Combination garment and protective seat cover

• US 4,694,511 A
• Filed: 06/13/1986
• Issued: 09/22/1987
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/1986
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sloven and Son Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Carol A. Hilson, Donna L. Estes
• Inventors: Hilson, Carol A., Estes, Donna L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rimrodt, Louis K.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Olds, J. L.
• Application Number:
  US06/873,967
• Time in Patent Office: 466 Days
• Field of Search: 2/69, 2/67, 2/72, 297/225, 297/229, D 2/36, D 2/40
• US Class Current: 2/69
• CPC Class Codes: A41D 15/04 Garments convertible into other articles
• CPC Class Codes: A41D 7/00 Bathing gowns; Swim-suits, drawers, or trunks; Beach suits
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 31/11 for chairs for headrests only A47C7/386; removable protective covers for car seats B60N2/60
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/6009 covering more than only the seat
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/6054 by buckle passages

Abstract

Disclosed is a versatile article of manufacture for use by persons engaged in recreational activities such as those associated with the beach. The article, typically made of fabric, has a tubular upper half attached to a depending panel equipped with ties or fasteners. The upper end of the tubular portion has a central opening between a pair of corner openings rendering the article selectively usable as a garment for a person wearing a bathing suit, as a protective cover for a vehicle seat while occupied by bathers en route to and from the beach, and as a cover for a beach chair. The tubular portion of the article may be imprinted with designs on both the back and the front sides and worn with either design facing forwardly.

Claims

1. An article of manufacture for selective use either as a temporary protective cover for a head-rest equipped vehicle seat or as a garment for use by swimsuit clad persons while in transit to and from the beach, the article comprising:

a unitary piece of a flexible sheet-like fabric material having (a) an elongated tubular upper portion of substantially uniform diameter, and (b) an attached essentially rectangularly shaped lower panel depending from approximately one-half the girth of one end of the tubular upper portion,

the other end of the tubular upper portion being closed except for a central opening and a pair of corner openings, the central opening being large enough for assembly over the head-rest of the vehicle seat,

the pair of corner openings being adapted to fit about the upper corners of the seat back of the vehicle seat,

the tubular upper portion being sized to substantially embrace and enclose the seat back of the vehicle seat,

the lower panel being sufficiently long and wide to substantially cover the entire seating surface of said vehicle seat when outstretched over the seating surface, and

fastener means on the lower panel for securing said article to the vehicle seat to protect the seat from staining and to prevent direct contact between the seat and persons seated thereon in swimsuit wearing apparel enroute to and from the beach, the article also being adapted for being selectively worn as a garment when removed from the vehicle seat, the large central opening and the corner openings providing head and arm-receiving openings when the tubular upper portion is worn on the person'"'"'s upper torso, and in which the lower panel is large enough to be wrapped around the front and rear sides of the lower torso and secured thereto by the fastener means.

2. An article according to claim 1 in which the corner openings lie generally in planes converging toward one another in a direction away from the lower panel.

3. An article according to claim 1 in which the corner openings are laterally spaced apart from the outer boundary of the large central opening.

4. An article according to claim 1 in which the lower panel has a width substantially the same as the diameter of the tubular upper portion of the article, and said width extends substantially continuously from one end of the lower panel to the other.

5. An article according to claim 1 in which the fastener means are located adjacent opposite sides of the free end of the lower panel.

6. An article according to claim 1 in which the fastener means comprise elongated flexible ties.

7. An article according to claim 1 in which the fastener means are located on opposite sides of the free end of the lower panel and on opposite sides of the end of the tubular upper portion adjacent the lower panel.

8. An article according to claim 1 including a design imprinted on the tubular upper portion of the article on the same side as the panel so the design can be exposed to the front side of the person wearing the article.

9. An article according to claim 1 in which the diameter of the large central opening is substantially less than the uniform diameter of the tubular upper portion.

10. An article according to claim 1 in which the lower panel is substantially wider from one end to the other than the diameter of the central opening.

11. An article according to claim 1 in which the flexible sheet-like fabric material comprises a stretch fabric.

12. An article of manufacture for selective assembly to a portable seat and to a heat-rest equipped vehicle seat to prevent same from staining and to prevent direct contact between the seat and persons seated thereon in swimsuit wearing apparel enroute to and from the beach, the article comprising:

a unitary piece of a flexible sheet-like fabric material having (a) an elongated tubular upper portion of substantially uniform diameter, and (b) an attached essentially rectangularly-shaped lower panel depending from approximately one-half the girth of one end of the tubular upper portion,

the other end of the tubular upper portion being closed except for a central opening large enough for assembly over the head-rest of the vehicle seat,

the tubular upper portion being sized to substantially embrace and enclose the seat back of the vehicle seat or the portable seat,

the lower panel being sufficiently long and wide to substantially cover the entire seating surface of the vehicle seat or the portable seat when outstretched over the seating surface, and

fastener means on the lower panel for securing said article to the vehicle seat or to the portable seat.

13. An article according to claim 12 in which the fastener means comprise flexible ties located adjacent opposite sides of the free end of the lower panel.

14. An article according to claim 12 in which the fastener means comprise flexible ties located on opposite sides of the free end of the lower panel and on opposite sides of the end of the tubular upper portion adjacent the lower panel.

15. An article according to claim 12 in which the flexible sheet-like fabric material comprises a stretch fabric.

16. In a motor vehicle, the improvement comprising, in combination:

a vehicle seat having a seat back, a head-rest on the seat back, and a seating surface on which a rider can be seated,

a temporary protective cover for the vehicle seat, comprising a unitary piece of a flexible sheet-like fabric material having (a) an elongated tubular upper portion of substantially uniform diameter and (b) an attached essentially rectangularly-shaped lower panel depending from approximately one-half the girth of one end of the tubular upper portion, the other end of the tubular upper portion being closed except for a central opening and a pair of corner openings, the central opening being large enough for assembly of the tubular upper portion over the head-rest of the vehicle seat, the corner openings being adapted to fit over upper corners of the seat back, the upper portion being sized to substantially embrace and enclose the seat back of the vehicle seat, the lower panel being sufficiently long and wide to cover substantially the entire seating surface of the vehicle seat when outstretched over the seating surface, and

fastening means on the lower panel for securing the protective cover to the vehicle seat to protect the seat from staining and to prevent direct contact between the seat and persons seated thereon in swimsuit wearing apparel enroute to and from the beach,

the temporary protective cover also being adapted to be selectively worn as a garment when removed from the vehicle seat, the large central opening and the corner openings being sized to provide head and arm-receiving openings when the tubular upper portion is worn on the upper torso, the lower panel being sufficiently large to be wrapped around the front and rear sides of the lower torso and secured thereto by the fastening means.

17. The combination according to claim 16 in which the lower panel has a width substantially the same as the diameter of the tubular upper portion substantially continuously from one end of the lower panel to the other.

18. The combination according to claim 16 in which the fastener means are located adjacent opposite sides of the free end of the lower panel.

19. The combination according to claim 16 in which the fastener means are on opposite sides of the free end of the panel and on opposite sides of the end of the tubular upper portion adjacent the lower panel.

20. The combination according to claim 16 in which the diameter of the large central opening is substantially less than the uniform diameter of the tubular upper portion.

21. The combination according to claim 16 in which the lower panel is substantially wider, from one end to the other, than the diameter of the central opening;

and the lower panel is approximately as wide as the diameter of the tubular upper portion substantially continuously from one end of the lower panel to the other.

22. The combination according to claim 16 in which the flexible sheet-like fabric material comprises a stretch fabric.

23. In a motor vehicle, the improvement comprising, in combination:

a vehicle seat having a seat back, a head-rest on the seat back, and a seating surface on which a rider can be seated,

a temporary protective cover for the vehicle seat, comprising a unitary piece of a flexible sheet-like stretch fabric material having (a) an elongated tubular upper portion of substantially uniform diameter and (b) an attached essentially rectangular-shaped lower panel depending from approximately one-half the girth of one end of the tubular upper portion, the other end of the tubular upper portion being closed except for a central opening large enough for assembly over the head-rest of the vehicle seat, the tubular upper portion being sized to be stretched so as to substantially embrace and enclose the seat back of the vehicle seat, the lower panel being sufficiently long and wide to cover substantially the entire seating surface of the vehicle seat when outstretched over the seating surface, and

fastener means on the lower panel for securing the protective cover to the vehicle seat to protect the seat from staining and to prevent direct contact between the seat and persons seated thereon in swimsuit wearing apparel enroute to and from the beach.

24. The combination according to claim 23 in which the lower panel has a width substantially the same as the diameter of the tubular upper portion substantially continuously from one end of the panel to the other.

25. The combination according to claim 24 in which the fastener means comprise flexible ties located adjacent opposite sides of the free end of the lower panel and on opposite sides of the end of the tubular upper portion adjacent the lower panel.

26. The combination according to claim 23 in which the diameter of the large central opening is substantially less than the uniform diameter of the tubular upper portion, and in which the lower panel is substantially wider from one end to the other than the diameter of the central opening.

27. The combination according to claim 23 including a design imprinted on the same side of the tubular upper portion to which the lower panel is attached.