EP3909456A1

EP3909456A1 - Clothing item particularly for sports use

Info

Publication number: EP3909456A1
Application number: EP21172973.6A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Mario Pianese; Alessandro Cerantola
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2020-05-20
Filing date: 2021-05-10
Publication date: 2021-11-17
Also published as: IT202000002308U1

Abstract

The invention is a clothing item such as a T-shirt (100) or a tank top (200, 200') or a top (600) or a pair of shorts (300) or pants (500) or an item of underwear (400), more specifically for sports use and in particular suited to be used for beach volleyball, comprising one or more portions (110, 310, 320, 330) applied to the fabric/material from which the clothing item is made, and wherein said portions (110, 310, 320, 330) are made from a net material suited to exert a mechanical action to remove sand from parts of the user's body by rubbing.

Description

Field of application of the invention

The present patent concerns clothing items and more specifically it concerns a clothing item which is suited to enhance the user's comfort during sports activities and when playing sports, beach volleyball in particular.

State of the art

During the practice of sports and in particular during sports activities on the beach (for example, beach volleyball or beach tennis) it often occurs that hands and arms become wet with moisture and/or sweat, so that the sand sticks to the body and especially to hands and arms. This leads to a series of drawbacks such as, for example, the following:

the player's skin is subject to irritation and scratches every time he/she hits the ball;
the player's eyes are contaminated with sand due to certain movements required during the game;
the player's touch on the ball or any tool becomes less sensitive.

Similar problems arise in the case where the arms are covered by sweat and/or moisture. The drawbacks for the player are the following (always by way of example):

wet arms reduce the sensitivity of the player's touch on the ball or the tool and it is more difficult to control one's movements;
the ball or the tool, once wet, is difficult to control, as it becomes slippery, and there is the risk of making a fault or a mistake.

All these drawbacks force the player to stop frequently to shake off the sand or to dry his/her sweat (according to the rules of beach volleyball, in fact, the need to remove the sand is the only reason for which a player can stop the game with no need to request a time out to the referee). The problem is usually solved by means of a towel which is kept on the bench or is handed over by the staff. Alternatively, the player attaches the towel to his/her pants/shorts so as to have it always within reach. It is clear, however, that this solution is uncomfortable, as the towel hangs from the pants and can easily fall down, getting dirty and even hindering the game. In the case of beach games such as beach volleyball, at present, if there is no towel available, the only way to remove the sand is to shake it off one's hands or arms. Cleaning one's limbs with the hands would be scarcely effective, as the sand would be transferred onto the hands themselves and create even more difficulties during the game. The materials used nowadays for uniforms and/or sports clothing items do not ensure accurate cleaning in the presence of sand, or do not dry sweat sufficiently.
As far as patents are concerned, there are several documents concerning sports clothing items made from special fabrics (or partially or completely covered with said fabrics) which make it possible to absorb the sweat produced during sporting activities, or breathable clothes provided with holes/openings suited to make the sweat evaporate towards the outside, as described, for example, with reference to the Chinese utility model no. CN203207235 filed on 12/04/2013 in the name of ZHEJIANG SCI-TECH UNIVERSITY (CN) (Title: "Sports clothing with ventilation"). The document concerning the utility model no. CN202078692 filed on 09/10/2010 in the name of TAO HONG (CN) and others (Title: "Elastic and adjustable top for training outdoors") describes a sports clothing item whose external parts are provided with inserts suited to contain filling materials (such as, for example, sand) for the purpose of making said clothing items heavier and thus increase the physical effort required. This document does not deal with the specific problem of sweat absorption.
Documents CN104720142 A and CN 205285040 U are also known, which describe sports shorts provided with portions of absorbing fabric made from cotton, wool, terry cloth or flocked fabric and applied externally, even according to specific patterns, having the function of absorbing moisture and thus suited to be used by the user to dry his/her hands during the sports activity.
Document US 3045245 describes clothing items, for example pants and skirts, provided with portions of absorbing material which are applied, for example, to the pockets.
Document US 3174156 describes a sports T-shirt with portions of fabric or terry cloth applied to the sides, while document US 5075901 describes a T-shirt having a portion of absorbing material sewn on the inside, near the neck, and suited to be extracted when the user needs to dry his/her hands and face.
Document US 4768236 describes a clothing item with a small towel made of an absorbing material and suited to be applied to any part of the item itself. The absorbing material is preferably polypropylene, which has been selected for its high absorbing capacity.
None of the above-mentioned documents deals with the more specific problem of the removal of sand from the surface of hands and arms.
The use of a cotton towel, for example, though being very effective when it comes to drying one's skin, would certainly remove part of the sand, which however would dirty the fabric, penetrating even irreversibly the interstices defined by the meshes of the fabric itself.

Summary of the invention

It is the main task of the present invention to overcome the problems present in the state of the art by providing a clothing item particularly suited to be used for sporting activities, more specifically on the beach, in particular for beach volleyball, wherein said item is provided with one or more portions of net material applied in any way to the fabric used for making the clothing item.
The material applied to the fabric used for making the clothing item is thus in the form of net, meaning provided with meshes which are considerably larger than the meshes of normal cotton fabrics. For example, the average size of said meshes is equal to approximately 1 mm or larger, and more preferably included between approximately 1 mm and 5 mm.
The shape of the meshes of the net can be any, for example square, rectangular, polygonal in general, circular/elliptical/oval or any other shape, even a composite and/or fancy shape.
In fact, it has been observed that a net material is surprisingly effective for the removal of sand sticking to the skin. Said material, in fact, not only serves the function of absorbing moisture from the skin, but also performs a mechanical action of removal of the sand, which would tend to remain attached to the wet skin.
Said one or more portions of net material can be applied to the fabric/material used to make the clothing item through sewing, insertion, injection on the outside of the item, heat welding, gluing or other methods.
Said portion of net material, for example, can be applied externally to the fabric/material used to make the clothing item, thus being in relief, or can be in the form of a portion applied in a suitable opening made in the clothing item.
In the preferred solution, each portion of net material is applied externally to the fabric/material used to make the clothing item in such a way that it substantially adheres to it, said net portion being sewn along its edges or in any way welded to the fabric/material.
Said one or more portions of net material make it possible to effectively drain the sweat which accumulates on the exposed parts of the athlete's body, such as legs, hands and arms, and the athlete can use said portions to effectively clean himself/herself from both sand and sweat, with no need to use external towels or absorbing cloths. Thanks to this solution, it is thus possible to practice sporting activities without interruptions and to play games regularly and continuously.
Furthermore, the net material does not hinder transpiration, thus making the clothing item also particularly comfortable.
Furthermore, said clothing item can be used for long and reused several times, owing to the fact that said portions of net material do not retain the sand, which falls down during the normal use of the clothing item or can be easily removed by shaking the latter.
The net material used to make said one or more portions can be any, natural and/or synthetic.
In a preferred and particularly effective solution, which however is not the only possible solution, said net material is of the "seamless type", so that any rubbing against the skin is even more comfortable.
For example, said material is made from 100% polypropylene or 90% polypropylene and 10% elastane.
However, the use of other net materials is not excluded, wherein said materials, for example, can be the following: terry cloth, cotton terry cloth, polyester terry cloth, velvet, polyester or polyamide velvet, nylon, polyester, neoprene fabric, crepe fabric, Velcro, microfiber fabric, Velcro with loop, cotton, brushed cotton, flocked polyester, that is, fabrics suitable for serving the function described above.

Description of the drawings

Figure 1 shows a front view of the sports clothing item, constituted by a T-shirt (100).
Figures 2 and 3 respectively show a rear view and a side view of the T-shirt (100) of Figure 1.
Figure 4 shows a front view of the sports clothing item consisting of a tank top (200), while Figure 4a shows a front view of the clothing item consisting of a tank top (200') in a shape different from that shown in Figure 4.
Figures 5, 6 and 7 respectively show a front view, a side view and a rear view of the sports clothing item constituted by shorts (300).
Figures 8 and 9 respectively show a front view and a rear view of the sports clothing item constituted by an item of underwear, for example panties (400).
Figures 10, 11 and 12 respectively show a front view, a side view and a rear view of the sports clothing item constituted by pants (500).
Figures 13 and 14 respectively show a front view and a rear view of the sports clothing item constituted by a women's top (600).
Figure 15 shows a portion of net material suited to be effectively used in the new clothing item.

Detailed description of the invention

With reference to the drawings mentioned above, the clothing item, which can be a T-shirt (100) or a tank top (200, 200'), a pair of shorts (300), an item of underwear (400) such as briefs or panties, a pair of women's pants (500) or a women's top (600) or another type of clothing item, comprises at least one fabric or material in general which is used to make the item itself, and furthermore comprises one or more portions (110, 310, 320, 330) of a net material which are suited to serve the function of mechanically removing sand from the different parts of the user's body.
More specifically, said portions (110, 310, 320, 330) are effectively arranged mainly on the side and/or rear areas of the clothing item, so that the user can comfortably rub his/her arms, forearms and hands on them to get rid of the sand.
In the solution concerning T-shirts (100) or tank tops (200, 200') or tops (600), the clothing item comprises a portion (110) along one or preferably both sides.
Said portions (110) positioned along the sides can, for example, extend over the whole side or only over part of the latter.
In the solution concerning shorts (300) or pants (500) or items of underwear (400), the clothing item comprises a portion (310) positioned on the sides and on the rear (320), possibly even on the upper edge (330).
Said side portions (310) are preferably limited to the upper part of the pants/shorts, but in any case they can have any length.
Therefore, with reference to the above description and the attached drawings, the following claims are expressed.

Claims

Clothing item, characterized in that it comprises one or more portions (110, 310, 320, 330) applied to the fabric/material from which the clothing item is made, and wherein said portions (110, 310, 320, 330) are made from a net material which is suited to exert a mechanical action to remove sand from parts of the user's body by rubbing, and wherein said net material has meshes whose average size is approximately equal to or larger than 1 mm.
Clothing item according to claim 1, characterized in that said one or more portions (110, 310, 320, 330) are integral, in a non-removable manner, with said fabric/material from which the clothing item is made and are applied through sewing, insertion, injection on the outside of the item, heat welding, gluing or other techniques.
Clothing item according to claim 1, characterized in that said one or more portions (110, 310, 320, 330) are made from 100% polypropylene.
Clothing item according to claim 1, characterized in that said one or more portions (110, 310, 320, 330) are made from 90% polypropylene and 10% elastane.
Clothing item according to claim 1, characterized in that said clothing item is a T-shirt (100) or a tank top (200, 200') or a top (600) and comprises one or more of said portions (110) arranged on one or both sides, over their entire length or over part of their length.
Clothing item according to claim 1, characterized in that said clothing item is a pair of shorts (300) or pants (500) or an item of underwear (400) and comprises one or more of said portions (310, 320, 330) arranged on the sides and/or on the rear part and/or on the upper part.