Patent Publication Number: US-6336223-B1

Title: Firefighter coat with liner sleeve wells and wristers

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a firefighter coat wherein sleeve wells or water wells are disposed within the lower ends of the sleeves of the coat. This invention represents an improvement over the construction disclosed in U. S. Pat. No. 5,890,226, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     As pointed out in the above patent, the sleeve wells prevent water from flowing into the sleeves especially when the arms of the firefighter are raised during firefighting activities. It has been found that when a wrister comes out of an associated coat sleeve during such activities, the snap fasteners employed in the patented construction tend to come undone. This, of course, is a very dangerous occurrence; and a solution to this problem became necessary. 
     In addition, the snap fasteners employed in each sleeve of the patented construction are four in number such that when snapped in place, the fasteners only provide a connection between the lower end of each liner sleeve and the lower end of the associated shell sleeve at four widely spaced points. This results in large gaps where the liner sleeves and the associated shell sleeves are not connected together. These gaps can allow water to flow into the shell sleeves. This problem required redesign of the connection between the liner sleeves and the associated shell sleeves to eliminate gaps in the connection. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention incorporates a construction wherein the lower open ends of the sleeves of the liner are detachably connected to the lower open ends of the sleeves of the shell by attachment means in the form of two annular interengaging attachment portions. Each of the annular portions within a coat sleeve comprises part of a hook and loop fastening means such as VELCRO which enables quick and easy attaching and detaching of the lower end of a liner sleeve with respect to the associated shell sleeve. Since the attachment portions within each coat sleeve are annular in construction, there are no gaps formed between the interengaging attachment portions, thereby eliminating the undesirable gaps of the patented structure discussed above. This ensures that substantially no water can flow into the shell sleeves. Furthermore, the attachment between the liner sleeves and the shell sleeves is much more secure than is the case with spaced snap fasteners, thereby ensuring that the attachment portions will not be disengaged when a wrister comes out of an associated sleeve during firefighting activities. 
     Sleeve wells are provided within the lower ends of the liner sleeves of the present invention in the same manner as disclosed in the aforementioned patent. 
     One of the annular attachment portions within each coat sleeve is stitched to the lower end of the outer moisture barrier of the associated liner sleeve and faces outwards of the associated liner sleeve. The other of the annular attachment portions within each coat sleeve is stitched to an annular moisture barrier and faces inwardly of the associated shell sleeve. Each annular moisture barrier is disposed within the lower portion of an associated shell sleeve and has top and bottom portions which are stitched to the associated shell sleeve. 
     A band of trim material surrounds the lower end portion of each of the shell sleeves and is stitched thereto by a number of lines of stitching. The top portion of each annular moisture barrier is stitched to the associated liner sleeve at a region disposed above the band of trim material on the associated shell sleeve. Each annular moisture barrier thereby serves as a means for mounting an annular attachment portion, and further also prevents water which may enter through the stitching holding the band of trim material in place from moving upwardly within the associated shell sleeve. In addition, each annular moisture barrier also provides an extra layer of thermal protection for a firefighter. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an elevation of a firefighter coat according to the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a view partly broken away and partly in section showing the prior art; 
     FIG. 3 is an enlarged view partly broken away of the portion of FIG. 1 indicated by arrow  3 — 3 ; 
     FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line  4 — 4  of FIG. 3; and 
     FIG. 5 is an enlarged view partly broken away of the portion of FIG. 1 indicated by arrow  5 . 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, there is shown in FIG. 1 a firefighter coat indicated generally by reference numeral  10  and being of conventional construction except for the wrister arrangement hereinafter discussed in detail. The coat includes an outer shell  12  which is formed of fire resistant material. The coat also includes an inner liner  14  of similar construction to that of the aforementioned patent except for the manner of attachment to the shell at the lower ends of the sleeves thereof. The liner may be detachably connected to the shell of the coat along the length of the neck line and to the coat facing in the same manner as the aforementioned patent. 
     The coat includes an outside storm flap  16 , and the coat may be held in closed position in a conventional manner. A collar  22  is provided, and a pair of sleeves  24  depend from the upper side portions of the coat, each of the sleeves terminating in an open lower end  26  having wristers  28  extending therefrom. A band of light reflective trim material  30  surrounds the lower end portions of each of the shell sleeves. Referring to FIG. 5, each band  30  has a top edge  32  with two parallel lines of stitching  34  and  36  extending around the band and disposed near the top edge  32 . Each band  30  also includes a lower edge  38  with two parallel lines of stitching  40  and  42  extending around the band and disposed near the lower edge  38 . The four lines of stitching  34 ,  36 ,  40  and  42  pass through the band and the associated shell sleeve for attaching the band of trim material to the shell sleeve. 
     Referring to FIG. 2, the prior art as disclosed in the above-mentioned patent is illustrated. In this construction, the shell material  50  of the sleeve extends downwardly to a lower edge  52 . An attachment means  54  is of annular configuration and includes a first annular portion  56  which joins with a second annular portion  58 , the two annular portions defining a cuff for the lower end of the sleeve. Annular portion  58  joins with an integral annular free annular portion  60  which has secured thereto four conventional female snap fasteners  62  which are equally spaced from one another in a circumferential direction. The fasteners  62  receive cooperating male snap fasteners  64  which are supported at the lower open end of the liner sleeve for detachably connecting the lower end of the liner sleeve to the lower end of the shell sleeve. 
     The construction of one sleeve of the invention will now be described, it being understood that the construction of both sleeves is identical. As seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the shell sleeve  70  has an annular cuff  72  disposed around the lower end of the shell sleeve. The cuff may be formed of suede material and is held in place by four parallel lines of stitching  74 ,  76 ,  78  and  80 . As seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, an annular moisture barrier material  84  comprises a sheet of moisture barrier material disposed within the lower portion of shell sleeve  70 . The lower edge (not shown) of the moisture barrier is disposed adjacent the lower edge (not shown) of the shell sleeve, the two lower edges being disposed adjacent the bight portion  72 ′ of the cuff. The four lines of stitching  74 ,  76 ,  78  and  80  pass through the cuff  72 , shell sleeve  70  and annular moisture barrier  84  to connect the lower portions of these components together. The upper portion  84 ′ of moisture barrier  84  is stitched to the shell sleeve  70  by two parallel lines of stitching  86  and  88  at a region disposed above the top edge  32  of the band of trim material  30 . 
     Attachment means is provided for detachably connecting the lower end of each liner sleeve with the lower end of the associated shell sleeve. The attachment means for each sleeve includes a first annular attachment portion  90  which comprises part of a hook and loop fastening means such as VELCRO. Portion  90  is supported on the annular moisture barrier  84  by two lines of stitching  92  and  94  and faces inwardly of the associated shell sleeve. 
     Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, a liner sleeve  100  includes an outer moisture barrier  102  and an inner moisture barrier  104 . A thermal barrier in the form of a layer  106  of aramid fibers which is quilted by stitching to a facecloth  108  is disposed between the inner and outer moisture barriers. The construction of the liner sleeve is similar to that of the aforementioned patent, the lower portions of the layers  102 ,  104 ,  106  and  108  being stitched together by a line of stitching  110  extending therethrough, and the lower portions of these layers being stitched to an annular band of material  112  by a line of stitching  114  as seen in FIG. 3 in the manner shown at the lowermost portion of FIG. 5 of the aforementioned patent. A sleeve or water well is formed in this invention in the same manner as disclosed in FIG. 4 of the patent. The lower end of the inner moisture barrier  104  of this invention is connected to the associated wrister  28  in the same manner as shown in the patent. 
     The attachment means also includes a second annular attachment portion  120  which comprises part of hook and loop fastening means such as VELCRO which is interengageable with the attachment portion  90 . Portion  120  is supported on the outer moisture barrier  102  by two lines of stitching  122  and  124  and faces outwardly of the associated liner sleeve. 
     The invention has been described with reference to a preferred occur to others upon reading and understanding this specification. It is my/our intention to include all such modifications, alternatives and other embodiments insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or equivalents thereof.