Patent Application
20240164456
During cold weather, many people wear insulating outdoor apparel to improve their comfort. For example, wearing an insulating jacket may allow the user to retain more of his heat, allowing the user to feel warmer. Different types of outdoor apparel may be used to cover different portions of the user's body. For example, a jacket may cover a user's torso and arms, gloves may cover a user's hands, pants may cover a user's legs, and so forth. Wearing different types of outdoor apparel, however, often suffers from a number drawbacks and problems. For example, different types of clothing may have different sizes or fits, which may cause snow, water, cold air, or other contaminants to enter the interior of the outdoor apparel between different items of clothing. Indeed, it is common when playing and/or working in the snow for snow to enter the interior of the jacket through the armhole, even if an individual is wearing gloves.
As will be discussed in further detail herein, this disclosure relate to an article of apparel (e.g., a snowsuit, a coat, a jacket). The article of apparel includes a torso portion and an arm portion extending from the torso. An integrated hand covering is integrated with the arm portion. The integrated hand covering includes a wrist extension connected to an inner surface of the arm portion. A hand opening is located at the wrist extension. A hand connection connects the integrated hand covering to the arm portion.
In some embodiments, the techniques described herein relate to a jacket arm. The jacket arm includes a waterproof outer surface opposite an inner surface and an integrated hand covering. The integrated hand covering includes a wrist extension. A connection portion connects the wrist extension to the inner surface. The integrated hand covering includes a finger portion and a thumb portion. A hand opening is located between the thumb portion and the connection portion. A connector connects the finger portion to the waterproof outer surface.
In some embodiments, the techniques described herein relate to a method for manufacturing an article of apparel. The method includes preparing a jacket arm. An operator secures a hand covering to an inner surface of the jacket arm at a connection portion. A hand opening is prepared on the hand covering. A hand connection connects the hand opening to an outer surface of the jacket arm.
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter.
Additional features and advantages of embodiments of the disclosure will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by the practice of such embodiments. The features and advantages of such embodiments may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and other features will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of such embodiments as set forth hereinafter.
In order to describe the manner in which the above-recited and other features of the disclosure can be obtained, a more particular description will be rendered by reference to specific implementations thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. For better understanding, the like elements have been designated by like reference numbers throughout the various accompanying figures. While some of the drawings may be schematic or exaggerated representations of concepts, at least some of the drawings may be drawn to scale. Understanding that the drawings depict some example implementations, the implementations will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings.
This disclosure relates to devices, systems, and methods for a snowsuit having integrated mittens, gloves, or other hand covering. In one or more embodiments described herein, the integrated mittens may be connected to the inner surface of the arms of the snowsuit. The cuff of the arms may extend over at least a portion of the integrated mittens. This may help to prevent snow, water, air, dirt, and other contaminants from entering the interior of the snowsuit, thereby improving the user's comfort. The integrated mittens may include a hand opening on a front portion of the mitten. The hand opening may allow the user to extend his (e.g., his or her) hand out of the mitten without taking off the snowsuit. To keep the mitten out of the way of the user's hand when it is extended through the hand opening, the mitten may include a connector. A complementary connector on the outer surface of the arm of the jacket may connect the mitten to the arm of the jacket. This may keep the mitten free of the user's hands when the hands are extended through the hand opening.
In accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, a snowsuit including integrated mittens may improve the comfort and flexibility of the snowsuit. For example, integrated mittens may prevent a source of ingress of contaminants into the interior of the snowsuit, such as snow, water, air, dirt, any other contaminants, and combinations thereof. This may help to prevent the user from becoming cold during outdoor activities. Integrated mittens, however, may limit the dexterity of the user's hands, reducing or preventing the performance of complex actions. As will be discussed in further detail below, the present disclosure may include a hand opening that allows a user to remove hands from the mittens to perform dexterous activities without taking off the snowsuit. A connection between the mitten and the sleeve of the snowsuit may reduce or prevent the mitten from interfering with the user's hands when extended through the hand opening. In this manner, the integrated mitten may help to prevent contaminants from entering the interior of the jacket while allowing the user to remove his hands to perform activities without taking the jacket off. This may improve the comfort and functionality of the snowsuit.
As illustrated by the foregoing discussion, the present disclosure utilizes a variety of terms to describe features and advantages of the snowsuit. Additional detail is now provided regarding the meaning of such terms. For example, as used herein, the term “integrated” refers to two elements that are connected to form a whole element. For example, a hand covering may be integrated with a sleeve such that the hand covering may not be removed from the sleeve. In some embodiments, two elements may be integrated using any connection system, such as through a sewn connection, a welded connection, an adhesive-based connection, any other connection, and combinations thereof.
As used herein, the term “hand covering” refers to an article of clothing or a portion of an article of clothing that may be worn on or over a user's hands. A hand covering may be any type of hand covering. For example, in one or more embodiments described herein, the hand covering may refer to a mitten, which may have a thumb portion and a finger portion that covers two or more fingers. In some embodiments, the finger portion of the mitten may cover two fingers, three fingers, or four fingers. In some examples, the hand covering may refer to a glove having a thumb portion and a finger portion for each finger. In some embodiments, the hand covering may include a single hand portion into which an entirety of the user's hand may be inserted, including the thumb and all the fingers. It will be understood that any reference to a hand covering may be inclusive of a glove, mitten, or other type of hand covering as discussed herein. Moreover, it will be appreciated that features described in connection with a specific type of hand covering may similarly apply to other types of hand coverings that are integrated with the arm portion.
Additional information will now be discussed in connection with example figures showing features and functionality of an article of apparel in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein. It will be appreciated that the specific types of article apparels described herein are provided by way of example, and that features described in connection with specific examples may apply to other types of articles that have similar features. For example, while one or more embodiments described herein refer specifically to a snowsuit, features described in connection with the example snowsuit may similarly apply to other types of clothing articles, such as a coat, jacket, or other type of clothing that may include an integrated hand covering, as discussed herein.
In some embodiments, the apparel 100 may be fabricated in any size. For example, the apparel 100 may be sized for any age of person, such as an infant, a toddler, a child, a pre-teen, a teenager, an adult, any other size, and combinations thereof.
While in the embodiment shown, the apparel 100 includes an integrated arm portion 104 and an integrated leg portion 106, the apparel 100 may be formed into a separate jacket and pants. For example, the jacket may include the torso portion 102 integrated with the arm portion 104. The pants may include the leg portion 106 up to the waist portion 110. In some embodiments, the pants may include the leg portion 106 up to the torso portion 102, such as bibs or overalls. This may allow the user to flexibly wear the pants or the jacket.
The arm portion 104 may include an integrated hand covering 112. The integrated hand covering 112 may be integrated with the arm portion 104. For example, the integrated hand covering 112 may include a wrist extension 114 that extends to a connection portion at an inner surface of the arm portion 104. The wrist extension 114 may be connected to the inner surface of the arm portion 104. In some embodiments, the connection between the wrist extension 114 and the inner surface of the arm portion 104 may integrate the integrated hand covering 112 with the arm portion 104. For example, the connection between the wrist extension 114 and the inner surface of the arm portion 104 may prevent the integrated hand covering 112 from being removed from the arm portion 104.
When a user wears the apparel 100, the user may insert his arms into the arm portion 104 and his hands into the integrated hand covering 112. Integrating the integrated hand covering 112 into the arm portion 104 may prevent the user's arm and hand from being exposed. For example, the user's arm and hand may be covered by the integrated hand covering 112, the wrist extension 114, and the arm portion 104. This may help to prevent the user's wrist, arm, hand, and/or hand from becoming exposed to cold air, snow, water, dirt, mud, any other contaminant, and combinations thereof.
As mentioned above, it may be difficult for a user to perform activities involving manual dexterity while his hands are inserted into the integrated hand covering 112. Conventionally, to perform such manually dexterous activities, the user would typically remove his gloves. In some situations, to access his hands from an integrated hand covering 112, the user may remove his entire arm from the arm portion 104. This may further involve removing the entire apparel 100. In accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the apparel 100 may include a hand opening 116. The hand opening 116 may be an opening through which a user's hand may be inserted. This may allow the user to access his hands to perform the manually dexterous activity without removing his arm from the arm portion 104. This may help to improve the comfort of the user.
In some embodiments, the hand opening 116 may be selectively openable and/or selectively closeable. The hand opening 116 may include any opening mechanism. By way of example, the hand opening 116 may include a zipper connector, a hook and loop connector (e.g., a Velcro connector), a snap connector, a press-fit connector, or combination thereof. In some embodiments, the opening mechanism may be waterproof or provide a waterproof or otherwise water-resistant seal when closed. For example, the opening mechanism may be formed from waterproof materials and/or may form a connection through which water may not pass. In some embodiments, the opening mechanism may not be formed from waterproof material and/or may not be waterproof.
In some embodiments, the hand opening 116 may be located between a thumb 118 of the integrated hand covering 112 and a wrist 120 of the arm portion 104. The positioning of the location of the hand opening 116 may allow the user to remove his hand from the integrated hand covering 112 at the wrist 120. This may allow the user to expose his whole hand, including the fingers, the thumb, the palm, and the wrist. The hand opening 116 may extend around a portion of the wrist 120 of the arm portion 104 to allow a hand of a user to pass through with convenience. For example, in one or more embodiments, the hand opening 116 extends around 50% or more of the wrist 120 to provide a sufficiently large opening through which a hand can pass.
When the user desires to perform a manually dexterous activity, the user may open the hand opening 116 and insert his hand through the hand opening 116. The user may perform the activity with his bare hands (or with a liner or other hand covering worn inside the integrated hand covering 112). When the user's activity is complete, the user may re-insert his hand back into the integrated hand covering 112 through the hand opening 116. The user may then close the opening mechanism to the hand opening 116. This may allow the user to perform the activity swiftly, and without removing his arm from the arm portion 104.
In some embodiments, the hand opening 116 may be located on an interior face of the wrist extension 114. For example, the hand opening 116 may be located on the palm side of the integrated hand covering 112. In some examples, the hand opening 116 may be located on a same face of the wrist extension 114 that the user's palm is located. When the user's hand is extended through the hand opening 116, the integrated hand covering 112 may be located at the back of the user's hand. In this manner, the integrated hand covering 112 may not interfere with the user's activities, thereby improving the comfort of the user. In some embodiments, the hand opening 116 may be located on the outer face of the wrist extension 114.
In accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the outer face of the integrated hand covering 112 may be connectable to the arm portion 104 with a hand connection 122. When the user inserts his hand through the hand opening 116, the user may secure the integrated hand covering 112 to the arm portion 104. This may move the unsupported integrated hand covering 112 away from the user's hands, thereby preventing it from interfering with the user's hands. In this manner, the connection between the integrated hand covering 112 and the arm portion 104 may reduce or prevent damage to the integrated hand covering 112 and/or simply prevent annoyance or pain to the user when the user's hand is extended out of the hand opening 116.
In some embodiments, the hand connection 122 may include a hand connector 124 located on the back surface of the integrated hand covering 112. The hand connection 122 may include an arm connector 126. The hand connector 124 and the arm connector 126 may be complementary. For example, the hand connector 124 and the arm connector 126 may be connectable to secure the hand connection 122 to the arm portion 104. As discussed herein, this may allow the user to secure the integrated hand covering 112 away from the user's hand when the user's hand is extended out of the hand opening 116.
The hand connection 122 may be any type of hand connector 124 configured to connect to a complimentary arm connector 126. For example, the hand connector 124 and arm connector 126 may include hook-and-loop connections (e.g., Velcro connections). In some examples, the respective connectors may include a snap connector. Other implementations may include magnetic connectors or any types of connectors that enable the hand connector 124 to secure to the arm connector 126.
As shown in
In the view shown in
In some embodiments, the wrist extension 314 may be connected to the inner surface 327 between the user's thumb 318 and the torso portion 302. In some embodiments, the wrist extension 314 may be connected to the inner surface 327 between the s thumb 318 and the elbow of the wrist extension 314. For example, the wrist extension 314 may be connected to the inner surface 327 along the user's forearm. In this manner, when the wrist 320 of the arm portion 304 extends over or overlaps the wrist extension 314, the wrist 320 may protect the wrist extension 314. For example, the wrist 320 may help to prevent contact of snow, water, dirt, mud, or other contaminants from contacting the wrist extension 314.
In some embodiments, the integrated hand covering 312 may be formed from a waterproof material. In this manner, when the user is wearing the apparel 300, the user may touch snow or otherwise interact with snow or other wet objects or material. In some embodiments, a finger portion 332 and/or a thumb 318 of the integrated hand covering 312 may be waterproof. In some embodiments, the wrist extension 314 may be formed from an insulated material. In some embodiments, some or all of the wrist extension 314 may not be waterproof, including (by way of example) a portion of the wrist extension 314. This non-waterproof portion may allow that portion of the wrist extension 314 to “breathe,” or allow the exchange of gaseous fluids (such as evaporated sweat) from inside the arm portion 304 to outside the arm portion 304. This may improve the comfort of the user by allowing evaporated sweat to transfer out of the interior of the arm portion 304.
The outer surface of the arm portion 304 may be waterproof. For example, the outer surface of the wrist 320 may be waterproof. In this manner, when the wrist 320 overlaps the wrist extension 314, the waterproof outer surface of the wrist 320 may help to keep the wrist extension 314 dry. In some embodiments, the exposed portions of the wrist extension 314 when the wrist 320 is overlapping the wrist extension 314 may be waterproof. The overlapped portions of the wrist extension 314 may not be waterproof. In this manner, the user may prevent the ingress of water into the interior of the arm portion 304 and allow the wrist extension 314 to breathe.
In the embodiment shown, the hand opening 316 is located on the wrist extension 314. In some embodiments, the hand opening 316 may be located at a waterproof portion of the wrist extension 314. In some embodiments, the hand opening 316 may be located at a non-waterproof portion of the wrist extension 314. In some embodiments, the hand opening 316 may be exposed when the wrist 320 of the arm portion 304 is rolled back. In some embodiments, the hand opening 316 may be covered by the wrist 320 when the wrist 320 overlaps the wrist extension 314. This may help to protect the hand opening 316 and prevent ingress of snow, water, cold air, and other contaminants through the hand opening 316.
In the view shown in
In some embodiments, the opening length 430 may be an opening percentage of a circumference of the wrist portion of the integrated hand covering 412. In some embodiments, the opening percentage may be in a range having an upper value, a lower value, or upper and lower values including any of 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, or any value therebetween. For example, the opening percentage may be greater than 10%. In another example, the opening percentage may be less than 90%. In yet other examples, the opening percentage may be any value in a range between 10% and 90%. In some embodiments, it may be critical that the opening percentage is between 25% and 50% to allow the user's hand to fit through the hand opening 416 while retaining the connection of the integrated hand covering 412 to the wrist extension 414.
Indeed, it will be understood that by not extending 90% or less around the wrist, the hand opening 416 may allow a hand to pass through the opening while simultaneously preventing the integrated hand covering 412 from being removed from the apparel. This integral nature of the hand covering 412 to the rest of the apparel is beneficial in that the hand covering 412 both allows a user to make use of the dexterity of their hands while preventing the hand covering 412 from getting lost. While this limits the portability of the hand coverings 412 by preventing the hand coverings 412 from detaching from the arm portion of the apparel, this nevertheless prevents the hand coverings 412 from getting lost or involuntarily detaching from the arm portion.
The hand connection 422 may include a hand connector 424 secured to the integrated hand covering 412. The hand connector 424 may be secured to a finger portion 432 of the integrated hand covering 412. In some embodiments, the hand connector 424 may be secured to any portion of the integrated hand covering 412.
An arm connector 426 may be located on the outer surface of the arm portion 404. In some embodiments, the arm connector 426 may be complementary to the hand connector 424. For example, the hand connection 422 may be a snap connection. The hand connector 424 may be inserted into and snap into the arm connector 426. In this manner, the hand connection 422 may move the hand connection 422 out of the way of the user's hand when his hands are extended out of the hand opening 416.
In the embodiment shown, the hand opening 416 is open. For example, the opening mechanism of the hand opening 416 may be opened. This may allow the user's hand to be extended from the integrated hand covering 412 and the integrated hand covering 412 to be secured to the outer surface of the sleeve 428. As discussed herein, this may allow the user to perform dexterous activities without removing his arm from the arm portion 404.
A hand opening may be prepared on the hand covering at 540. For example, the hand opening may be prepared at the wrist of the hand covering. The hand opening may be selectively openable. When open, this may allow the user to extend his hand through the hand. When closed, the hand opening may help to prevent snow, water, cold air, or other contaminants from entering the interior of the hand portion.
The method 534 may further include preparing a hand connection to connect the hand covering to an outer surface of the jacket arm at 542. The hand connection may include a hand connector on the hand covering. The hand connection may further include an arm connection complementary to the hand connector. This may allow the hand covering to be secured away from the user's hand when the user's hand is extended through the hand opening.
One or more specific embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein. These described embodiments are examples of the presently disclosed techniques. Additionally, in an effort to provide a concise description of these embodiments, not all features of an actual embodiment may be described in the specification. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous embodiment-specific decisions will be made to achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from one embodiment to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure.
The articles “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements in the preceding descriptions. The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements. Additionally, it should be understood that references to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” of the present disclosure are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features. For example, any element described in relation to an embodiment herein may be combinable with any element of any other embodiment described herein. Numbers, percentages, ratios, or other values stated herein are intended to include that value, and also other values that are “about” or “approximately” the stated value, as would be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art encompassed by embodiments of the present disclosure. A stated value should therefore be interpreted broadly enough to encompass values that are at least close enough to the stated value to perform a desired function or achieve a desired result. The stated values include at least the variation to be expected in a suitable manufacturing or production process, and may include values that are within 5%, within 1%, within 0.1%, or within 0.01% of a stated value.
A person having ordinary skill in the art should realize in view of the present disclosure that equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, and that various changes, substitutions, and alterations may be made to embodiments disclosed herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Equivalent constructions, including functional “means-plus-function” clauses are intended to cover the structures described herein as performing the recited function, including both structural equivalents that operate in the same manner, and equivalent structures that provide the same function. It is the express intention of the applicant not to invoke means-plus-function or other functional claiming for any claim except for those in which the words ‘means for’ appear together with an associated function. Each addition, deletion, and modification to the embodiments that falls within the meaning and scope of the claims is to be embraced by the claims.
The terms “approximately,” “about,” and “substantially” as used herein represent an amount close to the stated amount that still performs a desired function or achieves a desired result. For example, the terms “approximately,” “about,” and “substantially” may refer to an amount that is within less than 5% of, within less than 1% of, within less than 0.1% of, and within less than 0.01% of a stated amount. Further, it should be understood that any directions or reference frames in the preceding description are merely relative directions or movements. For example, any references to “up” and “down” or “above” or “below” are merely descriptive of the relative position or movement of the related elements.
The present disclosure may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the disclosure is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. Changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.
