Pants/Slacks/Jeans with Personal Hygiene Pocket

Abstract

A pair of women's or ladies' pants, e.g., slacks or blue jeans, are provided with a small pocket sewn onto the pocket facing of one of the side pockets or front pockets, and configured to accommodate a feminine hygiene product such as a tampon. The personal pocket allows the personal hygiene product to be carried discreetly concealed, but readily available when needed. The personal pocket is oriented so as to align the tampon comfortably with the natural crease formed by the wearer's upper leg and torso, and may optionally have a closure.

Description

The invention is related to women's slacks, to include pants, jeans, Capris, shorts and other similar clothing articles, and is more specifically directed to such apparel with a personal hygiene pocket affixed thereto.

Women regularly need to use a tampon and to keep a spare tampon with them so it is available. Often she may need to have another personal hygiene product of about the same dimension. In a casual setting, where the woman is wearing jeans, slacks, or shorts, she may not be carrying a purse or bag with room enough for the spare tampon or other personal hygiene item. Rather, many women in these casual settings only carry cellular phone and a small wallet to hold credit cards, driver's license, and a small amount of currency. There is a need for a stylish, unobtrusive way to carry such item(s) where the tampon or other personal hygiene item can be easily accessed when needed, and without obstructing normal movements when walking, standing, or sitting.

Our solution to the foregoing is to position a tampon pocket, of suitable dimensions and orientation, onto the existing side pocket (or pockets) of a pair of women's pants, e.g., casual slacks, jeans, Capris or shorts.

Typically, a tampon may be encased in a tubular applicator, i.e., a cardboard or plastic tube, and wrapped in a sealed, sanitary paper wrapper sleeve. These packages may be about 4 to 5 inches long and about ¾ inch in diameter. Some tampons come in an extendible applicator, shorter than those discussed just above, but up to an inch in diameter. Digital tampons are similar, but do not have an applicator or wrapper sleeve. The tampon pocket is designed to hold any of these. The tampon pocket serves as a place for the woman to keep the tampon or other hygiene product. The article will be handy, but not obvious nor obtrusive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A personal pocket for a personal hygiene product is favorably constructed of the same cloth material as the slacks or jeans, and is sewn onto the front (or side) pocket. The personal pocket is favorably about five (5) inches long and one-and-one-half (1½) inches wide (this can vary) and is oriented at about a 45° angle relative to the waist band of the slacks or jeans, and spaced inward from the side seam. The angle can vary but should be favorably withing ±15° of 45°, and normally about 40 to 50°. The bottom end of the personal pocket is sewn into the bottom edge of the pants pocket facing, and the sides are SGL needle edge-stitched to the pocket facing. The upper end is left open.

The orientation allows for the tampon or similarly shaped and dimensioned article to be stored in the pocket and also allows the user to sit comfortably as the angle aligns generally with the natural crease formed between torso and upper leg.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a side view of the personal pocket of an embodiment of this invention sewn onto the pocket facing of a side pocket of a pair of slacks or jeans.

FIG. 2 illustrates the personal pocket positioned in the front or side pocket of a pair of jeans.

FIG. 3 shows the personal pocket on the pair of jeans, with a personal hygiene product being inserted or removed.

FIG. 4 is a front elevation of a pair of ladies' blue jeans that shows the personal pocket of this invention embodied therein.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are alternative embodiments of the personal pocket of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to the Drawing, the personal pocket 10 is shown in FIG. 1 as a rectangular piece 22 of cloth sewn at a given angle (approximately 45°) onto a pocket facing 20 for a pair of ladies' slacks or jeans. The rectangular piece is sewn around its side edges and its lower edge which is aligned with the lower or inner edge 24 of the pocket facing 20. An upper edge 12 is open. The resulting personal pocket 10 is about 5 inches (12.7 cm) in length with a width of about 1½ inches (3.8 cm). The length and width can vary from these dimensions, but should be sufficient size to hold a standard tampon, in its individual case and packaging.

As seen in FIG. 2, the pocket 10 should be positioned within the front pocket 16 of the jeans 14 (or other ladies' pants), so that the open upper edge 12 is above the front of the pocket near the waistband 18, and at an angle relative to the waistband 18.

As seen in FIG. 3, the personal pocket 10 is configured to hold a standard-size tampon 30 (or other personal hygiene item) with its wrap or packaging, with enough room so that it can be easily inserted into the pocket or removed from the pocket 10. When inserted into the personal pocket 10, the tampon 30 is oriented so that it aligns with a natural crease that forms between the wearer's upper leg and her torso, which is an optimal position not to interfere with the wearer's sitting, standing, or walking. The pocket 10 is also long enough to completely conceal the tampon 30 so that it is not noticeable.

As shown in FIG. 4, the personal pocket 10 may have a square upper edge 12, but other embodiments may have a different shape. Also FIG. 4 shows the pocket 10 oriented at a given angle θ, which may favorably be about 45 degrees from the vertical and 45 degrees relative to the waistband 18, which represents the horizontal. This angle θ can vary depending on the cut or style of the pants, but should match the angle at which the wearer's upper leg and torso or abdomen meet so as to follow the natural crease as discussed before. As shown in FIG. 5, an alternative personal pocket 110 is shown with a concave or scalloped upper edge 112, and in FIG. 6 another alternative personal pocket 210 is shown with a convex curved or tab upper edge 212. The length and width of the personal pockets may vary, with the width between about one-and-one-half and two-and-one half inches and the length between about four-and-one-half and six-and-one-half inches. This may vary depending on the stiffiess of the material and other factors. The pocket 10, 110, 210 etc., may have a closure such as a snap or hook-and-loop material.

While this invention is shown here with respect to a preferred embodiment, the invention should not be limited to that embodiment, but the scope of this invention is to be measured in terms of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A pair of women's slacks or jeans formed of a fabric and comprising a waist band and at least one side pocket, the side pocket having a pocket-facing formed of said fabric and having a lower edge; and

a personal pocket configured to removably hold a packaged personal hygiene item; the pocket being formed of said fabric, and being dimensioned substantially 5 inches long and 1½ inches wide, and having sides and a lower edge sewn onto said pocket-facing and oriented at a predetermined angle relative to said waistband.

2. The women's slacks or jeans of claim 1 wherein said personal pocket is oriented between 40 and 50 degrees relative to said waistband.

3. The women's slacks or jeans of claim 1 wherein said personal pocket is oriented at substantially 45 degrees relative to said waistband.

4. The women's slacks or jeans of claim 1 wherein the lower edge of said personal pocket is substantially aligned with the lower edge of said pocket-facing.