Patent Application
20080256690
This invention pertains to a protective garment such as for a firefighter or emergency worker, and in more particular applications, to a protective garment having pockets.
Commonly, a firefighter or an emergency worker wears a protective garment, such as a protective coat or protective coveralls, onto which is sewn an external pouch or pocket for holding a variety of objects, such as ropes, telecommunications devices and other objects. Additionally, the protective garment is often manufactured to protect the wearer from heat, flames, water, abrasion and other environmental factors. Such protective garments are often multi-layered and manufactured from such materials as Nomex® and Kevlar®. Therefore, the protective garment is oftentimes somewhat rigid because of the various layers and types of materials used.
Furthermore, pockets are oftentimes located on the limb covering portions of the protective garment. Specifically, the pockets may be located on pant legs and the sleeves of jackets and shirts. These limb covering portions are generally cylindrically shaped to conform to the wearer's limbs and avoid constricting movement. However, the pockets that are attached to the limb covering portions can deform the limb covering portion and/or themselves become deformed when worn by a user due to the materials and construction of the garment. Therefore, the pocket can also constrict the wearer's movement and/or lose usable space within the pocket.
In one form, a protective garment for a firefighter or emergency worker is provided. The protective garment includes a generally cylindrically shaped limb covering portion and a pocket located on the generally cylindrically shaped limb covering portion. The pocket includes a mouth and bottom portion. The bottom portion extends across the generally cylindrically shaped limb covering portion and has an inner margin with an unstressed shape conforming to the generally cylindrical shape of the limb covering portion.
According to one form, a protective garment for a firefighter or emergency worker is provided. The protective garment includes a generally cylindrically shaped limb covering portion and a pocket. The pocket is located on the generally cylindrically shaped limb covering portion and includes a mouth, a main body panel and a bottom portion. The bottom portion extends across the generally cylindrically shaped limb covering portion and has an inner margin and an outer margin. The inner margin and the outer margin each have an unstressed shape conforming to the generally cylindrical shape of the limb covering portion. The inner margin is affixed to the generally cylindrically shaped limb covering portion. The outer margin is affixed to the main body panel.
In one form, the protective garment includes a closure adjacent the pocket mouth and is adapted to substantially close the pocket mouth.
In another form, the protective garment includes hook and loop fasteners affixed to the pocket and closure to releasably maintain the closure against the pocket.
According to one form, the closure includes an attachment margin having an unstressed shape that conforms to the generally cylindrical shape of the limb covering portion.
In one form, the limb covering portion is a jacket sleeve.
In another form, the limb covering portion is a pant leg.
According to one form, the pocket includes at least one side portion having an inner margin with a substantially straight shape.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a review of the entire specification, including the appended claims and drawings.
As illustrated in
Furthermore, the garments 12 may include a plurality of layers and/or liners. For example, the garment 12 may include a water-proof liner (not shown) as well as a thermal liner (now shown) which is ultimately covered by an outer layer 18. However, it should be understood that any number of liners and/or layers may be utilized with the protective garment 12, as understood by those skilled in the art.
Each of the jacket 14 and pants 16 have at least one limb covering portion 20. For example, the jacket 14 has sleeves 22 while the pants 16 have pant legs 24. The limb covering portions 20 are generally cylindrically shaped to enclose the wearer's limb and accommodate movement. It should be understood that the limb covering portions 20 may also include further structure not shown in the figures. Specifically, the limb covering portions 20 may also include elbow or knee pads as well as may have a slightly bent shapes to accommodate the wearer's joints and movements.
As illustrated in
The mouth 32 provides an access location to the interior space 40. The mouth 32 may take a variety of shapes as a result of the shape of the pocket 30 and protective garment 12. Furthermore, in one embodiment, the mouth 32 faces upwardly when the wearer is standing erect as shown in
In one embodiment, the bottom portion 34 includes an inner margin 44, an outer margin 46 and ports 48. The inner margin 44 is used to attach a portion of the pocket 30, via the bottom portion 34, to the garment 12. As best seen in
While the embodiment illustrated in the figures has both an inner margin 44 and an outer margin 46, it should be understood that the bottom portion 34 may only have the inner margin 44 in some instances where the bottom portion 34 is integral with other portions of the pocket, such as the main body panel 36.
Referring to
While illustrated in this embodiment as having the bottom portion 34, main body panel 36 and side portions 38 as separate components affixed to one another, it should be understood that the bottom portion 34, main body panel 36 and the side portions 38 may take the form of a single integral piece of material. Similarly, in alternative embodiments, the main body panel 36 and the side portions 38 may take the form of a single piece of material, the main body panel 36 and the bottom portion 34 may take the form of a single piece of material and the bottom portion 34 and the side portions 38 may take the form of a single piece of material.
As described above, the pocket 30 may include the closure 42. The closure 42 may be affixed to the pocket 30 and/or the garment 12 via an inner margin 51. The inner margin 51, may also be curved or arced when unstressed to conform to the generally cylindrical shape of the garment 12. In one embodiment, the pocket 30 is openable and closable, and when opened, provides access to the pocket 30. The closure 42 is manually movable between a first position wherein the pocket 30 is open and the mouth 32 is accessible, and a second position wherein the pocket 30 is substantially closed. The closure 42 can be releasably maintained in the second position via the use of fasteners. One such suitable fastener is illustrated in
The pocket 30, as well as the closure 42 may be made from a variety of materials. In one embodiment, the pocket 30 and the closure 42 are made from the same material as the outer layer 18 of the garment 12. These materials are well known by those skilled in the art and may include materials having thermal, abrasion and/or water resistance.
The pocket 30 may be assembled prior to being affixed to the garment 12. Alternatively, the pocket 30 may be assembled while it is affixed to the garment 12. Furthermore, the pocket 30 may be affixed to the garment prior to, during and/or after the garment 12 is assembled. The pocket 30 may be affixed to the garment in a variety of manners such as sewing, riveting and other methods known to those skilled in the art. Additionally, the pocket 30 and closure 42 may be releasably affixed to the garment 12 such that the pocket 30 and closure 42 may be removed from the garment 12. In this manner, the pocket 30 and closure 42 may be affixed to the garment 12 via hook and loop fasteners (not shown) similar to the hook and loop fastener 52 described above.
While described above as being used with limb covering portions 20, it should be understood that the pocket 30 may also be utilized on other portions of the garment 12. The pocket 30 may be utilized on any generally cylindrically shaped portion of the garment, such as the main body portion of the garment. For example, the chest area and waist area of the protective garment 20 is generally cylindrically shaped and therefore, the pocket 30 may be located on these additional locations.
It should be appreciated that for all of the disclosed embodiments there are many possible modifications. Additionally, it should be understood that the embodiments described herein may be utilized with a variety of garments, such as jackets, shirts, pants, shorts, and other garments.
