Article of clothing

This invention relates generally to articles of clothing, especially clothing having means for separating a seam of the article of clothing to make the clothing easier to put on and take off.

There are certain instances in which clothing can be difficult to put on or remove, especially in the case of persons recovering from medical procedures or injuries. For example, shirts can be especially difficult to deal with when a person has a broken arm or other such ailment, because the act of manipulating the injured arm into the shirt and through the arm-hole can cause additional pain and perhaps worsen the injury. Even if the shirt includes buttons down the front, the article of clothing can still be difficult to work with and may be even more complicated because the buttons must be manipulated with one hand or with a second hand that is in an awkward or painful position. Pants and other articles of clothing face similar challenges, depending on the nature and extent of a particular injury. The present solution is to simply wear loose-fitting items such as large T-shirts to make it easier to put on or remove the clothing item.

The present invention comprises one or more articles of clothing that are easier to put on or remove. In one form of the invention, the article of clothing is a shirt having arm holes and a neck hole. A seam along one side of the torso and extending along an arm hole at that same side is separable to make it easier for the wearer to put the shirt on or take it off. In other examples of the invention an additional seam along the shoulder and extending to the end of the arm hole is also separable so that one entire side of the shirt may be opened for easier removal. In other forms of the invention, a similar seam and closure means is provided on other articles of clothing such as pants, coats, socks, or others.

These and other examples of the invention will be described in further detail below.

FIGS. 1-4 describe several exemplary embodiments of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the example is in the form of a shirt 10 having a neck 11, a pair of sleeves, and a body for covering the wearer\'s torso. A torso opening is formed at the base of the body portion of the shirt, with the torso opening being provided generally about the waist of the wearer as the shirt is in use. Along the neck 11, the shirt may have a banded or hemmed border or a collar. Likewise, the shirt may be sleeveless or take the form of a tank top in which there are arm holes adjacent a shoulder portion, without fabric extending away from the torso region to form sleeves. Although not shown, the shirt 10 may also include buttons down the front of the body that are either functional to join the left and right halves of the shirt body together, or that are merely decorative to create an aesthetic illusion of a button-down front (but in which the entire front of the body is not readily separable).

The shirt as shown includes a first side 24 that may be a seam or a continuous run of fabric forming the body of the shirt. The first side therefore permanently joins the front of the shirt body 14 to the back of the shirt body 12, although in other examples of the invention the first side 24 may be separable as with the second side. A first sleeve adjoining the first side of the body likewise is permanently formed in a sleeve loop having a first opening in the example as shown. As used above, “permanently” means stitched, woven, or similarly joined in a manner that requires cutting, tearing, or similar deformation or destruction of the article in order to separate.

The second side of the shirt body includes a seam formed by a back shirt edge 16a and a front shirt edge 16b. As illustrated, the seam continues along the lower portion of the second sleeve to form a sleeve seam at the mating of the back sleeve edge 16c and front sleeve edge 16d. Fasteners are provided along the body seam and the sleeve seam to allow the body and sleeve edges to be selectively joined or separated. In the illustrated example, a plurality of hook and loop fasteners 18 are provided at the back shirt edges 16a, 16c, with mating fasteners 20 provided at the front shirt edges 16b, 16d. The seam can therefore be selectively opened or joined by separating or joining the fasteners. In alternate examples of the invention, different fasteners such as buttons, snaps, zippers, or string ties are used.