HOODED CLOTHING

Abstract

An article of clothing has a hood comprising an outer hooded portion and an inner hooded portion releasably secured within the outer hooded portion by fasteners. The inner hooded portion is provided with speakers connectable to an audio device providing the hood with an audio function that can be detached if required.

Description

This invention concerns improvements in or relating to hooded clothing.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided clothing comprising a first, outer hood portion that is arranged to extend around the head of the wearer and a second, inner hood portion that is arranged to extend around the head of the wearer, the inner hood portion releasably attached to the outer hood portion by fastening means, and the inner hood portion having one or more speakers attached thereto.

This invention has the advantage that the speaker(s) give the clothing an audio function and the inner hooded portion can be removed when the speaker(s) are not required and/or could be damaged, for example when the clothing is being washed, when it is raining or when the wearer does not wish to have a solid object, such as the speaker(s), present in the hood. The clothing can be used as a normal hooded garment as well as clothing with audio functionality. By employing one or more speakers in the hood, an audio function is provided that does not require the wearer to use an earpiece. As a result, the wearer is not isolated from external sound sources and can, for example, hear and respond to sounds such as traffic. In this way, safety of the wearer while using the audio function is improved.

The fastening means may be located at the edge of the hooded portions and may be hook and loop fasteners such as available under the trademark Velcro™, press stud fasteners or zip fasteners. In this way, any hard edges associated with the fastening means are located away from the wearer's head.

Preferably the inner hooded portion is provided with a pair of speakers and, in one arrangement, further speakers are provided in the inner hooded portion. This may allow audio effects such as 3:1 stereo, 5:1 stereo and true stereo surround.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a clothing accessory comprising a hooded portion arranged to extend around the head of a wearer, the hooded portion having one or more speakers attached thereto, and fastening means comprising at least one pair of co-operable members, one of the members attached to the hooded portion and the other member for attaching to a hood of a garment such that the hooded portion can be releasably attached to the hood of the garment.

In this way, the clothing accessory can be retrofitted to a conventional hood to provide clothing according to the first aspect of the invention. The clothing accessory can be used with any selected one of a range of garments having a hood to which the accessory can be secured.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 shows an inner hood portion according to a first embodiment of the invention:

FIG. 2 shows the interior of an inner hood portion according to a second embodiment of the invention:

FIG. 3 shows the exterior of the inner hood portion shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows a detail of a speaker employed in the inner hood portion of FIGS. 2 and 3; and

FIG. 5 shows lay-out of the connections for the speaker system employed in the inner hood portion of FIGS. 2 and 3.

Referring first to FIG. 1 of the drawings, a first embodiment of the invention is shown comprising a hood 1 having an outer hooded portion 2 and an inner hooded portion 3. The inner hooded portion is releasably attached to the outer hooded portion by fasteners 4,5,6. In this embodiment, the fasteners 4,5,6 are of the hook and loop type such as available under the trademark Velcro™ where a first fabric tape or strip has the hooks and a second fabric tape or strip has the loops that engage with the hooks to secure releasably the strips or tapes together. It will be understood, however, that other fasteners may be employed. The fasteners 4,5,6 are located around the edge of the hooded portions 2,3 with hooks on one of the hooded portions and the loops on the other hooded portion. The outer hooded portion 2 may be an integral part of a garment such as a jacket, coat, sweater, tracksuit top or any other item of clothing that may be provided with a hood. Alternatively, the outer hooded portion may be releasably attached to the garment. Part only of a garment is indicated in the drawing by reference numeral 10.

Integrally attached to the inner hooded portion 3 is a pair of speakers 7 (only one of which is shown) arranged on opposite sides of the inner hooded portion 3. In a modification (not shown) the speakers are detachable from the inner hooded portion 3. Connected to the speakers is a wire 8 having at its end a jack plug 9. The jack plug 9 is releasably connectable to an output from an audio, preferably portable, device (not shown) such as a personal CD player, personal MP3 player, personal DVD player or any other suitable device, for communicating audio signals from the device to the speakers 7.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 to 5 of the drawings, a second embodiment of the invention is shown in which like reference numerals in the series 100 are used to indicate parts corresponding to the first embodiment.

In this second embodiment, the inner hooded portion 103 is releasably secured to the outer hooded portion (not shown) by press studs 120. The press studs 120 comprise male parts attached to one of the hooded portions that are mateable with female parts attached to the other hooded portion to secure releasably the inner hooded portion 103 within the outer hooded portion. The outer hooded portion is provided with an internal flap that overlies the peripheral edge of the inner hooded portion 103 when it is secured to the outer hooded portion so that the peripheral edge of the inner hooded portion 103 is concealed providing a neat and attractive finish. The flap also protects the wearer from the mating press studs 120 employed to secure the inner hooded portion 103 to the outer hooded portion. The outer hooded portion may be an integral part of the clothing or it may be releasably attached to the clothing.

The inner hooded portion 103 is provided with a pair of speakers 107a, 107b located in a pocket (not shown) inside the inner hooded portion 103. The pocket is accessible from the outer surface 103a of the inner hooded portion 103 by an opening that is closed by a zip fastener 121 that allows the speakers 107a, 107b to be placed inside and removed from the inner hooded portion 103. The zip fastener 121 may be replaced by any other suitable means for releasably closing the opening. In a modification (not shown) the speakers 107a, 107b are integrally attached to the inner hooded portion 103, for example by stitching or other suitable means of attachment.

The pocket is provided on the inner surface 103b of the inner hooded portion 103 with a perforated region 122 aligned with the speakers 107a, 107b to improve the transmission of sound from the speakers to the wearer of the hood. In this embodiment, the speakers 107a, 107b are of lightweight construction comprising an exciter 123 attached to a flexible pad 124. In this embodiment the pad 124 is 90 mm by 63 mm by 2 mm and is made of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) foam but it will be understood that other sizes and materials may be employed. The flexible nature of the foam pad allows the speaker to conform to the shape of the hood thereby improving comfort for the wearer and also protecting the wearer from rigid parts of the speaker. Although the pad 124 is shown having a rectangular shape, it will be understood that other shapes of pad such as circular, oval may be used.

In this embodiment, an amplifier 125 powered by one or more batteries is detachably mounted in a pouch 126 attached to the inner hooded portion 103 and the speakers 107a, 107b are provided with wires 108 connected to a jack plug 109 for releasably connecting the speakers 107a,107b to the amplifier 125 via a socket 130. The wiring is concealed within the inner hooded portion 103 and the releasable connection allows the speakers 107a, 107b and associated wiring to be removed from the inner hooded portion 103 if desired for any reason.

Connected to the amplifier 125 is a wire cord 128 provided at its end with a jack plug 129 for releasably connecting the amplifier 125 to an audio, preferably portable, device such as a personal CD player, personal MP3 player, personal DVD player or any other suitable device.

As will be appreciated from the description of the exemplary embodiments, the invention provides a simple and effective method of providing speakers in the hood of an article of clothing that allows the speakers to be detached from the clothing if required. For example, if the clothing is to be washed or the wearer does not wish to use the audio function, the inner hooded portion can be detached allowing the article of clothing to be washed or worn without the speakers (and associated wiring and, where provided power pack). The outer hooded portion may be an integral part of the article of clothing and the inner hooded portion may be used with any selected one of several articles having an outer hooded portion to which the inner hooded portion can be attached. Alternatively, the outer hooded portion may be detachably secured to the article of clothing allowing the entire hood to be detached from the article and, if desired, attached to another article of clothing.

It will be understood that modifications and alterations can be made to the specific embodiments as described herein without departing from the scope of the invention.

For example, the inner and outer hooded portions could be releasably attached by any suitable means, such as press studs, zips, Velcro™ and the like. The locations of the releasable fasteners for attaching the inner hooded portion to the outer hooded portion could be altered. Furthermore, the hood could be an item separate from another garment or could be integrally or releasably attached to another garment, such as a jumper/pullover or coat. The inner and outer hooded portions may be made of fabric or any other suitable material. Although in the embodiments described the inner hood portion has two speakers, typically arranged to be positioned on either side of the head of the wearer adjacent to the ears of the wearer, it will be understood that the inner hooded portion may be provided with any number of speakers to provide any desired sound reproduction and effect. In the simplest form of the invention it is contemplated that one speaker may be employed although a minimum of two is preferred.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a garment having a hood comprising a first, outer hood portion attached to the garment and a second, inner hood portion that is releasably attached to the outer hood portion by fastening means and is provided with one or more speakers or similar device for providing the hood with an audio function.

The outer hood portion may be integral with the garment or detachable from the garment. The one or more speakers may be integral with the inner hood portion or detachable from the inner hood portion.

Claims

1. Clothing comprising a first, outer hood portion that is arranged to extend around the head of the wearer and a second, inner hood portion that is arranged to extend around the head of the wearer, the inner hood portion being releasably attached to the outer hood portion by fastening means, and provided with one or more speakers.

2. Clothing according to claim 1 wherein the fastening means is located at the edge of the hooded portions.

3. Clothing according to claim 1 wherein the fastening means comprises at least one pair of co-operable members, one of the members attached to the outer hood portion and the other member attached to the inner hood portion.

4. Clothing according to claim 1 wherein the fastening means is selected from hook and loop fasteners, press stud fasteners or zip fasteners.

5. Clothing according to claim 1 wherein further speakers are provided in the inner hooded portion.

6. Clothing according to claim 1 wherein the speakers are integrally attached to the inner hooded portion.

7. Clothing according to claim 1 wherein the speakers are releasably attached to the inner hooded portion.

8. Clothing according to claim 1 wherein the speakers are adapted for connecting to an audio device.

9. Clothing according to claim 8 wherein the speakers are connectable to an amplifier.

10. Clothing according to claim 9 wherein the amplifier is attached to the inner hooded portion.

11. Clothing according to claim 1 wherein the speakers comprise an exciter attached to a flexible pad.

12. Clothing according to claim 1 comprising a hooded coat, jacket, sweater, tracksuit top, sweatshirt.

13. A clothing accessory comprising a hooded portion arranged to extend around the head of a wearer and having one or more speakers, and fastening means comprising at least one pair of co-operable members, one of the members attached to the hooded portion and the other member for attaching to a hood of a garment such that the hooded portion can be releasably attached to the hood of the garment.

14. A clothing accessory according to claim 13 wherein the hooded portion is configured to be positioned within the hood of the garment to which it is secured.