EP2368452A1

EP2368452A1 - Garment with a protection from sweat spots and related insert

Info

Publication number: EP2368452A1
Application number: EP10167416A
Authority: EP
Inventors: M Carolina Rispoli
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2010-03-24
Filing date: 2010-06-25
Publication date: 2011-09-28
Also published as: ITRM20100134A1

Abstract

A garment (1) provided with an effective protection from sweat spots or marks, comprises at least a substantially invisible sheet-shaped insert (7), positioned in an area subjected to spots, made of fabric and it has two surfaces on the opposed faces, a first surface (10) thereof, which is apt to be adhered to the inner surface of the garment, has a neutral colour or a colour equal to the fabric of the garment in the application area of the insert and it comprises an impermeable layer (11) adhered thereto, the insert (7) being smooth and comfortable and able to constitute a barrier to the sweat penetration by implementing the above-mentioned effective protection against sweat spots or marks.

Description

The present invention relates to a garment provided with a protection from sweat spots or marks and to an insert which, coupled to any garment, confers thereto this kind of protection.
This kind of garment is requested especially, but not exclusively, by persons with problems of hyperidrosis, in particular in the summer periods and in the places with temperate or hot climate.
The purpose of this kind of garment is to avoid that, once worn, on the same garment spots or marks due to humidity appear, deriving from a sweating excess, with particular reference to the armpit area, but also to the back area or other body areas.
The appearance of these spots, apart from the unaestheticism involved therein, creates an embarrassment both in the persons wearing the garment at issue and in the onlookers.
In order to obviate this drawback, absorbing pads have been proposed to be applied in the areas subjected to this kind of spots, in particular the armpits.
However, these pads require to be replaced frequently and they cause a decrease in the comfort of the garment. Furthermore, the pads cause a swelling and then result to be visible.
For these reasons, they are regarded as not wholly satisfying from the users.
The technical problem underlying the present invention is to provide a garment and a related insert allowing to obviate the mentioned drawback with reference to the known art.
Such problem is solved by a garment as specified above characterizing in that it comprises at least a sheet-shaped insert, placed in an area subjected to spots or marks, made of fabric and which is provided with two surfaces on opposed faces, a first surface thereof, which is adhered to the inner surface of the garment, has a neutral colour or a colour equal to the fabric of the garment in the application area of the insert and it comprises an impermeable layer adhered thereto.
The invention further relates to an insert for garments as defined above.
The main advantage of the garment and of the related protective insert according to the present invention lies in the fact of allowing an effective protection from the sweat and a substantial invisibility of the insert.
According to a preferred embodiment of the insert and of the garment, the impermeable layer, made of plastic material, is at least partially seeped in the fabric of the insert on said first surface, for example by means of a heat sealing or buttering process.
Furthermore, the insert includes one or more folds pairing with corresponding one or more folds of the garment, with particular reference to the fold with the respective seam joining a sleeve to the waist of a garment, like a jacket or a shirt.
According to an additional variant, the impermeable layer has an adhesive layer apt to be adhered to the inner surface of the garment. In this way, the insert assumes a well defined and definite position with respect to the garment.
The present invention will be described hereinafter according to a preferred embodiment thereof, provided by way of example and not for limitative purposes with reference to the enclosed drawings wherein:

● figure 1A shows a front view in partial section of a shirt implementing a garment according to the present invention;
● figure 1B shows a rear view in partial section of the shirt of the previous figure;
● figure 2 shows a perspective view illustrating a first phase for assembling an insert used in the shirt of the previous figures and object of the present invention;
● figure 2A shows a cross-section view of the insert of figure 2;
● figure 3 shows a perspective view illustrating a second phase for assembling the insert of figure 2;
● figure 4 shows a perspective view of the insert of figure 2; and
● figure 5 shows a perspective and partially sectional view of a procedure for assembling the insert of figure 2 in a garment.

By referring to the figures, a garment provided with a protection from sweat spots or marks, in particular a frontally open shirt, is designated as a whole with 1. It has a waist 2 and sleeves 3, joined by a first round seam 4 in the armpit area.
The waist 2, instead, is formed by a front portion and by a rear portion, united by second seams 5 at the shoulders and by third seams 6 at the sides and below the sleeves 3.
Additional seams can be present on the front and rear side, to give shape to the shirt.
This scheme obviously repeats for similar garments, which however can have different seams or seams positioned differently. However, in general, each garment apt to be worn can have areas apt to suffer from spots due to sweating excess. By way of example, in the shirt of figures 1A and 1B, such areas can be identified with the armpit areas and in case with the back.
In the armpit area, the shirt 1 has an insert 7 which will be described hereinafter with greater detail with reference to figures 2 to 4.
The insert 7 is formed by two semi-lunar portions 8 having curved opposed edges, joined by a seam 9 at the two short or internal curved edges, so as to form a fold between the two portions 8, the fold pairing in shape with a certain precision the fold provided between the sleeve 8 and the waist 2 in the armpit area, at said first seam 4 or better of the lower portion thereof.
The insert has a sheet-like shape and it is made of fabric, preferably a fabric determining a certain comfort in contact with the skin, hypoallergenic and absorbing. A fabric suitable to this purpose is a cotton or in any case a vegetable fabric.
The insert has two surfaces on the opposed faces, the first surface thereof 10 is adhered to the inner surface of the garment 1.
This first surface has a neutral colour, for example white or light grey, or equal to the one of the garment fabric, so that the presence thereof is not revealed.
This surface is adhered in the application area of the insert 7. In the present case, the two portions 8 of the insert 7 are put astride of the first seam 4, one in contact with the inner surface of the sleeve 3 and the other one in contact with the inner surface of the waist 2, in intermediate position with respect to the front and rear portions thereof.
The shape of the insert 7 is then anatomical and comfortable.
The insert 7, at said first surface 10, has an impermeable layer 11 made of plastic material adhered thereto which has the purpose of constituting a barrier to the passage of the humidity due to sweat.
The insert 7 and the impermeable layer 11 in the present example form a fabric pairing, as it will result better hereinafter.
The impermeable layer 11 preferably is at least partially seeped in the fabric of the insert 7 on said first surface 10.
To this purpose, the layer 11 is made of a plastic material which can be, for example, a polyethylene or polyurethane with very reduced thickness, lower than 50 µm, applied by means of a heat sealing or buttering process.
This type of pairing is very resistant even to several washings and it involves an extremely reduced whole thickness of the insert, a thickness practically equal to that of the fabric forming the insert, without the application of intermediate adhesive layers.
Advantageously, in case of shirts or cotton or cotton-based garments, the fabric of the insert 7 will be the same used for making the garment 1.
Generally, the sizes of the insert of the armpit area could be about 20 cm in length and 20 cm in height of each semi-lunar portion.
However, it is meant that the insert, for sizes and curving level of the central fold, could vary to adapt to all possible sizes.
By referring to figure 5, the assembling of the insert 7 to the shirt 1 can take place mainly by means of implementing two, three or four stitches 12 which, respectively, can be positioned:

● on the first seam 4 joining sleeve and waist (the first two stitches);
● on the third seam 6 at the sides (the third stitch);
● on the longitudinal seam of the sleeve, designated with 13 (the four stitch).

The position of the stitches 12 is so as to make them invisible, as they mingle with the seams already existing in the garment.
Furthermore, it is meant that other fixing systems, even removable with clips and the like, point shaped or of the linear type, can be provided.
According to an additional variant not represented in the figures, the impermeable layer 11 has on itself an exposed adhesive layer, apt to be adhered to the inner surface of the garment so that the insert assumes a well defined and definite position.
This variant adds to or replaces the above-mentioned stitches or the fixing points mentioned above.
In still another variant, the impermeable layer is constituted by a sheet made of impermeable plastic material, made adhesive on both own faces by respective adhesive layers. In this way, the insert 7 and the impermeable layer 11 can be assembled upon placing them in the garment.
In still another variant, the impermeable layer is comprised between two layers of fabric, kept together thereby, in particular for heavier garments.
It is further meant that, with the same technique, it is possible positioning an additional insert, with different shape, but still made of fabric and having two surfaces on the opposite faces, a first surface thereof is adhered to the inner surface of the garment, having a neutral colour or a colour equal to the one of the fabric of the garment in the application area of the insert and comprising a layer made of impermeable plastic material adhered thereto.
A similar insert can be positioned, for example, at the back, still for preventing the formation of marks and it can even be applied to a garment different from the ones described sofar, for example at the trousers' crotch.
From the description of the garment and of the related insert, it is understood that the sweat can seep and be absorbed by the insert 7, however without passing through the impermeable layer 11, by preventing in this way the formation of marks outside the garment.
The insert can be washed and ironed together with the garment, or easily removed and replaced.
It is meant then that the insert can be marketed separately from a specific garment, but with the indication of the colour and the size of the garment thereto it could be matched.
Furthermore, the garment could be sold with the inserts 7 already sewn or otherwise fixed thereto, and with possible reserve inserts available in the packaging.
In order to fulfil additional and contingent needs, a person skilled in the art could introduce several additional modifications and variants to the above-described garment and related insert, all within the protection scope of the present invention, as defined by the enclosed claims.

Claims

An insert (7) for the protection from sweat spots or marks, suitable for being placed internal to a garment (1) at an area subjected to sweat spots or marks, characterized in that it is made of fabric and it is provided with two surfaces on the opposed faces, a first surface (10), which is apt to be adhering to the internal surface of the garment (1), having a neutral colour or a colour equal to the fabric of the garment in the application area of the insert and comprising an impermeable layer (11) adhering thereto.
The insert (2) according to claim 1, in particular for the armpit area of shirts or jacket, formed by two semi-lunar portions (8), having curved opposed edges, the portions being joined by a seam (9) at the two short or internal curved edges, so as to provide a fold between the two portions (8), the fold pairing in shape and curvature the fold provided between the sleeve (3) and the waist (2) in the armpit area.
The insert (7) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the fabric is hypoallergenic and absorbing, in particular a cotton or in any case a vegetable fabric.
The insert (7) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said impermeable layer (11) is made of plastic material.
The insert (7) according to claim 4, wherein the impermeable layer (11) is at least partially seeped in the fabric on said first surface (10).
The insert (7) according to claim 5, wherein the plastic material layer (11), in particular polyethylene or polyurethane with very small thickness, i.e. lower to 50 µm, is applied by a heat sealing or buttering.
The insert (7) according to claim 1, wherein the impermeable layer (11) has an exposed adhesive layer thereon, apt to be adhering to the internal surface of the garment (1).
The insert (7) according to claim 1, wherein the impermeable layer is formed by a sheet of impermeable plastic material, made adhesive on both faces by respective adhesive layers.
A garment (1), provided with a protection from sweat spots or marks, characterized in that it comprises at least a sheet-shaped insert (7), placed in a area subjected to spots, according to any of the preceding claims.
The garment (1) according to claim 9, wherein the fabric of the insert (7) is the same used for the manufacturing of the garment (1).
The garment (1) according to claim 9, wherein the insert (7) is joined to the garment (1) by means of fixing points placed on respective seams (4, 6, 13) of the garment (1).
The garment (1) according to claim 11, wherein said fixing points are stitches (12).