Wearable garment holder

Abstract

A wearable garment holder having a body loop portion, a garment loop portion and an interface buckle located therebetween. The body loop and the garment loop are adapted to permit the size of the garment loop portion and the body loop portion to be adjusted. A buckle located in the body loop portion is optionally provided to permit adjustment of the size of the body loop portion. A padded shoulder rest is also optionally provided on the body loop portion.

Description

SUMMARY

The invention relates to the field of garments, and more particularly to a wearable holder for garments such as coats and jackets.

There are times when a person may not wish to wear clothing items, such as a coat, jacket, parka, overcoat, raincoat, scarf, and the like, but still wishes to carry these items on the person's body. For example, the surrounding conditions may have changed from cold and/or wet to warm and/or dry, or be expected to become cold and/or, and the user wishes to have the clothing item within reach for quick donning if the conditions should change.

It is therefore commonplace to see people holding coats and other clothing items in different ways, such as by looping the item over a folded arm, draping the item around the shoulders, hanging the item over one shoulder, flip the clothing back over the shoulder while using the thumb to hold it in place, and tying the clothing around the wearer's waist, to mention just a few common ways people hold a clothing item not being worn.

In addition to these above described methods people use to hold clothing, there are a variety of different carriers for clothing including wearable stuff sacks attached to straps and tethering straps worn around the shoulder.

However, there remains a need for an improved wearable holder for garments that provides greater comfort, versatility and which is attractive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

The invention provides a wearable holder for garments having two loop portions. One loop portion (a body loop) is adapted to be looped around a user's body (such as over one shoulder) and another loop (a clothing loop) is adapted to hold one or more items of clothing. Both the body loop and the clothing loop are preferably length adjustable to permit fitting to a variety of users and clothing items being carried. The body loop and garment loop have an interface therebetween. For greater comfort, padding may be provided on the body loop, and a buckle can also be provided to permit the wearable holder for garments to be more easily donned and removed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a top view showing an exemplary embodiment of the wearable garment holder of the invention in its closed position.

FIG. 2 is a side cutaway view showing portions of the wearable garment holder of FIG. 1 showing exemplary buckles and straps for adjusting the sizes of the body loop and garment loop.

FIG. 3 is a top view showing the wearable garment holder of FIG. 1 but with its buckle released to open up the body loop.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of an exemplary embodiment of an interface buckle of the wearable garment holder with its first portion and its second portion disengaged.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a person wearing the wearable garment holder of FIG. 1 holding a garment.

FIG. 6 is another exemplary embodiment of the wearable garment holder of the invention with a sliding adjuster between the body loop and garment loop.

FIG. 7 is yet another exemplary embodiment of the wearable garment holder of the invention with a fixed interface between the body loop and the garment loop.

FIG. 8 is a detail showing a sliding loop.

FIG. 9 is a detail showing an exemplary clip for the interface region.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Turning first to FIG. 1, there is shown a top view showing an exemplary embodiment of the wearable garment holder 10 of the invention in its closed position. It has a body loop 12 and a garment loop 14. An interface 16, such as an interface buckle, defines an interface between the body loop 12 and a garment loop 14, and the buckle 16 is preferably designed to slideably move relative to the body loop 12 and a garment loop 14 to permit the sizes thereof to be adjusted as desired. The body loop 12 can include a body buckle 18 to permit adjustment of the working length of strap sections 20A and 20B that are between interface buckle 16 and body buckle 18, to thereby effect change to the overall length of body loop 12. The body loop 12 and the garment loop 14 can be in the form of a strap, a cord or other materials, and may be provided as a single length that is connected to the interface buckle 16 and the body buckle 18. A padded shoulder rest 22 is optionally provided for extra comfort. The padded shoulder rest 22 may be permanently attached to the strap or may slideably ride thereon. The strap itself may incorporate sufficiently wide and soft material also.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the wearable garment holder 10 of FIG. 1 showing details of the exemplary interface buckle 16 and body buckle 18 and arrangement of the strap 20 (with sections 20A, 20B, 20C and 20D) which defines the loops for adjusting the sizes of the body loop 12 and garment loop 14. The interface buckle 16 can conveniently comprise a first portion 24 and a second portion 26 which detachably attach together. First portion 24 has a slot 28 through which portions 20A and 20B loop through. Second portion 26 comprises a forward slot 30 and a rearward slot 32 and a separating bar 34 between. The strap loops through forward slot 30 around bar 34 and out through rearward slot 32. The portion of the strap 20D that extends out of rearward slot 32 of second portion of the interface 26 defines the garment loop 14, and its end 36 loops around back through rearward slot 32 and loops around a rear bar 38 and is affixed, such as by sewing, clamping, heat fusion, or other known techniques. The portion 20C of the strap 20 that extends out of the forward slot 30 forms part of the body loop 12. The strap 20 is capable of being slid through the second portion 26 of the interface buckle 16 to adjust the size of the garment loop 14. When the strap 20 is slid to increase the working length of the strap portion 20D of the garment loop 14, this makes the working length 20C shorter which results in the garment loop 14 becoming larger and the body loop 12 becoming smaller. Conversely, when the strap 20 is slid to decrease the working length of the strap portion 20D of the garment loop 14, this makes the body loop 12 larger and the garment loop 14 smaller. The body buckle 18 has a first slot 40 and a second slot 42 separated by a bar 44. The strap section 20C of strap 20 passes through slot 40, around bar 44 and back out of slot 42 and is identified in this region as section 20B. Section 20B of strap then is looped through slot 28 in the first portion 24 of interface buckle 16 and is looped therethrough around a bar 46, where it becomes strap section 20A. Strap section 20A is then passed back through body buckle 18 by being passed through slot 42, around bar 44 and back out of slot 40. The frictional contact of the two sections of straps 20A and 20B passing through body buckle 18 helps immobilize movement of the strap sections 20A and 20B. For instance, if a user wishes to lengthen the length of section 20C, sections 20A and 20B can be shortened and the excess strap can be passed through the body buckle 18 to effect the lengthening of section 20C. In lieu of the body buckle 18, other types of length adjustment mechanisms can be used, such as a belt type of arrangement with a plurality of small holes on the strap and a belt buckle arrangement to adjust the length between such a belt buckle and the interface buckle.

FIG. 3 is a top view showing the wearable garment holder of FIG. 1 but with its interface buckle 16 released to open up the body loop 12. As can be seen, the first portion 24 and the second portion 26 of the interface buckle 16 are preferably adapted to detachably attach together.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of an exemplary embodiment of an interface buckle 16 with its first portion 24 and its second portion 26 disengaged. First portion has a channel 50 designed to receive a complementary prong end 52 on the second portion 26. The prong end 52 can include spring loaded wings 54 which will deflect slightly when the prong end 52 is fully inserted into the slot 50 of first portion 24 and will lock the first portion 24 together with the second portion 26. The first portion has prong releases 56 to control the release of the prong end from the slot 50. The exemplary interface buckle 16 shown in FIG. 4 is included just as an example of one type of possible interface buckles that can use used. While it is preferable that the interface buckle 16 has two parts which are detachably attachable to each other in order to permit easier donning of the garment holder, this feature can be eliminated. Other known buckle arrangement can be used.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a person wearing the wearable garment holder 10 of FIG. 1 holding a garment “G.” The body loop 12 is shown draped over one side of the person's shoulder and extending across the user's chest, where the garment loop 14 hangs at the user's side. The working length of the body loop 12 can be adjusted as can the size of the garment loop 14. Although the body loop 12 portion is shown worn around a user's shoulder and crossing the user's chest, it can also be carried on one shoulder in a purse-like manner or around other parts of the body, such as around a user's waist like a belt.

Although the interface 16 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 as comprising an interface buckle 16, as shown in FIG. 6, the interface can also comprise an area of permanent attachment 60 of the strap 20 doubled-over on itself (e.g. by sewing, clamping, etc.) to form the body loop 12 and garment loop 14, with length adjustment devices 64 and 66 optionally located on each of the two loops 12 and 14 to permit adjustment of the size of the loops 12 and/or 14.

Alternatively, as shown in FIGS. 7-9, a slider device 70, 80 with a tunnel 72 formed therethrough can be provided for the strap 20 to pass therethrough in an interface region 74 between the body loop 12 and the garment loop 14. FIG. 9 shows an exemplary clip 80 which can be used for the same purpose. By sliding the slider 70 or clip 80 towards the garment loop 14, the garment loop 14 will be reduced in size and by sliding the slider 70 or clip 80 towards the body loop 12, the garment loop will be increased in size. Size changes to the body loop can be made by a length adjustment mechanism 76 on the body loop 12.

Although the invention has been shown and presented herein by means of certain embodiments of the appropriateness of care system, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto but may be variously embodied within the spirit and scope of the invention. Those of ordinary skill in the art will be able to identify various modifications which still remain within the ambit of the claims which follow.

Claims

1. A wearable garment holder, comprising:

a body loop portion;

a garment loop portion; and

an interface between the body loop and the garment loop.

2. The wearable garment holder of claim 1, wherein the interface comprises an interface buckle adapted to permit the size of the garment loop portion and the body loop portion to be adjusted.

3. The wearable garment holder of claim 2, wherein the interface buckle comprises a first portion and a second portion which are detachably attachable.

4. The wearable garment holder of claim 1, wherein the body loop portion and the garment loop portion are formed from one of a strap and a cord.

5. The wearable garment holder of claim 4, wherein the interface is an interface buckle which is slideable on the one of a strap and cord.

6. The wearable garment holder of claim 1, further comprising a buckle located in the body loop portion for adjustment of the size of the body loop portion.

7. The wearable garment holder of claim 1, further comprising a padded shoulder rest which is positioned on the body loop portion.

8. The wearable garment holder of claim 7, wherein the padded shoulder rest is slideable on the body loop portion.

9. The wearable garment holder of claim 1, wherein the body loop portion and garment loop portion comprise a strap and the interface comprise one of a slider and a clip through which the strap passes.

10. The wearable garment holder of claim 9, wherein the one of a slider and a clip is moveable relative to the body loop portion and the garment loop portion to permit changing the size of at least one of the body loop portion and the garment loop portion.

11. A wearable garment holder, comprising:

a body loop portion;

a garment loop portion;

an interface buckle located between the body loop and the garment loop which is adapted to permit the size of the garment loop portion and the body loop portion to be adjusted; and

a buckle located in the body loop portion for adjustment of the size of the body loop portion.

12. The wearable garment holder of claim 11, wherein the body loop portion and the garment loop portion are formed from one of a strap and a cord.

13. The wearable garment holder of claim 11, wherein the interface buckle comprises a first portion and a second portion which are detachably attachable.

14. The wearable garment holder of claim 11, further comprising a padded shoulder rest which is located on the body loop portion.