Safety garment structure

Claim 1

A safety garment structure for use in the construction industry and adapted to be supported by the shoulders of the body of the wearer for protecting same comprising front and back body panels of relatively light weight relatively rigid material for enclosing and protecting the chest and upper part of the body with clearance provided between the panels and the body to permit lung and abdominal expansion, each of said panels being substantially concavo-convex in transverse sections so as to follow the contour of the body, said panels being provided with a plurality of relatively small air ventilation holes, each of said panels having a first arcuate edge for the neck, a pair of second arcuate edges for the arms, a pair of generally horizontally extending edges overlying and being adapted to engage the shoulders of the body, said horizontally extending edges of each panel connecting the first arcuate edge with said second arcuate edges, and a pair of vertically extending edges extending from said second arcuate edges to the bottom of each panel, a vertically elongated piano hinge connecting two opposing vertically extending edges of said panels to stably pivot said panels to one another to permit the structure to be placed on or removed from the body, said piano hinge extending substantially the entire length of said two vertically extending edges, releasable fastening means interconnecting the remaining two opposing vertically extending edges of said panels to permit the panels to be fastened together, said remaining two vertically extending edges on said panels being provided with upper and lower sets of alternate fingers and recesses, said fingers projecting beyond said remaining vertically extending edges and said recesses extending inwardly with respect to said remaining vertically extending edges, the fingers of the upper and lower sets of one panel being adapted to interfit with the fingers of the respective upper and lower sets of the other panel and to extend into the recesses thereof in the closed position of said panels in which said remaining vertically extending edges abut, said recesses being of sufficient depth to fully receive said fingers in said closed position of said panels, said horizontally extending edges of said panels being provided with additional sets of alternate fingers and recesses, the fingers of said horizontally extending edges projecting beyond said horizontally extending edges and said recesses of said horizontally extending edges extending inwardly with respect to said horizontally extending edges, the fingers of said horizontally extending edges of one panel being adapted to interfit with the fingers of the horizontally extending edges of the other panel and to extend into the recesses thereof in the closed position of said panels in which said horizontally extending edges of the two panels abut, said recesses of said horizontally extending edges being of sufficient depth to fully receIve the fingers thereof in said closed position of said panels, all of said interfitting fingers and recesses when interfitted helping to retain the panels together, said releasable fastening means being located between and spaced from said upper and lower sets of alternate fingers and recesses.