GARMENT

Abstract

A garment including a plurality of attached glove members having releasably attached glove bodies is provided. The garment includes a central portion and two opposed sleeve portions. Each attached glove member is attached to each opposed sleeve portion through the use of a retainer. The glove members may be used separately or together, allowing the user to deploy a combination of glove members simultaneously.

Claims

1. A garment, comprising: a pair of sleeves; at least one glove member non-releasably attached to each of the pair of sleeves at a cuff portion thereof; and at least one cooperating glove member retainer carried by each one of the pair of sleeves and adapted for releasably securing a second portion of each of the at least one glove members to a respective one of the pair of sleeves; wherein the at least one glove member further includes a selectively sealable slit adapted for insertion of a user's hand therethrough.

2. The garment of claim 1, wherein the second portion comprises a glove body configured for covering at least a portion of a user's hand.

3. The garment of claim 1, wherein the cuff portion is dimensioned to allow the glove body to reach the user's hand for wearing.

4. The garment of claim 2, wherein the glove body is configured as a fingerless glove.

5. The garment of claim 2, wherein the glove body is configured as a full-fingered glove.

6. The garment of claim 2, wherein the glove body is configured as a mitten.

7. The garment of claim 1, comprising a plurality of glove members each configured and dimensioned to allow placing two or more of the plurality of glove members concurrently on a user's hand.

8. A garment comprising: a pair of sleeves; a plurality of glove members non-releasably attached at a cuff portion thereof to each of the pair of sleeves; and a plurality of glove member retainers adapted for releasably attaching a second portion of each of the plurality of glove members to a one of the pair of sleeves.

9. The garment of claim 10, wherein the plurality of glove member retainers are selected from the group of glove member retainers consisting of a closeable pouch or pocket, a hook-and-loop material panel, one or more buttons, one or more snaps, a strap, or combinations.

10. The garment of claim 10, wherein the second portion comprises a glove body configured for covering at least a portion of a user's hand.

11. The garment of claim 10, wherein each glove body is adapted for releasable attachment to a one of the plurality of glove member retainers.

12. The garment of claim 11, wherein the cuff portion and glove body are stowed by folding or rolling and attaching to the one of the plurality of glove member retainers.

13. A garment, comprising: a garment body; a pair of sleeves each attached to a portion of the garment body; a plurality of glove members each including a glove cuff non-releasably attached to each of the pair of sleeves and a glove body configured for covering at least a portion of a user's hand; and a plurality of glove member retainers carried by each of the pair of sleeves, adapted for releasably attaching the plurality of glove members to each of the pair of sleeves; wherein each of the plurality of glove members includes a selectively sealable slit adapted for insertion of a user's hand therethrough.

14. The garment of claim 13, wherein the selectively sealable slit includes one or more fasteners selected from the group consisting of a button, a snap, a zipper, a hook-and-loop material panel, and combinations.

15. The garment of claim 13, wherein the plurality of glove member retainers are selected from the group of retainers consisting of a closeable pouch or pocket, a hook-and-loop material panel, one or more buttons, one or more snaps, a strap, or combinations.

16. The garment of claim 13, wherein the plurality of glove members variously include the glove body configured from the group of glove bodies consisting of a fingerless glove, a full-fingered glove, a mitten, and combinations.

17. The garment of claim 13, wherein the plurality of glove members are configured and dimensioned whereby two or more of the plurality of glove members may be placed concurrently on a user's hand.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

[0010] The accompanying drawing figures incorporated herein and forming a part of the specification, illustrate several aspects of the disclosed invention, serve to explain certain principles thereof. In the drawing figures:

[0011] FIG. 1 is a front view of one embodiment of a garment, including three distinct glove members;

[0012] FIG. 2A is a front view of one embodiment of a glove member, configured as a fingerless glove;

[0013] FIG. 2B is a front view of one embodiment of a glove member, configured as a full-fingered glove;

[0014] FIG. 2C is a front view of one embodiment of a glove member, configured as full-fingered glove;

[0015] FIG. 2D is a front view of one embodiment of a glove member, configured as a mitten;

[0016] FIG. 3 shows a glove member folded or rolled for attaching to a glove member retainer for stowing;

[0017] FIG. 4A shows an embodiment of a glove member according to the present disclosure; and

[0018] FIG. 4B shows an alternative embodiment of the glove member of FIG. 4A.

[0019] Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the disclosed garment, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawing figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] At a high level, the present disclosure is directed to a garment including a plurality of attached glove structures. In particular, the garment includes several distinct glove structures attached to each sleeve portion thereof. It is contemplated that the garment may be any long-sleeved garment including without intending any limitation a jacket or coat, a sweater, a hoodie, a long-sleeved shirt, a sweatshirt, and others.

[0021] In reference to FIG. 1, a garment 100 includes a central or body portion 110 and two opposed sleeve portions 120. The sleeve portions 120 may be dimensioned to end at a user's wrist, or may include cuffs (not shown) dimensioned to cover at least a portion of the back of a user's hand and palm. In this latter embodiment, the cuff may include an aperture adapted to receive a user's thumb therethrough (embodiment not shown), to retain the sleeve in place. Such structures are well known in the art.

[0022] A plurality of glove members 130a . . . n are attached to each opposed sleeve portion 120. In the depicted embodiment, three glove members 130a, 130b, and 130c are attached. However, it will be appreciated that more or fewer glove members 130a . . . n may be attached. The glove members 130a . . . n are attached substantially adjacent to a distal end D of each sleeve portion 120. As will be appreciated, by such fastening, a user wearing the garment cannot lose one or more of the attached glove members 130a . . . n.

[0023] The basic structure of a glove (cuff, palm, fingers, etc.) is well known in the art and does not require extensive description herein. However, in more detail and as shown in FIGS. 2A-2D, each glove member 130a . . . n includes a cuff portion 140 which attaches to the garment sleeve portion 120 by any suitable substantially non-releasable method, such as stitching, adhesives, and other non-releasable methods. Each glove member 130a . . . n also includes a body portion 150a . . . n which defines the type of glove structure provided. The cuff portion 140 and body portion 150a . . . n may be fabricated of any suitable material, including natural materials, synthetic materials, or blends, and further may be fully or partially fabricated of water-proof or water-resistant materials. In turn, the cuff portion 140 and/or body portion 150a . . . n may be lined with any suitable natural material, synthetic material, or blend, for example fleece materials.

[0024] As will be appreciated, the cuff portion 140 will be dimensioned to be sufficiently long as to allow the body portion 150a . . . n to reach a user's hand for wearing. The cuff portion 140 may be configured to encircle a portion of a user's arm/wrist as depicted, or may simply be a strip of material which attaches the glove members 130a . . . n to the sleeve portion 120. In use, the body portion 150a . . . n is detached from the sleeve 120, the cuff portion 140 remaining attached to prevent loss of the glove member 130a . . . n, and the body portion is slipped onto the user's hand and palm and/or the fingers (see discussion below). As will be appreciated, to accomplish this the body portion 150a . . . n is releasably attached to one or both of the cuff portion 140 or the sleeve 120 by a glove member retainer 152 (see FIG. 3). The glove member retainer 152 may comprise any suitable releasable attachment system, including without intending any limitation hook-and-loop material panels, one or more buttons, one or more snaps, one or more straps, a pouch or pocket, and combinations. In an embodiment, the body portion 150a . . . n and at least a portion of the cuff portion 140 are folded or rolled up for storage in or on the glove member retainer 152 (see FIG. 3, arrow).

[0025] In the depicted embodiment of FIG. 1, the garment 100 is provided including three distinct glove members 130a, 130b, and 130c each defining a different type of glove structure, although as discussed above more or fewer glove members may be included. As shown in greater detail in FIGS. 2A-2D, glove member 130a (see FIG. 2A) may be provided as a fingerless glove, which as is known includes a body portion 150a that covers the palm and back of the hand but only a portion of the fingers F. Glove member 130b (see FIG. 2B) may be provided as a full glove including a body portion 150a and full fingers 160. In the depicted embodiment, glove member 130b is provided as a thinner glove, providing protection and warmth to the hand of the user but being sufficiently thin whereby manual dexterity of the user is not significantly impaired.

[0026] Glove members 130c, 130c′ (see FIGS. 2C and 2D) are intended to provide the greatest amount of protection and/or warmth to the user's hand, but potentially cause an increased degree of impairment of manual dexterity. As one example, glove member 130c may be a full-fingered glove substantially similar in structure to glove member 130b (see FIG. 2B), but fabricated of a warmer and/or thicker combination of materials to increase warmth/protection. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 2D glove member 130c′ may define a mitten, which as is known covers the user's entire hand, lacks separate finger portions, but typically includes a thumb portion T as shown in the drawing. As is known, a mitten is typically warmer than a glove because it defines a single chamber 170 for the back of the hand, palm, and fingers. The chamber 170 traps and retains body heat generated by the user's hand and fingers more efficiently than the glove structures shown in FIGS. 2A-2C.

[0027] In use, the glove portions 130a . . . n may be used separately or together. For example, in cool weather only glove member 130a may need to be deployed and placed on the user's hand, whereas in slightly colder weather glove member 130b may be deployed. In turn, in much colder weather glove member 130c providing the most warmth to the user's hand may be deployed.

[0028] Still more, it is contemplated to deploy the glove portions 130a . . . n not only alone, but in combination according to the user's needs. Thus, for example, in extremes of cold weather some or all of glove portions 130a and 130c or 130c′ may be concurrently deployed and placed on a user's hand to provide additional warmth. If the user engages in a task requiring more manual dexterity, the glove portion 130c/130c′ may be removed from the hand, and restored once the task is completed.

[0029] As will be appreciated, particularly in the case of children or the elderly, it may be difficult to slip a glove member 130a . . . n onto a user's hand. To solve this problem, the described glove members 130a . . . n may further include a slit 180 disposed in a portion of the glove cuff 140 and/or the glove body 150a . . . n. The slit 180 may be adapted to be selectively sealable by providing one or more sealing members 182. While the depicted embodiments show a plurality of sealing members 182, it will be appreciated that in embodiments a single sealing member 182 traversing a length dimension of the slit 180 may be provided. In embodiments, the sealing member(s) 182 may be provided as buttons, snaps, zippers, hook-and-loop material panels, and combinations. In one possible embodiment, the slit 180 is oriented along a longitudinal axis of the glove member 130a . . . n (see FIG. 4A). In another possible embodiment, the slit 180 is oriented along a transverse axis of the glove member 130a . . . n (see FIG. 4B).

[0030] The foregoing has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Obvious modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the description and appended drawings when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are fairly, legally and equitably entitled.