AU2004208684B2 - A Sports Jersey Containing Gripping Areas - Google Patents

Description

A Sports Jersey Containing Gripping Areas Field of the Invention This invention is directed to a sports jersey which will typically be a football jersey (including rugby union, rugby league, soccer, Australian rules football, s etc), and which contains at least one gripping area or patch which can provide extra grip for holding the sports ball. The invention will be described with reference to a sports jersey for rugby, although it should be appreciated that no particular limitation is meant thereby, and the particular sports jersey may also be used in relation to other sports where gripping patches will provide an advantage.

Background Art Most football sports require the player to wear a sports jersey. The sports jersey may comprise a long sleeve jersey, a short leave jersey or a jersey with no sleeves at all a "singlet" type jersey).

More recently, there has been a shift in the jersey material to synthetic materials. Thus, the original cotton jerseys became a synthetic cotton blend for cost and strength. Most recently, the sporting jerseys are 100% synthetic, as these are lightweight, extremely durable, and contain a moisture management system to remove sweat away from the skin. Also, printing on the synthetic material provides better results.

As well, there has been a shift in the material for which the football is made. The original leather football has been replaced with a synthetic material which does not get waterlogged and is resistant to scuffing.

A disadvantage however with these changes in material is that the synthetic football can become quite slippery especially when wet or muddy. Also, the synthetic jersey is also quite slippery especially when wet, muddy, or sweaty.

Indeed, the modem-day rugby league or rugby union coach now trains the defenders to target the area below the ball of the attacker in order push the ball out of the arms of the attacker, by taking advantage of the slippery nature of the football and the jersey.

3 0 There are various devices to enhance the grip of a football. The most common include gloves provided with gripping means on the surface of the gloves.

The gloves are particularly used by the goalkeeper in soccer. However, it is found that most players do not like wearing gloves.

It is also known to attach thick cushioning material to parts of clothing, the primary reason for which is to provide protection against shock, but providing a secondary advantage in improving grip. For instance, it is known to provide a "gun vest" which is worn and which has a thick cushioning patch in the shoulder region in which the butt of the gun is placed, and which also functions to prevent the butt from moving. A disadvantage with the thick cushioning material is that it does inhibit movement of the wearer and therefore does not find particular advantage with fast playing sports codes such as football.

Another disadvantage with grip enhancing patches or areas (typically on the gloves) is that these do not readily transmit moisture, and therefore the body part which is covered by the particular area the person's hands in the case of gloves) can become quite sweaty. This is a distinct disadvantage. Also some patches cause loss of sensation or "feel" for the ball.

In the case of rugby union or rugby league or other sport in which a ball is held by the person, there would be an advantage if it were possible to design the jersey to facilitate holding of the ball especially when running, or being tackled, but which does not unnecessarily constrict free movement of the person and which does not unnecessarily increase the weight of the jersey or make the jersey very uncomfortable to wear.

It will be clearly understood that, if a prior art publication is referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that the publication forms part of the common general knowledge in the art in Australia or in any other country.

Object of the Invention It is an object of the invention to provide a sports jersey which may improve the ability of the player wearing the jersey to hold a ball, or other sports item and which may overcome at least some of the above-mentioned disadvantages or provide a useful or commercial choice.

In one form, the invention resides in a sports jersey comprising a trunk part, and at least one gripping patch on the trunk part, the gripping patch functioning to enhance gripping of a ball.

The term "patch" is meant to include an area, or zone on the jersey that contains the grip enhancing member, and should not be construed in an unnecessary limiting manner.

The term "ball" is meant to include a rugby ball, a football, and even sports items that are not "balls" but which are held by a person and passed.

After much research and experimentation, it has been found that the ball can be gripped quite well by the person if the gripping patch is on the trunk part of the sports jersey as opposed to another part (for instance the sleeves etc).

The trunk part is meant to include the part of the jersey that passes over the person's chest and body.

The sports jersey may comprise a jersey having long sleeves, short sleeves, or no sleeves at all. The sports jersey may contain a collar or be open necked and no particular limitation should be placed on the invention by the shape or cut of the sports jersey.

The sports jersey may be made from any suitable material and will typically be made from material that is conventionally used on sports jerseys, and this will typically comprise 100% synthetic apparel. However, no particular limitation should be placed on the invention by the material from which the sports jersey is made.

The gripping patch is placed on the trunk part of the jersey. After much research and experimentation, it has been found that, in the case of rugby sports or other sports where a ball is carried by running player, the most effective placement of the gripping patch is underneath the arm of the jersey. It has also been found that the best balance between gripping and size is where the gripping patch extends from approximately the hip portion of the person up to the armpit of the person and extends towards the person's nipple.

Suitably, a gripping patch is formed under each arm of the jersey and therefore the jersey will contain two gripping patches.

The gripping patch will preferably be configured and sized such that it can provide improve grip to the football without being unnecessarily large. It is found that one particular configuration is a semicircular configuration. However, the gripping patch may have other configurations such as oval, rectangular, circular, triangular or have irregular shapes.

The size of the gripping patch may vary depending on the size of the football and the size of the player. However, it is considered that the size of the gripping patch will be about the "footprint" size of the football when the football is held against the jersey by a player, or slightly larger. Thus, for a rugby jersey, the gripping patch may have a length of approximately 20-50 centimetres and a width of approximately 10-30 centimetres. Of course, no particular limitation should be placed on the invention merely by illustrating these preferred parameters.

A disadvantage with grip enhancing means which are known on gloves) is that the grip enhancing means is generally quite thick and nonporous.

While this is an advantage on gloves, it is not an advantage on jerseys.

Therefore, a preferred feature of the present invention has the grip enhancing patch made of material that can improve gripping of the football, but which can also "breathe". If the patch is in the arm area of the player, there is a distinct advantage in having the material made of breathable material such that the jersey does not get unnecessarily hot in this particular area.

The grip enhancing patch can be made of a variety of materials. It is considered that a rubberised material will be suitable, as will be certain soft tacky plastics, silicones and the like. Other materials that can provide grip enhancement are considered to fall in the scope of the present invention, even if not explicitly mentioned.

The patch may be formed of a woven or non woven material, which contains openings to allow the patch to breathe. In one form, the patch may be formed of material that contains an array of small beads that are interconnected by filamentary members, to form a non woven material. The beads may have a size of between millimetres and the filamentary interconnecting members may have a length of between 1-5 millimetres and a diameter (or cross-section size) of between 0.1-0.5 millimetres.

It is envisaged that the patch may be sewn or otherwise attached onto the jersey. However, it is also envisaged that the jersey may be provided with a cutout portion and the patch is attached over the cut-out portion (otherwise known as sewn in). The patch can be glued, fastened by fasteners, transferred on and the like, at it is not envisaged that the invention should be limited to any particular method of attachment of the patch.

If the patch comprises a separate member that is attached to the jersey, there is an advantage to ensure that the patch does not move, twist, or be otherwise deformed. Therefore, it is preferred that the patch is attached to the jersey in multiple places. In a particularly preferred form, the patch is sewn to the jersey along a plurality of sew lines which may be spaced from each other.

Brief Description of the Drawings An embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the following illustrations in which: Figure 1. Illustrates a front view of the football jersey containing a pair of underarm grip enhancing patches.

Figure 2. Illustrates the football jersey being worn.

Figure 3. Illustrates a side view of the underarm region and particularly illustrating a grip enhancing patch sewn onto the jersey.

Figure 4. Illustrates the grip enhancing patch in close-up.

Figure 5. Illustrates the football being held against the grip enhancing patch.

Figure 6. Illustrates another view of the football being held against the grip enhancing patch.

Detailed Description Referring to the illustrations there is illustrated a football jersey which comprises a trunk portion 11, and in this particular embodiment, jersey 10 is a short-sleeved jersey, and therefore contains a pair of short sleeves 12. The football jersey 10 is made of "hugging" synthetic material to provide durability and lightweight as is common to modern style football jerseys.

The football jersey, according to the particular embodiment, contains a pair of underarm grip enhancing patches 13. Each patch 13 is sewn onto the jersey as will be described in greater detail below.

Specifically, each patch 13 is positioned in a particular place on the trunk of the jersey and the positioning is best illustrated in figures 1-3. Specifically, referring to figure 3, the patch 13 is semicircular in design and extends from the vertical seam 14 of the jersey from approximately the top of the hip region 15 (see figure 2) of the person, to the armpit region 16 of the person (again see figure 2).

Thus, the length of the patch will be approximately 40 centimetres. A length of jersey 17 (see figure 1) extends from below the particular patch 13 to the lower seam 18 of the jersey. This enables the jersey to be tucked into football shorts (if required) without this area containing the fairly rough patch 13.

Each patch 13 has an arcuate edge 19 (see figure 3) that extends from an outermost portion 20 which is approximately at the nipple position of the player, and then extends back towards vertical seam 14 of the lower edge, and towards the armpit region 16 at the upper edge. It is found that this particular shape provides good gripping portion while still minimising the size of the patch.

Figure 4 illustrates the patch material in close-up. The patch is made of breathable rubberised material comprising a plurality of small nodes 21 having a size of between 1-3 millimetres interconnected by filamentary thin members 22, which have a length of between 1-5 millimetres and a thickness of between 0.1-1 millimetres. This arrangement provides a sufficiently tactile surface to provide good grip properties while still providing a breathable material. The patch itself has a thickness of between 0.5-2 millimetres and, when removed from the jersey, is quite flexible.

Each patch 13 is sewn to the jersey in a particular manner to provide improved properties. Specifically, each patch 13 is sewn using a plurality of sew lines 23 starting from the outermost edge of the patch 13 and then extending at spaced apart lines across the patch. This arrangement enables the patch to follow the contours of the jersey during play.

Figures 5-6 show a football held by a person against the grip enhancing patch and illustrates how almost the entire contact "footprint" of the football against the person is on the grip enhancing patch providing maximum grip enhancement between the person and the football.

Throughout the specification and the claims (if present), unless the context requires otherwise, the term "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to apply the inclusion of the stated integer or group of integers but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers.

Throughout the specification and claims (if present), unless the context requires otherwise, the term "substantially" or "about" will be understood to not be limited to the value for the range qualified by the terms.

It should be appreciated that various other changes and modifications can be made to any embodiment described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (6)

1. A sports jersey containing a trunk portion, and at least one grip enhancing patch on the trunk portion to facilitate holding of a sports ball against a sports jersey, and wherein the at least one grip enhancing patch is constructed from a non-sticky, non-tacky and non-adhesive material.

2. The jersey as claimed in claim 1, wherein the grip enhancing patch is in the armpit area of the jersey.

3. The jersey as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the grip enhancing patch is substantially semicircular.

4. The jersey as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein a grip enhancing patch is positioned in each armpit area of the jersey.

The jersey as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the grip enhancing patch comprises a non woven material made of an array of nodes interconnected by filamentary members.

6. A jersey substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the illustrations. Dated this 7 th day of November 2007 John Edmund Short By his Patent Attorneys CULLEN CO.