Roller hockey fabric pants

Abstract

A pair of roller hockey fabric pants having a seat portion and first and second downwardly extending trouser leg portions including knee and shin areas respectively, and at least a pair of fasteners extending outwardly from each trouser leg portion to secure the leg portions substantially in place about the legs of a wearer of the roller hockey pants.

Description

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] NONE

REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX

[0003] NOT APPLICABLE

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0004] 1. Field of the Invention

[0005] This invention relates to the sport of roller hockey, in general, and to the construction of the roller hockey fabric pants worn by participating players, in particular.

[0006] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0007] As is well known and understood, one of the fastest growing team sports today is that of roller hockey. In communities across the United States, it is not unusual to find competitive leagues for children 4-6 years old, 6-8 years old, 8-10 years old, 10-12 years old, and 14-16 years old; also, high school leagues abound, as well as leagues for those 18 years and older, and leagues for men over 30 years of age. With each league having anywhere from 4 to 12 teams or more, and with each team having between 10 and 14 players each, it is not unusual to find that at any roller hockey rink, there may be 500 or more players participating in competitive leagues in any week's time.

[0008] As is also well known, each of these participating players wear injury prevention guards on both legs, extending from a point slightly above the knee down along the shin to just above the ankle, with a plastic cup covering the knee. In use, such guards are typically strapped in place about the leg in use. Furthermore, because the roller hockey fabric pants worn over these knee guards are quite “baggy”, almost every participating player then further tapes the leg portion of the pants in place as well, above the knee and/or around the shin; after the game ends, the tape is unwound and discarded. A participating player must then retape at the next session—resulting in recurrent purchases, over-and-over again of replacement rolls of tape. Such process is repeated whether the tape be of a heavy mesh cloth (with an adhesive backing) that makes it difficult to tear off once wrapped in place, or whether the tape be made of a stretchable plastic which is wrapped and then stretched to tear.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

[0009] It is an object of the present invention, to provide a new and improved pair of roller hockey fabric pants which eliminates the need to continually purchase and replace the wrapping tape for this knee and shin guard protection.

[0010] It is an object of the invention, also, to provide such a pair of roller hockey fabric pants which serves to simplify the securing of the knee and shin guards, without going round-and-round the leg to hold it in place.

[0011] It is a further object of the invention to provide such a pair of roller hockey fabric pants with an exceeding simple manner of securing the knee and shin guard for position in wearing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0012] Thus, and as will be seen, a first embodiment of the invention includes a pair of roller hockey fabric pants having a seat portion and first and second downwardly extending trouser leg portions including knee and shin areas, along with means extending outwardly from at least one of the first and second trouser leg portions for fastening around the leg portion in holding the leg portion substantially in place about a leg of a wearer of the pants. Thereby holding the trouser leg in position over the knee and shin guard strapped to the wearer's leg, a preferred embodiment includes means extending outwardly from both of the first and second trouser leg portions, for fastening around both leg portions in holding both leg portions substantially in place. In this preferred embodiment, a plurality of these outwardly extending fasteners are employed, displaced vertically one from another.

[0013] As will also become clear, the fasteners extend from opposing sides of each trouser leg portion, and comprise a plurality of vertically displaced elastic strips having hook-and-loop adhesive fasteners at their opposing ends. One such fastener, in general, may extend from the trouser leg portion from a point above its knee area, and a second such fastener from a point adjacent its shin area. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, however, a first fastener extends outwardly from the trouser leg portion at a point above the knee area, and a pair of fasteners, vertically displaced from each other, outwardly extend from the trouser leg portion at the shin area of the roller hockey pants.

[0014] In all arrangements, the fastenings may be easily securable by hook-and-loop adhesive, without having to go round-and-round the leg portions to secure them in place, simply by constructing the fasteners of elastic, with the hook-and-loop securement being adjustable to the required length to tighten the trouser leg portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0015] These and other features of the invention will be more clearly understood from a consideration of the following description, taken in connection with the sole FIGURE of the Drawing showing a pair of roller hockey fabric pants embodying the tie-up feature of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] The pair of roller hockey fabric pants of the invention is shown at 10 as having a seat portion 12 and first and second downwardly extending trouser leg portions 14, 16. With the leg portions 14, 16 overlying a protective guard typically worn on the leg from a point slightly above the knee to just above the ankle, each trouser leg portion 14, 16 includes a plurality of outwardly extending fasteners 20. As illustrated, one such fastener 20A outwardly extends from opposite sides 31, 32 of the trouser leg portions 14, 16 at a point above the knee area 22. One or more additional fasteners 20B, 20C extend outwardly from opposing sides 31, 32, at points adjacent the shin area 24. Preferably in the form of elastic strips, the fasteners 20A and 20B are vertically displaced one from another—and where a second shin area fastener 20C is employed (as shown), it, too, is vertically displaced from the fastener 20B. Each such fastener includes a hook-and-loop adhesive at its opposing ends, as at 40, 42, with the fastener 20C shown as being fixed in position, with the fastener 20B shown in position almost ready to be secured, and with the fastener 20A being shown in its open, unconnected position. By having the fasteners 20 of an elastic material, and with their lengths L1, L2 selected for the hook-and-loop adhesive ends, the fasteners 20 can be stretched to any appropriate length in securing the trouser leg portions 14, 16 substantially in place about the legs of a wearer of the roller hockey pants 10.

[0017] (And, as will be appreciated, the positioning of the hook-and-loop adhesives at the ends 40, 42 could be reversed left and right on the front surface of the strips 20 shown in FIG. 1, or could be reversed just as easily for placement on the back surface of the fasteners in closing them off at the rear of the roller hockey fabric pants instead of at the front, as shown with the fasteners 20B and 20C.

[0018] While there have been described what are considered to be preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications can be made without departing from the teachings herein. Thus, whereas hook-and-loop adhesive fasteners have been described, with elastic fabric straps in holding the trouser leg portions substantially in place, other types of fasteners can be employed (such as a “snap” construction) and other than elastic materials can be employed for tightening the trouser leg portions in position. And, whereas a preferred embodiment of the invention employs a first elastic strap encircling the trouser leg from a point above the knee area, it will be equally appreciated that it could also so extend around the trouser leg starting from a point at or below the knee area, as well. For at least such reasons, therefore, resort should be had to the claims appended hereto for a true understanding of the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A pair of roller hockey fabric pants comprising a seat portion, and first and second downwardly extending trouser leg portions including knee and shin areas, and means extending outwardly from at least one of said first and second trouser leg portions for fastening around said leg portion in holding said leg portion substantially in place about a leg of a wearer of said roller hockey pants.

2. The roller hockey fabric pants of claim 1 wherein said means extends outwardly from both of said first and second trouser leg portions for fastening around both leg portions in holding both said leg portions substantially in place about the legs of a wearer of said roller hockey pants.

3. The roller hockey fabric pants of claim 2 wherein said means includes a plurality of outwardly extending fasteners displaced vertically one from another on each of said first and second trouser leg portions.

4. The roller hockey fabric pants of claim 3 wherein said plurality of outwardly extending fasteners extend from opposing sides of each of said first and second trouser leg portions.

5. The roller hockey fabric pants of claim 3 wherein said means includes a plurality of vertically displaced, outwardly extending elastic strips for fastening the ends thereof on each of said first and second trouser leg portions.

6. The roller hockey fabric pants of claim 3 wherein said means includes a first fastener outwardly extending from each of said first and second trouser leg portions at a point above said knee area, and a second fastener outwardly extending from each of said first and second trouser leg portions from a point adjacent said shin area.

7. The roller hockey fabric pants of claim 3 wherein said means includes a first fastener outwardly extending from each of said first and second trouser leg portions at a point above said knee area, and at least a pair of vertically displaced fasteners outwardly extending from each of said first and second trouser leg portions at a point adjacent said shin area.

8. The roller hockey fabric pants of claim 5 wherein said means further includes a hook-and-loop adhesive fastener at opposing ends of each of said vertically displaced elastic strips.