Athletic Shirt With Non-Chafing Inner Sleeve

Abstract

A shirt for athletic use including a body for covering the torso of a wearer, an inner sleeve attached to the shirt body within the body cavity, the inner sleeve defining a throughbore for passage of the torso of a wearer therethrough, the inner sleeve being a continuous band, the inner sleeve being formed from a non-chafing material for a snug fit around the chest of a wearer, whereby relative motion between the inner sleeve and the chest of the wearer is reduced, and the skin of a wearer is not abraded by contact with the non-chafing sleeve; and a plurality of pliant attachment elements extending between the inner sleeve and the body of the shirt, whereby the inner sleeve is maintained in position, while being allowed movement with the wearer substantially independently of shirt movement, thereby preventing chafing of the wearer by the body of the shirt.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A shirt for athletic use comprising:
 an outer body for covering the torso of a wearer, the outer body being formed as a T-shirt having a predetermined chest size and including a front panel and a back panel joined at the top to define a collar opening and arm openings and a shoulder seam extending therebetween, with the shirt being open at the bottom, thereby defining a cavity for receiving the torso of a wearer,   an inner sleeve with a yoke portion and a body portion, the yoke portion being attached to the shirt body within the cavity, the inner sleeve defining a throughbore for passage of the torso of a wearer therethrough, the inner sleeve being formed with a predetermined chest size smaller than the outer body chest size, wherein the outer body drapes loosely over the torso of the user and the inner sleeve fits snugly to the torso of a user, whereby relative motion between the inner sleeve and the chest of the wearer is reduced compared to a larger shirt, the inner sleeve being formed from a non-chafing material and the skin of a wearer is not abraded by contact with the non-chafing sleeve; and a plurality of attachment elements extending between the inner sleeve and the body of the shirt, the attachment elements being fixed to both the inner sleeve and the body of the shirt to maintain the inner sleeve in a useful position during athletic movement by the wearer, whereby the inner sleeve is maintained in a general position by the attachment elements, while being allowed movement with the wearer that is substantially independent of outer body movement, thereby preventing chafing of the wearer by the outer body of the shirt.   
     
     
         2 . A shirt for athletic use according to  claim 1  wherein the outer body is formed with a predetermined outer body length and the inner sleeve is formed with a predetermined inner sleeve length and the outer body length is greater than the inner sleeve length. 
     
     
         3 . A shirt for athletic use according to  claim 1  wherein the inner sleeve is attached to the outer body with the yoke portion of the inner sleeve fixed to the shoulder seams of the outer body. 
     
     
         4 . A shirt for athletic use according to  claim 3  wherein the attachment elements include stitching along the shoulder seams of the outer body joining the yoke portion of the inner sleeve to the outer body. 
     
     
         5 . A shirt for athletic use according to  claim 1  wherein the non-chafing material may be a polyester/spandex blend fabric. 
     
     
         6 . A shirt for athletic use comprising:
 a body for covering the torso of a wearer, the body being formed in a predetermined shirt size and including a front panel and a back panel joined at the top to define a collar opening and arm openings with the shirt being open at the bottom, thereby defining a cavity for receiving the torso of a wearer,   an inner sleeve attached to the shirt body within the cavity, the inner sleeve defining a throughbore for passage of the torso of a wearer therethrough, the inner sleeve being a continuous band formed with a predetermined size based on the circumference of the band, the inner sleeve being formed from a non-chafing material for a snug fit around the chest of a wearer, whereby relative motion between the inner sleeve and the chest of the wearer is reduced, and the skin of a wearer is not abraded by contact with the non-chafing sleeve; and   a plurality of attachment elements extending between the inner sleeve and the body of the shirt, the attachment elements being fixed to both the inner sleeve and the body of the shirt to maintain the inner sleeve in a useful position during athletic movement by the wearer, whereby the inner sleeve is maintained in a general position by the attachment elements, while being allowed movement with the wearer that is substantially independent of shirt movement, thereby preventing chafing of the wearer by the body of the shirt.   
     
     
         7 . A shirt for athletic use according to  claim 1  wherein the non-chafing material may be a polyester and spandex blend fabric. 
     
     
         8 . A shirt for athletic use according to  claim 6  wherein the plurality of attachment elements includes at least two pliant flanges extending between the inner sleeve and the shirt body, the flanges being formed from an elastic textile material to allow relative movement between the shirt body and the inner sleeve such that the inner sleeve moves with the wearer independent of shirt movement, thereby allowing a natural drape of the shirt over the torso of the wearer while preventing chafing. 
     
     
         9 . A shirt for athletic use according to  claim 6  wherein the plurality of attachment elements includes at least four pliant flanges extending between the inner sleeve and the shirt body, the flanges being formed from an elastic textile material to allow relative movement between the shirt body and the inner sleeve such that the inner sleeve moves with the wearer independent of shirt movement, thereby allowing a natural drape of the shirt over the torso of the wearer while preventing chafing. 
     
     
         10 . A shirt for athletic use according to  claim 9  wherein the plurality of attachment elements further includes at least one pliant strap extending between a front portion of the inner sleeve to a back portion of the inner sleeve, the strap being formed from an elastic textile material to allow relative movement between the shirt body and the inner sleeve such that the inner sleeve moves with the wearer independent of shirt movement, thereby allowing a natural drape of the shirt over the torso of the wearer while preventing chafing. 
     
     
         11 . A shirt for athletic use according to  claim 9  wherein the plurality of attachment elements further includes at least two pliant straps attached to the inner sleeve and extending around the arm holes of the shirt and sewn thereto. 
     
     
         12 . A shirt for athletic use according to  claim 6  wherein the shirt is formed from a back panel joined to a front panel with seams from the arm openings to the bottom opening and the attachment elements are sewn into the seams. 
     
     
         13 . A shirt for athletic use comprising:
 an outer body for covering the torso of a wearer, the outer body being formed as a T-shirt having a predetermined chest size and including a front panel and a back panel joined at the top to define a collar opening and arm openings and a shoulder seam extending therebetween, with the shirt being open at the bottom, thereby defining a cavity for receiving the torso of a wearer, and   an inner sleeve with a yoke portion and a body portion, the yoke portion being attached to the shirt body within the cavity, the inner sleeve defining a throughbore for passage of the torso of a wearer therethrough, the inner sleeve being formed with a predetermined chest size smaller than the outer body chest size, wherein the outer body drapes loosely over the torso of the user and the inner sleeve fits snugly to the torso of a user, whereby relative motion between the inner sleeve and the chest of the wearer is reduced compared to a larger shirt, the inner sleeve being formed from a non-chafing material, wherein the non-chafing material may be LYCRA, nylon microfiber or neoprene, and the skin of a wearer is not abraded by contact with the non-chafing sleeve, wherein the outer body is formed with a predetermined outer body length and the inner sleeve is formed with a predetermined inner sleeve length and the outer body length is greater than the inner sleeve length, wherein the inner sleeve is attached to the outer body with the yoke portion of the inner sleeve fixed to the shoulder seams of the outer body and   a plurality of attachment elements extending between the inner sleeve and the body of the shirt, the attachment elements being fixed to both the inner sleeve and the body of the shirt to maintain the inner sleeve in a useful position during athletic movement by the wearer, wherein the attachment elements include stitching along the shoulder seams of the outer body joining the yoke portion of the inner sleeve to the outer body, whereby the inner sleeve is maintained in a general position by the attachment elements, while being allowed movement with the wearer that is substantially independent of shirt movement, thereby preventing chafing of the wearer by the body of the shirt.   
     
     
         14 . A shirt for athletic use according to  claim 13  wherein the non-chafing material may be a polyester/spandex blend fabric.