Athletic Apparel

Abstract

An article of athletic apparel comprises a substantially tubular body portion having a first area of a first material adjacent at least one second area of a second material substantially more hydrophilic than the first material.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Perspiration during athletic competition or general exercise is a common occurrence. Such perspiration is inconvenient for many reasons. It may interfere with vision, dexterity, and may cause lingering odor or the appearance of unkemptness that may be undesirable to the perspiring athlete.

Often times, a perspiring athlete will carry around a towel or other implement to wipe his face, hands or other perspiring parts of his body so as to avoid these undesirable occurrences. When that athlete is engaged in competition such as a basketball match, this generally requires the athlete take a break from the match to retrieve his towel and wipe the offending areas. In such a situation, this may be unavoidable, as perspiration may interfere with his vision and/or grip on the ball, affecting his play. Such interruptions may impede the athlete's ability to maintain a steady workout.

Thus, many athletes elect to forgo the break, instead choosing to rid themselves of lingering perspiration by quickly wiping their hands and face on whatever shirt or shorts they are currently wearing. This often results in less than optimal removal of perspiration as traditional athletic apparel is not particularly absorbent. Furthermore, making the apparel more absorbent would tend to decrease the apparel's ability to breathe, thus making it uncomfortably hot for the athlete and leading to more perspiration.

It is therefore desirable to provide athletic apparel which a user may use to wipe his hands and face, but which maintains an overall breathable quality.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An article of athletic apparel is described herein that overcomes the limitations noted above. A body member comprised substantially of a first material is provided with patches of a second material that is more absorbent than the first material. The patches are located in areas of the apparel that are easily and efficiently accessible by the hands and face of the user. Thus, a user may use these patches rid themselves of perspiration while staying relatively cool.

The primary objective of this invention is to provide athletic apparel which a user may use to wipe his hands and face, but which maintains an overall breathable quality.

Another objective of this invention is to provide athletic apparel having a first material and at least one patch of second material adjacent thereto, the second material being substantially more absorbent than the first material.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the presently described apparatus and method of its use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

Illustrated in the accompanying drawing(s) is at least one of the best mode embodiments of the present invention In such drawing(s):

FIG. 1 illustrates schematic view of a shirt according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic view of a pair of shorts according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The above described drawing figures illustrate the described invention and method of use in at least one of its preferred, best mode embodiment, which is further defined in detail in the following description. Those having ordinary skill in the art may be able to make alterations and modifications to what is described herein without departing from its spirit and scope. Therefore, it should be understood that what is illustrated is set forth only for the purposes of example and should not be taken as a limitation on the scope of the present apparatus and its method of use.

An article of athletic apparel comprises a body portion 10 having a first area 30 comprising a first material and at least one second area 40 comprising a second material that is substantially more hydrophilic than the first material.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the body portion may be a shirt 10 substantially tubular construction. The shirt may comprise a vertical body for containing the torso of a user, and opposing horizontal sleeves extending therefrom for containing the user's shoulders and arms.

The body portion is comprised mainly of the first area 30. The first area 30 may be constructed of one piece of material, or more likely, may be assembled from multiple pieces. The material of construction is the first material, which may be a natural or synthetic fabric of lightweight, breathable, durable and/or inexpensive construction. It is preferable that lightweight cotton of the type typically associated with athletic shirts comprise the first material.

While the body portion 10 is comprised mainly of the first area 30, there is at least one second area 40 adjacent to the first area 30. In other words, while the shirt is mainly comprised of the first material, it also comprises patches of the second material. This second material is preferably a towel-like material such as cotton flannel, terry cloth, or other material that is more absorbent than the first material.

The areas of second material 40 are located on the shirt 10 so as to permit the user to efficiently locate and use the second material 40 to wipe perspiration from the user's face and hands. This is important because it allows the user to rid himself of performance interfering perspiration without having to stop an athletic contest to do it.

The second material 40 may be located at opposing lateral sides 12 of the shirt. This may provide the user with a convenient place to wipe perspiration and/or other unwanted substances from his hands.

The second material may be located at a lower frontal region 14 of the shirt. In addition to providing the user with a place to wipe his hands, this location may be extended to the face to be used in ridding a user of face perspiration and/or other unwanted substances.

The second material may be located at opposing sleeves 16 of the shirt. The second material may comprise the entire sleeve, or only a portion—preferably a shoulder portion—thereof. Thus, the user may extend the second material to his face to rid himself of unwanted perspiration and/or other substances.

It will be appreciated that while the present embodiment is preferably practiced with shirts having sleeves, the present invention is applicable to tank tops and other sleeveless shirts. In such embodiments, the second material may be placed approximately at the shoulder area of such shirts so that the user may extend the shoulder area to wipe his face or neck area. The present invention is also applicable to long sleeve shirts, for example sweaters and hoodies. Furthermore, while the embodiments described above identify specific locations for the second material, one or more of said locations may be utilized in combination with each other, or with any other locations on the athletic apparel body portion. For example, a long sleeve embodiment may have a second area extending from the wrist to the elbow of the shirt.

Additionally, at least one of the first and second areas may comprise at least one of an interior surface of the shirt and an exterior surface of the shirt. Preferably the second material

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the body portion 20 may be athletic shorts of substantially tubular construction. The shorts or pants may comprise a pair of pant legs converging at a waist section for containing the user's crotch are and legs.

Similar to the shirt, the body portion of the shorts may be comprised mainly of the first area 30. The first area 30 may be constructed of one piece of material, or more likely, may be assembled from multiple pieces. The material of construction is the first material, which may be a natural or synthetic fabric of lightweight, breathable, durable and/or inexpensive construction. It is preferable that lightweight polyester of the type typically associated with athletic shorts comprise the first material.

While the body portion 20 is comprised mainly of the first area 30, there is at least one second area 40 adjacent to the first area. In other words, while the shorts are mainly comprised of the first material, they also comprises patches of the second material. This second material is preferably a towel-like material such as cotton flannel, terry cloth, or other material that is more absorbent than the first material.

The areas of second material are located on the shorts so as to permit the user to efficiently locate and use the second material to wipe perspiration from the user's hands. This is important because it allows the user to rid himself of performance interfering perspiration without having to stop an athletic contest to do it.

The second material may be located at opposing lateral sides 22 of the shorts. This may provide the user with a convenient place to wipe perspiration and/or other unwanted substances from his hands.

It will be appreciated that while the present embodiment is preferably practiced with shorts, the present invention is applicable to pants, for example sweat pants or warm-ups. In such embodiments, the second material may be placed approximately at the opposing lateral sides of such pants so that the user may wipe perspiration from his hands. Furthermore, while the embodiments described above identify specific locations for the second material, one or more of said locations may be utilized in combination with each other, or with any other locations on the athletic apparel body portion.

The enablements described in detail above are considered novel over the prior art of record and are considered critical to the operation of at least one aspect of the invention and to the achievement of the above described objectives. The words used in this specification to describe the instant embodiments are to be understood not only in the sense of their commonly defined meanings, but to include by special definition in this specification: structure, material or acts beyond the scope of the commonly defined meanings Thus if an element can be understood in the context of this specification as including more than one meaning, then its use must be understood as being generic to all possible meanings supported by the specification and by the word or words describing the element.

The definitions of the words or drawing elements described herein are meant to include not only the combination of elements which are literally set forth, but all equivalent structure, material or acts for performing substantially the same function in substantially the same way to obtain substantially the same result. In this sense it is therefore contemplated that an equivalent substitution of two or more elements may be made for any one of the elements described and its various embodiments or that a single element may be substituted for two or more elements in a claim.

Changes from the claimed subject matter as viewed by a person with ordinary skill in the art, now known or later devised, are expressly contemplated as being equivalents within the scope intended and its various embodiments. Therefore, obvious substitutions now or later known to one with ordinary skill in the art are defined to be within the scope of the defined elements. This disclosure is thus meant to be understood to include what is specifically illustrated and described above, what is conceptually equivalent, what can be obviously substituted, and also what incorporates the essential ideas.

The scope of this description is to be interpreted only in conjunction with the appended claims and it is made clear, here, that the named inventor believes that the claimed subject matter is what is intended to be patented.

Claims

1. An article of athletic apparel comprising:

a substantially tubular body portion having a first area of a first material adjacent at least one second area of a second material;

wherein the second material is substantially more hydrophilic than the first material.

2. The article of athletic apparel of claim 1, wherein the body portion comprises a shirt.

3. The article of athletic apparel of claim 2, wherein the second area comprises opposing lateral sides of the shirt.

4. The article of athletic apparel of claim 2, wherein the second area comprises a lower frontal portion of the shirt.

5. The article of athletic apparel of claim 2, wherein the second area comprises opposing front shoulder portions.

6. The article of athletic apparel of claim 1, wherein the body portion comprises shorts.

7. The article of athletic apparel of claim 6, wherein the second area comprises opposing lateral sides of the shorts.

8. The article of athletic apparel of claim 1, wherein the body portion comprises pants.

9. The article of athletic apparel of claim 8, wherein the second area comprises opposing lateral sides of the pants.