Abstract:
A hockey pant assembly having an outer pant portion and an inner protective padding comprising a protective girdle and a pair of front thigh padding protectors. The inner protective padding is releasably connected as a unit to the outer pant such that it can be removed and installed quickly and easily in a variety of outer pants of different colors and designs.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to protective equipment for hockey and other such sporting activities. More specifically, the invention relates to protective pants having an interchangeable protective unit.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    In recent years, safety has become an issue of increasing importance in professional and amateur sports. Sports such as hockey, that often involve rough physical contact between players, require that the players devote an increased amount of attention towards their protection and physical safety. Thus, it is important that players have proper equipment to protect them from injury during a game.  
           [0003]    Hockey pants are one of the most important pieces of protective equipment that hockey players wear. The Hockey pants cover the player&#39;s midsection from the waist to the knees and provide the needed protection to the player&#39;s upper leg and pelvic region so that injury to those areas may be prevented.  
           [0004]    Hockey pants are not only worn to protect a player, they are also a very visible piece of equipment. The color of the hockey pants is an integral part of the hockey uniform that designates which team a player belongs to. Often, especially with amateur players, a player will belong to more than one hockey team, which means that for each team a player belongs to, he or she may be required to purchase in the colors of that team. This mean that a given player could have two or three different pairs of hockey pants, each in a different color.  
           [0005]    Selling color-specific hockey pants could also be problematic for hockey equipment retailers. Hockey pants are reasonably expensive and it is possible that at the end of a season a retailer will find that say, all the hockey pants in blue and black (which turned out to be the most popular colors of the season) have been sold, but that a significant quantity of red hockey pants are still left over.  
           [0006]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,926,856 (Duval) describes hockey pants having removable padding members. The protective hockey pant disclosed by Duval comprises an outer shell, multiple back padded members and an upper padded member. The upper padded member and the multiple back padded members can be releasably attached to the outer shell so that the shell can be laundered. A disadvantage of the hockey pant disclosed by Duval is that the front padded member, and each individual back padded member is a separate element. This makes removing and inserting the padding members a laborious, time consuming task. It also creates the added difficulty of remembering how each padding member fits back into the outer shell.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    An object of the invention is to provide hockey pants that have interchangeable protective padding that is quick and easy to insert and remove from the hockey pant.  
           [0008]    It is also an object of the present invention to provide a protective-padding unit that combines a plurality of padding elements into one piece.  
           [0009]    It is a further object of the present invention to provide a one-piece protective padding assembly that can be attached or removed from within an outer hockey pant quickly and easily.  
           [0010]    As embodied and broadly described herein, the present invention provides a hockey pant assembly comprising an outer pant having a right leg portion, a left leg portion and a pelvic region; and an inner protective padding comprising a protective girdle and a pair of front thigh padding protectors. The protective girdle comprises a rib padding protector and a hip padding protector. The inner protective padding is releasably connected to an upper portion of the outer pant; the inner protective padding adapted to be removable as a unit from said outer pant.  
           [0011]    Advantageously, with a removable padding assembly the retailers would only have to stock one type of padding assembly, which is the more costly part of the hockey pant, and could then stock a variety of colors and styles of outer pants which are the less expensive part of the hockey pant. If there were some red outer pants left over at the end of the season, it would not be as big a loss to the retailer as to have completely assembled protective pants left over.  
           [0012]    As embodied and broadly described herein, the present invention provides a hockey pant assembly kit comprising at least two outer pants each having a right leg portion, a left leg portion and a pelvic region; and an inner protective padding comprising a protective girdle and a pair of front thigh padding protectors. The inner protective padding is releasably connected one of the outer pants and is adapted to be removed from one of the outer pants and inserted into another one of the outer pants.  
           [0013]    Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]    A detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention is provided herein below, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 1 is a front view of an assembled hockey pant and protective unit in accordance the present invention;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 2 is a back view of an assembled outer hockey pant and protective unit of FIG. 1;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 3 is a side view of the assembled outer hockey pant and protective unit of FIG. 1;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 4 is a front view of an outer hockey pant in accordance with the present invention without a protective unit;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 5 is a back view the outer hockey pant of FIG. 4;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 6 is a front view of the protective unit of the present invention without the outer hockey pant;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 7 is a back view of the protective unit of FIG. 6; and  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 8 is a side view of the protective unit of FIG. 6;  
         [0023]    In the drawings, preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of examples. It is to be expressly understood that the description and the drawings are only for the purpose of illustration and as an aid to understanding. They are not intended to be a definition of the limits of the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0024]    Shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and  3  is a preferred embodiment of a hockey pant assembly  20  according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. Hockey pant assembly  20  comprises two parts, namely an outer pant  22  and an inner protective unit  24 . Although not clearly visible in FIGS. 1, 2 and  3 , inner protective unit  24  is the most substantial half of hockey pant assembly  20 , both in terms of weight and in terms of importance. It is inner protective unit  24  that comprises most of the padding that will provide protection to the wearer. Outer pant  22  functions mostly as a covering for inner protective unit  24  and gives protective assembly  24  an aesthetically pleasing look. The two parts, outer pant  22  and inner protective unit  24 , are designed to be attachable and detachable from one another. Therefore, a wearer may attach a variety of different outer pants  22  to protective unit  24 , in order to have hockey pants of differing colors or styles.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIGS. 4 and 5 show outer pant  22  without inner protective unit  24 . Outer pant  22  is preferably made of a single or multi layer nylon material that is resistant to rip and cuts. Other synthetic and natural materials are likewise contemplated for alternate embodiments. It is also preferable that outer pant  22  be made of a water resistant, if not water proof, material so that water from the ice does not soak through the pant and reach the wearer&#39;s skin.  
         [0026]    Outer pant  22  is generally made to cover the portion of the wearer&#39;s body between the knees and the waist. As can be seen in FIG. 4, outer pant  22  comprises a left leg portion  26  that covers the wearer&#39;s left thigh, a right leg portion  28  that covers the wearer&#39;s right thigh, both of tubular configuration to encircle the thighs of the player. Outer pant  22  further comprises a pelvic portion  27  that covers the wearer&#39;s front and back pelvic and crotch regions to which is attached both left and right leg portions  26  and  28 . As can be seen in FIG. 5, part of outer pant  22  is made of an elastic material  41  that provides flexibility.  
         [0027]    Outer pant  22  comprises many decorative features as well as functional features. In the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 4, outer pant  22  comprises a waist band  36  is padded and provides added protection around the waist of the player as well as enhancing the appearance of outer pant  22 . Extending up from waist band  36  are two wings  34  that extend as high as the wearer&#39;s lower ribs. On the tip of the two wings  34  is half a zipper  35  for engaging with a second half of a zipper when outer pant  22  is to be assembled with protective unit  24 . Button holes are also provided on the inside surface wings  34  (not shown) that allow outer pant  22  to be secured to inner protective unit  24 .  
         [0028]    Waist band  36  further comprises a handle  62  located in the rear of outer pant  22  (seen in FIG. 2 and FIG. 5) that is used for handling hockey pant  20  as well as suspending it on a hook in the dressing room.  
         [0029]    Outer pant  22  further comprises a lace-up fly  32  that extends from slightly above the wearer&#39;s crotch to the wearer&#39;s waist. The lace-up fly  32  can be opened and closed to facilitate the putting on and removal of outer pant  22 . Lace-up fly  32  further allows a wearer to tighten outer pant  22  so that outer pant  22  fits snugly around the wearer&#39;s hips. Although FIG. 4 shows a lace-up fly  32  it should be expressly understood that any type of securing means, such as a zipper or buttons, can be used to loosen and tighten outer pant  22 .  
         [0030]    Legs  26  and  28  of outer pant  22 , each comprise an internal pocket in the front of the leg region (internal pockets not shown in the drawings) for further facilitating the attachment of protective unit  24  within outer pant  22 . Although not shown in the drawings, it is possible for outer pant  22  to contain inner pockets on the rear side of the leg as well.  
         [0031]    Inner protective padding unit  24  is shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and  8 . Inner protective padding  24  consist of a protective girdle  25  that comprises most, if not all, of the padding elements generally included in the upper portion of a typical pair of hockey pants. Protective girdle  25  has an abdomen section  52  that fits around a wearer&#39;s body slightly above the waist and a pelvic padded region  54  surrounding the wearer&#39;s front and back pelvic and crotch regions. Thigh protectors  38  are connected to protective girdle  25  for covering the front and sides of the wearer&#39;s legs. Located at the abdomen section  52  of protective girdle  25 , are rib protectors  42 . Rib protectors  42  are made of semi-rigid padding that can absorb impact inflicted to the wearer&#39;s lower ribs.  
         [0032]    A flap  46  runs along the upper portion of protective girdle  25  at a location slightly above rib protectors  42 . Located underneath flap  46  is a half zipper for engaging with the other half of the zipper  35 , located on the top of wings  34  of outer pant  22 . Located at the bottom of rib protectors  42  are a plurality of buttons  68 , which engage the button holes of outer pant  22 .  
         [0033]    As seen in FIG. 6, located around abdomen section  52  of protective girdle  25  is an adjustable belt  48 . Adjustable belt  48  allows a wearer to tighten protective unit  24  around the wearer&#39;s body and enables the wearer to better adjust the fit of protective unit  24  and of hockey pant  20 .  
         [0034]    As can be seen in FIG. 7, at the back of protective unit  24 , is a lower spine protector  44 . Lower spine protector  44  is made of thick padding that can absorb impact inflicted to the wearer&#39;s lower back. Lower spine protector  44  extends higher than the front portion of protective unit  24  in order to cover a substantial portion of the wearer&#39;s lower back. It is important that spine protector  44  doesn&#39;t lose contact with the wearer&#39;s lower back when the wearer is bent over in the skating position which would leave the lower spine unprotected.  
         [0035]    At the front of protective unit  24  is a gap  56  that is left to allow size adjustment of protective girdle  25 . In use, the unprotected area left by gap  56  is filled with a jock strap normally worn by a hockey player. In a preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 6, in addition to adjustable belt  48  there are lace eyelets  55  located on either side of gap  56  at the abdomen region  52  so that a wearer may use a lacing chord to tighten the upper abdomen region  52 . It should be expressly understood that any tightening mechanism could be incorporated into protective unit  24  in order to tighten gap  56 .  
         [0036]    The pelvic region  54  of protective girdle  25  is made up of a strong flexible material that forms a frame  59  to surround pelvic region  54 . Frame  59  covers most of the area surrounding a wearer&#39;s hip, pelvis and upper leg, and covers the base of the wearer&#39;s back, as can be seen in FIG. 7, thereby protecting the wearer&#39;s coccyx. However, in order to better protect the wearer&#39;s hips, hip protectors  57  are attached to frame  59  at the region covering the wearer&#39;s hipbones. A wearer&#39;s hip region is particularly susceptible to hard blows and therefore requires the additional protection of hip protectors  57 . In a preferred embodiment hip protectors  57  are made of two layers, namely an outside rigid layer, and an inside cushioned layer. These two layers facilitate complete absorption of any impact to the wearer&#39;s hip.  
         [0037]    Depending from the lower end of frame  59  are the front thigh protectors  38 . In this embodiment of protective unit  24 , which is illustrated in FIGS. 6, 7 and  8 , front thigh pads  38  are shown attached to frame  59  by straps  60 . Straps  60  are made of a strong nylon-blend material and are sewn into both frame  59  and thigh protectors  38 . There are two straps  60  attaching each thigh protector  38  to frame  59  in order to fasten thigh protectors  38  in place. Thigh protectors  38  may also be separate from protective girdle  24  and individually positioned into the pockets of outer pant  22  provided to that effect. Front thigh protectors  38  are made of rigid cushioned material formed to follow the contour of a wearer&#39;s leg when the wearer is in motion.  
         [0038]    Straps  60  may be any form of flexible attachment means possible or may be absent altogether to form three separate components to be assembled with outer pant  22 . Thigh protectors  38  are not connected to protective unit  24  and just remain inside the internal pockets of outer pant  22 . In an alternate embodiment frame  59  could extend down to the thigh region, and be connected directly to thigh protectors  38 .  
         [0039]    As mentioned above, protective unit  24  and outer pant  22  are designed to be removably attached to one another in order to form a complete hockey pant assembly  20 , as seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and  3 . In preparation for playing hockey, the wearer must secure the two parts, outer pant  22  and protective unit  24  together. The first step in assembling outer pant  22  and protective unit  24 , is to insert thigh protectors  38  within the inner pockets (not shown) of outer pant  22 . The inner pockets maintain thigh protectors  38  in place on a wearer&#39;s leg so that they do not move out of place during movement of the wearer&#39;s legs.  
         [0040]    In order to connect protective girdle  25  of protective unit  24  to outer pant  22 , buttons  68  shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 are buttoned into the corresponding holes located on the interior surface of wings  34  (corresponding button holes are not shown in the drawings). While FIG. 6 depicts buttons, it should be expressly understood that any form of fastening means, such as velcro or snaps, could be adopted instead. Any fastening means that connects outer pant  22  to protective unit  24  is within the scope of the present invention.  
         [0041]    As described above protective unit  24  comprises half a zipper, which is located underneath flap  46  and outer pant  22  also comprises half a zipper  35 , which is located on the rim of wings  34 . In order to assemble the wings  34  to the rib protectors  42  of protective unit  24 , the two halves of the zipper are connected. Flap  46  is then bent over the connected zipper and over a small portion of wings  34 , thereby covering the zipper. Covering the zipper not only gives pant assembly  20  a more pleasing aesthetic look, it also increases safety by avoiding injuries to the wearer or other players due to contact with the zipper. Although a zipper is the preferred device for connecting wings  34  to protective unit  24 , any fastening means such as velcro or buttons is within the scope of the invention.  
         [0042]    Once  22  and  24  are assembled, the only visible portions of  24  are flap  46 , lower spine protector  44  and the frontal area of abdomen section  52 . All these parts are made of a neutral color, such as black, so as to coordinate with as many colors of outer pant  22  as possible.  
         [0043]    All the padding elements included in inner protective unit  24  are inserted and removed at the same time if all connected together or concurrently if inner protective unit  24  is in three parts. As described above, the assembly and disassembly of protective unit  24  and outer pant  22  is quick and easy. In the embodiment described above there are only the three steps for connecting the two parts together, namely inserting thigh protectors  38  within the inner pockets of outer pant  22 , inserting buttons  68  within the button holes and finally, zipping the zipper located on the top of wings  34 , and folding flap  46  over wings  34 . The steps of assembling outer pant  22  and protective unit  24  may be done in any order and it should be understood that additional means for securing the two parts together are within the scope of the invention. It is also within the scope of the invention to have less than three means for connection. As an example, it would be sufficient to insert thigh protectors  38  within the inner pockets of outer pant  22  and to connect the zipper at the top of rib protectors  42 . So long as the two parts are securely connected together, any method of attachment is within the scope of the invention.  
         [0044]    Hockey pant assembly  20  is particularly useful for hockey players who play on more than one team and require hockey pants of differing colors (one for each team to which the player belongs). Once outer pant  22  has been removed from protective unit  24 , a new or different pair of outer pants  22  can be attached to inner protective unit  24 . In this way, a wearer must simply own one inner protective unit  24  and many outer pants  22 , in order to have hockey pants of differing colors. Alternatively, when a wearer has worn-out outer pant  22 , the wearer does not need to buy an entire new set of hockey pants. Instead, the wearer must simply purchase a new pair of outer pants  22 .  
         [0045]    The description of preferred embodiments should not be interpreted in a limiting manner since other variations, modifications and refinements are possible within the spirit and scope of the present invention. The scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.