Patent Application
20160286870
This patent specification pertains to sports garments that include pants and are specifically designed for use when exercising on a bicycle such as a stationary bicycle.
When pedaling a bicycle such as stationary bicycle and at the same time doing other exercises such as lifting weights or doing arm movements, there often is disconcerting slippage relative to the bicycle seat that can interfere with balance and can even present a safety hazard.
Numerous vendors offer sports pants designed for pedaling bicycles, including stationary bicycles. Some of the sports pants have reinforced or padded seat areas to increase comfort but none have been identified that recognize or offer a solution to the slippage challenge. One example of a vendor offering sports cycling pants, some with reinforced or padded seat areas is the Giordana company (web site http://www.Giordanacycling.com). There also are numerous proposals for padding a bicycle seat for increased comfort (U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,760) and for non-slip portions of garments such as: (1) U.S. Pat. No. 7,117,537 proposing slip-resistant materials for zones other than pants seats and wear resistant material for other zones, (2) U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,950,013, 5,822,794, and 7,191,470 proposing applying frictional material to areas of an upper body garments to help the wearer carry heavy or slippery items or to make better contact with a football or the straps of an air tank carried on the back, (3) U.S. Pat. No. 5,791,538 proposing a high-friction pad to help carry a windshield, and (4) U.S. Pat. No. 6,610,382 proposing a special elastomer for a friction control article, e.g. a hand grip. The contents of the sited patents and web site are hereby incorporated by reference.
To further clarify the above and other advantages and features of the subject matter of this patent specification, specific examples of embodiments thereof are illustrated in the appended drawings. It should be appreciated that these drawings depict only illustrative embodiments, and are therefore not to be considered limiting of the scope of this patent specification or the appended claims. It should also be appreciated that components or stops illustrated in one of the drawings can be used together with or instead of components or steps illustrated in one or more other drawings within the scope of the disclosed embodiments. The subject matter hereof will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which;
Disclosed is a garment such as sports pants particularly suited for use while exercising on a bicycle, such as a stationary bicycle, including while lifting weights or doing arm or other exercises. The pants have non-slip projections at outside areas configured to make contact with the bicycle seat to and possibly sides in a way that reduces slippage and promotes balance and safety.
Different configurations of the non-slip projections are described, including different shapes and spatial patterns of the projection, with some embodiments in which the projections are added on top of the pants material and some in which the projections are integrated into the pants material such as by weaving non-slip material into the pants fabric or knit.
Also described in a method of using non-slip garments such as garments that are or incorporate sports pants, long or short.
The size and position of the pattern of projections 16 can be configured to generally match the expected area of contact between a person wearing pants 10 and the seat of a bicycle on which the wearer would exercise. Accordingly, there can be different patterns for different pants depending on the wearer's preference or shape of the bicycle seat the wearer intends to use.
In some embodiments, the pattern of projections 16 can be only at a seat area of pants 10. In other embodiments, if can extend into the crotch area, on the inner thigh side of the legs. Preferably, the pattern extends only partway into the crotch area, such as within a few inches from the seat.
A noted above, the non-slip projections need not be uniform in shape or size. Thus, the pattern 14 can comprise only one of projections 16, 16a, and 16b, or a mixture of projections 16 and 16a, or 16 and 16b, or 16a and 16b, or of all three of projections 16, 16a, and 16b.
A method of reducing slippage between a person exercising on a bicycle and a seat of the bicycle, using one or more of the embodiments described above, comprises providing a garment that includes pants with a seat area having a pattern of non-slip material integrated into or adhered to a portion of the seat area, and configuring the pattern to match a seat of a bicycle so that a person wearing the pants and exercising on the bicycle would contact the bicycle seat with at least a part of said seat area of the pants, wherein said non-slip material has a higher coefficient of friction relative to other area of the pants to thereby reduce slippage in contact between the person exercising and the bicycle seat.
In each of the examples described in this patent specification, the non-slip material can be applied or secured to the fabric, knit, or other material of which the garment or most of the garment is made, but an alternative also is contemplated in which the non-slip material is in the form of a piece of fabric, knit, or other sheet-like material that is attached to the garment by adhesives and or mechanical means such as stitching or Velcro or other permanent or semi-permanent attachment techniques, and is made entirely or partly of non-sip material or has non-slip material attached or secured thereto as discussed above.
While several embodiments are described, it should be understood that the new subject matter described in this patent specification is not limited to any one embodiment or combination of embodiments described herein, but instead encompasses numerous alternatives, modifications, and equivalents. In addition, while numerous specific details are set forth in the following description in order to provide a thorough understanding, some embodiments can be practiced without some or all of these details. Moreover, for the purpose of clarity, certain technical material that is known in the related art has not been described in detail in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the new subject matter described herein. It should be clear that individual features of one or several of the specific embodiments described herein can be used in combination with features or other described embodiments. Further, like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.
Various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the new methods and systems described in this patent specification. Accordingly, the scope of this patent specification is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but instead is defined by the claims of a patent to issue thereon in light of their full scope of equivalents.
