GB2385257A

GB2385257A - Improved undergarment

Info

Publication number: GB2385257A
Application number: GB0203608A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Andrew Napper
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-02-15
Filing date: 2002-02-15
Publication date: 2003-08-20
Also published as: GB0203608D0

Abstract

A lightweight, supple, form-following but essentially non-restrictive undergarment is made of material which, as well as being essentially breathable, is sufficiently close-structured as to be classifiable as largely wind-resistant and is also either substantially water-resistant from outside to inside and/or incorporates means for the wearer to adjust the form-fit of the garment after he or she has donned it. Bib-style garments are illustrated in which double-flap VELCRO(R.T.M.)-style fasteners close the bottom half region of the garment around the wearer's body. A one-above-another double flap closure design is especially advantageous and allows the wearer a broadly symmetrical draw-in.

Description

IMPROVED UNDERGARMENT Field of the Invention The invention relates to undergarments and within the context of this specification "an undergarment"is a garment which is intended to be worn next to the skin.

The invention is specifically concerned with undergarments which have the following further characterising features: a) Lightweight enough and supple enough so as to be intended (with proper sizing) to clothe the contours and to follow the movements of the wearer's body in use without attempting to control the one or tending to hinder the other; b) Porous enough to absorb some, at least, of the sweat from the wearer's skin in use and/or c) Vapour-permeable enough to allow some, at least, of the wearer's body heat to escape without forming sweat.

Summary of the Invention According to the broadest aspect of the invention there is provided an undergarment having each of the characteristics (a), (b) and (c) above and characterised additionally by being: d) Sufficiently close-structured as to be classifiable, in use, as largely windresistant and either e) Substantially water-resistant from outside to inside or f) Incorporating means for the wearer to draw the garment into and/or release it from a more, or less, form-fitting shape after he or she has donned it.

There are many examples of garments which either qualify as undergarments within the context of the invention or which have one or more of the characterising features (d) to (f) just listed.

None of them, however, incorporates all the features characterising the invention in its broadest aspect. Furthermore, because they are all so familiar, and yet have never previously been combined into such an overall list of advantageous features, it can hardly be said now to be a self-evident combination to attempt.

And such a combination cannot be obvious or lacking in inventive step unless it is shown to be, literally, self-evident.

Well-known cotton vests and singlets, for instance, such as used to be sold under the Trade Mark AERTEX qualify as undergarments within the meaning of the invention but have none of features (d) to (f).

The more recently fashionable so-called thermal underwear sold in the UK under the Trade Mark DAMART also qualify as undergarments within the context of

the invention and do indeed incorporate feature (d) above; but they are lacking both (e) and (f) despite their near-universal appeal nowadays.

In another field (NB) entirely, professional racing cyclists sometimes wear nextto-body liners beneath their team-coloured jerseys but, like the thermal underwear just discussed, these may well exhibit feature (d) but are entirely lacking in (e) or (f).

Lace-up corsets incorporate feature (f) but not (e) or (d) and in any event, because they lack (a) fundamentally, they don't qualify as undergarments of the kind with which the invention is specifically concerned.

The more modem body shaper doesn't qualify either, since it doesn't have (a) as well as lacking any of features (d), (e) and (f).

All these known garments just reviewed are at least intended to be worn next to the skin. They do therefore fit the broad day-to-day understanding of the term undergarment even if they don't measure up to the present invention's basic# requirements in that context.

There is another class of garment which are intended to be and are universally used as outer garments, not undergarments, and which exhibit individually some of features (d) to (f) which characterise the present invention.

Footballers in training will often use bibs to distinguish one team from another in such activities as five-a-side games. They may well be water-resistant and/or largely wind-resistant. But they don't incorporate feature (f) and they are not intended to be worn next to the skin.

A motorway maintenance worker or building site construction worker may be given a similar bib-like garment, usually incorporating outward reflective

surfaces, for his own safety and/or comfort. Here again whilst these may well be waterproof and/or windproof, they do not qualify in any other aspect of the invention's requirements.

Finally there is the well-known overcoat lining which is detachably fixed to the inside of the coat and can be removed when the weather is warm enough to do without it. Like the two forms of bib just discussed, these are not intended to be worn next to the skin, and they exhibit neither (e) nor (f) of the features required by the invention in its broadest aspect.

There is yet another class of garment recently developed which could be considered when assessing the merit of the invention. This is the one-piece body suit worn by professional downhill skiers, speed skaters, and even (most recently) track sprinters.

This kind of suit is intended to be worn next to the skin, is primarily windproof, and may well be water-resistant. But it does not unambiguously incorporate feature (f) in so far as, whilst it may well zip up, the zip or other fastener allows only a fully-form-fitting or alternatively non-working (i. e. zipped or unzipped) position. There is no means for the wearer to adjust the fit of the garment once he or she has donned it (i. e. is wearing it in its ready-for-use state).

It is also far from clear that such a suit would unambiguously satisfy the requirement of features (b) and (c) when one considers its intended very short usage span in a competitive event and/or the relative indifference of the wearer to any skin-sweat discomfort during such an event.

Against this background the present invention draws from one fieldundergarments-and another-overgarments-to take the best qualities

represented by each whilst demonstrating that, even in a third-the skier/skater/sprinter suit-the unique combination of the inventive features have still not been proposed previously.

Subsidiary Features of the Invention In one particularly advantageous and easy-to-use format, the invention is embodied in an undergarment which takes the form of an upper body garment which fits-in much the same fashion as the footballer's training bib outlined above-over the wearer's head and exhibits, as well as the head aperture, side vents; but is so proportioned as to hand, in use, with one of its front and back panels noticeably longer than the other of said panels.

If the said one panel is worn as the back panel, in use, then driving rain and/or wind cannot unduly discomfort the wearer's backside. If on the other hand the longer panel is worn as the front panel in use, then it could reinforce any protection against injury to the wearer's frontal groin area as well as keeping that area warm and/or dry.

Preferably any undergarment embodying the invention is releasably fastenable on one side, at least, so as to afford part or all of the means for the wearer to draw the garment into or out of a more form-fitting shape. Nowadays this will most probably be done by touch-and-close fastening pads (such as those sold under the well-known VELCRO Trade Mark) but these can be selected from known alternatives by the intended skilled reader of this specification.

In the case just outlined, nevertheless, it may well be advantageous-and it is certainly not self-evident-to make the garment fasten on one side, only, for quick adjustment in the last minutes for example of competitive events such as ski-ing or cycling. In the latter instance it is especially advantageous since even the most professional of racing cyclists prefers to keep one hand on the bars most of the time.

In any embodiment where side fastenings are present then they may well incorporate a double flap of one-above-another flap format. This gives both extra security and extra form-fitting capability. It is known in itself but is not necessarily known in this context and because it helps advantageously towards the implicit primary objectives of the invention then it is not necessarily an obvious feature to incorporate from the outset.

It is particularly advantageous to incorporate a double-flap arrangement of the kind just outlined on each opposite side of the garment. This not only maximises the form-fitting ability of the garment, it also equalises the pull-in effect from each side, and because the garment is intended to fit next the skin then the wearer's comfort-and his or her sensitivity to any asymmetrical lack of it-will be paramount.

Preferably-and unlike the overcoat liners referred to earlier for example-any garment embodying the invention is further characterised by a positive absence of any external means intended for attachment to another garment worn, in use, over the inventive undergarment. The invention is thought to work best as a simple, lightweight, flexible, skin-friendly and (to use a non-definitive but familiar term) breathable undergarment. It ought ideally to be entirely free of any attachment to any overgarment and here, in this optional context, it can be distinguished even more from the overcoat liner.

The invention includes within its scope an undergarment exhibiting any appropriate combination of the features of the garments described and illustrated in this specification with reference to the drawings which form part of it.

Brief Description of the Drawings Garments embodying the invention will now be described with reference to those drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a first embodiment in its unfastened state; Figure 2 shows a second embodiment fastened and ready for use; and Figure 3 shows, again fastened and ready for use, another embodiment of the invention.

Description of the Preferred Embodiments Each of the three separate embodiments illustrated in the drawings has all the features (a), (b) and (c) which characterise the invention and each of them is intended to be worn next to the wearer's skin.

In other words, they are essentially lightweight, supple, form-following but relatively loose-fitting in these particular examples, and breathable. Suitable fabrics will be known to the reader and their selection, styling and assembly need not be described here.

The undergarment shown in Figure 1 is an over-the-head bib whose head aperture 11 enables the bib to hang from the shoulders of the wearer, in use, as shown to form respective front (12) and back (13) panels.

The material of this bib, as well as conforming to the requirements just indicated, is also sufficiently close-structured as to be classifiable in use as largely windresistant. Once again suitable fabrics will be known to the man skilled in this particular field and need not be listed needlessly. The amount by which the back panel 13 under-hangs the front panel 12 can again be selected according to intended user dimensions and usage circumstance.

Respective side vents 14,15 form naturally as the garment is donned. The vent 14 is in this particular example large enough only to accommodate the wearer's

armpit in a more than comfortable fit. The vent 15 by contrast does this but also extends right down to the bottom of the garment where it is open-ended.

A double flap side fastening arrangement enables the wearer to close one side, only, of the garment. The flaps are positioned one above another and at the bottom extremity of the garment (apart from the under-hanging back panel extension illustrated) and are referenced respectively 16 and 17 in Figure 1. The under-hanging extremity of the back panel 13 is referenced 18 for avoidance of doubt as to where it is.

Each of the flaps 16 and 17 is faced internally, as shown in Figure 1, with one half of a two-half touch and close fastener pad of VELCRO or similar style material.

The other, mating, half is fixed to or formed integrally with the outer surface of the front panel 12 of the garment and is referenced 19 because it is a one-piece area.

In use, as will readily be appreciated, with proper sizing the wearer can use the mating VELCRO fastener halves to vary the form-fit of the garment. Because the area 19 is intentionally much bigger than either of the pads of the flaps 16 and 17, the form-fit can be varied incrementally rather than the wearer simply being obliged to adopt one of two extreme positions.

When the garment needs to be taken off again, the VELCRO fastenings can be released if the combination of size of head aperture 11 and overall contour fit of the garment on the wearer is not in itself sufficient to allow the garment to be pulled over the wearer's head without having to release the fasteners.

The garment of Figure 2 is very similar to that of Figure 1 and, in Figure 2, parts of the garment which correspond to those in Figure 1 are given the same reference numerals. There are two essential differences however between the two garments.

In the Figure 2 garment, the one-side-only fastening is replaced by a dual-sided, symmetrical-effect arrangement which will be self-explanatory when Figure 2 is studied in conjunction with the description already given for Figure 1.

Secondly, in this particular instance, the garment has every single one of the features (a) to (f) which characterise the invention. In other words, as well as being essentially wind-resistant and incorporating means to vary its form-fit, it is also (in this instance, but optionally within the broad aspect of the invention) substantially water-resistant from outside to inside.

Once again, suitable means of achieving that last-mentioned feature will become apparent to those skilled in this particular field without the need for inventive thought. It is the incorporation of the feature itself, however, in an undergarment of the kind in question, which is inventive.

In Figure 3 there are again two principal differences between this illustrated garment and the one of Figure 2.

First of all, although (like the Figure 2 garment) respective opposite side fasteners are provided, in this particular instance the VELCRO pad halves 19 are inside the front panel 12 of the garment and the mating pad halves 16 and 17 therefore fasten on the innermost, not the outermost, surface of the front panel 12.

Secondly, the head aperture 11 incorporates a draw string arrangement 21 of largely known kind to enable the wearer to adjust the snugness of the fit of the neck region of the garment.

The neck region itself of the Figure 3 garment is raised, polo-neck-style, as illustrated rather than being a simple aperture in the area where the front panel 12 merges into the back panel 13 around the shoulders of the wearer in use.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. An undergarment which is intended to be worn next the skin and which is: a) Lightweight enough and supple enough so as to be intended (with proper sizing) to clothe the contours and to follow the movements of the wearer's body in use without attempting to control the one or tending to hinder the other; b) Porous enough to absorb some, at least, of the sweat from the wearer's skin in use and/or c) Vapour-permeable enough to allow some, at least, of the wearer's body heat to escape without forming sweat; and is also d) Sufficiently close-structured as to be classifiable in use as largely wind-resistant and either e) Substantially water-resistant from outside to inside, or f) Incorporates means for the wearer to draw the garment into and/or release it from a more, or less, form-fitting shape after he or she has donned it.
2. An undergarment according to Claim I and which incorporates a head aperture and one or more side vents in the manner of a so-called bib hanging, in use, in respective front and back panels from the wearer's shoulders; and with one panel longer than the other panel when so worn.

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3. An undergarment in accordance with either preceding claim and which is releasably fastenable, to provide part at least of a means for the wearer to adjust the form-fit of the garment, on one side at least of the garment.
4. An undergarment according to Claim 3 and in which the garment is releasably fastenable on one side only.
5. An undergarment in accordance with Claim 3 or Claim 4 and in which the fastening means is a double-flap fastener with one flap above another.
6. An undergarment according to Claim 5 and in which there are fastening arrangements on each opposite side of the garment and are so configured as to enable the wearer to make asymmetrical pulling-in adjustment of the form-fit of the garment.
7. An undergarment in accordance with any of the preceding claims and characterised by the absence of any means intended primarily to enable the garment to fasten to the inside of an outer garment worn over it.
8. An undergarment substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in any appropriate combination of the text and drawings of this specification.