereafter.
In the present disclosure, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or discussed, this reference or discussion is not an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge or any combination thereof was at the priority date, publicly available, known to the public, part of common general knowledge or otherwise constitutes prior art under the applicable statutory provisions; or is known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which the present disclosure is concerned.
While certain aspects of conventional technologies have been discussed to facilitate the present disclosure, no technical aspects are disclaimed and it is contemplated that the claims may encompass one or more of the conventional technical aspects discussed herein.
An aspect of an example embodiment in the present disclosure is to provide rain pants that are easily deployed without requiring that the user remove footwear. Accordingly, the present disclosure provides rain pants that initially fasten around the waist with a waist belt, has a pants portion that rolls down from the waist belt toward the ankles, provide a wide opening that the user can step into, and then fasten around the legs.
It is another aspect of an example embodiment in the present disclosure to provide rain pants that are lightweight and unobtrusive, yet convenient to use when needed. Accordingly, the waist belt contains a storage pouch, and a waist band front of the pants portion are attached to the inside of the storage pouch so that the pants portion folds neatly into the pouch for storage, and rolls out quickly for use.
It is yet another aspect of an example embodiment in the present disclosure to provide rain pants that are easy to deploy. Accordingly, the pants portion includes a pair of pants parts and a central portion. The pants parts include a waist band front and a waist band rear. A pair of main seams connect and quickly join each of the pants parts with the central portion, fully between the top and bottom of the pants portion. Waist band fasteners may be employed to join the waist band front to the waist band rear prior to joining the seams to facilitate donning the rain pants.
Accordingly, the present disclosure describes a deployable rain pants assembly, for use by a user having a waist and legs in protecting everyday pants from the rain, including a belt and a pants portion. The pants portion is initially stored near the belt, which is worn around the waist until needed. The pants portion has a top edge, a bottom edge having ankle openings, a pair of pant leg portions, and a waist band having a waist band front and a waist band rear. A pair of main seams extend from near the bottom edge to the waistband and selectively join the pant leg parts, and join the waist band front and waist band rear. Once the pants portion is deployed downwardly from the belt, the waist band rear is tucked between the legs, the user steps through the ankle openings, and main seams are joined to encase and cover the everyday pants.
The present disclosure addresses at least one of the foregoing disadvantages. However, it is contemplated that the present disclosure may prove useful in addressing other problems and deficiencies in a number of technical areas. Therefore, the claims should not necessarily be construed as limited to addressing any of the particular problems or deficiencies discussed hereinabove. To the accomplishment of the above, this disclosure may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Attention is called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only. Variations are contemplated as being part of the disclosure.
In the drawings, like elements are depicted by like reference numerals. The drawings are briefly described as follows.
The present disclosure now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, which show various example embodiments. However, the present disclosure may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the example embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these example embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure is thorough, complete and fully conveys the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art.
Referring again to
The main seams 50 selectively join adjacent fabric portions which make up the pants portion 40, and will be described in further detail hereinbelow. The main seams 50 are capable of fully separating along their length, and are capable of fully joining along their length. Accordingly, a main seam fastener is provided along each main seam 50. In particular, a main zipper 52 extends fully along each main seam to facilitate attachment and detachment of adjacent fabric portions therealong.
Referring to
Each pant leg part 60 is generally at the front 40F or rear 40R of the pants portion 40 and is permanently joined to the other pant leg part 60 at the bottom edge 40B of each of the pant legs 41. The pant leg parts 60 are permanently attached along the inside edges 44 of each pant leg 41 and at the central portion 70 along the inseam 49 and are only detached or detachable along the outer edges 42 and between the waist band front 47F and waist band rear 47R.
The main seams 50 are defined by main seam edges 51. Each main seam edge 51 contains a component of the main seam fasteners that joins together to form the main seams 50. The main seams edges 51 are the adjacent fabric portions that are selectively joined by the main seam fasteners to form the main seams 50. For each main seam 50, the main seam edges 51 include a front outer seam edge 51A and a rear outer seam edge 51B. Each outer seam edge 51A, 51B extends between the bottom edge 40B of one of the pant legs 41 and the waist band 47. In fact, the waist band front 47F is defined and bounded by the front outer seam edges 51A, and the waist band rear 47R is defined and bounded by the rear outer seam edges 51B.
In accordance with the principles of the present disclosure, when the front outer seam edges 51A are joined with the rear outer seam edges 51B, the waist band front 47F is effectively joined to the waist band rear 47R to create a continuous waist band 47, as seen in
Referring to
Referring to
The storage pouch 80 has a pouch opening 81, a pouch closure 82, and a pouch interior 84 that is capable of storing the pants portion 40 fully within the pouch interior 84. The pouch closure 82 selectively opens and closes the pouch opening 81. Accordingly, as illustrated the pouch closure 82 may be a zipper that extends along the pouch opening 81 to selectively mate edges thereof. The pouch 80 has an interior surface 86 within the pouch interior 84 that is only accessible when the pouch is open. The waist band front 47F at the top edge 40T of the pants portion 40 is secured to the interior surface 86 of the pouch 80. Accordingly, with this configuration the pants portion 40 may be fully stored within the pouch interior 84 while remaining attached to the pouch 80.
Referring again to
Referring now to
When it begins to rain, or protection of the user's everyday pants 110 is otherwise indicated, the pouch 80 is opened, the pants portion 40 may be rolled, unfolded, and or removed from the pouch 80 and extended downwardly from the belt 30 into the general configuration of
Referring now to
Now, referring to
Finally, in
It is understood that when an element is referred hereinabove as being “on” another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may be present therebetween. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on” another element, there are no intervening elements present.
Moreover, any components or materials can be formed from a same, structurally continuous piece or separately fabricated and connected.
It is further understood that, although ordinal terms, such as, “first,” “second,” “third,” are used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another element, component, region, layer or section. Thus, “a first element,” “component,” “region,” “layer” or “section” discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings herein.
Spatially relative terms, such as “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,” “upper” and the like, are used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It is understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the example term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device can be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.
Example embodiments are described herein with reference to cross section illustrations that are schematic illustrations of idealized embodiments. As such, variations from the shapes of the illustrations as a result, for example, of manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances, are to be expected. Thus, example embodiments described herein should not be construed as limited to the particular shapes of regions as illustrated herein, but are to include deviations in shapes that result, for example, from manufacturing. For example, a region illustrated or described as flat may, typically, have rough and/or nonlinear features. Moreover, sharp angles that are illustrated may be rounded. Thus, the regions illustrated in the figures are schematic in nature and their shapes are not intended to illustrate the precise shape of a region and are not intended to limit the scope of the present claims.
In conclusion, herein is presented a deployable rain pants assembly. The disclosure is illustrated by example in the drawing figures, and throughout the written description. It should be understood that numerous variations are possible, while adhering to the inventive concept. Such variations are contemplated as being a part of the present disclosure.
This application is a continuation-in-part of patent application Ser. No. 14/825,628, filed in the United States Patent Office on Aug. 13, 2015, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 14825628 | Aug 2015 | US |
| Child | 15887553 | US |
