THIS INVENTION relates to protective clothing and in particular, although not exclusively, to hosiery, by which is meant socks, stockings, ankle high stockings or socks, knee-high stockings or socks, pop socks, hold ups, footsies, tights, panty hose, body stockings, sportswear, and leggings.

A problem encountered by many women is that many of the fashionable footwear are uncomfortable or ill fitting and this causes foot injuries or pain. This can often lead to formation of corns, bunions, or blisters or calluses on the foot of the wearer.

In my co-pending International patent application PCT/GB 12/00039780 there is disclosed an item of foot protection that is adapted to be worn between a foot and an item of outer footwear such as a shoe or boot. In that patent application the foot protector is designed as a very thin thermoplastic elastomeric (TPE) membrane.

Although the main area of interest is in hosiery to protect the wearer from injury, pain, discomfort, or damage caused by an item of outer footwear rubbing or impacting against the skin of the wearer, the present invention may have application to other types of clothing ,such as for example, head protection to be worn inside crash helmets, or protective clothing for use in sports or other activities where the wearer might incur injury or damage due to an item of outerwear impacting on, or rubbing against, the skin of the wearer, or baby's clothing or children's clothing where it is desired to provide protection against the baby or child being knocked or struck by objects.

We are aware of WO2012/138569 (Absolute Innovations LLC), US2005/144703 (Hilbert)and US2005/114978 (DYE PREC INC). None of these disclose the use of complementary shaped patches that are also shaped and positioned to correspond to a region where rubbing or impact is likely to occur that may cause injury or discomfort to a wearer.

An object of the present invention is to provide an item of clothing with one or more integral patches located at regions on the clothing where rubbing or an impact is likely to occur that may cause discomfort or injury to the wearer.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided clothing having one or more regions provided with patches in the form of corresponding complementary shaped confronting flexible membranes located on the inside and the outside surfaces of the clothing.

Where the clothing is hosiery, it is preferable that the patches are provided at one or more regions corresponding to the ball of a foot, the underside of the heel of a foot, the back of the heel of a foot, the top of a foot of a person, a region adjacent the joint of the big toe of a foot of a person, or a region adjacent the joint of the small toe of a foot of a person.

Where the clothing is clothing to be worn on other parts of the body, it is preferable that the patches are provided at one or more regions corresponding the front, back, and one or more sides of the legs, arms, torso, or neck or on the head of a person. Preferably the membrane is a thermoplastic elastomer, but it could be made of any thin plastics membrane such as rubber, silicone, Polyvinylchloride (PVC) or a plastisol that is not an allergen to the wearer. Ideally each of the membranes is 0.1mm to 0.15mm thick. The membranes may be of substantially uniform thickness or could taper at the edges so as to reduce discomfort due to the ridge.

According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a method making clothing comprising the step of providing pairs of complementary shaped patches for fixing inside and outside the clothing and fixing the patches to the inside and outside surfaces of the clothing hosiery so that they confront each other.

The method of fixing the patches to the clothing are many and varied, and include adhesively bonding, stitching, heat sealing, heat welding , ultrasonically welding and high frequency welding the membranes to the inside and outside surfaces of the hosiery. Alternatively, the membranes may be formed in situ on the inside and outside of the hosiery by a plastics moulding or casting process.

The present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 is a view of the underside of hosiery constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a view of the rear of the hosiery of figure 1;

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view of the hosiery shown in figure 1 taken along the line III - III of figure 1 : and,

Figure 4 is a schematic view of a sleeve constructed in accordance with the present invention for wearing on an arm to protect an elbow, or on a leg to protect a knee of a person.

The present invention is applicable to the manufacture of various types of garments but will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the manufacture of hosiery.

Referring to Figure 1 there is shown a hosiery 10 in the form of one of a pair of ankle length knitted stockings that are knitted from cotton, wool, silk, synthetic plastics such as rayon or nylon, or similar threads. Although an ankle length stocking is shown, the hosiery 10 could be any form of knitted sock, stocking, tights or panty hose or any other garment as are commonly available in various shapes, sizes and materials and denier. The hosiery 10 has four regions 12, 14, 16, 18 at which complementary shaped patches 20, in the form of very thin membranes, are applied to the inside and outside surfaces of the stocking. The regions 12 to 16 correspond to the regions where rubbing or pain from pressure often occur on the ball of the foot of the intended wearer of the hosiery, the back of the heel, the region under the heel, and a region on top side of the foot of the wearer. If desired further regions of the hosiery (not shown) may be provided with similar patches 20, such as in the outer region of a person's foot adjacent the joint of the small toe, or at the joint of a person's large toe (where bunions or corns are often formed).

Each patch 20 is in the form of very thin membrane 20 that is applied to or formed on the inside and outside surfaces of the stocking, and is typically in the range of 0.1mm to 5.0mm thick, and is preferably in the range of between 0.1 to 0.15mm thick. The membranes are made of a flexible, transparent or translucent, thermoplastic elastomer. The membrane material is one that is safe on the skin of the wearer and is preferably a non-allergic material of medical grade that will not cause allergic reactions to the wearer of the hosiery. The membranes are preferably flexible enough so as to allow the stocking to be stretched over the foot of the wearer and are preferably porous or foraminate to allow the wearer's foot to breathe, but need not be.

The membranes 20 may be of uniform thickness or preferably have tapering edges to minimize discomfort of a perceivable ridge. At least the surface of the membrane that, in use, is in contact with the foot of the wearer, or is in contact with the item of outer footwear (i.e. the shoe of boot), is tacky so as to grip the surface that it contacts without bonding to the foot or shoe.

Referring to Figure 4 there is shown an item of clothing 10 in the form of a knitted elastic sleeve 10 for wearing on an arm to protect an elbow, or on a leg to protect a knee. The sleeve 10 is knitted in various sizes to suit different size arms (or legs) so that it is suitable for infants, children, or adults depending on the intended use, and is knitted with elastic threads so that the sleeve 10 is stretchable to fit the wearer. Patches 20 are provided at an intermediate position of the sleeve in the vicinity of the location of an elbow or a knee, as the case may be. Here again the inner and outer membranes 20 are of complementary shape and confront each other. If desired the outer membranes may be of slightly thicker material than that of the inside membranes.

In a further embodiment (not shown) the protective garment 10 may be an item of headwear that is intended to be worn inside of an outer protective helmet such as a crash helmet, sports helmet (for cricket, American football, ice hockey, horse riding helmet or hat, or the like). The inner headwear 10 is made of a knitted fabric in the form of a Balaclava helmet. Patches of complementary shape are provided inside and outside of the Balaclava helmet at locations where the outer helmet might rub against or impact upon the head of the wearer.

There are a number of methods for forming or applying the membranes 20 to the inside and outside surfaces of the hosiery (or other item of clothing) at the selected one or more regions 12 to 16. For example the patches 20 may be preformed and adhesively bonded, stitched, welded, or fused, on to the hosiery. The welding method may be an ultrasonic, or high frequency plastics welding process, or a heat-sealing process, or other plastics joining processes. The patches may be spot welded or welded around the whole or part of the periphery of the patch.

Alternatively the patches 20 may be formed in situ from a mouldable material or a material that can be die cast and formed on to the inside and outside surfaces of the garment. The patches may be spray deposited onto the surfaces of the garment. Where the patches are preformed, it is preferable (but may not be necessary) to activate or coat the surface of the patch 20 that confronts the material of the clothing or garment prior to contacting the patch 20 with the clothing 10, with an activator, or an adhesive, that creates a temporary or permanent adhesive bond with the material of the stocking.

Where it is intended to form the patches in situ using a plastics moulding or casting process, an internal former in the shape of a human foot is made with recesses located in the regions 12 to 16 where the patches are required and sprues to enable mouldable membrane materials to be fed to the recesses. One or more outer mould plates are provided that have corresponding recesses confronting those on the internal former, and sprues for supplying mouldable membrane materials to the recesses in the outer mould plate or plates. The item of hosiery to which the patches 20 are to be fixed is pulled over the internal former, and the one or more outer mould plates are placed in contact with the hosiery to clamp it between the inner and outer moulds. Mouldable membrane material is supplied under pressure to the recesses in the inner former and outer mould plates to form the patches simultaneously on the inside and outside surfaces of the hosiery. The inner former and outer mould plates are separated and the item of hosiery removed from the inner former.

An alternative method of forming the patches 20 on the inside and outside surfaces of the hosiery 10 is to heat-seal or heat-bond the patches 20 by placing a heated platen with a patch positioned where it is required inside the hosiery and a patch 20 on an external heated platen positioned where it is desired to fix the outer patch 20. The two patches 20 with the hosiery material between them are then sandwiched and squeezed between heated platens to fuse the patches 20 to the inside and outside surfaces of the hosiery 10.