US2422851A - Rain legging - Google Patents

Description

June 24; 1947.

M. RANDALL RAIN LEGGING Filed Nov. 28, 1945 I fnz/erz rar Patented June 24, 1947 UNITED STATES 'PATENT OFFICE Mildred Randall, Berkeley, Calif.

Application November 23, 1945, Serial No. 631,325

legs and feet are fully exposed to rain and her stockings quickly become saturated with the rain thence draining down into her overshoes or galoshes to thoroughly wet her feet and shoes.

2 Claims. (Cl. 36-2) This invention was evolved to provide complete protection against rain, even driving frontal rains, when worn in acompaniment with suitable shoe coverings and body and head coverings. With a rain cover for the head, a rain coat or cape, and the leggings disclosed herein, and a pair of overshoes or galoshes, a woman will be fully protected from head to foot.

Furthermore, these leggings do not alter the normal graceful and neat appearance of the wearer, in view of their transparency and lightness, and because they can be applied or removed at will, applied anywhere when needed, and removed when the need ceases, since they can be quickly and easily drawn over the shoes. They are made of a tough, flexible material, of very light weight so they can be folded very compactly to be carried at all times in a handbag, ready for instant use. v

The objects and advantages of the invention are as follows:

First, to provide a rain protection garment for the legs.

Second, to provide a waterproof legging which can be easily and quickly applied or removed at any time and any place where the need may arise or may disappear.

Third, to provide a waterproof legging through which the shod foot of the wearer will readily pass.

Fourth, to provide a waterproof legging with garter-type support means at the upper end for support of the legging.

Fifth, to provide a waterproof legging which in the back terminates at the bend of the knee so as to avoid any bunching effect.

Sixth, to provide a waterproof legging as outlined with a knee shield extending above the kneecap for protection against driving rain.

Seventh, to provide a waterproof legging as outlined which may be provided in either, a sleeve type or a form-fitting type.

Eighth, to-provide a legging as outlined which is transparent so as not to detract from the graceful or'neat appearance of the wearer.

Ninth, to provide a waterproof legging of very light weight, tough, flexible or elastic material so that it can be compactly folded to be carried in a handbag.

In describing the invention reference will be made to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates the form-fitting modification of the invention as worn.

Fig. 2 illustrates'the preferred form of the invention, preferred because of its low cost of manufacture and because it is most conveniently and easily applied or removed.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the preferred form of the invention.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the form-fitting modification of the invention.

Fig. 5 is a section taken through the formfitting modification showing the guard and seal for the closure means.

The invention, though not so limited, is preferably made of a tough, transparent, flexible and preferably resilient material, such as various new types of plastics of the vinyl-resin type which are transparent, extremely flexible, not easily creased, and slightly elastic; the slight elasticity making the material substantially non-creasing so that when the folded legging is opened for application it will provide a neat unwrinkled appearance.

"The preferred form shown in Figs. 2 and 3, consists of a sleeve II) which is large enough at the bottom ll so that it can be slipped directly over the'shoe l2 or overshoe of the wearer. A stirrup i3 is provided when desired, to pass under the instep to keep the bottom in place to cover the rim I4 of the shoe top.

The back of the legging terminates at its upper end at l5 just below the bend [6 of the knee so that there will be no bunching of material under the knee when the wearer is seated or the leg is bent back, to provide comfortable and unrestricted movement of the leg.

The front portion of the leggin extends upwardly to form a knee-shield II, to a point above the knee-cap, and the sides flare downwardly to the back at l5, this knee-shield providing protection against driving rain which tends, because of the heavy wind to cause the rain coat l8 to creep upwardly and expose the knees. Under such conditions, without this knee-shield the rain would enter the top of the legging.

The legging is supported by a suitable band either just above the knee-cap as illustrated in Fig. 3, or just below the bend of the knee or above the calf as illustrated in Fig. 4, that shown in Fig. 3 being preferred as it draws the top of the knee-shield tight against the leg.

The band or garter as shown in Fig. 3 is attached to the top of the knee-shield as indicated by stitching I 9 and the garter may be formed of leather or other flexible or elastic material 20 and is provided with a suitableclasp or buckle 2| so that it may be adjusted to suit. A continuous circular band made to fit the leg, as illustrated in Fig. 4, may be substituted, and furthermore this band 22 may be encased and slidable in a sheath 23 particularly if made of elastic so that the elasticity of the entire circumferential length of the garter may be utilized, in which case the band is cut to proper length, inserted through the sheath, and the terminal ends sewed together. As will be noted, the legging being transparent, there is no detraction from the neatness or the color harmony .of the individual.

Some women prefer the form-fitting type illustrated in Fig. 4. This type is made similar in all respects to the one previously described, with the back of the legging terminating just below or at the bend of the knee and having the kneeshield l1 and a band 20 or 22, that shown being an elastic garter slidable in a sheath 23 and encompassing the leg at the top of the calf 24, though the garter shown in Fig. 3 may be substituted or it may be located in .the same position as that in Fig. 3.

This form-fitting type is made to conform to the leg of the wearer as shown, down to the ankle, from which point the legging is flared as indicated at 25 to shed water over the rim M of the top of the shoe, and is opehable and provided with a suitable quick-operating fastener such as a zipper along the slit .26, this slit :being carried high enough .to assure convenient passage of a shod foot therethrough, and the slit is also provided with a seal as indicated in Fig. 5, in which the le ing is made in .the form of a sleeve 21, the fastening means secured along spaced points 28 and v29 and the intervening material .30 folded in, so that when the fastener is closed, the sides 3| and 32 of the folded portion will lie fiat against the flap portion, which not only forms a perfect seal but additionally protects the stockings.

against damage when the fastener is operated. If a zipper is used as the fastening means, the interlocking device or slide is located at the point .33 when the legging is open, so that to ,close the legging it is merely necessary to slide the device down to the .bottomas indicatedat 3.4. This .construction has the additional advantage of not requiring closing, as it is waterproof even when open, so that in the case of a heavy downpour the form-fitting type of legging can be simply slipped over the shoes without bothering with the fastening device, thus providing immediate protection without additional exposure because of the fastening device. As illustrated in Fig. 2, the same arrangement can be used in connection with the sleeve type, to reduce the diameter of the legging.

The sleeve type shown in Figs. 3 and 2 can just as readily be worn with slacks or trousers since they have approximately the same diameter as the legs of slacks or trousers.

Ilhis legging can also be adjusted for length. Instead of stitching the garter to the knee-shield as indicated at IS, a series of snap fastener female members 35 are applied to the knee-shield in vertically spaced relation. The male member 36 is applied to the front face of the garter for selective cooperation with the member 35. The garter can thus be detached and re-connected to the .knee portion of the legging for support of the legging at the most desirable elevation.

I claim:

1,. A. rain legging comprising; a sleeve like member having a knee portion and a garter, and aseries of attaching means on said knee portion, and cooperative attaching means on said garter for selective detachable connection of said garter to .said knee portion for adjusting the relative elevation of the logging.

2. A structure as defined in claim 1; said sleeve-like member having an .infolding portion and means for connecting the terminal edges of the infoldi'ng portion to reduce the diameter of the legging after it has been drawn into position on .theleg of the wearer.

MILDRED RANDALL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the die of this pa en UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 320,557 Hosmer June 23, 1885 504,794 Stimpson Sept. 12, 1893 749,951 Rosenwasser Jan. 19, 1904 927,986 Marcus July 13, 1909 1,724,413 Rauh Aug. 13, 1929 1,794,506 Anderson Mar. 3, 1931 1,827,423 Draikin Oct. 13, 1931 2,099,476 Glowka Nov. 16, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 672,716 France June 6, 1930 157,643 Switzerland Dec. 16, 1932

Images