US3122753A - Shooting garment - Google Patents

Description

March 3, 1964 1-1. 0. SMITH 3,122,753

SHOOTING GARMENT Filed Feb. 11, 1965 inventor" Howard 0. Smfl'h wmw United States Patent 3,122,753 SHOOTWG GARMENT Howard 0. Smith, 1535 E. 33rd St., Des Moines, Iowa Filed Feb. 11, 1963, Ser. No. 261,928 2 Claims. (Ci. 294) This invention relates to a shooting coat and more particularly to one used in shooting rifles.

The present application is a continuation-in-part of my pending application, Serial No. 739,720, filed June 4, 1958, now abandoned, for Shooting Garment.

The use of the arm padded shooting coat in rifle shooting is old. An illustration of such garment may be found in applicants issued Patent No. 2,493,370 under date of January 3, 1950. Vfhile such garments are excellent and necessary for rifle shooting they do have certain objections, i.e., the sleeve padding makes the garment most cumbersome and prevents freedom of arm action. Also, the rather rigid sleeves do not lend themselves to the form fitting of the arm of the user. While snugness is most desirable in the sleeve around the arm of the shooter, it is obvious that if the sleeve were made to conform to the muscle of the arm, the arm of the user would be prevented from bending during the shooting phase.

Therefore, one of the principal objects of my invention is to provide a shooting coat not only with sleeves that diametrically conform to the outline of the arm of the shooter but which permit maximum freedom of movement of the arm of the user of the coat.

More specifically, the object of this invention is to provide a shooting coat that has sleeves having a section of flexible resilient material to permit the freedom of arm movement even though a substantial portion of the sleeve or sleeves is padded.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a shooting coat having elongated longitudinal strips of flexible resilient material in at least one of the sleeves with the flexible resilient material so placed as not to interfere with the gun sling of the rifle.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a shooting garment that permits the expanding and contracting of the diameter of the sleeve.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide a shooting garment that prevents the upward telescoping or folding of the sleeve towards the main body member of the garment.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a shooting garment that is economical to manufacture, durable in use and refined in appearance.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination, or the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, specifically pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front view of my garment ready for use,

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged cross-section of the sleeve of the garment in contracted condition and is taken on line 2-2 of FTGURE 1, and,

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged cross-section of the sleeve of my shooting garment similar to that of FIGURE 2 except that it shows the sleeve in expanded condition.

Shooting garments, because they are intended to provide comfort to the shooter and increase the shooting accuracy have various pad elements. These pads are to be found at the elbow of each sleeve, a gun sling pad, and a gun butt pad adjacent to the shoulder of the garment. In the drawings 1 have used the numeral 1 5 to designate 3,122,753 Patented Mar. 3, 1964 the body portion of my shooting garment. The numerals 11 and 12 are used to designate the two sleeves of the garment. The elbow pad element on each sleeve is designated by numeral 13. The arcuate gun sling pad is designated by numeral 14. The sleeves 11 and 12 are depicted in their normal wearing positions and because of the heavy material thereof, and because of pads 13 and 14, the sleeves are never rolled upwardly but are worn as shown in FIGURE 1. The numeral 15 designates the gun butt pad. Most such shooting garments have a cuff position 16 as shown in the drawings. The portion and elements of my garment thus described are common and well known. My present invention, however, is not the making of such a coat but the insertion of a strip or panel of elongated flexible resilient material 17 in each sleeve. The body portion 10, sleeves 11 and 12, and cuffs 16 are of relatively stiff material as contrasted by the material of panel 17. This elongated panel of flexible resilient material may be of any suitable character such as rubber, elastic or the like providing it expands and contracts. The panel 17 of flexible and resilient material extends longitudinally from the shoulder seam to the cuff as shown in FIGURE 1. While this inserted panel 17 may be placed at various points around the diameter of the shoulder, it operates best when at the inner upper side of the sleeve so as not to seriously interfere with any pad elements. Furthermore, the shortest part of the sleeve while in use is at the upper side of the arm of the user. The user will when using a gun sling have the sling contacting the major portion of the rear of the sleeve and not the front of the sleeve, making possible any lapping of the sleeve at the forward portion and in this case the section of overlapping will be accomplished by the flexible resilient panel 17.

In most instances, the contraction of the sleeve by insertion of the flexible resilient portion will eliminate unde sirable overlapping of portions of the sleeve as shown in FIGURE 2. This makes for the comfort of the user and also holds the sleeve taut against the arm of the one using the coat. Whenever it is necessary to increase the diameter of the sleeve to permit the bending of the arm or the flexing of the arm muscle, the flexible panel will permit such expansion as shown in FIGURE 3.

It will be noted that the panel 17 is surrounded by material of a stiffer texture which serves to stabilize the panel. This phenomenon is important for the sleeve 12 is subjected to severe twisting and compression at times, depending on the type of sling used. Also, the stiffer material in the sleeve surrounding the panel serves to normally hold the sleeve in an elongated condition and prevents the upward telescoping or folding thereof towards the body member 10.

Thus, from the foregoing, it is seen that my invention will accomplish at least all of its stated objectives.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my shooting garment without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1. 'In a shooting garment,

a body member having a shoulder portion,

a sleeve secured to the shoulder portion of said body member and extending downwardly therefrom,

said sleeve including a cult on the lower end thereof,

and an elongated resilient panel extending along the inner side of said sleeve adjacent said body member from said cult to the point of connection between said sleeve and said body member, at least one 'arcuate pad element secured to said sleev and extending partially around said sleeve in spaced relation to said panel;

said cuff and said sleeve, except for said panel, being comprised of a substantially stiff non-resilient ma- 'terial.

2. The garment of claim 1 wherein the material of said sleeve, except for said panel, and the, pad element on said sleeve, normally hold said sleeve in an elongated condition and prevent the upward telescoping or folding thereoftowards said body member. 4

Referenees (Iited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Smith Dec. 8,

Smith Ian. 3,

Geiss June 24,

Tames Aug. 12,

FOREIGN PATENTS France Dec. 23,

Germany Nov. 13,

Claims (1)

1. IN A SHOOTING GARMENT, A BODY MEMBER HAVING A SHOULDER PORTION, A SLEEVE SECURED TO THE SHOULDER PORTION OF SAID BODY MEMBER AND EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY THEREFROM, SAID SLEEVE INCLUDING A CUFF ON THE LOWER END THEREOF, AND AN ELONGATED RESILIENT PANEL EXTENDING ALONG THE INNER SIDE OF SAID SLEEVE ADJACENT SAID BODY MEMBER FROM SAID CUFF TO THE POINT OF CONNECTION BETWEEN SAID SLEEVE AND SAID BODY MEMBER, AT LEAST ONE ARCUATE PAD ELEMENT SECURED TO SAID SLEEVE AND EXTENDING PARTIALLY AROUND SAID SLEEVE IN SPACED RELATION TO SAID PANEL;

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