Outdoor jacket

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6654963
  • Patent Number
    6,654,963
  • Date Filed
    Tuesday, July 10, 2001
    22 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, December 2, 2003
    20 years ago
Abstract
In one aspect, the invention provides a hood drawstring arrangement that may be adapted to allow a single adjustment to exert tension along the vertical sides of the front face opening of the hood, which will tend to vertically compress the hood, as well as simultaneously exerting a circumferential tensioning of the top portion of the hood.
Description




CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS




This application claims priority to Canadian Patent Application No. 2,332,201, filed on Jan. 24, 2001, and to Canadian Industrial Design Application No. 2001-0167, filed Jan. 24, 2001; the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference.




FIELD OF THE INVENTION




The invention is in the field of garments, particularly outdoor garments.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




Jackets often have hoods, to provide a covering for the top the head while leaving an opening for the face. A wide variety of inventive hood adjustment mechanisms are known, as for example are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,088,838; 6,023,787; 5,369,809; 4,334,325; 2,581,366; and, 2,567,192. Multiple drawstrings have for example often been used to provide vertical and horizontal adjustments on jacket hoods. In many cases, one drawstring on each side of the hood affords vertical adjustment on either side of the face opening, along the temporal portions of the hood. There may also be a rear drawstring which affords adjustment of the position of the brim by lengthening or shortening the arc of the hood along the mid-line from the shoulders to the forehead. In some cases, a drawstring may also be provided to tension the hood circumferentially against the top portion of the skull (the cranium), in a manner analogous to a hat band adjustment. There remains a need for alternative mechanisms of adjusting the fit of a hooded garment to a wearer's head.




Many outdoor jackets include relatively high collars, which may reach up above the chin of a person wearing the jacket. As a result, the slide fastener, such as a zipper, which typically runs up the front midline of the jacket may be brought into uncomfortable contact with the person's chin or lips. This may be particularly problematic in weather that is sufficiently cold to make skin contact with a metal zipper slider potentially harmful.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




In one aspect, the invention provides a hood drawstring arrangement that may be adapted to allow a single adjustment to exert tension along the vertical sides of the front face opening of the hood, which will tend to vertically compress the hood, as well as simultaneously exerting a circumferential tensioning of the top portion of the hood, which will tend to contract the hood across the forehead and around the back of the wearer's head (tensioning the cranial portion of the hood). The drawstring arrangement may be adapted to exert these tensioning forces while leaving the brim of the hood free to protrude above the face opening.




In one aspect, the invention provides a hood having a head covering and a face opening. The hood may include an adjustable drawstring arrangement providing for simultaneous circumferential tensioning of the head covering and vertical temporal tensioning of the face opening. The drawstring arrangement may include one or more cranial cord segments encircling the head covering, connected to left and right temporal cord segments on each lateral side of the face opening. The cord segments may co-operate so that manual tensioning of the cranial cord segment(s) acts to tension the temporal cord segments; or, manual tensioning of either the left or right temporal cord segment acts to tension the cranial cord segment(s). The cranial cord segments may be generally horizontal, and the temporal cord segments may be generally vertical. The cord segments may be elasticated, and may form a drawstring that runs in channels or passageways formed in the hood material. The hood may include a brim that has an inner cranial cord segment flexibly connected to an outer brim reinforcing member, so that the inner cord segment can assist in securing the hood to the wearer's head while the brim reinforcing member helps to preserve the shape of the brim.




In an alternative aspect, the invention provides a jacket adapted to cover a person's chest and having a collar adapted to cover a persons neck, in which a front opening of the jacket is closable with a curved slide fastener, such as a zipper. The slide fastener may be disposed vertically along the anterior midline of the jacket over the chest, and then curve laterally so that the slide fastener is offset from the anterior midline of the collar. This arrangement may avoid positioning the slider of the slide fastener over the wearer's mouth when the fastener is in a closed position with the slider at the top of the fastener. In some embodiments, the curved slide fastener may be coated with a resilient polymeric compound such as a thermoplastic polymer, which may assist in achieving the curved conformation of the fastener. The polymeric coating may help to make the slide fastener water resistant.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a front view of a jacket of the invention, with stippling to show the overall shape, configuration and design of the jacket, illustrating the curved slide fastener on the front opening of the jacket and the absence of draw strings around the face opening of the hood.





FIG. 2

is a rear view of a jacket of the invention, with stippling to show the overall shape, configuration and design of the jacket, illustrating the drawstring and cord lock at the rear of the hood.





FIG. 3

is a right side view of a jacket of the invention, with stippling to show the overall shape, configuration and design of the jacket, illustrating the curvature of the right arm, the elongated rear hem, and the protruding brim of the hood.





FIG. 4

is a left side view of a jacket, with stippling to show the overall shape, configuration and design of the jacket, illustrating the curvature of the left arm, the left should pocket with window and adjacent slide fastener, the elongated rear hem, and the protruding brim of the hood.





FIG. 5

is a top view of a jacket, with stippling to show the overall shape, configuration and design of the jacket, illustrating the drawstring and cord lock at the rear of the hood and the windowed left shoulder pocket.





FIG. 6

is a bottom view of a jacket, with stippling to show the overall shape, configuration and design of the jacket, illustrating the armpit slide fasteners on the underside of the arms.





FIG. 7

is a front view of a jacket of the invention with dashed lines illustrating the drawstring passageways around the face opening and the internal boundary of the left shoulder pocket.





FIG. 8

is a rear view of a jacket of the invention with dashed lines illustrating the circumferential cranial drawstring passageways in the hood, the drawstring passageway in the hem, and the extent of the expanded left should pocket.





FIG. 9

is a right side view of a jacket of the invention with dashed lines illustrating the drawstring cord passageway from the rear of the hood, along the right side of the hood and then down along the right edge of the face opening, with an arrow showing the direction of hood drawstring tensioning movement.





FIG. 10

is a left side view of a jacket of the invention with dashed lines illustrating the drawstring cord passageway from the rear of the hood, along the left side of the hood and then down along the left edge of the face opening, with an arrow showing the direction of hood drawstring tensioning movement, and with dashed lines showing the internal outline of the left shoulder pocket.





FIG. 11

is a top view of a jacket, illustrating the hood drawstring passageways in dashed outline.





FIG. 12

is a bottom view of a jacket illustrating the hem drawstring passageway the hem cord lock.





FIG. 13

is a left side view of the hood, showing the drawstring passageways, with an arrow in front showing the notional vertical tensioning force that may be applied by manipulation of the drawstring at the rear of the hood in the direction of the arrow shown at the rear of the hood.





FIG. 14

is a side view of the hem drawstring cord lock, showing the loop formed by the hem drawstring.





FIG. 15

is a cross-sectional view of the hem drawstring cord lock.





FIGS. 16A

,


16


B and


16


C show sequential steps in a method of the invention for making a curved slide fastener.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION





FIGS. 1 through 6

illustrate the overall shape, configuration and design of jacket


20


, having hood


24


attached to upper body portion


22


which may include collar


64


. Underarm slide fasteners


50


may be provided for ventilation, and breast pocket slide fasteners


48


may provide access to pocket storage space in the front of jacket


20


. Sleeves


39


may be provided with surface fasteners


40


, such as VELCRO (™) brand fasteners, at the cuffs. A front slide fastener


34


may provide an opening on the front of the jacket, which may be curved. Collar


64


and hood


24


together define face opening


72


.




Jacket


20


may be made out of a wide range of materials, such as natural fibres and/or synthetic materials. In some embodiments, the jacket may be made of a waterproof breathable laminate such as expanded porous polytetrafluoroethylene coated with a breathable fabric, as is well known in the art of technical outdoor garments.




The adjustable drawstring arrangement of hood


24


may include one or more cranial cord segments adapted to be positionable to encircle the cranial portion of a wearer's head. As shown in

FIGS. 8

,


9


,


10


and


13


, a rear cranial cord segment


54


may run along each side of hood


24


from rear draw string cord lock


44


, into rear hood opening


41


and through internal rear drawstring passageway


38


to an interconnection with a front cranial cord segment


30


. Cord locks may for example be constructed as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,453,292 (incorporated herein by reference) or in accordance with the wide variety of alternative cord locks known in the outdoor garment art. As illustrated, front cranial cord segment


30


may run through a passageway defined by flexible brim connector


60


, shown in

FIG. 13

, and pass through side openings


31


into the internal hood cord passageway


38


,


28


(through which run drawstring cord segments


54


and


62


respectively, which are unitary segments in the illustrated embodiment).




In the illustrated embodiment, front cranial cord segment


30


forms loop


29


after passing through side openings


31


, and unitary drawstring


54


,


62


passes through loop


29


to form the connection between drawstring


54


,


62


and front cranial cord segment


30


. As alternatives to loop


29


, other means may be provided for connecting draw string segments, such as stitches and glue. A brim stiffening member


58


may be flexibly connected to front cranial cord segment


30


, to help stiffen and shape brim


42


. In this arrangement, front cranial cord segment


30


may be tightened against a persons head without unduly flattening brim


42


. Manual tensioning by pulling on drawstring


54


,


62


at toggle


45


in the direction of the arrow shown in

FIG. 13

acts to tighten the circumferential cranial cord segments,


54


and


30


, as well as tensioning temporal cord segments


62


. Similarly, in an embodiment that is not illustrated, cord segments may be arranged so that manual tensioning of either a left or right temporal cord segment


62


may act to tension the circumferential cranial cord segments


30


,


54


. In this way, the adjustable hood drawstring arrangement of the invention provides a variety of embodiments adapted for simultaneous circumferential tensioning of the cranial covering portion of hood


24


as well as vertical temporal tensioning of hood


24


along the lateral margins of face opening


72


. In some embodiments, cranial cord segments


30


,


54


may be generally horizontal and temporal cord segments


62


may be generally vertical.




It will be seen that cord arrangements other than the illustrated embodiment may be adapted to provide the desired result. For example, toggle


45


and cord lock


44


need not be located at the rear of hood


24


. Alternative embodiments may have a toggle and cord lock arranged, for example, near the collar at the bottom end of one or both of the vertical channels


28


. More than one toggle and cord lock may be provided for manual operation of the one or more interconnected cord segments. In the illustrated embodiment, the base of each temporal cord segment


62


is anchored (for example by adhesive or by stitching) in passageway


28


at a location


63


that is near the junction


65


between hood


24


and collar


64


.




In various aspects of the invention, drawstrings may be elasticated cords, and the drawstrings may run in channels or passageways formed in the hood material, formed for example by adhesive application of channel strips to the interior of the hood, or by sewn channels or guides applied to the inside of hood


24


.




In alternative aspects, the invention provides methods of producing a curved slide fastener, such as a zipper. As shown in

FIG. 16A

, a straight zipper


33


may be fitted, coil down, into a curved fixture or template


70


. A backing may be applied to the zipper, such as a resiliently flexible polymeric material, such as a thermoplastic polymer (e.g. polyurethane). The backing thus applied may provide a resiliently flexible curved conformation to the slide fastener. For example, the zipper in the template with a thermoplastic polymer backing may be subjected to heat and light pressure (such as 330° F. for 20 seconds) sufficient to attach the backing to the fastener, and then cooled rapidly (for example during a 10 second period) with light pressure being applied, to fix the backing to the fastener. In this way, a resiliently flexible polymeric backing may for example be applied to the tape portion of a zipper (the portion of the zipper attached to the interdigitating elements). The nature of the treatment will vary with the selected backing and fastener material. Following such a heat treatment, zipper


34


may be removed from the template, while retaining its curved configuration. As an additional aspect of the invention, the zipper is made water resistant by the polymeric backing. The use of a polymeric backing to provide water resistance in straight zippers is, however, known.




In an alternative aspect, the invention provides a windowed shoulder pocket


32


having a slide fastener


46


closure adjacent to window


52


. Window


52


may be at least partly transparent so that the interior of the shoulder pocket is visible through the window. Shoulder pocket


32


may for example be shaped to receive a radio, having an elongated upper portion shaped to receive an antenna.




Although various embodiments of the invention are disclosed herein, many adaptations and modifications may be made within the scope of the invention in accordance with the common general knowledge of those skilled in this art. Such modifications include the substitution of known equivalents for any aspect of the invention in order to achieve the same result in substantially the same way. Numeric ranges are inclusive of the numbers defining the range. In the specification, the word “comprising” is used as an open-ended term, substantially equivalent to the phrase “including, but not limited to”, and the word “comprises” has a corresponding meaning. Citation of references herein shall not be construed as an admission that such references are prior art to the present invention. All publications, including but not limited to patents and patent applications, cited in this specification are incorporated herein by reference as if each individual publication were specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference herein and as though fully set forth herein. The invention includes all embodiments and variations substantially as hereinbefore described and with reference to the examples and drawings.



Claims
  • 1. A hood having a head covering and a face opening, the hood comprising an adjustable drawstring arrangement providing for simultaneous circumferential tensioning of the head covering to secure the hood to a wearer's head and vertical temporal tensioning of the face opening, wherein the drawstring arrangement comprises one or more cranial cord segments encircling the head covering and connected to a top portion of left and right temporal cord segments on each lateral side of the face opening, so that:(a) manual tensioning of the cranial cord segment acts to secure the hood to a wearer's head and to tension the temporal cord segments; or, (b) manual tensioning of either the left or right temporal cord segment acts to tension a cranial cord segment to secure the hood to a wearer's head.
  • 2. The hood of claim 1 wherein the cranial cord segments are generally horizontal and temporal cord segments are generally vertical.
  • 3. The hood of claim 1 wherein the wherein at least one of the cord segments is elasticated.
  • 4. The hood of claim 1 wherein the hood comprises a material and the drawstring runs in a channel formed in the material.
  • 5. The hood of claim 1 wherein the hood further comprises a brim, and the brim comprises an inner cranial cord segment flexibly connected to an outer brim reinforcing member.
  • 6. A jacket comprising the hood of claim 1.
Priority Claims (2)
Number Date Country Kind
2001-0167 Jan 2001 CA
2332201 Jan 2001 CA
US Referenced Citations (22)
Number Name Date Kind
690982 Morse Jan 1902 A
727793 Higgins May 1903 A
2567192 De Grazia Aug 1951 A
2581366 De Grazia Jan 1952 A
4334325 Walkuski Jun 1982 A
4354496 Andersen Oct 1982 A
4453292 Bakker Jun 1984 A
4606078 Tkacsik Aug 1986 A
5048128 Watson, Jr. Sep 1991 A
5119510 Schilling Jun 1992 A
5263202 Siberell Nov 1993 A
5369809 Hall Dec 1994 A
5765230 Sivret et al. Jun 1998 A
5832538 Williams Nov 1998 A
5953757 Blanks, I Sep 1999 A
5960478 Sivret et al. Oct 1999 A
6023787 French et al. Feb 2000 A
6088838 Sontag Jul 2000 A
6260207 Barbeau et al. Jul 2001 B1
6370692 Duyn et al. Apr 2002 B1
6374418 Rindle Apr 2002 B1
6442763 Larson et al. Sep 2002 B1
Foreign Referenced Citations (6)
Number Date Country
4241731 Oct 1992 DE
20118164 Aug 2001 DE
0673609 Mar 1995 EP
07252712 Mar 1995 JP
2001020126 Jan 2001 JP
2002004125 Sep 2002 JP