GB2236472A

GB2236472A - Concealed hygienic pocket

Info

Publication number: GB2236472A
Application number: GB9021485A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Robert Francis Edward Morrow
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1989-10-06
Filing date: 1990-10-03
Publication date: 1991-04-10
Anticipated expiration: 2010-10-03
Also published as: IE893228A1; GB2236472B; GB9021485D0

Abstract

In a workwear garment having co-operating edges provided with fasting means engageable together (see Fig. 2) with one edge overlapping the other, a panel 12 is adhered to a portion 11 of the garment material extending from that edge of the co-operating edges which is outermost when the edges are engaged together. The panel 12 and the garment material portion 11 together define an enclosed region 15, 16 accessible only by an opening 13 defined between the outermost edge of the garment material portion 11 and an edge portion of the panel 12. All other edges 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d and 14e of the panel 12 are continuously adhered to the garment material portion 11. A pocket 17 is then defined within the lower part 16 of the enclosed region 15, 16. The invention provides a hygienic pocket construction acceptable for use in industries where both external pockets and internal pockets are prohibited. <IMAGE>

Description

"Protective Clothing" This invention relates to protective clothing for use in industry, especially the food industry, also referred to as workwear. In particular, the invention relates to workwear for use in industries where high standards of hygiene are specified. The invention is especially directed to a pocket construction for workwear garments for use in these industries.

Standards laid down by different government organisations for food industries and the like typically require that workwear for use in such circumstances must ensure inter alia that there are no outside pockets. Neither must the workwear allow the wearer's hands to come into contact either with the body itself or with underclothing, for reasons of hygiene and to avoid the risk of cross-infection, so that inside pockets of conventional kinds are also prohibited, in that they provide inadequate protection against contact between the hand and the body or underwear. To this end, workwear for such purposes has tended to be provided without any pockets at all.In summary, therefore, traditional constructions of internal pocket for protective clothing such as overalls do not meet the required standards, while external pockets are not permissible for other reasons, for example, in that they may constitute dirt traps etc.

Known internal pocket constructions include "patch" pockets, in which the pocket is defined by a portion of material secured to the inner surface of a section of garment material, access to the pocket being gained through a slit in the garment material, and "swing" pockets, where the pocket is defined by an open-mouthed bag-shaped portion of material located on the inner side of the garment material and secured to the garment material around a mouth of the pocket, access again being gained to the interior of the pocket through a slit in the garment material. Pockets of this kind are well known and have been in use for a very long period. Neither of these forms of pocket have been acceptable for workwear in industries where high standards of hygiene are required and essential.

Certain variants on one or other of the foregoing pocket constructions may be noted from British Patent Specifications Nos.

611,622; 866,890; 1,257,707 and 2,049,398A. A dual pocket arrangement, having an inner pocket in a "through-type" patch pocket, is described in British Patent Specification No. 521,172. A workwear garment having a Z-configuration front closure, but apparently without pockets, is described in European Patent Specification No. 0,345,820A.

Nonetheless, there is a continuing need for the provision of a pocket construction in workwear for "clean industry", in that a worker in an industry operating to high standards of hygiene requires to be able to carry with him or her at least the key to the locker in which outer clothing and other personal belongings are kept during working hours. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a configuration of workwear garment which will enable a pocket to be provided while yet meeting statutory requirements in regard to hygiene. It is a further object of the invention to provide a pocket construction for a workwear garment which can be used by the wearer without the hand coming into contact either with the wearers body or with underclothing, either directly or through pocket material.

According to the invention there is provided a workwear garment having cooperating edges provided with fastening means engageable together with one edge overlapping the other, wherein a panel is adhered to a portion of the garment material extending from that edge of said cooperating edges which is outermost when said edges are engaged together, said panel and said garment material portion together defining an enclosed region accessible only by an opening defined between said outermost edge of the garment material portion and an edge portion of said panel, all other edges of the panel being continuously adhered to the garment material portion, and a pocket being provided within said enclosed region.

The panel is preferably provided on an inner surface of said garment material portion. The pocket is then provided on the outwardly directed surface of said panel, that is, the surface of the panel directed towards said enclosed region. The pocket is suitably defined by a second panel of lesser dimensions than the first-mentioned panel and adhered to said first-mentioned panel so that the interior of the pocket is accessible only through an opening defined along an upper edge of said second panel, all other edges of the second panel being continuously adhered to the first-mentioned panel.

Alternatively, the pocket may be provided on the inwardly directed surface of the garment material portion, that is, the surface of the garment material portion directed towards said enclosed region. In this instance also, the pocket is again suitably defined by a second panel of lesser dimensions than the first-mentioned panel, ahered to the inner surface of the garment material portion so that the interior of the pocket is accessible only through an opening defined along an upper edge of said second panel, all other edges of said second panel being continuously adhered to the inner surface of the garment material portion.

In an alternative arrangement, the first-mentioned panel may be provided on an outer surface of the garment material portion. In this configuration, the second or smaller pocket-forming panel may be adhered to either the inwardly directed surface of the first-mentioned panel or to the outwardly directed surface of the garment material portion itself.

The arrangement provided by the invention may also incorporate means for closing said opening defined between the outermost edge of the garment material portion and the edge portion of the first-mentioned panel. This closing means may be in the form of a sliding clasp fastener (a so-called "zip" fastener), or it may be defined by strips of interengageable material, such as Velcro (Trade Mark), provided on the opposed edges of the panel and the garment material portion.

When the first-mentioned or main panel is provided on the internal surface of the garment material portion, then its inwardly directed edge surface is preferably provided with at least one element of said fastening means for engaging the edges of the workwear garment together in overlapping configuration. This element may be one portion of a press-type fastener.

In all configurations of the invention, the enclosed region defined between the garment material portion and the first-mentioned panel preferably consists of an access region and a pocket region, the pocket region containing said pocket. Said opening defined between the outermost edge of the garment material and the edge portion of the panel suitably defines a boundary portion of said access region and no portion of said pocket region is in direct communication with said opening. In a particularly favoured configuration, in a normal disposition of use of the garment, the pocket region is at a lower level than the access region and the upper edge of the pocket lies beneath the upper boundary of the pocket region.

In a second aspect, the invention provides a panel for defining a hygienic pocket construction in a workwear garment, said panel being adherable to a garment material portion to define an enclosed region accessible only through an opening defined between an edge region of the garment material portion and an edge region of said panel, and said panel also carrying a second smaller panel portion defining a pocket region, said pocket region being accessible through an opening extending along an upper edge of said second panel portion and all other edges of said second panel portion being continuously adhered to said surface of said first-mentioned panel.

In all embodiments and aspects of the invention, at least said panel is suitably formed from a material of the same quality and characteristics as that from which said portion of garment material is formed. Said second panel defining the pocket of the invention may also be formed from a material, suitably a fabric, of the same quality and characteristics as the material constituting said portion of garment material.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described in more detail having regard to the following drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front view of a workwear garment consisting of a jacket, Figure 2 shows the fastening arrangement for the overlapping edges of the garment of Figure 1, Figure 3 shows a portion of the garment of Figure 1 incorporating the protected pocket arrangement provided by the invention, Figure 4 is a front view of the pocket-region-defining panel portion provided by the invention, detached from the garment, Figure 5 is a view of an alternative protected pocket arrangement within the scope of'the invention, and Figure 6 is a detailed plan view of the pocket-region-defining panel for the pocket of Figure 5.

As shown in Figure 1, a workwear garment 1 in the form of a jacket has a high collar 2, elasticated sleeve ends 3 to grip around the wearer's wrists, and overlapping closing edges 4. Workwear garments of this kind are required in many industries where cleanliness and hygiene are important, and ensure both that the wearer's body is protected from the materials being handled and also, and more importantly from the hygiene point of view, that the wearer's body cannot contaminate the product. Figure 2 shows detail of the overlapping edge region of garment 1, in which underlying edge 5 is partially overlapped by outer edge 6 when the jacket is in place and fastened.Suitable fastening means consist of press fasteners 7, one of which is indicated in Figure 1, having a stud portion 8 on one of the edges, depicted as the inner edge, and a receiver portion 9 on the other or outer edge, Figure 2.

Statutory regulations in many jurisdictions require of workwear that the wearer's hand cannot at any time come into contact either with underclothing, worn beneath the protective workwear garment, or the user's body, even through the material of an internal pocket. Thus internal pockets of any kind are customarily not provided at all in workwear garments of this type. External flap-type pockets are also not used, again for reasons of hygiene. The present invention however provides a pocket construction which enables a pocket to be provided in a workwear garment of this kind, without infringing the requirements outlined above.

The arrangement of the invention is illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 in a first embodiment. A garment material portion 11, which may suitably be in the lefthand chest region of the garment and is also indicated in Figure 1, is underlaid by a material panel 12, one edge portion of which is aligned with outer edge6 of the garment material but is not attached to this edge, thereby defining an open edge portion designated by reference 13 in Figure 3. The remaining edges of panel 12, designated by references 14a to 14e, are however adhered such as by stitching or bonding to the inner surface of garment material portion 11. In this way an enclosed region is defined, access to which is available only through open edge portion 13.

The material from which panel 12 is formed is suitably of the same quality and characteristics as that from which the garment material portion 11 is formed. Thus panel 12 is preferrably formed from a cut-out portion of the same run of cloth fabric from which the garment material 11 is itself taken.

The enclosed region defined between panel 12 and garment material 11 is divided into an access region 15, into which the hand may be inserted through open edge portion 13, and a lower pocket region 16, extending downwardly from access region 15 and surrounded on its side and bottom edges by closed edge portions 14b, 14c and 14d where the panel 12 is adhered to the garment material 11. Within this pocket region 16, a pocket panel 17 is adhered in normal manner to the forwardly directed surface of panel 12, i.e. the surface of panel 12 facing garment material 11. Pocket panel 17 is accessible along its upper edge in usual manner, as in a breast pocket for example.Items may be placed in this pocket by entering the hand into access region 15 through open edge portion 13 and then using the fingers to gain access to the interior pocket defined by pocket panel 17 through its open upper edge. The material from which the pocket panel 17 is formed is again suitably of the same quality and characteristics as that of garment material 11 and the enclosing panel 12. Again, the pocket panel 17 is more suitably defined by cutting out yet another portion from the bale of cloth or fabric from which the garment and panel 12 has already been formed.

The pocket arrangement of the invention thus provides a fully protected pocket arrangement, in which the actual retention area defined between pocket panel 17 and inner panel 12 is separated from the user's body or underclothing by panel 12, which is of the same grade of material as the garment material 11 itself and is entirely bonded to that material in such a way that there is no access from the space defined between panel 12 and material 11 to the interior of the garment. The only access to the pocket-containing region is through the open edge portion 13, which is not in communication with the region underlying the garment. The inner surface of panel 12 where it is aligned with the outer edge 6 of garment material 11 is provided with one or more fastener portions 9, for ensuring continuous closure of the overlapping edges of the garment throughout their length.The region defined between panel 12 and material 11 may itself in turn also be capable of being closed-off against the external environment by closing means, designated in Figure 4 by a closing strip 18, which may be a portion of a sliding clasp fastener or a Velcro strip. A corresponding mating strip is then provided on the opposing edge of the workwear garment material 11.

Typical dimensions for panel 12 are an overall height of approximately 12 inches and a span of some 6 inches in the lower pocket region 16, increased to 7 to 8 inches in the upper access region 15.

The height of panel 12 is divided approximately equally between regions 15 and 16, each having a dimension in the vertical direction of approximately 6 inches. Pocket panel 17 is about 4 inches tall and 3 inches wide, and the pocket defined by this panel is contained entirely within pocket region 16. Thus no part of the pocket is within access region 15, and the upper edge of the pocket panel 17 is below the lower boundary of the upper access region 15.

These dimensions are entirely exemplary and do not in any way delimit the invention. In addition, the dimensions and style of the "inside pocket" or pocket panel 17 may be varied freely within the scope of the invention. A particular purpose of pocket 17 is to accommodate a locker key, but in other configurations, pocket 17 may also serve for a diversity of other purposes, depending on the needs of the wearer and the requirements of the industry.

In the arrangement of Figures 3 and 4, the panel 12 is provided on the inner surface of material portion 11. This positioning of panel 12 is not an essential requirement of the invention, and, in the alternative arrangement of Figures 5 and 6, a panel is provided on the exterior surface of a material portion 21.

This outer panel 22 is adhered to the outer surface of the material portion 11, and an inner pocket panel 27 is provided within the region thus defined, either adhered to the inner surface of panel 22 or to the outer surface of material portion 21. In all other respects, the external panel 22 is of identical configuration to the internal panel of the first embodiment.

The configurations of hygienic pocket thus described provide an enclosed region accessible to the hand only through an opening not communicating in any way with the region to the interior of the garment.

Thus there is no possibility of a user's hand coming in contact with the body or underclothing. There is always a layer of garment material between the user's hand and the interior. Accordingly, the configuration provided by the invention results in a pocket which is contained within the garment in such a way as to meet the requirements of current statutory hygiene regulations for food industries in particular in many jurisdictions. The pocket configuration provided by the invention is not however limited to workwear garments of the type illustrated and it may also be applied to a multiplicity of other types of garment, including, inter alia, overalls, shop coats, and, in general, any kind of protective garment employed in industry.

Claims

1. A workwear garment having cooperating edges provided with fastening means engageable together with one edge overlapping the other, wherein a panel is adhered to a portion of the garment material extending from that edge of said cooperating edges which is outermost when said edges are engaged together, said panel and said garment material portion together defining an enclosed region accessible only by an opening defined between said outermost edge of the garment material portion and an edge portion of said panel, all other edges of the panel being continuously adhered to the garment material portion, and a pocket being provided within said enclosed region.

2. A workwear garment according to Claim 1, wherein said panel is provided on an inner surface of said garment material portion.

3. A workwear garment according to Claim 2, wherein the pocket is provided on the outwardly directed surface of said panel directed towards said enclosed region.

4. A workwear garment according to any preceding claim, wherein the pocket is defined by a second panel of lesser dimensions than the first-mentioned panel and adhered to said first-mentioned panel so that the interior of the pocket is accessible only through an opening defined along an upper edge of said second panel, all other edges of the second panel being continuously adhered to the first-mentioned panel.

5. A workwear garment according to any preceding claim, comprising means for closing said opening defined between the outermost edge of the garment material portion and the edge portion of the first-mentioned panel.

6. A workwear garment according to any preceding claim, wherein the enclosed region defined between the garment material portion and the first-mentioned panel consists of an access region and a pocket region, the pocket region containing said pocket.

7. A workwear garment according to Claim 6, wherein said opening defined between the outermost edge of the garment material and the edge portion of the panel defines a boundary portion of said access region and no portion of said pocket region is in direct communication with said opening.

8. A workwear garment according to Claim 6 or Claim 7, wherein, in a normal disposition of use of the garment, the pocket region is at a lower level than the access region and the upper edge of the pocket lies beneath the upper boundary of the pocket region.

9. A workwear garment according to any preceding claims, wherein said panel is formed from material of the same quality and characteristics as those of said garment material portion.

10. A workwear garment according to any preceding claim, wherein said second panel is formed from material having the same quality and characteristics as those of said garment material garment portion.

11. A panel for defining a hygienic pocket construction in a workwear garment, said panel being adherable to a garment material portion to define together with said garment material portion an enclosed region located between said panel and said garment material portion, said enclosed region being accessible only through an opening defined between an edge region of the garment material portion and an edge region of said panel, and said panel also carrying a second smaller panel portion defining a pocket region, said smaller panel being located within said enclosed region when said adherable panel is adhered to said garment material portion, said pocket region being accessible through an opening extending along an upper edge of said second panel portion and all other edges of said second panel portion being continuously adhered to said surface of said firstmentioned panel.

11. A panel for defining a hygienic pocket construction in a workwear garment, said panel being adherable to a garment material portion to define an enclosed region accessible only through an opening defined between an edge region of the garment material portion and an edge region of said panel, and said panel also carrying a second smaller panel portion defining a pocket region, said pocket region being accessible through an opening extending along an upper edge of said second panel portion and all other edges of said second panel portion being continuously adhered to said surface of said first-mentioned panel.

12. A panel according to Claim 10, wherein the panel is of a material having the same quality and characteristics as those of said garment material portion.

13. A panel according to Claim 10 or Claim 11, wherein said second panel portion is formed from a material of the same quality and characteristics as those of said garment material portion.

14. A workwear garment substantially as described herein with reference to and as shown in Figures 1 and 2, taken together with either Figures 3 and 4 or Figures 5 and 6.

15. A panel for defining a hygienic pocket construction in a workwear garment substantially as described herein with reference to and as shown in Figures 3 and 4 or Figures 5 and 6 of the accompanying drawings.

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows the enclosed region defined between the garment material portion and the first-mentioned panel consists of an access region and a pocket region, the pocket region containing said pocket.