EP0111634B1

EP0111634B1 - Combination outerwear and pack

Info

Publication number: EP0111634B1
Application number: EP19830108906
Authority: EP
Inventors: Toru Itoi
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1982-12-14
Filing date: 1983-09-09
Publication date: 1987-11-25
Also published as: DE3374650D1; EP0111634A1

Description

Background of the Invention

The present invention relates to an outerwear such as a jacket; anorak, parka, for example, which can be folded or rolled into a built-in pocket or interior space so as to be usable as a pack such as a knapsack or shoulder bag.
During outdoor activities such as sports or hiking, it frequently happens that people wearing jackets, anoraks, parkas, for example, want to take off their outerwears due to an ambient temperature rise or a body heat buildup. Usually, the outerwears that have been took off are carried by hand when there is no place available to put them in. This is undesirable since at least one hand is occupied by holding the outerwear, and only the other hand is free for doing something that may come up during the activity. Furthermore, some people often tend to leave the removed outerwear somewhere and forget to bring it along.
A need sometimes arises during outdoor activities for carrying something small by hand, and this also imposes limitations on the availability of both hands.

Summary of the Invention

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an outerwear foldable into its own pocket or interior space for use as a knapsack or shoulder bag, for instance.
According to the present invention, there is provided an outerwear such as a jacket, anorak, or parka, for example, comprising a torso portion having a pocket having a normally-open closable open end, a pair of sleeves extending from said torso portion, said pocket being positioned below the sleeves, and means attached to said torso portion around said open end for closing said open end, the arrangement being such that at least a portion of said torso portion and said sleeves can be folded into said pocket through said open end and then said open end can be closed by said means, whereby said torso portion has a front and back.
A known outerwear (cf. GB-A-1 561 459) has a separately built pocket, normally positioned inside the outerwear, between the front and the back. For changing the outerwear into a pack, knapsack or shoulder bag, the pocket has to be turned inside out. Then the sleeves and other parts of the outerwear can be folded into the pocket.
Furthermore, in case of the known outerwear, the pocket is provided with the continuous flap which has a hem, which contains a drawstring. A further outerwear is known from FR-A-2 500 275, which also has a separate pocket, normally disposed between the front and the back. Also this pocket is only to be closed by drawstrings. Additionally, this pocket of the known outerwear is not designed to receive the other parts of the outerwear. Rather it is designed to receive additionally things may be needed by a person who is wearing this outerwear.
According to the invention, the pocket is formed by said front and said back and said means are comprising a pair of first and second horizontally position slide fastener stringers attached respectively to said front and said back, one of said first and second slide fastener stringers having a slider slidably mounted thereon for interengaging said first and second slide fastener stringers.
The shoulder bag or knapsack thus constructed from the folded outerwear can carry small pieces therein to free user's hands for various activities. With the folded outerwear carried as the shoulder bag or knapsack, the user is no longer likely to leave the outerwear which has been taken off somewhere.
The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown by way of illustrative example.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of an anorak according to another embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a rear elevational view of the anorak shown in Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IX-IX of Fig. 1;
Fig. 4 is a plan view of a pair of drawstrings incorporated in the anorak illustrated in Fig. 1,
Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the anorak as folded into an interior space thereof as a knapsack;
Fig. 6 is a rear elevational view of the completed knapsack; and
Fig. 7 is a front elevational view of the completed knapsack.

Description of the Preferred Embodiment

Figs. 1 through 7 illustrate an outdoor jacket 15 such as an anorak according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the jacket 15 is composed of a body or torso portion 16, a pair of sleeves 17, 17, and a hood 18. The torso portion 16 has a folded hem 19 in which a pair of drawstrings 20, 21 is inserted. The drawstrings 20, 21 have end portions 22, 23 disposed out of the folded hem 19 and fastened together by short bars 24, 25, respectively, as illustrated in Fig. 4.
The torso portion 16 has a front 26 and a back 27 as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The front 26 has a first slide fastener stringer 28 extending horizontally just below the junctions between the sleeves 17 and the torso portion 16, and likewise the back 27 has a second slide fastener stringer 29 extending horizontally just below the junctions between the sleeves 17 and the torso portion 16. The second slide fastener stringer 29 supports thereon a slider 30 for taking the first and second slide fastener stringers 28, 29 into mutually meshing relation, as described later on..The back 27 also has a pair of laterally spaced hooks 31, 32 engageable with the end portions 22, 23 of the drawstrings 20, 21, respectively. The front 26 has a vertical slide fastener 33 extending between the hood 18 and the first slide fastener stringer 28 for opening and closing a chest portion 34 of the front 26, and a pocket 35 positioned immediately below the first slide fastener stringer 28 and openable and closable by a horizontal slide fastener 36.
The jacket 15 can be worn by a user in a normal mode of use. When the jacket 15 is no longer necessary, the sleeves 17, 17, the hood 18, and the chest portion 34 are folded and stuffed into an interior space or pocket 37 which are positioned below the sleeves 17 between the front 26 and the back 27 through a gap or open end 40 between the first and second slide fastener stringers 28, 29. The first and second slide fastener stringers 28, 29 are then brought into meshing engagement by the slider 30 slidably moved therealong, thereby closing the open end 40. The drawstrings 20, 21 are pulled out to close an opening 38 defined by the hem 19 as shown in Figs. 6 and 13. The end portions 22, 23 of the pulled-out drawstrings 20, 21 are then engaged by the hooks 31, 32, respectively. The completed pack can therefore be used as a knapsack, in which small pieces may be carried. Rather than locking the drawstring end portions 22, 23 in the hooks 31, 32, they may be tied or left untied and held by hand to carry the bag.
The back 26 may also have a cover flap attached at an upper edge thereof to an outer surface thereof and covering the opening. The cover flap has a lower edge fastenable to the back 26 by means of fasteners known as Velcro (trademark) closure. This flap is not shown on the drawings.

Claims

1. An outerwear comprising a torso portion (16) having a pocket (37) having a normally-open closable open end (40), a pair of sleeves (17) extending from said torso portion (16), said pocket (37) being positioned below the sleeves (17) and means (28, 29, 30) attached to aid torso portion (16) around said open end (40) for closing said open end (40), the arrangement being such that at least a portion of said torso portion (16) and said sleeves (17) can be folded into said pocket (37) through said open end (40) and then said open end (40) can be closed by said means (28, 29, 30), whereby said torso portion (16) has a front (26) and a back (27); characterized in that the pocket (37) is formed by said front (26) and said back (27) and that said means are comprising a pair of first and second horizontally positioned slide fastener stringers (28, 29) attached respectively to said front (26) and said back (27), one of said first and second slide fastener stringers (28, 29) having a slider (30) slidably mounted thereon for interengaging said first and second slide fastener stringers (28, 29).

2. An outerwear according to claim 1, including a cover flap attached at one end thereof to said back (27) in covering relation to said open end (40), and a fastener for removably fastening an opposite end of said cover flap to said back (27).

3. An outerwear according to claims 1 or 2, including a pair of drawstrings (20, 21) mounted on a hem (19) of said torso portion (16) for closing an opening of said portion (16) defined by said hem (19).

4. An outerwear according to claim 3, including a pair of hooks (31, 32) mounted on said back (27) adjacent to said second slide fastener stringer (29) for engaging said drawstrings (20, 21), respectively.