Non-Applicable
Non-applicable
Non-applicable
Non-applicable
The present invention relates generally to clothing design and manufacture, more particularly pants, pantsuits and shorts design and manufacture, and even more specifically to pants, pantsuits and shorts designed to comprise a pocket or pockets which opening is hidden from view, runs along the garment's outseam and it is positioned in such a way to make it comfortable and ergonomically efficient to insert, carry and remove objects such as smart phones and even more particularly a kit to place and attach the pocket or pockets in garments and the method of placement.
Description of the Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98
The following description of the art related to the present invention refers to a number of publications and references. Discussion of such publications herein is given to provide a more complete background of the principles related to the present invention and is not to be construed as an admission that such publications are necessarily prior art for patentability determination purposes.
Garments' pockets date back to the 17th century. From that time through the late 19th century, most women wore pockets hidden underneath their petticoats. During that same period, instead of wearing separate pockets, men's coats comprised pockets sewn into the linings of their coats, waistcoats and breeches. Removable and separated pockets have also been documented during the same period, when women would tie pockets around their waist between two layers of undergarment.
So, how did women get their hands into the pocket arrangements described above? Simple: undergarments like petticoats had openings in the side seams so a wearer could put her hands through and reach her pocket. Those pockets were fully accessible while remaining invisible.
Obviously, there were no mobile phones, credit cards or other objects we usually carry in pockets in 17th century. Pockets were also popular handmade gifts, which matched other garments women wore. In those days, people kept a variety of small, personal objects in their pockets, such as hanker shifts, currency, jewelry (pocket watches), thimbles, pincushions, scissors, objects of vanity, etc., largely due to the lack of privacy and drawers in their sleeping quarters. The utility, usual contents, and separate nature of the first pockets also made them popular items to be stolen. In part to cure the non-secure nature of separate pocked, in more modern times, pockets are commonly found incorporated into garments. That practice became popular in the 19th century. The prior art discloses a variety of hidden pockets incorporated into garments for a several uses. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,669,078 to Scremin et al., discloses and claims a security pocket assembly positioned in a garment's leg portion. The pocket's opening in the Scremin patent runs horizontally with respect to the lower end of the garment's leg portion which makes it somewhat visible to the eye. That pocket arrangements suffers from several deficiencies including the fact that the wearer must bend over to insert or retrieve articles. Also, while the Scremin patent describes the pocket as hidden, the figures make it obvious that it is somewhat visible because the opening runs perpendicular to the outseam.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,860,388 to Dean discloses and claims a blouse and pants designed for health care personnel comprising hidden pockets oriented so as to be aligned with the fold of the groin of the wearer. That allows the articles in the pocket to remain within the contours of the natural bend of the body when the wearer bends over. The Dean invention was designed for medical personnel to carry mostly scissors and pens. To achieve its main purpose, the Dean pocket comprises an arrangement of pockets and closures that provide easier access and avoid inadvertent contact with foreign objects so the pockets rip and the contents fall. The invention Dean discloses and claims achieves those purposes by extending along the fold of the groin of the wearer so that articles will not be pushed or fall out when he or she bends or stomps. By contrast to the prior art, the article of the present invention is a vertical pocket which opening runs along and is vertically integrated to the garment's seam stitching. The positioning and size of the pocket of the present invention allows the wearer to insert, carry and retrieve articles such as mobile phones, with ease and without requiring the wearer to bend over while standing or sitting.
The prior art does not disclose hidden pockets attached or attachable to garments, specifically, hidden pockets attached or attachable to the outseam of the leg portion of a garment, resulting in an arrangement invisible to the eye, and providing for easy and comfortable insertion, carrying and retrieval of objects, regardless of whether the wearer is standing or sitting. A principal objective of the present invention is to provide a pocket or pockets integrated to the outseam stitching of the leg portion of a garment, or which can be purchased as a kit and very easily attached to a garment.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a pocket or pockets not visible to the eye located on either or both vertical sides of the outseam stitching of leg portion of a garment, independent of, and in addition to pockets already provided as part of the garment.
Still another objective of the present invention is to provide a pocket or pockets that can be placed anywhere starting below the pocket or pockets already provided as part of a garments, with the preferred embodiment of the invention comprising a pocket measuring up to 20 inches vertically, with the pocket of the present invention being attached to the garment's existing pocket by a set of stitches not decreasing or removing any of the available space inside the garment's pocket, in such a way that when the garment's existing pocket is unfolded and still not stitched to the seam, the hidden pocket will be attached to the inside of the traditional pocket, holding it in place.
Even further, another objective of the present invention is to provide a pocket or pockets that can be stitched onto both seams (outseam and inseam) of a pants' leg front panel portion, in a specific embodiment comprising pants without existing pockets. In that embodiment, a stitch line anywhere in between the inseam and the outseam determines the amount of space inside the pocket of the present invention which would remain in place and located on the front side of the leg portion of the wearer's pants.
Still, another objective of the present invention is to provide a pocket or pockets in which a fabricator can leave a space stitched on the garment's side seam as extended as desired, which will determine where the pocket or pockets start and end with respect to the wearer's pants, and how big or long it will extend, which can be up to the pants' knee. In an embodiment constructed pursuant to that configuration, the pocket or pockets is attached to the wearer's pants using an additional set of stitches so that the stitching extends along the line of the original seam, thus, making it invisible or hidden to the naked eye, by using materials such as stitching which color, placement and configuration matches the wearer's pants.
Still, another objective of the present invention is to provide a pocket or pockets that can be integrated into garments usable by anyone including, but not limited to, adults, children, toddlers and babies.
Still another objective of the present invention is to provide a kit that can be purchased separately and used to attach a hidden pocket to any garment.
The pocket of the present invention solves the problems and deficiencies the prior art presents. The vertical pocket or pockets of the present invention comprise a seam stitching integrated to the wearer's garment, usually pants. In the embodiment of the invention provided for pants with existing pockets, the pocket of the present invention does not in any way interfere with those existing pockets resulting in comfortable and easy access, insertion, carry and retrieval of any articles being stored therein whether the wearer is standing or sitting.
An important feature of the present invention, is that the pocket or pockets are constructed and incorporated into the wearer's garment in such a configuration to make it invisible and hidden to the naked eye. The present invention is fully adaptable to garments, comprising pants, which further comprise existing pockets or not.
The present invention also comprises a kit that can be used to place, attach and install a pre-formed, hidden pocket into an existing garment and the method of use of the kit. The kit of the present invention comprises: (1) a segment of fabric sewing thread; (2) a thread cutter; (3) multiple metal pins; (4) thread spool of a color corresponding to the garment's stitching; and (5) two pre-made quadrilateral pockets comprising four sides and four corner points, each side extending through two corner points, an open side extending through one side, three pre-closed sides, the open side comprising a top side, a bottom side and closing means used to engage the top side to the bottom side, the closing means selected from the group including a zipper and Velcro, the two pre-made pockets comprising one pocket suitable for garments with existing pockets, and one pocket for garments without pockets.
The purpose and construction of the hidden pocket can be better understood with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Objects, advantages and novel features, and further scope of applicability of the present invention will be set forth in part in the detailed description to follow, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The objects, advantages and novel features, and further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
Specifically, the detailed description below refers to a pre-formed pocket 1 made out of fabric material, plastic, gortex, lycra or spandex, or any other material commonly used to make pants' pockets, the pocket comprising two closed lateral sides 1(a) and 1(b), a close bottom side 1(c) and an open side 1(d), the open side being engaged to the interior side of the leg portion of a garment (pant, pantsuit or short) 2 along an opening formed on the outseam of the garment 3 resulting in a pocket configuration integrated to the outseam of the wearer's garment with an opening integrated to the stitching of the garment's outseam in such a manner that the pocket opening is invisible to, or hidden from, the eye and which can receive and contain objects the wearer wants to store, including cellular telephones. The garment 3 comprising a top waist portion 3(a), two leg portions 3(b), each leg portion comprising an exterior side 3(c), an interior side 3(d), a front side 3(f), a back side 3(d), two outseams 3(e) and two inseams 3(f), the inseams meeting at a crotch point 3(g), the crotch point comprising a front side 3(g)(1) and a back side 3(g)(2), the outseam and the inseam comprising stitching 3(h). The resulting configuration, as shown in
The preferred embodiment of the invention, as shown in
Another embodiment of the present invention comprises a pocket or pockets that can be stitched onto both seams (outseam and inseam) of a pants' leg front panel portion, in a specific embodiment comprising pants without existing pockets, as shown in
An alternative embodiment of the invention comprises a pocket or pockets in which a fabricator can leave a space stitched on the garment's side seam as extended as desired, which will determine where the pocket or pockets start and where it ends end with respect to the wearer's pants, and how big or long it will extend, which can be up to the pants' knee. In an embodiment constructed pursuant to that configuration, as shown in
Another embodiment of the present invention comprises a kit used to place, attach and install a hidden pocket into an existing garment. The kit of the present invention comprises a thread 5(a), a cutter 5(b), multiple pins 5(c), a needle 5(d), a thread spool of the corresponding color 5(e), two pre-made pockets comprising an opening the opening comprising a closing means 5(f) the two pre-made pockets comprising one pocket for pants with existing pockets 5(f)(1) and one pocket for pants without pockets 5(f)(2).
The method to use the kit of the present application comprises the steps of:
1. turning a garment inside out completely as shown in
2. measuring one (1) inch from the lower corner of the existing pocket upwards and marking that point with a pin resulting in a first point 6(a)(1);
3. measuring the length of the kit pocket by placing it from the first point 6(a)(1) flattened over the outseam, away from the first point 6(a)(1);
4. making a second point 6(a)(2) on the seam at the height of the lower stop 6(b)(2) of an opening and closing element 6(b) attached kit's pocket open side 1(d);
6. detaching the outseam stitches with the thread cutter 5(b) starting at the first point 6(a)(1) and ending at a second point 6(a)(2);
7. placing a pocket under the existing pants pocket and aligning it with the first point 6(a)(1);
8. allowing the pocket open side 1(d) to face toward the non-threaded outseam properly flattened and/or stretched out all the way through the outseam;
9. pinning the pocket into the required position before the sewing step;
10. sewing one side of the kit pocket to one side of the pants outseam, and a second side of the pocket to a second side of the outseam as shown in
11. as shown in
12. per
13. marking with pins the four corners to hold the pocket in place (the top corner in contact being in contact with the outseam referred to as 6(g)(1) and bottom corner being in contact with the outseam referred to as 6(g)(2)); marking along the pants inseam; and cutting any excess fabric in cases where the width of the kit pocket exceeds the width of the pants;
14. as shown in
15. per
16. placing the pocket of the invention from the third marking to the fourth marking over the unthreaded outseam as shown in
17. sewing the side of the pocket marked as Side 1 in
18. sewing the pocket side opposite to the opening side along the inseamside starting from the crutch point downwards;
19. ensuring that the last sewing step takes on the same position as the outseam stitches so they can blend together resulting in the pocket opening being invisible.
All embodiments of the present invention comprise a pocket or pockets that can be integrated into garments usable by anyone including, but not limited to, adults, children, toddlers and babies.