Workout garment

Abstract

A workout garment in accordance with the present invention includes a central section and opposing arm sections that extend outwardly from an upper portion of the central section. Each arm section further comprises a strap portion that is fixed to the upper portion of the central section on one end, and that further merges into a bell portion at the other end. The arm sections have an increasing taper so that the width of the arm section increases from a minimum width at the strap portion to a maximum width at the bell portion. To wear the garment, the garment is positioned around the wearer's waist so that the central section is positioned over the rear part of the wearer's trunk area, and the arm sections are then tied in front of the waist. When worn in this manner, the strap portions have sufficient length so that the bell portions extend downwardly and cooperate to establish a front panel, which hides the front part of the wearer's trunk area from view.

Description

[0001] This application claims priority from Provisional Application Serial No. 60/306,601, which was filed Jul. 18, 2001.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention pertains generally to clothing. More particularly, the present invention pertains to a garment that is adapted to be worn around the waist during an exercise routine or other physical activity.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] It is a well-known fact that many people exercise on a daily basis. Reasons for exercising range from the desire to have a more fit and attractive body to more functional cardiovascular conditioning and strength considerations. In general, many people have started to realize that by exercising on a regular basis they can increase their overall health level and feeling of well-being.

[0004] The current trend in cardiovascular activities is toward more moderate forms of exercises which are performed over a longer duration, such as walking, bicycling, low impact aerobics and similar types of cardiovascular activities. Studies have shown that these types of exercises are easy to perform and include many health benefits. Another increasingly popular trend, particularly among women, is to combine weight training with the above-mentioned cardiovascular activities to yield a balanced, effective workout routine.

[0005] When people perform the above-listed workout routine, or indeed any physical activity, they perspire, and the perspiration often soaks through the clothing. For women in particular, this can present unsightly stains in the center area of the women's clothing, particularly if women are wearing leotards or tight-fitting clothes which cover the buttocks, waist, hips and thighs. This can make women feel self-conscious and more reluctant to exercise within a group environment such as a health club, for example.

[0006] To obviate this concern, women will often tie a jacket or sweatshirt around their waist. These clothing items, however, can often be bulky and inhibit the physical range of motion, which further inhibits the workout and the enjoyment and benefits derived therefrom. Further, the jacket does not cover the front area of the woman's trunk area and perspiration stains which may have occurred in the front area.

[0007] In addition to the above concerns, it should be appreciated that people often tie a jacket, sweatshirt or similar type article around their waist because they are self-conscious about the appearance of their mid-section area, even when they are not engaged in physical activity. When this occurs, the jacket/sweatshirt is effectively being used as a casual wear accessory. A jacket or sweatshirt that is used as a casual wear accessory, however, retains the bulkiness and restriction of movement concerns described above.

[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,543, which issued to Lewis for an invention entitled “Athletic Towel”, discloses a rectangular towel with opposing elongated straps which extend from the top edge of the towel. During use, the straps are wrapped around the user's waist and fixed to each other. The straps for the towel as disclosed by Lewis, however, are very narrow. Accordingly, when the towel is oriented in front of the user and the straps are wrapped around the user's waist and tied to each other, the straps do not cover the back of the user's trunk.

[0009] U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,441, which issued to Richter for an invention entitled “Sport Garment For Women”, discloses a somewhat crescent-shaped garment. The device as disclosed by Richter, however, does not have arms that flare outwardly to provide a covering effect for the trunk area (front or back) when the garment is worn. Instead, the garment has a decreasing taper from a maximum width at the centerline of the garment to a minimum width at the garment end portion. During use, the garment is wrapped around the user's mid-section and oriented so that the centerline portion is positioned over one hip while the end portions are placed over the other hip. As a result, neither the front nor the back of the trunk area of the wearer is covered.

[0010] In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a workout garment that provides coverage for both the front and the back of the trunk area when tied around the waist of the user. It is another object of the present invention to provide a workout garment which covers perspiration stains during use to thereby allow women who are wearing form-fitting clothing to enjoy physical activity without worrying about people seeing perspiration stains on their clothing. It is another object of the present invention to provide a workout garment which does not inhibit physical movement when placed around the waist of the user. Another object of the present invention is to provide a workout garment which can be wrapped around the wearer's mid-section area as a casual wear accessory to lessen the wearer's concerns about body appearance. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a workout garment which can be easily manufactured in a cost-efficient manner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] A workout garment in accordance with the present invention includes a central section and opposing arm sections that extend outwardly therefrom. The central section includes a lower portion, a mid-portion and an upper portion, with the arm sections being fastened to the upper portion. The arm sections each further comprise a strap portion that is fixed to the upper portion of the central section on one end, and that further merges into a bell portion at the other end. The arm sections each have an increasing taper so that the width of the arm section increases from a minimum width at the strap portion to a maximum width at the bell portion.

[0012] To wear the garment, the garment is positioned around the trunk area of the wearer so that the central section is positioned over the rear of the wearer's trunk area. The arm sections are then tied in front of the waist of the user. The strap portions are sufficiently long so that once the arm sections are tied in this manner, the bell portions extend downwardly and cooperate to establish a front panel. The front panel covers the front area of the wearer to thereby hide the front area of the wearer's trunk area from view.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] The novel features of this invention will be best understood from the accompanying drawings, taken in conjunction with the accompanying description, in which similar characters refer to similar parts, and in which:

[0014] FIG. 1 is a plan view of the workout garment of the present invention.

[0015] FIG. 2 is a rear elevational view of the workout garment of FIG. 1 when worn by a user.

[0016] FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the workout garment of FIG. 2.

[0017] FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of the workout garment of FIG. 2.

WRITTEN DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0018] Referring now to the drawings, the workout garment of the present invention is shown and is generally designated by reference number 10. As shown, the garment includes a central section 12 and two opposing outer arm sections 14a, 14b that extend outwardly from the central section in a manner hereinafter described.

[0019] As perhaps best seen in FIG. 1, the central section includes a lower portion 16 which merges into mid-portion 17, which further merges into upper portion 24. The lower portion and mid-portion are defined by a bottom edge 18 with a slightly rounded shape, with bottom edge 18 merging into rounded corners 20, 20. Rounded corners 20, 20 further merge into side edges 22, 22. The side edges 22 are rounded inward so that central section 12 has a decreasing taper from a maximum central section width at lower portion 16 to a minimum central section width at upper portion 17 just below arm sections 14a, 14b, as best seen in FIGS. 1-2. Upper portion 24 terminates at a straight top edge 26 which extends transversely across central section 12, as shown in the Figures.

[0020] An elastic waistband (not shown) can be incorporated into central section near top edge 26 in a manner well known in the prior art. As shown in FIG. 1, the elastic waistband causes the material in the central section to gather proximate top edge 26. When garment 10 is donned by user 29 (partially shown in phantom in FIGS. 2-4), the gathered material becomes smooth (as shown in FIG. 2) to allow the garment to closely conform to the user for a more comfortable fit.

[0021] FIGS. 2-4 illustrate the preferred manner of wearing garment 10. As shown in FIGS. 2-4, when the garment is worn by user 29, the central section extends downwardly and covers the rear of the user's trunk area. This allows the central section for the garment to cover any unsightly perspiration stains that may have formed on the rear of the user's clothing, to thereby provide the user with added comfort, confidence and self-esteem advantages. This further eliminates the practice of positioning heavy sweaters, sweatshirts or jackets around the user's waist during physical activities, while also providing less restriction of physical movement for the user.

[0022] As shown in FIGS. 1-2, the garment could optionally include a logo patch 40 which is sewn onto outer surface 33 of the garment at central section 12. The logo patch could function as an eye-catching accessory due to the displayed design thereon.

[0023] As mentioned above, the workout garment of the present invention includes two opposing arm sections 14a, 14b, with each arm section extending from a corresponding side edge 22. Preferably the arm sections 14a, 14b extend from the upper portion 24 of central section 12. Each arm section comprises a strap portion 28 having a strap portion width. The strap portion merges into an outwardly flared bell portion 30 having a maximum bell portion width that is greater than the strap portion width, as shown in the Figures. The strap portions must be sufficiently long so that the bell portions are oriented as described below when the garment is donned by user 29.

[0024] As mentioned above, the user 29 dons garment 10 by tying the arm sections around the waist so that the garment rests on the user hips and the central section covers the rear of the user's trunk area. When worn in this manner, the arm sections extend downwardly from the waist area of the user, and flared structure of the bell portions establishes a front panel 35, which covers the front of the trunk area of the user and hides this area from view, as shown in FIG. 4. Accordingly, the workout garment of the present invention further provides the increased comfort, confidence and self-esteem advantages described above.

[0025] As shown in the FIGS. 2-4, each arm section can include a pocket 32 which is sewn onto outer surface 33 of the garment near central section 12. When the garment is worn by user 29, this positions the pockets 32 approximately over each hip of the user. The above-mentioned storage pockets could contain a wide array of necessities which could conveniently be housed in the workout garment. These accessories include keys, money, feminine hygiene products, and the like and are not shown in the drawings. Although two pockets 32 are shown, is to be appreciated that only one pocket could be sewn on to the workout garment and located on outer surface 33 as desired, according to consumer aesthetics desires and manufacturing cost considerations.

[0026] The garment of the present invention further includes a drawstring 34 to facilitate attachment of the garment to the user during wear. The drawstring is inserted from outer surface 33 into grommet 36a and threaded along inner surface 31 and then further threaded through grommet 36b to extend from outer surface 33 of garment 14. When the garment is worn by the user, and as shown in FIG. 4, the ends of the drawstring can then be tied in a manner known in the prior art to position the garment around the user.

[0027] Each arm section 14a, 14b further includes a corresponding attachment patch 38a, 38b. Attachment patch 38a is fixed to arm section 14a on inner surface 31. The remaining patch 38b is fixed to arm section 14b on outer surface 33. When the garment is worn, attachment patch 38a is mated to attachment patch 38b to thereby fix the garment around the waist of the user. In the preferred embodiment, the patches 38 are made of a Velcro® material.

[0028] The workout garment of the present invention could be manufactured from any and all types of pliable fabrics that are known in the prior art. These fabrics include, but are not restricted to, cotton, nylon, rayon, and other synthetic material, wool, and the like. These fabrics could be sheared to size using power shears, according to predetermined patterns and then seamed or otherwise stitched as known in the prior art. Finishing of the garment could include the placement of Velcro® components as described above.

[0029] From the above, it can be gleaned that the garment is preferably manufactured as a panel-like structure. It is to be appreciated, however, the garment could also be manufactured so that the arm sections are sleeves and so that the central section has a neck opening (not shown in the Figures). This manner of manufacture would allow the garment 10 to function as a pullover shirt, which could then be removed as desired by the user, yet still perform the above-described functions when the user ties the garment around the user's waist. Because the strap portions of the arm sections are much longer than normal sleeves, and the flared nature of the bell portions, however, the arm section material gathers on the arms of the user if the garment was manufactured and worn in this manner.

[0030] While the particular workout garment, as herein shown and disclosed in detail, is fully capable of obtaining the objects and providing the advantages above stated, it is to be understood that the presently preferred embodiments are merely illustrative of the invention. As such, no limitations are intended other than as defined in the appended claims to follow.

Claims

1. A garment comprising:

a central section;

opposing arm sections extending from said central section and having an arm section width; and,

said arm section widths having an increasing taper from a minimum arm section width proximate said central section to a maximum arm section width at said arm ends.

2. The garment of claim 1 wherein said central section further comprises a lower portion, mid-portion and upper portion and said arm sections extend from said upper portion.

3. The garment of claim 2 wherein said lower portion has a lower width and said upper portion has an upper width and said lower width is greater than said upper width.

4. The garment of claim 3 further comprising a logo fastened to said lower portion.

5. The garment of claim 1 further comprising at least one pocket fastened to one of said arm sections.

6. A clothing article for covering the trunk area of a wearer, said article comprising:

a central section for covering a rear part of said trunk area when said wearer dons said article;

at least one strap portion attached to said central section;

each said strap portion merging into a bell portion; and,

said bell portions cooperating to form a front panel for covering a front part of said trunk area when said wearer dons said article.

7. The garment of claim 6 wherein said central section further comprises a lower portion, mid-portion and upper portion and said strap portion extends from said upper portion.

8. The garment of claim 7 wherein said lower portion has a lower width and said upper portion has an upper width and said lower width is greater than said upper width.

9. The garment of claim 8 further comprising a logo fastened to said lower portion.

10. The garment of claim 6 further comprising a pocket fastened to said strap portion.

11. A method for wearing a garment around the waist of a user to simultaneously cover a front part and a rear part of the trunk area of said user during physical activity, said method comprising the steps of:

A) providing a central section;

B) forming two arm sections with an increasing taper from a minimum width at a first end to a maximum width at a second end so that the arm sections flare outwardly in a bell-like configuration;

C) attaching said first ends to opposing sides of said central section so that said arm sections extend outwardly therefrom;

D) wrapping said garment around said waist so that said central section covers said rear part and said arm sections extend downwardly and cooperate to establish a front panel that covers said front part.