Abstract:
A knee pad with locking clips adjustable straps clip onto the pants of the wearer at the sides of the knees, with no uncomfortable strap encircling the leg. Clip lock rings slide over spring clips to lock them, thereby retaining the knee pad attached to the pant leg under all conditions of use.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   Not Applicable. 
   STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
   Not Applicable. 
   THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
   Not Applicable. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to knee pads and in particular to knee pads with clips on adjustable straps which clip onto the pants of the wearer at the sides of the knees with no uncomfortable strap encircling the leg and which employ locking clips which retain the knee pads attached to the pants under all conditions of use. 
   2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98 
   Knee pads are essential equipment for users engaged in activities requiring contact of the knees with the ground or other surfaces. Under extreme conditions involving strenuous activity, especially in hot climates, knee pads with straps encircling the leg of the user can become very uncomfortable, cut off circulation, cut off air flow, and cause perspiration and irritation and rubbing which may cause rashes to a back of the leg of the user, especially in the sensitive area behind the knee where such encircling straps often rub. The around the knee straps on prior art kneepads often loosen and slip down the leg to expose the knee to injury because they cannot be extremely tight or the user won&#39;t have full mobility. 
   Knee pads must be very durable with combined hard outer shell and soft inner padding to protect the knee of the wearer in adverse use conditions, especially in combat. The knee pads must stay in place without falling off and without moving from the shielding position covering the knee cap of the user to protect the knee of the user adequately. Prior art knee pads do not provide knee pads which adequately address all of the requirements of knee pads used in adverse conditions. 
   Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 6,704,938, issued Mar. 16, 2004 to Crockett, provides a method and apparatus for attachment of protective pads. A plurality of fasteners is attached spaced around the periphery of a pad, such as a knee or elbow pad, with the fasteners being capable of gripping the ordinary clothing of a worker to secure the pad at the joint to be protected. The fasteners do not damage to material of the clothing, secure the pad in place at all times, and are readily attached to and detached from any ordinary street and/or work clothing. No modification of the clothing is required. 
   Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 3,346,877, issued Oct. 17, 1967 to Zirves, is for a typical clip-on knee pad having a plurality of alligator clips which secure the pad to the user&#39;s pants leg. 
   Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 6,347,403, issued Feb. 19, 2002 to Wilcox, shows a protective knee system for attaching a pair of knee pads to pair of pants to protect the wearer&#39;s knees. The protective knee system includes a pair of pants. The pair of pants is comprised of a pair of leg portions that includes a first panel, a second panel, an inseam and a side seam. There is a plate that includes a first surface and a second surface. There is also a panel that includes a front side, a back side, a top edge, a bottom edge and a pair of side edges. The plate is integrally attached to the front side of the panel. There is a fastening means for securing the panel to the pair of pants such that the pair of side edges of the panel are removably coupled to the inseam and the side seam of the pair of pants. 
   Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,561,123, issued Dec. 31, 1985 to Hull, describes a knee-pad device characterized by a flexible, arcuate pad member attached both above and below the knee. When the person using the knee pad device is standing, the pad member bows away from the knee to allow air to flow around the knee. When the person is kneeling, the pad member conforms to the shape of the knee. The pad member can be attached either to the legs of a pair of pants, or to a pair of straps which encircle a user&#39;s legs. 
   Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,689, issued Jan. 14, 1997 to Matthews, discloses a sound-emitting knee pad apparatus that includes a pad assembly which emits a sound when located between a knee of an infant person and a floor surface when the person is crawling on the floor surface. A pad connector assembly connects the pad assembly to a knee of the person or to an outside surface of a knee-juxtaposed region of a garment worn by the person. The pad connector assembly includes a first connector assembly attached to an outside surface of a knee-juxtaposed region of a garment. A second connector assembly is attached to an outside surface of the pad assembly. The first connector assembly is a quantity of hook-or-loop connector material. The second connector assembly is a quantity of complementary loop-or-hook connector material. The pad assembly may be comprised of a rubber material. Alternatively, the pad assembly may include an air chamber assembly which includes a plurality of resilient exterior walls which define an interior air chamber. A whistle assembly is supported by one of the resilient exterior walls. The whistle assembly provides an air communication path between the interior air chamber and air outside the interior air chamber. The pad connector assembly may include a strap assembly which includes a first end connected to a first side of the pad assembly and includes a second end connected to a second side of the pad assembly. The strap assembly is comprised of elastic resilient material. 
   Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,081, issued Mar. 18, 1997 to Torres, puts forth work pants in which padding is provided to protect both the knees and shins of the worker. In one form of the invention, the knee protective padding and the shin protective padding comprise separate components which are independently receivable within specially configured pockets provided in the work pants. 
   Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,355, issued Jan. 16, 1990 to Ritter, concerns a knee protector that covers the front of the knee and extends rearwardly on both sides to protect against mechanical damage to the knee. The protector has foamed padding towards the leg for both comfort and mechanical protection, and a somewhat rigid outer shell to provide strength. For comfort as the leg is flexed, the front of the knee protector has a line about which the rigid shell can move, so that two sections of the shell are articulated, allowing movement in all directions. One side of the knee protector can be shortened to allow the use of a knee splint in conjunction with the knee protector. 
   Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 6,421,839, issued Jul. 23, 2002 to Vo, indicates work pants which include at least one pant leg and a pocket in the area of the knee. Within each pocket is to be located a cushioning pad. The cushioning pad is to be inserted through an access opening which has a length smaller than the width of the knee pocket which tends to prevent accidental dislodgment of the pad from the knee pocket. A securement device is to be connectable between the pad and the pant leg of the work pant. The knee pocket may be covered by a covering sheet to hopefully prevent the forming of wear holes within the knee area of the work pant. 
   Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 6,317,888, issued Nov. 20, 2001 to McFarlane, illustrates a knee pad including a multiple layer elongate member conformed to fit over a knee. The middle layer comprises a rigid polymeric material with projecting arms that encircle the leg and clasp the knee pad thereon. An inner cushion layer and an outer semi rigid layer enhance the comfort of the knee pad. The flexible arms include a supplemental reinforcing rib and the arms are positioned so as to support the knee pad by engaging the leg of a wearer below the knee. 
   Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 2,561,872, issued Jul. 24, 1951 to Krinick, provides a snap-on knee protector pad for overalls and other garments. An alternate embodiment is shown wherein the knee pad is attached to the trouser leg by clips. 
   What is needed is a knee pad with inner padding and a hard outer shell having clips each attached to an adjustable tightening strap which clip to the sides of the pants and clip lock rings to lock the clips in place. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   An object of the present invention is to provide a knee pad with inner padding and a hard outer shell, which is preferably flexible, having spring loaded clips each attached to an adjustable tightening strap which clip to the sides of the pants, not encircling the pants, and clip lock rings to lock the clips in place to provide rugged locked on knee protection without irritating the back of the knee. 
   A related object of the present invention is to provide rubber coated clips with overlapping teeth on each clip to bind the material without piercing it so that the clips hold securely without tearing the material. 
   Another related object of the present invention is to provide a large padded underside and a smaller hard outer shell with some flexibility covering just the kneecap for full kneecap protection in a flexible knee pad. 
   Another object of the present invention is to provide a kneepad which secures just to the sides of the pants without encircling the pants so that the kneepads may stay on the pants when the pants are removed from the wearer and the pants may be put on by the wearer with the kneepads in place. 
   An added object of the present invention is to provide strips of rip-proof rubber coated material attached to the kneepads under the locking clips which material fits between the jaws of the locking clips and the pants fabric to insure that the pants fabric does not rip or puncture. 
   Another added object of the present invention is to provide a bullet proof pad inserted behind the kneepad to prevent ballistic penetration to the knee. 
   One further object of the present invention is to provide an elongated padding insert which fits within an elongated kneepad sleeve to protect both the knees and shins of the wearer. 
   Still another object of the present invention is to provide a small padded insert which fits within a shortened kneepad sleeve that may be used either as a kneepad or an elbow pad. 
   An alternate object of the present invention is to provide a kneepad with a pair of locking clips at the top for engaging material on a pair of shorts worn by the user and a soft leg encircling adjustable bottom strap to encircle the bare leg of the wearer below the knee. 
   In brief, a knee pad with inner padding and a hard flexible outer shell has spring loaded clips each attached to an adjustable tightening strap. The spring loaded clips each clip to the side of a pants leg and are provided with clip lock rings to lock the clips in place, thereby providing locking clips for rugged locked-on knee protection without irritating the back of the knee. The kneepad preferably secures just to the sides of the pants without encircling the pants leg so that the kneepads may stay on the pants when the pants are removed from the wearer and the pants may be put on by the wearer with the kneepads in place. Rubber coated clips are provided with overlapping teeth on each clip to bind the pants leg material without piercing it so that the clips hold securely without tearing the material. The knee pad comprises a large padded underside and a smaller hard flexible outer shell with some flexibility covering just the kneecap for full kneecap protection in a flexible knee pad. 
   Alternately, the kneepad may further comprise a covering strip of material loosely encircling a leg of a user over each of the pair of locking clips to shield the locking clips. Each covering strip of material comprises a one or two-part overlapping strip of material extending from each of two opposing sides of the kneepad and interconnected by mating hook and loop fasteners. 
   A further alternate embodiment comprises a shin padding material extending from a bottom of the kneepad for covering a shin of a wearer and further comprising at least one additional pair of locking clips extending from two opposing bottom edges of the shin padding material. This alternate embodiment further may comprise a sleeve covering the kneepad and shin padding material. 
   The lock on kneepads of the present invention can used by almost everyone, including construction workers, soldiers, police tactical officers and those involved in intense tactical training. 
   An advantage of the present invention is that user&#39;s leg is not constricted. 
   Another advantage of the present invention is the knee pad is held securely without tearing the fabric of the pants leg. 
   One more advantage of the present invention is that the knee pad stays locked in its proper place, covering the knee. 
   An additional advantage of the present invention is that it may also provide shin coverage. 
   A further advantage of the present invention is that it provides protection to the knee, while allowing flexible movement of the knee joint. 
   A contributory advantage of the present invention is the knee pad may remain attached to the pants while the pants are not in use. 
   Yet another advantage of the present invention is that the clip locks may be further secured by an auxiliary clip covering strap. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
     These and other details of my invention will be described in connection with the accompanying drawings, which are furnished only by way of illustration and not in limitation of the invention, and in which drawings: 
       FIG. 1  is a front elevational view of the kneepad device of the present invention showing two pair of attached locking clips; 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a spring loaded clip of  FIG. 1  in an open position with a locking loop aligned for installation on the spring loaded clip; 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a spring loaded clip of  FIG. 1  in a closed position with a locking loop installed on the spring loaded clip to form in combination a locking clip; 
       FIG. 4  is a side elevational view of the kneepad device of  FIG. 1  attached to a pant leg at the knee showing two locking clips locked onto the pants material; 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the kneepad device of the present invention having extra wide padding material and a cover strap over each of the pairs of locking clips; 
       FIG. 6  is a side elevational view of the alternate embodiment of the kneepad device of  FIG. 5  having extra wide padding material and a cover strap over each of the pairs of locking clips with the device installed on a knee of a wearer; 
       FIG. 7  is a side elevational view of another alternate embodiment of the kneepad device of the present invention having a bottom extension shin padding with the entire padding covered in a sleeve with the adjustable straps of the locking clips attached to the exterior of the sleeve and including an additional bottom pair of locking clips at the bottom of the shin padding with the kneepad device attached to a pants leg with the locking clips locked onto the pants material; 
       FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the alternate embodiment of  FIG. 7  showing the elongated pad being inserted in the sleeve; 
       FIG. 9  is a plan view of the elongated pad of the alternate embodiment of  FIG. 8 ; 
       FIG. 10  is a front elevational view of another alternate embodiment of the present invention having a protective cloth of rip-proof material sewn to the kneepads under each of the locking clips so that when the clips are attached to the pants, the protective cloth is between the jaws of the clip and the pants to protect the pants from cutting, or putting holes in the pants; 
       FIG. 11  is a side elevational view of the alternate embodiment of  FIG. 6  with the device mounted on the knee of a wearer showing the protective cloth between the jaws of the clips and the pants to protect the pants from cutting, or putting holes in the pants; 
       FIG. 12  is a back elevational view of another alternate embodiment of the present invention having a ballistic insert pad of bullet-proof light weight flexible ballistic material shown inserted behind the kneepad; 
       FIG. 13  is a side elevational view of another alternate embodiment of the kneepad device of the present invention having a bottom strap to connect between the two bottom clips so that the bottom strap wraps around the leg of the wearer below the knee with the top clips attached to shorts; 
       FIG. 14  is a perspective view of another alternate embodiment of the kneepad device of the present invention having a small bendable pad inserted in a short sleeve with top and bottom pairs of locking clips for use either on a knee or an elbow of a wearer, showing the small bendable pad being inserted in the short sleeve; 
       FIG. 15  is a perspective view of the small bendable pad of the alternate embodiment of  FIG. 14 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   In  FIGS. 1-15 , a kneepad device  20  and  20 A- 20 F with locking clips  21  attaches to the sides of pant leg fabric  41  to lock the kneepad device  20  and  20 A- 20 F in place on the pant leg  40 . The kneepad device  20  and  20 A- 20 F is structured to fit over a knee of a wearer to protect the knee. 
   The kneepad device  20  and  20 A- 20 F comprises a top pair of locking clips  21  extending from two opposing top edges of the kneepad  27  and a bottom pair of locking clips  21  extending from two opposing bottom edges of the kneepad  27 . Each of the locking clips  21  comprises a spring loaded clip  14  having a pair of jaws  23 A and  23 B pivotally attached together by a spring loaded pivot pin  15  at a proximal end and a clip control plate  22  for opening and closing the jaws  23 A and  23 B, as shown in  FIG. 2 . The jaws  23 A and  23 B each have a means for engaging pants material  41  at a distal end, preferably overlapping teeth  24  so that the jaws  23 A and  23 B are pivotable together in a closed position with the jaws  23 A and  23 B of the top pair of locking clips  21  engaging pants material  41  on each side of a pants leg  40  above a knee of a user and the jaws  23 A and  23 B of the bottom pair of locking clips  21  engaging pants material  41  on each side of a pants leg  40  below a knee of a user. 
   The means for engaging pants material  41  comprises an array of teeth  24  extending orthogonally from a distal end of one of the pair of jaws  23 A misaligned and overlapping with an array of teeth  24  extending orthogonally from the distal end of the other of the pair of jaws  23 B with the teeth  24  of the pair of jaws overlapping  23 A and  23 B each other in close proximity in the closed position so that the overlapping teeth  24  grip the pants material  41  with a tight friction fit without piercing the pants material  41 . The locking clips  21  comprises a pair of jaws  23 A and  23 B coated with a rubberized material at least on the teeth  24  to create a high friction surface to prevent slippage with the pants material  41  and with smooth rounded edges to prevent tearing the pants material. 
   The locking clips  21  also comprise a clip locking loop  26  slidably attached to each of the spring loaded clips  14 . The clip locking loop  26  has a high friction outer surface and is configured to slide over the spring loaded clip  14  encircling the clip control plate  22  and the pair of jaws  23 A and  23 B of the clip  14  with the pair of jaws  23 A and  23 B in the closed position engaging the pants material  41  to lock the jaws  23 A and  23 B closed over the material  41 , thereby forming a locking clip  21  to lock the kneepad  27  onto the pants  41 , as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
   The clip locking loop  26  comprises a closed loop  26  of strong material coated with an outer resilient rubberized high friction surface or entirely fabricated of a rubberized material, preferably an oval loop  26  coated with a rubberized surface and having a series of ridges  16  inside the loop  26  to engage the spring clip  14  and a series of ridges  16  outside the loop  26  for gripping to move the clip locking loop  26  to lock and unlock the spring clip  14 . The loop  26  has an inner perimeter mating with and slightly smaller than the outer perimeter of the spring clip  14  so that the outer resilient rubberized surface stretches to enable the clip locking loop  26  to slide over the spring clip  14  and to remain around the spring clip  14  with a high tension fit enhanced by the high friction surface to secure the clip locking loop  26  around the spring clip  14 , the two combined forming the locking clip  21 , as shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  3  and  4 . 
   In  FIGS. 2 and 3 , each of the spring clips  14  further comprises a strap attaching element  25  attached to the proximal end of the spring clip  14 . The strap attaching element  25 , in this case a metal ring, has a slot opening  25 A therein. The adjustable length strap  17  comprises an elongated strap  17  having a proximal strap end attached to the kneepad  27  and a distal strap end inserted through the slot opening  25 A and overlapping itself to form an overlapping section of the elongated strap  17  with a pair of mating hook and loop fasteners  18  and  19  attached to the elongated strap  17  for securing the overlapping section of the elongated strap  17  together so that the elongated strap  17  is adjustable to any desired length to form a tight attachment of the kneepad device  20  and  20 A- 20 F to the pants  40 . 
   In  FIGS. 1-6  and  10 - 13 , the kneepad  27  of the device  20 ,  20 A, and  20 C- 20 E comprises a large padded underside  28  and  28 A in contact with the pants  40  of the wearer and a smaller hard outer shell  29  with some flexibility covering just the kneecap for full kneecap protection in a flexible knee pad. 
   In  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the kneepad device  20 A may comprise an extended padding  28 A and a covering strip of material  10  loosely encircling a leg of a user over each of the pair of locking clips  21  to shield the locking clips  21 . Each covering strip of material  10  comprises a one-part or two-part overlapping strip of material extending from each of two opposing sides of the kneepad  20 A and interconnected by mating hook and loop fasteners. 
   In  FIGS. 7-9 , an alternate kneepad device  20 B further comprises a bendable insert  39 A of padding material, such as a rubberized or dense foam material, inserted in an elongated sleeve  11  of outer rugged fabric, such as canvas or reinforced canvas. The bendable insert has grooves  37  to allow bending and has an upper knee covering portion  39 A and a lower shin covering portion  39 B of padding material extending from a bottom of the kneepad covering portion  39 A for covering a shin of a wearer. The outer sleeve has an upper and lower pair of locking clips  21  positioned above and below the knee as well as an additional pair of locking clips  21  extending from two opposing bottom edges of the elongated sleeve  11 . The alternate kneepad device  20 B also comprises an adjustable length strap  17  attaching each of the locking clips  21  to the kneepad  27  and further comprises an adjustable length strap  17  attaching each of the locking clips  21  to the sleeve  11 . Each of the locking clips  21  of the device  20 B may further comprise a strap attaching element  25  attached to the proximal end of the locking clip  21 . The strap attaching element  25  has a slot opening  25 A therein. The adjustable length strap  17  comprises an elongated strap  17  having a proximal strap end attached to the kneepad  27  and a distal strap end inserted through the slot opening  25 A and overlapping itself to form an overlapping section of the elongated strap  17  with a pair of mating hook and loop fasteners attached to the elongated strap  17  for securing the overlapping section of the elongated strap  17  together so that the elongated strap  17  is adjustable to any desired length to form a tight attachment of the kneepad device  20 B to the pants  40 . 
   In  FIGS. 10 and 11 , a strip of rip-proof rubber coated protective material  30  is attached to the kneepad under each of the locking clips  21 , which rip-proof material  30  fits between the jaws of the locking clips  21  and the pants fabric  41  to insure that the pants fabric does not rip or puncture, as shown in  FIG. 11 . 
   In  FIG. 12 , another alternate embodiment of the kneepad device  20 D comprises a bullet proof ballistic insert pad  35 , preferably fabricated of light weight flexible ballistic materials, inserted behind the kneepad  27  to prevent ballistic penetration to the knee of a wearer. 
   In  FIGS. 14 and 15 , another alternate embodiment of the kneepad device  20 F comprises a small bendable padded material  38 A with a top padded section  39 C and a bottom padded section  39 D interconnected by a thin strip of the material to permit relative bending of the two sections as well as grooves  37  to permit bending around the leg or arm of a wearer. The small bendable padded material is insertable within a short sleeve  11 A to form a convertible pad which may be used over the knee of the user or over the elbow of the user with top and bottom pairs of locking clips  21 . 
   In  FIG. 13 , another alternate embodiment of the kneepad device  20 E comprises a pair of locking clips  21  at the top of the kneepad for engaging material  41  on a pair of shorts  40 A worn by the user and a soft leg encircling adjustable bottom strap  34  attached to the bottom locking clips  21  of the kneepad to encircle a bare leg of the user below the knee. 
   The kneepad device  20  and  20 A- 20 F of the present invention is preferably fabricated of heavy duty materials including ½″ thick NEOPRENE rubber inner padding  28  and  28 A, a flexible hard rubber cap  29  over the knee stitched down on the inner padding  28  and  28 A to prevent debris entry, 1″ sturdy canvas straps  17  with mating hook and loop fasteners  18  and  19  sewn or adhered to it, and waterproof nylon material. The kneepad cloth material can be made of any color fabric that may be fire proof, bullet proof, or other qualities necessary for the application. The clip locking loops  26  are preferably made of sturdy molded rubber material, but may be made of hard plastic, cloth material, or any other object around the spring clip  14  to keep it locked closed secured to the pants material  41 . The spring loaded clips  14  are made of steel, plastic, or any hard materials and are preferably 1″ extra heavy duty spring loaded clips  14  with coated teeth  24  dipped in rubber. An optional extra cover  11  with straps  17 , or elastic straps  10  that wrap around the legs  40  can be use as extra holding on the legs  40 . 
   In use, the overlapping sections of the strap  17  on the bottom edge of the kneepad  27  with the hook and loop fasteners  18  and  19  are pulled open first, then the locking clip  21  is positioned on the strap  17  to clip the kneepad  27  to the side fabric  41  of the pants leg  40 . Next, make sure upper jaw  23 A and the clip control plate  22  of the gripper clip  21  open to the outside. Do this for all four strap points. 
   Position the pad  27  for best protection of the knee area, then gather the pant material  41  from side of the leg  40  and fasten the spring clip  14  by pressing down on the clip control plate  22  with the jaws  23 A and  23 B engaging the pants material  41  therebetween and then sliding the clip locking loop  26  over the spring clip  14  to form the combined locking clip  21  and lock it on the material, as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 6 , to prevent accidental opening. The clip lock loop  26  will keep the metal spring clips  21  positively closed until the user wishes to remove the knee pad devices  20  and  20 A- 20 F. Pull the hook strap  17  over and secure by mating the hook and loop fasteners  18  and  19  for a comfortable fit. Repeat for each side and locking clip  21  of the kneepad  27 . The vertical positioning of the kneepad device  20 ,  20 A and  20 B may need to be adjusted several times to find the most comfortable position to wear the knee pad  27 . 
   The further the strap  17  is placed around the leg to attach the clips  21  the tighter the straps  17  can be adjusted when the hook strap  17  is reattached to the back on the kneepads  20 ,  20 A and  20 B. 
   Adjusting the straps  17  allows a comfortable fit on both sides  41  of pants  40 . The kneepads  20 ,  20 A and  20 B should stay in a hanging position without binding or cutting off circulation like other knee pad straps. 
   Alternately, the knee protection  20 E may be worn with knee-length shorts by attaching the top clips  21  to the either side of the shorts leg. An auxiliary strip of material  34  is then used on the back of the leg to attach the bottom clips  21  on each side of the auxiliary strip. The auxiliary strip of material may be made from any comfortable material available. 
   The lock on kneepads  20  and  20 A- 20 F of the present invention can used by almost everyone, including construction workers, soldiers, police tactical officers and those involved in intense tactical training. 
   It is understood that the preceding description is given merely by way of illustration and not in limitation of the invention and that various modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.