It is time consuming to don and doff conventional coveralls. In some examples it may be impossible to don or doff coveralls while wearing work boots. In other cases, it may be possible but difficult and may result in the inside of the coveralls being soiled. As a result of this difficulty, workers frequently leave their coveralls on, or doff only an upper part of their coveralls, while using indoor facilities at job sites (e.g. cafeterias, washrooms, etc.). Keeping coveralls on while using indoor facilities may compromise cleanliness and hygiene of the workers or of the facilities.
A partially doffed coverall (with an upper portion of the coverall inverted) is the compromise workers often make to avoid the hassle of soiled socks and extra time required to doff and don work boots to remove coveralls completely. Valuable items also tend to fall out of breast pockets while coveralls are partially donned or doffed, such as notepads, pens or gas detection equipment. Partially doffed conventional coveralls are frequently encountered on construction sites in the following circumstances: to use the washroom, to cool down, during coffee break, during lunch breaks. If a user's partially doffed coveralls come into contact with the washroom floor while using the toilet, the coveralls will likely become soiled and it is rare that the user has a fresh clean set of coveralls to change into. The user then is forced to work the remainder of the day, and possibly eat, in the same coveralls. In particular, a sleeve portion of partially doffed coveralls is likely to contact with the floor in a washroom during use. For these reasons, in addition to regular chemical or other sources of contamination that are frequently encountered in the workplace, it is ideal to remove coveralls completely prior to entering the washroom, vehicles, or dining facilities. However, this is time consuming and users frequently do not remove coveralls completely.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,966,672 to Hagerman et al. (Jun. 28, 2011), entitled “Clothing with Special Access”, depicts a garment with a special access mechanism to enable an inseam to be opened. When the inseam is opened, a bottom portion of the legs can be fastened to an upper portion of the legs in a raised position. An inseam zipper extends continuously from the bottom edge of the left leg portion, up along the crotch and down to the bottom edge of the right leg portion along the inseam. Each leg also includes an outer zipper parallel to and opposite to the inseam zipper, extending along the outer seam from the bottom edge of the leg to calf-height or just below knee-height to aid in donning/removing footgear. The inseam zipper is an open-ended zipper which uses a “box and pin” mechanism to lock the two sides of the zipper into place, the same type as is often used in jackets, so its two sides can be completely separated when the zipper is opened.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,675,389 to Kublick (Jan. 13, 2004), entitled “Garment with Zippers Enabling Easy Access”, depicts a wetsuit with separate jacket and pants. The leg-sleeves have zippers running lengthwise, whereby the sleeves can be completely opened up. The leg-sleeves of the pants have seams which extend down the front of the leg sleeves.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,008,152 to Henry V. Nier (Jul. 16, 1935), entitled “Garment”, depicts a garment which when in use completely covers the wearer. The garment has openings arranged to permit the garment being readily put on or taken off, with the openings adapted to be readily closed so that the garment completely encloses the wearer. The garment has a longitudinal opening medially of a portion of the garment which is adapted to cover the trunk of the body. The garment includes a hood. Additional openings extend along portions of the garment which are adapted to receive projecting parts of the body such as the legs, so that by unfastening both the longitudinal medial opening and said additional openings, the entire garment may be readily put on or taken off.
The openings of Nier extend down the front of the trunk portion of the garment to the crotch. At the crotch the opening branches to form continuations of the opening extending down the respective legs. Running fasteners are provided for the openings, with a first slide to be drawn downwardly to the crotch from top of the hood for closing the continuous opening, and second and third slides adapted to be drawn upwardly to the crotch 6 and along each of the openings along the legs for respectively closing these openings. The garment may be readily put on by unfastening the various openings, with the garment completely enclosing the body when the openings have been closed as shown in FIG. 1 of Nier, and a portion of the body adapted to be readily exposed while the rest of the body remains covered, by partially opening any one of the fasteners.
U.S. Pat. No. D438,364 entitled “Infant Overalls” to Knoefel of Mar. 6, 2001 depicts a pair of infant overalls. As this is a design patent, there is no text. The figures depict a pair of overalls for an infant with what appear to be openings extending along each leg over the knees. Above the crotch the two leg openings meet each other and a third opening which extends to the neck of the overalls.
U.S. Pat. No. D676,628 entitled “Coverall” to Rogers of Feb. 26, 2013 depicts a pair of coveralls. As this is a design patent, there is no text. The figures depict a pair of coveralls with an opening extending between the neck of the coveralls and the end of each leg. The opening extends along the legs proximate the inside leg. In between the two openings is a third opening extending between the neck and the crotch.
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USPTO Backgrounds