Abstract:
A garment for one person detachably fastens to one or more garments for one or more other persons. Each of the detachably fastened garments may include indicia or design. The indicia or design may be configured such that a message or larger design is produced when the garments are detachably fastened together.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation of and claims priority to pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/741056, filed Apr. 27, 2007, which claims priority to U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/745830 entitled INCLEMENT WEATHER GARMENT FOR SPORTING FUNCTIONS, filed Apr. 27, 2006, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    This disclosure relates generally to garments and more particularly to garments that detachably fasten to each other. 
         [0003]    Fans of high-school, college, and professional sports often wear team or organization specific clothing to outdoor games to show their support for their team. Fans can also wear colored body paints for the same reason. 
         [0004]    When these same fans must endure the elements (e.g., rain, sleet, snow) to watch their favorite teams, they can don weather-resistant garments or household items such as garbage bags, barrels, or ponchos to stay dry, warm, or comfortable. However, unless the weather-appropriate garments are themselves supportive of the team or transparent, the garments will obscure the other team-specific clothing or body paint, preventing the fans from supporting their favorite team. 
         [0005]    Accordingly, there is a need to allow fans to snow support for their favorite team while wearing weather-appropriate garments. Embodiments of the invention address these and other disadvantages of the conventional art. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0006]    A garment for one person detachably fastens to one or more garments for one or more other persons. Each of the detachably fastened garments can include indicia or a design. The indicia or the design can be configured such that a message or large design is produced when the garments are detachably fastened together. 
         [0007]    The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention that proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]      FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating two garments that can be detachably fastened to each other according to some embodiments of the invention. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a diagram illustrating the garments of  FIG. 1  detachably fastened and worn by two fans. 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a diagram showing two garments detachably fastened and worn by two fans according to some other embodiments of the invention. 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating three garments that can be detachably fastened to each other according to another embodiment. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0012]      FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating two garments  1 ,  2  that can be detachably fastened to each other according to some embodiments of the invention. According to the illustrated embodiments, the garments  1  and  2  are generally rectangular in shape with respective openings  7  and  8  to accommodate putting the garment over a wearer&#39;s head and draping the garment on the wearer&#39;s shoulders around the neck. When worn, the garments  1  and  2  define front sides  3  and  5  along an axis A that dissects the openings  7  and  8 , respectively, that are mostly in front of the wearer and define back sides  4  and  6  also along the axis A that dissects the openings  7  and  8 , respectively, that are mostly in back of the wearer. 
         [0013]    Each of the garments  1  and  2  includes a detachable coupling means, generally indicated as  100 , arranged along the edges of the front sides  3  and  5  and the back sides  4  and  6 . The detachable coupling means  100  can be multi-purpose because they can be used either to detachably couple or fasten the front side  3  and the back side  4  of garment  1  or they can be used to detachably couple or fasten the front side  3  of garment  1  to the front side  5  of garment  2  and the back side  4  of garment  1  to the back side  6  of garment  2 . 
         [0014]    For example, garment  1  can include female snap fasteners  11 A,  13 A,  15 A,  17 A,  19 A, and  21 A arranged along an edge of the front side  3 . These female snap fasteners can be detachably coupled or fastened to corresponding male snap fasteners  11 B,  13 B,  15 B,  17 B,  19 B, and  21 B arranged on an edge of the front side  5  of garment  2 . Alternatively, the female snap fasteners  11 A,  13 A,  15 A,  17 A,  19 A, and  21 A can be detachably fastened to corresponding male snap fasteners  11 C,  13 C,  15 C,  17 C,  19 C, and  21 C arranged on an edge of the back side  4  of garment  1 . Any other snap fasteners, such as an interlocking disc type fastener, can be used instead of the male and female snap fasteners. 
         [0015]    When the female snap fasteners  11 A,  13 A,  15 A,  17 A,  19 A, and  21 A are detachably fastened to the male snap fasteners  11 C,  13 C,  15 C,  17 C,  19 C, and  21 C, the garment  1  is in the closed position. This closed position is used when a wearer does not want his garment to be detachably fastened to another garment, e.g., garment  2 . 
         [0016]    When the female snap fasteners  11 A,  13 A,  15 A,  17 A,  19 A, and  21 A can be detachably fastened to the corresponding male snap fasteners  11 B,  13 B,  15 B,  17 B,  19 B, and  21 B, the front sides  3  and  5  of the garments  1  and  2  can be detachably fastened with each other. That is, front side  3  of garment  1  can be detachably fastened to front side  5  of garment  2 . To detachably fasten the back sides  4  and  6 , the male snap fasteners  11 C,  13 C,  15 C,  17 C,  19 C, and  21 C can be detachably fastened to corresponding female snap fasteners  11 D,  13 D,  15 D,  17 D,  19 D, and  21 D on the back side  6  of garment  2 . 
         [0017]    Several advantages can be realized by detachably fastening the garments  1  and  2 . First, the detachable fastening produces a garment  200  with a relatively large combined front side that includes each of the front sides  3  and  5  of garments  1  and  2 . The combined front side can be used to display a much larger design or message showing support for a team. For example, each of the front sides  3  and  5  can have a single large letter, which when read together with other letters deliver a message, e.g., U and O together can indicate the name of the University of Oregon. Additionally, the combined back side can also be used to display a much larger design or message. The garments  1  and  2  can be made of a material that allows the design to vary from event to event. For example, the garments  1  and  2  can be made of any material capable of allowing a design to be written and erased, e.g., with erasable pens, thus allowing the wearer to change designs from one game to another or from one event to another. 
         [0018]    As another example, the front side  3  can have an image of a front half of a beaver mascot and the front side  5  can have an image of a back half of a beaver mascot. When the two garments  1  and  2  are detachably fastened, a relatively large image of a beaver mascot extends across the garments  1  and  2 . Thus, two persons can use the detachably fastened garments  1  and  2  to display a mascot that is larger than any mascots that can be displayed on any conventional garment worn by a single individual. 
         [0019]    According to other embodiments, several garments (e.g., two or more) can be detachably fastened to create an even larger display. Each garment  1  or  2  can have a single letter that, when combined with letters from other garments, forms a large message in support of the choice team. The large message can include the name of the team or the name of a preferred athlete on the team. 
         [0020]    It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the designs are optional and a garment according to the inventive principles of this disclosure may not have any such design. Alternatively, only one of the garments  1  and  2  may have a design. In yet another embodiment, the design of the garments  1  and  2  may not match to display a much larger design. 
         [0021]    A second advantage of detachably coupling the garments  1  and  2  to create a garment  200  is shown in  FIG. 2 . The wearers of the garments  1  and  2  can conceal their hands and arms under the combined garment  200 . Having an arm and a hand concealed in this manner leads to several advantages. In one example, the wearers of the combined garment  200  can desire to share refreshments such as a bag of peanuts. Without the combined garment, the peanuts are exposed to the elements as the bag is passed back and forth. However, the wearers shown in  FIG. 2  can use the detachably fastened garment  200  to protect the bag of peanuts from the elements while it is being shared. Another advantage is that if the combined garment  200  is used in seating areas that include bleachers, the combined garment  200  can effectively keep rain and snow off of large areas of the bleachers, ensuring dry seating for the people wearing the combined garment  200 . A third advantage of detachably coupling the garments  1  and  2  is shared body heat. When the elements are particularly bad, the wearers of the combined garment  200  can stay warm and continue to watch their teams while other fans with non-combined garments are forced to go home cold. 
         [0022]    Although the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  shows the garments  1  and  2  being detachably fastened using snap fasteners, any means of detachably coupling a garment can be used along the edges. For example, zippers, buttons, laces, clips, hook and loop fasteners (e.g. Velcro.®.), and the like could be used according to alternative embodiments of the invention. 
         [0023]    When certain through-hole fasteners are used an additional advantage can be realized. Through-hole fasteners are those fasteners that function by way of openings in a garment. Examples include a button that operates by being slipped through an opening in a garment or a lace that is strung through an opening in a garment. These through-hole fasteners allow wearers of the garments to optionally configure their combination garment in a closed position even while being detachably fastened to another garment. Namely, one edge of the front side of a first garment can be simultaneously detachably fastened to a corresponding edge on the back side of the first garment and a corresponding edge on a front side of a second garment. In this manner, privacy can be retained because there is no shared space within the combined garment. 
         [0024]      FIG. 3  shows another embodiment of a combined garment. Each of the garments  31  and  32  are detachably fastened to produce a large front display area while still retaining privacy with respect to each other. Privacy is retained because each wearer has an adjacent arm over the combined garment. Moreover, privacy is also retained because there is no shared space under the combined garment. 
         [0025]      FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating three garments  410 ,  420 ,  430  that can be detachably fastened to each other according to another embodiment. Similar to the garments  1 ,  2  shown in  FIG. 1 , each garment  410 ,  420 ,  430  may include detachable coupling means  100  disposed along the edges of the garments, as well as neck opening  405  disposed roughly in the center of the garments. I this embodiment, similar to the embodiments illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , there is a portion of a large beaver design  440  disposed on the front of each of the garments  410 ,  420 ,  430 . When the individual garments  410 ,  420 ,  430  are worn cooperatively by three persons, the large beaver design is visible to viewers facing the front of the detachably coupled garments. 
         [0026]    We have described several examples with reference to the accompanying drawings. Various other examples of the invention are also possible and practical. The system can be exemplified in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the examples set forth above. For example, example garments may include one or more layers of waterproof fabric, of which many conventional types are known. However, other example garments can use one or more layers of water-resistant fabric. Other conventional materials and fibers are also contemplated. Other examples can include hoods, sleeves, or both hoods and sleeves. According to some examples, a child-sized garment can be detachably fastened to an adult-sized garment because the spacing between the fasteners is approximately the same on both the child-sized and the adult-sized garments. 
         [0027]    The figures listed above illustrate examples of the application and the operation of such examples. In the figures, the size of the boxes is not intended to represent the size of the various physical components. Where the same element appears in multiple figures, the same reference numeral is used to denote the element in all of the figures where it appears. 
         [0028]    Only those parts of the various units are shown and described which are necessary to convey an understanding of the examples to those skilled in the art. Those parts and elements not shown are conventional and known in the art. 
         [0029]    It should be apparent that the example garments can be modified in arrangement and detail without departing from such principles. I claim all modifications coming within the spirit and scope of the accompanying claims.