Patent Publication Number: US-7216370-B1

Title: Trousers with knee pads in enclosed pockets

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE 
   This application relies for priority on my provisional application entitled “Trousers with Adjustable Location Knee Pads” Ser. No. 60/756,431 filed Jan. 5, 2006. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Many persons must kneel in performance of their work. For example, carpet installers must kneel when attaching nail strips around the periphery of the area to be carpeted. They must also kneel when the carpet sections are joined and when the carpet is stretched. This kneeling is hard on the knees unless they are protected. Other occupations also require kneeling. For example, plumbers must kneel to do plumbing work near the floor. Carpenters must kneel to do carpentry at low levels. This is particularly true in finish carpentry for the installation of baseboards, trim and cabinets. In the cargo bays of aircraft, baggage handlers must crawl and kneel to load and unload baggage. 
   In addition, there are non-work situations where kneeling is helpful. With any long term effort near the ground, kneeling is preferable to bending. Thus, garden work often requires kneeling for attention to plants or planting. There are pads which can be carried along and put in position for kneeling. There are foam knee pads which can be strapped around the leg so that they are presumably in position when the user wants to kneel. However, such kneepads are inconvenient, or do not remain in position. Thus, there is a need for structure which properly positions the kneepad and holds it in place. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   In order to aid in the understanding of this invention, it can be stated in essentially summary form that it is directed to structure which can be placed interiorly of the trouser leg to position a closeable kneepad pocket on the interior of the trouser leg. Each pocket is closeable and a pad is provided to insert into a selected one of the pockets to permit selectable positioning of the kneepad. 
   It is thus a purpose and advantage of this invention to provide a structure including a plurality of closeable pockets which can be attached to the inside of the trouser leg, which permits the selectable positioning of a soft knee pad. 
   It is another purpose and advantage of this invention to provide trousers which have in association therewith a knee pad structure which includes selectable positioning of a soft knee pad to include cushioning of both the user&#39;s knee and upper shin. 
   It is another purpose and advantage of this invention to provide a structure which has a plurality of spaced closeable pockets and a foam knee pad, with the pockets and knee pad being configured so that the knee pad can be inserted into a selected pocket to be releasably retained therein. 
   It is another important purpose and advantage to place the pockets for the pad on the interior of the trousers and to close the interior pockets to aid in the convenience of putting on the trousers. 
   The features of this invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The present invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may be best understood by reference to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the lower half of a man wearing a pair of trousers having associated therewith the adjustable location knee pad structure of this invention shown in dashed lines. 
       FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of the knee pad pocket structure and the knee pad. 
       FIG. 3  is a front elevational view of the knee pad structure, with a knee pad about to be inserted into a selected pocket. 
       FIG. 4  is a section taken generally along line  4 — 4  of  FIG. 3 . 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIG. 1  shows a pair of trousers  10  positioned as if they would be on a wearer who is kneeling on his right knee. The trousers  10  have a right leg  12  and a left leg  14 . In conventional trousers the legs are made up of front and back panels. The front panel  16  and back panel  18  of the right trouser leg  14  are specifically identified. In the finished trousers they are secured together by a conventional inseam and an outseam  20 . The corresponding conventional inseam on the left trouser leg  14  is indicated at  22 . The trousers are made up of a suitable fabric for trousers in which the person is going to be kneeling, such as chino or denim. 
   Attached inside of each front panel is a knee pad assembly. The knee pad assembly  24  is shown in the right leg  16  in  FIG. 1 . A similar knee pad assembly  16  is installed on the inside of the front panel of the left leg  14 , as also seen in  FIG. 1 . The knee pad assemblies are identical, and the knee pad assembly  24  will be described in detail in  FIGS. 2 ,  3  and  4 . 
   The knee pad assembly  24  is formed of four panels  28 ,  30 ,  32  and  34 . These panels are each of flexible material, such as cloth. Attachment panel  28  has a top edge  36  which is sufficiently long to extend up to attach into the sewing of the waistband  38 . Its left and right edges  40  and  42 , as seen in  FIG. 2 , are sufficiently wide apart that they can be sewn into the outseam  20  and the corresponding inseam. By this means, the attachment panel can be inserted into the trousers as they are being assembled and sewn. The length of the attachment panel  28  is such that the pocket panels  30 ,  32  and  34 , which are attached to the attachment panel, are positioned approximately at the knee and upper shin of the wearer of the trousers. 
   As seen in  FIGS. 2 ,  3  and  4 , the pocket panels  30 ,  32  and  34  are of equal size and are positioned in overlapped relationship with each other. The tops of the pocket panels are staggered so that a pocket panel  30  is highest; the pocket panel  32  is next highest; and the next pocket panel  34  is lowest. The pocket panel  30  is sewn to the attachment panel at its lower edge at seam line  44 . The pocket panel  32  is attached to the attachment panel on its lower edge at seam line  46 . The lowest pocket panel  34  is attached at its lower edge to the attachment panel at the seam line  48 . The overlapped pocket panels are attached to the attachment panels along their left and right edges by left seam line  50  and right seam line  52 , as seen in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . This attachment creates three pockets  54 ,  56  and  58 , see  FIG. 4 . Each of the pockets is substantially the same size between its side seam lines and bottom seam line. 
   The tops of the pockets are unseamed, and they are open except for detachable closures  60 ,  62  and  64 . The detachable closures are disclosed as hook-and-loop fasteners, which is the preferred closure structure. However, the tops of the pockets can be closed otherwise by such structures as zippers or buttons. It is desirable that the tops of these pockets be closeable because they should not be open when the trousers are put on. In putting on the trousers, the wearer inserts his leg down through the trouser leg, and his foot would engage into the top of one of the pockets if it were not closed. 
   Knee pad  66  is substantially rectangular and is of substantially uniform thickness. It is made of resilient material such as synthetic polymer composition foam, such as polyurethane foam. The foam should be resilient enough to be soft under the knees but not so soft that it completely crushes under the weight of the knee. The thickness of the knee pad can be related to the firmness thereof. While the knee pad is of substantially uniform thickness, it preferably has a dome  68  therein. The concave side of the dome is seen in  FIG. 4 , while the convex side is seen in  FIG. 3 . The length of the knee pad from the top edge  70  to the bottom edge  72  is slightly less than the distance from the top to the bottom of each pocket. As can be seen in  FIGS. 2 ,  3  and  4 , the dome is positioned closer to the top edge than to the bottom edge  72 . 
   As seen in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the knee pad  54  can be slipped into any one of the pockets and retained therein. In order to position the knee pad in accordance with the desires of the particular user, the knee pad  54  can be alternatively positioned in the first pocket  54 , the second pocket  56  or the third pocket  58 . Thus, there are three locations, up and down the trouser leg, in which the knee pad can be positioned at the choice of the user. The positioning of the dome  68  close to the top edge  70  in the pad  66  is to permit the lower portion of the pad below the dome  68  to extend along the upper shin of the user below his knee, as seen in  FIG. 1 . The user selects the pocket into which the pad is inserted in such a manner as to achieve protection both for his knee and for his upper shin. As can be seen in  FIG. 1 , the structure bends at the knee pad. In order to permit the knee pad  54  to bend at the right place, it is configured with curved-in sides. 
   As previously discussed, the attachment panel is sufficiently large and configured so that the pocket panels can be sewn thereto, and then the attachment panel can be gathered into the trousers as they are being assembled. An attachment panel of this size permits easy insertion of the enclosed pockets into the correct location within the trouser legs. 
   The knee pad assembly  68  is ready to be installed on the interior of the trousers at the knee. Fabric panel  90  represents the front of the trouser leg at the knee. When the user is ready he can attach the knee pad assembly to the interior surface. This is accomplished by sewing the backing layer to the inside of the trouser panel along seams lines  92  and  94 . In this way, the knee pad  70  can be attached to the interior of trousers which are already sewn up. The backing layer  86  permits the knee pad assembly to be merchandised separately from the trousers and sewn in during or after the completion of trouser assembly. 
   This invention has been described in its presently contemplated best modes and it is clear that it is susceptible to numerous modifications, modes and embodiments within the ability of those skilled in the art and without the exercise of the inventive faculty. Accordingly, the scope of this invention is defined by the scope of the following claims.