Patent Publication Number: US-9403462-B2

Title: Uniform seat cover and seat fashioned with same

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This is a continuation-in-part application pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 120 of utility patent application entitled “UNIFORM SEAT COVER AND SEAT FASHIONED WITH SAME,” filed on Aug. 26, 2003 and having application Ser. No. 10/647,992, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,448,681, which is a continuation of utility patent application entitled “UNIFORM SEAT COVER AND SEAT FASHIONED WITH SAME,” filed on Oct. 9, 2001, and having application Ser. No. 09/973,203, now abandoned. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A uniform is an identifying outfit or style of dress worn by the members of a given group, whether a team, a profession, an organization, an establishment, etc. Uniforms are important because give others the ability to distinguish between the members of different groups. Exemplary of the many types of uniforms are those worn by members of amateur and professional sport teams such as basketball, football, baseball, soccer, hockey and softball teams, and those worn by members of military organizations such as the United States Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines, etc. 
     People are usually very proud of their memberships, whether past or present, and many organizations, especially sports organizations, enjoy a following of ardent enthusiasts. For sports fans and other fans and for those of proud membership, uniforms are highly valued and essentially memorialize an appreciation of membership and fans&#39; admiration of certain groups, professions and organizations. 
     In response to this, it would be highly desirable to provide a way of exploiting uniform dress in combination with seats and especially vehicle seats and further in combination with spectator seats of a stadium or arena that is decorated with team adornment of a sports team organization. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The above problems and others are at least partially solved and the above purposes and others realized in new and improved apparatus that includes a seat having an attached uniform. The seat includes a seat portion and an attached seat back portion. The uniform includes a uniform top and a uniform bottom. The uniform top can be fitted over the seat back portion and the uniform bottom can be fitted over the seat portion. The uniform top and the uniform bottom support uniform adornment that identifies a member of a given group. The seat back portion can include a lower end attached to the seat portion and an opposing upper end, and the uniform top includes a collared neck opening situated at the upper end of the seat back portion. The uniform top can include one of a) sleeves located on either side of the neck opening and b) arm openings located on either side of the neck opening. Further the uniform top and the uniform bottom can support straps that secure the uniform top and the uniform bottom to the seat and to each other. An engagement assembly can be used and is carried by one of the uniform top and the uniform bottom and a detachably engaged complemental engagement assembly is carried by the other of the uniform top and the uniform bottom. Preferably, the engagement assembly is supported at an end of the one of the uniform top and the uniform bottom and the complemental engagement assembly is supported at a confronting end of the other of the uniform top and the uniform bottom. The uniform top and bottom can also be sewn together as is preferable with most designer car seats. 
     In accordance with the principle of the invention, further is a stadium for team sports events with seats for spectators and team adornment of a team decorating the stadium. Each of the seats includes a seat portion and an attached seat back portion and is furnished with an attached uniform that includes a uniform top fitted over the seat back portion and a uniform bottom fitted over the seat portion. The uniform top and the uniform bottom of each of the uniforms supports uniform adornment that identifies members of the team, as with the team adornment adorning the stadium. 
     Consistent with the foregoing, the invention also contemplates associated methods. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Referring to the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a uniform attached to a seat, in accordance with the principle of the invention, the uniform including a uniform top fitted over a seat back portion of the seat and a uniform bottom fitted over a seat portion of the seat; 
         FIG. 2  is a side elevation of the embodiment depicted in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a rear elevation of the uniform of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is an enlarged fragmented perspective view of the uniform of  FIG. 1  illustrating an attachment assembly; 
         FIG. 5  is an enlarged fragmented perspective view of the uniform of  FIG. 1  illustrating the uniform top detached from the uniform bottom, an engagement assembly carried by the uniform top and a detachably engagable complemental engagement assembly carried by the uniform bottom; 
         FIG. 6  is an enlarged fragmented perspective view of a zipper assembly that is capable of being employed for detachably securing a uniform top to a uniform bottom of a uniform constructed and arranged in accordance with the principle of the invention; 
         FIG. 7  is a bottom plan of the uniform of  FIG. 1 , with the uniform top shown attached to the uniform bottom; 
         FIG. 8  is a fragmented perspective view of a uniform attached to a seat, in accordance with the principle of the invention, an engagement element carried by the uniform and a detachably engagable complemental engagement element exploded from the seat; 
         FIG. 9  is a perspective view of a pair of seats each having an attached uniform, in accordance with the principle of the invention; 
         FIG. 10  is a representation of a stadium for team sports events with seats for spectators and team adornment of a team decorating the stadium and uniforms attached to the seats, in accordance with the principle of the invention; 
         FIG. 11  is a perspective view of a uniform attached to a seat, in accordance with an alternate embodiment of the invention, the uniform including a uniform top fitted over a seat back portion of the seat and a uniform bottom fitted over a seat portion of the seat; 
         FIG. 12  is a side elevation of the embodiment depicted in  FIG. 11 ; and 
         FIG. 13  is a perspective view of a uniform attached to a bench, in accordance with yet another embodiment of the invention, the uniform including a uniform top fitted over a seat back portion of the bench and a uniform bottom fitted over a seat portion of the bench. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Turning now to the drawings, in which like reference characters indicate corresponding elements throughout the several views, attention is first directed to  FIG. 1  in which is seen a uniform, embodying the principle of the instant invention, generally indicated by the reference character  20  and including a uniform top  21  fitted over a seat back portion  32  of a seat  30  and a uniform bottom  22  fitted over a seat portion  31  of seat  30 .  FIG. 2  is exemplary of a side elevation of the embodiment depicted in  FIG. 1 , with the opposite side elevation being a mirror image. Seat back portion  32  includes a lower end  33  attached to a rear end  35  of seat portion  31  and an opposing upper end  34 , and together they are capable of supporting a person in a sitting position. Seat portion  31  includes a forward end  36  that opposes its rear end  35 . Seat  30  is generally representative of a vehicular seat such as a car seat and the like and is designed to be attached inside the passenger compartment of a vehicle. The invention can be employed with any seat of a type including a seat portion having an attached seat back portion. It is instructive of the invention that when uniform  20  is attached to seat  30 , seat back portion  32  and seat portion  31  look like the torso and upper legs from waist to knees of a uniformed member of a group. Top  21  is sized and shaped to be capable of being fitted over seat back portion  32  and bottom  22  is sized and shaped to be capable of being fitted over seat portion  31 . Seat  30  can be of any size and top  21  and bottom  22  are sized appropriately so that they can be installed in accordance with the teachings herein. Seat  30  is representative of seat that is capable of accommodating a single person in a seated position, and yet seat  30  can be an elongated bench that is capable of supporting a plurality of individuals in seated positions, one beside the other. If a uniform constructed and arranged in accordance with the invention is provided in connection with an elongated seat, namely, a bench, it can be furnished to represent a plurality of uniforms side-by-side if desired and the uniforms in this embodiment can be the same or different. 
     Preferably, top  21  and bottom  22  are constructed of cloth material, whether natural or synthetic and whether woven or unwoven and any desired combination of natural and/or synthetic materials can be used in addition to other pliant materials. Each can be furnished with padding or padded features if desired and are assembled from various parts with sewing and/or gluing and each can be fashioned integrally as well. In accordance with the invention, uniform  20  can be fashioned from a pre-existing uniform, an authentic uniform, or made so as to be a replica of a uniform. 
     Top  21  and bottom  22  together represent a uniform or in other words an identifying outfit or style of dress worn by the members of a given group, whether a team, a profession, an organization, an establishment, etc. Exemplary of the many types of uniforms are those worn by members of amateur and professional sport teams such as basketball, football, baseball, soccer, hockey and softball teams, and those worn by members of military organizations such as the United States Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines, and various sub-groups and organizations thereof, etc. Examples of other uniforms are those worn by chefs, the members of foreign military organizations, the members of past military organizations, etc. Still other groups, professions and organizations exist in which their members wear uniforms and this invention contemplates the top  21  and bottom  22  can be fashioned, styled and configured to represent any such uniform including any associated adornments, clothing styles, ornamentation and indicia, pockets, plackets, long sleeves, short sleeves, no sleeves, etc. 
     In the embodiment depicted in  FIG. 1 , top  21  and bottom  22  represent the identifying outfit or style of dress worn by the members of a football team, with top  21  representing the football jersey of the uniform and bottom  22  representing the football pants of the uniform. And so top  21  includes a body  40  having a front side  41  and a back side  42  ( FIG. 4 ). Body  40  further includes an open lower end  43  and a shouldered upper end  44 . A collar  45  is formed at upper end  44 , which defines a neck opening  46  and sleeves  47 , 48  are disposed along either side of neck opening  46  at upper end  44 . Sleeves  47 , 48  are representative of short sleeves. Further to  FIGS. 1 and 3 , bottom  22  is characterized by a substantially U-shaped sidewall  50  that depends from major panel  50 . Bottom  22  includes a forward end  52 , which is essentially closed by sidewall  50 , and a rearward end  53 , which is essentially open. Sleeves  47 , 48  can be replaced simply with arm openings as with a sleeveless jersey. 
     Top  21  and bottom  22  together support uniform adornment that is characterized by not only the style of top  21  but also uniform indicia  60  carried by top  21  and bottom  22 , which adornment identifies or otherwise represents the identifying outfit of style of dress worn by, in accordance with the instant embodiment, members of a football team. Uniform indicia  60  include jersey indicia supported by top  21  and pants indicia supported by bottom  22 . If desired, pants indicia and any associated pants adornments can be supported by top  21  including, for instance, waistband adornment, etc. It is instructive of the principle of the invention that football uniforms are emblazoned with jersey indicia that ornament the jersey and pants indicia that ornament the pants and the combination of the two identify the members of that specific football team and this is precisely what constitutes the jersey and pants indicia, namely, indicia  60 . And so indicia  60  include numbers located at front and back sides  41 , 42  and at sleeves  47 , 48  of top  21  and along the sides of bottom  22 . The jersey and pants indicia, which together constitute indicia  60 , are also intended to include coloring, team logos and other team identifying indicia in addition perhaps to the name of a given player, and indicia  60  are imprinted or otherwise applied to the external surfaces of top  21  and bottom  22 . Indicia  60  are that of any sports team. Preferably, top  21  and bottom  22  are fashioned with indications  61  that further help represent collar  45  and sleeves  47 , 48  in connection with top  21  and pant legs in connection with bottom  22  as generally illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . Preferably, indications  61  include stitched features. Indications  61  can also be applied indicia, applied ribbing or other form of attached feature, etc. 
     Further to  FIG. 1 , it is instructive of the invention that top  21  fits over seat back portion  32  of seat  30 , bottom  22  fits over seat portion  31  of seat  30 , and that top  21  attaches to bottom  22 . Properly fitted to a seat, lower end  43  of top  21  at front face  41  meets rearward end  53  of bottom  22  at portion  51  and these described edges of top  21  and bottom  22  detachably secure each other and this is discussed in greater detail, infra. Top  21  and bottom  22  are sized and shaped adequately so as to fit well over the seat back and seat portions  32 , 31 , respectively. Sleeves  47 , 48  are located at upper end  44  of seat back portion  32  at either side thereof and neck opening  46  is positioned centrally over upper end  44 . Preferably, top  21  and bottom  22  overly and protect the majority of the external surfaces of seat  30  so as to protect seat  30  from wear and tear and from exposure to sunlight and from becoming stained, etc. 
     It is preferable to secure top  21  and bottom  22  to seat  30  and for this top  21  and bottom  22  are fashioned with attached straps  70 , 71 , respectively, as seen best in  FIGS. 3 and 7 . Straps  70 , 71  are attached with stitching and gluing and other ways of providing attachment can be used as well. Straps  70  are attached to lower end  43  of top  21  at back side  42 , and straps  71  are attached along the lower edge of sidewall  50 . Straps  70 , 71  can be attached at other locations and any desired number of each can be employed in accordance with specific needs, and they can be made to be adjustable, elastic, etc. A variety of straps  71  are employed, including opposing pairs of straps  71  at the sides of bottom  22  that are capable of being passed along the bottom of a seat portion, the ends of which are engagable to one another so as to secure bottom  22  to the seat portion. Other ones of straps  71  at forward end  52  of bottom  22  are capable of being passed along the bottom of a seat portion, the ends of which are engagable to ends of straps  70  so as to secure bottom  22  to top  21  and further bottom  22  and top  21  to a seat. The ends of straps  70 , 71  are furnished with attachment pairs for facilitating their mutual engagement such as engagable clasps, hook and loop fastening structure, mutual snaps and the like. As a matter of example,  FIG. 4  illustrates an end of one of straps  70  supporting a hook medium  80  and an engagable end of one of straps  71  furnished with a loop medium  81 , and this can be reversed. Further as a matter of example in  FIG. 5 , shown is an end of one of straps  71  furnished with an attached hook  82  and an engagable end of an opposing one of straps  71  furnished with an attached ring  83 , and this can be reversed. Hook  82  is engagable to ring  83  and this combination is exemplary of a clasp assembly and other clasp forms can be employed. 
     To provide attachment of uniform  20  to a seat, the invention also contemplates the desirability of providing a seat and seat cover  20  with mutual attachment pairs and exemplary of this teaching is the illustration of  FIG. 8 , which shows an attachment element  85  for attachment to a seat and a detachably engagable complemental attachment element  86  carried by seat cover  20 , whether by top  21  or bottom  22 . In  FIG. 8 , attachment element  85  is a loop medium  85 A that attaches to the seat with an adhesive backing and complemental attachment element  86  is a hook medium  86 A carried by an attached strap  87 . Attachment element  85  can be attached to a seat in other ways and mutual snap or other suitable form of fastening structure can be employed between seat cover  20  and a seat. Those having regard for the art will appreciate that any suitable number of engagement pairs can be used to secure a uniform of the invention to a seat in accordance with the instant teachings and that engagement pairs are reversible. 
     Regarding  FIG. 5 , a flap  90  is attached to lower end  43  of top  21  at front side  41  and a flap  91  is attached to rearward end  53  of bottom  22  at portion  51 . Flap  90  is an extension of front side  41  and extends along substantially the entire width of front side  41 . Flap  91  is an extension of portion  51  and extends along substantially the entire width of portion  51 . Flap  90  supports an engagement assembly  92  and flap  91  supports a detachably engagable complemental engagement assembly  93 , which secure to one another in a preferred installation of uniform  20  to a seat as previously described. In the embodiment depicted in  FIG. 5 , assembly  92  includes a plurality of female elements  94  attached toward one end of flap  90  and a loop medium  95  attached toward the other side of flap  90 , and assembly  93  includes a plurality of male elements  96  attached to toward one end of flap  91  and a hook medium  97  attached toward the other end of flap  91 . Female elements  94  are capable of receiving and coupling male elements  96  and loop medium  95  is capable of engaging and securing hook medium  97 . The combination of female and male elements  94 , 96  is exemplary of a mutual snap fastening structure and other forms can be used. The position of female and male elements  94 , 96  is reversible, as is the case with loop medium  95  and hook medium  97 . Although snap fastening structure is used in the instant embodiment in combination with the hook and loop fastening structure, one or the other can be employed. Other fastening structure can be used for attaching the edge of lower end  43  of top  21  at front side  41  to the confronting edge of rearward end  53  of bottom  22  at portion  51  and exemplary of this teaching is the attached zipper assembly  99  depicted in  FIG. 6 . 
     As mentioned previously, uniform  20  can be configured to resemble the uniform worn by the members of any group, profession or organization and exemplary of this teaching is the illustration set forth in  FIG. 9 , which depicts a pair of uniforms  100 , 101  that are each common to uniform  20  and include substantially the same elements, with the exception that each resembles a baseball uniform. Uniform  100  is shown as it would appear partially installed upon one car seat  102  and uniform  101  is shown as it would appear installed upon another car seat  103 . In the embodiment of  FIG. 9 , car seats  102 , 103  are situated on either side of a console  104  and this combination is representative of the driver and passenger seats of many types of passenger vehicles. 
     Another exemplary embodiment of the invention is depicted in  FIG. 10 , in which is seen a representation of a stadium  120  for team sports events with seats  121  for spectators and team adornment or indicia  122  of a team decorating surfaces of stadium  120 . Seats  121  are each common to seat  30  in that they each include a seat portion and an attached seat back portion. Seats  121  are situated in a row  123  and it is envisioned that stadium  120  will have a large number of rows of seats for accommodating large numbers of spectators. In  FIG. 10 , stadium  120  is a baseball stadium and adornment or indicia  122  represent a baseball team and are applied by painting, imprinting, with attached banners and/or decals, etc. 
     In accordance with the principle of the invention, seats  121  are furnished with attached uniform  124 , which are each common to uniform  20  and include substantially the same elements and are each installed to a seat in the same manner as uniform  20 . Uniforms  124  represent baseball uniform having adornment, which includes style and attached indicia, that identify the members of the baseball team as represented by adornment or indicia  122 , and include uniform tops  125  fitted over the seat back portions of seats  121  and uniform bottoms  126  fitted over the seat portions of seats  121 . Although stadium  120  is representative of a baseball stadium and uniforms  124  baseball uniforms, stadium  120  be representative of a football stadium, a basketball stadium, a hockey stadium, etc., and uniforms  124  representative of those worn by the members of a football team, a basketball team, a hockey team, etc. 
       FIG. 10  is instructive of the combination of stadium  120  for team sports events with seats  121  for spectators and team indicia  122  of a team adorning stadium  120 , with each of seats  121  having an attached uniform including top  125  fitted over the seat back portion and bottom  126  fitted over the seat portion, with top  125  and bottom  126  together supporting adornment/indicia that identify members of the team commensurate with indicia  122 . This embodiment of the invention is concerned not only with a stadium decorated in this manner, but also a method that involves providing uniforms each including a uniform top that is sized and shaped to be capable of being fitted over the seat back portion of one of the seats of the stadium and a uniform bottom that is capable of being fitted over the seat portion of one of the seats, with the uniform top and the uniform bottom of each uniform together supporting uniform adornment/indicia that identify members of the team commensurate with team adornment/indicia decorating the stadium. The method next involves fitting the uniform tops and the uniform bottoms of the uniforms over the seat back portions and seat portions of the seats. Decorating a stadium in this fashion is interesting and fun for spectators and provides an enhanced stadium decoration. Any number of the seats of a stadium can be furnished with attached uniforms in accordance with the present embodiment, whether all of them or selected ones of them. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 11 , depicted is another embodiment of the invention including a uniform  130  having a uniform top  131  fitted over a seat back portion  132  of a seat  133  and a uniform bottom  134  fitted over a seat portion  135  of seat  133 . Top  131  and bottom  134  together support camouflage indicia  136  and the embodiment depicted in  FIG. 11  is illustrative of this and of the overall design of uniform  130 .  FIG. 12  is exemplary of a side elevation of the embodiment depicted in  FIG. 11 , with the opposite side elevation being a mirror image. In structure, uniform  130  is similar to that of uniform  20  previously discussed. Therefore, further details of the structure of uniform  130  will not be discussed. 
     With regard to  FIG. 13 , depicted is another embodiment of the invention including a uniform  140  having a uniform top  141  fitted over a seat back portion  142  of a seat  143  and a uniform bottom  144  fitted over a seat portion  145  of seat  143 . Top  141  and bottom  144  together support camouflage indicia  146  and the embodiment depicted in  FIG. 13  is illustrative of this and of the overall design of uniform  140 . In  FIG. 13 , seat  143  is a bench and uniform  140  is elongated and adapted and sized to fit thereon in a manner described previously in connection with uniform  20 . In structure, uniform  140  is similar to that of uniform  20  previously discussed. Therefore, further details of the structure of uniform  140  will not be discussed. 
     The invention is described above with reference to preferred embodiments. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that changes and modifications may be made to the described embodiments without departing from the nature and scope of the invention. Accordingly, any such changes and modifications to one or more of the embodiments herein chosen for purposes of illustration are intended to be included within the scope of the invention as assessed only by a fair interpretation of the ensuing claims. 
     In an alternative embodiment, the top and bottom of the uniform would be a part of or integrated into the material or fabric of the seat itself. The backrest or top of the seat would comprise the uniform top, such as the shirt or jersey worn by the team of the particular organization. The uniform top could wrap around the backrest (where the front and back of the backrest would resemble a uniform). Alternatively, all or a portion of the front of the backrest (where a person sits) would be the only part that resembled the top of the uniform. Similarly, the bottom portion of the seat would comprise the uniform bottom, such as the pants, shorts or uniform bottom that are worn by the team of the particular organization. The uniform bottom can either wrap around the seat bottom, or just be used or integrated into the material where a person would sit. 
     It can be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the seat could have a fixed shape or size, or could be inflated by air. The seat can comprise any seat used by adults, children and infants, including infant car seats. Moreover, the uniform top and uniform bottom do not necessarily have to attach to each other, but would attach to separate parts of the seat, where such separate parts of the seat are attached to each other. It is anticipated that the uniform top and bottom once fitted over its particular part of the seat, could be tightened around the seat by any means, including common stitching or sewing, drawstrings, Velcro straps, or any alternative attachment device. 
     In another alternative embodiment, the material, fabric or seat cover could be used in either the seat backrest or the seat bottom. For example, a uniform top could be placed over the seat backrest without the uniform bottom being placed strategically into position and vice versa. This would hold true for any seat or seat cover, especially in any configuration that a seat is abnormal, such as an infant car seat, for example. In an infant car seat, the seat bottom could be a hardened plastic to hold the child in position, but the seat backrest cushion could have a custom uniform top placed over it. 
     Particular embodiments of the present inventions have been shown and described, and it will be understood that it is not intended to limit the present inventions to the preferred embodiments. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present inventions. Thus, the present inventions are intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents, which may be included within the spirit and scope of the present inventions as defined herein.