Patent Application
20210052022
Aside from natural talent, hard work, and perseverance, the equipment that athletes and enthusiasts use further allows them to achieve peak performance. Among such equipment is the apparel athletes wear. Athletic apparel provides athletes with numerous advantages. For example, athletes that compete in winter sports such as skiing and snowboarding may wear apparel made from materials such as Gore-Tex, which is a waterproof and breathable fabric. The waterproof feature of such a fabric prevents outside moisture from penetrating the fabric and helps keep the athlete warm and dry while the breathable feature allows for excess moisture and humidity from the athlete to escape from the fabric in order to keep the athlete comfortable. However, for some hybrid performance fabrics such as Gore-Tex °, there is a tradeoff between waterproofness and breathability to account for both needs of the athlete. Such fabrics cannot be fully waterproof and fully breathable at the same time. Instead, these fabrics try to balance waterproofness and breathability. For these fabrics, more waterproofness means less breathability and vice versa.
Further, performance athletic apparel is typically designed with the activity or sport in mind, which leads to selections on the fabrics based on overall athlete performance needs during the activity. However, oftentimes, conventional performance athletic apparel is designed by the cut or utility of its various features to allow the athlete to comfortably and adequately move with the apparel, especially in harsh weather conditions, such as rain and cold weather, when materials are required to protect the athlete from the elements. Specifically, anglers struggle to find performance apparel that accounts for the activities unique to their sport, such as driving a boat a high speed and handling fishing during catch, presentation, and release or capture. Water tends to soak into the anglers' jackets and other performance apparel at locations like the athlete's hood and at the cuffs of the arms.
The art could benefit from performance athletic apparel that is designed for the athlete's athletic activity of choice and provides protection against harsh weather conditions.
Performance athletic apparel is disclosed herein that is customized to an athlete's activities and protects the athlete from harsh weather conditions, such as rain, moisture, and wind. Specifically, the example apparel described is customized to angling to allow anglers to move their heads freely while wearing a hood, stay dry or prevent moisture or fluids from entering vulnerable locations on the apparel, such as a hood, seams, pockets, zippers, and the like. Specifically, the disclosed apparel is designed to withstand high speeds that anglers face when traveling on a boat and to protect anglers during low speed activities like catching and handling their fish. The disclosure discusses various examples of apparel including a jacket, a shirt, and bibs, but the concepts disclosed herein can be extended to other types of apparel. Although this disclosure makes reference to athlete's wearing the described apparel, any athlete can also wear the disclosed apparel for any reason, whether or not the athlete considers himself or herself and athlete or is engaged in any particular sport.
Conventional hybrid performance materials have vulnerabilities. In the sport of fishing, the hoods for jackets, shirts, and coats pose several problems for anglers. When driving a fishing boat at high speeds, hoods are not secure and may be blown off the angler's head and may flap around in the wind. In addition to the hood fabric and components hitting the angler's face, such flapping is noisy and may obstruct the angler's vision.
Still further, hoods are not designed effectively to move in tandem with the head. The head rotates inside of the hood instead of the hood moving with the athlete's head motion. As a result, the vision of the athlete is compromised. Consequently, anglers need to turn their whole body instead if they wants to maintain proper vision. In the fishing industry, when driving a fishing boat at a high speed, anglers having to turn their heads to look left or right poses a danger because the anglers' vision straight ahead is then compromised.
Also, in rainy, cold, or marine conditions, hybrid performance materials such as Gore-Tex tend not to remain waterproof, especially at certain vulnerable areas in the apparel like a hood, at arm or leg cuffs, zippers, pockets, certain seam lines, and at other strategic areas on the apparel where water pools. Some particularly vulnerable areas along the seam lines include the cuff, zippers, sewn seam lines, and breathable areas (e.g., under the armpit). Some vulnerable areas on the apparel where water tends to pool include the top of the shoulders and the hood. Water is able to penetrate these areas and the fabric inside the apparel can start to “wet-out,” which means it starts to hold water rather than repelling it from the surface. When apparel “wets-out” it become heavier and loses its ability to further wick water away from the athlete and allow air to escape. The heavier apparel can place extra weight on the athlete, which can make the athlete sore in certain areas, such as the back, knee, hip, and shoulder joints. When the apparel can no long wick water away from the athlete to allow air to escape, it is no longer breathable so water and moisture is trapped in a microclimate between the apparel and the athlete. Essentially, apparel that “wets-out” is simply is uncomfortable for anglers and make them cold.
Such vulnerabilities of these hybrid performance materials are more pronounced when they are used for sports such as fishing. As mentioned above, one of the main areas of vulnerability is the cuff. For example, when holding up a fish after it has been caught, water from rain and splashing may run down the athlete's arm. For another example, water passing from the fishing rod and reel to the hand enters under the cuff, causing mid-layer sleeves under the jacket to soak up and retain water. For yet another example, when driving the fishing boat at speed in the rain, wind forces water into any unprotected places, especially the hood because the athlete uses it during high speed travel in a boat and the cuffs because they are held up on the steering wheel.
Additionally, the pooling of water on a rain jacket, for example, may reduce the waterproofness of the rain jacket. Certain areas, such as the cuffs, zippers, seams lines, etc., are more susceptible to water pooling than others. For example, water may pool at the cuff and in areas where the cuff is vulnerable (e.g., buttons, Velcro flaps, zippers, etc.), water may leak into the inside of the rain jacket. For another example, water may pool along a zipper of the rain jacket and may leak through to the inside of the rain jacket through the gaps between the teeth of the zipper. For yet another example, water may pool at the seam lines of a rain jacket and if the material of the seam is not waterproof then water may leak through to the inside of the rain jacket through the seam line.
The present invention solves at least some of the problems mentioned above. The example performance athletic jacket described herein helps keep water out of the jacket and from pooling on the jacket, vents humidity from the athlete, and has a hood that does not interfere with the athlete's head and vision all while not impeding the range of motion of the athlete's arms. While a jacket and a shirt are used to describe the inventions herein, the same inventions could apply in other apparel, such as other designs of jackets and shirts, base layers, full-body suits, pants, and the like, and the ideas are not restricted in any way to a jacket or shirt embodiment alone.
The jacket 100 is designed to mitigate restrictions on the range of motion for the athlete. This is achieved by minimizing seam lines and the strategic placement of the existing seam lines throughout the rain shell jacket. The front 102 of the jacket 100 has a shelf seam 104 shaped around the chest of the athlete. This is important so that the jacket 104 has flexibility to twist when the athlete turns his or her torso. Conventional rain jackets do not have a shelf seam at the athlete's chest and therefore minimally turn when the athlete turns his or her torso causing the athlete to experience resistance from the jacket, which forces the athlete to turn his or her legs or feet in order to achieve the desired range of motion. The shelf seam 104 shaped around the chest of the athlete allows the athlete a full range of vertical twisting motion without resistance for the torso so that the athlete does not have to turn his or her legs and feet.
The shoulders of the jacket have articulated back raglan hybrid seams 106 located on the back of the rain shell jacket below the top of the shoulder. Additionally, there are wrapping gussets 108 that run from the elbows and down the sides of the torso of the athlete. The placement of the articulated raglan hybrid seams 106 and the wrapping gussets 108 allows the athlete to lift his or her arms up, forward, and backwards without resistance from the rain shell jacket. Like the chest seam across the back of the jacket, these shoulder 106 and torso 108 seams allow the jacket to flex along those seam lines to accommodate the athlete's movement. On the other hand, when an athlete of a conventional rain jacket lifts his or her arms up, forward, and backward, the rain jacket exhibits resistance which makes the shoulders of the rain jacket bunch up and pull the sleeves up to expose the athlete's wrist and arms to the external environment and the bottom of the rain jacket lifts up to exposing the athlete's belly area to the external environment. Because the articulated raglan hybrid seams 106 and wrapping gussets 108 eliminate resistance of the jacket 100 when moving the arms up, forward, and backward, the wrists, arms, and torso of the athlete stay covered by the jacket 100 and are not exposed to the external environment. This is important for anglers since they work in wet environments and want to keep their clothing and skin underneath their jacket dry.
The elbows of the jacket 100 each have an inner elbow dart seam 110 that causes the rain shell jacket to hug the athlete's elbow and lower arm. As a result, when the athlete moves his or her lower arm, there is no resistance from the jacket and the sleeve does not move up or down at the athlete's wrist so none of the athlete's clothing or skin under the jacket is exposed to the external environment. However, the sleeves of conventional rain jackets exhibit resistance when the athlete moves his or her lower arm up or down causing the athlete's wrist to be exposed, which in turn exposes the athlete's clothing, and skin that is underneath the rain jacket to the external environment. Therefore, the inner elbow dart seams of the rain shell jacket are another feature of the rain shell jacket that keeps the athlete's clothing and skin dry and unexposed to the external environment.
The hood of the jacket has two shortened seams 112 that each run in parallel from the middle of the back of the neck to stopping short of the forehead. Additionally, there is a seam 114 that extends around the hood to wrap around the upper neck between each cheek of the athlete. The combination of these seams 112, 114 flex with the athlete when she or he turns her or his head side to side and up and down to allow for a full range of motion (e.g., up, down, left, and right) of the athlete's head while inside the hood of the rain shell jacket. Hoods of conventional rain jackets do not move with the athlete's head. Instead, the athlete's head moves inside the hood while the hood stays still, causing the athlete's peripheral vision to be cut off and forcing the athlete to turn his or her torso if he or she wants to look to either side. When driving boats, anglers need full use of their periphery vision. If they are forced to turn their whole torso to look to either side, the hood cuts them off from seeing what is directly in front of them, which is very dangerous, especially at high speeds. The rain shell jacket allows the athlete full use of their periphery vision while looking straight ahead or to the side since the hood follows the head when it moves.
Seam lines are the most common areas where rips and tears occur on clothing. The resistance caused by the movement of the head, torso, and arms in conventional rain jackets put added stress at the seam lines, thereby increasing the likelihood of ripping and tearing at these seam lines. By eliminating the resistance head, torso, and arm movements have on the rain shell jacket, rips and tears along the seam lines are greatly reduced.
The front of the rain shell jacket has a zippered entry 116 that includes a TIZIP MasterSeal 6 zipper that has a 3 PSI pressure rating and is well above waterproofing standards.
The zipper is heavy duty with widened seam tap for full security. The zipper is made of a durable, polyurethane-coated tape and the durable plastic teeth of the zipper are attached to the tape. The waterproof and pressure-resistant properties of the zipper are achieved by using a sealing lip at the point of interlocking. The zipper extends from the bottom of the rain shell jacket up to the top of the hood's facemask 118. A face opening is a void in the hood that extends around the athlete's face when the jacket or other article of apparel is worn by the athlete. The interior of the zipper has a storm flap that creates a barrier between the face and the zipper pull. Additionally, the front 102 of the jacket 100 has a shelf seam 118 around the chest that provides the athlete wearing the jacket 100 with a snug fit and additional flexibility around the torso for the jacket to move with the typical movement of the athlete.
The sleeves 120 of the jacket 100 are shorter than other conventional rain jacket sleeves by approximately one inch although this range could be more or less depending on the activity of the athlete, the size of the athlete, and other design factors. Shorter sleeves avoid sleeve material bunching at the wrist during certain key movements like when the athlete reaches downwards over an object, such as the athlete reaching over the side of a boat to bring in a fish or grab a net, for example.
Strategic patterning and placement of seam lines in the arm sleeves 120 of the jacket 100 are based on body movement data collected through analysis of specific fishing movements in the examples shown in
Each arm sleeve 120 of the jacket 100 ends in a double-layered cuff 125 consisting of an interior cuff 126 and exterior cuff 128 that is shown in
A ripstop is a woven fabric that uses a special reinforcing woven structure that makes it resistant to abrasion and tearing. During weaving, reinforcement threads are interwoven at regular intervals in a crosshatch pattern to create the ripstop. The intervals are typically 3 to 8 millimeters. Most conventional rain jackets do not have ripstops and are vulnerable to tears and holes created by tension. The ripstop for the jacket described in the present disclosure is accomplished by sandwiching the self-flap in the seam of the ripstop and then using seam tape on the inside of the seam. The corner of the tape is then pushed down out of the junction of the seam. The interior cuff 126 extends further than the exterior cuff 128 and has a neoprene closure for a complete waterproof seal even when submerged in water. Conventional rain jackets have cuffs that do not use the same neoprene and are not tight enough to achieve the waterproof seal as the jacket 100 described in the present disclosure.
The hood 132 for the example jacket 100 is designed to prevent interference to the athlete's head and vision. The hood 132 is a low profile, ergonomic hood that has the ability to stabilize and prevent water intrusion at 75 MPH speeds. The fabric hood 132 has been uniquely cut in a way that allows for full peripheral vision while covering more of the face to prevent water from intruding. It is cut so that the entire head of a range of select sized athletes (e.g., a range of average known athletes of a particular clothing size) is covered except for the area around the nose and eyes not being covered by the hood. Instead of the head moving inside of the hood while the hood stays stationary, which is the case for conventional hoods, the hood 132 of the jacket 100 described in the present disclosure is designed to move with the head. This is accomplished by creating a tight fit for the hood 132 by having seams 112, 114 wrapping around the neck of the hood 132 to flex when the athletes twist their heads and use shock cords 134, 136 that go around the face and head of the athlete when wearing the hood. By adjusting the shock cords 134, 136, the athlete is able to achieve the tight fit of the hood 132 that flex in the typical rotational movements in a horizontal and vertical plane.
The front of the hood 132 has a facemask 118 that is raised for improved water protection and wind resistance. Conventional hoods on rain jackets either do not have a facemask portion or they have a small facemask that only covers the athlete's chin. The jacket 100 described in the present disclosure covers the athlete's face all the way up to the nose so that the athlete's mouth and lips are covered by the facemask 118. There are adjustable shock cords 134 that go around the front of the top of the head down to each side of the chin within 0.5 inch shock cord tunnels. The shock cord exits to the exterior of the jacket through a bartacked channel at the bottom of each side of the chin. At each exit point, the shock cord goes through a plastic stabilizer so that the athlete can quickly and efficiently adjust the tightness of the hood around the face. The top of the hood above the forehead has a plastic brim stabilizer that accommodates a hat if the athlete choses to wear a hat when also wearing the hood. The stabilizer also keeps the front edge of the hood from blocking the athlete's eyes and holds the front edge of the hood out in front of the athlete's face in order to give some covered protection from rain to the athlete.
The back of the hood 132 has an adjustable shock cord 136 goes through 40 mm bonded channels from the front of the top of the head around to the back of the head where the head and neck meet. The shock cord 136 exits in the middle of the back of the hood 132. The shock cord 136 goes through a plastic stabilizer at the exit point so that the athlete can quickly and efficiently adjust the tightness of the hood 132 around the athlete's head. There is a bonded overlap to cover the exit point of the shock cord 136 so water is prevented from entering the exit point.
The jacket 100 has enlarged pockets 138 on each side at the hips of the athlete. These pockets 138 are patterned to have an overlap to protect the zipper from rain. The pockets 138 are also angled to help reduce the likelihood that water will pool near the pockets 138. Enlarged pockets 138 reduce the number of seams and possible failure points and also give the athlete room to store objects, such as gear and tools. Each enlarged pocket 138 has a waterproof zipper 140 with a laminated overlap for directional waterproofing, as shown in
The back of the jacket 100 has a waterproof rear cape 148 vent that moves with the athlete's motion to pump heat and humidity out of the microclimate between the athlete's body and the jacket 100. The cape vent 148 also increases the range of motion across the athlete's back area. Conventional rain jackets rely on porous structures of a waterproof, breathable fabric for it primary form of breathability and do not include a mechanical venting system such as described herein. However, porous structures in fabric sacrifice waterproofness since they are susceptible to water leaking from the exterior of the rain jacket to the interior of the rain jacket. By using a rear downward facing cape vent 148, the jacket 100 described in the present disclosure does not sacrifice any waterproofness.
The hydrophobic mesh is breathable to vent 148 heat and moisture from the athlete of the rain shell jacket out of the cape vent. However, even though the mesh is made of material that repels water, it is a mesh so some water may penetrate through the holes of the mesh if it is saturated with water. In order to prevent this, the waterproof rear cape vent 148 covers the hydrophobic mesh so water cannot touch the hydrophobic mesh. Instead, water will just drip downwards and off the rear cape vent 148. As described above, conventional rain jackets try to balance waterproofness and breathability. While these rain jackets may be made from waterproof materials, the areas that are made of a mesh material for breathability are susceptible to water leaking into the jacket. Therefore, these rain jackets are not completely waterproof. By using a rear cape vent 148 on top of the hydrophobic mesh, the rain shell jacket described in this disclosure is both completely waterproof and completely breathable. That is, instead of relying on the fabric's breathability like most conventional performance apparel, this disclosure adds in construction level breathability in a mechanical venting system.
As described above, around each shoulder on the back of the jacket 100 are seams 106 that are shifted to the back of the jacket 100 to avoid direct water impact to maximize waterproofness. Additionally, because these seams 106 are on the back of the jacket 100, water does not pool on these seams because most athletes face the direction from which the rain or moisture is coming. Further, at the top of the inside of the back of the jacket 100 there is a locker loop that is made of 6 mm light nylon webbing, placed in seam, and bartacked at seam points.
A shock cord (not shown) goes around the bottom of the jacket 100 and has exit points on each side of the jacket 100. The shock cord goes through a plastic stabilizer at each exit point so the athlete can adjust the tightness of the bottom of the jacket 100 to create a snug fit and prevent any water from entering the inside of the jacket 100 at the bottom of the jacket 100.
An alternative embodiment of the disclosure in shown in
Embodiments of the disclosed bibs are shown in
The rain shell bibs 500 are made from waterproof fabric with seam-taped construction. In one embodiment, the location of seam lines and the patterning were chosen based on the range of motion for an angler. However, other embodiments are envisioned (e.g., game hunting, military, etc.) in which the location of seam lines and the patterning may be different. Overall, the number of seam lines are reduced compared to conventional fishing bib pants. Reducing the number of seam lines decreases failure areas (e.g., ripping of fabric at the seams, water leaking into seams, etc.). Additionally, the seam lines are moved away from areas where water would pool on the rain shell bib pant to minimize areas where water may leak into seams.
The bibs 500 are designed so that there are no restrictions on the range of motion of the wearer. This is achieved by minimizing seam lines and the strategic placing of the existing seam lines throughout the bibs 500. Conventional bib pants can move off center when the athlete moves his or her legs and can bunch up when sitting and standing. In order to prevent this, the back of the bibs 500 has a seam 502 that goes from the top of the center of the buttocks to the groin of the athlete and an elastic band 504 that goes around the back of the athlete at the hips. This seam 502 and elastic band 504 keep the bibs 500 centered when the athlete is moving his or her legs and bending down. It also prevents the bibs 500 from moving up or down on the athlete when sitting or standing.
The groin and inner thigh area of the bibs 500 have a gusset 506 that goes from one inner thigh up to the groin and down to the other inner thigh. This gusset 506 provides extra space in the inner thigh and groin region of the bibs 500, which allows the athlete to spread and move his or her legs without any resistance or riding up of the bibs' pant legs. Conventional bib pants do not have this extra space in the inner thigh and groin region, which makes the pant legs susceptible to riding up the athlete's legs when he or she spreads and moves his or her legs, which may expose the athlete's clothing and skin that is underneath the pant legs to the external environment.
The pant legs of the bibs 500 each have a knee dart seam 508 and seams 510 at the back of each of the calf muscles. The knee dart seams 508 have a clean fit around each knee to accommodate resistance-free knee movement and the seams 510 at the back of each calf muscle wrap around each calf muscle to provide a snug fit for the lower leg of the bibs 500. The pant legs of conventional bib pants ride up the athlete's legs when she or he bends her or his knees, which exposes clothing or skin that is underneath the bibs to the external environment. However, because of the knee dart seams 508 and the seams 510 at the back of each calf muscle, the pant legs of the disclosed bibs 500 stay in one place and do not ride up the athlete's legs or expose any of the athlete's clothing or skin that is underneath the bibs.
As with the seams in the jacket and shirt examples discussed above, the seam lines of the bibs 500 are the most common areas that rip and tear. The resistance caused by the movement of the upper legs at the hip, the lower legs at the knee, and the waist when reaching down in conventional bib pants legs put added stress at the seam lines, thereby increasing the likelihood of ripping and tearing at these seam lines. By eliminating the resistance upper leg, lower leg, and waist movements have on the bib pant, rips and tears along the seams lines are greatly reduced.
The front of the rain shell bib pant has a zipper 512 in the center that extends down to the wearer's groin area. The zipper 512 for the bibs 500 is a TIZIP MasterSeal 6 zipper that has a 3 PSI pressure rating and is certified for space suits to prevent the vacuum of space from sucking out the air inside the space suit. The zipper 512 is heavy duty with widened seam tap for full security. The zipper 512 is made of a durable, polyurethane-coated tape and the durable plastic teeth of the zipper are attached to the tape. The waterproof and pressure-resistant properties of the zipper 512 are achieved by using a sealing lip at the point of interlocking.
The bibs 500 have elastic 38 mm elastic shoulder straps. These straps 514 allow for equal distribution of weight on the shoulders. Each strap 514 has an easy release securing element 516, such as a magnetic Fidlock buckle that is rated to carry 70 kg and allow the user to quickly and efficiently detach, adjust, and re-attach each shoulder strap 514. Additionally, each shoulder strap 514 may be detached with one hand. Conventional bib pants have shoulder straps that are not magnetic buckles which requires the wearer to use both hands (i.e., one hand on each part of the buckle) in order to buckle the strap around his or her shoulder. Further, each strap 514 may be adjusted by a 38 mm elastic adjuster. Underneath the shoulder straps 514 at the chest of the athlete wearing the bibs 500, there are interior pockets 518 on each side. These pockets 518 are lined with microfiber or other material with thermal properties that can help the pockets serve as hand warmers for the wearer.
As described above, each pant leg of the bibs 500 has a knee dart seam 508 that creates a clean fit to accommodate knee movement and there is a center groin gusset 506 that adds free-range movement. Otherwise, there are minimal seams in the groin area to allow for flexion of the bibs 500 and to prevent pooling of water. The side seam 518 for each pant leg has an overlap to protect from vertical and directional water flow and there are seams 520 on each pant leg that wrap around the back calf muscles. Further, in order to avoid seam failure, there are minimal seam lines on the bibs 500 where the athlete's buttocks would be.
A full leg waterproof zipper 522 runs down the side from the hip to the bottom of each pant leg of the bibs 500, a portion of which is shown in
The bottom of each pant leg of the bibs 500 has a security cuff 524 that has a 38 mm Velcro strap that is sewn into the fabric and is used to adjust the tightness of the pant leg cuff around the wearer's ankle and cover the zipper 522 that runs down the side of each pant leg. This helps to keep water from soaking up through the user's skin and midlayer pants that are typically worn underneath the bibs 500.
Around the waist of the rain shell bib pant is an elastic waistband 504. The waistband 504 is concealed in a laminated, waterproof 38 inch channel that has been shrunk by 15% for a clean fit without compromising waterproofing. The waistband 504 hugs the lower back and rests on the top of the hips. It expands and retracts as the wearer of the bibs 500 moves, which allows the bibs 500 to distribute its weight proportionately throughout the athlete's body instead of concentrating the weight load of the bibs 500 on the athlete's back and adding pressure from the shoulder straps 514 on the athlete's shoulders.
The bibs 500 have watertight thigh pockets 526 with additional laminated angled storm flaps for a fully waterproof construction, which are shown in
The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the following claims, or the accompanying drawings, expressed in their specific forms or in terms of a means for performing the disclosed function, or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result, as appropriate, may, separately, or in any combination of such features, be used for realizing the invention in diverse forms thereof.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Nos. 62/890,948, filed Aug. 23, 2019 and 62/890,942, filed Aug. 23, 2019, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62890942 | Aug 2019 | US | |
| 62890948 | Aug 2019 | US |
