Patent Publication Number: US-2007118950-A1

Title: Split sports jacket

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field  
      The present invention generally relates to sports apparel, and more particularly to sports jackets and other sports apparel worn covering the torso and upper body of a person which includes indicia such as player names, player numbers, team logos, school names, and the like on an outer surface thereof representative of various entities such as sport teams and schools.  
      2. State of the Art  
      Sports jackets are designed to cover the upper torso and arms extending downwardly to the waist of a wearer. Sports jackets may be filled with goose down or synthetic insulating materials to provide added warmth particularly suitable for extended periods of outdoor use such as watching outdoors sports events. Other sports jackets are of a vest type that have no sleeves to cover the wearer&#39;s arms. Sports jackets cover the torso or upper trunk of the wearer&#39;s body and may or may not necessarily include sleeves to cover the wearer&#39;s arms.  
      Outer garments such as the sports jackets are often worn as a display of fashion and individuality of the person wearing such garment. One problem with outer garments is that they provide only one “look” for the wearer, typically being of a solid color, a single decorative pattern, a combination of colors, or a combination of patterns. Outer garments such as shirts or blouses, pants or skirts, and shoes of differing looks including the colors and patterns may be mixed as part of the wearer&#39;s outfit to change the overall look thereof. However, the look of the individual garments is typically not changeable.  
      Various garments have been patented which allow the wearer to change the look of the garment and of the overall outfit. Some such garments are of reversible construction such that turning the garment inside-out provides a different look therefor. Such reversible garments can be worn in two ways to provide two totally different looks. Some such garments display different sports teams as part of their two looks. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,550,066 issued to Brassey on Apr. 22, 2003 is disclosed a sports jacket of reversible construction for displaying alternate team and/or player affiliations. The team jacket has different teams sports logos on respective inner and outer surfaces thereof. The jacket may also display the names of players so that the jacket may be reversed to reveal a different player&#39;s name and/or number.  
      Other garments have been patented which allow the wearer to change the look of the garment and of the overall outfit by being constructed of separable sections that may be interchanged with mating sections of similarly constructed garments of differing color or pattern. Such garments having separable sections can be worn in a multiplicity of ways depending on how many such garments there are to provide many totally different looks. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,493,531 issued to Fitches on Jan. 3, 1950 is disclosed novelty garments which provide different looks by having interchangeable sections of different colors. The garments include mens&#39; shirts, and ladies&#39; blouses and skirts each comprised of a pair of sections that are detachably retained together and which may be replaced by a corresponding section of another garment of a different color to produce the different look. The shirt is split into the two sections diagonally from a bottom front over one shoulder to a bottom rear. The two sections are removably connected together using a single zipper with mating zipper halves connected to respective of the sections. The zipper is covered by a flap of a snap or non-snap type that extends therealong. The blouse is split into the two sections diagonally from a top front at a neck opening thereof, under one arm close to a bottom edge at a bottom side thereof, and to a top rear at the neck opening. The two sections are removably connected together using a single zipper with mating zipper halves connected to respective of the sections. The zipper is covered by a flap of the snap or non-snap type that extends therealong. Alternatively, the blouse is split into the two sections diagonally from the top front at the neck opening completely to the bottom edge at the bottom side thereof, and diagonally from the top rear at the neck opening completely to the bottom edge at the bottom side thereof. The two sections are removably connected together using a pair of zippers with mating zipper halves connected to respective of the sections. The zippers are covered by respective flaps of the snap or non-snap type that extend therealong. The skirt is split into two sections diagonally in two angled directions from the top left at a waist band thereof diagonally oppositely in the two angled directions to a bottom hem thereof. The two sections are removably connected together using a pair of zippers with mating zipper halves connected to respective of the sections. The zippers are covered by respective flaps of the snap or non-snap type that extend therealong.  
      Various jackets have been patented over the years that have separable sections or are designed as partial jackets not for allowing the wearer to change the look of the garment, but rather for purely functional purposes such as warm-up jackets for baseball pitchers, jackets with separable sleeves to form sleeveless vests, and arm protectors for persons who frequently reach out of their motor vehicle doing their job such as postal delivery persons. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,075 issued to Svetich on Apr. 13, 1993 is disclosed a separable ventilated athletic jacket for baseball pitchers. The jacket includes a first shell portion for covering one side of the upper torso of a person wearing the jacket. A sleeve is secured to the first shell portion for covering the person&#39;s arms. A mesh covers an opposite side of the person&#39;s upper torso. A second shell portion is detachably secured to the first shell portion. Another sleeve is attached to the second shell portion. The jacket may be worn and used as a traditional jacket or one shell portion may be detached so that only one arm, shoulder and one side of the person&#39;s torso are covered.  
      In U.S. Pat. No. 4,985,934 issued to Perry on Jan. 22, 1991 is disclosed a sports sleeve to be worn by a sports player. The sleeve covers one arm and a portion of the upper torso of the person wearing the sleeve with straps that retain the sleeve on the person&#39;s body. The construction of the garment is such that it does not keep the entire upper half of the torso warm because the garment is cut high on the bottom in front and back and does not include any means for securing the bottom of the garment close to the body. As a result, body heat may escape through draft holes which can lead to excess heat loss, causing stiffness and tightening of the muscles. In turn, this can cause injury, thereby defeating its purpose. Furthermore, because the sports sleeve covers only a portion of the person&#39;s body, if the weather turns cold, the individual would need to additionally wear a full conventional jacket over the sleeve. This would restrict movement because of the bulky garments. To alleviate this problem, one would need to take off the sleeve and wear just the full conventional jacket. However, in so doing, the sports sleeve would serve no purpose.  
      In U.S. Pat. No. 4,229,833 issued to Cox on Oct. 28, 1980 is disclosed a warm-up sleeve to be worn by an athlete. The sleeve includes a portion for covering the arm and the top of the shoulder. A strap is used to retain the sleeve in place. The strap extends around the upper torso. The sleeve does not cover any portion of the torso. The warm-up sleeve allows body heat to escape. This may lead to excess heat loss, causing stiff and tight muscles. This could result in injury, thereby defeating the purpose of the sleeve. The warm-up sleeve also suffers from many of the same problems as the sports sleeve of Perry.  
      In U.S. Pat. No. 1,796,782 issued to Gasperini on Mar. 17, 1931 is disclosed a garment protector for automobile drivers. The protector includes one sleeve and a strap or fastener for attaching the protector to a coat or around the neck. The protector is used by a driver to protect his or her clothes from getting wet in rainy weather when extending the left arm out of the window to signal turns. This protector would not be useful for warming one arm and shoulder of an athlete. It exhibits many of the disadvantages of the sleeves described by the patents mentioned above and it was not intended for use by athletes.  
      The sports jackets are often worn that have patches, logos, player names, player numbers, and the like permanently affixed thereto as a display of unity and support of the person wearing the sports jacket for a particular sports team, a particular player, or the like of professional basketball, baseball, and football teams. Often the patches are sewn to respective external shoulder, chest, and back areas of the sports jacket. Usually a different sports jacket is owned and worn for each different sports team or player particularly when attending a sports event of the sports team or player. This can be an expensive proposition since most sports jackets with team or player logos currently cost upwards of seventy-five dollars and are likely to rise in price in coming years. When the wearer moves to a different city which frequently occurs in these days of little job security, one or more new sports jackets may need to be purchased that match the sports team(s) and player(s) of the new city. Sports teams also leave cities and new sports teams enter cities as sports franchises are bought, sold, and moved. Wearers switch team loyalties from year-to-year based on team performance and changing personal preferences. Players are traded to other sports teams or voluntarily switch sports teams particularly with the advent of salary caps and free agency for players.  
      Various sports jackets have been patented which attempt to allow display of various sports team logos. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,168,580 issued to Foo on Dec. 8, 1992 is disclosed a jacket with changeable attachments. The jacket has changeable chest, shoulder and back patches that are removable to allow a person to wear one set of patches for one purpose or event, then remove those patches and put on another set of patches for another purpose or event. This permits a manufacturer to produce sets of patches for various purposes or events which may be changed rather than a jacket specifically for each purpose or event to reduce manufacturing costs  
      While the prior art garments are generally adequate for the purposes for which they were intended, they still have significant shortcomings including: 1) not being designed to display sports logos and multiple interchangeable sports logos; 2) having non-symmetrical sections such as removable sleeves or body sections which do not equally display the desired sports logos; 3) not being easily manufacturable due to the diagonal cuts and non-symmetry of the sections; and 4) requiring removal and storage of relatively small removable sections or patches that are easily lost or misplaced.  
      There is a need for a sports jacket that solves these shortcomings of the prior art garments by: 1) being designed to display sports logos and multiple interchangeable sports logos to allow sports fans to display sports logos appropriate for the particular sporting event; 2) having symmetrical sections in the form of jacket halves to equally display the desired sports logos; 3) being easily manufacturable due to straight cuts and symmetry of the sections; and 4) not requiring removal and storage of relatively small removable sections or patches that are easily lost or misplaced.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention is a split sports jacket for covering an upper torso a person. The jacket includes a body comprised of a pair of mating right and left jacket halves adapted to cover respective right and left halves of the person&#39;s upper torso. Respective front and rear closure devices are adapted for retaining the jacket halves mated together covering the person&#39;s upper torso. The jacket halves may be interchanged with other mating jacket halves having differing external visual characteristics to change an overall look of the sports jacket.  
      The body may comprise a split front panel which include respective right and left panel halves and a split rear panel which includes respective right and left panel halves. The front closure device comprises two halves respectively affixed to the right and left panel halves of the split front panel. The rear closure device comprises two halves respectively affixed to the right and left panel halves of the split rear panel.  
      In a preferred split sports jacket, respective right and left sleeves are provided dependent from the body adapted to receive respective right and left arms of the person. Each sleeve comprises a tubular body which terminates at an elasticized cuff. The right and left jacket halves include respective right and left halves of a split collar affixed to the body around a neck opening thereof. The right and left jacket halves also include respective right and left halves of an elasticized split waist band affixed to the body around a waist opening thereof. One or both of the jacket halves includes a pocket. The closure devices comprise respective front and rear zippers that extend vertically and are laterally centered on the person&#39;s upper torso. The front zipper is of upright configuration that zips up from bottom to top. The rear zipper is of inverted configuration that zips up from top to bottom. The body includes respective front and rear flaps adapted to selectively cover the front and rear zippers that are securable thereover by a plurality of spaced connectors. One of the jacket halves has both of said front flap and rear flaps. The connectors each comprise a first connector half affixed to the body and corresponding second connector halves affixed to respective of the flaps which snap-fit thereto. One or both of the jacket halves includes at one or more of the characteristics at a location thereon of right front, left front, right sleeve, left sleeve, right rear or left rear. The affiliations are sports teams, sports players, schools, or religions. The right and left jacket halves differ in the visual characteristics of colors, patterns, patches, logos, indicia, emblems, or combinations thereof. 
    
    
     THE DRAWINGS  
      The best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:  
       FIG. 1  is a front elevational view of a split sports jacket of the present invention as worn by a person, which includes a body having a split collar and split waist band, split front and rear panels, and respective dependent cuffed right and left sleeves, which together comprise respective right and left jacket halves that are removably retained together;  
       FIG. 2 , a rear elevational view of the split sports jacket;  
       FIG. 3 , a front elevational view of the right jacket half which includes respective right halves of the split collar, the split waist band, the split front panel, and the split rear panel, the right sleeve, and first halves of respective front and rear zippers which removably retain the right and left jacket halves together;  
       FIG. 4 , a rear elevational view of the right half;  
       FIG. 5 , a front elevational view of the left jacket half which includes respective left halves of the split collar, the split waist band, the split front panel, and the split rear panel, the left sleeve, and second halves of the front and rear zippers, with respective front and rear flaps snap-fit to respectively cover the front and rear zippers when the right and left jacket halves are zipped together; and  
       FIG. 6 , a rear elevational view of the left half.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT  
      Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , therein is shown a split sports jacket of the present invention, designated generally at  10 , for covering an upper torso  11  of a person  12 .  
      The split sports jacket  10  includes a body  14  having a split collar  16  disposed around a neck opening  17  thereof and an elasticized split waist band  18  disposed around a waist opening  19  thereof, both affixed to respective split front and rear panels  20  and  22  of body  14 . Respective right and left sleeves  24  and  26  are dependent from body  14  to receive respective right and left arms  27  and  28  of the person  12 . The sleeves  24  and  26  include respective tubular bodies  29  and  30  that terminate at respective elasticized cuffs  32  and  34 . The body  14  and sleeves  24  and  26  comprise mating right and left jacket halves  36  and  37  that are removably retained together to cover respective right and left halves  38  and  39  of the person&#39;s upper torso  11 . Respective front and rear closure devices in the form of front and rear zippers  40  and  41  retain the jacket halves  36  and  37  mated together covering the person&#39;s upper torso  11 . The zippers  40  and  41  extend vertically along and are laterally centered on the person&#39;s upper torso  11 . The front zipper  40  is of upright configuration that zips up from bottom to top and the rear zipper  41  preferably is of inverted configuration that zips up from top to bottom utilizing gravity to stay closed.  
      As best shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the right jacket half  36  includes a right half  42  of the split collar  16 , a right half  43  of the split waist band  18 , a right half  44  of the split front panel  20  with a right front logo  45 , a right half  46  of the split rear panel  22  with a right rear logo  47 , the right sleeve  24  with a right sleeve logo  48 , and right halves  49  and  50  of the zippers  40  and  41  which removably retain the right and left jacket halves  36  and  37  together. The right jacket half  36  also includes a pocket  52  in the split front panel  20 .  
      The front zipper  40  includes a right track  56  sewn to the right half  44  of the split front panel  20  extending vertically from the waist band  18  to the neck opening  17  of split sports jacket  10 , a movable zipper member  60 , a starting guide  62  affixed to the right track  56  at waist band  18  to start the zipping action of zipper member  60 , and a stopping member  63  affixed to the right track  56  adjacent collar  16  to stop the zipping action of zipper member  60 . The front zipper  40  zips up from bottom to top like a conventional coat. A plurality of first or male halves  64  of respective snap connectors  66  are linearly disposed affixed through the right half  44  of split front panel  20 .  
      The rear zipper  41  includes a right track  68  sewn to the right half  46  of the split rear panel  22  extending vertically from the collar  16  at neck opening  17  through the waist band  18  of split sports jacket  10 , a movable zipper member  70 , a starting guide  72  affixed to the right track  68  at collar  16 , and a stopping member  73  affixed to the right track  68  at waist band  18  to stop the zipping action of zipper member  70 . The rear zipper  41  zips up from top to bottom in reverse manner to a conventional coat to utilize gravity to stay zipped. A plurality of the male halves  64  of the snap connectors  66  are linearly disposed affixed through the right half  46  of split rear panel  22 .  
      As best shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the left jacket half  37  includes a left half  74  of the split collar  16 , a left half  76  of the split waist band  18 , a left half  78  of the split front panel  20  with a left front logo  79 , a left half  80  of the split rear panel  22  with a left rear logo  81 , the left sleeve  26  with a left sleeve logo  82 , and left halves  83  and  84  of the zippers  40  and  41 . The left jacket half  37  also includes a pocket  85  in the split front panel  20 .  
      The front zipper  40  includes a left track  86  sewn to the left half  78  of the split front panel  20  extending vertically from the waist band  18  to the neck opening  17  of split sports jacket  10 , a starting guide  88  affixed to the left track  86  at waist band  18  to start the zipping action of zipper member  60 , and a stopping member  90  affixed to the left track  86  adjacent collar  16  to stop the zipping action of zipper member  60 . A front flap  92  of left half  78  of split front panel  20  covers the front zipper  40  when the jacket halves  36  and  37  are zipped together. A plurality of second or female halves  94  of the snap connectors  66  are linearly disposed affixed through the front flap  92  of split front panel  20 .  
      The rear zipper  41  includes a left track  96  sewn to the left half  80  of the split rear panel  22  extending vertically from the collar  16  at neck opening  17  through the waist band  18  of split sports jacket  10 , a starting guide  98  affixed to the left track  96  at collar  16  to start the zipping action of zipper member  70 , and a stopping member  100  affixed to the left track  96  adjacent waist band  18  to stop the zipping action of zipper member  70 . A rear flap  102  of the left half  80  of split rear panel  22  covers the rear zipper  41  when the right and left jacket halves  36  and  37  are zipped together. A plurality of the female halves  94  of the snap connectors  66  are linearly disposed affixed through the rear flap  102  of split rear panel  22 .  
      The female halves  94  of snap connectors  66  respectively affixed disposed along the front and rear flaps  92  and  102  snap-fit to corresponding of the male halves  64  of snap connectors  66  respectively disposed along the right halves  44  and  46  of split front and rear panels  20  and  22  to respectively selectively cover the front and rear zippers  40  and  41  when the right and left jacket halves  36  and  37  are zipped together.  
      The jacket halves  36  and  37  may be aesthetically similar or differ in one or more visual characteristics such as colors, patterns, patches, logos, indicia, emblems, and combinations thereof at a location thereon such as right front, left front, right sleeve, left sleeve, right rear, and left rear. The jacket halves  36  and  37  may differ in the characteristics that are indicative of various affiliations such as sports teams, sports players, schools, and religions. The jacket halves  36  and  37  are designed to be interchanged with other mating jacket halves (not shown) having differing external visual characteristics to change an overall look of the split sports jacket  10 .  
      The split sports jacket  10  may be made of any known construction that is standard in the garment industry, using seams, stitching, liners, and other features that are often found in the manufacture of jackets. Any suitable natural or synthetic materials may be used to suit the particular application such as cotton, polyester, dacron, wool, acrylic, leather, denim, or other suitable materials which is typically cut to shape and stitched together. The cloth materials may be in single layer in similar manner to conventional windbreakers, or may be in double or more thicknesses comprising respective inner and outer layers with natural or synthetic insulation materials disposed therebetween to increase the heat retaining ability of the split sports jacket  10 .  
      The split sports jacket solves the shortcomings of the prior art garments by: 1) having interchangeable jacket halves that may have different sports logos to allow sports fans to display sports logos appropriate for the particular sporting event by zipping together appropriate jacket halves; 2) having symmetrical jacket halves to equally display the desired sports logos; 3) having straight cuts at the zippers rather than diagonal cuts and symmetrical mating jacket halves that are mirror images of each other; and 4) having the sports logos permanently affixed-to the jacket halves and thus not requiring removal and storage of relatively small removable sections or patches that are easily lost or misplaced.  
      Many variations are possible to the split sports jackets while staying within the same inventive concept. For example, the zippers may be made of metal or plastic materials. The snap connectors may be replaced by other types of conventional fasteners such as hook and loop patches sold under the trade name Velcro™ to retain the flaps. Various types of waterproof and non-waterproof materials may be used in the construction of the sports jackets. Other clothing may be made in the same inventive manner such as pants that are split into pants halves that connect together using a pair of zippers. The jacket halves may have reflective or fluorescent portions.  
      Whereas this invention is here illustrated and described with reference to embodiments thereof presently contemplated as the best mode of carrying out such invention in actual practice, it is to be understood that various changes may be made in adapting the invention to different embodiments without departing from the broader inventive concepts disclosed herein and comprehended by the claims that follow.