AU2008100387A4 - Article of clothing - Google Patents

Description

30/04 2008 09:16 FAX 001161755943980 John R G Gardner 444 IP AUSTRALIA 103 ALAN DAVID EDWARDS

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR AN INNOVATION PATENT ARTICLE OF CLOTHING The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me:- COMS ID No: ARCS-188607 Received by IP Australia: Time 09:44 Date 2008-04-30 30/04 2008 09:16 FAX 001161755943980 John R G Gardner IP AUSTRALIA 104 00 2 S ARTICLE OF CLOTHING C' Technical Field .i This invention relates to an article of clothing and in a particular but not exclusive aspect to an upper garment of the type having sleeves such as a T-shirt or other shirt.

Background Art Upper garments of many different types are available ranging from T-shirts, 00 knitted shirts of similar configuration to T-shirts which may or may not have collars and Mn other shirts such as dress shirts. Upper garments of this type may have short or long Ssleeves.

00 10 Garments with short sleeves are very common both for casual wear and for work o wear, In certain activities such as where shirts of this type are used for workwear or for athletic purposes, short sleeves tend to limit movement of the arms. Often in these circumstances to gain increased movement, sleeves may be rolled up to the shoulder however this is not a particularly effective solution as the rolled up sleeves tend to unroll and fall back down over the armnn. Thus a person may have to repeatedly roll up the sleeve to maintain the freedom of the arm. Furthermore a disadvantage of rolling up sleeves is that the top of the arm becomes exposed to the sun. This leads to the possible risk of sunburn on the exposed area of the arm and also to the risk of skin cancer.

Summary of the Invention The present invention aims to overcome or alleviate the above disadvantages or at least provide an alternative to existing garments by provided an improved garment or article of clothing having a sleeve configuration which allows for increased movement of the arm and which additionally affords a degree of protection to the upper arm. The present invention in a further aspect provides a sleeve for use with a garment. Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description.

The present invention thus provides an article of clothing of the type having a pair of short sleeves and wherein the front side of at least one of said sleeves has a cut-out area open to the free end of said at least one sleeve through which the arm of a wearer may be moved forwardly of the torso of the wearer.

The at least one sleeve suitably has a cuff at its free end and on the rear side thereof and typically the cut-out area extends along the sleeve rearwardly from the free end. The sleeve is suitably formed such that portion of the normal cuff On the front side COMS ID No: ARCS-188607 Received by IP Australia: Time 09:44 Date 2008-04-30 30/04 2008 09:16 FAX 001161755943980 John R G Gardner 444 IP AUSTRALIA 00 3 or panel of the sleeve is absent- The cut-out area may be formed by cutting out a region Cl of the front panel or portion on the front side of the sleeve, Alternatively the cut-out area may be forned during the sleeve or gan-nent manufacturing process with the fabric <1 forming the sleeve being shaped prior to formation of the sleeve to form a recess-like cutout area in the sleeve. The termi "cut-out area" therefore as used throughout the specification includes an area of the sleeve which has a preformed cut-out region and which is therefore inherently formed when the sleeve is formed or a region of the sleeve 00 M'C which is removed after sleeve formation.

0 o The cut-out area may be in any shape or configuration. Thus in one configuration 00 10 thei cut-out area includes opposite side edges which extend rearwardly from the free end o of the sleeve with the side edges being suitably joined directly or indirectly. TheC Cl opposite side edges may be angled at an acute angle to each other such that the cut-out area is of a generally V-shaped configuration. Alternatively the side edges may extend substantially parallel to each other. In another configuration, the side edges may be joined through an end edge which may be of an arcuate configuration. The side edges of the cut-out area are typically substantially linear but may be curved or of any other configuration. The cut-out area thus may be of a scalloped configuration, The curvature in the side edges of the cut-out area may be the same in the upper and lower edges of the cut out region. Preferably however the curvature in the upper side edge is less than the curvature in the lower side edge. The upper and lower curved side edges of the cut-out area are suitably joined at the end of the cut-out area. Preferably the cut-out area extends from the cuff of the sleeve to adjacent the opposite end of the sleeve adjacent the shoulder seam of the garment, The sleeve additionally includes on its rear side, a rear portion or panel opposite the front side or panel of the sleeve for covering the rear of the arm in use so that the rear panel of the sleeve can protect the rear of the ann. The sleeve further additionally includes a top portion for covering the top of the arm at least adjacent the shoulder so that the top portion can protect the top of the arm.

The garment may have only one sleeve of the above type with the other sleeve being a conventional sleeve. Alternatively both sleeves may be of the above described type.

The present invention in another aspect provides a short sleeve for an article of clothing, said sleeve having a front side and a cut-out area in said front side open to the COMS ID No: ARCS-i 88607 Received by IP Australia: Time 09:44 Date 2008-04-30 30/04 2008 09:16 FAX 001161755943980 John R G Gardner IP AUSTRALIA IM06 00 4 0 free end of said sleeve through which the arm of a wearer may be moved in use forwardly of the torso of the wearer. The cut-out area suitably extends from the cuff or free end of O.i the sleeve and extends rearwardly to a position toward the shoulder end of the sleeve.

The article of clothing typically comprises a shirt such as a T-shirt but the sleeve 0 Cl 5 configuration may be applied to any other garment or article of clothing having short sleeves such as a dress.

00 Brief Description of the Drawings 00 ¢Cf In order that the invention may be more readily understood and put into practical 0 effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate 00 10 preferred embodiments of the invention and wherein o Fig. 1 illustrates in front view, an upper garment according to an embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 is a rear view of the garment of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the sleeve of the garment of Figs. 1 and 2 as worn by a user; Fig. 4 is a front view of an upper garment according to another embodiment of the invention; and Fig. 5 is a front view of an upper garment according to yet another embodiment of the invention Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment Referring to the drawings and firstly to Figs. 1 and 2, there is illustrated an upper garment 10 according to an embodiment of the invention, the garment 10 being in the general configuration of a T-shirt and having as is conventional a front panel 11 and rear panel 12 joined along side seams 14 and a top seam 15 and having a neck opening 16 which may form a crew neck or V-neck in the garment 10. Whilst the description of the embodiment herein is made in relation to a T-shirt, it will be appreciated that the invention may be applied to any other garment or over-garment having short sleeves with or without collars and with or without front buttons or zips and made from any fabric thus the reference to garment throughout the specification includes all such garments as referred to above.

The garment 10 additionally includes a pair of sleeves 17 joined to the front and rear panels 11 and 12 through shoulder seams 18. Each sleeve 17 as is also conventional may be formed by a piece of fabric folded over a fold line 19 and joined along a lower COMS ID No: ARCS-188607 Received by IP Australia: Time 09:44 Date 2008-04-30 30/04 2008 09:16 FAX 001161755943980 John R G Gardner 44 IP AUSTRALIA Z~07 005 seam 20 so as to be in the fonn of a flattened tube and having a fr-ont and rear panels 21 Cl and 22 respectively and a cuff 23 at the free edge or end of the sleeve 17. Of course the sleeve 17 may be Of any Other construction for example formed of a knitted or woven fabric.

en 5 The front panel 21 of the sleeve is formed with a cut-out area or recess 24 which opens through the free end or cuff 23 and extends rearwardly therefrom so that portion of the cuff 23 in the region of the cut-out area or recess 24 is absent. The cut-out area 24 in 00 Mn this embodiment has opposite linear side edges 25 and 26 which are angled at an acute 0) o angle to each other and which are joined at their inner regions through a concavely 00 10 curved end edge 27 which defines the inner end of the out-out area 24. The edges 25, 26 o and 27 may be provided with cuffs or seams. The top edge 25 of the recess 24 in the Cl illustrated embodiment extends inwardly from or adjacent the top fold line 19 at the outer end of the sleeve 17 whilst the lower edge 26 extends inwardly from or adjacent the seam at the outer end of the sleeve 17. Furthermore the curved edge 27 of the recess 24 is located adjacent to the shoulder seam 18. The recess 24 is of a width to enable the upper portion of the arn of the wearer of the garnent 10 to move therethrough forwardly of the wearer's torso without catching or without substantial catching on the sleeve 17.

As shown in Fig. 3, the garment 10 is worn in the same manner as a conventional shirt or T-shirt and it will be noted that the ann 28 of a wearer projects through the sleeve 17 so that the top of the arm is covered by the sleeve 17 in the region of the fold line 19 with increasing coverage occurring rearwardly from the sleeve cuff 23 due to the inward angling of the top edge 25 of the cut-out area 24. The sleeve 17 thus provides sun protection to the top or the arm 28 almost the same as achieved with a normal sleeve.

The armns 28 of the wearer however can be moved forwardly of the torso through the recess 24 without catching on the sleeve 17 so that a substantially increased freedom of movement is possible.

Fig. 4 illustrates a further shirt 10' according to another embodiment of the invention however in this case recesses 29 are formed in the sleeves 30 of the shirt which are of a substantially V-shaped configuration. The recesses 29 will provide slightly less freedom of movement for the arm 28 than that available with the sleeve configuration of Figs. 1 to 3 however this sleeve 30 provides slightly increased sun protection to the arm- COMS ID No: ARCS-i 88607 Received by IP Australia: Time 09:44 Date 2008-04-30 30/04 2008 09:16 FAX 001161755943980 John R G Gardner IP AUSTRALIA Z08 00 6 o Whilst the sleeves 17 and 30 are shown to have particular configurations of cut- C, out areas 24 and 29 respectively, it will be appreciated that the cut-out areas in the O.i sleeves 17 and 30 may be of various configurations. For example, the side edges 25 and 26 may extend substantially parallel to each other from the cuff 23.

C 5 A furtber embodiment of garment 10" including sleeves 31 according to invention is illustrated in Fig. 5, the garment 10" being in the form of a T-shirt and cut-out areas or recesses 32 are formed in the front of the sleeves 31 in a similar manner to the previous 00 M embodiments. The cut-out areas or recesses 32 in this configuration are of a concave Sscalloped configuration having an upper curved edge 33 and an opposed lower curved 00 10 edge 34 which extend from the outer cuff 35 of the sleeve 31 towards the shoulder seam S36 to join each other. The curvature in the upper edge 33 is less than the curvature of the lower edge 34. Thus the radius of curvature of the upper edge 33 may be greater than the curvature in the lower edge 34. Furthermore the upper and lower edges 33 and 34 curve at 37 and 38 into the cuff 35 respectively, the cuff 35 being at the rear side of the sleeve 31 and being slightly convexly curved.

As with the previous embodiments, the top of the sleeve 31 provides sun protection to the wearer whilst the recess or cut-out area 32 provides freedom of movement for the arm of the wearer enabling the arm to be moved freely forwardly of the wearer's torso. The configuration of the cut out area 32 in the garment 10" of Fig. enables the sleeve to seat neatly on the arm of the wearer.

Whilst the sleeve configurations of the invention are described in the embodiments to be applied to a T-shirt, they may be applied to any other short sleeve shirt or overgarment or any other garment having sleeve.

The terms "comprising" or "comprises" as used throughout the specification are taken to specify the presence of the stated features, integers and components referred to but not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other feature/s, integer/s, component/s or group thereof.

Whilst the above has been given by way of illustrative embodiment of the invention, all such variations and modifications thereto as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

COMS ID No: ARCS-188607 Received by IP Australia: Time 09:44 Date 2008-04-30

Claims (4)

1. An article of clothing of the type having a pair of short sleeves and wherein the front side of at least one of said sleeves has a cut-out area open to the free end of said at least one sleeve through which the arm of a wearer may be moved forwardly of the torso of the wearer. 00 M

2. An article of clothing as claimed in claim 1 wherein said cut-out area includes o opposite upper and lower side edges which extend rearwardly from the free end of the 00 10 sleeve, said side edges being angled at an acute angle to each other such that the cut-out Sarea is of a generally V-shaped configuration.

3. An article of clothing as claimed in claim 1 wherein said cut-out area includes opposite upper and lower side edges, said side edges being of a curved concave configuration.

4. An article of clothing as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein said at least one sleeve includes on its rear side, a rear portion or panel opposite the front side of said sleeve for covering the rear of the arm in use and a top portion for covering the top of the arm, A short sleeve for an article of clothing, said sleeve having a front side and a cut- out area in said front side open to the free end of said sleeve through which the arm of a wearer may be moved in use forwardly of the torso of the wearer. Dated this thirtieth day of April 2008 ALAN DAVID EDWARDS By His Patent Attorney JOHN R G GARDNER COMS ID No: ARCS-188607 Received by IP Australia: Time 09:44 Date 2008-04-30