Abstract:
A clothing article has a waist, a seat, pant legs, foot coverings disposed at the end of the pant legs, each foot covering having a toe, heel, sole and top formed to accept a human foot, the foot covering having a length, and a width varying at different points along the length, an opening in one or more of the toe, heel, sole or top of the foot covering, the opening having a length having a first edge and a second edge, and a width between a third edge and a fourth edge, a first flap of material joined to the foot covering along the third edge and along at least a portion of the first and the second edges, a second flap of material joined along the fourth edge and along the first and the second edges, the second flap of material overlapping the first flap of material.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED DOCUMENTS 
       [0001]    The present invention claims priority to co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 14/081,447, filed on Nov. 15, 2013, which claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application 61/734,659, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Incorporating Booties with Clothing Bottoms”, filed on Dec. 7, 2012, disclosures of which are incorporated herein at least by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention is in the field of clothing including sweatpants and sleepwear and pertains particularly to methods and apparatus for providing foot coverings with at least one opening for extending the foot through the covering to the outside. 
         [0004]    2. Discussion of the State of the Art 
         [0005]    In the field of retail clothing, more particularly sweatpants and sleepwear, pants exist that include foot coverings commonly referred to as booties on the end of the pant legs. Booties completely cover the foot when wearing such articles of clothing. One problem with the booties is that under certain circumstances the wearer&#39;s feet become too warm while wearing the article necessitating removal of a portion of or the entire article of clothing. 
         [0006]    Therefore, what is clearly needed is an article of clothing including booties or footies that solves the above mentioned problem. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    In one embodiment of the invention a clothing article is provided, comprising a waist band, a seat portion, two pant legs, two foot coverings disposed one each at the end of the pant legs, each foot covering having portions including a toe, heel, sole and top formed to a shape to accept a human foot, the foot covering having a length in the direction from the heel to the toe portion, and a width varying at different points along the length, an opening in one or more of the toe, heel, sole or top of the foot covering, the opening having a length sufficient to pass the human foot, the length having a first edge and a second edge, and a width between a third edge and a fourth edge parallel or conformal, a first flap of material joined to the foot covering along the third edge and along at least a portion of the first and the second edge, the first flap of material overlapping a portion of the opening, and a second flap of material joined to the foot covering along the fourth edge and along at least a portion of the first and the second edge, the second flap of material overlapping the first flap of material, leaving a path between the adjacent flaps from inside the foot covering to the outside of the foot covering. 
         [0008]    In one embodiment both flaps are of material stretchable in at least the direction of the width of the opening. Also in one embodiment the first and the second flaps are conformal to the size of the opening. Also in one embodiment the foot coverings have soles made of resilient material. Also in one embodiment the foot coverings are lined on the inside with Sherpa material. 
         [0009]    In one embodiment a portion of each pant leg is lined at least partially with fleece on the inside. Also in one embodiment the opening is disposed horizontally across the sole of each foot portion substantially centered between the heel and toe of the foot portion. Also in one embodiment the opening is disposed in the top portion of the foot covering. Also in one embodiment the opening is disposed through the sole portion near the toe portion of the foot covering. 
         [0010]    In one embodiment the opening is disposed through the sole portion horizontally across the heel of the sole portion of each foot covering. Also in one embodiment the opening is disposed along the longitudinal centerline of the sole between the heel and toe of each foot covering. Also in one embodiment the opening is disposed along one or the other lengthwise edge of the sole portion of each foot covering. Also in one embodiment the opening is disposed horizontally across the back of each foot covering above the heel. Also in one embodiment the opening in the top portion is disposed lengthwise in the direction of the length of the sole of the foot covering. And in one embodiment the opening in the top portion is disposed horizontally, orthogonal to the direction of the length of the sole foot covering. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES 
         [0011]      FIG. 1  is an elevation view of an article of clothing according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a foot covering of the article of clothing of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a foot covering according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  is an elevation view of a foot covering according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a foot covering according to another embodiment of the invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 6  is an elevation view of the soles of the foot coverings of  FIG. 1  according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0017]    The inventor provides an article of clothing, in one embodiment, sweatpants that include foot coverings with openings provided therein for the feet to be optionally extended through to the outside. The present invention is described in enabling detail using the following examples, which may describe more than one relevant embodiment falling within the scope of the present invention. 
         [0018]      FIG. 1  is an elevation view of a clothing article  100  according to an embodiment of the present invention. Clothing article  100 , in this embodiment, is a garment commonly referred to as sweatpants in the art. Sweatpants  100  may be fabricated of a durable and soft material such as a cotton blend interwoven with an absorbent heat retention material like fleece. Clothing article  100  includes a waist band  101 . Waist band  101  may include drawstrings  105 . Drawstrings  105  may be utilized to tighten the clothing article, in this case sweatpants, at the waist. In another embodiment waistband  101  is fabricated from an elastic stretchable material. In one embodiment sweatpants  100  include a seat or seat portion  102 . Seat portion  102  may be reinforced, lined, or padded with supplemental materials in one embodiment. In another embodiment the seat is fabricated from the same material as the sweatpants. 
         [0019]    In one embodiment, sweatpants  100  include a fly  104 . Fly  104  may be a flap opening, a zippered opening, or a buttoned opening without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. In one embodiment sweatpants  100  may include one or more pockets (none illustrated) without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. In one embodiment sweatpants  100  may be attached to a top garment such as a sweat jacket, wind breaker, or some other top garment. Mechanisms of attaching sweatpants to a garment top piece might include hook and loop, snaps, buttons, hooks, zipper, or the like. 
         [0020]    Sweatpants  100  include pant legs  103 . Pant legs  103  may include fleece material for retaining warmth and absorbing moisture. Each pant leg culminates into a foot covering  106 . Foot covering  106  is sewn into pant leg  103  in this embodiment. In another embodiment foot covering  106  may be a contiguous part of the sweatpants material. Foot covering  106  completely encloses the wearer&#39;s foot. Foot covering  106  may also be referred to in the art as a bootie or footie. 
         [0021]    Foot covering  106  in one embodiment includes an opening  108  provided on the sole of the foot covering in a direction substantially orthogonal to the direction of the wearer&#39;s foot. In this view only a far end of the opening is visible. Opening  108  is adapted to enable the wearer to extend the foot through the opening to the outside. Opening  108  may be provided through a resilient stretch material  107  that is used to fabricate the sole of foot covering  106 . More detail about opening  108  is included later in this specification. 
         [0022]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of foot covering  106  of the clothing article of  FIG. 1 . Foot covering  106  is depicted separated from sweatpants  100  to illustrate more detail. Foot covering  106  is separated above the ankle region in this example and depicts a fleece lining  200  that may or may not extend into the foot covering to just above or approximately near the ankle region of the bootie. In this embodiment a portion of foot covering  106  is removed to expose opening  108 . The foot portion or region of foot covering  106  may, in one embodiment, be lined on the inside with a Sherpa material  201 . Sherpa is a commonly used synthetic material designed to retain warmth and absorb moisture. 
         [0023]    Opening  108  may be a slit opening provided through the sole of foot covering  106 , in this case, across the sole of the foot covering substantially orthogonal to the direction of the foot in the bootie. Opening  108  may be a “hidden opening” covered by a flap  203 . Opening  108  may be held together by a fastening mechanism such as a hook and loop connection, snaps, zipper, magnetic strip, buttons, or the like, but may in some embodiments not be fastened. In one embodiment opening  108  is provided with protective flaps or coverings on both the upper surface and bottom surface of the sole of the foot covering. The protective flaps may keep foreign material from entering the opening through the bottom of the sole and also may protect fasteners such as snaps or buttons from direct contact with the floor or ground surface while walking with the feet inside the foot coverings. 
         [0024]    In one embodiment, the opening  203  is not fastened or otherwise closed. In this embodiment protective flap materials may be provided to cover the opening. In another embodiment opening  108  may be provided roughly centered in a Z-cut design provided vertically through the sole of the foot covering that provides a contiguous flap or stretch material on both sides of the opening. This configuration may also include a zipper or other fastening mechanism operated from the outside of the foot covering to close the opening. Such a mechanism might be accessible by lifting the flap on the bottom sole. In another embodiment foot covering  106  might be detachable from sweatpants  106 . 
         [0025]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a foot covering  300  according to another embodiment of the present invention. Foot covering  300  is analogous to foot covering  106  of  FIG. 1  with the exception of the orientation of the opening. Foot covering  300  includes fleece material  200  and Sherpa material  201 , as well as resilient stretch material  107 . 
         [0026]    In this embodiment an opening  300  is provided through the sole of foot covering  300  in a direction substantially in line with the foot inserted into the bootie. In this case opening  300  is covered by material flaps  301   a  and  301   b.  Opening  300  may be of a length sufficient to allow a user to fully extend the foot through the covering to the outside. Opening  300  may be protected on the bottom side of the sole by rubberized flaps or a contiguous flap such as with a Z-cut design placed through the sole bottom and enclosing the opening with a flap on the bottom and one on the inside of the sole. 
         [0027]      FIG. 4  is an elevation view of a foot covering  400  according to another embodiment of the present invention. Foot covering  400  is analogous in description to foot coverings described further above with the exception of the orientation of the opening. In this embodiment an opening  402  is provided through the side of foot covering  400  instead of through the sole of the covering as was described further above. In this embodiment opening  401  may be provided on the “left” side or on the “right” side of the bootie just above and parallel to the sole of the bootie. 
         [0028]    In one embodiment foot covering  400  has two openings, one opening provided on the “left” side and one opening provided on the “right” side of the bootie. Opening  401  is protected by a flap  401 . In this view the opening flap  401  is visible on the outside surface of the foot covering. The opening may also be protected by a similar flap on the inside of the bootie. In one embodiment the sole portion of foot covering  400  is extended to a portion of the side of the covering in area sufficient to support the length of and location of the opening. In this way the opening is still provided through the material comprising the sole of the foot covering. 
         [0029]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a foot covering  500  according to another embodiment of the present invention. Foot covering  500  is analogous in description to foot coverings described further above with the exception of the orientation of the opening. In this embodiment an opening  501  is provided through the top of foot covering  500  instead of through the sole of the covering, or elsewhere as was described further above. In this embodiment opening  401  may be oriented across the top, in the direction of the foot as shown in  FIG. 5 , or at any other angle. Opening  501  is made by slitting the top material of the foot covering for a specific length, and then sewing a flap defined by sides (a), (b), (c) and (d) to the material of the top of the foot covering along sides (a), (b) and (c), but not (d). 
         [0030]    Other areas of the foot covering may also be considered for hosting such an opening without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, opening  402  could be provided closer to the heel or toe of the foot covering. Opening  402  might be provided across the back portion of the foot covering above the heel of the bootie. Opening  402  may be provided across the top surface of the bootie in line with or orthogonal to the line of the foot inserted into the bootie. 
         [0031]      FIG. 6  is an elevation view of soles  600  of foot coverings of  FIG. 1  according to an embodiment of the present invention. Soles  600  are analogous to soles fabricated from a resilient stretchable material referred to in  FIG. 1  as material  107 . In this embodiment the openings are hidden and are therefore not illustrated in this depiction. 
         [0032]    Soles  600  may be printed or otherwise treated with one or more applications of a three dimensional rubberized ink  601  known as “Puff” ink in the art. Puff ink expands when heated to provide a three dimensional surface. In this example Puff ink  601  is applied according to a tread pattern over resilient sole material  602 . The tread pattern might be a standard pattern tied to a specific version or batch of fabricated product where a next batch may include a different tread pattern. In one embodiment tread patterns might be patterns selected by user who order the sweatpants. In another embodiment a customer may create a unique (personalized) tread pattern through a graphics interface at the time of order of the product. 
         [0033]    In one embodiment the tread pattern includes a word, symbol, or numerical indicia, created in mirror fashion so as to be readable by looking at an imprint of the sole of the bootie made on an imprintable ground surface. In one embodiment the tread pattern is unique to a user for the purpose of leaving a personalized imprint somewhere that might identify the wearer to other persons. In one embodiment users who find and photograph foot imprints left by a proprietary or custom tread pattern might produce such images to get discounts on purchases of the product. Functionally speaking, the raised tread pattern provides a superior non-skid surface for walking. The opening, if through the sole, may be hidden by rubberized flaps that may be overprinted with the tread pattern further obscuring the location of the opening in embodiments utilizing “hidden” openings. 
         [0034]    It is noted herein that the openings are described as provided in foot coverings in at least one embodiment for sweatpants. This should not be construed as a limitation to the practice of the present invention. In one embodiment similar openings may be provided in mittens or hand coverings that might be sewn into or otherwise provided with a long-sleeved sweat shirt or jacket. In one embodiment sweatpants with openings in foot coverings and sweat shirt or jackets with openings in hand coverings may be provided and marketed as matching or paired items that might also be marketed separately. 
         [0035]    It will be apparent to one with skill in the art that the clothing article of the invention may be provided using some or all of the mentioned features and components without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. It will also be apparent to the skilled artisan that the embodiments described above are specific examples of a single broader invention that may have greater scope than any of the singular descriptions taught. There may be many alterations made in the descriptions without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.