DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

[0033] The present invention will be described with respect to a number of preferred embodiments. Referring now to FIG. 1 there is shown an extruded thermoplastic tube 10 that is known to one skilled in the art of making plastic bags. For a detailed description of the art of making plastic trash bags U.S. Pat. No. 4,642,084 to Gietman, Jr. offers a fine illustration and is hereby incorporated by reference.

[0034] The thermoplastic tube 10 is extruded by applying heat and pressure to pellets of polyethylene to melt the starting material. The melted material is then forced through a ring die. After leaving the ring die, air is injected through the center of the die to form a tube. This process is known as blown tubing. It should be readily apparent to one skilled in the art that any suitable polymer can be utilized to produce the thermoplastic tube 10 including high molecular weight high density polyethylene, medium density polyethylene, linear low density polyethylene, low density polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride, polyethylene, polypropylene. It may also be feasible to incorporate a combination material further having aluminum foil, coated and uncoated paper, coated nonwovens etc as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,394,651 to Jackson which is hereby incorporated by reference.

[0035] Cool air or water rings are now applied, which is known in the art, to set the the thermoplastic tube 10. The set thermoplastic tube 10 is then conveyed to nip rollers which flattens the tube 10. At this point the tube 10 is seamless.

[0036] It should be conveyed that the dimensions of the tube 10 can be adjusted by changing the specifications of the ring die to accommodate any suitable desired tube diameter and wall thickness.

[0037] The seamless flattened tube 10 is then run through a sealing apparatus (not shown). The sealing apparatus typically includes sealing bars which under the influence of heat and pressure melts two wall sections of the tube 10 together. The sealing bars can be set to a desired shape and size, which is known to one skilled in the art. There are different known methods and apparatus that can achieve the seals that will be described herein, and one skilled in the art can easily determine which method and apparatus is the most convenient.

[0038] Referring now to FIG. 2, the sealing bars seal tube walls at repeating positions along the tube length as the tube 10 passes through the sealing apparatus. Looking at the tube 1, a first position that is sealed are opposing shoulder seals 12. The opposing shoulder seals 12 do not meet each other and form an opening 30 which is preferably sized to snugly accommodate the passing through of a human head.

[0039] A second position that is sealed are a pair inner arm seals 14. The inner arm seals 14 vertically traverse partial tube sections, the importance of which will become apparent with further reading.

[0040] A third position that is sealed are a pair of rib seals 16. The rib seals 16 also vertically traverse partial tube sections. A pair of armpit seals 18 connects each rib seal 16 to a corresponding inner arm seal 14. Rather than armpit seals 18, the inner arm seals 14 can just intersect the rib seals 16 to provide the same effect.

[0041] After passing through the sealing apparatus, the tube 10 now passes through the perforation and cutting section (not shown). Once again there are different known methods and apparatus that can achieve the perforation and cutting that will be described herein, and one skilled in the art can easily determine which method and apparatus is the most convenient.

[0042] Turning now to FIGS. 3 and 4, there is shown the desired perforations and cuts in accordance with separate embodiments of the present invention. Looking first at FIG. 3, a pair of perforations 26 coaxially dissect the inner arm seals 14 and their corresponding rib seals 16.

[0043] A cross perforation 28 connects a first tube segment 20 to a second tube segment 22. The area between the cross perforation 28 and the shoulder seals 12 defines the first tube segment 20. Likewise, the second tube segment 22 is formed between the successive shoulder seals 12 and the successive cross perforation 28. A third tube segment 24 is formed in a similar repeating manner, so that the tube 10 is low divided into a finite number of tube segments, called a segmented tube 40.

[0044] The cross perforation 28 can be substituted by a perforated cut 32, shown in FIG. 4. The perforated cut 32 extends lengthwise through the tube walls so that the tube is now separated at the perforated cut 32. The difference between the perforated cut 32 and perforation 28 will become apparent when the present invention is described in accordance with its use.

[0045] The segmented tube 40 is now ready for packaging. It is known the art to fold the segmented tube vertically 40 along its vertical axis and then roll the folded tube for packaging into a dispenser or container. It is also known in the art to cut the folded tube at each cross perforation 28 so that each tube segment is physically separated prior to packaging. There are a myriad of other packaging methods all known to one skilled in the art. Therefore, each will not be described herein.

[0046] One method for rolling plastic for packaging purposes is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,436 to Selle, et al. which is hereby incorporated by reference.

[0047] Turning now to FIG. 5, there is shown an unfolded segmented roll 40 for illustrative purposes only as it shows how a rolled tube 34 can be removed segment by segment from a dispenser (not shown). Typically the dispenser is a cardboard box, but other dispensers and containers would also work. For instance, a plastic container can house the segmented tubes 40. Also, the segmented tubes 40 can be inserted into a plastic bag.

[0048] Turning back to FIG. 3, the present invention will now be described in accordance with its use. A first tube segment 20 is removed from its packaging by pulling at the shoulder seals 30. It should be obvious that the entire roll can be inverted to produce an equivalent structure. If the segments 20, 22 and 24 are separated prior to packaging, then the first tube segment readily separates from the other segments.

[0049] If the cross perforation 28 is intact, then the cross perforation 28 must be torn to separate it from the rest of the segmented tube 40. After separating the first tube segment 20, the perforations 28 are cut or ripped to separate a sleeve section 42 from a mid-section 44. The sleeve sections 42 are tube-like structures formed between the arm seals 14 and the end walls 36.

[0050] The user now fits the bottom 46 of the now open tube segment 20 over his head. He then fits his head through the opening 30 and arms through the sleeve sections 42. The rib seals 16 provide water protection to the users belly and chest area.

[0051] In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the user discards the first tube segment 20 or over coat 51 after use. The rest of the tube segments 22, 24 are still stored in the dispenser for storage and future use.

[0052] Referring now to FIG. 6, there is shown how over pants 50 can be formed in a related fashion as to the over coat. The over pants 50 are similarly process as described above. There is a center perforation 52, inner seals 54 and an in seam seal 56. There is not provided any cross seals as the over pants 50 requires a complete opening at the top 51. The inner seals 54 and end walls 36 form pants legs 58. It is readily apparent that the center perforation 52 can be readily replaced by a straight perforation cut.

[0053] To tighten the pants about ones waist, a drawstring 60 disposed in a hem 62 is pulled through openings 64 and tied tight. It is known in the art to provide elastic top drawstrings as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,059,458 to Belias et al which is hereby incorporated by reference.

[0054] Packaging and using the over pants 50 is the same to that previously described for the over coat of the present invention and therefore, will not be described in detail.

[0055] Looking at FIG. 7, a hem 55 and drawstring 57 are included in the over coat 51 adjacent to the cross perforation 28. The drawstring 57 allows the user to tighten the over coat 51 about his waist. A plurality of sleeve perforations 59 are provided which allows the user to adjust the length of the sleeve section 42.

[0056] In still yet another embodiment of the present invention and referring to FIG. 8, a roll of sleeveless over coats 70 is produced by providing a pair of shoulder seals 74 in each segment 72 of the thermoplastic tube 10. A cross perforation 78 defines the bottom of segment 72 and allows the user to separate segment 73 from the rest of the roll 70. It should also be noted that each segment 72 be separated from the roll prior 70 prior to packaging simply by cutting instead of cross perforating. A pair of arm perforations 76 allows the user to slide his arms there through.

[0057] Various changes and modifications, other than those described above in the preferred embodiment of the invention described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. While the invention has been described with respect to certain preferred embodiments and exemplifications, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention thereby, but solely by the claims appended hereto.