WO2001035774A1

WO2001035774A1 - Rainproof sleeveless jacket for sport activities

Info

Publication number: WO2001035774A1
Application number: PCT/IB2000/001613
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ulisse Carini
Original assignee: Ulisse Carini
Priority date: 1999-11-19
Filing date: 2000-11-07
Publication date: 2001-05-25
Also published as: ITMI990702U1; AU1047101A; ITMI990702V0; IT246896Y1

Abstract

Rainproof jacket particularly adapted for sport such as horse riding, golf and cycling is formed from a front part 2 and a rear part 3 open on the sides and bound together by means of adjustable straps or strips; the rear part being from 10% to 60% longer than the front.

Description

"RAINPROOF SLEEVELESS JACKET FOR SPORT ACTIVITIES "

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a rainproof sleeveless vest-type jacket that is open at the sides for sport. STATE OF THE ART

It is necessary during the exercise of some sports activities, in case of rain, wind or cold to wear a piece of clothing that protects the u pper part of the body from the inclement weather but, at the same time, allows wide freedom of movement. It is important that any piece of clothing worn during the exercise of a sports activity must allow the evaporation of the perspiration produced which otherwise causes negative feelings and unease in the person practicing the sport. There are jackets with and sleeveless currently available for sports activity. Jackets of this type do not guarantee full freedom of movement to the arms in the practice of certain sports and introduce other disadvantages. In the practice of some sports, such as golf, horse riding and cycling for example, it is necessary to assume positions in which the present jackets are not able to satisfy the comfort needs of the user, but are an actual hindrance.

A widely encountered problem is that the width of the jacket can no longer be modified, once the size has been selected,. It is not possible, therefore, to adapt the jacket to the effective dimensions of the body of the person wearing it, nor to regulate the width in function of the underwear worn underneath. The need to regulate the width of the jacket was found to be essential in particular sports like golf, cycling and horse riding in which it is necessary that the garm ent adhere to the body as much as possible in order not to hinder the use of sports equipment nor limit the freedom of movement of the person wearing it.

SCOPE OF THE INVENTION

The aim of the present invention is to make available a sports jacket that resolves the previously mentioned problems and gives wide freedom of movement to the arms, allows evaporation of perspiration, affords protection from inclement weather to the parts of the body more likely to have physical problems, such as the back, and ensures perfect wearability. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The aforementioned problems are solved by the jacket according to the present invention, comprising a sleeveless vest-type rainproof jacket for sports that comprises a front part and a rear part joined together in correspondence of the shoulders and leaving the sides of the jacket open, means of binding between the said front part and said rear part in correspondence of the sides, and an opening for the passage of the head. The jacket is characterized by the rear pah- being longer than the front part. According to a preferential aspect of the invention, the rear part is from 10% to 60% longer. According to another preferential aspect of the invention, a projecting collar is fixed along the rear edge of said opening for the passage of the head.

According to another preferential aspect of the invention, said opening for the passage of the head presents means of partial closing that comprise for example a zip closure, or buttons, or similar. According to another aspect of the invention, the means of binding the front part with the rear part in correspondence of the sides are adjustable in length and preferably comprise a Velcro® type system of attachment. According to another preferential aspect of the invention, said Velcro® attachments comprise one or more hooked strips fixed to the front or rear part of the jacket, which pass through rings or similar fixed on the opposite part of the jacket and, folding back on themselves, adhere to an attachment strip fixed on the same part of the jacket. According to another preferential aspect of the invention, said Velcro® attachment strips are located perpendicularly with respect to said Velcro® hooked strips. The length of said Velcro® attachment strip is longer than the distance between said Velcro® hooked strips. The greater length of said rear part with respect to said front part allows for the lower part of the back to be protected from the rain when the person who engages in a particular sports activity, such as golf, cycling or horse riding, assumes a tilted forward position. A length increase within the range of 10% to 60% is the optimal compromise between protecting all the back from the rain and not compromising the freedom of movement of the upper part of the body of the person who engages in the sports activity.

When the person who engages in the sports activity assumes a tilted forward position, they also expose the rear part of the neck to the rain: the presence of the fixed projecting collar along the rear edge of said opening for the passage of the head also ensures maximum protection in this case.

The presence of adjustable means of binding that bind the front part to the rear part in correspondence of the sides allows the width of the jacket to adapt to the effective dimensions of the body of the person who wears it, also in function of the thickness of the garments worn under said jacket or of the momentary requirements of the particular sports activity. To obtain the required adjustable means of binding, it is preferable to use a closure by means of Velcro® strip rather than other fastenings with buttons, hooks or laces in as much as the latter are more difficult to close along the sides. The simplicity with which the Velcro® strip is closed is emphasized, according to a preferential embodiment of the invention, by the fact that said Velcro® attachment strip is perpendicular with respect to said hooked strips and is longer than the distance between these: in such a way, it is possible in fact to carry out the coupling between the two strips without it being necessary to maintain a determined reciprocal position between them. This advantage is particu larly useful since the closing happens along the sides, in a position that is awkward to reach with the hands. SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings, which are by way of illustration and not limitation, in which:

-figure 1 shows a perspective view in of the jacket according to the invention; - figure 2 shows a front elevation view of the jacket of figure 1 ; and

- figure 3 shows a rear elevation view of the jacket of figure 1 ; and

- figure 4 shows a view from above of the front and rear parts of the jacket of figure 1 , placed side by side but not attached. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERENTIAL REALIZATION With reference to figure 1 , an jacket 1 is shown in perspective. The jacket 1 is formed from a front part 2 and a rear part 3; said front 2 and rear parts 3 are only joined together where the shoulders are; along the sides the two parts of jacket are separated and the jacket is thus "open". By preference, front part 2 and rear part 3 com prise two or more separate pieces rendered joined together junction lines 9 in a manner already known, as for example, by means of stitching, gluing, welding or similar. The front and rear parts can also be joined together by means of " shoulder " pieces, in a way already known to the art. The production of the jacket from two or more separate pieces sewn or welved together instead of from one piece only, folded, ensures better wearability of the jacket.

Rear part 3 is longer than front part 2 in order to protect from the rain the lower part of the back when the person practicing the sport assumes a tilted forward position. Moreover, the length of front part 2 is less than the length of the corresponding front part of a normal jacket. Usually, front part 2 extends until a little under the navel of the user and it arrives as far as the belt of the user. In this way, part 2 does not fold in the slanted position of the body and remains adhering to the body, therefore the user is not hindered in his movements. A collar 1 1 is fixed along back edge 10 of opening 4 for the passage of the head and projects from said rear part 3, in order to shelter at least in part the back of the neck and the nape from the rain when the person who practices the sport is bending forward in the cited position. The stitching of collar 1 1 along rear edge 1 2, as well as the stitching of binding means and of shoulders 9, is sealed in order to be perfect by rainproof.

The front 2 and rear parts 3, as shown in the figures, have shaped cutaways corresponding to the arms in order to achieve perfect adhesion of the jacket 1 with the body of the user and in order to leave full freedom of movement to the arms when the means of binding in correspondence of the sides are closed and regulated. The jacket 1 has an opening 4 for the passage of the head; the opening is supplied with conventional closing means 5 such as a zip or similar. In figures 1 and 2, said opening 4 is shown partially closed, while in figure 4 said opening 4 is shown completely closed. It is preferable, as shown in figures 1 , 2 and 4, that the closing part of said opening 4 does not extend along the whole of the length of said front part 2 since is difficult to achieve perfect rainproof seal in correspondence of the means of closing 5 and, consequently, it is preferred to minimize the penetration of rain by limiting the length of said closing part. Front part 2 and rear part 3 are supplied with means for binding them together when the jacket is worn. Such means are adjustable in length and have the scope of bringing front part 2 and rear part 3 close to the sides of the user's body. According to the embodim ent of the invention shown in the figures, the means of binding comprise hooked strips 6 fixed on the rear part 3 of the jacket 1 , an attachment strip (i.e. the strip onto which the hooked parts are fixed) 8, a lso arranged on the rear part 3 of the jacket, and rings 7 fixed on the opposite part 2 of the jacket 1 for the passage of hooked strip 6. To close the jacket, hooked strips 6 are passed through the rings 7, shown in figure 1 , 2 and 4. After passing through rings 7, the hooked strips 6 are folded and taken back to the rear part and then fixed on attachment strip 8, which are fixed on rear part 3 of the jacket 1. The fact that the binding hooked strips 6 are passed through said fixed rings 7 on the opposite part of the jacket 1 , leaves, in spite of the closing of the strips, a relative freedom of movement of said front part 2 with respect to said rear part 3.

In figure 1 , one of the hooked strips 6 is shown in extended position and one in closed position, i.e. folded back on itself after passing through one of said rings 7. As shown in figure 3, the attachment strips 8 on rear part 3 are preferably located perpendicularly with respect to the hooked strips ό.The length of said attachment strip 8 is longer than the distance between the hooked strips 6 in order to permit the regulation of the degree of adhesion of the jacket 1 to the body of the person who wears it and in order to facilitate the coupling of the hooked strip 6 to the attachment strip 8.

Moreover, the fact that the attachment strips 8 are arranged perpendicularly to the hooked strip 6 and that they are longer than the distance between hooked strips 6 allows to position, at the moment of the attachment, hooked strip 6 inclined with respect to the attachment strip 8. In such a way, the adhesion surface is greater and the hold of the attachment is increased.

In figure 4, front 2 and rear parts 3 are shown side by side but not still united along said lines 9 in correspondence of the shoulders. The means 5 of partially closing the opening 4 for the passage of the head are also shown, completely closed, the attachment strip 8 and hooked strip 6 are also shown, the latter completely extended.

Claims

1 . Sleeveless vest-type rainproof jacket for sport, characterized by comprising a front part (2) and a rear part (3) joined together in correspondence of the jacket shoulders and open on its sides; means of binding in order to bind said front part(2) and said rear part (3); an opening (4) for the passage of the head; said rear part (3) being longer than said front part (2).

2. Rainproof jacket according to Claim 1 , characterized by said rear part (3) being 10%-60% longer with respect to said front part (2).

3. Rainproof jacket according to Claim 1 , characterized by comprising a projecting collar (1 2) fixed along the rear edge (1 1 ) of said opening (4) for the passage of the head .

4. Rainproof jacket according to Claim 1 , characterized by said opening (4) for the passage of the head having means (5) of partial closing, comprising for example a zip closure, buttons or similar.

5. Rainproof jacket according to Claim 1 , characterized in that said means of binding for binding said front part (2) and said rear part (3) in correspondence of their sides are adjustable binding means.

6. Rainproof jacket according to Claim 1 , characterized by said means of adjustable binding comprising Velcro® strips (6, 8).

7. Rainproof jacket according to Claim 6, characterized by said means of adjustable binding comprising one or more hooked strips (6) fixed to said front (2) or rear parts (3) of the jacket ( 1 ), retaining rings (7) or similar means fixed on the opposite part of the jacket (1 ), and one or more attachment strips (8) fixed on the same part of the jacket (1 ) on which are fixed the said hooked strips (6).

8. Rainproof jacket according to Claim 7,characterized by said attachment strips (8) being arranged perpendicularly to said hooked strips (6) and the length of said attachment strips (8) being longer than the distance between hooked strips (6).

9. Rainproof jacket according to one of the previous Claims, characterized by being produced from a rainproof and breatheable type fabric.