Travel Garment

Abstract

A garment for wearing during travel is provided which is configured for a removable positioning upon a suitcase having an elongated handle. The body of the garment includes a slot therein for communication of the elongated handle therethrough to hold the garment in the removable position upon the suitcase while it is stationary or being moved upon a support surface. Flaps having indicia thereon may be included to cover the slot while the garment is being worn by the user.

Claims

1. A garment apparatus configured for removable engagement upon a suitcase, comprising: a body portion of a garment, said body portion having a rear side thereof opposite a front side thereof; a first sleeve extending from a first side of said body portion opposite a second sleeve extending from a second side of said body portion; said rear side formed in a single layer extending from a neck opening located between said first sleeve and said second sleeve to a lower edge of said body portion; a slot communicating through said rear side, said slot providing an unobstructed view through said rear side and defining a visual target through which to slide an elongated handle extending from a suitcase therethrough; said garment having an engaged position having said elongated handle extending through said slot with said body portion draped upon a surface of said suitcase, wherein a user of said garment can removably position said garment to said engaged position and thereafter employ said elongated handle to move said suitcase upon a support surface.

2. The garment apparatus of claim 1, additionally comprising: a flap coupled upon a first edge to said rear side; and said flap positionable to cover said slot.

3. The garment apparatus of claim 2, additionally comprising: a second edge of said flap opposite said first edge thereof having a releasable fastener thereon; and said releasable fastener removably engageable to a mating releasable fastener positioned on said rear side of said body portion to thereby hold said flat in a position covering said slot.

4. The garment apparatus of claim 1, additionally comprising: a first sleeve fastener positioned upon said first sleeve adjacent a distal end thereof; a second sleeve fastener positioned upon said second sleeve adjacent a distal end thereof; said first sleeve fastener positionable to a first removable engagement with a first body fastener positioned upon said body portion; said second sleeve fastener positionable to a second removable engagement with a second body fastener positioned upon said body portion; said first sleeve fastener in said first removable engagement maintaining an entire area of said first sleeve elevated above said support surface while said body is in said removable engagement; and said second sleeve fastener in said second removable engagement maintaining an entire area of said second sleeve elevated above said support surface while said body is in said removable engagement, whereby said user can move said suitcase upon said support surface using said elongated handle and said first sleeve and said second sleeve remain elevated above said support surface.

5. The garment apparatus of claim 2, additionally comprising: a first sleeve fastener positioned upon said first sleeve adjacent a distal end thereof; a second sleeve fastener positioned upon said second sleeve adjacent a distal end thereof; said first sleeve fastener positionable to a first removable engagement with a first body fastener positioned upon said body portion; said second sleeve fastener positionable to a second removable engagement with a second body fastener positioned upon said body portion; said first sleeve fastener in said first removable engagement maintaining an entire area of said first sleeve elevated above said support surface while said body is in said removable engagement; and said second sleeve fastener in said second removable engagement maintaining an entire area of said second sleeve elevated above said support surface while said body is in said removable engagement, whereby said user can move said suitcase upon said support surface using said elongated handle and said first sleeve and said second sleeve remain elevated above said support surface.

6. The garment apparatus of claim 3, additionally comprising: a first sleeve fastener positioned upon said first sleeve adjacent a distal end thereof; a second sleeve fastener positioned upon said second sleeve adjacent a distal end thereof; said first sleeve fastener positionable to a first removable engagement with a first body fastener positioned upon said body portion; said second sleeve fastener positionable to a second removable engagement with a second body fastener positioned upon said body portion; said first sleeve fastener in said first removable engagement maintaining an entire area of said first sleeve elevated above said support surface while said body is in said removable engagement; and said second sleeve fastener in said second removable engagement maintaining an entire area of said second sleeve elevated above said support surface while said body is in said removable engagement, whereby said user can move said suitcase upon said support surface using said elongated handle and said first sleeve and said second sleeve remain elevated above said support surface.

7. The garment apparatus of claim 2, additionally comprising: said flap being coupled upon said first edge thereof to said rear side in a removable engagement thereto; said flap being one of a group of flaps which are configured for said removable engagement; and each flap in said group of flaps having differing indicia thereon, whereby said user can position one of said flaps from said group of flaps in said removable engagement.

8. The garment apparatus of claim 3, additionally comprising: said flap being coupled upon said first edge thereof to said rear side in a removable engagement thereto; said flap being one of a group of flaps which are configured for said removable engagement; and each flap in said group of flaps having differing indicia thereon, whereby said user can position one of said flaps from said group of flaps in said removable engagement.

9. The garment apparatus of claim 5, additionally comprising: said flap being coupled upon said first edge thereof to said rear side in a removable engagement thereto; said flap being one of a group of flaps which are configured for said removable engagement; and each flap in said group of flaps having differing indicia thereon, whereby said user can position one of said flaps from said group of flaps in said removable engagement.

10. The garment apparatus of claim 6, additionally comprising: said flap being coupled upon said first edge thereof to said rear side in a removable engagement thereto; said flap being one of a group of flaps which are configured for said removable engagement; and each flap in said group of flaps having differing indicia thereon, whereby said user can position one of said flaps from said group of flaps in said removable engagement.

11. A garment apparatus configured for removable engagement upon a suitcase, comprising: a body portion of a garment, said body portion having a rear side thereof opposite a front side thereof; a first sleeve extending from a first side of said body portion opposite a second sleeve extending from a second side of said body portion; a slot formed into said rear side, said slot having an unobstructed view through said rear side and into an interior of said body portion; said slot for viewing an elongated handle extending from a suitcase when positioned into said interior and defining a visual target area therein through which to slide said elongated handle therethrough; said garment having an engaged position having said elongated handle extending through said slot and with said body portion draped upon a suitcase positioned within said interior, wherein a user of said garment can removably position said garment to said engaged position and thereafter employ said elongated handle to move said suitcase upon a support surface.

12. The garment apparatus of claim 11, additionally comprising: a flap coupled upon a first edge to said rear side; and said flap positionable to cover said slot.

13. The garment apparatus of claim 11, additionally comprising: a first sleeve fastener positioned upon said first sleeve adjacent a distal end thereof; a second sleeve fastener positioned upon said second sleeve adjacent a distal end thereof; said first sleeve fastener positionable to a first removable engagement with a first body fastener positioned upon said body portion; said second sleeve fastener positionable to a second removable engagement with a second body fastener positioned upon said body portion; said first sleeve fastener in said first removable engagement maintaining an entire area of said first sleeve elevated above said support surface while said body is in said removable engagement; and said second sleeve fastener in said second removable engagement maintaining an entire area of said second sleeve elevated above said support surface while said body is in said removable engagement, whereby said suitcase is moveable upon said support surface using said elongated handle and said first sleeve and said second sleeve remain elevated above said support surface.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING FIGURES

[0022] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form a part of the specification, illustrate some, but not the only or exclusive examples of embodiments and/or features of the travel device and system herein. It is intended that the embodiments and figures disclosed herein are to be considered illustrative of the invention herein, rather than limiting in any fashion.

[0023] In the drawings:

[0024] FIG. 1 depicts a perspective view of the travel garment device herein positioned for engagement upon a suitcase or bag having a handle extending therefrom.

[0025] FIG. 2 shows the positions of the travel garment herein showing the removable engagement of the distal ends of the sleeves to the body fasteners or sleeve pockets in the body of the garment prior to positioning a flap to expose a slot in the garment for positioning upon the suitcase, as in FIGS. 1 and 3.

[0026] FIG. 3 depicts the step of positioning the travel garment over a suitcase by positioning the suitcase handle through the slot in the body of the garment to drape the travel garment over the suitcase or bag, as in FIG. 4.

[0027] FIG. 4 shows the travel garment herein operatively located to an engaged position with a suitcase wherein it drapes over the top surface of a suitcase or bag once the handle is positioned through the slot in the body, and the distal ends of the sleeves are held elevated by their removable connection to the body.

[0028] FIG. 5 depicts the travel garment herein in a side view to that of FIG. 4 and shows the preferred body and sleeve fasteners removably holding the distal ends of the two sleeves to form an upward curve or folded position thereof, while the travel garment is in the engaged position. Also shown is the position of an unattached sleeve, in dotted line, to depict their positioning should they not be so removably engaged.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0029] In this description, the directional prepositions of up, upwardly, down, downwardly, front, back, top, upper, bottom, lower, left, right, first, second, and other such terms refer to the travel garment device as it is oriented and appears in the drawings and all such terms are used for convenience only and such are not intended to be limiting or to imply that the travel garment device has to be used or positioned in any particular orientation.

[0030] Now referring to drawings in FIGS. 1-5, wherein similar components are identified by like reference numerals, there is seen in FIG. 1 a perspective view of the travel garment device 10 herein positioned to be engaged upon a suitcase 12 or bag having an elongated handle 14 extending therefrom. While the term suitcase 12 is used herein for convenience, it is meant to include any travel type bag having a fixed or extendable handle 14 connected thereto. By elongated handle 14 is meant any fixed or telescopic handle which extends a distance above a suitcase which the user employs to move the suitcase about. The elongated handle 14 may be permanently elongated or it may be telescopic in configuration in a conventional manner allowing the handle to collapse when not in use.

[0031] The device 10 has a body portion 16 having a rear side 18 opposite a front side which may or may not be open. The body portion 16 is configured for wearing upon the torso of a user in a conventional manner for a jacket or the like. The body portion 18 has a front side which opens for the user to pull the body portion 16 over their torso after inserting their arms into the sleeves. Such a configuration is well known, where the front portion has buttons or snaps or a zipper or the like to secure two half portions of the front side.

[0032] In a preferred mode of the device 10 herein the body portion 16 has a first sleeve 20 and a second sleeve 22 operatively engaged with opposite sides of the body portion 16. The first sleeve 20 hangs from a first side of the body portion 16 and the second sleeve hangs from the opposite or second side of the body portion 16.

[0033] Each of the first sleeve 20 and second sleeve 22, in this mode of the garment device 10, in a most preferred mode of the device, has a sleeve fastener 24 positioned at or adjacent the distal end 23 thereof. Each of the sleeve fasteners 24 is removably engageable to a mating body fastener 26 positioned upon the body portion 16 of the travel garment device 10. Alternatively, the distal end 23 of each of the sleeves 20 and 22 can be slid into a sleeve pocket 29 which may be part of or formed into the body portion 16. As noted, the body fasteners 26 and/or the sleeve pockets 29 must be positioned above the lower edge 25 a sufficient distance to hold the distal ends 23 and other areas of the sleeves out of contact with the roller 36 or the support surface 34.

[0034] The sleeve fasteners 24 and mating body fasteners 26 may, as noted above, be any that would occur to those skilled in the art which will provide removable securement of the distal end 23 of the sleeves 20 and 22 to the garment body 16. Such releasable mating fasteners, such as sleeve fasteners 24 and mating body fasteners 26 may include sleeve pockets 29 or button holes on one of the sleeve 20 or 22 or the garment body 16, which are engageable with a button on the other.

[0035] Also included, as sleeve fasteners, are hook and loop fabric positioned on the sleeves 20 and 22 and body portion 16, or magnets on both the sleeves 20 and 22 and the body portion, or snaps on one of the sleeve or body portion engageable with mating snaps on the other. Other releasable mating fasteners useable to engage the distal end of the first sleeve 20 and second sleeve 22, to place the sleeves in a folded configuration, while engaged to the body 16 may be employed, so long as they form an easily removed engagement and locate the distal ends 23 and curved or folded portions of each sleeve 20 and 22 spaced a distance above the roller 36 and support surface 34 with the device draped upon a suitcase 12.

[0036] This configuration, including sleeve fastening, is most preferred, because as shown in FIG. 5, when the body portion 16 is in the engaged position as in FIGS. 4-5, it was found unexpectedly in experimentation of the device 10 herein, that in many cases once the body portion 16 is positioned in the engaged position to drape over the top of the suitcase 12, to allow insertion of the handle 14 through the slot 30, that distal ends 23 of the first sleeve 20 and second sleeve 22 frequently reached the floor or contacted the rollers 36 of the rolling suitcase 12. Such potential contact is shown by the dotted line sleeve 20a.

[0037] While it was found that the user could take the time to roll the sleeves to be shorter to temporarily solve this issue such was not a good solution. This is because it took too much time to accomplish, and over time, due to gravity or during movement of the suitcase 12, the sleeves 20 and 22 tended to unroll causing the distal ends 23 thereof to contact the support surface 34 or rollers 36. Such contact generally went unnoticed in the busy confines of an airport or train station. Depending on the length of the sleeves 20 and 22, especially where the user of the garment has long arms, the body fasteners 26 should be spaced from the lower edge 25 of the body portion 16, such as a distance between 1-15 inches therefrom.

[0038] Also shown in FIG. 1 and FIGS. 2-4 is a flap 28 which is engaged to the rear side 18 of the body portion 16. The flap 18 is secured to the rear side 18 along at least one side edge thereof in a fashion which will allow the flap 18 to default to a first position which covers a slot 30 (FIGS. 2-4). Such a first edge engagement, such as by sewing or using releasable fasteners, may be along an upper edge of the flap 18 where gravity will inherently pull the flap 28 to rotate downward to the first position covering the slot 30. Where securement of the flap 18 to the body portion 16 to hold it in place to cover the slot 30 is desired, releasable mating fasteners positioned on the second edge of the flap and upon the rear side 18 of the body portion, are employable. Such releasable mating fasteners are shown as hook and loop fabric 31. However, as noted herein, other releasable mating fasteners may be included on one or more edges of the flap 18 which will removably mate and engage with mating releasable fasteners such as hook and loop fabric 35 on the body portion 16. Of course releasable mating fasteners, as noted, can include buttons and button holes, snaps, magnets, and other releasable fasteners as would occur to those skilled in the art.

[0039] As noted above, indicia 32 may be positioned on the flap 28. The indicia 32 may be in the form of one or both text and drawings or artwork, and thereby adapted for advertising. Such would allow the user to receive advertising fees for wearing and using the garment device 10. The indicia 32 may be positioned behind a clear covering within a slot formed between the clear covering and the surface of the flap 28.

[0040] As disclosed herein, the flap 28 may be removably engaged with releasable mating fasteners along one edge, such as the upper edge as shown, to removably engage it to the body portion 16 of the travel garment 10. Such a removable engagement may be accomplished using removably engageable connectors as the releasable mating fasteners such as hook and loop fabric, buttons and button holes, snaps and mating snaps, and other connectors. This will allow for the positioning on such travel garments of one of a plurality of different flaps 28, from a group of flaps 28 having differing indicia thereon. Alternatively, the indicia may be positioned within a pocket upon the flap 28 and changed but having a plurality of flaps 28 with differing indicia thereon is preferred.

[0041] Shown in FIG. 2 are the positions of the travel garment device 10 herein in the method for removably engaging it to a suitcase 12. As shown, the first sleeve 20 and second sleeve 22 are initially disconnected and in a wearing configuration. From this configuration, the first sleeve 20 and second sleeve 22 will be moved downward and toward the body portion 16 of the garment device 10. The sleeve fasteners 24 on each sleeve will be removably engaged to the mating body fasteners 26 therefor positioned on the body portion 16 of the travel garment device 10 and removably held in an elevated position. With the sleeves so removably engaged to the body portion 16 with the releasable mating fasteners, the flap 28 will be folded from the first position to the second position to reveal the underlying slot 30 to provide the user with a visual target through which to slide the handle 14 of the chosen suitcase 12.

[0042] As shown in FIG. 3, with the flap 28 folded to the second position uncovering the slot 30, the user may move through the step of positioning the travel garment device 10 over the top surface of a suitcase 12. This is accomplished by positioning the suitcase handle 14 through the slot 30 in the body portion 16, preferably, from an inside surface through the slot 30 to project above the outside surface of the rear side 18 of the body portion 16.

[0043] The positioning of the slot 14, through the rear side 18 of the body portion 16, is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, which depict the garment device 10 in an as-used position. As shown, the handle 14 is communicating through the slot 30 in a direction from the inside surface of the rear side 18 opposite the exterior surface 19 thereof. With the handle 14, so engaged, through the slot 30 and the sleeves 20 and 22 removably connected to the body portion 16, the travel garment device 10 is positioned to the engaged position where it is draped over the top surface of the suitcase 12. In this removably engaged position, the lower edge of the body portion 16 and distal ends and central areas of both sleeves 20 and 22 remain elevated above the support surface 34 on which the suitcase 12 is positioned.

[0044] If the suitcase 12 has wheels or rollers 36 (FIGS. 3 and 5), this elevated positioning keeps both the body portion 16 and the distal ends and the central areas of the sleeves 20 and 22, from contacting the support surface 34 when the suitcase 12 is rolled about. The user may thus maintain the garment device 10 removably draped to the engaged position upon the suitcase 12 for the duration of time they wish, thereby keeping it from being soiled, stolen, or lost while they are attending to other matters, such as eating or providing paperwork to security in an airport or the like.

[0045] This engaged position of FIG. 4 is shown in a side view in FIG. 5. As shown in FIG. 5, the preferred releasable mating fasteners, such as body fasteners 26 and sleeve fasteners 24, hold all portions of the sleeves elevated above the support surface 34 and the rollers 36. With the device, as shown in the engaged position draped upon a suitcase 12, the removable engagement of the sleeve fasteners 24 to the body fasteners 26 maintains the entire area of the two sleeves 20 and 22 in an upward curve or folded position relative to the side of the suitcase. By the term entire area is meant herein the exterior surface of either said first sleeve 20 or said second sleeve 22 extending from their respective engagement to the body portion at a first end, to a distal end 23 of each sleeve. This forms and maintains a gap between the entire area of each sleeve from the distal end 23 thereof and central areas 33 of each sleeve 20 and 22. While in this removable engagement of the sleeves 20 and 22 to the body portion, the entire area of both sleeves 20 and 22 is held elevated about the support surface when the user moves it about using the handle.

[0046] As noted, any of the different configurations and components of the travel garment shown and described herein can be employed with any other configuration or component shown and described as part of the travel garment herein. Additionally, while the disclosed travel garment invention has been described herein with reference to particular embodiments thereof and components thereof operatively engaged for operation, a latitude of equivalent modifications, various changes and substitutions are intended in the foregoing disclosures and it will be appreciated that in some instance some features, or configurations, or operations of the travel garment invention could be employed without a corresponding use of other features without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims. All such changes, alternations and modifications as would occur to those skilled in the art subsequent to reviewing this specification, are considered to be within the scope of this invention as broadly defined in the appended claims.

[0047] Further, the purpose of any abstract of this specification is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers, and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. Any such abstract included herein is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting, as to the scope of the invention in any way.