US20150272290A1

US20150272290A1 - Flexible garment with overlying front and reat pockets

Info

Publication number: US20150272290A1
Application number: US13/986,514
Authority: US
Inventors: Larry M. Baum; Geoffrey S. Gardner
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2008-09-02
Filing date: 2013-05-09
Publication date: 2015-10-01

Abstract

A fabric garment has a front pocket configured to receive, releasably retain and protectively enclose a small, generally rectangular electronic device while providing operational access to a front face of the device, and has a closable rear pocket just behind the front pocket configured to receive, releasably retain and concurrently protectively enclose contents including at least a credit card, a latch key, and a photo identification card. The garment also includes an integrally formed portion defining an opening configured to permit a thumb of a wearer of the garment to extend therethrough. An elastic strap for encircling a limb of the wearer to support the garment preferably extends movably through a passage defined by a rear part of the garment.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCES

This utility application is a continuation-in-part of each of the following two pending applications:
1) Utility application Ser. No. 12/584,292 filed Sep. 1, 2009 by Lawrence M. Baum and Geoffrey S. Gardner (Docket No. 6-406) which claimed the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/093,525 filed Sep. 2, 2008 by Lawrence M. Baum and Geoffrey S. Gardner (Docket No. 6-405); and,
2) Design application Ser. No. 29/421,455 filed Jul. 30, 2012 by Lawrence M. Baum and Geoffrey S. Gardner (Docket No. 6-409) which was a division of Design application Ser. No. 29/370,825 filed Sep. 10, 2010 by Lawrence M. Baum and Geoffrey S. Gardner (Docket No. 6-408) issued Sep. 11, 2012 as Design Patent D-677,172, which was filed as a continuation-in-part of each of the following two applications:

- A) Utility application Ser. No. 12/584,292 filed Sep. 1, 2009 (Docket No. 6-406) as identified above; and,
- B) Design application Ser. No. 29/316,223 filed Sep. 1, 2009 (Docket No. 6-407) which issued Nov. 29, 2011 as Patent D-649,718.

Incorporated herein by reference are disclosures of all of the applications and patents identified above.

BACKGROUND

The present invention addresses a long-standing need experienced by persons engaged in physical activities for a flexible garment well suited to protectively carry a small personal electronic device at various locations on the hands and arms where the device is convenient to observe and operate without any need to pause, break stride or otherwise interrupt ongoing physical activities.
Although specialized garments are known and have been proposed that are intended to support water bottles, exercise weights, towels and a variety of other convenient items on various parts of a wearer's body, little heed has been paid to the importance of providing flexible fabric garments specifically designed to support small, generally rectangular, electronic devices for operation at locations on the hands and arms of those engaged in exercise—until the applicants named herein began offering such flexible garments during the years 2008 and 2009.
Nor has much attention been devoted to the desirability of incorporating into such specialized flexible fabric garments an “accessories pocket” giving the garment a capability for runners and others who are actively engaged in exercise to carry with them such basic essentials as a photo identification card, a credit card, a medical alert notice, a latch key and/or the like.

SUMMARY

In accordance with one preferred practice of the invention, a flexible fabric garment is provided that is well suited to securely, protectively and operationally support a small, generally rectangular electronic device not only on the hands, but also on the arms, and even on the legs of a person who is actively engaged in exercise.
In accordance with one preferred practice of the present invention, a specialized flexible fabric garment is provided with overlying front and rear pockets, with the front pocket being well suited to receive, enclose and operationally support a small, generally rectangular electronic device, and with the rear pocket being configured to contain and provide easy access to such present-day essentials as a photo identification card, a credit card, a medical alert notice, a latch key and/or the like
In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, a reach of fabric that extends about selected perimetrical portions of the rear pocket carries a hook-and-loop fastener providing ready access to contents of the rear pocket.
In accordance with a preferred practice of the present invention, a specialized flexible garment of the general type described above has an elongate elastic strap that extends movably through a passage defined on a rear part of the garment, giving the garment a capability to be positioned at a variety of locations on the arms and hands of a wearer.
In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, a flexible, transparent window operationally overlies a front surface of an electronic device carried by the flexible fabric garment, with the transparent window having portions that easily can be depressed and gently deformed as may be needed to permit the electronic device to be operated just as if there were no flexible, transparent window overlying the front surface of the electronic device.
More particularly, in accordance with some embodiments of the invention, a fingerless flexible fabric garment defines overlying front and rear, generally rectangular pockets, with the front pocket being configured to receive, releasably retain and protectively enclose a small, generally rectangular electronic device while providing operational access to a front face of the device, and with the rear pocket being configured to receive, releasably retain and concurrently protectively enclose contents including at least one of a credit card, a latch key, a photo identification card and/or the like.
Some embodiments of the garment also preferably include both an integrally formed fabric portion that defines an opening permitting a wearer's thumb to extend comfortably therethrough, and with a separate elastic support strap being provided that extends through a passage defined at the rear of the garment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the following description and claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a view of a back side of a human hand from a wrist at the rear of the hand to fingertips at the front of the hand, with the view showing an imaginary axis that extends transversely across the hand at a location spaced forwardly from a base region of the thumb, and with the view showing a first form of a flexible fabric garment that not only extends generally along the depicted axis but also reaches around the base region of the thumb;

FIG. 2 is a view of the palm or opposite side of the same human hand from the wrist at the rear of the hand to the fingertips at the front of the hand, with the same imaginary axis shown extending transversely across the hand at a location spaced forwardly from the base region of the thumb, and with broken lines depicting a set of rectangles which extend along the imaginary axis to illustrate locations where various pocket formations of the garment may be carried by the first form of the flexible fabric garment;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1 of the back side of the hand, and showing a back side portion of a second form of flexible fabric garment;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 of the palm side of the hand showing a palm side portion of the second form of flexible fabric garment, and depicting one possible form of pocket formation carried thereon for receiving and supporting a small, portable electronic device therein;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIGS. 1 and 3 of the back side of the hand, and showing a rear portion of a third form of flexible fabric garment which is provided with a buckle type connector to couple end regions of a strap-like reach of flexible, preferably somewhat stretchable and resilient material that encircles the hand;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIGS. 2 and 4 of the palm side of the hand, and showing a palm side portion of the third form of flexible fabric garment, with this view also depicting yet another possible form of pocket formation for receiving and supporting a small, portable electronic device;

FIG. 7 is a front elevational view of a fourth form of flexible fabric garment, with an elongate elastic strap having portions thereof removed and shown foreshortened;

FIG. 8 is a left end elevational view of the garment shown in FIG. 7, with the view showing portions of a conventional, portable, generally rectangular electronic device that has is capable of wirelessly communicating with a cellular telephone network carried in a front pocket of the garment;

FIG. 9 is a rear elevational view of the garment shown in FIG. 7 with flexible fabric strap portions that encircle the hand of a wearer removed and shown foreshortened;

FIG. 10 is a top plan view of the garment shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 11 is a right end elevational view of the garment shown in FIG. 7; and,

FIG. 12 is a rear elevational view of the garment shown in FIG. 7, with the view being similar to FIG. 9 but with additional portions of the flexible fabric of the garment removed so that underlying portions of the garment can be shown, and with the view also showing 1) a rear pocket formation of the garment (depicted primarily by broken lines, and having one end region of the rear pocket formation shown opened), and 2) with the foreshortened elongate elastic strap shown by broken lines extending through an elongate passage provided on a rear part of the garment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

To describe a preferred embodiment of the invention in an orderly manner, reference is first made herein to FIGS. 1-6 which depict three forms a flexible fabric garment for receiving and operationally supporting a small and generally rectangular electronic device preferably at locations nestled in the palm of a hand of a wearer of the garment. The description then focuses on a fourth form of flexible fabric garment that includes improved features—features that also can be incorporated in such flexible fabric garments as are depicted in FIGS. 1-6, and in flexible fabric garments such as are disclosed in others of the patents and applications that have disclosures that are incorporated herein by reference.
Although the flexible fabric garments disclosed herein are designed to be worn primarily on the left hands of persons engaged in exercise, it will be understood that garments of mirror-image configuration designed to be worn primarily on the right hands are entirely within the scope and spirit of the claimed invention.
Yet another possible embodiment well within the spirit and scope of the invention provides a garment that has dual, symmetrically positioned, thumb-receiving openings that enable the garment to be worn interchangeably on either of the left and right hands. Such a flexible fabric garment is the subject of a design application being filed concurrently herewith by the inventors named herein (Atty's Docket No. 6-802), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

The Embodiments Shown in FIGS. 1-6

Referring initially to FIGS. 1 and 2, a typical human hand is indicated generally by the numeral 50. FIG. 1 shows a back side 51 of the hand 50, and FIG. 2 shows a palm side 52 of the hand 50. The hand 50 extends from a wrist region 53 at the rear, to fingertips 54 at what will be referred to as the front of the hand 50. The fingertips 54 are located at the front end regions of fingers 55, 56, 57, 58. Located between the wrist region 53 and the fingertips 54 is a thumb 59 which extends from a base region 60 of the thumb 59 to a thumbtip 61.
Referring still to FIGS. 1 and 2, an imaginary axis 100 is shown extending transversely across the hand 50. The axis 100 crosses a central region 70 of the hand 50 at a location spaced a short distance forwardly of the base region 60 of the thumb 59 and rearwardly of the fingers 55, 56, 57, 58. The axis 100 crosses what will be referred to as a top region 71 (shown at the top of FIG. 2) of the hand 50 at a point 101, and crosses what will be referred to as the bottom region 72 (shown at the bottom of FIG. 2) of the hand 50 at a point 102.
Also shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is one form of a specialized hand-encircling, flexible fabric garment 150 which has a body that is formed from durable, flexible, breathable, resilient material 149 such as sold under the registered trademark Lycra, or the like. As those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, there are many durable, resilient, flexible fabric materials that are well suited to form specialized wearable garments of the type described herein. Accordingly, no claim is made herein to the use of any particular flexible fabric material to form the body of the garment 150.
If desired, portions of the specialized garments described herein may also be formed at least in part from leather or other durable materials that are flexible to wrap about the hand but are not especially resilient, in which case, one or more fasteners such as a buckle or what is known as hook-and-loop type fasteners such as are sold under the registered trademark Velcro may be employed to permit ease of installation of the garment 150 on the hand 50 of a wearer.
Referring still to FIGS. 1 and 2, the garment 150 can be seen to extend transversely across the hand along opposite front and rear sides of the imaginary axis 100, with a front of the garment 150 being defined by a curved line 151, and a rear of the garment 150 being defined by a curved line 152. A complexly curved line 171 (at the top of FIG. 2) defines what will be referred to as the top of the garment 150, which extends along what has already been referred to as the top 71 of the hand 50. A more simply curved line 172 (at the bottom of FIG. 2) defines what will be referred to as the bottom of the garment 150, which extends along what has already been referred to as the bottom 72 of the hand 50.
At opposite ends of the complexly curved line 171, the top of the garment 150 joins with the lines 151, 152 (designating the front and the rear of the garment 150, respectively) at points indicated by the numerals 181, 191, respectively. At opposite ends of the more simply curved line 172, the bottom of the garment 150 also joins with the lines 151, 152 at points designated by the numerals 182, 192, respectively.
At the top of the garment 150, a thumb-receiving opening 153 is provided by a portion of the flexible, resilient material 149 that surrounds the base region 60 of the thumb 59. Points labeled by the numerals 154, 155 designate opposite ends of a region where a part of the complexly curved line 171 is defined by the thumb-receiving opening 153.
Conceptually speaking, the garment 150 can be said to be defined by a relatively narrow band or “first reach” of flexible material 149 that extends along the imaginary axis 100 to snugly encircle the hand 50. Such a “narrow band” or “first reach” has a palm portion defined in FIG. 2 by the points 181, 154 at the top of the garment 150, and by the points 182, 192 at the bottom of the garment; and, the garment 150 is also defined by a wide region of the hand-encircling band that carries the thumb-receiving opening 153.
Depicted by broken lines in FIG. 2 are a pair of rectangles 210, 220 that designate locations located along the imaginary axis 100 where a pocket formation of the garment 150 can be positioned to at least partially protectively nestle or nest a small electronic device in the palm portion of the hand 50.
What the garment 150 depicted in solid lines in FIGS. 1 and 2 provides is a supporting structure that is designed to snugly encircle opposed palm and back surfaces 52, 51 of the hand 50, and that is supplementally held in place on the hand 50 by providing the thumb receiving opening 153 which extends about the base region 60 of the thumb 59 to keep the garment 150 from sliding forwardly over the fingers 55-58 and off of the hand 50—a supporting structure that is intended to carry what will be referred to as a front pocket formation that is sized, shaped and otherwise suitably configured to receive and releasably retain therein a small electronic device of the type described earlier herein—often, but not necessarily, a device capable of connecting with a wireless telephone network.
What the axis 100 crosses is a central region of the palm 52 of the hand 50 wherein a pocket formation (and an electronic device contained therein) can be at least partially protectively nestled or nested in the palm 52 of the hand 50, with other parts of the hand 50 helping to shield an electronic device carried by the garment 150 from unwanted contact with objects surrounding the wearer of the garment 150.
If the front pocket or front pocket formation that is selected contains a particular size and shape of electronic device that is larger than is depicted by one of the rectangles 210, 220 shown in FIG. 2, then the garment 150 can still support the front pocket formation and the electronic device contained therein with portions thereof at least partially protectively nestled by the palm 52 of the hand 50—which is a better and more protectively shielded location than if the front pocket formation and the electronic device contained therein were supported on the back side 51 of the hand 50 where they are more likely to impact with objects surrounding the wearer of the garment 150.
If a front pocket formation and electronic device contained therein project upwardly from the palm 52 of the hand 50 (as is depicted by the rectangles 210, 220 in FIG. 2), the presence of the thumb 59 in the vicinity of such upward extensions will also help to protectively shield the electronic device contained in the front pocket formation from unwanted contact.
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, a second form of specialized garment 250 is shown which has a first reach 251 of flexible, resilient material 249 configured to extend about the hand 50 at a location forwardly of the base 60 of the thumb 59 in much the same manner that the garment 150 snugly encircled the same general area of the hand 50, and has a second reach 252 of the flexible, resilient material 249 that extends from the first reach 251 to wrap around the rear of the base region 60 of the thumb 59. A front pocket formation 300 is shown attached to a palm portion 253 of the first reach 251 of the second form of flexible fabric garment 250.
As can best be seen in FIG. 4, the front pocket or front pocket formation 300 has a generally rectangular opening 301 that defines a window through which a display of an electronic device carried interiorly of the front pocket formation 300 can be viewed. A sheet or a reach of flexible transparent material 302 covers the window opening 301 to help other portions of the front pocket formation 300 to protectively contain and retain an electronic device therein. The front pocket formation 300 may be permanently connected to the palm portion 253 of the first reach 251 as by stitching, bonding or other suitable conventional means well known to those skilled in the art, or may be removably attached thereto by providing hook and loop fastening material of the type sold under the registered trademark Velcro.
Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, a third form of specialized flexible fabric garment 350 is shown which has a first reach 351 of resilient, breathable material configured to extend about the hand 50 at a location forwardly of the base 60 of the thumb 59 in substantially the same manner that the garment 250 snugly encircles the same general area of the hand 50, and has a second reach 352 of flexible, resilient material that extends from the first reach 351 to wrap around the rear of the base region 60 of the thumb 59. End regions 358, 359 (FIG. 5) of the first reach 351 are connected in a conventional manner by looping the end region 358 through a rigid loop or buckle 369 that is carried by the end region 359.
A front pocket or front pocket formation 400 (FIG. 6) is attached to a palm portion 353 of the first reach 351 of the third garment 350. An electronic device carried interiorly of the front pocket formation 400 can be viewed and operated through a window opening 401. A flexible transparent sheet 402 covers the window opening 401 to help other portions of the front pocket formation 400 retain an electronic device therein. The front pocket formation 400 may be permanently connected to the palm portion 353 as by stitching, bonding or other suitable conventional means well known to those skilled in the art, or may be removably attached thereto by providing hook and loop fastening material of the type sold under the registered trademark Velcro.

The Embodiment of FIGS. 7-12

Basic features of a fourth garment embodiment shown in FIGS. 7-12 are substantially the same as basic features of the first, second and third garment embodiments 150, 250 and 350, respectively, that are shown sequentially in FIGS. 1-6.
Referring to FIGS. 7-12, the fourth form 450 has, for example, a first elongate, strap-like reach 451 of resilient, breathable, flexible fabric material configured to encircle about a hand of a wearer of the garment 450 at a location forwardly of a thumb of the hand in substantially the same manner that the second flexible fabric garment 250 is shown having a first elongate, strap-like reach 251 of material that encircles the hand 50, as is shown in FIG. 3. The fourth garment 450 also has a second reach 452 of resilient, breathable, flexible fabric material that extends to one side of the first reach 451 of material to encircle a base region of a thumb of the person wearing the garment 450, just as is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 where it can be seen that the second embodiment 250 has a reach of material 252 encircling a base region of a thumb 59 of the hand 50.
Referring still to FIGS. 7-12, the fourth garment 450 also has end regions 458, 459 of the first reach 451 that can be connected as by looping the end region 458 through a buckle 469 that is carried by an end region 459, in the same manner that the third garment 350 is shown in FIG. 5 as having a strap end region 358 that is looped through a buckle 369 carried by the strap end region 359.
Of importance is the fact that the fourth garment 450 shown in FIGS. 7-12 has three unique and distinguishing features that are the primary focus of this continuation-in-part application. These three features include overlying front and rear pockets 500 (FIGS. 8 and 11), 600 (FIG. 12), respectively, and an elastic strap 700 that is provided to permit the garment 450 to be worn comfortably on a limb of a person, instead of just on a hand of the person wearing the garment. As will be explained, the strap 700 is elastically extensible, enabling it to be used instead of utilizing the the hand-encircling formation 451 and the thumb-encircling formation 452 that are provided for securely and comfortably carrying the garment 450 (and an electronic device carried by the garment 450) on a hand of a person wearing the garment 450.
Of course, the three features mentioned just above can be provided when forming such garments 150, 250 and 350 as are disclosed in FIGS. 1-6, and in the alternative form of garment depicted in drawings of the concurrently-filed design application mentioned above.
Economy is preferably obtained in manufacturing the fourth garment 450 by utilizing a single, main piece of fabric 460 that is complexly configured to define not only 1) the elongate strap-like formation 451 for encircling a hand of a wearer and 2) the formation 452 that is configured to encircle a thumb of a wearer, but also 3) a relatively wide band or loop of material 455 that encircles and defines the double-open-ended front pocket 500 (FIGS. 8 and 11) that is provided for enclosing a conventional electronic device (portions of a typical such device being indicated by the numerals 499 in FIGS. 8 and 11).
Referring to FIG. 12, sewn, bonded or otherwise securely attached to a rear surface of the single main piece of fabric 460 (described just above) are two overlying layers of flexible fabric material 610, 620 that define front and rear walls of the rear pocket 600 (FIG. 12). Peripheral portions of the interior of the rear pocket 600 are outlined by broken lines in FIG. 12. Also shown in FIG. 12 are interior surfaces of the overlying layers of fabric material 610, 620. An overturned right end flap of the outer material layer 620 shown in FIG. 12 permits interior surface portions 615, 625 of the fabric materials 610, 620, respectively, to be seen.
Best shown in FIGS. 7, 9, 11 and 12 is the elongate, second strap-like member 700 which is preferably formed, at least in part, from elastically extensible and retractable material. The elongate, second strap-like member 700 has opposite end regions 758, 759. A loop defining buckle 769 (that is preferably identical to the buckle 469 carried on the end region 459 of the first elongate strap-like member 451) is provided on the strap end region 759. By this arrangement, the strap end region 758 can extend through the buckle 769 and then can be reverse-turned to extend back along in overlying relationship with other portions of the member 700 so that hook and loop materials carried thereon can releasably engage to encircle and to be drawn taut about a limb of a person wearing the garment 450.
Referring to FIG. 7, the wide loop of material 455 that encircles and defines the open-ended front pocket 500 (FIGS. 8 and 11) is provided with a generally rectangular opening 501 or window through which a front surface (not shown) of an electronic device 499 carried in the front pocket 500 can be viewed, accessed and operated. In preferred practice, the generally rectangular front pocket 500 (FIGS. 8 and 11) has a uniform thickness or width (i.e., the front pocket 500 encloses an open area indicated in FIGS. 8 and 11 by the numeral 510) of typically up to about one centimeter (about one half inch) that is adequate to receive and carry a conventional electronic device 499 such as typically can be wirelessly connected with a cellular telephone network.
Referring to FIG. 7, the window opening 501 into the front pocket 500 (FIGS. 8 and 11) is perimetrically bordered along top and bottom regions by parallel-extending, top and bottom portions 503, 504, respectively, and along its left and right end regions by relatively shorter, parallel-extending, left and right portions 505, 506, respectively. The front window opening 501 may remain open and uncovered, or it may be fully covered by a thin, transparent sheet of flexible material 502. The front window opening 501 enables a front face (not shown) of a conventional electronic device 499 (portions of which are shown in FIGS. 8 and 11) that is positioned in the front pocket 500 to be viewed and operationally accessed.
If, as is shown in FIG. 7, a thin, flexible, transparent plastic sheet 502 extends fully across the front window opening 501, the material selected to form the transparent sheet 502 needs to be adequately flexible to enable local areas, parts or regions of the sheet 502 to be depressed and inwardly deformed by fingertip pressure so that whatever electronic device 499 (FIGS. 8 and 11) is carried in the front pocket 500 can be operated by gently pressing or tapping on small local areas, parts or regions of the transparent sheet 502.
If, as shown in FIG. 7, a thin, flexible and transparent sheet 502 is provided to extend across the window opening 501, the sheet 502 also needs to be sufficiently durable and wear-resistant to help the peripheral portions 503, 504, 505, 506 to releasably retain within the front pocket 500 whatever type of conventional, generally rectangular electronic device 499 is inserted into the front pocket 500.
To retain an electronic device 499 in the open-ended front pocket 500 (FIGS. 8 and 11), one of the front pocket's open end regions 474 (best seen in FIG. 11) is partially closed by two short, overlying strap portions of the end region 459 of the first reach 451 (best seen in FIG. 10) that are sewn or otherwise securely joined together, and which cooperate to support the buckle 469. An opposite open end region 475 (best seen in FIGS. 8 and 10) of the front pocket 500 is overlaid and closed by a part of the first reach 451 that extends from a central part of the left peripheral end portion 505 at times when the garment 450 is in place on the hand of a wearer of the garment 450. Thus, installing the garment 450 on a wearer's hand serves to close the open end region 475 sufficiently to retain an electronic device 499 in the front pocket 500 (FIGS. 8 and 11).
As can best be seen in FIG. 10, a portion 470 of the elongate strap 451 that is provided for encircling a wearer's hand is provided with loop-defining material 480; and, the end region 458 of the elongate strap 451 is provided with a hook-defining material 490. As is well known to those skilled in the art, such loop-defining material 480 and such hook-defining material 490 can be positioned in overlying engagement to provide a releasable connection between reaches of flexible material. Such hook and loop defining materials are sold under the registered trademark Velcro.
Referring to FIG. 12, the generally rectangular rear pocket or rear pocket formation 600 of the fourth garment 450 is connected to the main piece of fabric 460 for carrying (while also providing easy access to) such modern-day essentials as a latch key 605 and other contents (not shown) that can include, for example, a small amount of currency, a credit card, a photo identification card, a medical alert notice and/or the like.
The rear pocket 600 (FIG. 12) may take any of a wide variety of forms, and still be within the spirit and scope of the present invention. In preferred practice, the rear pocket 600 is configured to be of generally rectangular shape, as is indicated by broken lines 610 in FIG. 12, and also by solid lines 620 where an end region 630 of the rear pocket 600 is shown turned back and opened. In preferred practice, narrow, elongate reaches of hook and loop material 660, 670 (such as are sold under the registered trademark Velcro) are provided to extend along perimeter portions of the openable end region 630 of the rear pocket 600 (FIG. 12) to hold the rear pocket 600 securely closed, and to provide easy access to contents of the rear pocket 600.
The separately formed elongate, second strap-like member 700 extends movably through a passage 750 that is depicted by broken lines in FIG. 12)—which permits the elongate second strap-like member 700 to actually be removed from the garment 450 if a wearer of the garment so desires.
Although the invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example, and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is intended to protect whatever features of patentable novelty exist in the invention disclosed.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A flexible fabric garment having overlying front and rear, generally rectangular pocket portions; with the front pocket portion configured to receive, releasably retain and protectively enclose a generally rectangular electronic device, with the front pocket portion extending about a perimeter of the device when positioned therein without obstructing continuous operational access to a front face of the device; with the rear pocket portion located immediately behind the front pocket portion and configured to concurrently receive, releasably retain and protectively enclose contents including at least one of a conventional credit card, a latch key, one a driver's license and a photo identification card, with the rear pocket portion having a perimeter formation provided with a releasably closable fastener permitting the contents to be inserted thereinto and removed therefrom; with the garment including a first elongate strap portion configured to encircle a hand of a person wearing the garment to retain the garment on the hand; with the garment including a thumb-encircling portion defining an opening that permits a thumb of a person wearing the garment to extend there-through; and with the garment also including a second elongate strap portion configured to encircle and releasably enclose a limb of the person.

2. The garment of claim 1 wherein a single piece of flexible fabric defines the front pocket portion, the thumb-encircling portion, and the first elongate strap portion.

3. The garment of claim 1 wherein the second elongate strap portion is formed, at least in part, from elastically extensible fabric.

4. The garment of claim 3 additionally including a fabric-defined passage located behind the front pocket portion, and the elongate strap portion extends movably through the fabric-defined passage.

5. The garment of claim 3 wherein at least one of the first and second elongate strap portions carries a fastener.

6. The garment of claim 1 wherein the releasably closable fastener that permits the contents to be inserted into and removed from the rear pocket portion includes a hook and loop type releasable closure.

7. The garment of claim 6 wherein the releasably closable fastener extends along at least an openable perimeter region of the rear pocket portion.

8. The garment of claim 7 wherein the releasable closable fastening extends along a portion of one side of the rear pocket portion adjacent an end region of the rear pocket portion.

9. The garment of claim 1 wherein the front pocket portion has an open end region through which the electronic device can be inserted into and removed from the front pocket portion, and wherein a part of the thumb-encircling portion extends across the open end region to retain the electronic device within the front pocket portion when the garment is worn by the person.

10. A fingerless garment formed primarily from flexible fabric configured to define overlying front and rear, generally rectangular pocket portions; wherein the front pocket portion is configured to receive, releasably retain and protectively enclose a small, generally rectangular electronic device while providing continuous operational access to a front face of the device; wherein the rear pocket portion is situated behind the front pocket portion and is configured to receive, releasably retain and concurrently protectively enclose contents including at least one of a credit card, a latch key, and a photo identification card; and with the garment also including, an integrally formed portion defining an opening configured to permit a thumb of a wearer of the garment to extend therethrough.

11. The fingerless garment of claim 10 wherein the rear pocket portion has a perimeter formation defining a releasably closable fastening permitting the contents to be inserted thereinto and removed therefrom.

12. The fingerless garment of claim 10 having a reach of fabric extending between and separating the front and rear, generally rectangular pocket portions.

13. The garment of claim 10 wherein the front pocket portion has an open end region through which the electronic device can be inserted into and removed from the front pocket portion.

14. The fingerless garment of claim 10 additionally including an elongate strap portion configured to encircle and releasably enclose a selected one of a hand of the wearer and an arm of the wearer.

15. The garment of claim 14 with the elongate strap portion being formed, at least in part, from elastically extensible fabric.

16. The garment of claim 14 additionally including a fabric-defined passage located behind the front pocket portion, and the elongate strap portion extends movably through the fabric-defined passage.

17. The garment of claim 14 wherein the elongate strap portion has a buckle carried thereon.

18. The garment of claim 10 wherein the rear pocket portion is provided with a releasably closable fastening that permits the contents to be inserted into and removed from the rear pocket portion.

19. The garment of claim 18 wherein the releasably closable fastening extends across at least an end region of the rear pocket portion.

20. The garment of claim 19 wherein the releasable closable fastening extends along a portion of one side of the rear pocket portion adjacent the end region of the rear pocket portion.