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[0001] This invention relates generally to clothing connecting systems.
[0002] Agencies study and set safety regulations for a wide variety of occupations and activities. Among other things, the regulations define the standards for safety equipment and clothing. Some standards address the type of fire protective clothing that must be worn by people in certain occupations or while performing certain activities, such as, hazardous aviation, search and rescue units, wild land and structural fire fighting, military and law enforcement personnel, race car driving, and motorcycle racing. In general, the regulations require protective clothing that is fire resistant. More specifically, the regulations require that a fire suit be either one piece or have a top suit attached to a bottom suit such that no exposed areas are present during use. Historically, the two-piece suits employ a large, heavy belt to connect the upper body garment to the lower body garment. In this manner, the upper body garment and lower body garment each independently attached to the belt. However, many problems have resulted from current fire protective suit systems.
[0003] One problem with current fire protective suit technology is the weight of the belt. The excessive weight is fatiguing to the wearer of the suit. This is especially troublesome with wild land and structural firefighters as they are constantly moving to suppress fire. Because their movements are often on uneven ground or up and down various structural elevations in a building, any extra weight is very undesirable as the fatiguing effect can be life threatening. Also, the excessive belt weight causes muscle fatigue in high vibratory environments such as airplanes and motor vehicles. The belt and suit combination act like a spring and damper where the force of a moving belt must be absorbed by the wearer. Over time, this vibratory motion fatigues the muscle and skeletal system that absorbs and controls the belt's motion.
[0004] Another problem with the belt system is the bulky nature of the belt. More specifically, the belt is awkward to wear in confined spaces such as airplanes and motor vehicles. The belt is typically fairly rigid and therefore not very form fitting. Consequently, when worn, the belt tends to rub unevenly against the wearer, causing sores, bruises or general discomfort. The awkwardness is not only an inconvenience for the wearer but also potentially dangerous. The belt often tends to restrict movement thus affecting the wearer's ability to perform functions that might save their own life or the lives of others.
[0005] Yet another problem with the current fire suits system is a lack of thermal insulating capabilities. Typical fire suits, either one piece or two-piece, are constructed from NOMEX®, or other fire retardant material. Typically, this material is a woven fabric that is relatively dense. Consequently, insulating air pockets are not formed in the fire suit making the wearer of the suit susceptible to a range of temperatures. Generally, the thick nature of the material protects against instantaneous high heat, however, over a period of time, the material is susceptible to colder environments. For example, wild land firefighters spend a great deal of time on a fire, often several days or weeks. Typically, the firefighter will work around the clock, grabbing rest intermittently. This often means sleeping outside, a safe distance from the fire. Consequently, on cool days or nights the suit does not provide adequate thermal protection and the fire fighter goes without adequate sleep throughout the rest period.
[0006] Additionally, current fire suits do not adequately prevent injury due to molten drip. More specifically, standard fire retardant suits constructed of densely woven fire retardant material, do not, in and of themselves, provide adequate safety from molten material contacting the suit. The dense nature of standard fire retardant material is subject to overheating when in contact with molten material.
[0007] The present invention comprises a system for removably attaching an upper body garment to a lower body garment via a clothing unifying system. The upper body garment employs a upper body garment connector designed to work with a lower body garment connector to removably secure the elements together. The resulting unifying system creates an overlap area between a bottom of the upper body garment and a top of the lower body garment. The fastening system retains the overlap area throughout any range in motion of a wearer of the upper and lower body garments.
[0008] In accordance with further aspects of the invention, the upper body garment is attached to the lower body garments using a buckle, clasp, button, snap, hook and loop arrangement, or other fastener.
[0009] In accordance with other aspects of the invention, the upper body garment and the lower body garment are constructed from a fire retardant fleece material.
[0010] As will be readily appreciated from the foregoing summary, the invention provides a comfortable, lightweight structure for removably attaching a upper body garment to a lower body garment.
[0011] In accordance with still further aspects of the invention, the upper body garment and lower body garment connectors are non-elastic, elastic, or partially elastic in nature.
[0012] In accordance with yet other aspects of the invention, any number of upper body garment and lower body garment connectors can be employed to maintain upper body garment and lower body garment unity.
[0013] The preferred and alternative embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the following drawings.
[0014]
[0015]
[0016]
[0017]
[0018]
[0019] The fire retardant fleece material performs several functions. The fleece is a material that provides insulation for both hot and cold temperatures. More specifically, the fleece forms small air pockets, which help to insulate the wearer from cold and hot temperatures. Similarly, the air pockets formed by the fleece prevent any molten drip or after flame hazards by creating an insulating layer. Also, the insulating layer of air pockets helps prevent electrical arcing through the upper body garment and lower body garment combination.
[0020]
[0021] As depicted in
[0022]
[0023] As with the upper body garment connector
[0024] The lower body garment connector
[0025]
[0026] As discussed above, the upper body garment connector
[0027] When a portion of the upper body garment connector
[0028] While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, as noted above, many changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is not limited by the disclosure of the preferred embodiment. Instead, the scope of the invention should be determined entirely by reference to the claims that follow.