DESCRIPTION

Technical Field

The present invention discloses a sportswear takeoff helping mean that helps in takeoff of wet sportswear from the wearer, especially upper part of the sportswear. Said helping mean belongs to the technical field dealing with details of garments having additional specific technical function.

Technical Problem

Nowadays healthy life trends include more and more people in various indoors and outdoors sport activities for which the special garment is designed and worn. Part of mentioned activities is carried out in a sportswear designed to be extremely skintight to the wearer. During the activities the sportswear become wet from sweat resulting from an exercise, environmental conditions, or both. Once being wet, it is observed that upper sportswear is almost impossible to take off over the wearer's head. The assistance of a colleague is needed, otherwise there is a high risk that the sportswear is damaged. This is in particular noted in garment equipped with a high-performance, microfiber, polyester fabric that should move sweat away from the body and to the fabric surface, where it evaporates. However, in case of rain or heavy exercises performed, the sportswear becomes entirely wet and impossible to take off.

So, the primary technical problem is to construct a simple, reliable and aesthetically acceptable helping mean that allows the wet sportswear, in particular upper sportswear designed to be extremely skintight to the wearer, to be simply takeoff over the wearer's head.

Elderly people have problems with T-shirts or similar garments takeoff over the head due to their health conditions of spinal column, joints or limbs. Also the obesity may generate similar inability. Therefore, the solution of the primary technical problem can be easily extended to the above observed problem. According to the invention, if the wearer is capable to touch the neck, than it is possible to use a takeoff helping mean according to the invention.

The technical problem is solved with the device basically composed from guides equipped with the corresponding, i.e. compatible, drawing means attached to the hemline situated in the back of the garment to be sufficiently lifted toward the neck portion and subsequently captured by the wearer's hand.

Previous State of the Art

The technical problem which is solved with the present invention is construction of novel takeoff helping mean that helps in takeoff of wet skintight sportswear over the wearer's head. There are well known solutions in the art which comprise zippers or mechanic / magnetic snaps that allow sportswear to be unzipped or unfastened along one or more hems which facilitate the takeoff procedure. However, such zippers or snaps are also cumbersome to handle by one person, not to mention that such solutions locally change the user' s experience in wearing skintight sportswear.

The present invention solves technical problem by lifting a hemline situated on the sportswear back that is rather different from the above cited well known solutions. It is instructive to examine previous state of the art in the segment; i.e. to search for the garment that is equipped with the means for lifting or takeoff of a garment, or at least part of it.

Probably one of the earliest technical solutions, where part of the garment is lifted, is mentioned in the US 550,683; inventor E. Briickner. Said document teaches about trousers for bicyclist capable to be drawn up to the knees and retained in this shortened condition. The implemented system is composed by drawstrings and appropriate guides with lock system.

Document US 724,758; inventor H. M. Todd, teaches about the skirt or train lifter. The object of said invention is to provide a device adapted to raise and drop the back and side breadths of women's skirts without the necessity of using the hand on said breadths. The invention consist primarily of a wire frame adapted to be attached in the back of the skirt, provided with the suitable loops through which pass suitable tapes or cords being adapted to be tied together or otherwise secured at the waist of the wearer.

Document US 2,127,763; inventor G. B. Bentz, teaches about the improvements in overcoats, topcoats, raincoats, capes and the like. The primary focus of the said invention is to prevent said garment to be dragged upon the floor or being stepped upon once left on the chair or similar. The contraction of the garment is achieved by means of cords, tapes, small chains or the like that can be fixed to different position within the garment effectively produce lifting the hemline.

Document US 5,299,323; inventor A. Schaefer et al., discloses an adjustment system for forming a repeatedly adjustable hem on a garment. There is provided an adjustment mechanism comprising of a cord with one end that is attached to the garment's inside hem while the other end passes through a holding pocket or channel that is secured to the garment's inside seam. The advantage of the cited invention is to enable the garment to be conformed to the person without tailoring skills.

Document US 5,367,709; inventor N. A. Teasley, discloses adjustable clothing for infants and toddlers that reversibly adjusts in length which accommodates growth of a child. Adjusting is performed via drawstrings situated in a side seams and fixation is provided via knots formed by drawstrings. Finally, document US 2010/0281597; inventor J. A. Lang discloses a partial garment lift/quick-access system for installation in an upper body garment for wearers who have a need for immediate and unobstructed access to the waist/belt line to retrieve essential items. The quick- access system allows the wearer to immediately expose an item at the waist/belt line, for complete and unobstructed access by pulling a simple cord at the chest pocket. This act produces a curtain-like affect at the bottom hem of the garment; assisting the wearer to make rapid hand-to-item contact while keeping the hem of the garment suspended for the duration of the required activity.

From the above cited documents it is easy to conclude that none of the cited documents solve the takeoff problem observed with the skintight sportswear. Furthermore, the drawstrings or cords are used to lift exclusively trousers, skirts, or similar garment and to adjust or modify the garments appearance and functionality.

However, none of the cited document contemplate about takeoff device for skintight and wet sportswear by applying more elaborated means such as strips, a mesh or even sliding part to achieve the desired technical effect.

Summary of Invention

The present invention discloses a wet sportswear takeoff helping mean for the upper sportswear that is worn extremely tight to a wearer skin. Said helping mean is made on the back part of the sportswear and consists of one or more identical guides where guides are selected to be strip guides, mesh guide or tuck-in guide. Selected guides are equipped with the corresponding drawing means, i.e. strips, mesh or sliding back part. Beginnings of all drawing means are attached to a sportswear back hemline within a joint region and another side of drawing means ends into to the griping mean or to an intermediate connection region. The griping mean is situated close to the sportswear' s top, within a wearer neck region, to be easily griped and pulled by hand - causing the lifting of sportswear' s back part. Takeoff helping mean can be formed on inner or outer surface of said sportswear .

In the first embodiment one or more guides are selected to be strip guides formed from the material that is stitched via seams to one of the sportswear side forming together with the sportswear sleeves that allow movement of the strips within. Each strip guide begins from the strip guide beginning situated close to the hemline. In one variant, each strip guide ends with the strip guide end, situated close to the neck part of the sportswear and were each strip is independently connected to the griping mean. In another variant of the said embodiment strip guides overlap in a manner that a part or all of strip guides overlap within the overlapping region and corresponding strips pass one over another through the overlapping region independently. In yet another variant of the same embodiment; part of strip guides ends in overlapping region and corresponding strips are connected together in the connection region formed on one strip that is situated within the guide which passes across the overlapping region close to the neck part of the sportswear.

In the second embodiment the guide is selected to be the mesh guide, formed from the material that is stitched via seams to the sportswear, forming with the said sportswear a sleeve that allows movement of the mesh within. Mesh guide begins from the mesh guide beginning situated close to the hemline. In the first variant of the same embodiment, the mesh of rectangular form is inserted into corresponding mesh guide and said mesh is attached on one of its ends to the joint region extending all over the back part of the sportswear' s hemline. On the other side, the mesh is attached to the griping mean selected to be a handgrip. In yet another variant of the same embodiment, the mesh of a trapezoid form is inserted into corresponding mesh guide. Said mesh is attached via trapezoid base to the joint region extending all over the back part of the hemline. The mesh constriction that is formed on the opposite side is coming out of the mesh guide end. Said mesh constriction serves as a griping mean. It is equipped with the fastening mean to attach said mesh constriction to the fastening mean formed on the sportswear.

In the third embodiment the guide is selected to be a tuck-in guide formed at the neck part of the sportswear. The guide is made with the material stitched to the sportswear forming a short sleeve that allows to sliding back part to pass the tuck-in guide by its constriction. Said constriction extends from sliding back top part and is used as a griping mean. Said sliding back part is in direct contact with the wearer skin and fixed only via its lover part within the joint region that is extended over a back part of the hemline. Sliding back part forms a back of the sportswear that is separated from it, except in the joint region. Preferably, the sliding back part has a trapezoid form which base is attached with the hemline and where its constriction is used as a griping mean having on the end fastening mean.

The present invention described can be used within an ordinary upper garment as a takeoff mean for helping elderly or disabled people to take off said upper garment.

Brief Description of Drawings

The above cited embodiments were described via figures 1-7 representing some of the invention variants. Figs. 1A, IB, 1C and ID show the first embodiment where only one strip guide is used to accomplish the desired technical effect. Fig 2A, 2B and 2C show the same embodiment having three independent strip guides. Fig 3A, 3B and 3C show the same embodiment having two strip guides that overlap. Fig 4A, 4B and 4C show the same embodiment having three strip guides where two are joined to the central one.

Figs. 5A, 5B, 5C and 5D show the second embodiment were mesh guide is used to accomplish the desired technical effect, mesh guide is selected to be rectangular. Figs. 6A, 6B and 6C show the same embodiment where mesh is selected to be of trapezoidal form with the constriction that serves as a gripping mean. Figs. 7A, 7B and 7C show the third embodiment were tuck-in guide is used to accomplish the desired technical effect; the drawing part is selected to be sliding back part of the sportswear.

Detailed Description

The garment equipped with a high-performance, microfiber, polyester fabric such as Nike's DRI-FIT® are designed to move sweat away from the body and to the fabric surface, where it evaporates. However, in case of rain or heavy exercises performed, the sportswear becomes entirely wet. In case of the upper sportswear it becomes almost impossible to take off over the head by the wearer alone. Usually the takeoff procedure requires one person for assistance in order not to damage skintight sportswear.

There are well known solutions in the art that comprise zippers or snaps to facilitate the takeoff procedure. However, such technical solutions worsen the wearer experience in case of skintight sportswear and many market researchers found it unacceptable for the end-users. The present invention helps solving the above observed technical problem via three embodiments described hereby in detail.

First embodiment represents the simplest way to solve the present technical problem and it is depicted on the Figs 1A, IB, 1C and ID. Fig. 1A shows the back part of an upper sportswear (10) where takeoff helping mean is mounted in the inner side of the fabric used for the said sportswear (10). The takeoff helping mean is formed from the strip (30) that is firmly joined with the hemline (11) in a joint region (12) via stitching or any other suitable technique known in the art. In case of polyester strip (30) or similar manmade material, fixation can be done even with the ultrasound welding procedure. The way of joining the strip (30) to the hemline (11) is depicted on Fig. 1C. It is important that joint region (12) is formed at least a centimeter or more wide in order to distribute the applied user's force to joint region (12) area, i.e. exerted pressure to the hemline (11) material, in a manner that is not harmful for the material used to form the sportswear (10) . This is the first reason why simple drawstring is not suitable especially fixed in narrow spot to the hemline. The strip (30) can be manufactured of any suitable material, possibly from the mesh-like material or any other material sufficiently breathable for the wearer skin. This is another advantage of using the flat mesh-like material for forming a strip (30) in comparison with the drawstrings mentioned in the prior art. Such a strip (30) can be easily guided and fixed, and the wearer practically does not feel the presence of one or more strips (30) within the strip guides (20) and the sportswear retains its initial characteristic and aesthetic appearance. Another reason is that new generation of materials, such as DRI-FIT® are layered and body-mapping fabric where implementation of additional layers are rather straightforward.

The strip guide (20) extends from the hemline (11) to the neck portion of the sportswear (10) , as seen on Fig. 1A. The strip guide beginning

(21) , strip guide end (22) , as well as the strip guide by itself is fixed along its length via appropriate seams (24) to the sportswear fabric; Fig. 1C. For the desired technical effect it is not necessary that side seams (24) are continues along all the strip guide (20) length as self-understandable for the person skilled in the art. The strip guide beginning (21) can overlap the joint region (12) and can be seamed with the identical seam used in joint region (12) . The strip guide (20) in this embodiment can be manufactured from the skin breathable material that is being stitched with the seams (24) to the sportswear fabric in order to form a sleeve which allow the strip (30) to move along. Fig IB shows the interior construction of the sportswear

(10) when back material is removed and the relative position of the strip (30) within the strip guide (20) is reveled. The upper part of the strip (30) that is extended close to the wearer's neck is equipped with the appropriate griping mean; hereby chosen to be handgrip (80), as seen on Fig ID.

In this simplest embodiment, the wearer pulls the handgrip (80) situated close to the neck towards the head which results with the lift of the back hemline (11) along the wearer body despite the significant friction produced by said body-mapping fabric used. However, the technical result of the simplest embodiment is sometimes not good enough. It is noted that the friction forces can be strong enough to prevent the helping takeoff mean to function correctly, i.e. especially if initial significant tensions in the body-mapping fabric is greater than the user takeoff force. Then, the distortion of the hemline is the only technical effect produced. In order to remove the observed, several variants of the same embodiment are proposed and depicted on Figs 2A - 4C.

In the variant presented on the Fig 2A, multiple strip guides (20) are positioned to the inner back-side of the sportswear (10). In this example three strip guides (20) were used, where two sided strip guides (20) are slightly inclined to the central one to distribute pulling force produced by the wearer equally. Each strip guide (20) is equipped with the appropriate strip (30) fixed to the hemline (11) in the above specified manner. Each strip (30) is independently fixed to the gripping mean, and chosen to be a handgrip (80), Fig 2B. The actual use is depicted on the Fig. 2C that clearly demonstrates uniformity of hemline (11) elevation by applied force. For the person skilled in the art it is evident that number of the used guides (20) is arbitrary and should be chosen in accordance with the size of the sportswear (10), body-mapping fabric tension and desired technical effect that should be achieved.

In another variant of the same embodiment presented on the Fig 3A, two strip guides (20) are positioned to the inner back-side of the sportswear (10) . In this example two overlapping strip guides (20) were used. Each strip guide (20) that begins from the hemline (11) overlaps in the overlapping region (23) forming the stylized letter X with other guide (20) and continues to the neck part of the sportswear (10) . Again the distribution of the pulling force produced by the wearer is equally distributed along the hemline. Each strip guide (20) is equipped with the appropriate strip (30) fixed to the hemline (11) and is crossing one over another in the overlapping region (23) . Each strip (30) is again independently fixed to the gripping mean, and chosen to be a handgrip (80), Fig 3B. The actual use is depicted on the Fig. 3C that clearly demonstrates uniformity of hemline (11) elevation by applied force that is better than one in the simplest embodiment depicted on Fig. ID.

In yet another variant of the same embodiment presented on the Fig 4Ά, three strip guides (20) are positioned to the inner back-side of the sportswear (10) . In this example two side strip guides (20) were inclined to the central one, they begin at the hemline (11) and end within the overlapping region (23) . Centrally positioned strip guide (20) begins from the hemline (11) and passes the overlapping region (23) and continues to the neck part of the sportswear (10) . Fig. 4B. shows the distribution of the appropriate strips (30); two side strips (30) end in connection region (31) where they are stitched or ¹ differently firmly connected to the centrally positioned strip (30) . Again the distribution of the pulling force produced by the wearer is equally distributed along the hemline despite the fact that only one strip (30) is connected to the gripping mean chosen to be a handgrip (80), Fig 4B. The actual use is depicted on the Fig. 4C and demonstrates uniformity of hemline (11) elevation that is close to the variant depicted on Fig. 2C. Again, for the person skilled in the art it is evident that number of the used guides (20) is arbitrary and should be chosen in accordance with the size of the sportswear (10) , body-mapping fabric tension and desired technical effect that should be achieved.

In this first embodiment the preferred technical solution is that the takeoff mean is situated entirely on the inner surface/fabric of the sportswear (10) due to the aesthetic reason. However, for the person skilled in the art, it is evident that the entire takeoff helping mean can be equivalently mounted on the outer side of the sportswear (10), and that in that case the griping mean will be all the time visible to others. Analyzing the above technical effect we may conclude from the first embodiment that greater number of parallel strips are better in producing uniformity of the pulling force to the hemline (11) . This teaching will be used in forming the second embodiment of the technical solution .

The second embodiment is depicted on the Figs. 5A, 5B, 5C and 5D. To simplify the explanation, this embodiment is in principle equal to the first embodiment depicted on the Figs 1A, IB, 1C and ID where width of the strip is extremely enlarged as well as the corresponding strip guide. Fig. 5A shows the back part of an upper sportswear (10) where takeoff helping mean is mounted in the inner side of the fabric used for the said sportswear (10) . The takeoff helping mean is formed from the mesh (50) that is firmly joined with the hemline (11) in a joint region (12) via stitching or any other suitable technique known in the art. In case of polyester mesh (50) or similar manmade material, fixation can be done even with the ultrasound welding procedure as in the first embodiment. The way of joining the mesh (50) to the hemline (11) is depicted on Fig. 5C. Considering the fact how wide is the joint region (12) in the present embodiment the applied user's force to joint region (12) area is distributed along the back part of the hemline (11), so the pressure, i.e. the force over an area, is considerably smaller than in the first embodiment discussed.

The mesh (50) can be manufactured as a real mesh with low density where unit mesh size is of 1 cm or more. It can be also made from denser fiber material sufficiently breathable for the wearer skin such as DRI-FIT® or similar. So, the "mesh" as used hereby has to be understood as a breathable material for the wearer's skin rather than a mesh in a standard literal meaning.

The mesh guide (40) extends from the hemline (11) to the neck portion of the sportswear (10), as seen on Fig. 5A. The mesh guide beginning (41) , mesh guide end (42) , as well as the mesh guide by itself is fixed along its length via appropriate seams (44) to the sportswear fabric; Fig. 5C. For the desired technical effect it is not necessary that side seams (44) are continues along all the mesh guide (40) length as self-understandable for. the person skilled in the art. The mesh guide beginning (41) can overlap the joint region (12) and can be seamed with the identical seam used in joint region (12) . The mesh guide (40) in this embodiment can be manufactured from the skin breathable material that is being stitched with the seams (44) to the sportswear fabric in order to form a sleeve which allows the mesh (40) to move along. Fig. 5B shows the interior construction of the sportswear (10) where back material is removed and ^' the relative position of the mesh (50) within the mesh guide (40) is revealed. The upper part of the mesh (50), that is extended close to the wearer's neck, is equipped with the appropriate griping mean; hereby chosen to be handgrip (80), as seen on Fig 5D. This embodiment is almost perfect for producing the desired technical effect. However, this variant still occupies the large portion of the wearer's back and in some cases heat and moisture exchange with surrounding can be affected, so the another variant is proposed.

The one variant of the second embodiment is depicted on the Figs. 6A, 6B and 6C. In order to improve the heat and moisture exchange with the surroundings, a mesh (50) is formed in a trapezoidal form.. Corresponding mesh guide (40) is formed to follow the shape of the mesh (50); mesh guide beginning (41) is situated close to the hemline (11) and inclined toward the neck part where mesh guide end (42) is situated, see Fig. 6A. In particular, Fig. 6B reveals the trapezoidal mesh (50) situated within a trapezoidal mesh guide (40) . A trapezoidal mesh (50) is extended into a mesh constriction (81) that is going out from the sportswear (10) to be folded and secured via fastening mean (51) to the corresponding fastening mean (14) formed on the sportswear (10) . The constriction (81) is simultaneously used as a griping mean and pulling mean that is easily secured to the sportswear via fastening means (51, 14) . Fastening means can be chosen to be ordinary snaps, areas equipped with the Velcro® hooks and loops, or any other fastening means used in the field. Actual usage of the mentioned variant is depicted on Fig. 6C. The third embodiment is the most radical solution of the present technical problem depicted on the Figs. 7A, 7B and 7C. Now, the guide is selected to be tuck-in guide (60) formed between the shoulders of the wearer, and the mesh (50) from the second embodiment is exchanged into the sliding back part (70), Fig 7C. The tuck-in guide (60) is formed with the material stitched to the sportswear forming a short sleeve on the neck part. The tuck-in guide (60) allows the constriction (82), formed on the said sliding back part (70), to pass across, Fig 7C. The sliding back part (70) is formed in trapezoidal form with constriction (82) that extends from it. The sliding back part (70) can be formed of any material, possibly from any material know in the art, and preferably from the material that is also used to manufacture rest of the sportswear (10) . Fig. 7A depicts the sportswear (10) looked from the back; sliding back part (70) is only partially visible, being seamed in joint region (12) to the hemline (11) as in other embodiments. The back part of the sportswear is defined via joint region (12) below, with the seams (17) forming sides of the trapezoid, with the beginning of tuck-in guide (60) on the top.

The sliding back part (70) is rather wide, Fig 7B, defined by the joint region (12) where is attached to the hemline (11), with the side hems (72) being situated beneath the sportswear (10), and the top part that is finishing with the constriction (82) suitable to be guided across the tuck-in guide (60). Such constriction (82) is used as a gripping and pulling mean that is easily secured to the sportswear via fastening means (71, 14) . Fastening means can be chosen to be ordinary snaps, areas equipped with the Velcro® hooks and loops, or any other fastening means used in the field.

Actual usage of the mentioned variant is depicted on Fig. 7C. By pulling the constriction part (82) it engages the sliding back part (70) to uniformly act on the hemline (11) and lift it up. As depicted, the sliding back part (70) and the rest of the sportswear (10) are permanently separated along the hems (17) and hems (72) formed on sportswear (10) are enabling the takeoff helping mean to properly function; Fig. 7C. The sliding back part (70) is all the time in a contact with the wearer's back skin (90). Being situated on the back, it is evident that the wearer wearing the mentioned sportswear (10) equipped with the said takeoff helping mean will technically experience somewhat lower body-mapping fabric tension on one hand. For the sports where perfect body-mapping feature is not essential this particular solution will certainly be sufficient to achieve desired technical effect.

Industrial Applicability

The present invention is suitable as a simple, reliable and aesthetically acceptable helping mean that allows the wet sportswear, in particular upper sportswear designed to be extremely skintight to the wearer, to be simply taken over the wearer's head. Therefore, the industrial applicability is obvious.

Considering the fact that elderly people have problems with T-shirts or similar garments takeoff over the head due to their health condition, it opens the possible application of the mentioned takeoff helping mean wider than initially being contemplated.

The embodiments hereby mentioned and represented via figures have to be used only as an example of carrying out the invention as defined by the claims. The skilled person in the art will certainly modify the above embodiments to fit to desired fashion potential.

References

10 - sportswear

11 - hemline

12 - joint region

14 - fastening mean

17 - hem

20 - strip guide

21 - strip guide beginning

22 - strip guide end

23 - overlapping region

24 - seam

30 - strip

31 - connecting region

40 - mesh guide

41 - mesh guide beginning

42 - mesh guide end

44 - seam

50 - mesh

51 - fastening mean

60 - tuck-in guide

70 - sliding back part

71 - fastening mean

72 - hem

80 - handgrip

81 - mesh constriction

82 - constriction

90 - skin