Abstract:
A garment may comprise a wearable portion and one or more pockets on the wearable portion for holding one or more weights. The one or more pockets may each include elastic straps within an interior of each of the one or more pockets for securing the one or more weights within each of the one or more pockets, a flap for enclosing an opening of each of the one or more pockets, and an enclosure mechanism for securing the flap when enclosing the opening of the one or more pockets.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. provisional patent application no. 61/375,591 filed Aug. 20, 2010, and incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention generally relates to garments, and more particularly relates to a garment wearable by a user and having pockets where weights may be placed to increase resistance for the user. 
         [0003]    Currently, obesity has become a national crisis in the United States. Ever increasing work hours and long commutes often make it difficult if not impossible for people to set aside time to workout or exercise. 
         [0004]    As can be seen, there is a need for ways to help a person stay fit during the course of everyday activities without the need to carve out time to exercise. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    In one aspect of the present invention, a garment comprises a wearable portion; and one or more pockets on the wearable portion for holding one or more weights, the one or more pockets each including: elastic straps within an interior of each of the one or more pockets for securing the one or more weights within each of the one or more pockets, a flap for enclosing an opening of each of the one or more pockets, and an enclosure mechanism for securing the flap when enclosing the opening of the one or more pockets. 
         [0006]    These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]      FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of a weighted baseball cap in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  shows a detail elevation view of the weighted baseball cap of  FIG. 1  with parts broken away, indicated by line  2 - 2  of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  shows a cross-sectional view of the weighted baseball cap of  FIG. 1  taken on line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  shows a cross-sectional view of the weighted baseball cap of  FIG. 1  taken on line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  shows a perspective view of weighted footwear in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0012]      FIG. 6  shows a perspective view of a weighted necktie in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0013]      FIG. 7  shows a detail perspective view of weights for use in weighted exercise garments in accordance with another embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0014]    The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims. 
         [0015]    Various inventive features are described below that can each be used independently of one another or in combination with other features. 
         [0016]    Broadly, embodiments of the present invention generally provide weighted garments that may be worn by a user during the course of everyday activities to improve the general health and physical conditioning of the user without having to carve out time to exercise. 
         [0017]    By placing a desired amount of weights into garments and by wearing the now weighted garments, the user may be able to get into better shape during the course of a normal day. The user may be able to simply adjust the desired level of resistance by adding or taking out weights from the garments, or by wearing more or less pieces of weighted garments. 
         [0018]    With reference to  FIG. 1 , a garment may be worn by a user in which weights may be added to a wearable portion of the garment to provide additional resistance for the user. The wearable portion of the garment may be headwear such as a baseball cap  11  having one or more pockets  10  directly on the exterior portion  12  of the cap  11  for accepting one or more weights (not shown). For example, the one or more pockets  10  may be sewn directly on the exterior portion  12  of the cap  11 . The cap  11  may also have a variety of different-sized pockets  10  on various locations of the cap  11 . 
         [0019]    The pockets  10  on the cap  11  may each have a flap  14  for enclosing the one or more weights (not shown) within the pockets  10 , and the flap  14  may have an enclosure mechanism  16 , such as a snap enclosure mechanism or a hook and pile system to secure the flap  14  when it is in a closed position. 
         [0020]    The cap  11  may be made of any suitable material, including but not limited to cotton, polyester, spandex, swede, lace, or leather. The cap  11  may be of any appropriate size as needed. 
         [0021]    With reference to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , weights  18  may be secured within the pockets  10  via one or more elastic bands  20  within the pockets  10 . For example, the elastic bands  20  may wrap around at least a portion of the weights  18 . 
         [0022]    With reference to  FIG. 4 , the flap  14  of the pocket  10  may be double layered via use of an interior material  13 , thus offering additional protection and buffering when weights  18  are placed inside the pocket  10 . The weights  18  may be rectangular in shape, or may be any other appropriate shape. The weights  18  may also be magnetic so that multiple weights  18  may be secure together and placed within a single pocket  10 . 
         [0023]    With reference to  FIG. 5 , the wearable portion of the garment may be footwear such as shoes  22 , having one or more pockets  10  directly on the exterior portion  24  of the shoe  22 . For example, the one or more pockets  10  may be sewn directly onto the exterior portion  24  of the shoe. The pockets  10  on the shoes  22  may each have a flap  14  for enclosing one or more weights (not shown) within the pockets  10 , and the flap  14  may have an enclosure mechanism  16 , such as a snap enclosure mechanism or a hook and pile system to secure the flap  14  when it is in a closed position. Weights may be secured within the pocket  10  via one or more elastic bands (not shown) inside the pocket  10 . For example, the elastic bands may wrap around at least a portion of the weights. 
         [0024]    The shoes  22  may be made of any suitable material, including but not limited to cotton, polyester, spandex, swede, lace, or leather. The shoes  22  may be of any appropriate size as needed. 
         [0025]    With reference to  FIG. 6 , the wearable portion of the garment may be a necktie  26  having one or more pockets  10  directly on the exterior portion  28  (such as the portion of the necktie  26  that faces outwards when it is tied on a user) of the necktie  26 . For example, the one or more pockets  10  may be sewn directly onto the exterior portion  28  of the necktie  26 . The pockets  10  on the necktie  26  may each have a flap  14  for enclosing one or more weights (not shown) within the pockets  10 , and the flap  14  may have an enclosure mechanism  16 , such as a snap enclosure mechanism or hook and pile system to secure the flap  14  when it is in a closed position. Weights may be secured within the pocket  10  via one or more elastic bands (not shown) inside the pocket  10 . For example, the elastic bands may wrap around at least a portion of the weights. 
         [0026]    The necktie  26  may be made of any suitable material, including but not limited to cotton, polyester, spandex, swede, lace, or leather. The necktie  26  may be of any appropriate size as needed. 
         [0027]    With reference to  FIG. 7 , interlockable weights  30  may be placed into the pockets of the garments described above. Interlockable weights  30  may be weights that may be designed that they have a protruding portion  32  and a slot  34 , wherein the protruding portion  32  of one weight  30  may fit into the slot  34  of another weight  30 . The interlocking nature of the weights  30  may help to prevent the weights  30  from bouncing around loosely in the garments  30  of the garments described above, thus increasing comfort and lessening the chance of injury for the user wearing the garment. The interlockable weights  30  may also be magnetic, to aid in securing multiple weights together. 
         [0028]    It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.