Patent Publication Number: US-2003226197-A1

Title: Protective groin garment

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION DATA  
     [0001] The present application is based on co-pending provisional Application No. 60/386,360 which was filed on Jun. 6, 2002. 
    
    
     
       FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE  
       [0002] The present invention generally relates to a garment for protecting a rider and, more particularly, to a garment for protecting the groin area of a rider of motorcycles and horses.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE  
       [0003] Individuals ride motorcycles and horses in all kinds of inclement weather including the cold, rain, snow, and sleet. In the past, riders have used a variety of techniques both individually and in combination, to protect their bodies and specifically the groin area, from the elements. Motorcycle riders, for example, have used various hardware accessories mounted to the motorcycle, such as wind and rain shields, splash guards and/or heaters. Similarly, riders have adapted their clothing to be better suited for inclement weather riding, including using clothing made of leather, using ponchos or rain gear and/or bodysuits.  
       [0004] Even though all of the above mentioned protective gear may be available and may aid in protecting the groin area, the rider may not use the gear because the gear may be unflattering, impractical to use with a certain type of motorcycle, too cumbersome or difficult to use, and/or it may not be aesthetically inline with the character the rider is attempting to portray. For example, the rider may not use a bodysuit or leather pants, because the bodysuit may be too big and bulky, it may be unflattering and cumbersome, and it may be too difficult to put on and take off. Similarly, the rider may not wear leather pants because they may be too expensive, they may be uncomfortable to wear, or they may be inappropriate to be worn at the rider&#39;s destination.  
       [0005] Chaps have been a good alternative to having shields and splash guards, and/or wearing leather pants and bodysuits. Chaps in general provide adequate protection to the rider&#39;s legs, are easy to put on and take off, and are aesthetically beneficial. Unfortunately, chaps only cover the rider&#39;s legs and do not provide protection to the groin area. During inclement weather, this may be very uncomfortable and unsafe. In the past, riders have attempted to solve this problem by adding a piece of material or leather over the groin area in combination with the chaps. The addition of the piece of material or leather, however, has not solved all the issues at hand. The piece of material or leather, for example, has to be attachable to either a belt and/or the chaps, thereby requiring an integral fastening mechanism. Similarly, the amount of time required to put on and take off the piece of material or leather makes the piece of material or leather impractical to utilize. Furthermore, the lack of aesthetic benefit and/or the lack of comfort the piece of material or leather provides may restrict and even discourage a rider from wearing it. Therefore, there still remains a need for a garment that protects the groin area of the rider, that has aesthetic appeal, is practical to wear, and is accepted by the motorcycle rider community.  
       SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE  
       [0006] In accordance with one aspect of the disclosure, a protective garment for part of the torso area of a rider is disclosed. The garment includes a generally elongate upper portion and a lower portion. The upper potion is adapted to fit around the torso of a rider, and the lower portion includes a generally triangular first end adapted to connect to the upper portion near the front of the user&#39;s torso, and a second end adapted to connect to the upper portion near the rear of the user&#39;s torso. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0007]FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a partially open protective garment for a motorcycle rider; and  
     [0008]FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the protective garment of FIG. 1, in a closed configuration. 
    
    
     [0009] While the method and device described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrative embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings and will be described below in detail. However, there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention and the appended claims.  
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
     [0010] Referring to the drawings, and with specific reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a protective garment for a motorcycle rider, as constructed in accordance with the teachings of the disclosure, is generally depicted by reference numeral  20 . As shown therein, the protective garment  20  includes an inner surface  22 , an outer surface  24 , a front portion  26 , a rear portion  28 , a retaining portion  30 , and fastening members  32 .  
     [0011] The protective garment  20  may be worn such that the inner surface  22  of the protective garment  20  is facing toward the rider, and the outer surface  24  of the protective garment  20  is facing away from the rider. The inner surface  22  and the outer surface  24  may each be the front and back of a single piece of material respectively, or the inner  22  and outer  24  may each be a respective side from two separate pieces of material. The protective garment  20 , for example, may be made entirely from leather, wherein one side of the leather faces toward the rider and the other side of the leather faces away from the rider. The inner surface  22  of the protective garment  20  may, however, be suede and the outer surface  24  of the protective garment  20  may be vinyl. Other materials that may be used to manufacture the protective garment  20 , include, but are not limited to, various genuine and imitation forms of leather, suede, cotton, wool, sheep skin, silk, and plastics, SPANDEX® material, denim, or any other material suitable for its intended purpose. In yet another example, the inner surface  22  and the outer surface  24  of the protective garment  20 , may include of two or more materials that may differ between the various portions of the protective garment  20 . For example, the inner surface  22  of the front portion  26  may be constructed using a faux suede material, whereas the outer surface  24  of the front portion may be constructed using a vinyl material. Similarly, the remainder of the protective garment  20  may include cotton on the inner surface  22  of the rear portion  28  and the retaining portion  30 , and may include leather on the outer surface  24  of the rear portion  28  and the retaining portion  30 .  
     [0012] The front portion  26  may be generally triangular in shape, having a top side  34 , a first diagonal side  36 , and a second diagonal side  38 . The front portion  26  may be adapted to cover the general groin area of the rider and may, depending on the size of the rider and the size of protective garment  20 , cover an area remaining exposed between a pair of chaps, if chaps are worn. The front portion  26  of the protective garment  20  may be sized such that the top side  34  of the front portion  26 , when worm by the rider, may be located near the lower abdomen, thereby also providing protection to an area located between a jacket and the groin area. A first end of fasteners  32  may be located on the inner surface  22  of the top side  34  of the front portion  26 , and will be described in greater detail below.  
     [0013] The first diagonal side  36  and the second diagonal side  38 , of the front portion  26  may each extend from opposite ends of the top side  34  toward a bottom end  40  of the front portion  26 , thereby completing the generally triangular shape of the front portion  26 . The first diagonal side  36  and the second diagonal side  38  may each be angled relative to the top side  34 , in manner to provide the rider with as much protection and coverage as possible, without creating excessive bunching of the front portion  26  between the legs of the rider.  
     [0014] The bottom end  40  of the front portion  26  may be attached to a first end  42  of the rear portion  28 , and second end  44  of the rear portion  28  may be attached to the retaining portion  30 . The rear portion  28  may be a uniform strip long enough to connect the bottom end  40  of the front portion  26  to the retaining portion  30 , located between the legs and around the buttocks of the rider. The shape of the rear portion  28  may also be altered to better fit the rider, or to make the protective garment  20  more aesthetically pleasing. The rear portion  28 , for example, may be more slender in the area immediately in front of, between, and behind the legs, to prevent the bunching of the rear portion  28 . The rear portion  28  may also increase in width toward the second end  44  of the rear portion  28 , to make the protective garment  20  more aesthetically pleasing, and to provide more surface area for the application of one or more decorative or wear-resistant patches.  
     [0015] The second end  44  of the rear portion  28 , may attach between a first end  46  of the retaining portion  30  and a second end  48  of the retaining portion  30 , near the center of the retaining portion  30 . The retaining portion  30  may be formed of one or more sections. For example, the retaining portion  30  may include a first section (not shown) attached to the second end  44  of the rear portion  28  and a second section (not shown) also attached to the second end  44  of the rear portion  28 , such that unattached ends of the first and second sections are the first end  46  and the second end  48  of the retaining portion  30 .  
     [0016] The retaining portion  30  may be a belt-like device designed to retain the protective garment  20  on the rider by connecting the rear portion  28  to the front portion  26  and by tightening the retaining portion  30  around the rider such that the tightness of the retaining portion  30  prevents the protective garment from falling off. The retaining portion  30  may be a uniform strip long enough to encompass the torso of the rider and may be long enough to properly fasten the retaining portion  30  to the front portion  26 . The retaining portion, like the rear portion, need not be uniform in width, but may be formed of a variety of widths to achieve various goals. For example, the retaining portion  30 , may be wider toward the center of the retaining portion  30 , where the front portion  26  is attached, and may be more slender near the sides of the rider, to both make the protective garment  20  more aesthetically pleasing and to make the protective garment  20  more comfortable for the rider to wear. The retaining portion  30  may also be larger in the area near the rider&#39;s kidneys, to give more protection to that part of the body, or may be wider all around, to once again enable the attachment one or more decorative or wear resistant patches to the protective garment  20 .  
     [0017] The means of attachment between the front portion  26  and the rear portion  28 , between the rear portion  28  and the retaining portion  30 , and between the first and second section of retaining portion  30 , may vary greatly, and may employ any of a variety of technologies. The means of attachment may include, but is not limited to, sewing the portions together, riveting the portions together, and/or manufacturing one or more of the portions from one contiguous piece, or any other viable means of attaching the relative portions and/or sections together.  
     [0018] Located near the first and second ends  46  and  48 , respectively, of the retaining portion  30 , are one or more fasteners  32  adapted to fasten the retaining portion  30  to the front portion  26 . The retaining portion  30  may have fasteners on only one of the first end  46  or the second end  48 , because the other of the first end  46  or the second end  48  may already be fixedly attached to the front portion  26 . Similarly, there may be no fasteners  32  at all, in which case, the protective garment  20  may be held in place by the material used (e.g., by tying a knot in the material), or by an elastic cord, or the like. The type of fasteners  32  used may once again be of a great variety. The type of fasteners  32 , may include, but are not limited to, hook and loop such as VELCRO® hook and loop fasteners, buttons, zippers, latch and key, snaps, or any other fastener suitable for the purpose.  
     [0019] In one example, the top side  34  of the front portion  26  may have attached to the inner surface  22  one or more first parts  50  of fasteners  32 , adapted to engage with one or more second parts  52  of the fasteners  32 . Located on the outer surface  24  of the first end  46  and the second end  48  of the retaining portion  30 , may be one or more of the second parts  52  of the fasteners  32 . To engage the first and second parts  50 ,  52  of the fasteners  32 , the first end  46  and the second end  48  of the retaining portion  30  may be wrapped around the rider&#39;s torso, such that the outer surface  24  of the first end  46  and the second end  48  abuts the inner surface  22  of the top side  34  of the front portion  26 , thereby allowing the first and second parts  50 ,  52  of the fasteners  32  to engage. In another example, the front portion  26  may have attached on the inner surface  22  one or more of the first parts  50  of the fasteners  32 , adapted to engage with one or more of the second parts  52  of the fasteners  32 . The second end  48  of the retaining portion  30  may have attached on the outer surface  24  one or more of the second parts  52  of the fasteners  32 , and may have attached on the inner surface  24  one or more of the first parts  52  of the fasteners  32 . On the outer surface  24  of the first end  46  of the retaining portion  30  may be attached one or more of the second parts  52  of the fasteners  32 . To engage the first and second parts  50 ,  52  of the fasteners  32 , the outer surface  24  of the second end  48 , having one or more of the second parts  52 , may engage with the one or more of the first parts  50  of the fasteners  32  attached to the inner surface  22  of the top side  34  of the front portion  26 . The outer surface  24  of the first end  46 , having attached thereto one or more of the second parts  52 , may now be engaged with the inner surface  24  of the second end  48 , having attached thereto one or more of the first parts  50  of the fasteners  32 .  
     [0020] In operation, the motorcycle rider may wear the protective garment  20  for a number of reasons and in a number of ways, and the protective garment may be worn with or without chaps. In use, the protective garment  20  is intended to be worn such that the front portion  26  covers the rider&#39;s groin area, which may be best accomplished by wearing the protective garment  20  around the rider&#39;s torso, and more specifically, around the rider&#39;s waist. The protective garment  20 , during use, may not only protect the rider&#39;s groin area but may also, depending on the location of the retaining potion  30 , protect other parts of the rider&#39;s anatomy, such as the rider&#39;s kidneys, etc.  
     [0021] The protective garment  20  is generally made of material that is readily foldable, or at least able to be made compact in size, by either folding or rolling. The rider is, therefore, able to store or carry the protective garment  20  in any of a number of small compartments, pockets, or places, which are easily accessible to the rider when the rider. decides to wear the protective garment  20 . The protective garment  20  is also a single unitary piece able to be worn independent of chaps or other clothing or clothing related items, such as a belt or belt loops. If worn with chaps, the protective garment  20  need not be dependent on the type, size or style of chaps, but may be worn with any and all types, sizes and styles. The protective garment  20  may also be worn over or under the chaps, depending on the needs and desires of the rider. The rider, for example, may embark on a long ride where the rider may decide to wear the protective garment  20  under the chaps, thereby attempting to eliminate any gaps or air passageways between the protective garment  20  and the chaps. If the rider is going on a shorter ride, or if the rider intends to make several stop along the ride, the rider may decide to wear the protective garment  20  over the chaps, thereby enabling the rider to quickly and easily put on or take off the protective garment  20 .  
     [0022] The protective garment  20  may also serve as an additional place for decorative patches, pins or the like. As is well known, members of the motorcycle community place decorative patches and pins in variety of places. For example, pins and patches may be placed on hats, vests, jackets, bags and bandannas for any number of reasons, and the additional area for the patches and pins, provided for by the protective garment  20 , would be an aesthetic benefit.  
     [0023] The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness of understanding only and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom, as modifications may be apparent to those skilled in the art.