Protective garment with improved comfort

Abstract

A protective garment particularly for wear by operators and passengers of open-air sport motor vehicles, such as motorcycles for example, includes a garment body which may be configured as a jacket or coat, and which includes a vertically extending and offset curvilinear opening selectively closed by a fastener, such as a slide fastener or zipper, for example, and which provides for substantially sealing the front of the garment against seepage into the garment of pressurized air caused by the air blast on the wearer's front torso resulting from vehicle motion at speed. The garment also provides a pair of unitary uninterrupted display areas disposed one on each of the front and back of the garment torso, and at which a graphic, logo, trademark, or sponsorship information, for example, may be presented.

I claim:  
     
         1 . A protective garment especially configured for wear by operators and passengers of open-air sport motor vehicles in order to provide air blast protection to the wearer's front torso, said garment comprising: 
 a garment shell, said garment shell having: 
 a front panel and a back panel cooperatively providing a neck opening;  
 a pair of sleeves, one for each of the wearer's arms;  
 a generally vertically extending curvilinear and frontally offset opening dividing said front panel into two substantially unequal parts and allowing ingress and egress from said garment,  
   the larger of said two unequal parts of said front panel providing an exterior surface across which air blast flows during vehicle motion at speed from a centrally located high pressure area and toward said offset opening; and    the smaller of said two unequal parts of said front panel carrying an internally disposed wind flap extending beneath said larger front panel part toward said high pressure area, and over which the larger part of said front panel laps when said opening is closed, thereby to resist seepage of air blast into said garment via said opening.    
     
     
         2 . The garment of  claim 1  wherein said larger front panel part provides a unitary display area for carrying a logo, trademark, or graphic.  
     
     
         3 . A method of protecting the front torso of a wearer who is a rider or passenger on an open air sport motor vehicle from the air blast produced by motion of the vehicle at speed, said method including steps of: 
 providing a protective garment including a garment shell;    including in the garment shell a front panel and a back panel cooperatively providing a neck opening; a pair of sleeves, one for each of the wearer's arms; a generally vertically extending curvilinear and frontally offset opening dividing said front panel into two substantially unequal parts and allowing ingress and egress from said garment;    utilizing the larger of said two unequal parts of said front panel to provide an exterior surface across which air blast flows during vehicle motion at speed from a centrally located high pressure area and toward said offset opening; and    providing the smaller of the two unequal parts of said front panel with an internally disposed wind flap extending beneath said larger front panel part toward said high pressure area, and lapping the larger part of said front panel over said wind flap in order to resist seepage of pressurized air into the garment at said opening.    
     
     
         4 . A protective garment having a unitary front display area upon which a logo, trademark, or graphic may be displayed, said garment comprising: 
 a garment shell, said garment shell having: a front panel and a back panel cooperatively providing a neck opening; a pair of sleeves, one for each of the wearer's arms; a generally vertically extending curvilinear and frontally offset opening dividing said front panel into two substantially unequal parts and allowing ingress and egress from said garment, the larger of said two unequal parts of said front panel providing a unitary front display area extending substantially from a waist line of said jacket vertically substantially to said neck opening, and said display area extending horizontally between said opening and a line equivalently offset to an opposite side of the wearer's chest to define a horizontal dimension, said horizontal dimension being a major fraction of the horizontal extent of the wearer's chest.    
     
     
         5 . A protective garment having a pair of unitary, undivided display areas, one display area on the front torso of the garment and the other display area on the rear torso of the garment, and upon this pair of display areas respective logos, trademarks, or graphics may be displayed, said garment comprising: a garment shell, said garment shell having: a front panel and a back panel, said back panel providing a respective one of said unitary, undivided display areas, and said front panel and back panel cooperatively providing a neck opening; a pair of sleeves, one for each of the wearer's arms; a generally vertically extending curvilinear and frontally offset opening dividing said front panel into two substantially unequal parts and allowing ingress and egress from said garment, said opening extending from front off center of a waist line of the garment upwardly substantially vertically to a curved part of said opening, the curved part of said opening being disposed substantially at mid-chest level and turning inwardly of the wearer's chest, and an angulated portion of said opening extending from said curved part of said opening to a front off center intersection with said neck opening, and the larger of said two unequal parts of said front panel providing said unitary, undivided front display area extending substantially from said waist line of said jacket vertically substantially to said neck opening, and said display area extending horizontally from said opening to cover a major fraction of the front of the wearer's chest.