Patent Publication Number: US-2019166939-A1

Title: Hood for use in a garment

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE 
     This patent application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/593,735 filed Dec. 1, 2017. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to garments, and in particular hooded garments and hoods for garments. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Hooded garments (e.g. hooded sweaters) offer convenience and comfort. The hood of the garment may be deployed when needed to protect the wearer&#39;s head, for example, against rain, wind, or cold, and may be retracted when not needed. 
     For hooded garments, it has been difficult to provide both easy deployment/retraction and unobtrusive retraction of the hood. An easily deployed/retracted hood generally flops obtrusively about the back of the wearer&#39;s head, neck and shoulders when not in use, or can even balloon with scooped air when the wearer is moving quickly (e.g. whilst the wearer is skiing or running). In contrast, a less obtrusive hood tends to be removed when not in use and/or stowed in a closeable pocket in the garment, thereby being less easily deployed/retracted, particularly when wet. 
     These problems are compounded when a wearer wears multiple hooded garments and the hoods interfere with each other. In addition, hoods can also be obtrusive when a garment is being stored between uses and it is desirable to have a hood that folds flat against the garment for storage. In other words, owing to the obstrusiveness of such hoods, the garments to which the hoods are coupled have reduced or lack “stackability”. 
     SUMMARY 
     According to one aspect of the disclosure, there is a hood for use in a garment, the hood comprising: (a) a first edge and a second edge, at least a portion of the second edge being opposite the first edge; and (b) a first seam disposed between the first edge and the second edge, wherein the first seam does not extend from the first edge or the second edge and does not extend to the first edge or the second edge. 
     The hood may be multi-layered. 
     The hood and another such hood may be nestable. 
     According to another aspect of the disclosure, the hood further comprises a second seam, the second seam extending between the first edge and the first seam. The second seam and the first seam may form a shape such as a T-shape, a Y-shape, an arrow-shape, or a shape substantially similar thereto. 
     According to another aspect of the disclosure, there is a garment comprising: (a) a body; and (b) a hood coupled to the body, the hood comprising: (i) a first edge and a second edge, at least a portion of the second edge being opposite the first edge; and (ii) a first seam disposed between the first edge and the second edge, wherein the first seam does not extend from the first edge or the second edge and does not extend to the first edge or the second edge. 
     The hood may be releasably coupled to the body. 
     The hood may be fixedly coupled to the body. 
     This summary does not necessarily describe the entire scope of all aspects of the disclosure. Other aspects, features and advantages will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one or more embodiments: 
         FIG. 1  is a rear view of a prior art garment with a hood, the hood being in a “deployed” configuration. 
         FIG. 2  is a rear view of the garment in  FIG. 1 , the hood being in a “retracted” configuration. 
         FIG. 3  is a rear view of a garment with a hood according to an embodiment of the invention, the hood being in a “deployed” configuration. 
         FIG. 4  is a detailed rear view of the hood of the garment in  FIG. 3 , the hood in the “deployed” configuration. 
         FIG. 5  is a rear view of the garment in  FIG. 3 , the hood being in a “retracted” configuration. 
         FIG. 6  is a detailed rear view of the hood of the garment in  FIG. 5 , the hood in the retracted configuration. 
         FIG. 7  is a rear view of the garment of  FIG. 3 , with the hood resting on the back of the garment and at least a portion thereof folded along a branched seam. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Directional terms such as “top,” “bottom,” “upwards,” “downwards,” “vertically,” “laterally,” “front,” and “back” are used in the following description for the purpose of providing relative reference only, and are not intended to suggest any limitations on how any article is to be positioned during use, or to be mounted in an assembly or relative to an environment. The use of the word “a” or “an” when used herein in conjunction with the term “comprising” may mean “one,” but it is also consistent with the meaning of “one or more,” “at least one” and “one or more than one.” Any element expressed in the singular form also encompasses its plural form. Any element expressed in the plural form also encompasses its singular form. The term “plurality” as used herein means more than one; for example, the term “plurality includes two or more, three or more, four or more, or the like. 
     In this disclosure, the terms “comprising”, “having”, “including”, and “containing”, and grammatical variations thereof, are inclusive or open-ended and do not exclude additional, un-recited elements and/or method steps. The term “consisting essentially of” when used herein in connection with a composition, use or method, denotes that additional elements, method steps or both additional elements and method steps may be present, but that these additions do not materially affect the manner in which the recited composition, method, or use functions. The term “consisting of” when used herein in connection with a composition, use, or method, excludes the presence of additional elements and/or method steps. 
     In this disclosure, the term “stackability” refers to the ease with which clothing garments or parts thereof may be piled or stacked on top of each other, neatly arranged, or both. 
     The present invention relates to garments, and in particular hooded garments and hoods for garments. The hooded garment described herein comprises a hood that improves the stackability of the garment. To assist with the understanding of the present invention, a parts list, with reference to the Figures, is provided as follows in Table 1: 
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
             
               
                   
                 TABLE 1 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Reference Label 
                 Part Name 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
                 P100 
                 Prior art garment 
               
               
                   
                 P102 
                 Prior art hood 
               
               
                   
                 P103 
                 Prior art body 
               
               
                   
                 P104 
                 Prior art Neckline connection 
               
               
                   
                 P106 
                 Prior art Hood opening 
               
               
                   
                 P108 
                 Prior art centre hood seam 
               
               
                   
                 100 
                 Garment 
               
               
                   
                 102 
                 hood 
               
               
                   
                 103 
                 body 
               
               
                   
                 104 
                 Neckline connection 
               
               
                   
                 106 
                 Hood opening 
               
               
                   
                 108 
                 Centre hood seam 
               
               
                   
                 110 
                 Branched seam 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
       FIGS. 1 and 2  show a prior art hooded garment P 100 . The garment P 100  has a hood P 102  that is coupled to the body P 103  at a neckline connection P 104 . The hood P 102  may be releasably coupled or fixedly coupled to the body P 103 . In an embodiment where the hood P 102  is fixedly coupled to the body P 103 , the neckline connection P 104  is a neckline seam. The garment P 100  has a hood opening P 106 , and the hood P 102  a centre hood seam P 108  that extends from the neckline connection P 104  to the hood opening P 106 . Those skilled in the art will recognize that some hoods known in the prior art may have two or more centre hood seams P 108  for the purposes of permitting inclusion of additional panels (not shown) in the hood. 
     According to an embodiment of the presented invention, and as depicted in  FIGS. 3-7 , there is a garment  100 . The garment  100  comprises a hood  102  that is coupled to the body  103  at the neckline connection  104 . 
     The hood  102  comprises a first edge and a second edge. The first edge forms a part of the neckline connection  104  when the hood  102  is coupled to the body  103 . The second edge forms a part of the hood opening  106  when the hood  102  is coupled to the body  103 . The hood  102  may be formed from multiple layers of material, including water-resistant layers, insulating layers, stretchable layers, and quilted layers. 
     In this embodiment, at least a portion (if not the entire) first edge of the hood  102  is fixedly coupled to the body  103  at the neckline connection  104 , thereby forming a neckline seam. In other embodiments, the hood is releasably couplable to the body. Those skilled in the art will recognize that various releasable attachment and detachment arrangements are possible, including but not limited to zippers, snaps, hook-and-loop fasteners, a combination thereof, and the like. 
     The hood  102  comprises a centre hood seam  108  that extends from the first edge (or neckline connection  104  when the hood  102  is coupled to the body  103 ) and toward the second edge. However, and in contrast to the prior art, the centre hood seam  108  does not extend to the second edge of the hood  102  (or hood opening  106  when the hood  102  is coupled to the body  103 ). Instead, the centre hood seam  108  extends to opposing transverse branch seams  110 , the branch seams being commonly referred to as “darts” in the textile industry. The branched seams  110  may form straight line, curved line, or any other suitable shape known in the art, and the centre hood seam  108  and the branched seams  110  may form any suitable shape, including, but not limited to, a T-shape, a Y-shape or an arrow-shape. In this embodiment, the centre hood seam  108  and the branched seams  110  form a T-shape. In other embodiments, the centre hood seam  108  and the branched seams  110  form a Y-shape. Such shapes provide one or more straight edges along which the hood can be folded. 
     The branched seams  110  do not intersect or extend to, or overlap with, the hood opening  106 , the first edge of the hood  102 , or the second edge of the hood  102 . The branched seams  110  are disposed between the first edge of the hood  102  and the second edge of the hood  102 . Beneficially, the branched seams  110  can provide a seam along which at least a portion of the hood  102  can be folded. 
     Operation of Specific Embodiments 
       FIG. 1  shows a prior art garment P 100  with the hood P 102  in a “deployed” configuration.  FIG. 2  shows a prior art garment P 100  with the hood P 102  in a “retracted” configuration. Owing to the centre hood seam P 108  extending to the hood opening P 106 , the hood opening P 106  of the hood P 102  may obtrusively gape open when the hood P 102  is in the retracted configuration. 
       FIGS. 3 and 4  show a garment  100  with a hood  102  in a “deployed” configuration, according to an embodiment of the invention.  FIGS. 5 and 6  show a garment  100  with a hood  102  in a “retracted” configuration, according to an embodiment of the invention.  FIG. 7  shows a garment  100  with a hood  102  in a “fully folded-flat” configuration, according to an embodiment of the invention, at least a portion of the hood  102  being folded along the branched seams  110 . As shown in  FIG. 7 , the “fully folded-flat” configuration is made possible by the arrangement of the centre hood seam  108  and the branched seams  110 , which configuration may be desirable during either wear or storage. 
     When a wearer wears multiple hooded garments (for example an inner garment for warmth and an outer garment for protection against precipitation) and the hoods thereof are constructed in accordance with the present teachings, such hoods can be nested such that they “deploy”, “retract”, or “fold-flat” together, for easier and less obtrusive use, and for improved “stackability” over prior art hoods. 
     GENERAL 
     It is contemplated that any part of any aspect or embodiment discussed in this specification may be implemented or combined with any part of any other aspect or embodiment discussed in this specification. While particular embodiments have been described in the foregoing, it is to be understood that other embodiments are possible and are intended to be included herein. It will be clear to any person skilled in the art that modification of and adjustment to the foregoing embodiments, not shown, is possible. For example, the opposing branch seams  110  might be configured as a single seam. Some of the benefits of the invention could be provided by using only one of the branch seams  110 . Additional benefits could be provided by adding additional branch seams  110 . 
     Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as is commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. In addition, any citation of references herein is not to be construed nor considered as an admission that such references are prior art to the present invention. 
     The scope of the claims should not be limited by the example embodiments set forth herein, but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole.