Patent Application
20080201828
The present invention is directed to protective garments and in particular to garments used to protect participants while playing sporting activities.
The use of protective pads and plastic shields for various sports is well known. For example, hockey and football players use a great deal of protective equipment to prevent injury from impacts during a game. Other sports such as soccer and shooting also use protective guards and padding. In the game of baseball, protective shields are generally limited to the catcher position that use a mask, chect protector and shin guards. However, a number of baseball players, particularly small children, have experienced fatal heart injuries from a batted or thrown ball, or a mis-directed bat, impacting against the chest or back of the player.
There have been a number of attempts to provide protection to a wearer from impact to a particular body part when engaging in various sporting activities. Examples of these are shown and described in the patent art, the following being some specific examples.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,135,961 to Roderick shows an early example of a protective shirt having a front inner pocket for a T-shaped sponge impact absorbing material.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,621,914 to Ramone et al discloses a shirt to protect the heart area of a wearer when playing baseball. The shirt has a frontal inside pocket to mount an impact resistant laminate formed of a foam layer and an impact resistant plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,507,801 to Kavanagh et al shows another protective garment formed of a stretch material with pockets over the areas to be protected. Pads, formed to fit the wearer, are inserted in the pockets and are held in place by the stretch material.
U.S. Pat. No. to Davis discloses a protective shield worn under the outer uniform of the wearer that conforms to the shape of the user.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,899,738, 5,456,658 and 5,480,376 to Parker are directed to the armour material and method of forming the same used with the protective garment of the present invention.
Among a number of additional patents of interest are the patents to Pecoraro U.S. Pat. No. 4,100,620, Ketcham et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,706, White, U.S. Pat. No. 6,305,031 and Matechen et al, U.S. Pat. No. 7,100,216 B2.
The present invention is directed to sports body armour that represents an improvement of the known prior art. The invention is a shirt using a four way stretchable, moisture wicking material, designed to be worn under an outer jacket, shirt or uniform. The shirt has at least one inner pocket to mount an armour plate formed to the body shape of the wearer as described in the aforementioned Parker patents.
The present invention specifically improves the shape of the armour material used in the body armour, in particular for use in playing baseball and shooting firearms.
A first embodiment of the invention is a sports armour shirt designed for a wearer playing baseball. The shirt is specifically designed to protect the heart, rib and back areas of the wearer against the impact of any blunt force impacts such as a thrown or batted baseball or swung or thrown baseball bat, unlike prior art products that protect a specific part of the wearer's body. The shirt is designed to be worn under the outer uniform of the wearer and to fit such that the wearer is completely unincumbered when executing various motions such as batting or throwing a baseball during the course of playing the game. The shirt is made of stretchable material and snugly conforms to the shape of the wearer's body. It will be appreciated that various sizes of shirts are available to accommodate different size wearers.
The shirt includes a plurality of pockets on the inner surface thereof. Typically the pockets are sewn in place during the manufacture of the shirt and are sized and shaped to the exact size and shape of the armour mounted therein. In this embodiment, the frontal armour pocket and the corresponding armour plate has a large central area directly covering the upper thorasic portion of the wearer's chest. The upper portion extends to a point just below the collar. The upper edge of the upper portion is sinusoidal in shape, with the apex of the sine wave being centrally located below the collar. The sides of the pocket gradually extend downwardly following the sinusoidal shape of the upper portion and terminate at the side of the wearer under the proximate armpit area. The lower edge of the pocket and corresponding armour extends proximate to the solar plexus of the wearer and extends in a gradual upward curve between the side edges.
The rear of the shirt has two inner pockets to accommodate at least one additional armour plate. Each rear pocket extends from the side to approximately midway adjacent the spine of the wearer. As with the frontal armour and pocket, the rear pockets together form a sinusoidal upper shape with the upper edges being located generally between the shoulder blades. The lower edges of the pockets are located approximately midway along the length of the wearer's spine.
The protective armour shirts are typically sold with the armour before the armour is form fitted to the wearer. The wearer puts the shirt on and opens the sealed, air-tight armour packages. At this time the armour plates are uncured and are flexible. Exposure to air causes the resin impregnated fiberglass material that forms the armour to harden. Before hardening begins, the armour plates are placed in the corresponding pockets and preferably are held in position by a wrap material or the like. The stretchable fabric of the shirt also presses the uncured armour against the wearer's body contours to ensure an exact form fit when the armour hardens. Reference can be made to the Parker patents referenced hereinabove for details of the forming and hardening process.
A second embodiment of the present invention is a shooting shirt made of similar stretchable fabric material as described above for use with the baseball armour shirt, having a single pocket and armour plate adjacent the front of the wearer's shoulder. In this embodiment, the shirt includes a single kidney shaped pocket to mount a correspondingly shaped armour plate that disperses the recoil energy from the impact of the butt of a rifle or shotgun.
Among the objects of the present invention is the provision of a body armour plate specifically shaped to protect a designated body part.
Another object is the provision of a protective garment having shaped pockets to accommodate correspondingly shaped armour parts.
Still another object is to provide a protective garment having a shaped armour plate to protect a wearer's heart area from injury during the playing of a sport.
Still another object is to provide a protective garment having a shaped armour plate to protect a wearer's heart area from being struck during playing a game of baseball.
Another object is to provide a protective garment having a shaped armour plate to protect a shooter's shoulder from impact caused by recoil of a firearm.
These and other objects will be more fully appreciated with reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.
The shirt 10 includes a pocket 12 on the front 14 of the shirt 10 and a pair of pockets 16 and 18 on the rear 20 of the shirt 10. The pockets are located on the inner surface of the shirt 10 and are sewn in place during the manufacture of the shirt 10. The pockets are sized and shaped to the exact size and shape of the armour plates 22 and 24 mounted therein. In this embodiment, the frontal armour pocket 12 has a large central area 26 directly covering the upper thorasic portion of the wearer s chest. An upper edge 28 of the pocket 12 extends to a point below the collar 30 of the shirt 10. The upper edge 28 of the pocket 12 is sinusoidal in shape, with the apex of the sine wave being centrally located below the collar 30. The sides 32 of the pocket 12 gradually extend downwardly following the sinusoidal shape of the upper edge 28 and terminate at the side of the shirt under the armpit area of the wearer. The lower edge 34 of the pocket 12 extends proximate the solar plexus of the wearer and extends in a gradual upward curve between the sides 32.
The armour plate 36, formed to the contour of the wearer as described hereinbelow, is shaped and sized to snugly fit into the pocket 12 through a small opening (not shown) in the pocket 12. The upper edge 38 of the armour plate 36 is sinusoidal in shape, following the contours of the pocket 12, creating a large upper portion 40 that extends completely over the heart area of the wearer. The shape is particularly efficient covering the heart while not being obtrusive to the wearer when performing athletic movements such as batting or throwing a ball. The sides 42 of the plate 36 also conform to the shape of the pocket 12 and extend across the upper rib area of the wearer.
The rear 20 of the shirt 10 has two inner pockets 16 and 18 to accommodate at least one additional armour plate 44. Each rear pocket 16 and 18 extends from the side of the shirt 10 to approximately midway of the rear 20 of the shirt 10 adjacent the spine of the wearer. As with the frontal armour pocket 12, the rear pockets 16 and 18 together have a sinusoidal upper shape with the upper edges 46 and 48 being located generally between the shoulder blades of the wearer. The lower edges 50 and 52 of the pockets are located approximately midway along the length of the wearer's spine.
The protective armour shirts are typically sold with the armour in a separate package before the armour is form fitted to the wearer. The wearer puts the shirt on and opens the sealed, air-tight armour packages. At this time the armour plates are uncured and are flexible. Exposure to air causes the resin impregnated, fiberglass material that forms the armour to harden. Before hardening begins, the armour plates are placed in the corresponding pockets and preferably are held in position by a wrap material or the like. The stretchable fabric of the shirt also presses the uncured armour against the wearer's body contours to ensure an exact form fit when the armour hardens. Reference can be made to the Parker patents for details of the forming and hardening process.
It will be appreciated that the overall size of the pockets and armour may be adjusted to fit particular individual wearers. Other changes and modifications may be made in keeping within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in the following claims.
