The following is a list of some prior art that appears to be relevant presently:
The present disclosure relates to a garment convertible to bag. Specifically, an outer garment convertible to shoulder bag. It provides the user the advantage of wearing the garment as a conventional jacket designed to further convert into a functional bag with little indication that either item is of the convertible type.
Conventional outer garments provide warmth when needed but they do not address the issue of dealing with changing temperatures and circumstances throughout the day. When the weather becomes warmer, outerwear garments such as jackets have to be hand-carried without providing any additional function. When having to do so, users may often feel discomfort especially when supplementary items are also to be carried. In addition, changing events and circumstances throughout the day provide further hassle when having to sustain a garment that is not in functional use.
Several convertible garments have been proposed to address these issues. However, most inventions focus on ease of carrying or convenient storage during travel. This is done either by options of incorporation into a self-contained pouch or a folding apparatus to create a portable circumstance. However, this does not address the issue of providing additional function when the garment is in its converted form. One must still carry the converted garment as an additional item without any added functional use.
Many garments that are convertible to a functional bag are limited by the use of pockets to house additional items. Nevertheless, these pockets do not offer enough space or long-term durability. Argento, Strandt and Harris propose outerwear garments that when converted to a bag, provide the use of the garment's pockets as a device to carry additional items. This not only limits the space availability for larger items but it also creates a structural issue in the design. The pockets on both sides have to be filled by items of approximately the same weight in order to maintain the structural balance of the converted bag. If one pocket is filled with significantly heavier matter, it will pull the side of the bag down rendering the bag structure increasingly difficult to use.
Several inventions that use the body of the garment to form the carrying container for the bag have been proposed. However, they feature visible hardware on the outside of the garment which further separates it from a conventional garment. Gazzola discloses a jacket-to-bag conversion that includes exposed zip fasteners along the shoulders, side areas and lower portion of the jacket creating visibly bulky seams along each edge. In addition to jeopardizing comfort, the hardware provides an aesthetic style disadvantage thus making the user more hesitant to wear it. Ezell suggests a jacket convertible to backpack that includes visible straps and a set of exposed D-rings on the back portion of the garment. The exposed hardware not only makes the jacket less aesthetically pleasing, it also limits its usability to outdoor activities or only settings appropriate for such design.
While most of these garments address the issue of appropriate storage, the converted bag closures are limited by the use of zippers or snap-like fasteners. This provides no other alternative to provide a fast and efficient bag closure. The use of additional fastening hardware not only adds to the cost of constructing the garment, it further increases bulkiness and discomfort when the item is in garment form. Additionally, proposed inventions like Ezell's Jac Pac lacks a closure all together thus providing no option to safely store items within an efficiently closed compartment.
Most convertible garments use a belt as the strap for carrying means further limiting the invention to only garments that have a belt. Such garments cannot be functionally converted to a carrying article unless the belt is always incorporated into the design. In an attempt to address this issue, Harris discloses a garment that uses the sleeves as a method for carrying the converted bag on one's shoulder. Nevertheless, this limits the invention to only garments that have longer sleeves and provides no alternatives for strap adjustment or removability.
In accordance with one embodiment an outer garment convertible to shoulder bag comprises two separating zippers each connected to each side area of the garment in an open fashion wherein the bottom zipper portions of each separating zipper extend at approximately below the waist area and the top zipper portions of each separating zipper extend above the waist area starting at each side area of the garment. The top zipper portions further extend onto the garment upper back and end underneath an upper back panel. The upper back panel is positioned such that it replicates the shape of the garment's upper back and further connects to the garment at the neckline, shoulders, armholes and upper side areas of the garment. Underneath the upper back panel, a reinforcement strap of flexible material extends horizontally on top of the garment upper back between the two back armholes on each side. A set of D-rings are positioned at approximately each end of the reinforcement strap adjacent to the back armholes. The D-rings are further connected to the reinforcement strap both being reinforced between the garment upper back and upper back panel with a horizontal stitch. A removable bag strap is housed by loops connected to the inside of the garment's back portion along the waist area. The hem is elongated and the bottom zipper portions end at distance up from the garment's hem such that it creates an option for using the garment's bottom portion as a bag closing flap when the garment is converted to bag.
The present disclosure provides a garment with hidden hardware that does not give the indication that it can be converted to a fully functional bag. The body of the garment is used to form the bag compartment such that when the garment is fully converted, it offers enough space and durability to be used efficiently as a bag. The addition of a back panel provides a device for hiding additional conversion hardware allowing for a classic outerwear style. The addition of a stitch applied horizontally on top of the upper back panel through the garment's upper back and through conversion elements like the D-rings and reinforcement strap, allows the panel to be flipped over the garment's neckline, shoulders and armholes to enclose them thus forming a straight bag opening edge. The present disclosure further uses the bottom of the garment to provide an easy and efficient bag closure without the need for additional hardware. It provides an aesthetically pleasing bag design with a removable bag strap located on the inside of the garment that can be removed without affecting the structure, design or aesthetics of the garment. The present disclosures also introduces a method of turning the sleeves inside the garment and fastening the front closure such as to create a smooth surface on the inner compartment of the bag.
In the drawings, closely related figures have the same number but different alphabetic suffixes.
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Each top zipper portion 20 of each side separating zipper extends from approximately above side waist area 60 starting at each garment side seam 56 and further extending into a vertical upper back seam 54 on each side. As top zipper portions 20 and vertical upper back seams 54 reach underneath upper back panel 48, they are no longer visible to the naked eye.
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Upper back panel 48 serves as a device to hide the conversion hardware thus conveying the look of a conventional outer garment with no indication that it may be transformed into a bag. For the same purpose, it is suggested in the preferred embodiment that the color of the side separating zippers on each side be similar to that of garment 10 such as to blend in with garment side seams 56 more efficiently. However, the reinforcement means, style and color of the side separating zippers are not critical to the convertibility of the present disclosure as long as they follow a similar open alignment described herein and can be efficiently closed and opened in a separating fashion.
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Assuming removable bag strap 32 has been separated from inside garment 10 by releasing hook closures 36, the first step in the conversion process is illustrated in
Further in the operational steps of the present disclosure,
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Once upper back panel 48 has been completely flipped over to the front of garment 10,
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As a final conversion step,
As a result of the operational steps described herein,
Some alternative embodiments involve zippers being connected by various methods or styles of stitching either within a seam or on the surface of the garment. The front zipper and side separating zippers may be replaced by any device that achieves similar results. Some examples include: hook-and-loop tape, snaps, buttons and hook and eyes. Any alternative closures should operate such that when the garment is folded about the waist area, its top and bottom sides can be connected to form the bag container. In addition, the front closure may be positioned anywhere on the front as long as it keeps the garment closed effectively. However, it is not critical to the convertibility of the garment that it has a front opening all together and the garment may be designed in pullover style. Additionally, the garment can operate with sleeves of any length or have no sleeves at all. Therefore, the inclusion of sleeves is not critical to the convertibility of the garment. The garment may be constructed of any flexible material or combination, from light to heavy weight, as long as it can withstand the wear and use of the garment and converted bag respectively.
The garment does not require a reinforcement loop panel and the loops can therefore be connected to the garment separately. The loops can be made of any material as considered by the designer, as long as they can house the removable bag strap accordingly. In addition, the removable bag strap can be placed on the inside or the outside of the garment, above or below the waist area as desired. Additionally, it can be held in place by only the side loops without the use of vertical loops. The D-rings housed under the upper back panel may be replaced by any other suitable hardware or composition that forms a sealed device for attaching the removable bag strap. This device, hardware or composition can be made of any material, flexible or non-flexible, as long as it is durable enough to withstand the weight of the converted bag at its full capacity. Respectively, the hook closures located on each end of the removable bag strap can be replaced by any type or style of hardware as long as it can be removably attached and withstand the converted bag at its full capacity. Some additional embodiments involve the bottom of the garment having an even hem that is not elongated, the upper back panel being longer or shorter, and the removable strap being made of any material and any width that can operate as a shoulder bag strap.
Accordingly, the reader will see that some embodiments described herein create a more wearable and functional convertible garment. The addition of the back panel to hide the conversion hardware blends in with the style of the outer garment thus giving no indication that the garment is of the convertible nature. The horizontal stitch applied through all layers of the upper back allows the back panel to form an authentic bag opening edge when brought over the front of the garment in the conversion process. The upper back panel hides key elements of the garment when it is in converted bag form thus increasing the functionality of the bag. The side separating zippers are placed such as to form fully functional, sealed sides for the shoulder bag. Additionally, the embodiments described herein use the entire body of the garment as the bag container efficiently. The elongated hem and the positioning of the side bottom zipper portions allow for the formation of a bag closing flap which not only contributes to the bag aesthetically, but it also creates an easy option for closing the bag compartment. The bag strap is housed on the inside of the garment and may be removed as desired without jeopardizing the style, design or structure of the outer garment.
While my above description contains many specificities, these should not be considered limitations on the scope or design, but rather serve as examples of one (or several) embodiments. Other variations are possible as described above.
This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/494,639, filed Aug. 11, 2016 by the present inventor.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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4315334 | Pearsall | Feb 1982 | A |
4575876 | Weaver | Mar 1986 | A |
5996121 | Harris | Dec 1999 | A |
7647656 | Smith | Jan 2010 | B2 |
20100111448 | Li | May 2010 | A1 |
20160157535 | Tirro | Jun 2016 | A1 |
20180199647 | Kennedy | Jul 2018 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62494639 | Aug 2016 | US |