US2948898A

US2948898A - Shooting garment

Info

Publication number: US2948898A
Application number: US672733A
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert E Allen
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1957-07-18
Filing date: 1957-07-18
Publication date: 1960-08-16
Anticipated expiration: 1977-08-16

Description

Ag. 16, 1960 R. E. ALLEN 2,948,898

' SHOOTING GARMENT Filed July 18. 1957 Qoberl i. aflllen dll'l'om g SHOOTING GARMENT Robert E. Allen, 2-11 Court, Des-'Moines, Iowa Filed July 18, 1957, Ser. No..6'72,733

1 Claim; (e1. 2--94 This invention is a shooting garment. that features an internal belt to which all the weight carrying pockets. and bags-of the coat are secured. By means of this structure many problems previously associated with making a desirable shooting coat as for hunting, are minimized or. completely solved.

Before my invention, the problem of how to support a hunting game bag, for example, was a vexing one. If

the bag was secured to the coat directly, it tended to bear on the shoulders of the hunter wearing the coat. This was particularly true if he were very successful early in the day and had a substantial amount of game to place in the bag. While the weight thus added might seem trivial when lifted once, it could become very burdensome lifted over and over again all day long. This is particularly true when the weight of game is added to the weight of the gun. This need to lift more than the weight of the gun naturally has an undesirable effect on the accuracy of the hunters shooting. Not only would his arms be generally more tired, and therefore, incapable of holding the gun on target, but there is also a noticeable tendency to over-control the gun. Over-controlling is particularly troublesome when the hunter has an opportunity to empty the game bag during a day of hunting. Everyone has experienced the phenomenon of lifting something higher than intended because it is lighter than expected. Sometimes a separately supported game bag was used to attempt to avoid this difiiculty. When the bag was supported by shoulder straps, however, the problems remained about the same. If an attempt were made to support the bag on a belt worn outside the coat, it both bound the shoulders of the hunter and made it difficult to get into the pockets of the coat in which shells are carried. This latter result was particularly bad, from the hunters point of view, since the number of shells that may be carried in the gun is limited to a rather small number in the United States. A hunter might well wish to reload his gun in a hurry and miss a good shot if his attempt to get a new shell out of a shell pocket is slowed down. When the bag was supported on a belt that fitted under the coat, it was awkward to get into, as anyone one knows who has tried to get into pants pockets when he has on an outer coat.

Accordingly it is the principal object of my invention to provide a novel hunting coat, one that:

(1) Allows great freedom of motion and increases shooting accuracy.

(2) Does not restrict access to shell pockets.

(3) May have the hunting bag removed easily.

(4) Minimizes the weight applied to the shoulders of the hunter.

(5) Is not bizarre in appearance.

While the foregoing specifically listed ones are my main objects in inventing this shooting garment, it is my intention to include as objects hereof any that would be clear to an artisan in this field after he has read this Patented Aug. 16, 1960 ice specification and examined the accompanying drawings which are briefly. described as follows:

Fig. 1 is a'front elevation of the coat on a person with aportion of the front ofjthe garment held open to show the internal belt;

Fig. 2 is a three-quarter side and rear elevation at a slightly reduced scale from that used in Fig. l; a portion of the rear of. the coat is broken away to illustrate its construction more fully;

Fig. 3.is a-horizontal sectionof the coat taken on the line 33 of'Fig. 1; the scale is larger than, that used in Fig.1; and

Fig. 4.is apartial vertical section of the coat taken on the .line 44:of Fig. 2. but, drawntothe scale of Fig. 3.

Inthe drawings, and particularly Figures 1, 3 and 4, the invention may beseen as applied to a hunting coat and to consist of the combination of the coat 10, the internal belt 12, and the variouspockets and bags or pouches supported by it, as willbe, detailed below. This structure may also be applied advantageously to shooting garments of the type worn for target shooting. It is particularly useful for target shooting garments of the type worn while shooting at moving targets such as skeet and other forms of trap shooting. Belt 12 is secured to the coat 10 by means of the rivet or stud buttons 14 arranged with the buttons on the outside of the coat which may be covered by a weather shedding element 16. Thus the belt and the buttons are secured directly together with the coat trapped in between them. Game bag or pouch 18 is provided with buttonholes that match the buttons 14 so that it can be secured to the coat and belt at will. Likewise it may be removed easily. The bottom of the pouch may be held in close to the coat by suitable means, such as the snaps 20. At the front of the coat are the pockets 22 and, in Fig. 3, 24 that are commonly used to carry extra shells and are known as shell pockets. While these pockets would not need to carry any very heavy load in a hunting coat, the average hunter generally carries along many times the amount of ammunition he actually is likely to use. For this reason, the shell pockets actually carry substantial weight. In the case of target shooting, it is not uncommon to provide space for at least one box of shells and sometimes two. In order to have this weight carried by the belt also, there are belt loops 26, and in Fig. 3 there are belt loops 28 that are secured to the inside of the coat adjacent the

shell pockets

22 and 24. Thus when belt 12 is tightened about the waist of the user, all of the weight that in ordinary shooting garments is thrown on the shoulders of the wearer is carried on the hips instead by means of the belt 12. By using the

belt loops

26 and 28, however, instead of securing the belt to the coat directly and permanently as by stitching, some freedom of the coat relative to the belt is allowed. Thus the shown structures permit very great freedom of movement of the hunter wearing the coat with a corresponding improvement in shooting accuracy. Also the hunter is much less tired over a long period of time than is true when his shoulders are carrying game and extra shells. Further, the load applied to the shoulders in lifting the gun to shooting position remains constant throughout the day. Changes in weight, by reason of first carrying game and shells and then unloading part of the burden are not felt at shoulder level. On the other hand, the inside belt does not get in the way of getting shells out of the shell pockets. Also, of course, it is possible to loosen the belt at rest periods when the game bag can be supported on a log or the like or at the end of the shooting day when the hunter or other shooter is tramping back to his car. In this manner the hips may be relieved of the load they have been carrying.

It is not necessary to remove the coat in order to be comfortable sit-ting, either. When one wishes to sit, as in the car going from one shooting location to another, the game bag may be removed easily. It is necessary only to unsnap the snaps 20 and unbutton the buttons 14 in order'to remove the game bag.

I have disclosed my invention by describing and showing a practical embodiment of it. I now point out with the particularity required by statute the structure that I believe to be my invention in the following claim.

I claim:

A hunting coat extending from the shoulders to below the hips of the wearer and having vertically disposed fastening means at the front for securing the coat to gether about the wearer, a belt disposed entirely within said coat, means on said belt at the front for securing said belt about the waist of the wearer, spaced fastening means extending through said belt and coat and project ing outwardly of the rear outer surface of said coat, said last named fastening means being disposed only across the rear portion of said coat to fix the rear portion only of said belt against movement relative to said coat, a game bag detachably secured along the upper edge to the projecting portions of said last named fastening means and extending downwardly therefrom on the rear portion of said coat, means for detachably securing the lower edge of said game bag to said coat, pockets on opposite sides of said coat disposed below said belt and a belt loop secured to the inner surface of said coat intermediate the width of each pocket with said belt threaded through said loops, whereby the weight of said pockets and said game bag is supported substantially entirely from said belt with said coat in either open or closed condition.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 454,770 Robinson June 23, 1891 796,711 Ferguson Aug. 8, 1905 939,871 Sherman Nov. 9, 1909 1,723,214 Smith Aug. 6, 1929 1,905,235 Mandelert Apr. 25, 1933 1,959,331 Bour May 22, 1934 2,272,041 Pocock Feb. 3, 1942 2,368,654 Frank Feb. 6, 1945 2,443,447 Falcon June 15, 1948 2,507,322 Smith May 9, 1950