Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
106Z~Sl
~5~b~vention
1. Field oP the Invention
~ his in~ention relates to ~port garments and i~ more
particularly directed to ~uch garment~ that offer protection to
the participant6 of ~uch ~ports a~ karate and the like but al80
a#si~ts in determining the effectiveness of each conte~tant.
2. Description o~ the Prior Art
There are sports in which two contestants oppo~e each
other to determine a winner or one who exhibits a greater degree
of dexterity in that ~port than the other. Such ~portæ are boxing
2 and wre3tling. However, there are certain sport~ that involve a
high degree of violence that would cause severe injurie~ to the
participants, and therefore in these ~port~ protective garment~
are required to be used when in combat. ~hese sports include
fencing, karate and the like. A problem arises in the use of pro-
tective clothing, in that it becomes difficult if not impossible
for re~erees and umpires to determine a winner in a conte~t. In
the field of fencing, this problem was solved by either painting
the tip Or a ~oil, which upon conta¢t with the opponent's garment
will leave a mark thereon or havs the tip of the foil act a3 an
2 electrode which when contacting the opponent's garment clo~e~ a
cirouit to indicate the contact to the of~icial~, thereby resol~ing
the winner absolutely without any doubts nor any guessing on the
part of the o~flcials.
Karate, which i8 an art of unarmed self defense i9 the
most violent Or sports involving two opposing contestants. At the
pre~ent time, in tournaments the contestants either go through the
motions without making contact with his opponent or they wear
protect;~Je clothing to permit execution of their motions. In
either instance there are provided a number o~ officials who
ob~erve the conte~tants in combat and then de~ermine in their judg-
106Z851
ment, the winner. Since the o~ficials must, in effect, have toguess which motions resulted in proper and effective forceful blows
or counterblows and which were either inef~ective or glancing in
force, the results of most of the contest could not be positive aY
to the true winner.
The present invention contemplates avoiding the above
indicated objections to the manner of determining the winner of
a contest in karate and the like by providing means for indicating
the part of the body upon which the blow wa~ inflicted on an oppo-
nent and al~o determines whether or not the blow was su~ficiently
4 forceful to inflict the disabling efiect desired, had the oppo-
nent not ~orn the protective clothing so that there is no doubt
a~ to the winner o~ the conte~t.
10621351
~Y~a~ the In~
~ herefore? a principal object of the present invention
is to provide participant~ in the sport of karate and the like
with garments that permit the participants to completely execute
their motions that would normally inflict damage and injury to
the participants, and also premits the proper and exact determi-
nation as to the winner of the conte~t.
Another object of the present invention i8 to provide the
participants o~ the ~port of karate and the like with protective
clothing on which certain mean~ are placed which determines the
part of the body rec~!ived by a blow or motion from one of the oppo-
nents by the other and the amount of force inflicted by that blow.
A further object of the pre~ent invention is to provide
the participants of the sport of karate and the like with protec-
tive clothing having targets mounted thereon, which upon being
struck by an opponent indicates the force of the blow and the
theoreti¢al damage or injury that ~ould have been inflicted if the
protective clothing had not been used.
A still further ob~ect of the present invention i8 to
provide the participants of the ~port of karate and the like with
protective clothing having pockets positioned at the vulnerable
parts of a person's body and burstable inflated me~bers placed
therein, which upon recei~ing a direct blow in true combat contact
from an opponent, will bur~t with a loud noi~e to correctly indi-
cate the execution of a proper blow at a vulnerable part of his
opponent's body 80 as to remove any guessing in the determination
as to the winner of the contest.
With these and other objects in view, the invention will
be be~t under~tood from a con~deration of the following detailed
de~cription taken in connection with the accompanying drawing
forming a part of this ~pecification, with the understanding, how-
--5--
106Z85~L
e~er~ that the invention i~ not confined to any strict conformitywith the showing of the drawing but may be changed or modifîed
80 long as 8uch changes or modificationg mark no material depar-
ture from the salient feature~ of the invention as expressed in
the appended claims.
106285~
BRIEF DESCRI~TION OF T~
In the drawing~
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a person shown by
dotted lines wearing protective clothing embodying my invention.
Figures 2 and 3 are front and side views of the tor~o
protective clothing.
Figures 4 and 5 are front and ~ide views of the head
protector.
Figure 6 i8 a per3pecti~e view of a bur~table inflated
member.
106Z851
Re~erring to the drawing wherein like numerals are used
throu~hout the several views to indicate similar parts, the num-
eral~ 10 and 20 refer to a helmet and tor80 protector respectively,
that embody my in~ention. Positioned on the helmet 10 and tor80
protector 20 are a plurality of pockets for containing burstable
in~lated members 30, the pocket~, to be explained in detail here-
inafter are positioned at the vulnerable parts of a person~æ body.
The helmet 10 i5 similar in construction to that used by football
8 players consisting of a protective covering 11 for the head and
ears made of fiberglass and padded with rubber and the like on the
inside (not ~hown) sur~ace. Across the face opening 12 are a
plurality of spaced bars 13 that join the vertical bar 14 at the
cènter o~ the front of the helmet 10. Mounted thereon and affixed
to the bars 13, 14 is a pocket 15 which iB positioned in line with
and below a person's nose. On each side of the helmet 10 in
ali~nment with a person'~ temples is a pocket 16 affixed ~hereon,
as by cementin~ or gluing.
~he torso protector 20 is similar in shape construction to
8 that of a catcher in baseball consisting of layers of padded and
blow absorbing materials of somewhat rectangular shape 21 covering
the front and side of the torso of a person. There are shoulder
portions 22 extending over the shoulder~ and tied together by
straps 23 that extend from the ends of the shoulder portions 22.
A pair of further straps 24 extending from each of *he ~ide edges
of the body portion 21 are used to secure the latter to the user's
body in a snug and fitted manner. ~t the lower edge of the body
portion 21 of the protector 20 extends a centrally positioned flap
25 with ~laps 26 on each side thereof. Along approximately the
centerline of the body portion 21 is a plurality of pockets 27,
28, 29 and 30 af~ixed to the body protector 20. The pocket 27 i5
in proximity of the user's adam's apple and the pocket 28 protects
the uæer's solar plexi~. The pocket 29 covers the user's stomach
while the pocket 30 is in alignment with the user's groin.
~06Z851
Into each of these pockets 15, 16 and 27 to 31 inclusive
there i8 placed an air fllled burstable sealed bag 40 made pre-
ferably of plastic material which when ~truck by a blow of suffi-
cient force will burst accompanied by an explosion-type noise.
Each o~ the bags 40 consist of a sleeve-like member of sheet
plastic with both edges 41 sealed to contain air trapped therein.
~ he bags 40 will be of appropriate si~e, as are the
pocket~, to cover the particular target it i~ corerin~. For
instance, the pocket 27 and bag 40 for the Adam's apple will be
smaller in size than the ætomach pocket 29 and bag 40 contained
therein since the Adam's apple of a person presents a smaller
target than the larger size of a person's stomach. Also, since
certain parts of a person's body are more ~ulnerable to blows
than other parts, whereby a les~er force struck at one part of a
per~on's body can be as disabling to the combatant as a greater
force at another part of his body. For example, a blow in the
stomach or ribs would render a less disabling effect on a com~a-
tant than the same blo~ on the per~on's Adam's apple or groin. In
order that this factor be taken into consideration when ~wo persons
are engaged in a karate exercise of full contact, the ~arious in-
flated members 40 are made QP sheet plastic of different thick-
nesses 80 that blows o~ varying forces will be scored as a hit.
The inflated members 40 of the ~ace, tsmples, Adam's apple and
groin will be formed of thinner plastic than those of the ribs,
solar plexis and the stomach so that a blow of certain force will
rupture the inflated members 40 of the face, temples, Adam's apple
and groin, while a blow of greater force i8 required to rupture
the inflated members 40 of the ribs, solar plexis and ~tomach. In
addition, with the rupturing of the inflatable members 40, points
are attributed to the combatant that causes the rupture of the in-
flatable member 40. The amount of the score of points being dirsctly
related to the disabling effect of the blow on the combatant.`
~06Z8.~1
." , ,... .,. ., .~ ` ..; . "~` ~
~ he contest between two comba~ant~ in karate can now be
a spectator sport in the same manner as boxing. With each com-
batant attired in the protectîve clothing 20 and helmet 10 and
the proper inflatable members 40 having been placed in the pocket~
15, 16 and 27 to 31 inclusiYe, the combatants can then engage in
the karate exerci~e imparting full impact thrusts and blows at each
other. As each inflatable member 40 is ruptured, accompanied by
a loud noise, a score is kept. As in boxing, the combatantæ will
engage in the karate exerci~e by rounds of a certain duration with
rest periods in between. If one of the combatants achieves a certain
designated score by rupturing a number c$ inflatable members 40
or the combatant having the highest score at the end of the pre-
scribed number of rounds will be declared the winner.
Now, karate can be demon~trated as a ~port~n the sa~e
manner as in a boxing contest in which two combatants fi~ht to
determine a winner. No longer will it be necessary for judges
to observe and evaluate each blow on the basis of whether the blow
was of ~ufficient force to be a di~abling blow or lethal blow or
whether it ~as an incon~equential blow. Normally in a karate con-
test, the combatants act 50 fast and the blows as well as the
counterblows occur in such rapidity t~at it is di~ficult if not
impo~sibls to ~ee and evaluate all such blows. Consequently, the
decision as to which combatant won the conte~t amounts to an opin-
ion and not as a re~ult of a true measure of the combatants'
efforts. With the use of the hel~et 10 and garment 20, the cQm-
batants can be a~sured that the one named the winner will be the one
I who receivsd the highest number point~ or a predesignated number of
point~ as determined by the ruptured members 40 by each combatant
on the garment and head gear Or his opponent. If spsctators are
present observing the conte~t, they will be apprised of the skill
of each of the combatant~ by the noise emitted by the inflatable
members 40 as they are ~truck by t~Oe combatant~ and ruptured .~
