Protective Garment

Abstract

A protective garment 1 having an outer layer 2 and a protective inner layer 3, wherein the protective inner layer 3 lines substantially the whole of the inside of the garment 1 and the inner layer 3 is secured to the outer layer 2 only at corresponding edges of the inner and outer layers which occur at openings of the garment.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]This invention relates in general to protective garments. In particular, the invention is applicable to protective garments worn / used by motorcyclists and it is convenient to describe it in this manner. However, it should be noted that the invention is not limited to this application.BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION[0002]Motorcycles and scooters do not offer much protection when the motorcycle or scooter rider is involved in an accident. Significant injury can occur if a rider falls off their motorcycle or scooter, even when the rider is only travelling at low speed. Therefore it is prudent for riders to wear protective clothing when riding.[0003]Conventionally riders wear leather garments to protect themselves from injury. Leather is often worn because it is resistant to abrasion and provides protection to the skin if a rider falls off and impacts the ground.[0004]Leather garments, however, are not always seen as fashionable and in some instances it is not ap...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0022]The protective garment in accordance with the present invention has several advantages. In particular, because the inner layer substantially lines the whole of the outer layer, the rider is protected no matter on which part of the body they fall.

[0023]An additional advantage of the preferred embodiment of the invention is that the protective Kevlar® layer is removable. Therefore, the rider can wear the garment when riding, but when they reach their destination, the rider can remove the inner Kevlar® layer so they are not too hot, and more comfortable, but they can still keep wearing their fashionable denim jacket or trousers. A further advantage to the Kevlar® layer being removable is that the outer denim layer can be treated by bleaching, chemical washing, stone washing and sand blasting etc without having to treat the Kevlar® layer at the same time. If the Kevlar® layer were treated at the same time this would weaken the Kevlar® fibre and reduce the effectiveness of the Kevlar® layer.

Problems solved by technology

Motorcycles and scooters do not offer much protection when the motorcycle or scooter rider is involved in an accident.

Significant injury can occur if a rider falls off their motorcycle or scooter, even when the rider is only travelling at low speed.

Leather garments, however, are not always seen as fashionable and in some instances it is not appropriate to wear leather.

In addition, in the summer, leather garments can cause the rider to become excessively warm and uncomfortable when not riding and so the rider must consider carrying a change of clothing to wear when they arrive at their destination.

This is obviously not desirable.

This is also not desirable as the garment still takes the appearance of clothing for motorcycle riding and is cumbersome to wear for general day to day activities.

Furthermore these types of garments are not considered fashionable or suitable in certain situations.

The problem with wearing such fashion garments when riding is that they do not offer much protection if an accident occurs, in particular where a rider may fall off their motorcycle and then hit and skid along the hard bitumen of the road.

On impact, denim will split, tear and offer little or no protection to the rider.

Depending on the severity of the impact, the rider could be left with only abrasions; alternatively there may be significant loss of skin and flesh.

Another problem with those garments with protective patches is that the protective patches are sewn on the inside of the garment with the same piece of thread used to join the protective patches to the denim.

Furthermore, when a rider falls off the motorcycle, the garment can twist and the protective material may not be protecting the same part of the body during impact as when the rider is mounted on the motorcycle.

If the protective material is stitched into the garment then when the garment is treated, the protective material fibres are weakened and thus the treatment reduces its effectiveness and ability to withstand abrasion.

This also is not desirable.

Outlined above are a number of difficulties with providing a fashion garment with protection for riders.

If riders want to wear fashion garments they have only a few options, one is to wear these fashion garments when riding and risk significant injury if they fall off.

Another option, is to wear the fashion items under the protective clothing but be very uncomfortable and hot when riding, alternatively they can carry a change of clothes for when they arrive at their destination.

This is clearly inconvenient.

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