SHIRT WITH INTERIOR POCKET AT NECK PLACKET

Abstract

An interior concealed pocket for a garment such as a shirt that affords a convenient location to store eye glasses or the like. The interior, concealed pocket is formed from a thin, flexible substrate attached to the garment along at least two opposing edges. The interior, concealed pocket may be opened from the top or, optionally, from the bottom. A hook-and-loop fastening system is used for securing respective top and/or bottom flaps. The internal, concealed pocket may have closable openings at the top, at the bottom, or at both the top and bottom.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention pertains to garments and, more particularly, to shirts or the like having interior pocket selectively openable from at least two directions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Garment pockets are well known and generally considered useful for storing personal items. Pockets on the outside of garments are subject to loss of item stored therein, particularly when the wearer of the garment stoops, bends, or otherwise contorts his or her body. For example, objects in an outside shirt pocket may fall out during a movement such as when a wearer simply bends over to pick up an object, reaches up for an item, or jumps up to reach for an article.

The simple task of bending over to pick up a child may cause articles stored in an outside shirt pocket to fall onto the child. Working on mechanical moving devices while carrying articles in an outside pocket may result in some or all of the articles falling into the mechanism and damaging the mechanism or harming the wearer trying to catch the falling articles.

Eyeglasses are one article commonly carried in an outside shirt pocket either in or without a case. Eyeglasses are extremely prone to damage that may occur if they fall out of a shirt pocket, especially if they are uncased. Further, the appearance of a garment may be important. Glasses stored in an outside pocket may give a cluttered or otherwise undesired appearance to an otherwise fashionable garment.

Interior pockets are well known for jackets, coats, and similar garments. However, in today's workplace environments, casual attire is more common than in the past with suits and jackets typically being worn less frequently than in the past. Even in workplaces where suits and jackets are the normal attire, causal days such as “casual Friday” allow employees to dress less formally. Consequently, an interior pocket is frequently unavailable to many people during the work day.

Also, garments typically worn for recreational and other activities do not include jackets and coats. Where such activities occur in a warm environment, for example, a golf course or at the beach, an available pocket, at least a pocket suitable for protecting a wearer's eyeglasses, is typically nonexistent.

It would, therefore, be advantageous to provide a pocket on an interior portion of a garment that may safely constrain articles, for example eyeglasses. Such a pocket may preserve the otherwise fashionable appearance of the garment.

DISCUSSION OF THE RELATED ART

Several attempts to provide an interior pocket may be found in the prior art. For example, United States Published Patent Application No. 20110231982 for CONCEALMENT APPAREL, published Sep. 29, 2011 upon application by Lawrence K. Echikson, discloses apparel for the concealment of articles including a shirt that allows fast and safe retrieval of a concealed weapon. The shirt can have multiple access points to allow the wearer to retrieve weapons holstered in a shoulder type rig, against the waistband (“AWB”) holster, or a “belly-band” type holster. The shirt comprises a shell substantially in the shape of a shirt and an inner panel substantially lining at least a portion of the interior portion of the shell. The shell defines at least one access port configured to be selectively opened or closed to enable selective access to an interior portion of the shell. Specifically, a shirt having an interior pocket for holding “travel articles” is in the vicinity of a front placket 150 is provided. (Paragraph 34).

United States Published Patent Application No. 2005\0144704 for INTERIOR POCKET FOR GARMENT, published Jul. 7, 2005 upon application by Nugent Vitallo shows an interior pocket for a garment such as a shirt that affords an enhanced degree of secrecy and security for articles stored in the interior pocket. The interior pocket affords a greater degree of protection against easy theft compared to an outside pocket by being situated on the inside of the shirt between the shirt and the wearer's body. Positioning the items in the interior pocket reduces the risk of thievery by a pickpocket using sleight of hand techniques. Specifically, Vitallo discloses a shirt having access to an interior pocket having access from a V-neck, placket, etc. (paragraph 16).

U.S. Pat. No. 2,604,627 for INSERTABLE AND REMOVABLE SHIRT POCKET issued Jul. 29, 1952 to Paul D. Abbott shows an interior pocket in FIG. 1.

United States Published Patent Application No. 20050160514 or GARMENT HAVING HEAD-AND FACE COVER, published Jul. 28, 2005 upon application by Kenneth Bruce Flaniken discloses a garment with an attached head-and-face cover, such as a ski mask, and a hood. The head-and-face cover has eye openings and a mouth opening. The garment has a body portion and a collar. When the head-and-face cover is not deployed on a head and face of the wearer, the head-and-face cover is inserted into a storage structure. The storage structure may be a pouch that dangles from the garment body portion by a connecting piece. In another embodiment, the storage structure may be a pocket sewn to the hood or to the front portion or back portion of the garment body portion. Specifically, a pocket 214 may be seen in FIG. 5.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,839,915 for JACKET, issued Jun. 11, 2005 to Koji Yoshimura, teaches a passage extending from the upper pocket to the lower outlet being formed. The lower end of the passage has a receptacle positioned immediately above the outlet. At a location upward of the receptacle, another outlet that opens to one side of the passage is formed. The outlet and the lower outlet are connected to each other via an outlet passage. When a cell phone is dropped in from the upper pocket, it glides down inside the passage and is received by the receptacle established at the lower end. When the wearer of the jacket inserts fingers through the lower outlet and pushes up the receptacle, he can easily push out the cell phone held inside through the outlet, which opens to one side of the passage. The cell phone can be taken out from the lower outlet which is connected to the outlet via an outlet passage. Yoshimura specifically teaches an interior pocket for e.g. eyeglasses (column 1, lines 12-16).

U.S. Pat. No. 8,257,140 for CONCEALED AND DISCREET SECURITY POCKET issued Sep. 4, 2012 to Judith Ann Kenny discloses a discrete, easily accessible, and selectively introduced and selectively removed pocket that holds articles (e.g., keys, cash, credit cards, metro cards, cosmetics, valuables, or other accessories). The pocket is worn in the interior of a brassiere cup or bathing suit top to provide convenience and safety and is shaped and contoured appropriately to the interior of such garment. The pocket can be used with any brassiere and is held in place with a plurality of attaching members, including but not limited to magnets. The pocket is alternately and easily removed from an article of clothing, even in public, and worn as a sachet around the wrist.

None of the patents and published patent applications, taken singly, or in any combination are seen to teach or suggest the novel Shirt with Interior Pocket at Neck Placket of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an interior concealed pocket for a garment such as a shirt that affords a convenient location to store eye glasses or the like. The concealed pocket can be opened from the top or opened from the bottom using a hook-and-loop fastening system for securing respective top and bottom flaps. The top and/or bottom flaps may be readily opened.

The novel interior concealed pocket may be constructed to provide an interior pocket that enables an overall more attractive garment because eye glasses or the like is stored in the internal pocket where they are not visible to the public.

The novel interior concealed pocket may be constructed to provide an interior pocket that can be affixed to the placket of a shirt.

The novel interior concealed pocket may be constructed to provide an interior pocket that can be affixed securely to a shirt, the interior pocket constructed through means of outer and inner material attached to the aforementioned shirt thereby creating an interior pocket using portions of the inner garment.

The novel interior concealed pocket may be constructed to provide a simple and effortless means of a fixing the interior pocket through means of outer and inner material attached to the aforementioned shirt.

The novel interior concealed pocket may be constructed to provide an interior concealed pocket which can be affixed securely to a shirt, the interior pocket constructed through means of outer and inner material attached to the aforementioned shirt, the outer material camouflaging the interior pocket from any outward look of bulk upon the garment. Through the variety of decorations of the outer material, the interior pocket can be less obvious in bulk and therefore when applied to a shirt, can be used to keep the look of a “no pocket” conventional shirt.

Easy access to the interior pocket is provided by the design of the concealed interior pocket being attached to the placket of the shirt. An interior pocket entry is provided through the opening from the V neck design of many golf shirts, from the V neck design of certain sweaters, from the top opened buttons of casual dress shirts from which the wearer can access the interior pocket with relative ease.

The novel interior concealed pocket may be constructed to provide an interior pocket which can be affixed securely to any garment, the interior pocket constructed through means of outer and inner material attached to the aforementioned garment.

Numerous other advantages and features of the present invention will be become readily apparent from the following detailed description of the invention and the embodiments thereof, from the claims and from the accompanying drawings.

It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide an interior pocket disposed near the neck of a shirt or similar garment.

It is another object of the invention to provide an interior pocket disposed near the neck of a shirt or similar garment disposed on an interior surface of the neck placket.

It is an additional object of the invention to provide an interior pocket disposed near the neck of a shirt or similar garment having at least an upper closing flap secured using a hook-and-loop fastening system.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an interior pocket disposed near the neck of a shirt or similar garment having, in addition to a top closing flap, a bottom closing flap also secures using a hook-and-loop fastening system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various objects, features, and attendant advantages of the present invention will become more fully appreciated as the same becomes better understood when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational, schematic view of a garment having a an internal, concealed pocket in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational, schematic view of the garment of FIG. 1 showing hook-and-loop fastening material to close a top flap of the internal concealed pocket;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational, schematic view of the garment of FIG. 1 and showing a pair of eye glasses completely contained within the internal, concealed pocket;

FIG. 4 is a front elevational of the garment of FIG. 1 with the placket disposed inwardly thereby completely hiding the internal, concealed pocket of the invention;

FIG. 5, is a front elevational, schematic view the garment of FIG. 2 but having an additional bottom flap disposed at a lower edge of internal, concealed pocket; and

FIG. 6 is a front elevational, schematic view the garment of FIG. 3 but having an additional bottom flap disposed at a lower edge of internal, concealed pocket.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention provides an internal concealed pocket for attachment to the placket of a garment, for example, a shirt.

Referring first to FIG. 1, there is shown a front elevational, schematic view of a garment including such an internal, concealed pocket, generally at reference number 100.

The placket 102 of garment 100 is folded outwardly such as when upper buttons, not shown, of a shirt or a similar garment are unbuttoned. A pocket 104 is affixed to an inside surface of the placket 102. Pocket 104 is formed by a thin, flexible substrate, not specifically identified. The thin, flexible substrate is attached to garment at two opposing edges, edges typically parallel to a major axis of pocket 104. The substrate is typically attached by stitching, adhesively adhering, or by using a hook-and-loop fastening system.

A pair of eye glasses 108 may be seen protruding from an upper opening, not specifically identified, of pocket 104. Note that eye glasses 108 form no part of the present invention and are shown merely to illustrate a typical use of internal, concealed pocket 104.

A surface 106 normally having one component of a hook-and-loop fastening system adhered thereto, is adapted to receive a upper flap, 110, best seen in FIG. 2, thereby closing the upper opening and securing eye glasses 108 or similar pocket contents, not shown, within pocket 104.

Referring now also to FIG. 2, there is shown a front elevational, schematic view of the garment 100 of FIG. 1 but further showing a top pocket flap 110 having a first component of a hook-and-loop fastening system 112 disposed along a edge, not specifically identified, thereof.

A mating portion of a hook-and-loop fastening system is disposed on surface 106. Eye glasses 108 are shown partially protruding from pocket 104 prior to closing and fastening upper flap 110.

Referring now also to FIG. 3, there is shown a front elevational, schematic view of the garment 100 of FIG. 1 with a pair of eye glasses 108 completely contained within the internal, concealed pocket 104. An upper flap 110 adhered to the front of internal, concealed pocket 104 by hook-and-loop fastening system 112 and the second component of surface 106, best seen in FIG. 2.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown a front elevational of the garment of FIG. 3 with the placket 102 disposed inwardly in the normal position when garment 100 is being worn. In this position, pocket 104, flap 110, and surface 106 as well as eye glasses 108 are completely hidden from view within internal, concealed pocket 104.

While pocket 104 has been shown with only a top flap 110 securing any contents therein, the desirability of accessing pocket 104 from the bottom will be recognized. Bottom access may be in place of top access or in addition to top access. It will be recognized that when only a single top or bottom access to pocket 104 is provided, an opposing edge of the substrate will also need to be adhered to garment 100.

Referring now also to FIG. 5, there is shown a front elevational, schematic view the garment 100 of FIG. 2 but having an additional bottom flap 114 disposed at a lower edge of internal, concealed pocket 104. Bottom flap 115 has a first component 116 of a hoop-and-loop fastening system disposed on an outer edge, not specifically identified, thereof. A mating surface 118 contains a second component of the hook-and-loop fastening system. In FIG. 5, both upper flap 110 and lower flap 114 are shown in an open orientation.

Referring now also to FIG. 6, there is shown a front elevational, schematic view the garment 100 of FIG. 3 but having an additional bottom flap 114 disposed at a lower edge of internal, concealed pocket 104. Both top flap 110 and bottom flap 114 are closed, thereby retaining eye glasses 108 (or any other item) stored in internal, concealed pocket 104.

Internal, concealed pocket 104 may be formed as an integral part of garment 100, placed into garment 100 at the time of its manufacture. In other embodiments, internal, concealed pocket 104 may be added to placket 102 of garment 104. Internal, concealed pocket 104 may be sewn into garment 100, adhesively attached to garment 100, attached to garment 100 with a hook-and-loop fastening system, or using any other suitable attachment system and/or method. Such methods and systems are believed to be well known to those of skill in the art are therefore, are neither further describer nor discussed herein.

It will be further recognized that the concept disclosed for internal, concealed pocket 104 on the inside surface of placket 102 of garment 100 may be extended to pockets of other configurations, sizes, and locations. Consequently, the invention is not considered limited to internal, concealed pocket 104 shown for purposes of disclosure,

Since other modifications and changes varied to fit particular operating requirements and environments will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention is not considered limited to the example chosen for purposes of disclosure, and covers all changes and modifications which do not constitute departures from the true spirit and scope of this invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is desired to be protected by Letters Patent is presented in the subsequently appended claims.

Claims

1. An internal, concealed pocket for disposal on an inside surface of a placket of a garment, comprising: a) a pocket forming substrate attached to a placket of a garment along at least two edges thereof thereby forming an opening between said garment and an inner surface of said substrate;b) at least one flap contiguous with said substrate and disposed at at least one end of said substrate orthogonal to said at least two edges; andc) means for fastening operatively connected to said at least one flap and to said substrate adjacent said at least one flap for securing said at least one flap to said substrate.

2. The internal, concealed pocket as recited in claim 1, wherein said pocket is adapted and configured for placement on an inside surface of a placket of said garment.

3. The internal, concealed pocket as recited in claim 2, wherein said internal, concealed pocket assumes a substantially vertical orientation and said at least one flap comprises a top flap.

4. The internal, concealed pocket as recited in claim 3, wherein an opposing lower edge of said substrate is adhered to said garment.

5. The internal, concealed pocket as recited in claim 2, wherein said internal, concealed pocket assumes a substantially vertical orientation and said at least one flap comprises a bottom flap.

6. The internal, concealed pocket as recited in claim 5, wherein an opposing upper edge of said substrate is adhered to said garment.

5. The internal, concealed pocket as recited in claim 2, wherein said internal, concealed pocket assumes a substantially vertical orientation and said at least one flap comprises a top flap and a second, bottom flap.