US 11,849,781 B1
Functional fit system for apparel
Haile A. Merrill, Natick, MA (US)
Assigned to Government of the United States as Represented by the Secretary of the Army, Washington, DC (US)
Filed by U.S. Government as Represented by the Secretary of the Army, Natick, MA (US)
Filed on Apr. 25, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/727,882.
Application 17/727,882 is a continuation of application No. 16/426,009, filed on May 30, 2019, abandoned.
Int. Cl. A41D 13/02 (2006.01); A41D 1/06 (2006.01); A41D 3/00 (2006.01)
CPC A41D 13/02 (2013.01) [A41D 1/06 (2013.01); A41D 3/00 (2013.01); A41D 2300/22 (2013.01); A41D 2300/32 (2013.01); A41D 2300/322 (2013.01)] 13 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. Apparel comprising:
a torso comprising a shell fabric wherein the torso includes a front, a back, a first side connecting the front to the back, a second side connecting the front to the back, a bottom, and a top, the bottom and top defining a longitudinal direction from the neck to the waist of a wearer;
a plurality of bunching tunnels at least one of which extends in the longitudinal direction and is located on the shell fabric and each bunching tunnel comprising a tunnel of extra shell fabric with an elastomeric member located therein and sewn to the shell fabric in a stretched state, the elastomeric member configured to urge the shell fabric and the extra shell fabric to bunch together when the elastomeric member contracts to a relaxed state, wherein the plurality of bunching tunnels function to provide further bunched shell fabric on the first side and the second side of the torso;
pleats on the front of the torso;
a centrally located torso flap on the torso extending in the longitudinal direction and spaced from a set of sleeves connected to the torso;
a protective flap extending peripherally along the bottom of the torso, wherein at least one of the plurality of bunching tunnels extends at an acute angle to the longitudinal direction along the front of the torso;
a first zipper track located on the bottom of the torso and behind the protective flap; a second zipper track coupled to and above a waist portion and adapted to mate with the first zipper track;
a vertical flap extending downward and away from the waist portion wherein,
the vertical flap comprises two vertical pieces that each includes a proximal end and a distal end, the distal ends of the two vertical pieces are directly connected to each other;
a protective barrier connecting the proximal ends of the two vertical pieces, the protective barrier extends upwards and away from the waist portion and the protective barrier is connected to the directly connected distal ends; and
two legs extending from the waist portion wherein each of the two legs include:
multiple zipper tracks wherein each of the multiple zipper tracks is separated from one another by extension material,
wherein another zipper track is adapted to mate with any of the multiple zipper tracks, and a leg flap exposing the multiple zipper tracks and the another zipper track when the leg flap is in a first position and covering the multiple zipper tracks and the another zipper track when the leg flap is in a second position.