Pocket assembly having adhesive means for attachment to a garment

[57] ABSTRACT

A pocket which is capable of being readily mounted in position at any location on a garment is disclosed. The pocket is provided with at least a front panel having a top edge for forming the access opening between the panel and the garment and the adhesive means applied to portions of the back surface of the panel so that the pocket is capable of being affixed to the garment at any desired location thereon.

Claims, 5 Drawing Figures

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PATENTED® 15I3K 3.840,901

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3.840.901

POCKET ASSEMBLY HAVING ADHESIVE MEANS FOR ATTACHMENT TO A GARMENT

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various types of replaceable pocket assemblies are known and have been used in the past. Representative of the prior art are U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,062,160; 1,245,481; 2,591,059; 2,604,624; 3,137,865;

3,438,062; and 3,611,444. All of these prior art teachings disclose various assemblies for attaching and detaching replaceable pockets to garments.

Where protective clothing is employed, pockets that are provided may not be in a desirable location depending on the conditions to which the wearer of the garment is exposed. Furthermore, pockets which are provided on protective garments may not be properly sized, shaped and/or located. Also, types of pockets may vary depending upon the working environment. Accordingly, it is advantageous to furnish protective garments without pockets attached but with pockets furnished separately which are constructed, sized and shaped so that they may be readily attached wherever desired by the wearer for any working environment or condition. For example, where snagging is a problem, clothing with no pockets or pockets only on the inside of the garment may be needed. In other cases, it may be convenient to have pockets on the pants legs or on the sleeves. There are also requirements where more than the usual number of pockets improve the effectiveness of the garment. Also, garments such as hospital gowns require pockets at various locations where they can be more efficiently employed by the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a pocket which is capable of being positioned at any desired location on a garment. It is also an object of the invention to provide a pocket of various sizes, shapes and designs which are readily mounted in position on a garment. It is also an object of the invention to provide a pocket having adhesive means formed thereon which may be pressure sensitive and readily applied to the garment in fixed sealing engagement. Other objects and advantages of the invention herein will become more apparent from a description of the invention which follows.

My invention generally contemplates the provision of a pocket which is capable of being readily mounted in position at any location on a garment, the pocket comprising at least a front panel having a top edge for forming the access opening between the panel and the garment, adhesive means applied to at least portions of the periphery on the back side of the panel so that the pocket is capable of being affixed to the garment at any desired location thereon.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an elevational perspective view of a pocket according to the invention herein in which a pocket is mounted on a backing or release sheet ready for attachment to a garment.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of FIG. 1 partly broken away illustrating the front panel heat sealed to the back panel mounted on the release sheet.

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the pocket illustrating zone printing on the back panel.

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of a pocket illustrated mounted on a garment G.

FIG. 5 illustrates an alternate form of the invention in which the front panel is attached to the garment, the 5 garment forming the back panel of the pocket.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to FIG. 1, pocket 10 comprises a front 10 panel 12, a back panel 14 having an adhesive coating 16 applied to the back stirface of panel 14 and a release sheet 18 releasably mounted to panel 14. Front panel 12 is formed having relatively vertical edges 13, an arcuate bottom edge 15 and a top edge 17. Back panel 15 14 is similarly configured, however, it is slightly larger so that top edge 17 of front panel 12 is spaced from the top edge 19 of back panel 14 to provide a ready access opening for pocket 10. Edges 13 and 15 are sealed to the corresponding edges of back panel 14 thereby 20 forming pocket 10.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of pocket 10 of FIG. 1 mounted to garment G after release sheet 18 has been removed. Pocket 10 may be affixed to garment G by pressing them together if the adhesive 16 is 25 pressure sensitive or by the application of heat and pressure if the adhesive is heat sensitive.

Pocket 10' is illustrated in FIG. 3 without release sheet 18 affixed thereto. Front panel 12' is preferably heat sealed around its edges 13' and 15' to the corre³⁰ sponding edges of back panel 14'. Applied to the back surface of back panel 14' is adhesive 16' which is zone printed thereon only around the peripheral edges thereof. Pocket 10' is then ready for attachment to provide pockets capable of being affixed to a garment at ³⁵ any desired location such as is illustrated in FIG. 4.

Pocket 10' is affixed to garment G in FIG. 4 by pressing pocket 10' with the adhesive side down against garment G or by the application of heat and pressure.

FIG. 5 is similar to FIG. 4. However pocket 10” is af⁴⁰ fixed to garment G by adhesive attachment around the peripheral edges 13 and 15. Pocket 10 is formed without back panel 14 so that the adhesive means 16 (not shown) is applied on the back of panel 12 only along edges 13 and 15 and is attached to garment G ³ in a similar fashion as described in FIG. 4.

Many types of materials may be employed for making the pocket assemblies of the invention herein. It is preferred that the front panel be made of a thermoplastics 50 ^{material such as a low} density polyethylene, polyvinylchloride or copolymers of polyvinylchloride or any other suitable thermoplastics material. The thermoplastics material is preferably in the form of a film, or the material may be woven or non-woven. Preferably 55 the material is formed having a thickness of from about 0.5 to 10 mils and preferably about 3 to 5 mils.

Back panel 14 is preferably made of a non-woven fabric material such as Durafiber sold by the E. I. DuPont de Nemours Company. It should be understood ₆₀ that back panel 14 can be made of the same material as is front panel 12.

Back panel 18 is formed having a thickness of between 1 to 10 mils and preferably between 5 to 8 mils.

₆₅ Adhesive material 16 as indicated above may be the pressure sensitive type such as adhesive No. NP605 produced by The Morgan Adhesives Company of Stowe, Ohio. Also, adhesive 16 may be heat sensitive

3.840.901 such as Bostic Web Adhesive produced by Bostik Chemical Group, U.S.M. Corporation, Middleton, Mass. It should be understood however, that where front panel 12 is made of a polyvinyl material and the garment to which it is to be attached is also made of a polyvinyl material, pocket 10” can be heat sealed thereto without the application of an adhesive. It should also be understood that adhesive 16 may vary considerably depending upon the type of material to which the pocket is to be attached.

The release or backing sheet 18 is preferably made of a paper which masks the entire adhesive surface of panel 14 and can be readily removed therefrom without the removal of any of the adhesive applied to back panel 14.

It is understood that any changes in materials can be employed and changes in shapes and sizes of the pockets can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention herein.