Patent Publication Number: US-2018042317-A1

Title: Upper body garment having integrated gloves

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates generally to apparel and, more particularly, to a hooded sweatshirt which includes attachable gloves. 
     Description of the Prior Art 
     The design of hooded sweatshirts (or “hoodies”) as a upper body garment that has an attached hood is well established. The inclusion of the hood, as well as optional items such as a muff on the front of the garment and a draw string on the hood, is generally understood to better equip a hood to provide protection and warmth to a wearer from cold and/or wet conditions. A problem which still exists, however, is that because typical hoodie designs often do not include movable hand coverings, a wearer&#39;s hands will often not be protected unless the wearer keeps them inside the muff. While a separate set of gloves can be worn to address this problem, it is difficult for many users, such as kids, to keep track of detached gloves, particularly in settings where one would repeatedly take them off and put them back on. Thus, there remains a need for a hoodie having integrated gloves which would provide full coverage for the upper body of a wearer without requiring a user to use a detached set of gloves to cover their hands. It would be helpful if such a hoodie having integrated gloves employed an attachment strap to releasably couple the gloves to the sleeve of the hoodie. It would be additionally desirable for such a hoodie having integrated gloves to include a reinforced sleeve and reinforced glove rim to make a more secured attachment. 
     The Applicant&#39;s invention described herein provides for a hoodie having integrated gloves adapted to provide a unitary garment that can cover the entire upper body of a user. The primary components in Applicant&#39;s hoodie having integrated gloves are a garment base, gloves, and an attachment system. When in operation, the hoodie having integrated gloves provides better overall protection for a users upper body while preventing the loss of the gloves. As a result, many of the limitations imposed by prior art structures are removed. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A hoodie having integrated gloves defines a modified gloved garment for provide a unitary garment that can cover the entire upper body of a user. The modified gloved garment comprises a garment base that defines in one embodiment a defines a hooded sweatshirt, a sleeve attachment system integrated with the garment base, a pair of hand coverings such as gloves or mittens. In one embodiment, the attachment system includes a reinforced sleeve cuff on the garment base and an attachment strap. The attachment strap extends at one end from the sleeve cuff and is configured to engage the hand covering and attach at the other end to the sleeve cuff so as to couple the hand covering with the sleeve cuff. In this regard, the hand covering will remain coupled with the garment base whether the user is wearing the hand covering or not. 
     It is an object of this invention to provide a hoodie having integrated gloves which would provide full coverage for the upper body of a wearer without requiring a user to use a detached set of gloves to cover their hands. 
     It is another object of this invention to provide a hoodie having integrated gloves which employs an attachment strap to releasably couple the gloves to the sleeve of the hoodie. 
     It is yet another object of this invention to provide a hoodie having integrated gloves which includes a reinforced sleeve and reinforced glove rim to make a more secured attachment. 
     These and other objects will be apparent to one of skill in the art. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a front elevational view of a modified gloved garment built in accordance with a glove embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a front elevational view of a modified gloved garment built in accordance with a mitten embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring now to the drawings and in particular  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a modified gloved garment  10  is shown having a garment base  11  with a sleeve attachment system, and a pair of gloves  14  or mittens  14 ′ (collectively referred to as hand coverings). In the illustrated embodiment, the garment base  11  defines a hooded sweatshirt and the attachment system is embodied by an attachment strap  12  and a reinforced sleeve cuff  13 . It is contemplated that the sleeve cuff  13  may be reinforced by integrating a durable material, such as Kevlar, into the sleeve cuff  13 . In one embodiment, the durable material is integrated into the sleeve cuff  13  by lining the interior surface and/or exterior surface of the sleeve cuff  13  therewith. 
     In one embodiment, the exterior surface of the sleeve cuff  13  has attached thereto a sleeve fastening portion, such as a surfacing of loop component of a hook and loop fastener (for use with a corresponding hook component surfacing on the attachment strap  12 ). In alternate embodiments, the sleeve fastening portion may define a snap fastener portion (for use with a corresponding snap fastener portion on the attachment strap  12 ) or button (for use with a button hole on the attachment strap  12 ). 
     The attachment strap  12  defines an elongated member that is attached at one end to the interior surface of the sleeve cuff  13  and has an attachment portion  13   a  at the other end. In the illustrated embodiment, the attachment portion  13   a  defines a hook component surfacing that corresponds to the loop component surfacing on the sleeve cuff  13  exterior. In other embodiments, the attachment portion  13   a  defines a snap fastener portion or button hole which would correspond to the sleeve fastening portion on the sleeve cuff  13  exterior. 
     The hand coverings  14 ,  14 ′ define typical hand covering structures, such as gloves  14  or mittens  14 ′. Each of the hand coverings  14 ,  14 ′ includes a coupling aperture  15  in a reinforced wrist cuff  16 . The coupling aperture  15  allows the attachment strap  12  to be looped through the hand covering  14 ,  14 ′ and then folded back over to attach to the sleeve fastening portion on the sleeve cuff  13  exterior (as shown on the right hand of  FIG. 1  and left hand of  FIG. 2 ) so as to allow the attachment strap  12  to releasably couple the hand covering  14 ,  14 ′ with the sleeve cuff  13 . 
     It is contemplated that the reinforced wrist cuff  16  may be reinforced in the same manner as the sleeve cuff  13 . 
     In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, the attachment strap is permanently attached at one end to the interior of the sleeve cuff and at the other end to the exterior of the sleeve cuff, while passing through the coupling aperture. In such an embodiment, the hand coverings each are permanently coupled to a sleeve cuff. 
     The instant invention has been shown and described herein in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.