1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to garments to be worn over equipment such as, for example, protective equipment. In particular, the present invention provides for a garment such as a jersey or pants configured to be worn over protective equipment, such that the range of motion of the arms or legs covered by the protective equipment is not unduly impeded by the garment.
2. Background Art
In contact sports such as hockey, lacrosse, football, or others, a player is required to wear a number of pieces of protective equipment, for example elbow pads. As the player usually wears a garment such as a jersey over the equipment, the garment is required to be substantially large in size in order to effectively contain the protective equipment.
However, enlarged garments, for example jerseys having enlarged sleeves to contain elbow pads, provide more opportunities for an opponent to grab and restrain the player by the loose material, for example the loose material of the enlarged sleeve surrounding parts of the arm not protected by the elbow pad.
On the other hand, a garment that is too tight, especially where surrounding a joint such as an elbow or knee protected by a pad, can impede the motion of the joint through the interaction of the pad and garment, thus being detrimental to the wearer's performance.
It is therefore an aim of the present invention to provide an improved garment to be worn over protective equipment without substantially impeding motions of the wearer.
It is also an aim of the present invention to provide an improved garment having enlarged sections to cover protective equipment.
Therefore, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a garment comprising a substantially tubular body configured to cover at least one of an upper and a lower torso of a wearer, and at least one pair of tubular portions extending from the body and configured for surrounding corresponding limbs of the wearer, each tubular portion including a tubular insert having a length increasing around a perimeter thereof from a minimum length to a maximum length, the tubular insert providing excess material in the tubular portion along the maximum length to locally increase a width of the tubular portion.
Also in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a garment comprising a substantially tubular body configured to cover at least one of an upper and a lower torso of a wearer, and at least one pair of tubular portions extending from the body and configured for surrounding corresponding limbs of the wearer, a width of each tubular portion progressively increasing from a first point to a second point and progressively decreasing from the second point to a third point, the first point being closer to a connection between the tubular portion and the body than the third point and the second point being located between the first and third points.
Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, showing by way of illustration a particular embodiment of the present invention and in which:
Referring now to
The jersey 10 also includes a pair of tubular portions or sleeves 20, each extending from the body 12 for containing at least part of an arm of the wearer. Each sleeve 20 includes a tubular insert 22,122 which is located to surround the elbow joint of the wearer. The insert 22,122 has a length progressively increasing around its perimeter from a minimum length 24 to a maximum length 26, as can be best seen in
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Other configurations for the insert 22,122 are also possible, for example longitudinal edges 44,144,46,146a,b of the insert 22,122 in the sleeve 20 located along the back 28 of the sleeve 20 and defining the maximum length 26, or located along the front 30 of the sleeve 20 and defining the minimum length 24, and/or an insert 22,122 composed of a plurality of pieces attached together, and/or an insert 22,122 having a plurality of cut-outs such as 145 defined in the longitudinal edges 44,144,46,146a,b, and/or an insert 22,122 with straight transversal edges 50,150,52,152, etc.
Referring to
The excess material provided along the front 230 of the leg 220 provides a local increase in the width (not shown—see the width 32 of the sleeve 20 shown in
Although the present invention has been described with hockey jersey and pants, it is to be understood that the present invention can be similarly applied to other types of garments, for example garments for other types of contact sports necessitating protective equipment (e.g. football, lacrosse, etc.), garments to be worn over other types of bulky equipment (e.g. casts, medical devices, other protective wear, etc.). In these other applications, the location of the width variation in the tubular portion of the garment (e.g. sleeve, leg) surrounding the bulky equipment is determined by the position of that equipment on the body of the wearer.
The embodiments of the invention described above are intended to be exemplary. Those skilled in the art will therefore appreciate that the foregoing description is illustrative only, and that various alternate configurations and modifications can be devised without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Accordingly, the present invention is intended to embrace all such alternate configurations, modifications and variances which fall within the scope of the appended claims.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20070214540 A1 | Sep 2007 | US |