Apparel – Nether garments – Bifurcated
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-07
2001-09-11
Calvert, John J. (Department: 3765)
Apparel
Nether garments
Bifurcated
C002S455000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06286150
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
Our invention relates to the protection of a garment against externally applied mechanical wear, and in particular, to a means and technique for protecting a localized area of the garment which is scraped by the strokes of an externally applied abrasive device when the garment is worn by a user.
BACKGROUND ART
An example of such a garment is a pair of ski pants, or a bib pant suit, and an example of such a device is a ski and particularly, the inside edge of the ski. When a skier makes a downhill run, he (or she) maintains control of his body in part by leaning to one side or the other while positioning his ankles and feet in close proximity to one another so as to place his center of gravity well outside the position of his feet. In doing so, the inside edge of one of his skis is stroked relatively up and down and perhaps fore and aft of the ankle of his other leg, and usually so close to it as to scrape the ankle portion of the pantleg surrounding his other leg. The repeated strokes of the ski have an abrasive effect on the ankle portion of the pantleg, and may even cut into or tear the ankle portion unless something is done to protect it against the abrasive action of the ski.
A similar but less likely effect can occur when skies are being transported to or from a site for skiing, and over one shoulder of the skier. Therefore, protection may also be needed at the shoulders of the skier's garment, and according to our invention, protection may be provided at any site desired on the garment of a skier or other user.
As used herein, the term “garment” is inclusive of a single piece garment covering the user's entire body from head to toe, or a multi-piece garment having two or more components covering, for example, the user's legs and crotch, and separately, the user's upper trunk, such as in the case of a jacket and pant combination or a jacket and bib pant combination. The term usually also suggests outerwear, though there may be an occasion when the garment is worn other than in the outside air.
Skier's have long had garments available to them with protective reinforcement on the ankle portions of the pantlegs of the garment to minimize the cumulative effect of the opposing ski edges scraping the ankle portions during skiing. But this protective reinforcement was heretofore in the form of a heavy, relatively stiff nylon broadcloth material which was superimposed on the inside of the ankle portion of each pantleg as a plain surfaced patch of the same that was extensive enough in area to intercept the ski edge there opposite when the edge was relatively stroked across the ankle portion. Each patch was sewn or otherwise secured to the ankle portion, or incorporated into the pantleg as a laminate therewith, and effectively operated as a relatively hard non-flexible “spot” on the ankle portion that added to its weight and to the difficulty of closing the ankle portion about the user's own ankle. The patch also added weight to the garment as a whole, and had little ornamental value in that manufacturers were forced to purchase a minimum lot or quantity of the patch material, say, a thousand yards at a minimum, and since that quantity provided the patches for many garments, typically they chose only black for the patch material, since to assemble two or more colors, would take a production of far too many garments to consume the minimum allotment of each color.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
According to our invention, we now protect a localized area of a ski pant, jacket or other garment which is scraped by the strokes of an externally applied abrasive device when the garment is worn by a user, by forming a corduroyed surface of alternately successive relatively raised ribs and recessed grooves on the area, and raising the ribs of the surface relatively peripherally outwardly from the bottoms of the grooves to a height at which, in relation to the width of the grooves, the ribs will sustain the strokes of the device at an elevation above the bottoms of the grooves at which the area of the garment is protected from abrasion.
To illustrate, in many of the presently preferred embodiments of our invention, we form the ribs and grooves by superimposing a plurality of generally elongated ribs on the area scraped by the strokes of the device, and in such a way that the ribs are collectively arrayed in generally spaced parallel relationship to one another and pairs of the ribs form grooves in the spaces therebetween having a substrate of flexible material at the bottoms thereof that is generally co-parallel, if not coplanar with the body of the garment circumposed thereabout. Moreover, we connect the plurality of ribs to the body of the garment so that the lengths of the respective ribs and grooves extend generally crosswise the strokes of the device when the garment is worn by the user, and collectively, the array of ribs and grooves corresponds to the area scraped by the device. We also employ ribs which rise relatively peripherally outwardly from the bottoms of the grooves to a height at which, in relation to the width of the grooves, the ribs will sustain the strokes of the device at an elevation above the bottoms of the grooves at which the substrate is protected from abrasion.
There are several ways in which we may superimpose the plurality of ribs on the area scraped by the strokes of the device and connect the ribs to the body of the garment. In certain presently preferred embodiments of our invention, for example, we superimpose the ribs on that portion of the body of the garment coinciding with the area itself, and directly connect the ribs to the portion so that the portion forms a substrate for the ribs and grooves. In other embodiments, we form a slot in the body of the garment at the site of and corresponding to the area scraped by the strokes of the device; and we insert a patch of substrate material having the aforedescribed array of ribs and grooves thereon, in the slot, and secure the patch to the body of the garment so that the patch is disposed generally coplanar with the portion of the body of the garment circumposed thereabout, and the lengths of the respective ribs and grooves extend generally crosswise the strokes of the device when the garment is worn by a user. We may also overlay such a patch on the portion of the body of the garment coinciding with the area scraped by the device, and secure the patch to the body of the garment, co-parallel therewith, to create a corduroyed surface on the area. However, when we do so, we once again produce a relatively stiff “spot” at that portion of the body of the garment, and though the spot is not as hard and inflexible as that created by a prior art patch, it nevertheless increases the weight of the portion, as well as the weight of the overall garment. Where the portion is the ankle portion of a pant leg or the like, the patch also increases the difficulty of closing the portion about the user's own ankle or the like. Therefore, we find that such an overlaid patch is a far less desirable embodiment of our invention than those mentioned previously.
The duality of preserving the flexibility of the garment while protecting it against mechanical wear at the area which is scraped by the device, is an important advantage of our invention. While we typically make the substrate soft and flexible, as indicated, to preserve the flexibility in the garment itself, we may construct the ribs themselves of an abrasion-resistant polymer material which is more rigid relative to the substrate material, or of a reinforced cloth material which is sufficiently hard and inflexible to be abrasion resistant. In addition to it being flexible, we may also construct the substrate of a material which is pliable and even somewhat stretchable, to render the substrate itself more pliable and stretchable, if desired.
For ease of assembly, we preferably employ ribs which are continuous from one end of the area to the end thereopposite; but we may subdivide individual ribs into segments lengthwise thereof,
Gray Kurt Fredrick
Miller Melodie Dawn
Calvert John J.
Duffy Christopher
Miller Melodie Dawn
Patel Tejash
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