Outdoor Pants For Women
A relief opening for a pair of women's pants, the opening formed in a center relief panel joining leg portions of the pants in at least a downward-facing central portion of the crotch area. The relief panel includes two separable and overlapping layers or flaps of fabric over at least a center portion of the panel in the downward-facing central portion of the crotch region of the panel. Each separable flap has an unattached, reinforced relief seam or edge facing and adjacent the opposite leg, each relief seam over- or under-lapping the other separable flap. At rest, the relief seams are positioned on opposite sides of a centerline of the center relief panel, and the flaps are closed, such that the center portion of the panel generally appears and functions as a single, solid, closed panel from at least the front and back of the pants. When the relief seams are pulled apart, the flaps are separated along the narrowed center portion of the panel to create a generally ovoid opening in the crotch area, positioned for a woman's anatomy during urination.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Nos. 61/751,580 and 61/870,616 filed Jan. 11, 2013 and Aug. 27, 2013, respectively, by the same inventor (Namy), the entireties of which provisional applications are hereby incorporated by reference.
FIELDThe subject matter of the present application is in the field of clothing for women, in particular active wear for outdoor activities.
BACKGROUNDWomen generally find it more inconvenient than men to relieve themselves when outdoors, because the need to remove pants and undergarments to do so leaves them more exposed. One solution has been to provide outdoor-oriented pants or shorts with a relief opening centered in the crotch between the front and back of the pants. For modesty and weather protection, the relief opening is closeable with a mechanical closure such as snaps, hook-and-loop, or a zipper.
Such relief openings generally seem to provide closures along leg seams, with the added snaps, zips, etc. located at the junctions of the flaps/panels with the normal pant seams. Problems with such solutions include unsightly lines; unwanted visibility of the relief feature; bulk and discomfort between the legs, especially for active pursuits like hiking, running, and biking; and potential seam failure with the introduction of snaps, zips, etc. into the seams of the pants at natural stress points.
BRIEF SUMMARYI have invented a pant with a woman-specific relief opening in the crotch that solves the foregoing problems with the prior art. My opening is believed to be simpler, less expensive, more comfortable, less visible, more durable, and more practical than prior pants with relief openings for women.
My pants include leg portions joined by a center relief panel. The relief panel includes two separable and overlapping layers or flaps of fabric over at least a center portion of the panel in a downward-facing (central) crotch region of the panel. Each separable flap has an unattached, reinforced relief seam facing and adjacent the opposite leg, each relief seam over- or under-lapping the other separable flap. At rest, the relief seams are positioned on opposite sides of a centerline of the center relief panel, and the flaps are closed, such that at least a center portion of the panel generally appears and functions as a single, solid, closed panel when viewed from the front and back of the pants. When the relief seams are pulled apart, the flaps are separated along at least a center portion of the panel to create a generally ovoid opening in the crotch area, positioned for a woman's anatomy during urination.
In a further form, the outermost relief seam (on the outer separable flap) coincides with the pant seam where the inner separable flap is attached to a leg of the pant, in order to visually minimize the outermost relief seam.
In a further form, at least the outermost relief seam terminates at points in the central region of the center relief panel, so that the points are generally downward-facing when the pants are worn, further minimizing the visibility of the relief seam.
In a further form, at least the outermost relief seam is reinforced in a manner that makes it appear as a normal attached seam.
In a further form, at least one of the relief seams has a contour with a greater angle or degree of curvature than that of the panel edge of which it is a part.
My invention includes two embodiments. A first embodiment uses a full-length, substantially rectangular center relief panel running through the crotch region of the pants, with two outer edge seams running from a center region of the front hem to a center region of the rear hem. A second embodiment uses a shorter, partial-length, gusset-type panel with two outer edge seams that terminate at front and rear points on front and rear center seams extending upwardly from the panel ends to the front and rear hem.
In one form of the first embodiment, the full-length relief panel includes a narrower center portion in a downward-facing (central) crotch region of the panel, the narrowed center portion including the two separable and overlapping flaps of fabric.
In one form of the second embodiment, the partial-length relief panel includes a wider center portion. The entirety of the inner and outer layers of panel fabric may be separable. Alternately, separability of the inner and outer layers of panel fabric to form a relief opening may be limited to the wider center region.
These and other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description below, in light of the accompanying drawings.
Referring first to
Relief panel 20 is located between and connects the legs 15 of the pants 10 at seams 32, 42. When incorporated into a pair of pants 10, the relief panel 20 has a front portion 22 corresponding to the front of the pants, a narrowed center portion 24 located at the generally downward-facing central portion of the crotch area between the legs, and a rear portion 26 (essentially identical to 22) on the rear-facing seat of the pants. Relief panel 20 is preferably made from the same fabric as the remainder of pants 10, or from a fabric that matches the color of the remainder of the pants.
Relief panel 20 has an at least partially two-layer construction, in the illustrated embodiment a full two-layer construction best shown in
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As in
Relief panel 120 has an at least partially two-layer construction, in the illustrated embodiment a full two-layer construction best shown in
Although the respective overlying edges 132, 144 and 142, 134 of panel 120 are shown in the illustrated example with similar proportions and angles relative to one another, it should be understood that the sewn outer edges 132, 142 could be differently shaped or angled relative to their respective inner, panel-opening edges 134, 144. Also, although the illustrated example shows generally ovoid panel 120 terminating at single points 123 and 127 on single center front and back seams 122 and 126, it would also be possible to “flatten” the ends of the ovoid panel 120 so that the ends of the panel have two points joining two front seams 122 and two back seams 126.
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Panel-opening edge 134 remains un-sewn to the adjacent pant leg 15 at least over its central relief opening area 136, which may be reinforced over some or all of its length with a stiffener, extra layer of fabric, piping, or other known techniques at 136a to make it easier to find and manipulate with the fingers. In the illustrated example, panel-opening edge 134 remains un-sewn to the pant leg over only the central portion 136 of its length, but edge 134 may be left unsewn substantially over its entire length between points 123 and 127, in order to create a bigger relief opening. Panel-opening edge 134 of the outer panel layer 130 is shown substantially aligned with the underlying sewn edge 142 of the inner panel to help camouflage the relief-oriented nature of the panel 120. It is also possible to have panel-opening edge 134 positioned inwardly of underlying inner panel sewn edge 142, i.e. closer to the centerline x of panel 20 from front to back.
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It should be understood that the spacing of outer panel-opening edge 134 from underlying sewn edge 142 in
Operation will be described with reference to the first embodiment of
During normal wear of a pair of pants 10 incorporating relief panel 20, the relief opening edges 36 and 46 in the central area of the outer and inner flaps 30 and 40 remain closed and relatively unnoticeable to a casual observer. When a woman wearing pants 10 needs to relieve herself where it is inconvenient to pull her pants down, she can simply pull and hold the opening flaps apart to create the opening 50 illustrated in
It is envisioned that pants 10 with the inventive relief panel be primarily used without underwear, for greater ease of use when relieving oneself. To complement this use, it is desirable to line the inside surface of the inner flap 40 with a soft, non-chafing material such as terry or fleece. Alternately, a hung liner of soft, non-chafing material might be added to the interior of the pants overlying the inner flap 40, capable of being pulled out of the way when the relief panel is opened; such liners are known in bathing suits, for example.
The inventive relief panel 20 and its closure-free opening 50 defined by edges 36 and 46 (and optionally by additional unsewn portions of 34 and 44) is simple, comfortable, discreet, easy to operate, provides a wide opening, and is generally hidden from view both by its location and the manner in which the panel layers are overlapped and attached to the pants. The same is true of panel 120 and its opening 150.
It will finally be understood that the disclosed embodiments represent presently preferred examples of how to make and use the invention, but are intended to enable rather than limit the invention. Variations and modifications of the illustrated examples in the foregoing written specification and drawings may be possible without departing from the scope of the invention. It should further be understood that to the extent the term “invention” is used in the written specification, it is not to be construed as a limiting term as to number of claimed or disclosed inventions or discoveries or the scope of any such invention or discovery, but as a term which has long been conveniently and widely used to describe new and useful improvements in science and the useful arts. The scope of the invention supported by the above disclosure should accordingly be construed within the scope of what it teaches and suggests to those skilled in the art, and within the scope of any claims that the above disclosure supports in this application or in any other application claiming priority to this application.
Claims
1. In a pair of women's pants comprising two legs, a front, a back, a waist, and a crotch region, a women's relief feature comprising:
- a relief panel joining the two legs over at least a downward-facing central portion of the crotch region, the relief panel comprising overlapping and at least partially separable layers or flaps of fabric including respective relief portions that are separable over at least a center portion of the panel in the downward-facing central portion of the crotch, each panel comprising an unsewn relief edge portion facing and adjacent the opposite leg, each unsewn relief edge portion over- or under-lapping the other separable flap, such that in an at-rest condition the relief edge portions are positioned on opposite sides of a longitudinal centerline of the relief panel, and the flaps are closed, and the relief edges may be pulled apart along the center portion of the panel to create a generally ovoid opening in the crotch area positioned for a woman's anatomy during urination.
2. The women's relief feature of claim 1, wherein the relief panel comprises a full-length, substantially rectangular center relief panel running through the crotch region of the pants, the relief panel comprising two outer edges running from a center region of the front hem to a center region of the rear hem.
3. The women's relief feature of claim 2, wherein the full-length relief panel includes a narrower center portion in the downward-facing central portion of the crotch region, the narrowed center portion including the separable portions of the inner and outer panels.
4. The women's relief feature of claim 1, wherein the relief panel comprises a partial-length, gusset-type panel comprising two outer edge seams that terminate at front and rear ends on front and rear center seams of the pants extending upwardly from the panel ends to the front and rear waist.
5. The women's relief feature of claim 4, wherein the two outer edge seams terminate at front and rear points on front and rear center seams of the pants extending upwardly from the panel ends to the front and rear waist.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 11, 2013
Publication Date: Jul 17, 2014
Inventor: Linda S. Namy (Hancock, VT)
Application Number: 14/103,389
International Classification: A41D 1/06 (20060101);