GB2446364A

GB2446364A - Garment with attached sock or glove

Info

Publication number: GB2446364A
Application number: GB0702441A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Alan Bowman
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-02-08
Filing date: 2007-02-08
Publication date: 2008-08-13
Also published as: GB0702441D0; GB2446364A8

Abstract

A garment is provided having at least one limb portion through which a user is required to locate an arm or leg in use of the garment. The limb portion has at least one opening defined therein for the location of a user's foot or hand therethrough when the garment is placed on the user. The user's foot or hand at least partially protrudes from said opening 12 in use. A sock 16 or glove portion is attached to an interior surface of the garment and the location of this attachment is a spaced distance apart from the edge or edges of the limb portion defining the opening.

Description

Application No GBO7(244 1.7 RTM Date.31 May 2007 The following terms

are registered trademarks and should be read as such wherever they occur in this document: Velcro 1 2446364 Garmt This invention relates to a garment, and particularly, although not necessarily exclusively, to a garment worn my babies and/or young children.

It is well known to wear socks with one or more other items of clothing in order to keep the user's feet warm. The socks also typically prevent rubbing and increase the comfort of a user wearing shoes. A common problem, particularly with babies and young children, is that one or both of the socks can become detached from the user's feet, such that the user's feet get cold and/or the one or more socks become lost. This is particularly the case when the baby is crawling and is not yet able to walk, since the action of crawling typically moves the socks in a direction opposite to the direction of travel and other clothing of the baby. This problem also results in discomfort to the baby caused by the garment becoming twisted around a part of the baby's body. Furthermore, socks often become lost during the process of washing and, even if the socks are not lost during washing, it is time consuming for a user to match up socks to form a pair before putting the socks away for storage prior to use.

S.....

* . In an attempt to overcome the problem associated with a baby garment causing discomfort to a user, the applicant has already designed an improved baby garment, as disclosed in co-pending patent application W003/103421. The baby garment is in the form of a sleep suit and includes a body portion and right and left leg portions. Releasable fastenings are provided on the leg portions and body portion to allow a baby to be placed in and removed from the garment. The left and right leg portions terminate in sock portions having an increased elasticity compared to the material from which the remainder of the garment is made. This provides the baby wearing the garment with greater comfort and stops the sock portions from becoming detached from the baby. The sock portions are attached to the free ends of the leg portions in such a manner that the sock portions are continuous with the leg portions, the dimensions of the top part of the sock portion being substantially the same as the dimensions of the bottom part of the leg portion. However, a problem with this garment is that the sock portions are only suitable for use with a baby garment in the form of a sleepsuit.

It is therefore an aim of the present invention to provide an improved garment which overcomes the abovementioned problems.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a garment, said garment including at least one limb portion through which a user is required to locate a limb in use of the garment, the limb portion having at least one opening defined therein for the location of a user's appendage therethrough when the garment is placed on the user, the user's appendage at least partially protruding from said opening in use, *:. said garment further including at least one additional portion, characterised in that the additional portion is attached to an interior surface of the garment and the location of this attachment is a spaced distance apart from the edge or edges of the limb portion defining the opening.

Preferably the additional portion is in the form of a glove or sock portion and the appendage located at least partially therein is a user's hand or foot respectively. It will be appreciated that the present invention is not limited just to sock portions but could equally be used to provide a glove portion for an arm portion of a garment. Furthermore, the term sock portion can include any type of foot containing article, such as tights, leg warmers and/or the like.

Preferably thc additional portion substantially encloses the at least part of the appendage located therein.

Thus, for example, rather than attaching a sock portion to an opening edge of a leg portion of a garment so that the leg portion is substantially continuous with the sock portion as in the prior art, the sock portion of the present invention is recessed or provided adjacent a spaced distance apart from the opening edge of the leg portion and inside the leg portion, thereby hiding the fact that the socks are joined to the garment.

This increases the aesthetic appearance of the garment, allows sock portions to be provided on a wider range of garments and makes the user, such as a child, feel like they are wearing adult clothes in an adult manner, whilst preventing the sock portions for becoming detached from the garment and becoming lost.

One or more flaps of material are typically formed between the additional portion and the free edge of the garment. The flaps are preferably substantially continuous and peripheral to the garment.

Preferably the edges defining the opening of the garment are . wider or larger in dimensions that the dimensions of the *...

additional portion protruding through said opening, thereby providing the appearance that the additional portion is separate to the garment. U....

The part of the additional portion protruding through the * opening of the garment is non-continuous and separate to the free edge or edges of the garment defining the opening.

Preferably at least part of the additional portion has greater elasticity than a part of the garment to which the additional portion is attached to in use. The elasticity of the additional portion maintains the comfort of the user when wearing the garment and also prevents the garment from riding or moving up the user's body when worn (i.e. it allows the position of the garment to remain in a comfortable position on the user).

In one embodiment the part of the additional portion having greater elasticity than the garment is that part of the additional portion attached directly or indirectly to the garment.

Preferably the garment has one or more flaps of material provided on an interior surface adjacent the edge defining the opening in the garment. The one or more flaps of material or free ends of said flaps preferably protrude in a direction substantially opposite to the direction of the opening. These flaps can be formed by folding the edge of the garment defining the opening in on itself to form a hem of cuff of the garment.

An upper edge of the additional portion is typically attached to or integrally formed with the flap or free ends of said flap in use.

The additional portion can be attached to the one or more flaps of material via stitching, one or more clips, buttons, press studs, VELCRO (hook and loop fastening), welding, adhesive, ties and/or the like. S..

In one embodiment the one or more flaps of material are formed from the same material as at least part of the garment.

* The one or more flaps can be attached to the garment (i.e., as an intermediate part) or can be integrally formed with this garment.

In an alternative embodiment the one or more flaps of material are formed from a different material to the part of the garment to which they are attached.

Preferably the one or more flaps of material form part of the normal hem or cuff of the garment.

The garment can include any suitable garment having one or more openings defined therein for the location of a limb therethrough. For example, the garment can include a coat, jacket, trousers, dungarees, shirt, top, shorts, skirt and/or the like.

Fastening means can be provided on the garment to secure the garment to a user's body in use. For example, the fastening means could include any of any combination of one or more straps, ties, belts, buttons, elasticated elements, clips, press studs, zips and/or the like.

The limb portion of the garment can be shorter or smaller in dimensions than the limb of the user and the greater elasticity of the additional portion attached to the garment allows the garment to extend to a pre-determined degree to allow for variations in length of limbs of the user.

** The additional portions can contain any or any combination of lycra, elastin and/or any other stretch material.

Preferably the upper edge of the additional portion is of a substantially complementary shape to the flap portion which it is s attached to on the garment. Further preferably the upper edge of the additional portion is substantially annular in form.

In one embodiment the garment includes a body portion and one or more arm and/or leg portions.

In one embodiment the additional portion is detachably attached to the garment.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of forming a garment, said method including the steps of forming at least one limb portion in the garment through which a user is required to locate a limb in use of the garment, the limb portion having at least one opening defined therein for the location of a user's appendage therethrough when the garment is placed on the user, the user's appendage at least partially protruding from said opening in use, said method further including the step of attaching an additional portion to an interior surface of the garment, the location of this attachment being a spaced distance apart from the edge or edges of the limb portion defining the opening.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying figures, wherein: Figure 1 illustrates a garment with the sock portions attached according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 illustrates a plan view of an open end of the garment with a sock portion attached according to one method of the present invention; S..

Figure 3 illustrates a plan view of an open end of the garment * with a sock portion attached according to a further method of the present invention; and Figure 4 is a cross sectional view taken through a lower part of a leg portion of the garment.

Referring to figure 1, there is illustrated a garment in the form of a pair of trousers 2 having leg portions 4, 6 and an opening 8 defined at the top 10 of the trousers for allowing a user's legs and waist to be located therethrough in use. Each leg portion 4, 6 has an open end 12, 14 to allow a user's foot and ankle to protrude through the leg portion in use. In accordance with the present invention, sock portions 16, 18 are provided over the openings.

The trousers 2 have a waist band 20 surrounding opening 8 at the top 10 of the trousers. The waist band has a zip portion 22 and a button 24 to allow the trousers 2 to be secured around a user's waist in use.

A hem 28 is provided between the free edges 26 of each leg portion on an interior surface thereof, as shown in figure 2. The hem 28 is typically material joined or integral with the outer lower edge of the leg portions which is folded internally of the leg portion to provide a neat finish to the external surface of the garment at said outer lower edge. The hem is fixed in place by rows of stitching 30, 30' and is provided a spaced distance apart from an innermost edge 32. The material provided between the inner hem line 30' and the inner most edge 32 forms a flap 34 which protrudes inwardly or upwardly of the leg portion, typically towards waist band 10.

Sock portion 16 is joined to inner most edge 32 via invisible stitching (i.e. stitching that is not visible externally of the leg * portion). Since the flap 34 is secured in an upwardly protruding manner via hem stitching 30, 30', the upper edge 36 of sock portion 16 is maintained a spaced distance apart from free edge 26 of the leg portion and internally of said leg portion, thereby providing the appearance from a user viewing the garment externally that the sock portion is separate to the leg portion.

The sock portion 16 is formed from a material having greater elasticity than the material the majority of the trousers 2 are formed from. Thus, when the trousers are being worn by a user, the waist band secures the trousers in place on the user and the elasticity of the sock portion allows sufficient stretch and flexibility in the garment to move with the user when they are crawling, climbing, playing and/or the like, whilst maintaining the garment and socks in place on the user. The waist band of the garment can take any suitable form or have any suitable attachment means which, in use, allow the garment to remain in place on the user.

An alternative method of attachment of sock portion 16 to a leg portion of the trousers is illustrated in figure 3. In this embodiment, inner most edge 32 of hem 28 is joined to an intermediate band 38 of material via stitching 40. The intermediate band of material is typically formed from a material different to the material of the garment and allows easier attachment of sock portion 16 to the garment. Thus, for example, if the garment is formed from denim which is difficult to provide invisible stitching with, the intermediate band of *a.. . material allows the sock portion to be more easily attached to . : the garment in use. The sock portion 16 is typically attached to * the intermediate band via invisible stitching in a similar manner to that described in figure 2. ****a

:. It can be seen that the part of the sock portion protruding * through the free edge 26 of the leg portion has smaller dimensions than the opening of the leg portion, thereby providing the appearance of the sock portion being separate to the leg portion.

By closing the opening of the leg portion via the sock portion, the garment provides the user with greater warmth when worn since there is no gap to allow cold air to enter the garment via the leg opening. Furthermore, the sock portion is prevented from becoming detached from the garment, thereby reducing the problems associated with the sock portion becoming lost and reduces the time taken for a user to have to pair separate socks up after washing.

The sock and/or glove portions can be provided in any suitable coiour and/or design and typically are provided to match and/or complement the colour and/or design of the garment to which they are attached to.

The present invention can be used on any garment for any aged child or adult as required, although the invention is particularly advantageous for young children or toddlers. S. * * * S.. * SS* * . *.. * . * SS * ..

S *55

S

S..... * . S. S

S SS *.

Claims

Claims: 1. A garment, said garment including at least one limb portion

through which a user is required to locate a limb in use of the garment, the limb portion having at least one opening defined therein for the location of a user's appendage therethrough when the garment is placed on the user, the user's appendage at least partially protruding from said opening in use, said garment further including at least one additional portion, characterised in that the additional portion is attached to an interior surface of the garment and the location of this attachment is a spaced distance apart from the edge or edges of the garment defining the opening.
2. A garment according to claim 1 wherein the additional portion is in the form of a glove or sock portion and the appendage located therein is at least part of a user's hand or foot respectively.
3. A garment according to claim I wherein the additional portion substantially encloses the user's appendage therein in use.
4. A garment according to claim I wherein one or more flaps of material are formed between the additional portion and the free edge or edges of the garment.
5. A garment according to claim I wherein the edges defining the opening of the garment are wider or larger in dimension than the additional portion protruding through said opening to provide the appearance of the additional portion being separate to the edge of the garment.
6. A garment according to claim I wherein the part of the additional portion protruding through the opening of the garment is non-continuous and separate to the free edge or edges of the garment defining the opening.
7. A garment according to claim I wherein at least part of the additional portion has greater elasticity that a part of the garment to which the additional portion is attached to in use.
8. A garment according to claim 7 wherein the part of the additional portion having the greater elasticity is the part adjacent the attachment location of the additional portion to the garment.
9. A garment according to claim I wherein one or more flaps of material are provided on an interior surface of the garment adjacent the edge defining the opening in the garment, the one or more flaps of material protruding in a direction substantially opposite to the direction of the opening.
10. A garment according to claim 9 wherein an edge of the additional portion is attached to or integral with the one or more flaps.
11. A garment according to claim 9 wherein the one or more flaps of material are formed from the same material as at least part of the garment.

S
12. A garment according to claim 9 wherein the one or more flaps of material are formed from a different matcrial to the part of the garment to which they are attached.
13. A garment according to claim 9 wherein the one or more flaps are attached to the garment and the additional portion is joined to the flaps.
14. A garment according to claim 9 wherein the one or more flaps are integrally formed with the garment.
15. A garment according to claim 9 wherein the one or more flaps form part of the normal hem of the garment.
16. A garment according to claim I wherein the additional portion is attached to an interior surface of the garment via stitching, one or more clips, buttons, press studs, hook and ioop fastening, welding, adhesive or ties.
17. A garment according to claim I in the form of a coat, jacket, trousers, dungarees, shirt, jumper, shorts or skirt.
18. A garment according to claim 1 wherein fastening means are provided on the garment to secure the garment to a user's body in use.
19. A garment according to claim 18 wherein the fastening means includes any or any combination of one or more straps, ties, belts, buttons, elasticated elements, clips, press studs or zips. S. * * . .
20. A garment according to claim I wherein the S..

additional portion of the garment is formed so as to be of smaller dimensions than the user's appendage, the elasticity of material from which the additional portion is formed allowing the additional portion to form a tight fit with the user's appendage.
21. A garment according to claim I wherein the additional portion includes any or any combination of lycra or elastin.
22. A garment according to claim 1 wherein one or more further apertures are provided in the garment for the location of a user's head, waist and/or neck therethrough.
23. A garment according to claim I for children, babies or toddlers.
24. A garment according to claim 1 wherein the additional portion is detachably attached to the garment.
25. A method of forming a garment, said method including the steps of forming at least one limb portion in the garment through which a user is required to locate a limb in use of the garment, the limb portion having at least one opening defined therein for the location of a user's appendage therethrough when the garment is placed on the user, the user's appendage at least partially protruding from said opening in use, said method further including the step of attaching an additional portion to an interior surface of the garment, the location of this attachment being a spaced distance apart from the edge or edges of a..... the limb portion defining the opening. a * . S * ..

S

S S *5 * . . * S.