Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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TITLE OF THE INVENTION
ROUNDED CONTOUR POCKET
This application claims priority based on United States Patent
Application No. 11/788,191 entitled "ROUNDED CONTOUR POCKET" filed
April 19, 2007, which is herein incorporated by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention pertains to a protective garment such as for a
firefighter or emergency worker, and in more particular applications, to a
protective garment having pockets.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Commonly, a firefighter or an emergency worker wears a protective
garment, such as a protective coat or protective coveralls, onto which is
sewn an external pouch or pocket for holding a variety of objects, such as
ropes, telecommunications devices and other objects. Additionally, the
protective garment is often manufactured to protect the wearer from heat,
flames, water, abrasion and other environmental factors. Such protective
garments are often multi-layered and manufactured from such materials as
Nomex and Kevlar . Therefore, the protective garment is oftentimes
somewhat rigid because of the various layers and types of materials used.
Furthermore, pockets are oftentimes located on the limb covering
portions of the protective garment. Specifically, the pockets may be located
on pant legs and the sleeves of jackets and shirts. These limb covering
portions are generally cylindrically shaped to conform to the wearer's limbs
and avoid constricting movement. However, the pockets that are attached
to the limb covering portions can deform the limb covering portion and/or
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themselves become deformed when worn by a user due to the materials
and construction of the garment. Therefore, the pocket can also constrict
the wearer's movement and/or lose usable space within the pocket.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In one form, a protective garment for a firefighter or emergency
worker is provided. The protective garment includes a generally cylindrically
shaped limb covering portion and a pocket located on the generally
cylindrically shaped limb covering portion. The pocket includes a mouth
and bottom portion. The bottom portion extends across the generally
cylindrically shaped limb covering portion and has an inner margin with an
unstressed shape conforming to the generally cylindrical shape of the limb
covering portion.
According to one form, a protective garment for a firefighter or
emergency worker is provided. The protective garment includes a generally
cylindrically shaped limb covering portion and a pocket. The pocket is
located on the generally cylindrically shaped limb covering portion and
includes a mouth, a main body panel and a bottom portion. The bottom
portion extends across the generally cylindrically shaped limb covering
portion and has an inner margin and an outer margin. The inner margin
and the outer margin each have an unstressed shape conforming to the
generally cylindrical shape of the limb covering portion. The inner margin is
affixed to the generally cylindrically shaped limb covering portion. The outer
margin is affixed to the main body panel.
In one form, the protective garment includes a closure adjacent the
pocket mouth and is adapted to substantially close the pocket mouth.
In another form, the protective garment includes hook and loop
fasteners affixed to the pocket and closure to releasably maintain the
closure against the pocket.
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According to one form, the closure includes an attachment margin
having an unstressed shape that conforms to the generally cylindrical shape
of the limb covering portion.
In one form, the limb covering portion is a jacket sleeve.
In another form, the limb covering portion is a pant leg.
According to one form, the pocket includes at least one side portion
having an inner margin with a substantially straight shape.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become
apparent from a review of the entire specification, including the appended
claims and drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a front view of a firefighter wearing protective garments
wherein the pants include one embodiment of a pocket attached thereto;
Figure 2 is a fragmentary view of a protective jacket including a
pocket attached thereto;
Figure 3 is a view of the pocket taken along line 3-3 of Figure 2; and
Figure 4 is a top view of a bottom portion of a pocket prior to
attachment to a protective garment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT
As illustrated in Figure 1, a firefighter 10 is shown wearing a
protective garment 12. More specifically, the firefighter 10 is wearing two
protective garments 12, a jacket 14 and coveralls or pants 16. Except as
described herein, the garment 12 may be substantially similar to prior
garments designed for firefighters and rescue workers, such as those
manufactured and sold by Morning Pride Manufacturing, Inc. of Dayton,
Ohio. Additionally, the general design and construction of such garments
12 is well known by those skilled in the art.
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Furthermore, the garments 12 may include a plurality of layers and/or
liners. For example, the garment 12 may include a water-proof liner (not
shown) as well as a thermal liner (now shown) which is ultimately covered
by an outer layer 18. However, it should be understood that any number of
liners and/or layers may be utilized with the protective garment 12, as
understood by those skilled in the art.
Each of the jacket 14 and pants 16 have at least one limb covering
portion 20. For example, the jacket 14 has sleeves 22 while the pants 16
have pant legs 24. The limb covering portions 20 are generally cylindrically
shaped to enclose the wearer's limb and accommodate movement. It
should be understood that the limb covering portions 20 may also include
further structure not shown in the figures. Specifically, the limb covering
portions 20 may also include elbow or knee pads as well as may have a
slightly bent shapes to accommodate the wearer's joints and movements.
As illustrated in Figure 1, the pants 16 include two pockets 30 located
on the pant legs 24. It should be understood that any number of pockets
may be included on the protective garment 12 as desired. Referring now to
Figure 2, one embodiment of the pocket 30 includes a mouth 32, a bottom
portion 34, a main body panel 36 and side portions 38, thereby creating an
interior space 40 to store objects. Furthermore, the pocket 30 may also
include a closure 42 to cover the mouth 32.
The mouth 32 provides an access location to the interior space 40.
The mouth 32 may take a variety of shapes as a result of the shape of the
pocket 30 and protective garment 12. Furthermore, in one embodiment, the
mouth 32 faces upwardly when the wearer is standing erect as shown in
Figure 1. As illustrated in Figure 2, the ends of the bottom portion 34 near
the side portions 38 are located vertically higher than the remainder of the
bottom portion 34. However, it should be understood that the ends of the
bottom portion 34 may also be aligned vertically with the remainder of the
bottom portion 34.
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In one embodiment, the bottom portion 34 includes an inner margin
44, an outer margin 46 and ports 48. The inner margin 44 is used to attach
a portion of the pocket 30, via the bottom portion 34, to the garment 12. As
best seen in Figure 4, the inner margin 44 is curved or arced when
unstressed to conform to the generally cylindrical shape of the limb
covering portion 20. The shape of the inner margin 44 helps prevent the
deformation of the limb covering portion 20 and/or pocket 30 when the
garment 12 is worn. Furthermore, in one embodiment, the outer margin 46
is also curved or arced. The shape of the outer margin 46 may also help
prevent the deformation of the limb covering portion 20 and/or pocket 30
when the garment 12 is worn. As illustrated in Figure 3, the shape of the
inner margin 44 and outer margin 46 helps maintain the shape of the pocket
30 as well as the interior space 40. Additionally, the optional ports 48
permit water and other small debris to exit through the bottom of the pocket
. 15 30.
While the embodiment illustrated in the figures has both an inner
margin 44 and an outer margin 46, it should be understood that the bottom
portion 34 may only have the inner margin 44 in some instances where the
bottom portion 34 is integral with other portions of the pocket, such as the
main body panel 36.
Referring to Figure 2, the main body panel 36 and one of the side
portions 38 are shown. In one embodiment, the main body panel 36 forms
a majority of the pocket 30 and is utilized to help define the mouth 32. The
side portions 38 include an inner margin 50. This inner margin 50 is used
to attach a portion of the pocket 30 to the garment 12 via the side portions
38. As illustrated in Figure 2, in one embodiment, the inner margin 50 has
a substantially straight shape. However, it should be understood that the
inner margin 50 may also be curved or arced depending upon the
placement and orientation of the pocket 30 on the garment 12.
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While illustrated in this embodiment as having the bottom portion 34,
main body panel 36 and side portions 38 as separate components affixed
to one another, it should be understood that the bottom portion 34, main
body panel 36 and the side portions 38 may take the form of a single
integral piece of material. Similarly, in alternative embodiments, the main
body panel 36 and the side portions 38 may take the form of a single piece
of material, the main body panel 36 and the bottom portion 34 may take the
form of a single piece of material and the bottom portion 34 and the side
portions 38 may take the form of a single piece of material.
As described above, the pocket 30 may include the closure 42. The
closure 42 may be affixed to the pocket 30 and/or the garment 12 via an
inner margin 51. The inner margin 51, may also be curved or arced when
unstressed to conform to the generally cylindrical shape of the garment 12.
In one embodiment, the pocket 30 is openable and closable, and when
opened, provides access to the pocket 30. The closure 42 is manually
movable between a first position wherein the pocket 30 is open and the
mouth 32 is accessible, and a second position wherein the pocket 30 is
substantially closed. The closure 42 can be releasably maintained in the
second position via the use of fasteners. One such suitable fastener is
illustrated in Figure 2 as a hook and loop type fastener 52. The hook and
loop fastener 52 has a portion 54 of the fastener 52 located on the pocket
and a portion 56 of the fastener 52 located on the closure 42. It should
be understood that other fasteners may also be used, such as snaps,
buttons, zippers and the like.
25 The pocket 30, as well as the closure 42 may be made from a variety
of materials. In one embodiment, the pocket 30 and the closure 42 are
made from the same material as the outer layer 18 of the garment 12.
These materials are well known by those skilled in the art and may include
materials having thermal, abrasion and/or water resistance.
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The pocket 30 may be assembled prior to being affixed to the
garment 12. Alternatively, the pocket 30 may be assembled while it is
affixed to the garment 12. Furthermore, the pocket 30 may be affixed to the
garment prior to, during and/or after the garment 12 is assembled. The
pocket 30 may be affixed to the garment in a variety of manners such as
sewing, riveting and other methods known to those skilled in the art.
Additionally, the pocket 30 and closure 42 may be releasably affixed to the
garment 12 such that the pocket 30 and closure 42 may be removed from
the garment 12. In this manner, the pocket 30 and closure 42 may be
affixed to the garment 12 via hook and loop fasteners (not shown) similar to
the hook and loop fastener 52 described above.
While described above as being used with limb covering portions 20,
it should be understood that the pocket 30 may also be utilized on other
portions of the garment 12. The pocket 30 may be utilized on any generally
cylindrically shaped portion of the garment, such as the main body portion
of the garment. For example, the chest area and waist area of the
protective garment 20 is generally cylindrically shaped and therefore, the
pocket 30 may be located on these additional locations.
It should be appreciated that for all of the disclosed embodiments
there are many possible modifications. Additionally, it should be understood
that the embodiments described herein may be utilized with a variety of
garments, such as jackets, shirts, pants, shorts, and other garments.
