Patent Application
20150113717
Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
This embodiment relates to protective garments, and more particularly to a garment to protect athletes, constructed with at least one protective element integrated into areas susceptible to injury.
With the increasing popularity of sports such as skateboarding, roller-blading, scooter riding, skiing, snowboarding, sledding and ice skating, the incidences of musculoskeletal injury and fracture have spiked. Some attempts have been made to construct various forms of pads for the protection of parts of the body which include foam pad, gel-filled pad and inflatable cushion filled with fluid. These pads are relatively bulky and cumbersome and are inflexible and are not shaped to bend to the contour of the athlete's body, as such these pads did not lend ease of movement of the athlete.
Various protective gears are devised to guard or protect areas such as elbow, knee, shoulder and waist of the athlete's body more susceptible to injury. These protective gears can be worn by athletes or sport enthusiasts during the high-risk sports. Protective gear currently available consists mainly of sets of pads, such as knee pad, elbow pad, shoulder pad or wrist pad which are attached outside of the garment with Velcro straps. Various solutions have not entirely solved the current problems, including these pads are time consuming put on, uncomfortable, and often slide off at the onset of activity.
Certain pads are attached inside the garment or sometimes within the pockets through adhesive or stitching. Such pads attached with adhesive can be accidently dislodged and easily distorted and removed. Such pads stitched inside the garment provide a bulky and clumsy look and does not provide a natural athletic look. In addition, these garments stitched with pads are not lightweight, aerated and washable.
Some pads attached with the garments are commonly made of exposed hard plastic and metal rivets, which can actually cause injury to others during collisions. Some garments include removable pads which ought to be washed separately and perhaps less frequently. Some garments with protective pads do not used as daily wear and readily convertible into different styles of garments.
In light of the foregoing, there is a need for an economical, a simple, a washable, and a reusable athletic garment integrated with protective elements into areas more susceptible to injury. Such a needed tool would include two layers of semi-rigid light weight protective elements which could be attached to any garment to protect the parts of the athlete during athletic activity. Such protective elements would include a thick base layer that is adaptable to provide shock absorption. Moreover, the protective elements would include a thin top layer that is adaptable to provide abrasion resistance and allow low friction sliding ability during falls. Further, the present embodiment would include ventilation holes to improve aeration during activity, flex zones to improve flexibility to bend to the contour of the athlete's body during activity and raised elements to provide slip resistant grip to prevent the wearer from slipping/sliding from a ground surface during falls. Furthermore, the protective element would be stitched to the garment to create any style of garment. The present embodiment accomplishes these objectives.
The present embodiment is a protective athletic garment that provides cushioning effect to areas of the wearer's body and shock absorbing capability, while keeping resistance to impact and collision during activities. The protective athletic garment comprises an article of clothing which covers a portion of a wearer's body and at least one protective element attached into areas susceptible to injury. The at least one protective element is tightened and supported with the areas of the protective athletic garment using at least one securing means. The at least one securing means is selected from a group consisting of spring clips, Velcro straps, low-tack adhesive tapes, elastic bands or straps. Preferably, the protective element is flexible so that they can conform to the shape of the areas and bend when the wearer moves.
The protective element comprises an inner surface adaptable to mount over the garment and an outer surface adaptable to contact with a surface during falls or collisions. The protective element is preferably formed of a base layer of polyurethane foam and a top layer of thermoplastic polyurethane foil. The top layer preferably is bendable, so that it can be curved to conform to the contour of the areas, and also dense or hard enough to deflect at least a portion of the impact. The top layer includes a plurality of flex zones that defined as horizontal grooves or depressions and is adaptable to provide flexibility during athletic activities. The top layer provides high abrasion resistance and low friction sliding ability during falls. The base layer preferably is a relatively compressible medium such as dense foam, which is shock absorbent. The base layer of polyurethane foam is thicker than the top layer of thermoplastic polyurethane foil. Thus, the protective element is lightweight and washable.
The protective element comprises a plurality of holes extended through the thick base layer of polyurethane foam and the thin top layer of thermoplastic polyurethane foil. The plurality of holes is adaptable to provide ventilation and aeration during athletic activity. The protective element further comprises a plurality of grooves positioned along an outer edge thereof. The plurality of grooves is utilized to stitch the protective element to the garment to create any style of garment.
The outer surface comprises a plurality of raised elements on the top layer which is adaptable to provide slip resistant grip to prevent the wearer from slipping/sliding from a ground surface during falls. The plurality of raised elements creates friction between the at least one protective element and the wearer's body to provide grip and thereby provide increased protection.
The protective element can be used for different portions of the wearer's body by varying the shape and/or size of the protective element to accommodate a variety of human body portions. The article of clothing including apparels but not limited to a long sleeve shirt, a short sleeve shirt, a sleeveless shirt, a pair of shorts and a pair of pants.
The present embodiment provides an economical, a simple, a washable, and a reusable athletic garment integrated with protective elements into areas more susceptible to injury. Such a needed tool would include two layers of semi-rigid light weight protective elements which could be attached to any garment to protect the parts of the athlete during activity. Such protective elements would include a thick base layer that is adaptable to provide shock absorption. Moreover, the protective elements would include a thin top layer that is adaptable to provide abrasion resistance and allow low friction sliding ability during falls. Further, the present embodiment would include ventilation holes to improve aeration during activity and flex zones to improve flexibility to bend to the contour of the athlete's body during athletic activity. Furthermore, the protective element would be stitched to the garment to create any style of garment. Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.
5 is a vertical cross-sectional view to illustrate a base layer and a top layer of the at least one protective element shown in
The following describes example embodiments in which the present invention may be practiced. This invention, however, may be embodied in many different ways, and the description provided herein should not be construed as limiting in any way. Among other things, the following invention may be embodied as methods or devices. As such, the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. The following detailed descriptions should not be taken in a limiting sense.
In this document, the terms “a” or “an” are used, as is common in patent documents, to include one or more than one. In this document, the term “or” is used to refer to a nonexclusive “or,” such that “A or B” includes “A but not B,” “B but not A,” and “A and B,” unless otherwise indicated. Furthermore, all publications, patents, and patent documents referred to in this document are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety, as though individually incorporated by reference. In the event of inconsistent usages between this document and those documents so incorporated by reference, the usage in the incorporated reference(s) should be considered supplementary to that of this document; for irreconcilable inconsistencies, the usage in this document controls.
Turning now to the drawings in general and to
Referring to
The base layer 22 preferably is a relatively compressible medium such as dense foam, which is shock absorbent and also washable. The base layer of polyurethane foam 22 is thicker than the top layer of thermoplastic polyurethane foil 24.
As shown in
The plurality of raised elements 34 have a textured surface, such as a rubber layer for example, to facilitate traction between the at least one protective element 12 and the ground surface. The plurality of raised elements 34 may be made in a variety of shapes, such as substantially rectangular (as shown in
The at least one protective element 12 comprises a plurality of grooves 28 positioned along an outer edge 30 thereof. The plurality of grooves 28 is utilized to stitch the at least one protective element 12 to the garment 10 to create any style of garment. The at least one protective element 12 further comprises a plurality of holes 32 extended through the thick base layer of polyurethane foam 22 and the thin top layer of thermoplastic polyurethane foil 24. The plurality of holes 32 is adaptable to provide ventilation and aeration during athletic activity.
Referring to
Referring to
Similarly, the top layer 54 preferably is bendable, so that it can be curved to conform to the contour of the elbow area 44, and also dense or hard enough to deflect at least a portion of the impact. The top layer 54 includes a plurality of flex zones 56 that defined as horizontal grooves or depressions and is adaptable to provide flexibility during athletic activities. The plurality of flex zones 56 are resistant to buckling or folding, and capable of deflecting the impact forces. The top layer 54 provides high abrasion resistance and low friction sliding ability during falls. The base layer 52 preferably is relatively thick dense foam, which is shock absorbent. Thus, the at least one protective element 42 is lightweight, flexible and washable.
The at least one protective element 42 comprises a plurality of holes 62 extended through the thick base layer of polyurethane foam 52 and the thin top layer of thermoplastic polyurethane foil 54. The plurality of holes 62 is adaptable to provide ventilation and aeration during athletic activity. The at least one protective element 42 further comprises a plurality of grooves 58 positioned along an outer edge 60 thereof. The plurality of grooves 58 is utilized to stitch the at least one protective element 42 to the garment 40 to create any style of garment.
As shown in
The protective element 12 can be used for different portions of the wearer's body by varying the shape and/or size of the protective element 12 to accommodate a variety of human body portions. For instance, the location, shape and size of the plurality of flex zones 26 and the plurality of holes 32 can be customized to accommodate the different human body portions. For example, the protective element 12 can be made in different sizes, such as small, medium, and large. In some embodiments, a length and a width of the protective element 12 can be customized according to the wearer's body portions. In addition, the plurality of holes 32 and the plurality of flex zones 26 may be any sizes or shapes or depths or placements, not limited to those described in the figures.
The article of clothing including apparels but not limited to a long sleeve shirt, a short sleeve shirt, a sleeveless shirt, a pair of shorts and a pair of pants. The protective element is integrated to any area of a garment including but not limited to: elbows, knees, wrists, shoulders, hips, buttocks, ankles, feet, neck and torso. The protective athletic garment is used with various sports including but not limited to skateboarding, scooter riding, roller skating, roller balding, skiing, sledding, snowboarding, baseball, football, hockey, soccer, ice skating, basketball and playground playing.
In a preferred embodiment, and contingent upon various embodiments, the protective element constructed in accordance with the methods of the present invention by injection of liquefied polyurethane into machined steel molds containing heat molded thermoplastic polyurethane foil. After approximately 12 minutes of hardening time, the protective element is finished by hand. The constructed protective element may be attached or stitched into the garment through the plurality of grooves along the outer edge of the protective element to create any style garment.
The base layer of protective element may be made of any suitable semi-rigid materials that provide shock absorption. The top layer of protective element may be made of hard plastic or carbon fiber material. The embodiments relate to a padding structure designed to construct of one layer or more than two layers in different thicknesses. The layers may be made of any number of different materials that impart lightweight portability and deployment.
While a particular form of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the garment can be attached with any type of protective element that may be provided with any feature to improve protection and may be customized according to user preferences, for example, size, shape and material. Accordingly, it is not intended that the invention be limited, except as by the appended claims.
