GB2276308A

GB2276308A - A store of disposable outer garments

Info

Publication number: GB2276308A
Application number: GB9306408A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Steven Lawrence Spencer
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1993-03-26
Filing date: 1993-03-26
Publication date: 1994-09-28
Also published as: GB9306408D0

Abstract

Disposable outer garments (4) for affording a person protection in adverse weather conditions, each have a body portion (8) and sleeves (10). The garments (4) are formed and connected together to provide a store (2) thereof, by joints (6) made to waterproof sheet material. The garments are able to be torn off the store one at a time for use and subsequent disposable after use. The sleeves (10) are separable from the body (8) along welds (12). The store may be in the form of a roll or of a folded stack. The garments may each include a headcover. <IMAGE>

Description

DISPOSABLE OUTER GARMENTS This invention relates to disposable outer garments and, more especially, this invention relates to a store of disposable outer garments for affording a person protection in adverse weather conditions.

In adverse weather conditions such for example as rain, persons are often caught unprepared without an umbrella and/or a suitable outer garment such for example as a mackintosh or an overcoat. In such circumstances, the persons often get soaking wet and/or very cold.

It is an aim of the present invention to reduce the above mentioned problem.

Accordingly, in one non-limiting embodiment of the present invention there is provided a store of disposable outer garments for affording a person protection in adverse weather conditions, the outer garments being connected together in the store, the outer garments having a body portion and sleeves, the outer garments being formed and connected together by joins made to waterproof sheet material, and the outer garments being such that they are able to be torn off the store one at a time for use and subsequent disposal after use.

The outer garments can thus be worn as mackintoshes for affording the wearer protection in adverse weather conditions such for example as heavy rain and snow. The disposable outer garment will not be designed to look smart but this will not matter because the purpose of using the outer garment will be simply to protect the person from the adverse weather. After the outer garment has served its immediate purpose, it can be disposed of, although the outer garment may be used again if desired. Generally, it is envisaged that the store of the disposable outer garments can be kept in a handy place, for example in a glove compartment of a car or in a person's bag and then the store can be made available as and when necessary.Simply by tearing off an appropriate number of the outer garments anentire family or a group of friends could easily be afforded temporary protection in adverse weather conditions. The outer garments can be worn by men and women alike and they can be made in a minimum number of sizes such for example as large, medium and small or alternatively just one size for adults and one size for children.

Although the outer garments will not be designed to look smart, by virtue of the fact they have the body portion and the sleeves, they will be able to be worn by a person in comfort. The outer garments thus present an advantage over the known practice of atheletes such for example as marathon runners wearing plastics refuse bags for conserving body warmth at the start of a race. Such plastics refuse bags have no sleeves so that persons wearing the plastics refuse bags must either walk or run with their hands by their sides, which is dangerous if the person should fall over, or they must tear holes for their arms in which case their arms are not protected.

Preferably, the store is in the form of a roll. The store may however be in another form if desired such for example as a folded stack.

The outer garments will usually each have a line of weakness for formingsan opening for a persons head. The line of weakness is preferably a longitudinally extending line of weakness but it may be a tranversely extending line of weakness if desired.

The joins are preferably welds. The welding may be effected by any suitable and appropriate means such for example as ultrasonic welding. Other types of joins such for example as stitching may be employed if desired.

The waterproof sheet material is preferably a plastics sheet material. Any suitable and appropriate type of plastics sheet material may be employed including polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride or nylon. The plastics sheet material from which plastics refuse bags are currently made can be employed.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described solely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figures 1 and 2 are front and side views respectively of a store of disposable outer garments for affording a person protection in adverse weather conditions; Figure 3 is a side view of an alternative store to that shown in Figure 2; Figure 4 is an enlarged front view of one of the disposable outer garments shown in Figure 1 and illustrates a modification to the outer garments; Figures 5 and 6 are respectively front and side views of another outer garment; and Figure 7 is an end view of part of the outer garment shown in Figures 5 and 6 and illustrates how the sides of the outer garments shown in Figure 5 are folded.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, there is shown a store in the form of a roll 2 of disposable outer garments 4. The outer garments 4 are for affording a person protection in adverse weather conditions such for example as rain, snow or cold winds.

The outer garments 4 are connected together in the roll 2 by joins in the form of welds 6.

The outer garments 4 each have a body portion 8 and sleeves 10. The sleeves 10 are separately formed from the body portion 8 by joins in the form of longitudinally extending welds 12. The welds 6, 12 are able to be made because the outer garments 4 are made from a waterproof sheet material in the form of a plastics sheet material.

When it is desired to wear one of the outer garments 4, the end-most outer garment 4 is unrolled from the roll 2 and is then torn from the roll 2 by tearing along the weld 6. It will be noticed that the weld 6 is restricted to the width of the body portion 8 so that the weld 6 does not extend across the sleeves 10 and thus block up the ends of the sleeves 10. When the single outer garment 4 has been obtained from the roll 2, the outer garment 4 is torn along the welds 12 to separate the sleeve 10 from the body portion 8. It will be noticed that the welds 12 do not extend the entire length of the outer. garment 4 so that the areas 14 are then not joined and they form arm holes through which a person wearing the outer garment 4 is able to insert his or her arms.

The welds 12 have lines of weakness 16 extending along their centres. These lines of weakness 16 enable the sleeves 10 to be torn away from the body portion 8, with the sleeves 10 still remaining together as closed tubes.

The welds 6 can be arranged to tear or can be provided with lines of weakness (not shown) such that when one outer garment 4 is torn off the roll 2, then the bottom of the body portion 8 becomes open for the purpose of enabling the outer garment 4 to be slipped over a person's head and shoulders. The upper end of the garment 4 should not be torn by the action of tearing along the weld 6 because the upper part of the garment 4 needs to be closed in order to protect the person's shoulders from rain or the like. In order to enable the torn off outer garment 4 to be slipped over the persons head, the outer garments 4 are each provided with a longitudinally extending line of weakness 18. In the torn off outer garment 4, the line of weakness 18 can be torn open to provide an opening for the person's head. The remainder of the top of the outer garment 4 will then be closed and will sit on the person's shoulders.

Referring now to Figure 3, there is shown a store 2 in which the outer garments 4 have been folded instead of rolled.

Figure 4 shows in enlarged form one of the outer garments 4 shown in Figure 1. In Figure 4, the lines of weakness 16 can more easily be seen than in Figure 1.

Figure 4 also illustrates a modification in which the outer garment 4 is provided with diagonally extending lines of weakness 20, These lines of weakness 20 enable corner portions 22 to be torn off. The tearing must not open the outer garment 6 at the lines of weakness 20. By removing the corner portions 22, the formed outer garment 4 may fit more neatly onto a person about the person's shoulders.

Figures 5, 6 and 7 show another outer garment 4 in which similar parts as in Figures 1 and 2 have been given the same reference numerals for ease of comparison and understanding. Figures 5, 6 and 7 illustrate how the sleeves 10 can be torn along the lines of weakness 16 to separate them from the body portion 8. In Figures 5, 6 and 10, the illustrated outer garment 4 is such that the sleeves 10 are double folded. This enables the entire width of the outer garment 4 and therefore the roll 2 to be kept to a minimum.

It will be apparent from the drawings that stores of the disposable outer garments can be kept easily and readily available for use. After each use, the used outer garments 4 can easily be disposed of.

The outer garments 4 can be used by all sorts of people including persons going to work, persons shopping, atheletes, persons on holiday and hikers. In addition to use on land, the outer garments 4 can advantageously be used on boats to afford protection from adverse weather conditions.

Stores of the disposable outer garments can easily be purchased from shops and, if desired, the disposable outer garments can be provided with advertising or other information.

It is to be appreciated that the embodiments of the invention described above with reference to the accompanying drawings have been given by way of example only and that modifications may be effected. Thus, for example, the disposable garments 2 may be provided with one or more further appropriate Joins in order to form the outer garments 4 with a head cover portion. The waterproof material may be of different gauges so that, lighter weight waterproof materials might be employed for storage and distribution on aircraft for use by passengers disembarking. The store of the disposable outer garments may be housed in a container and the container may facilitate dispensing the outer garments one at a time.

The disposable outer garments can be produced to any suitable and appropriate length. The sleeves will usually terminate adjacent the lower end of the body portion and if the sleeves are too long, they can easily be turned back by the person wearing the outer garment.

Claims

1. A store of disposable outer garments for affording a person protection in adverse weather conditions, the outer garments being connected together in the store, the outer garments having a body portion and sleeves, the outer garments being formed and connected together by joins made to waterproof sheet material, and the outer garments being such that they are able to be torn off the store one at a time for use and subsequent disposable after use.

2. A store according to claim 1 and which is in the form of a roll or a folded stack.

3. A store according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which the outer garments each have a line of weakness for forming an opening for a person's head.

4. A store according to claim 3 in which the line of weakness is a longitudinally extending line of weakness.

5. A store according to any one of the preceding claims in which the joins are welds.

6. A store according to any one of the preceding claims in which the waterproof sheet material is a plastics sheet material.

7. A store of disposable outer garments for affording a person protection in adverse weather conditions, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.