The present device relates to traveling and luggage. More particularly, the disclosed device relates to a garment which is worn on the upper body of the user, such as a jacket or sweater, which is configured for removable but secure positioning upon the exterior of a suitcase.
The term carry-on luggage or cabin baggage (normally called carry-on in North America) refers to the type of luggage that passengers are allowed to carry along in the passenger compartment of an aircraft rather than that which is stowed in the cargo hold of the airplane. Conventionally, passengers are allowed to carry a limited number of smaller bags with them in the cabin of the aircraft, which typically contain valuables and items which may be needed during the journey.
For business travelers who fly frequently and change planes at multiple airports, carry-on luggage may in fact be the sole luggage which they bring on a given trip. Bringing luggage on the aircraft alleviates the issues with lost luggage and having to wait at luggage turnstiles to retrieve their bag after every trip or leg of such trips.
However, be they business travelers or vacationers who seldom travel, moving through the airport with a carry-on bag in hand can result in other issues. For example, when checking in at the airline counter, or moving through airport security, frequently travelers must present identification or other documents. When carrying a jacket or the like, the need to hold the jacket while searching pockets for identification or boarding passes and the like, can be a clumsy procedure. Frequently, it results in dropped documents or dropped jackets due to the need to hold on to their carry on suitcase along with the jacket or sweater while they search pockets for the desired or required document.
The forgoing background concerning conventional carry-on luggage and clothing used by travelers, and the limitations related therewith, are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive, and they do not imply any limitations on the invention described and claimed herein. Various other limitations of the related art in carry-on luggage and clothing used by travelers are known or will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading and understanding of the specification below and the accompanying drawings.
The travel garment device and system herein disclosed provides users a wearable garment which is configured for temporary removable engagement with a suitcase or travel bag or the like, when needed rather than having to carry the garment when not being worn. The garment features a body portion configured for wearing on the upper body of the user, such as a jacket, sweater, sweatshirt, hoodie, or other similar configured garments having a body portion to which sleeves for the arms are engaged.
The body portion includes a slot formed through the rear wall of the body portion. The slot is configured for the passage of a handle of the suitcase or bag therethrough during positioning of the travel garment atop the suitcase in an as-used positioning.
In a particularly preferred mode of the garment device herein, a flap is positioned upon the exterior surface of the rear wall of the body portion of the travel garment. The flap is attached in a manner wherein in a first or default position it covers over the slot formed through the rear wall of the body of the travel garment. This first or default positioning of the flap both covers the slot for aesthetic purposes as well as to prevent drafts from communicating through the slot. The slot is foldable to a second position wherein the slot is uncovered and viewable by the user during positioning by the user of the handle therethrough.
In a mode of the garment device adapted for advertising, the exterior surface of the flap can have indicia thereon. The indicia may be in the form of artwork, or advertising, a designation of travel group, or other configurations wherein advertising fees may be payable to the user for wearing a travel garment having such indicia positioned upon the flap. In this mode also, the flap may be removably engaged along one edge to the body of the travel garment. This will allow for the positioning on such travel garments of one of a plurality of flaps having differing indicia thereon.
For example only and in no way limiting, such flaps might be provided by a tour service or advertiser to one or a group of travelers, wherein they have indicia thereon relating to the trip or the products of the advertiser or the services provided by a travel service. Or, where the garment is worn by members of a group traveling together, the flap can include indicia, such as text or color or both, which identifies the group, so members can discern other members and assemble.
While the garment device may only have a body portion, it is anticipated most such garment devices will also have sleeves extending therefrom for the arms of the user. In the preferred mode of the garment device herein, to allow the garment device to fold over and cover the top of the suitcase with a handle communicating through a slot in the body, the sleeves may either engage into pockets sized to frictionally hold them, or they may have a fastener thereon which removably connects to a mating fastener upon the body portion of the garment. The fasteners may be any that would occur to those skilled in the art which will form a removable connection between the distal end of each sleeve and a respective side of the body portion adjacent it. Such, for example and in no way to be considered limiting, may be buttons and bottom holes, snaps, hook and loop fabric, hooks, screws, push pins, a sleeve opening formed into the body, and other mating fasteners which allow the user to removably connect each sleeve to the body.
In use, with the distal ends of sleeves, where present, removably connected by sleeve fasteners to the body of the garment, the user will align the handle with the slot formed in the rear portion thereof. The user will then guide the handle through the slot in the rear portion or panel. With the handle communicating through the slot, the user can drape the body portion of the garment over the top surface of the suitcase. Because the distal ends of the sleeves are removably connected to the body portion at an elevation above a lower edge thereof, they will fold or assume an upward curve which will keep the distal ends of both from contacting the floor. This prevents the sleeves from getting dirty, as well as keeping them both elevated and out of the path of any wheels which may be engaged to the suitcase to roll it.
In this draped positioning, with the handle engaged through the slot, the garment is held secure with the user holding or rolling the suitcase. This draped positioning allows the user to easily find and present any documents, such as identification and boarding passes and the like, and not worry about holding onto the travel garment. Further, the travel garment is also not easily lost or stolen which is especially preferred when the garment is one that is worn by a child.
Once the user no longer needs to stow the travel garment, it may be easily removed by sliding off of engagement between the slot and the handle. Thereafter, the two sleeves are easily disconnected from the body of the garment, and it may be worn or carried by the user.
With respect to the above description, before explaining at least one preferred embodiment of the herein disclosed travel garment device configured for removable engagement to a suitcase in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the details of construction and to the arrangement of the components in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The travel garment herein described and disclosed is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various equivalent ways which will become obvious to those skilled in the art subsequent to reading this disclosure. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this travel garment disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other substantially equivalent travel garment structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present disclosed device. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent construction and methodology insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
As used in the claims to describe the various inventive aspects and embodiments, “comprising” means including, but not limited to, whatever follows the word “comprising”. Thus, use of the term “comprising” indicates that the listed elements are required or mandatory, but that other elements are optional and may or may not be present. By “consisting of” is meant including, and limited to, whatever follows the phrase “consisting of”. Thus, the phrase “consisting of” indicates that the listed elements are required or mandatory, and that no other elements may be present. By “consisting essentially of” is meant including any elements listed after the phrase, and limited to other elements that do not interfere with or contribute to the activity or action specified in the disclosure for the listed elements. Thus, the phrase “consisting essentially of” indicates that the listed elements are required or mandatory, but that other elements are optional and may or may not be present depending upon whether or not they affect the activity or action of the listed elements. The term “substantially”, unless otherwise specifically defined, means plus or minus five percent.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a travel garment worn on the upper body which is configured for removable, yet secure positioning, upon a suitcase or bag.
It is an additional object of this invention to provide such a travel garment which has a passage therethrough for positioning on the handle extending from a rolling bag or suitcase.
These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present travel garment invention, as well as the advantages thereof over existing prior art, which will become apparent from the description to follow, are accomplished by the improvements described in this specification and hereinafter described in the following detailed description which fully discloses the travel garment invention, but should not be considered as placing limitations thereon.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form a part of the specification, illustrate some, but not the only or exclusive examples of embodiments and/or features of the travel device and system herein. It is intended that the embodiments and figures disclosed herein are to be considered illustrative of the invention herein, rather than limiting in any fashion.
In the drawings:
In this description, the directional prepositions of up, upwardly, down, downwardly, front, back, top, upper, bottom, lower, left, right, first, second, and other such terms refer to the travel garment device as it is oriented and appears in the drawings and all such terms are used for convenience only and such are not intended to be limiting or to imply that the travel garment device has to be used or positioned in any particular orientation.
Now referring to drawings in
The device 10 has a body portion 16 having a rear side 18 opposite a front side which may or may not be open. The body portion 16 is configured for wearing upon the torso of a user in a conventional manner for a jacket or the like. The body portion 18 has a front side which opens for the user to pull the body portion 16 over their torso after inserting their arms into the sleeves. Such a configuration is well known, where the front portion has buttons or snaps or a zipper or the like to secure two half portions of the front side.
In a preferred mode of the device 10 herein the body portion 16 has a first sleeve 20 and a second sleeve 22 operatively engaged with opposite sides of the body portion 16. The first sleeve 20 hangs from a first side of the body portion 16 and the second sleeve hangs from the opposite or second side of the body portion 16.
Each of the first sleeve 20 and second sleeve 22, in this mode of the garment device 10, in a most preferred mode of the device, has a sleeve fastener 24 positioned at or adjacent the distal end 23 thereof. Each of the sleeve fasteners 24 is removably engageable to a mating body fastener 26 positioned upon the body portion 16 of the travel garment device 10. Alternatively, the distal end 23 of each of the sleeves 20 and 22 can be slid into a sleeve pocket 29 which may be part of or formed into the body portion 16. As noted, the body fasteners 26 and/or the sleeve pockets 29 must be positioned above the lower edge 25 a sufficient distance to hold the distal ends 23 and other areas of the sleeves out of contact with the roller 36 or the support surface 34.
The sleeve fasteners 24 and mating body fasteners 26 may, as noted above, be any that would occur to those skilled in the art which will provide removable securement of the distal end 23 of the sleeves 20 and 22 to the garment body 16. Such releasable mating fasteners, such as sleeve fasteners 24 and mating body fasteners 26 may include sleeve pockets 29 or button holes on one of the sleeve 20 or 22 or the garment body 16, which are engageable with a button on the other.
Also included, as sleeve fasteners, are hook and loop fabric positioned on the sleeves 20 and 22 and body portion 16, or magnets on both the sleeves 20 and 22 and the body portion, or snaps on one of the sleeve or body portion engageable with mating snaps on the other. Other releasable mating fasteners useable to engage the distal end of the first sleeve 20 and second sleeve 22, to place the sleeves in a folded configuration, while engaged to the body 16 may be employed, so long as they form an easily removed engagement and locate the distal ends 23 and curved or folded portions of each sleeve 20 and 22 spaced a distance above the roller 36 and support surface 34 with the device draped upon a suitcase 12.
This configuration, including sleeve fastening, is most preferred, because as shown in
While it was found that the user could take the time to roll the sleeves to be shorter to temporarily solve this issue such was not a good solution. This is because it took too much time to accomplish, and over time, due to gravity or during movement of the suitcase 12, the sleeves 20 and 22 tended to unroll causing the distal ends 23 thereof to contact the support surface 34 or rollers 36. Such contact generally went unnoticed in the busy confines of an airport or train station. Depending on the length of the sleeves 20 and 22, especially where the user of the garment has long arms, the body fasteners 26 should be spaced from the lower edge 25 of the body portion 16, such as a distance between 1-15 inches therefrom.
Also shown in
As noted above, indicia 32 may be positioned on the flap 28. The indicia 32 may be in the form of one or both text and drawings or artwork, and thereby adapted for advertising. Such would allow the user to receive advertising fees for wearing and using the garment device 10. The indicia 32 may be positioned behind a clear covering within a slot formed between the clear covering and the surface of the flap 28.
As disclosed herein, the flap 28 may be removably engaged with releasable mating fasteners along one edge, such as the upper edge as shown, to removably engage it to the body portion 16 of the travel garment 10. Such a removable engagement may be accomplished using removably engageable connectors as the releasable mating fasteners such as hook and loop fabric, buttons and button holes, snaps and mating snaps, and other connectors. This will allow for the positioning on such travel garments of one of a plurality of different flaps 28, from a group of flaps 28 having differing indicia thereon. Alternatively, the indicia may be positioned within a pocket upon the flap 28 and changed but having a plurality of flaps 28 with differing indicia thereon is preferred.
Shown in
As shown in
The positioning of the slot 14, through the rear side 18 of the body portion 16, is shown in
If the suitcase 12 has wheels or rollers 36 (
This engaged position of
As noted, any of the different configurations and components of the travel garment shown and described herein can be employed with any other configuration or component shown and described as part of the travel garment herein. Additionally, while the disclosed travel garment invention has been described herein with reference to particular embodiments thereof and components thereof operatively engaged for operation, a latitude of equivalent modifications, various changes and substitutions are intended in the foregoing disclosures and it will be appreciated that in some instance some features, or configurations, or operations of the travel garment invention could be employed without a corresponding use of other features without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims. All such changes, alternations and modifications as would occur to those skilled in the art subsequent to reviewing this specification, are considered to be within the scope of this invention as broadly defined in the appended claims.
Further, the purpose of any abstract of this specification is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers, and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. Any such abstract included herein is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting, as to the scope of the invention in any way.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/446,752 filed on Feb. 17, 2023 which is incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference thereto.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63446752 | Feb 2023 | US |