Weatherguard jersey

[57] ABSTRACT

A garment usable as an outer jersey having pockets with heating elements embedded therein for maintaining the hands of the wearer sufficiently warm.

Claims, 6 Drawing Figures

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Patented May 16, 1972

Sheets-Sheet 1

3,663,797

<img file="US3663797A_D0002.tif" />

Patented May 16, 1972

Sheets-Sheet 2

<img file="US3663797A_D0003.tif" />

/WENTO/Z, fibSCCE

M, λττοεμευέ

3,663,797

WEATHERGUARD JERSEY

This invention relates generally to a garment usable as ajersey and, more particularly, to such a jersey having pockets fend^{11 areembedded with} heating elements to maintain the hands of the wearer comfortably warm.

In cold and sub-zero weather, it is not uncommon for the Participants of outdoor sports to seek warm shelter for their “ by either placing them temporarily inside some portion teXt ve ° ⁸^{rubbing Λβιη together}· As an al- 10 tentative, gloves or mittens have been provided for the jersey his handS ^{Υ in footba11} ^o may at least have his hands covered by placing them in the pockets or mittens to insulate them from the cold outside while the play of the game not proceeding. Although the wearer of such a jersey may 15 welcome the provision of such pockets or mittens, they have wlrminTto ‘° ,^substa^tially ^adequate in sufficiently warming the wearer s hands in the short time available for using the pockets during the course ofthe game. The design of these pockets or mittens has been therefore vastly improved ²⁰emfeddVd Z ^pr6sent,^{invention b}y simply providing them with embedded heating elements electrically attached to a power source which is also worn by the player on his hip pad, for exS’ -S“^{stomarily pro}.^{vided for} football or other like contact ' sports. Tins is the principal object ofthe present invention.

Another object of this invention is to provide such heated lOckete wherein the wire means used to electrically interconnect the heating elements with the power source is extended through an aperture in the garment directly behind the pocket wall so as to he completely within the interior ofthe garment.

A further object of the instant invention is to provide such a jersey garment wherein the wire is capable of being disconnected at a terminal just inside the jersey aperture so as to ensure easy application and removal of the jersey from the wearer.

A still further object of this invention is to provide such a jersey garment wherein the heating element in each pocket is disposed between a pair of insulated inner and outer walls and the terminal is provided with an insulator cap so that the iersev may be washed without exposure of the wire elements.

A still further object of this invention is to provide such a jersey garment wherein the power source comprises a battery welrer*^{S m}°^{Unted a socket form}ed in the hip pad of the .· ^Oth®[ ^obJ^ects&gt; advantages and novel feature ofthe invention will become apparent from the following detailed descripιοη ofthe invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view in plan showing the jersey gar“ ^ac,^{cordance with the} present invention in combination with an outer lower garment worn by the player;

FIG. 2 is a detailed view partly broken away showing the ^e|emente forming the heated pocket ofthe present invention-

FIG. 3 is a sectional view ofthe pocket taken substantially along the hne 3—3 of FIG. 2; ^y i^F,G? r ^{a s}„^ectl°^{nal view of the} pocket taken substantially along the hne 4—4 of FIG. 2 and further showing one end of a wire cable;

FIG. 5 is a view of the battery power source mounted socket within the hip pad taken at line 5—5 of FIG. 1; and, FIG. 6 is a side view of a male terminal and a sectional view ot an insulator cap for covering the terminal.

Turning now to the drawings wherein like reference charac,, -I------—© mmvukiiuui inc several views, there is shown a jersey J of conventional form haying a pair of pockets 10, each being conveniently secured to ^{portlon of the} jersey as by rivets 11 and by being threaded atong three sides as at 12. Each pocket is provided witn a heating element 13 embedded within a soft fttorto λλ in -,71/ T*³ “'-^uuuwl· Live curre:

disposed between a 'pair ο!^ i^J^g ⁷° ^ρ^ si either rubber or plastic or some other suitable material. The heating element 13 is mounted as shown in FIG. 2 so that it of wJk” VT” ^{a q}T^{lity Of heat throu}8^hout the surface may also be usee of walls 15 when it is electrically heated through its power 75 exlpfe _by the source. Insulated wires 16 of each heating element are extended through a slot 17 (see FIGS. 2 and 4) provided in the jersey J directly behind each pocket wall so that the electrical connecting means may lie wholly within the jersey and 2 be exposed to the other players. Each ofthe wires 16 Vrminate m 2n2Xs^Ct°ⁿfe^CtOr !? ^{haVing a Pair Of convend}onal male ° ,, ^rs h®.^{unded w,th} complimentary female connectors 21 provided m a female terminal 22 secured to one end of an insulated wire cable 23. The other end of each cable 23 is simply secured to the respective poles 24 of a pair of electrical power sources in the form of dry cell batteries: 25 each “^tedW,th’ ” ^{asocket 26} provided in the outer wall of opposite sides of a hip pad 27 which is buckled about the hip of the wearer in any conventional fashion. ^P

When the player who intends wearing this jersey begins 25 witZ Z ^eqU,pf^nent-^{he simp}‘y ^pla«s the two batteries 25 within each respective socket 26 and thereafter secures the wire cables 23 to each of the respective poles 24, as by the ΙΞν ’’ X^the[^{eafter pulls his} jersey over his equipment already secured to his upper torso so that he may then simply extent! each wire cable 23 upwardly beneath the lower portion minak 2i^ey X “ ^shghtly’ ^simply ^snaP the female terminals 22 onto the male terminals 18 for supplying current to ²⁵ S! to.? ^el“ ¹³ each pocket. He may then put on Ld^fffie fen^PantS « T “ ^{tO compIetely cover} ‘he sockets 26 and the batteries 25 therein after which the lower portion of his jersey may then be tucked within his pants garment As „ iZZ ^{e tW0 respective} connectors 18 and 22 are snapped 30 together, current is supplied from the battery 25 to the heating S n” TX^{f the pockets} thereby heating the walls 15 of each pocket an adequate amount depending upon the number heating coils provided therebetween, whereafter the player may simply insert his hands through the openings O of the frn^Cmto “^{P When needed}· ^Removal ofthejersey from the body of the wearer is not hampered in any way by reason of the batteries 25 or the wire cables 23 since the terminafc 18 and 22 may be simply detached from one another by 40 h ^{P Υ}ι ^reacblngunder the bottom of the jersey after it has 40 been loosened from beneath the pants garment. When it becomes necessary to launder or dry-clean the jersey, a terminal cap 21 of molded polyurethane or similar substance may simply be snapped over each ofthe male terminals 18, in 45 ^manner as shown in HG. 6 of the drawings, so that the aqueous washing solution or cleaning agent will not corrode or oH ^dt^Str°^y Z ^{effect,veness of tb}e male connectors 19 ot the male terminal.

From the above, it can be seen that a simple, yet highly ef^{50 and} economical technique has been devised* for adequately warming the hands of a football or similar type player engaged m outdoor sports during cold and inclement coTX ^C°f Ί^Οη8’ ^{The Wire Cables 23 with their} snap-on 13 Whh the h^Cn^{,tate e}«^{y C}°^{nnection of} ‘he heating elements ⁵⁵ bodv of to ^batteneA^{s 25 after} jersey J is drawn over the body of the wearer. Also, since the batteries are located within nad^kaM^Wb,Ch X ^{provided at} either side ofthe hip noX ^{eacb of the wire cables 23} remain wholly unexpo ed to the outside, it can be seen that such paraphernalia in a 60 ^W1U 8° unnoticeable and will not interfere in any waywith the wearer during the play of the game. The batteries 25 are of such a small dimension and, by reason of the wearer’s pants thTbatt ^0Pe^Side °^{f the sockets 26 remain} closed and ters refer to like and corresponding parts throughout The 65 tureoftoenX ^pr°^{teCted by} the normally heavy fabric texseveral views, there k ___mrougnout the 65 ture ofthe pants garment worn by the player. If the iersev hanpens to be pulled out from within the pants garment an amount greater than the length of cables 23 during the course 18^22^ ^to.^the.^{wearer wiU ensue si}nce the terminals - ’ _^and.?².^{W,n mply} «^connect. Live current from the batnected live terminals 22^’fe^X Xt£ eleme^ent^tOTh_e ΧθΧ^{ia the outerperiph}ery ofthe terminal element. The heated pocket jersey of the present invention XZ.^{80 be}.T^{d by Others than players} of outdoor sports, for - - - ¹ spectators confined out of doors. The batte3,663 3 ries may then be simply placed in the wearer’s pockets or otherwise strapped around some portion of the wearer’s torso. Also, the pockets may be simply designed as a mitten comprising a piece of fabric attached along opposite sides and opened at both ends for insertion of the wear’s hands. Furthermore, 5 the sockets 26 may be designed slightly narrower than shown in FIG. 5 so as to snugly receive the batteries 25 and thereby further ensure against any dislodgement thereof during the course of play.

Obviously many other modifications and variations of the 10 present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.