Front closure for reversible outerwear

Abstract

Reversible outerwear comprised of a pair of front panels and rear panel joined by a plurality of seams. The front panels are attached by the zipper. The panels are fabricated as a laminate of a pair of opposed textile facings with an interstice stratum therebetween. One of the facings is an abrasion resistant dress weave and the other is a high-visibility knit. The zipper is covered by a pair of overlapping flaps, one on each front panel. The flaps are closed by a temporary fastener.

1 . A reversible raincoat comprising:
 (a) a first front panel and a second front panel that span the anterior of a wearer, said panels being attachable to each other by a zipper;   (b) a back panel that spans the posterior of said wearer;   (c) said panels being stitched together along seams;   (d) each of said panels having a pair of facings;   (e) a first flap extending from one of said facings of said first front panel and adapted to overlap said zipper;   (f) a second flap extending from the same facing of said second front panel and adapted to overlap said first flap, said flaps being attachable together by a temporary fastener.   
   
   
       2 . The reversible raincoat of  claim 1  wherein said temporary fastener is a mating set of microhook/microloop fasteners. 
   
   
       3 . The reversible raincoat of  claim 1  wherein said temporary fastener is a mating set of snaps. 
   
   
       4 . The reversible raincoat of  claim 1  wherein each of said panels is fabricated from a single ply of fabric formed from a laminate of said facings and an interstice stratum therebetween, said interstice stratum being vapor permeable, and said facings being infused with a water repellant polymer. 
   
   
       5 . The reversible raincoat of  claim 4  wherein said interstice stratum is composed of a waterproof, windproof and breathable membrane. 
   
   
       6 . The reversible raincoat of  claim 1  wherein and one of said facings is fluorescent and a fluorescent tape extends along at least some of said seams in contact with and bonded to said fluorescent facing across said last-mentioned seams. 
   
   
       7 . A reversible raincoat comprising:
 (a) a first front panel and a second front panel that span the anterior of a wearer, said panels being attachable to each other by a zipper;   (b) a back panel that spans the posterior of said wearer;   (c) each of said panels being fabricated from a single ply of fabric formed from a laminate of a pair of facings and an interstice stratum therebetween, said interstice stratum being composed of a waterproof, windproof and breathable membrane, said facings being infused with a fluoroethylene polymer, one of said facings being fluorescent, and said facings and said interstice stratum being laminated together by a polymer;   (d) said panels being stitched together along seams;   (e) fluorescent tape extending along at least some of said seams in contact with and bonded to said fluorescent facing across said last-mentioned seams;   (f) a first flap extending from one of said facings of said first front panel and adapted to overlap said zipper;   (g) a second flap extending from the same facing of said second front panel and adapted to overlap said first flap, said flaps being attachable together by a temporary fastener.   
   
   
       8 . The reversible raincoat of  claim 7  wherein said temporary fastener is a mating set of microhook/microloop fasteners. 
   
   
       9 . The reversible raincoat of  claim 7  wherein said temporary fastener is a mating set of snaps.