US20160192722A1

US20160192722A1 - Concealment Garment

Info

Publication number: US20160192722A1
Application number: US14/989,107
Authority: US
Inventors: Andrew Simeone
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2015-01-07
Filing date: 2016-01-06
Publication date: 2016-07-07

Abstract

A garment with a concealed pocket for storing a firearm or personal items therein. The concealment garment includes a garment to be worn on the upper body of a user, such as a shirt, sweatshirt, jacket, or vest. The garment includes a first opening having a vertical slot that provides access to one or more pockets disposed along an interior of the front side of the garment. Each pocket includes a water-proof or water-resistant bladder having interior volume in order to store personal items therein. The bladder is water-proof or water-resistant so as to prevent items stored therein from becoming damaged. The interior volume of each pocket is accessible through a second opening disposed thereon that is recessed from and aligned with the first opening so as to remain concealed. The second opening is closable via a fastener, such as a zipper or hook and loop material.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/100,544 filed on Jan. 7, 2015. The above identified patent application is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety to provide continuity of disclosure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to concealment garments. More specifically, the present invention provides a garment having a concealed, water-proof or water-resistant pocket disposed on the interior of the garment.
Personal items, such as wallets, phones, and keys, are often carried in pant pockets, purses, or other types of bags. However, these personal items and bags are easily noticed by others. Thieves specifically notice the placement of such items in pockets and assume certain valuables are carried in bags, thereby allowing the individual carrying the items to be susceptible to theft. Additionally, some individuals choose to carry a permitted firearm for protection. However, these individuals may desire a level of discreetness when carrying permitted firearms in order to avoid startling or scaring others who are not comfortable around guns. Therefore, there exists a need for a concealed pocket.
In order to provide convenience to a user, the concealable pocket must be easily accessed and, therefore, incorporated into a garment to be worn. Furthermore, certain items may become damaged or inoperable if exposed to water or moisture, such as phones or other electronic devices. Therefore, there exists a need for a concealed, water-proof or water-resistant pocket disposed in a garment.
Devices have been disclosed in the prior art that relate to concealment garments. These include devices that have been patented and published in patent application publications. These devices generally relate to an article of clothing having a pocket with an interior volume for storing a gun therein, such as U.S. Pat. No. 6,986,164, U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2009/0025117, U.S. Pat. No. 7,743,430, U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2005/0015844, U.S. Pat. No. 8,332,967, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,832,536. However, these devices fail to provide a concealed pocket having a water-proof or water-resistant bladder for protecting the items stored therein.
In light of the devices disclosed in the prior art, it is submitted that the present invention substantially diverges in design elements from the prior art and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement to existing concealment garments. In this regard the instant invention substantially fulfills these needs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of concealment garments now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new concealment garment wherein the same can be utilized for providing convenience for the user when protecting and concealing items within a pocket of a garment.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved concealment garment that has all of the advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages. The concealment garment comprises a garment to be worn on the upper body of a user, such as a shirt or vest. The garment includes a first opening having a vertical slot that provides access to one or more pockets disposed along an interior of the front side of the garment. Each pocket includes a water-proof or water-resistant bladder having interior volume in order to store personal items therein. The bladder is waterproof or water-resistant so as to prevent items stored therein from becoming damaged. The interior volume of each pocket is accessible through a second opening disposed thereon that is recessed from and aligned with the first opening so as to remain concealed. The second opening is closable via a fastener, such as a zipper or hook and loop material.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

Although the characteristic features of this invention will be particularly pointed out in the claims, the invention itself and manner in which it may be made and used may be better understood after a review of the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like numeral annotations are provided throughout.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the concealment garment.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the pockets of the concealment garment.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the concealment garment in use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference is made herein to the attached drawings. Like reference numerals are used throughout the drawings to depict like or similar elements of the concealment garment. For the purposes of presenting a brief and clear description of the present invention, the preferred embodiment will be discussed as used for concealing personal items in a water-proof or water-resistant pocket of a garment. The figures are intended for representative purposes only and should not be considered to be limiting in any respect.
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a perspective view of an embodiment of the concealment garment and a perspective view of the pockets of the concealment garment. The concealment garment 11 comprises a garment 12 to be worn by a user, such as a T-shirt, polo shirt, sweater, button-down shirt, sweatshirt, vest, jacket, or the like. In the illustrated embodiment, the garment 12 is a polo shirt, however, any article of clothing configured to be worn on the upper body of a user is suitable as the garment 12. The garment 12 has a rear side, a front side 26, an upper end 27, and a lower end 28, wherein the front side 26 is configured to be disposed along a user's chest, the upper end 27 is configured to be worn on a user's shoulders, and the lower end 28 is configured to rest adjacent to a user's waist. The garment 12 further comprises a neck opening 29 centrally disposed on the upper end 27 of the garment and configured to receive a user's head therethrough so as to allow the user to put on the garment 12. The rear side is configured to be disposed along a user's back.
The garment 12 comprises a first opening 25 disposed on the front side 26 thereof that allows a user to access the interior of the garment 12 therethrough. In the illustrated embodiment, the first opening 25 comprises a vertical slot. Preferably, there are a pair of first openings 25 disposed on opposing sides of the front 26 of the garment 25 such that the first opening 25 is easily accessed via the opposing hand of the user. In some embodiments, the first opening 25 is closable by a fastener, such as hook and loop fastening material, disposed along the sides thereof. The fastener is preferably concealed so as to prevent it from being visible on the exterior of the garment 12.
The concealment garment 11 further comprises one or more pockets 13 secured to an interior of the front side 26 of the garment 12. The pockets 13 define an interior volume, wherein the interior volume is accessed through the first opening 25 on the garment 12. The pockets 13 are elongated, wherein the upper end 14 of each pocket 13 is secured to the upper end 27 of the garment 12, extending downward therefrom, and securing to the lower end 28 of the garment 12. In this way, the ends 14, 15 of the pocket 13 are secured to the ends 27, 28 of the garment 12 and are thus prevented from moving while a user is wearing the concealment garment 11. In the illustrated embodiment, the upper end 27 of the garment 12 is defined as the top portion of a shoulder area of the garment 12. Preferably, the pockets 13 are secured along the natural seamline of the garment 12 in order to provide further concealment of the pocket 13. In the illustrated embodiment, the pocket 13 width is substantially the same width as the distance between the neck opening 29 of the garment 12 and the sleeves 30 thereof. A first pocket 13 is disposed on one side of the front 26 of the garment 12 and a second pocket 13 is disposed on the opposing side of the front 26 thereof.
Each pocket 13 comprises a water-proof or water-resistant bladder 16 so as to prevent items stored therein from becoming damaged. The bladder 16 is composed of any suitable material, such as rubber. The bladder 16 of the pocket 13 includes a front wall 32, a rear wall 31, and an interior volume 18 therebetween, wherein the interior volume 18 is configured to store personal items therein, such as a gun, wallet, keys, phone, small electronic devices, and the like. The dimensions of the bladder 16 coincide with the dimensions of the pocket 13, wherein the bladder 16 preferably extends between the upper end 27 and lower end 28 of the garment 12.
The interior volume 18 of the bladder 16 is accessible through a second opening 20 disposed between the front wall 32 and rear wall 31 thereof. The second opening disposed on the bladder 16 is aligned with the first opening 25 disposed on the garment 12. The second opening 20 is closable with a fastener, such as a zipper (as seen in FIG. 2, 21) or hook and loop material. In some embodiments, the fastener is water-proof or water-resistant so as to prevent liquid or moisture from entering the pocket 13. The second opening of the bladder 16 is recessed within the pocket 13 and the first opening 25 of the garment 12 so as to remain concealed within the garment 12.
In the illustrated embodiment, each pocket 13 further comprises a vertical divider 23 disposed within the interior volume 18 of the bladder 16. The vertical divider 23 forms separate compartments at the lower end 15 of the pocket 13. The lateral edges of the vertical divider 23 are secured to the walls 32, 31 of the bladder 16 via any suitable fastener, such as stitching. The upper end of the vertical divider 23 comprises a horizontal support strap 22 that provides further stability and strength to the upper end of the divider 23. The support strap 22 is preferably rigid. In this way, a holster of a gun 61 or other heavy items may be suspended or hooked onto the upper end thereof.
In some embodiments, each pocket 13 further comprises a protective liner 17 disposed along the front wall 32 and rear wall 31 of the bladder 16 so as to provide protection to the bladder 16 from sharp items stored within the pocket 13. Preferably, a padded layer 19 is disposed on the rear wall 31 of the pocket 13, wherein the padded layer 19 is configured to contact a user's skin so as to provide comfort to the user when wearing the concealable garment 11. In some embodiments, another padded layer is disposed on the front wall 32 of the pocket 13 so as to further prevent items stored within the pocket 13 from becoming detected via the outline or impression of the item through the front wall 32 thereof.
The pocket 13 further comprises one or more fasteners 24 disposed on the interior thereof, such as D-rings, so as to allow a user to securely hang or place other items therein, such as a set of keys. The fasteners 24 are secured to the interior surface of the front wall or rear wall of the pocket 13.
Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown a perspective view of an embodiment of the concealment garment in use. In operation, a user wears the concealment garment over his or her upper body. The user accesses the pockets 13 disposed within the garment through the opening on the garment. The opening of the pockets 13 are aligned with the opening on the garment and are concealed within the garment. Thus, a user may place personal items on the strap 22, within the secondary pockets 23, on the fasteners 24, or anywhere else in the pocket 13 without alerting another individual that such items are stored on his or her person.
It is therefore submitted that the instant invention has been shown and described in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art. With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

Claims

I claim:

1) A concealment garment, comprising:

a garment configured to be worn on the upper body of a user;

one or more pockets secured to an interior of a front side of the garment, wherein the garment includes one or more openings on the front side thereof in order to provide access to an interior volume of the one or more pockets;

a water-proof bladder disposed in each of the one or more pockets, wherein the water-proof bladder includes a front wall, a rear wall, an interior volume therebetween, and an opening configured to receive items therethrough.

2) The concealment garment of claim 1, further comprising padding disposed on a rear side of the one or more pockets so as to provide comfort to the user.

3) The concealment garment of claim 1, wherein the water-proof bladder comprises a protective liner disposed on the interior volume thereof.

4) The concealment garment of claim 1, further comprising a vertical divider disposed on a lower end of each of the one or more pockets, wherein one or more lateral edges of the vertical divider are secured to the water-proof bladder so as to form separate compartments within each of the one or more pockets.

5) The concealment garment of claim 4, wherein the vertical divider comprises a support strap horizontally secured to an upper end of the vertical divider so as to provide rigidity to the upper end of the vertical divider for receiving a holster of a gun thereon.

6) The concealment garment of claim 1, wherein the one or more pockets are disposed along a plurality of seams of the garment.

7) The concealment garment of claim 1, further comprising one or more fasteners disposed on an interior of the one or more pockets for removably securing personal items thereto.

8) The concealment garment of claim 1, wherein an upper end of the one or more pockets are secured to an upper end of the garment, extending downwards therefrom, wherein a lower end of the one or more pockets is secured to a lower end of the garment so as to provide an elongated pocket secured to the garment.

9) A concealment garment, comprising:

a garment configured to be worn on the upper body of a user;

a water-resistant bladder disposed in each of the one or more pockets, wherein the water-resistant bladder includes a front wall, a rear wall, an interior volume therebetween, and an opening configured to receive items therethrough.

10) The concealment garment of claim 9, further comprising padding disposed on a rear side of the one or more pockets so as to provide comfort to the user.

11) The concealment garment of claim 9, wherein the water-resistant bladder comprises a protective liner disposed on the interior volume thereof.

12) The concealment garment of claim 9, further comprising a vertical divider disposed on a lower end of each of the one or more pockets, wherein one or more lateral edges of the vertical divider are secured to the water-resistant bladder so as to form separate compartments within each of the one or more pockets.

13) The concealment garment of claim 12, wherein the vertical divider comprises a support strap horizontally secured to an upper end of the vertical divider so as to provide rigidity to the upper end of the vertical divider for receiving a holster of a gun thereon.

14) The concealment garment of claim 9, wherein the one or more pockets are disposed along a plurality of seams of the garment.

15) The concealment garment of claim 9, further comprising one or more fasteners disposed on an interior of the one or more pockets for removably securing personal items thereto.

16) The concealment garment of claim 9, wherein an upper end of the one or more pockets are secured to an upper end of the garment, extending downwards therefrom, wherein a lower end of the one or more pockets is secured to a lower end of the garment so as to provide an elongated pocket secured to the garment.

17) A concealment garment, comprising:

a garment configured to be worn on the upper body of a user;

wherein an upper end of the one or more pockets are secured to an upper end of the garment, extending downwards therefrom, wherein a lower end of the one or more pockets is secured to a lower end of the garment so as to provide an elongated pocket secured to the garment;

a bladder disposed in each of the one or more pockets, wherein the bladder includes a front wall, a rear wall, an interior volume therebetween, and an opening configured to receive items therethrough;

a vertical divider disposed on a lower end of each of the one or more pockets, wherein one or more lateral edges of the vertical divider are secured to the bladder so as to form separate compartments within each of the one or more pockets;

wherein the vertical divider comprises a support strap horizontally secured to an upper end of the vertical divider so as to provide rigidity to the upper end of the vertical divider for receiving a holster of a gun thereon.