WEIGHTED EXERCISE GARMENT

Abstract

A garment may comprise a wearable portion and one or more pockets on the wearable portion for holding one or more weights. The one or more pockets may each include elastic straps within an interior of each of the one or more pockets for securing the one or more weights within each of the one or more pockets, a flap for enclosing an opening of each of the one or more pockets, and an enclosure mechanism for securing the flap when enclosing the opening of the one or more pockets.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. provisional patent application no. 61/375,591 filed Aug. 20, 2010, and incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to garments, and more particularly relates to a garment wearable by a user and having pockets where weights may be placed to increase resistance for the user.

Currently, obesity has become a national crisis in the United States. Ever increasing work hours and long commutes often make it difficult if not impossible for people to set aside time to workout or exercise.

As can be seen, there is a need for ways to help a person stay fit during the course of everyday activities without the need to carve out time to exercise.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect of the present invention, a garment comprises a wearable portion; and one or more pockets on the wearable portion for holding one or more weights, the one or more pockets each including: elastic straps within an interior of each of the one or more pockets for securing the one or more weights within each of the one or more pockets, a flap for enclosing an opening of each of the one or more pockets, and an enclosure mechanism for securing the flap when enclosing the opening of the one or more pockets.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a weighted baseball cap in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a detail elevation view of the weighted baseball cap of FIG. 1 with parts broken away, indicated by line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the weighted baseball cap of FIG. 1 taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the weighted baseball cap of FIG. 1 taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of weighted footwear in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of a weighted necktie in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 shows a detail perspective view of weights for use in weighted exercise garments in accordance with another embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.

Various inventive features are described below that can each be used independently of one another or in combination with other features.

Broadly, embodiments of the present invention generally provide weighted garments that may be worn by a user during the course of everyday activities to improve the general health and physical conditioning of the user without having to carve out time to exercise.

By placing a desired amount of weights into garments and by wearing the now weighted garments, the user may be able to get into better shape during the course of a normal day. The user may be able to simply adjust the desired level of resistance by adding or taking out weights from the garments, or by wearing more or less pieces of weighted garments.

With reference to FIG. 1, a garment may be worn by a user in which weights may be added to a wearable portion of the garment to provide additional resistance for the user. The wearable portion of the garment may be headwear such as a baseball cap 11 having one or more pockets 10 directly on the exterior portion 12 of the cap 11 for accepting one or more weights (not shown). For example, the one or more pockets 10 may be sewn directly on the exterior portion 12 of the cap 11. The cap 11 may also have a variety of different-sized pockets 10 on various locations of the cap 11.

The pockets 10 on the cap 11 may each have a flap 14 for enclosing the one or more weights (not shown) within the pockets 10, and the flap 14 may have an enclosure mechanism 16, such as a snap enclosure mechanism or a hook and pile system to secure the flap 14 when it is in a closed position.

The cap 11 may be made of any suitable material, including but not limited to cotton, polyester, spandex, swede, lace, or leather. The cap 11 may be of any appropriate size as needed.

With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, weights 18 may be secured within the pockets 10 via one or more elastic bands 20 within the pockets 10. For example, the elastic bands 20 may wrap around at least a portion of the weights 18.

With reference to FIG. 4, the flap 14 of the pocket 10 may be double layered via use of an interior material 13, thus offering additional protection and buffering when weights 18 are placed inside the pocket 10. The weights 18 may be rectangular in shape, or may be any other appropriate shape. The weights 18 may also be magnetic so that multiple weights 18 may be secure together and placed within a single pocket 10.

With reference to FIG. 5, the wearable portion of the garment may be footwear such as shoes 22, having one or more pockets 10 directly on the exterior portion 24 of the shoe 22. For example, the one or more pockets 10 may be sewn directly onto the exterior portion 24 of the shoe. The pockets 10 on the shoes 22 may each have a flap 14 for enclosing one or more weights (not shown) within the pockets 10, and the flap 14 may have an enclosure mechanism 16, such as a snap enclosure mechanism or a hook and pile system to secure the flap 14 when it is in a closed position. Weights may be secured within the pocket 10 via one or more elastic bands (not shown) inside the pocket 10. For example, the elastic bands may wrap around at least a portion of the weights.

The shoes 22 may be made of any suitable material, including but not limited to cotton, polyester, spandex, swede, lace, or leather. The shoes 22 may be of any appropriate size as needed.

With reference to FIG. 6, the wearable portion of the garment may be a necktie 26 having one or more pockets 10 directly on the exterior portion 28 (such as the portion of the necktie 26 that faces outwards when it is tied on a user) of the necktie 26. For example, the one or more pockets 10 may be sewn directly onto the exterior portion 28 of the necktie 26. The pockets 10 on the necktie 26 may each have a flap 14 for enclosing one or more weights (not shown) within the pockets 10, and the flap 14 may have an enclosure mechanism 16, such as a snap enclosure mechanism or hook and pile system to secure the flap 14 when it is in a closed position. Weights may be secured within the pocket 10 via one or more elastic bands (not shown) inside the pocket 10. For example, the elastic bands may wrap around at least a portion of the weights.

The necktie 26 may be made of any suitable material, including but not limited to cotton, polyester, spandex, swede, lace, or leather. The necktie 26 may be of any appropriate size as needed.

With reference to FIG. 7, interlockable weights 30 may be placed into the pockets of the garments described above. Interlockable weights 30 may be weights that may be designed that they have a protruding portion 32 and a slot 34, wherein the protruding portion 32 of one weight 30 may fit into the slot 34 of another weight 30. The interlocking nature of the weights 30 may help to prevent the weights 30 from bouncing around loosely in the garments 30 of the garments described above, thus increasing comfort and lessening the chance of injury for the user wearing the garment. The interlockable weights 30 may also be magnetic, to aid in securing multiple weights together.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

Claims

1. A garment comprising:

a wearable portion; and

one or more pockets on the wearable portion for holding one or more weights, the one or more pockets each including: elastic straps within an interior of each of the one or more pockets for securing the one or more weights within each of the one or more pockets, a double-layered flap for enclosing an opening of each of the one or more pockets, the double-layered flap having an interior material adapted to provide protection and buffering when the one or more weights are disposed in the one or more pockets, and an enclosure mechanism for securing the flap when enclosing the opening of the one or more pockets.

2. The garment of claim 1, further comprising the one or more weights.

3. The garment of claim 2, wherein the one or more weights include a plurality of interlocakable weights.

4. The garment of claim 1, wherein the wearable portion comprises headwear that is directly wearable on the user's head.

5. The garment of claim 4, wherein the headwear comprises a baseball cap.

6. The garment of claim 1, wherein the wearable portion comprises a necktie.

7. The garment of claim 1, wherein the wearable portion comprises footwear.

8. The garment of claim 7, wherein the footwear comprises shoes.

9. The garment of claim 1, wherein the flap is situated on an exterior region of the wearable portion.

10. The garment of claim 1, wherein the one or more pockets are sewn directly on to the wearable portion.

11. A garment comprising:

a wearable portion;

one or more pockets on the wearable portion; and

one or more weights adapted to be disposed in the one or more pockets, wherein

the one or more weights are interlocking weights having a protruding portion and a slot; and

the one or more pockets each including:

elastic straps within an interior of each of the one or more pockets for securing the one or more weights within each of the one or more pockets,

a flap for enclosing an opening of each of the one or more pockets, and

an enclosure mechanism for securing the flap when enclosing the opening of the one or more pockets.

12. The garment of claim 11, wherein the wearable portion comprises headwear that is directly wearable on the user's head.

13. The garment of claim 12, wherein the headwear comprises a baseball cap.

14. The garment of claim 11, wherein the wearable portion comprises a necktie.

15. The garment of claim 11, wherein the wearable portion comprises footwear.

16. The garment of claim 15, wherein the footwear comprises shoes.

17. The garment of claim 11, wherein the flap is situated on an exterior region of the wearable portion.

18. The garment of claim 11, wherein the one or more pockets are sewn directly on to the wearable portion.

19. A garment comprising:

a wearable portion, wherein the wearable portion includes a necktie, footwear and headwear; and

one or more pockets on the wearable portion for holding one or more weights, the one or more pockets each including: elastic straps within an interior of each of the one or more pockets for securing the one or more weights within each of the one or more pockets, a double-layered flap for enclosing an opening of each of the one or more pockets, the double-layered flap having an interior material adapted to provide protection and buffering when the one or more weights are disposed in the one or more pockets, and an enclosure mechanism for securing the flap when enclosing the opening of the one or more pockets.

20. The garment of claim 19, wherein:

wherein the headwear comprises a baseball cap; and

the footwear comprises shoes.