PROTECTIVE ONE-PIECE SUIT
A one-piece suit for protecting a wearer from at least one of paint, dirt, debris and moisture is described. The one-piece suit enables the entire body of a wearer to be protected. The one-piece suit offers a combination of features which make it useful for protecting the wearer from paint, dirt, debris and/or moisture, etc. The one-piece suit includes and upper body portion and a lower body portion integrally formed with the upper body portion. Leg portions have a forward side defining a protective outer surface and a rearward side formed of a material which provides more breathability than the forward side. A foot covering portion is also integrally formed with each of the leg portions and extends forwardly outward from the lower ends thereof to substantially cover the wearer's foot.
The present application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/565,823 filed Sep. 24, 2009, which is a continuation of PCT/CA2008/000665 filed Apr. 7, 2008, which claims priority on U.S. provisional patent application No. 60/910,371 filed Apr. 5, 2007, the entire contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELDThe present invention relates generally to outerwear garments, such as one-piece suits, pants, chaps, leggings and the like. Particularly, the present invention relates to a garment providing protection of at least the lower legs and feet of a wearer.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONProtective outerwear garments exist in a variety of different forms, and are used for an equally large variety of applications. Protective trousers and pants, for example, are used by workers in a number of fields in order to protect both the user's own legs and their clothing.
Certain specific activities tend to particularly cause damage and/or cause user's clothes and shoes to become wet, dirty, etc. One such activity is cutting, trimming or “weed wacking” grass and other foliage, during which the user's shoes and legs tend to become wet, messy, moist and/or dirty from the grass and vegetation clippings created. Further, if larger plants or foliage are being cleared, there exists the risk causing injury to the user's leg, if no protective garments are worn. Another such activity is painting, during which one's shoes can become splattered with paint even if protective trousers or suits are worn.
Accordingly, there exists a need to provide an improved protective garment which will help protect at least the lower legs and shoes of a wearer, particularly during such activities as painting, and cutting and trimming grass and other foliage, for example using a lawn mower, a “weed wacker”, and the like. Improvements are thus needed in order to provide a new and improved type of lightweight, low cost, lower leg and foot covering and protecting outerwear garment.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONTherefore, in accordance with a first broad aspect, there is provided a one-piece suit for protecting a wearer from at least one of paint, dirt, debris and moisture, the one-piece suit comprising: an upper body portion for covering the upper body of the wearer, the upper portion comprising at least a trunk covering portion covering a wearer's chest and back and arm portions connected to and extending from the trunk covering portion to cover at least a portion of the wearer's arms; a lower body portion integrally formed with the upper body portion and connected to a lower end of the trunk covering portion thereof, the lower body portion forming trousers for covering the lower body of the wearer and comprising a pelvis covering portion covering the wearer's pelvis region and leg portions connected to and extending from the pelvis covering portion, the leg portions being substantially tubular and having an upper end and a lower end, the tubular leg portions having an enclosed circumference along their complete length between the upper and lower ends; at least the leg portions of the one-piece suit comprising a forward side entirely composed of a first material and a rearward side entirely composed of a second material different from the first material, the second material being more breathable than the first material, and the first material of the forward side defining a protective outer surface which provides greater protection than the second material, wherein the rearward side of said at least the leg portions providing greater breathability but less protection than said forward side thereof; and a foot covering portion which is integrally formed with each of the leg portions and extends only forwardly outward from the lower end thereof to cover the entirety of an upper surface of the wearer's foot, the foot covering portion being self-supporting and having a rigidity that is greater than that of the leg portions, the foot covering portion being free from fastening straps such that the foot covering portion rests on top of the wearer's foot without being fastened thereto.
In accordance with a second broad aspect, there is provided a one-piece suit for protecting a wearer from at least one of paint, dirt, debris and moisture, the one-piece suit comprising: an upper body portion for covering the upper body of the wearer; and a lower body portion integrally formed with the upper body portion and connected thereto for covering the lower body of the wearer, the lower body portion including leg portions having an enclosed circumference along their complete length between upper and lower ends thereof, the leg portions having a forward side and a rearward side extending between the upper and lower ends, the forward side defining a protective outer surface and the rearward side being formed of a material which provides more breathability than the forward side of the leg portions, and wherein a foot covering portion is integrally formed with each of the leg portions and extends forwardly outward from the lower end thereof to substantially cover the wearer's foot, the foot covering portion being free from fastening straps such that the foot covering portion rests on top of the wearer's foot without being fastened thereto.
Further features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in combination with the appended drawings, in which:
Referring to
In this embodiment, unlike many chaps and/or other leg protection garments which exist, each of the leggings 11 wraps around the entire circumference of the wearer's leg, i.e. it is not an open-backed type of chap, but rather each is an enclosed pant leg. As such, each of the leggings 11 is formed by tubular leg portions which have an enclosed circumference. Existing chaps typically cover only the front portions of the wearer's legs, and thus have open-backs which require a number of straps, buckles, etc. to close and to fasten the chaps in place on one's leg. The protective leggings 10 however completely encircle the wearer's legs, from a point near the midpoint or upper end of the wearer's thigh. In this embodiment, the protective garment 10 thus constitutes only lower-body protection.
In contrast, each of the leggings 11 of the protective garment 10 includes leg portions 12, which are tubular and full-circumference, and therefore resemble more like detached pant legs which the user will have to put their feet through and pull up in order to put them on. At least the frontward facing side of the tubular leg portions 12 have a protective outer surface and/or or made of a material which is preferably lightweight, waterproof and relatively flexible, such as to be comfortable to wear. Any suitable material may be used, however preferably is one of relatively good resistance to wear and tear, given that grass, sticks, and other materials may be projected thereon by a mower, weed wacker, or other device which the wearer may be operating. The material may also be breathable in order to make the leggings more comfortable for wear outside in warm weather. Both the front (i.e. covering the front of the wearer's leg) and back (i.e. covering the back of the wearer's leg) sides of the leg portions 12 may be made of the same material, however alternately the back side may be made of a different material, for example one which is perhaps less protective, waterproof, and/or more breathable. As best seen in
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Given the relative simplicity of the protective leggings 10, the lack of a multitude of fastening straps required to keep them in place, as well as their flexibility and light weight, these protective leggings are much more comfortable and less complex and time consuming to put-on, take-off and wear.
Referring now to
The embodiments illustrated in
The embodiments described above are intended to be exemplary. Those skilled in the art will therefore appreciate that the forgoing description is illustrative only, and that various alternatives and modifications can be devised without departing from the present invention as defined in the claims. Accordingly, the present is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances which fall within the scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1. A one-piece suit for protecting a wearer from at least one of paint, dirt, debris and moisture, the one-piece suit comprising:
- an upper body portion for covering the upper body of the wearer, the upper portion comprising at least a trunk covering portion covering a wearer's chest and back and arm portions connected to and extending from the trunk covering portion to cover at least a portion of the wearer's arms;
- a lower body portion integrally formed with the upper body portion and connected to a lower end of the trunk covering portion thereof, the lower body portion forming trousers for covering the lower body of the wearer and comprising a pelvis covering portion covering the wearer's pelvis region and leg portions connected to and extending from the pelvis covering portion, the leg portions being substantially tubular and having an upper end and a lower end, the tubular leg portions having an enclosed circumference along their complete length between the upper and lower ends;
- at least the leg portions of the one-piece suit comprising a forward side entirely composed of a first material and a rearward side entirely composed of a second material different from the first material, the second material being more breathable than the first material, and the first material of the forward side defining a protective outer surface which provides greater protection than the second material, wherein the rearward side of said at least the leg portions providing greater breathability but less protection than said forward side thereof; and
- a foot covering portion which is integrally formed with each of the leg portions and extends only forwardly outward from the lower end thereof to cover the entirety of an upper surface of the wearer's foot, the foot covering portion being self-supporting and having a rigidity that is greater than that of the leg portions, the foot covering portion being free from fastening straps such that the foot covering portion rests on top of the wearer's foot without being fastened thereto.
2. The one-piece suit as defined in claim 1, wherein the foot covering portion provides greater protection than does the protective outer surface of the leg portions.
3. The one-piece suit as defined in claim 2, wherein the foot covering portion is padded.
4. The one-piece suit as defined in claim 2, wherein the foot covering portion extends from a wearer's ankle to wearer's toes and also covers part of a front and lateral surface of the wearer's foot.
5. The one-piece suit as defined in claim 1, wherein the foot covering portion comprises a reinforcing member disposed therein, the reinforcing member having a form adapted to cover at least the majority of the upper surface of the wearer's foot.
6. The one-piece suit as defined in claim 5, wherein the reinforcing member includes a plate having a rigidity greater than that of a remainder of the foot covering portion.
7. A one-piece suit for protecting a wearer from at least one of paint, dirt, debris and moisture, the one-piece suit comprising:
- an upper body portion for covering the upper body of the wearer; and
- a lower body portion integrally formed with the upper body portion and connected thereto for covering the lower body of the wearer, the lower body portion including leg portions having an enclosed circumference along their complete length between upper and lower ends thereof, the leg portions having a forward side and a rearward side extending between the upper and lower ends, the forward side defining a protective outer surface and the rearward side being formed of a material which provides more breathability than the forward side of the leg portions, and wherein a foot covering portion is integrally formed with each of the leg portions and extends forwardly outward from the lower end thereof to substantially cover the wearer's foot, the foot covering portion being free from fastening straps such that the foot covering portion rests on top of the wearer's foot without being fastened thereto.
8. The one-piece suit as defined in claim 7, wherein the foot covering portion being self-supporting and having a rigidity that is greater than that of the leg portions.
9. The one-piece suit as defined in claim 7, wherein the forward sides of the leg portions are entirely composed of a first material and the rearward sides thereof are entirely composed of a second material that is different from the first material, the second material being more breathable than the first material.
10. The one-piece suit as defined in claim 7, wherein the first material of the forward side provides a protective outer surface which provides greater protection than the second material.
11. The one-piece suit as defined in claim 10, wherein the foot covering portion provides greater protection than does the protective outer surface of the leg portions.
12. The one-piece suit as defined in claim 11, wherein the foot covering portion is padded.
13. The one-piece suit as defined in claim 7, wherein the foot covering portion extends from the lower end of the leg portion a distance sufficient to substantially cover the entirety of an upper surface of the wearer's foot, and also covers part of a front and lateral surface of the wearer's foot.
14. The one-piece suit as defined in claim 7, wherein the foot covering portion comprises a reinforcing member disposed therein, the reinforcing member having a form adapted to substantially cover the entirety of the upper surface of the wearer's foot.
15. The one-piece suit as defined in claim 14, wherein the reinforcing member includes a plate having a rigidity greater than that of a remainder of the foot covering portion.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 8, 2012
Publication Date: Jul 12, 2012
Inventor: Eddie Majerfeld (St. Laurent)
Application Number: 13/415,318