Technical field of application

The present invention relates to the sportswear sector, and 5 concerns a sports jersey, particularly suitable to be worn by tennis players.

Sports jerseys produced according to the teachings of the current patent application are particularly advantageous also to practice other high intensity sports.

10 Background art

Just as for all sports, to play tennis it is necessary to wear specific clothing, produced with high performance materials and a cut that follows movements, both during training and in matches.

In fact, this is a very dynamic sport, and the players’ clothing should 15 have very specific features of fit, breathability and strength.

Tennis is played prevalently outdoors, in open-air courts, but also indoors. To meet the needs of the player in any space and atmospheric conditions, tennis clothing must be designed not only to accommodate the athlete’s fit, but also possible variations in 20 temperatures and weather conditions.

Tennis clothing should always be produced with a fabric capable of fully respecting the physiological needs of the player, while remaining comfortable to facilitate movements.

The essential technical feature of tennis clothing should be its 25 ability to dissipate heat and promote heat regulation of the body, as well as manage perspiration optimally.

Most garments currently available on the market are produced with mono knitted fabrics, i.e., fabrics produced with knitting machines and only using one yarn.

Specifically, sports jerseys, particularly for playing tennis, that are available on the market are made of polyester with conventional textile structures, such as jersey, ribs, pique and vanise.

Some jerseys also comprise elastomeric yarns to make them more elastic and facilitate the body movements of the user.

Conventional jerseys for playing tennis have some limits and drawbacks: they are generally made with a fabric with a substantially flat knit structure, without particular raised elements or in any case without perforations for aeration; if they comprise elastomeric yarns they tend to retain perspiration and have difficulty wicking and drying; they are not particularly high performance, they do not comprise fabrics with geometries suitably designed to facilitate the body movements of the user.

Presentation of the invention

The object of the invention is to produce a sports jersey capable of providing the user with maximum comfort, which is measured, beside through ease of movement, also through the ability to dissipate the heat produced by the body and through the ability to manage perspiration, leaving an optimal minimum film of perspiration on the skin of the user and wicking away the excess.

The objects are achieved with a sports jersey adapted to be worn by a user in particular to practice the sport of tennis, comprising a fabric with several threads knitted together with the circular knitting technique, characterized in that said fabric comprises a first, a second and a third three-dimensional structure at which said fabric comprises variations in density and each having a specific spatial structure, where at least one of said three-dimensional structures is arranged to occupy at least one region of said sports jersey to diversify the functional characteristics thereof.

According to a first aspect of the invention, at said first three- dimensional structure said fabric comprises:

- a first irregular hexagon shaped delimiting frame, having a main axis of extension;

- a second substantially circular shaped inner frame; where along said first and second frame said fabric comprises a lesser density with respect to the density of the fabric of the respective inner areas delimited thereby, and said first three-dimensional structure comprises a dome-shaped central bulge that involves the area inside said second frame and projects toward the outside of said jersey. According to another aspect of the invention, said second three- dimensional structure comprises:

- a strip along which said fabric comprises a plurality of holes adapted to define said variation in density;

- a first and a second edging projecting toward the inside of said jersey, adapted to delimit said strip longitudinally, below and above. Moreover, said third three-dimensional structure comprises a plurality of tubular elements parallel with one another, projecting toward the inside of said jersey, where at said tubular elements the knitted threads that produce said fabric are partly separated, to produce the walls of the same tubular elements, locally reducing the density of said fabric.

In a possible variant of embodiment, said sports jersey comprises a first region, arranged in the upper part of said jersey, at the front and back and at the shoulders of the user, comprising a plurality of first three-dimensional structures grouped together so that the main axes of said first irregular hexagon shaped delimiting frames are parallel to the longitudinal axis of the body of the user.

Preferably, said sports jersey comprises a second region, arranged at the front in the central part of said jersey along the torso of the user, and at the back in the upper central part of the back of the user, comprising a plurality of first three-dimensional structures grouped together so that the main axes of said first delimiting irregular hexagon shaped frames are perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the body of the user.

In a preferred variant, said sports jersey comprises a third region comprising said second three-dimensional structure, where said third region involves a band that surrounds the chest of the user substantially at the height of the breastbone.

Advantageously, said sports jersey comprises a fourth region comprising said third three-dimensional structure, where said fourth region is arranged along the sides of the jersey and at the back in the part of the back of the user below said third region, so that the axes of said tubular elements are orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the body of the user. The invention has numerous advantages deriving from knitting of the fabric and from the particular three-dimensional structures distributed in suitable regions of the jersey.

The composition of the jersey according to the invention makes it possible for the skin of the user to be maintained damp as long as possible only by the hydrolipidic film, which cools the body but without suffocating the pores of the skin, and to expel and wick excess perspiration as quickly as possible: all this promotes optimum comfort also in sporting activities that cause heavy perspiring, such as playing tennis in the open air in the sun. In fact, the variations in density of the fabric create areas in which the thickness thereof is limited, or even null (for example at the holes of the strip of the second three-dimensional structure, facilitating aeration of the body, promoting an ideal breathability of the skin and facilitating wicking and rapid drying of the perspiration produced by the body of the user in movement and collected by the jersey.

The spatial structure of the three-dimensional structures, i.e., the dome-shaped bulge, the edgings and the tubular elements, advantageously helps to increase the surface adapted to dissipate heat. Moreover, due to their construction and appropriate distribution, the three-dimensional structures present in the jersey make it comfortable also from the viewpoint of wearability, with a fit that follows the movements of the body, without requiring to use elastomeric, for example PU-polyurethane based, yarns, normally used in the sporting standard, preventing excessive moisture retention, a chemical characteristic of PU that would cause an unpleasant feeling of dampness of the jersey.

Brief description of the drawings

These and other advantages will be more apparent in the description of a preferred embodiment of the invention provided below by way of non-limiting example, and with aid of the figures, wherein:

Figs. 1 and 2 represent, in a plan view, respectively the front part and the back part of a sports jersey according to the invention;

Figs. 3 and 4 represent, respectively in a plan view and in a vertical section, a first detail of the sports jersey according to the invention;

Figs. 5 and 6 represent, respectively in a plan view and in a vertical section, a second detail of the sports jersey according to the invention;

Fig. 7 represents, in a vertical section, a third detail of the sports jersey according to the invention.

Detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention

The invention relates to a sports jersey 100, particularly suitable for practicing the sport of tennis.

The construction of the fabric of the jersey 100 requires the use of a circular knitting machines with seamless technology.

In detail, production of the jersey 100 uses two cylindrical-shaped tubular elements: a first tubular element produces the torso of the jersey, a second tubular element produces the shoulders and the sleeves and comprises a hole for the neck of the jersey. The two tubular elements are then joined with specific seams, in jargon called cover seams.

With particular reference to the figures, the jersey 100 is provided with a plurality of three-dimensional structures 1, 2, 3 at which the fabric producing them comprises variations in density.

Said three-dimensional structures 1 , 2, 3 also each have a specific spatial structure.

Each type of said three-dimensional structures 1 , 2, 3 is grouped and suitably arranged in at least one region 10, 20, 30, 40 of said jersey 100 to diversify the functional characteristics thereof (as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2). With particular reference to the details of Figs. 3 and 4, there is illustrated a first three-dimensional structure 1 , at which said fabric comprises:

- a first irregular hexagon shaped delimiting frame 11 having a main axis of extension x; - a second substantially circular shaped inner frame 12.

Along said first 11 and second 12 frame said fabric comprises a lesser density with respect to the density of the fabric of the respective inner areas delimited thereby.

Further, said first three-dimensional structure 1 comprises a dome- shaped central bulge 13 that involves the area inside said second frame 12 and projects toward the outside of said jersey 100.

Said first three-dimensional structure 1 optimizes aeration function of the jersey 100 and promotes wicking of perspiration:

- the areas of fabric of lesser density 11 , 12 wick the perspiration and the moisture produced by the body toward the outside of the jersey

100 more easily; by decreasing the threads that produce the fabric this reduces its thickness, thereby increasing aeration, as well as reducing the capacity to absorb perspiration;

- the dome-shaped central bulge 13 creates areas of fabric that remain removed from direct contact with the perspiring skin of the user, and advantageously increases the heat dissipation surface with respect to the plan dimension, in this way accelerating wicking of excess perspiration.

With particular reference to the graphical representation of the details of Figs. 5 and 6, said jersey 100 comprises a second three- dimensional structure 2.

Said second three-dimensional structure 2 comprises:

- a strip 21 along which said fabric comprises a plurality of holes 22 adapted to define said variation in density; - a first 23 and a second 24 edging projecting toward the inside of said jersey 100, adapted to delimit said strip 21 longitudinally, below and above.

Said strip 21 is approximately 5 cm in height, and is delimited above and below by said first 23 and said second 24 edging, produced by means of the same fabric as the jersey 100 directly in the machine and hence without adding seams.

Said edgings 23, 24 in contact with the skin of the user, have a “drip catching” function, i.e. they intercept perspiration and prevent it from running down the body of the user, causing it to detach from the jersey and fall freely, in this way preventing the jersey from becoming even damper.

Removal of perspiration through the two “drip catching” edgings is also promoted by the lesser density of the fabric with holes comprised between them, with respect to the fabric outside these edgings. With particular reference to the graphical representation of the detail of Fig. 7, said jersey 100 comprises a third three-dimensional structure 3.

Said third three-dimensional structure 3 comprises a plurality of tubular elements 31 parallel with one another projecting toward the inside of said jersey 100, adapted to collect perspiration from the skin of the user and wick it toward the outside of the jersey.

At said tubular elements 31 , the knitted threads that produce said fabric partly separate, to produce the walls of the tubular elements, locally reducing the density of said fabric. Micro air chambers 32 are produced between said tubular elements 31 ; these have the function of insulation and of maintaining a stable microclimate and due to which phenomena of muscle cooling, the cause of troublesome inflammation or contractures, can be prevented and avoided. Figs. 1 and 2 help to identify the regions of the jersey 100 into which the three different three-dimensional structures 1, 2, 3 described above have been grouped.

A first region 10 is arranged in the upper part of said jersey 100, at the front and back and at the shoulders of the user, and comprises a plurality of first three-dimensional structures 1 grouped together so that the main axes x of said first irregular hexagon shaped delimiting frames 11 are parallel to the longitudinal axis of the body of the user.

This orientation of said first structures 1 allows greater elongation of the jersey 100 on the width of the shoulders, to promote the movements of the shoulders and of the arms, and at the same time offers goods shape stability on the perpendicular, thereby preventing unnecessary elongations of the garment at the shoulders and chest.

A second region 20 is arranged at the front in the central part of said jersey 100 along the torso of the user, and at the back in the upper central part of the back of the user, and is also produced with a plurality of first three-dimensional structures 1 grouped together.

In the second region 20, said first three-dimensional structures 1 are oriented and grouped together so that the main axes x of said first irregular hexagon shaped delimiting frames 11 are perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the body of the user: this promotes good shape stability on the width of the body and simultaneously substantial modulus of elasticity in vertical direction, to prevent slowing down the movements of the user.

A third region 30 is produced with said second three-dimensional structure 2, and involves a band, approximately 5 cm in height, that surrounds the chest of the user substantially at the height of the breastbone.

A fourth region 40, produced with said third three-dimensional structure 3, is arranged along the sides of the jersey 100 and at the back in the part of the back of the user below said third region 30, so that the axes of said tubular elements are orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the body of the user.

Other regions of the jersey, for example the areas 50 underneath the armpits of the user, are produced with a perforated fabric to increase the efficacy of wicking of the perspiration in an area that is particularly sensitive and subject to perspiration.

A particularly high-performance sports jersey 100 was obtained using a fabric produced with a first hydrophobic yarn and a second hydroscopic yarn, knitted together to form a double layer fabric. Excellent results were obtained using a first yarn made with 100% polypropylene fibers and a second yarn comprising an intimate blend of a man-made fiber of plant origin and a polyester fiber.