EXERCISE PANTS WITH INTEGRAL UNDERGARMENT
A pair of workout pants having an integral undergarment tacked or fastened to the outer garment at a number of tacking or fastening points spaced along an upper periphery or upper margin of the underwear. In various embodiments, the outer garment may comprise full length, Capri style, or biking shorts length exercise pants preferably made out of moisture wicking material, cotton/spandex, or cotton/lycra, and having thong or brief style underwear built into the pants. The underwear are preferably tacked, buttoned, snapped, or otherwise fastened into the pants in five (5) locations—two (2) points in the front and three (3) in the rear. During exercise, the underwear is held in place relative to the outwardly visible upper edges of the garment so that the underwear remains substantially covered by the outer garment.
This disclosure relates generally to exercise or workout pants and, more particularly, in various embodiments, a pair of women's workout pants having an integral undergarment flexibly attached therein.
Various attempts have been made to provide apparel designs having integral undergarments therewith. For example, US 2007/0283484 A1 (Male underwear garment) by Wright and U.S. Pat. No. 5,978,971 A (Male boxer shorts with integrated male briefs) by Wald both disclose a pair of men's underwear consisting of a pair boxer style underwear having a pair of brief style underwear therein, with the two sewn together about the waistline of each.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,124,448 B2 (Pants construction stabilized by integral undergarment) by Davenport discloses a pants construction whereby the pants are worn far below the waist, exposing the undergarment, with the undergarment holding the pants from falling down.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,789,270 B1 (Combined surfing shorts and wet suit undergarment) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,665,882 B1 (Surfing shorts with wetsuit undergarment) by Pedrick disclose a wet suit undergarment and surfing shorts combination made of Neoprene or similarly insulated wet suit material.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,108,823 A (Interconnected undergarment and diaper combination) by Danes discloses an incontinence system consisting of a reusable undergarment and a disposable diaper which is removably fastened within the undergarment.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,599,769 A (Sport shorts) by MacRae et al. discloses a pair of shorts having brief style underwear fastened therein along the rear half of the waistlines of the shorts and underwear.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,034,312 A (Garment for boys) by Rubin discloses a pair of shorts having underwear fastened therein with elastic band material on each side of the waistbands of the shorts and underwear.
CH 645,520 (Article of underwear in the form of long-legged undertrousers) by Amberg discloses undertrousers detachably fitted in a pair of trousers using loops of material which vertically wrap around a band fastened along the waistband of the undertrousers.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,243,880 B1 (Athletic shorts having an inner liner), U.S. D463,091 S (Women's underwear/inner liner for athletic shorts), U.S. D461,622 (Men's underwear/inner liner for athletic shorts), and by U.S. Pat. No. 6,353,940 B1 (Underwear design for men) by Lyden disclose a pair of shorts having a particularly shaped brief style inner liner.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,586 (Athletic shorts with inner and outer layers) by Munjone discloses a pair of shorts having inner and outer layers affixed together at the waistband of the outer layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,550,288 B2 (Lower torso garment with integral panty and method of making same) by Browder, Jr. et al. discloses a lower torso garment having an integral briefs, with the waistband of the lower garment connecting together the lower garment and the integral briefs.
None of the prior attempts, however, provide suitable designs for a pair of women's workout pants with integral undergarment.
For a more complete understanding of the present invention, the drawings herein illustrate examples of the invention. The drawings, however, do not limit the scope of the invention. Similar references in the drawings indicate similar elements.
In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the preferred embodiments. However, those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details, that the present invention is not limited to the depicted embodiments, and that the present invention may be practiced in a variety of alternate embodiments. In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components, and systems have not been described in detail.
As an overview, designs are provided for a pair of workout pants having integral or built-in underwear, such as the workout pants with integral undergarment shown as 100 in
Preferably the undergarment 106 is tacked or fastened to the outer garment so that the wearer has freedom to exercise (run, stair step, weight-lift, Pilates, aerobics, stretching, etc.) without having to worry about “peek-a-boo” underwear. That is, during exercise the, for example, tacked-in underwear is held in place relative to the outwardly visible upper edges of the garment so that the underwear remains substantially covered by the outer garment. As will be described in greater detail below, the present inventor discovered that strategic placement of a minimal number of tacking points for fastening the undergarment to the outer pants provides desirable retention (i.e. hiding) of the undergarment material with minimal restriction to the range of relative motion between the outer pants and the undergarment as the wearer exercises.
As indicated,
Preferably, the pair of workout pants with integral undergarment as in
The present inventor determined that two tacking points, shown as tacking points 118 and 120, should preferably be positioned in the front, substantially aligned with pant leg 102 centerlines 132 and 130, respectively, which are substantially aligned with forward leg rotation about the pelvic area. Extensive forward leg rotation about the pelvic area (i.e. extending the leg forward and backward with repetition or when stretching so as to move the leg in relation to the pelvis in extreme positions forward and aft) tends to cause the undergarment 106 and outer pants material to move in relation to one another so as to result in undergarment material becoming visible from beneath the pants waistband 108. The present inventor discovered that positioning the front two tacking points 118 and 120 substantially aligned as shown in
The front two tacking or fastening points 118 and 120 may be spaced differently in lesser preferred embodiments. Or a different number of front tacking or fastening points may be used in lesser preferred embodiments. However, the present inventor discovered that fewer front tacking points or more than two front tacking points are less preferred for the workout pants with integral undergarment 100 designs disclosed herein.
The general proportional width of the waistband 108 between the upper margin 110 and lower margin 122 is preferably fairly wide, substantially as shown in
The present inventor determined that three (3) tacking points, shown as tacking points 112, 114, and 120, should preferably be positioned in the rear, spaced substantially as shown in
The rear three tacking or fastening points 112, 114, and 116 may be spaced differently in lesser preferred embodiments. Or a different number of rear tacking or fastening points may be used in lesser preferred embodiments. Or the substantially centrally positioned rear tacking point 114 may be eliminated in lesser preferred embodiments, with one such embodiment having only two tacking points positioned more closely toward one another than as shown in
The present inventor realized that additional stitching or seams interconnecting or sewing together the waistline portions of an outer garment and undergarment unnecessarily and disadvantageously restricts both the relative movement between the outer garment and the undergarment and the range of motion for the wearer of such garment. Further, designs for apparel incorporating built-in undergarments having interconnected or circumferentially seamed waistline material do not provide the wearer with the comfort, style or look, and flexibility of garments which function more closely to separate and independent outer and inner garments.
As indicated,
The lower margin 242 of the waistband 246, however, is only tacked or fastened to the upper margin 236 of the undergarment at the tacking points 212, 210, 214, 216, and 218 (and not along any upper margin portions 236, 238, 240, and 226 of the undergarment). To further illustrate the separation of the undergarment from the outer pants material except for attachment at the tacking points, hand or fingers 224 are shown in
In a similar manner, hands or fingers 220 and 222 are shown stretching the waistband 246 such that the upper margin 238 of the undergarment is shown tacked or fastened to the lower margin 242 of the waistband 246 at the three rear tacking or fastening points 212, 210, and 214. Likewise, the upper margin 240 of the undergarment is shown tacked or fastened at tacking or fastening point 216.
Also shown in
Preferably the undergarment is permanently tacked into the outer pants.
The tacking used, for example at tacking point 214, preferably comprises a minimal number and thickness of stitches, preferably only enough to securely retain the undergarment upper margin 238 to the lower margin 242 of the pants waistband 246. The tacking preferably is confined or limited to a small area or tacking point as shown in
Turning now to
The workout pants with removably integral undergarment 400 are shown in
In contrast to the thong style undergarment depicted in
Also shown in
The outer garment and undergarment are preferably constructed of materials suited for exercise and working out. Preferably the outer garment and undergarment are constructed of moisture wicking material, cotton/spandex, or cotton/lycra designed for exercise and workout apparel. The outer garment and undergarment need not, however, be made of the same or similar materials. For example, the outer pants garment may be constructed of a moisture wicking and highly stretchable (flexible) material, and the undergarment may be made of materials having a higher cotton content. Other variations may be used. Preferably, both the outer pants garment and integral undergarment are constructed of materials and of suitable arrangement and design to permit a wide range of relative motion between the outer pants and the tacked or fastened in undergarment when worn during exercise.
The terms and expressions which have been employed in the forgoing specification are used therein as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding equivalence of the features shown and described or portions thereof, it being recognized that the scope of the invention is defined and limited only by the claims which follow.
Claims
1. A pair of workout pants flexibly wearable during exercise involving full range movement of one or both of the wearer's legs in relation to one another and in relation to the wearer's pelvis and lower torso, said workout pants comprising:
- (a) a waistband having an upper margin and a lower margin opposite said upper margin;
- (b) leg covering material extending downwardly away from said waistband lower margin and said waistband upper margin, said leg material extending to a length below the wearer's knee;
- (c) an undergarment having an upper margin circumferentially sized to fit within said waistband lower margin and having leg openings for the wearer's legs;
- (d) two front tacking points spaced laterally apart from one another along a front portion of said undergarment upper margin; and
- (e) three rear tacking points spaced laterally apart from one another along a rear portion of said undergarment upper margin, each of said two front tacking points and said three rear tacking points flexibly retaining said undergarment upper margin to said waistband lower margin so as to prevent said undergarment upper margin from extending upward beyond said waistband upper margin during periods of exercise and flexibly permitting independent movement of said undergarment within said pair of workout pants except proximate each of said two front tacking points and said three rear tacking points.
2. The workout pants of claim 1, wherein each of said two front tacking points is aligned with a centerline of a leg of said workout pants.
3. The workout pants of claim 1, wherein said three rear tacking points are evenly spaced along said rear portion of said undergarment upper margin.
4. The workout pants of claim 1, wherein said undergarment is permanently tacked in said workout pants at each of said two front and said three rear tacking points.
5. The workout pants of claim 1, wherein said undergarment is removably tacked in said workout pants at each of said two front and said three rear tacking points using removable fasteners.
6. The workout pants of claim 5, wherein said removable fasteners are buttons.
7. The workout pants of claim 5, wherein said removable fasteners are snaps.
8. The workout pants of claim 1, wherein said undergarment comprises thong style underwear.
9. The workout pants of claim 1, wherein said undergarment comprises brief style underwear.
10. The workout pants of claim 1, wherein a width between said waistband upper margin and said waistband lower margin is at least one inch.
11. The workout pants of claim 1, wherein said waistband lower margin includes a ridge of material flexibly extending away from said waistband and flexibly extending away from said leg material.
12. The workout pants of claim 11, wherein said two front and said three rear tacking points are positioned on said ridge of material.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 27, 2010
Publication Date: Jul 28, 2011
Inventor: Janine Partovi (Portland, OR)
Application Number: 12/694,940
International Classification: A41B 9/04 (20060101); A41F 9/00 (20060101); A41D 27/00 (20060101);