Fabric Article Having a Side Fold Non-Gathering Feature
A garment is provided having an upper torso portion with a neck pass through opening, a trunk portion, and securement elements. The trunk portion includes a left arm port, a right arm port, a left hand side-fold assembly, and a right hand side-fold assembly, a front panel, and a back panel, each of the left hand side-fold assembly and the right hand side-fold assembly being connected to the back panel and the front panel and being foldable to overlie a respective lateral area of the front panel of the trunk portion. The securement elements secure the left hand side-fold assembly and the right hand side-fold assembly in a plurality of different folded dispositions, thereby providing a capability to adjustably vary a lateral width of the garment.
This invention relates to a garment offering a safe and warm sleeping experience. U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,193 to Chen notes the desirability of a comfortable, convenient and safe sleeping garment for a child that enables the child to have free arm movement and that insures a safe and warm sleeping experience.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,193 to Chen, various types of sleeping garments for children are known and some conventional sleeping bags for children are sewn in an airtight manner so that the child or infant in the sleeping bag often feels excessively warm and uncomfortable in a warmer ambient environment. US Published Patent Application No. 20060064794 to Howard et al notes the desirability of a suit that assists in the transition of an infant from more confined spaces of sleeping, such as a bassinette, to larger and more spacious cribs, noting that such a transition can disrupt sleep patterns. According to US Published Patent Application No. 20060064794 to Howard et al, it would be desirable to have a sleep suit that acts as a transition object because it continues to provide the sense of security derived from swaddling or sleeping in a constrained space, as infants adjust to sleeping in a more open environment.
Thus, there is a need for improvements for a garment that is particularly suitable to promoting a sound sleeping environment for a child yet can accommodate a transition event such as when the sleep environment of a child changes from a smaller furniture piece to a larger furniture piece. There is also a need for improvements for a garment that is particularly suitable to promoting a sound sleeping environment for a child yet can accommodate a transition event such as when the overall size of a child has changed beyond an incremental change—i.e., an infant has grown into a toddler. Such an improved article will preferably provide reliable adjustment for adjusting the garment to accommodate these transition events while improving the convenience and simplicity of use of the garment.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAccording to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a garment comprising an upper torso portion, the upper torso portion having a neck pass through opening, a trunk portion, and a plurality of securement elements. The trunk portion includes a left arm port, a right arm port, a left hand side-fold assembly, and a right hand side-fold assembly, a front panel, and a back panel, each of the left hand side-fold assembly and the right hand side-fold assembly being connected to the back panel and the front panel and being foldable to overlie a respective lateral area of the front panel of the trunk portion. The securement elements are operable to secure at least one of the left hand side-fold assembly and the right hand side-fold assembly in a plurality of different folded dispositions, with the at least one of the left hand side-fold assembly and the right hand side-fold assembly, in each folded disposition, overlying the front panel of the trunk portion to a different lateral extent than in the other folded dispositions, the at least one of the left hand side-fold assembly and the right hand side-fold assembly and the securement elements providing a capability to adjustably vary a lateral width of the garment.
According to one feature of the one aspect of the present invention, the securement elements include a plurality of donor snaps and a plurality of recipient snaps, each donor snap being releasably securable to a recipient snap.
According to another feature of the one aspect of the present invention, the plurality of donor snaps are mounted on a selected one of the at least one of the left hand side-fold assembly and the right hand side-fold assembly and the front panel of the trunk portion and the plurality of recipient snaps are mounted on the other one of the at least one of the left hand side-fold assembly and the right hand side-fold assembly and the front panel of the trunk portion.
According to a further feature of the one aspect of the present invention, the garment includes a zipper extending in the at least one of the left hand side-fold assembly and the right hand side-fold assembly.
According to an additional feature of the one aspect of the present invention, the upper torso portion includes a pair of straps each connected to the front panel and the back panel of the trunk portion and operable to extend over a shoulder of a person wearing the garment.
An embodiment of the present invention is now described with reference to the following Figures of the drawings:
The present invention relates to a fabric article having a side-fold, non-gathering feature and the fabric article is preferably a garment. With reference to
As seen in
The one embodiment of the fabric article in the form of the garment 10 is specifically configured for use by a person of a relatively smaller stature—i.e., a child—and the garment 10 provides the particularly favorable advantage that it can readily and conveniently be accommodated to the changing dimensions of a child as the child grows. Moreover, the garment 10 is configured such that it remains aesthetically appealing throughout the range of re-configurations of the garment to accommodate the changing dimensions of a child or to accommodate the different dimensions of a subsequent user after the garment has been used by an earlier user. The manner in which the garment 10 can be re-configured to accommodate different dimensions of a user will become evident in the following description.
With reference to
The right hand side-fold assembly 24 includes a rear panel flap 46B, a front panel flap 48B, a plurality of donor snaps 50B, and a plurality of recipient snaps 52B. The right hand side-fold assembly 24 also includes a zipper subassembly 54B. Each one of the left hand zipper subassembly 54A and the right hand zipper subassembly 54B is configured as a conventional zipper having a zipper pull 56A, 56B, respectively, and the track of the zipper teeth of each respective zipper subassembly is a respective extension of the peripheral seam 40 on the respective right or left hand side of the garment 10. In an opened position of the zipper subassembly, the zipper pull 56A, 56B has been pulled downward along the track of zipper teeth and is located at a spacing below the respective left hand strap half 28A, left hand rear strap half 30A or right hand front strap half 28B, right hand rear strap half 30B. Conversely, when the zipper pull 56A, 56B has been fully drawn upwardly along the track of the zipper teeth to thereby effect interlocking of the zipper teeth, the zipper pull 56A, 56B is disposed at a spacing closer to the respective left hand strap half 28A, left hand rear strap half 30A or right hand front strap half 28B, right hand rear strap half 30B, than when the zipper pull is located in its downward position (the upper position of the zipper pulls 56A, 56B are shown, for example, in
Each of the insulating pockets 42 is formed by the inner and outer textile sheets forming the front panel 36 of the trunk portion 14 and includes a suitable insulating material such as, for example, natural or synthetic feathers or fiber that are retained between a respective pair of the cross stitches 44 that extend laterally across the front panel of the trunk portion 14 from a left hand peripheral side thereof to a right hand peripheral side thereof. Such a configuration of these insulating pockets 42 provides suitable insulating properties that advantageously self-adjust to ambient cool or hot conditions in that the insulating material suitably retains warmer air in the event that there is a cool ambient temperature condition and, conversely, retains cooler air in the event that the garment 10 is used in a warmer ambient temperature condition. The outer textile sheet of the insulating pockets 42 is preferably formed of a suitably aesthetically pleasing, durable yet comfortable textile material such as, for example, a woven cotton or canvas duck material having suitable properties such as, for example, the property of a sufficiently high thread count to prevent the unwanted protrusion of feather stems through the outer textile sheet. The inner textile sheet of the pockets 42 is likewise formed of a suitable aesthetically pleasing, durable yet comfortable textile material.
The deployment of the garment 10 will now be described with respect to a robing operation in which a person desiring to use the garment 10 can be fitted with the garment. As seen in
With continuing reference to
With reference now to
The garment 10 has a lateral extent or width as measured slightly below the arms of the person that permits the garment to overlie the chest and back of the person in a unconstricted and comfortable manner yet precludes inadvertent or deliberate removal of the garment from the person without releasing at least some of the snaps of the shoulder strap halves or the side-fold assemblies 22, 24. As shown in
With reference now to
The garment 10 advantageously provides enhanced comfort and a pleasing, aesthetic appearance in all of its robing configurations, be it a configuration such as illustrated in
As seen in
The garment 10 can thus be seen as a garment that provides a useful life for use with a newborn child, a toddler, an infant, up to and through a child of pre-school years, and a child of school year ages. The garment can be conveniently accommodated to the growth of an infant such that, as the infant grows and becomes a toddler, more accommodation can be provided at the neck pass-through opening 16, the left arm port 18, and the right arm port 20 to accommodate increased dimensions of the child. Additionally, as seen in
The article of the present invention has been exemplarily disclosed and illustrated with respect to a garment but it is to be understood that the fabric article can as well be any fabric article in which it is desirable or advantageous to have the features that have been described herein.
From the foregoing description of one embodiment of the invention, it will be apparent that many modifications may be made therein. It will be understood that this embodiment of the invention is an exemplification of the invention only and that the invention is not limited thereto.
Claims
1. A garment comprising:
- an upper torso portion, the upper torso portion having a neck pass through opening;
- a trunk portion, the trunk portion including a left arm port, a right arm port, a left hand side-fold assembly, and a right hand side-fold assembly, a front panel, and a back panel, each of the left hand side-fold assembly and the right hand side-fold assembly being connected to the back panel and the front panel and being foldable to overlie a respective lateral area of the front panel of the trunk portion; and
- a plurality of securement elements, the securement elements for securing at least one of the left hand side-fold assembly and the right hand side-fold assembly in a plurality of different folded dispositions, with the at least one of the left hand side-fold assembly and the right hand side-fold assembly, in each folded disposition, overlying the front panel of the trunk portion to a different lateral extent than in the other folded dispositions, the at least one of the left hand side-fold assembly and the right hand side-fold assembly and the securement elements providing a capability to adjustably vary a lateral width of the garment.
2. A garment according to claim 1, wherein the securement elements include a plurality of donor snaps and a plurality of recipient snaps, each donor snap being releasably securable to a recipient snap.
3. A garment according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of donor snaps are mounted on a selected one of the at least one of the left hand side-fold assembly and the right hand side-fold assembly and the front panel of the trunk portion and the plurality of recipient snaps are mounted on the other one of the at least one of the left hand side-fold assembly and the right hand side-fold assembly and the front panel of the trunk portion.
4. A garment according to claim 3 and further comprising a zipper extending in the at least one of the left hand side-fold assembly and the right hand side-fold assembly.
5. A garment according to claim 4, wherein the upper torso portion includes a pair of straps each connected to the front panel and the back panel of the trunk portion and operable to extend over a shoulder of a person wearing the garment.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 20, 2009
Publication Date: Apr 21, 2011
Inventor: Susan Isler (Black Mountain, NC)
Application Number: 12/582,100
International Classification: A41D 10/00 (20060101); A41D 1/00 (20060101);