AU2016207792A1

AU2016207792A1 - Garment with anatomical belt for the lower body

Info

Publication number: AU2016207792A1
Application number: AU2016207792A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Pascal FORESTIER; Laurent Massotte; Nicolas Viau
Original assignee: Hanes Operations Europe SAS
Current assignee: DBI Operations Europe SAS
Priority date: 2015-01-16
Filing date: 2016-01-14
Publication date: 2017-08-03
Also published as: BR112017015185A2; CA2973809C; FR3031656A1; CA2973809A1; RU2656201C1; MX2017009319A; JP2018502228A; CN107205497A; ES2922675T3; EP3244760A1; KR20170100591A; EP3244760B1; US20180263298A1; FR3031656B1; WO2016113699A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a garment (10) for the lower body of the type comprising at least an upper portion forming a belt (12) and a portion forming a seat (14), characterized in that the belt (12) has a stepped annular curvilinear shape extending about a central axis (A) and which comprises at least a first side portion (20a) and a second side portion (20b), axially upper, which are each designed to fit over the associated hip of the wearer, and a frontal portion (22), axially lower, which is designed to extend generally under the abdomen of the wearer.

Description

PCT/IB2016/050175 WO 2016/113699

Garment with anatomical belt for the lower body

The invention relates to an underwear type garment for the lower part of the body, comprising an anatomical belt. 5 The invention applies to any article of clothing to be worn preferably next to the skin of the wearer and covering the lower part of the body.

By way of example, the garment may be a panty, Capri pants, stirrup pants, etc.

However, the invention applies more particularly to tights. 10 Clothing of the tights type is used in particular to provide warmth, for aesthetic reasons or for the comfort of the wearer.

This type of garment generally comprises an upper portion forming an elastic belt, an intermediate portion forming the seat and a lower portion forming a first leg and a second leg. is The limited number of available garment sizes does not allow the garment to adapt to the great variety of the users morphologies, so that wearing this garment is sometimes uncomfortable.

Indeed, a pair of tights that is too large risks slipping down and a pair of tights that is too small is uncomfortable. 20 In order to improve the retention of a garment, EP-A-10031292 discloses a garment having an elastic belt which is comprised of a plurality of sections having different elasticities.

Although this type of garment improves retention around the waist of the wearer, it still presents a risk of slipping or compressing the wearer 25 depending on the morphology of this person.

The present invention aims, in particular, to solve these drawbacks by providing a garment offering retention and comfort by adapting to the morphology of the wearer.

To this end, the invention relates to a garment for the lower part of 30 the body, of the type comprising at least an upper portion forming a belt and a portion forming the seat, characterized in that the belt has a stepped annular curvilinear shape that extends around a central axis and which comprises at least one first side portion and a second side portion that are axially upper, which are each designed to fit above the associated hip of the wearer, and an axially 35 lower frontal portion which is designed to extend generally under the abdomen of the wearer. 1 PCT/IB2016/050175 WO 2016/113699

Thus, the belt has an anatomical form which is naturally positioned above the hips of the wearer to help hold the tights.

In addition, the frontal portion of the belt dips downwards to position itself naturally under the abdomen of the wearer to avoid slipping downwards 5 and to improve the comfort of the wearer.

According to another feature, the portions of the belt have different elasticity constants so that the side portions of the belt exert a radial compressive force on the wearer that is lower than the compressive force exerted by the frontal portion of the belt. 10 This feature allows the belt, inter alia, to adapt to different morphologies.

Similarly, the belt comprises a rear portion having an elasticity constant designed to exert a radial compressive force on the wearer which is greater than the compressive force exerted by said side portions. 15 in another aspect, the seat comprises a dorsal portion for the buttocks and a frontal portion, the dorsal portion being designed to exert a radial compressive force on the wearer that is lower than the compressive force exerted by said frontal portion.

This feature allows favoring comfort and allows the garment to adapt 20 to the morphology of the wearer.

In addition, the garment comprises a lower portion forming a first leg and a second leg which are connected on the seat, and the seat comprises a first supporting band and a second supporting band which are axially interposed between the portion forming the seat and the first leg and the second leg 25 respectively, and which are designed to be arranged under the buttocks of the wearer to exert a substantially radial tightening force on the top of the wearer's thighs to support said legs of the garment.

To avoid a tourniquet effect around the thigh, each supporting band generally forms a half-ring that is designed to be arranged under the buttocks of 30 the wearer to extend around the back of the associated thigh of the wearer.

The garment is made of tricot and in that different elasticity constants are obtained by varying the type of mesh used.

In addition, the garment comprises a first half and a second half which are each designed symmetrically along an axial plane of symmetry, the 35 first half and the second half defining a first assembly edge and a second assembly edge, respectively, which each extends axially along the plane of 2 PCT/IB2016/050175 WO 2016/113699 symmetry, at the center of the portion forming the seat, said assembly edges being connected together to form the garment by a frontal seam and a dorsal seam of different elasticity, the frontal seam being designed to exert a radial compressive force greater than the radial compressive force of the dorsal seam. 5 This feature allows the garment to adapt to the morphology of the wearer and more particularly to the buttocks.

For this purpose, the frontal seam has a stitch density lower than the density of stitches of the dorsal seam. in a preferred embodiment, the garment is tights. 10 Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear upon reading the detailed description which follows for the understanding of which reference will be made to the accompanying drawings in which: - Figure 1 is a schematic back view showing tights having an anatomical belt and portions with different elasticities according to the invention; is - Figure 2 is a schematic frontal view of the tights of Figure 1; - Figure 3 is a schematic side view of the tights of Figure 1; - Figure 4 is a detail view in perspective of the belt of the tights; - Figure 5 is a side view illustrating the curvature of the belt of the tights. 20 To clarify the description and claims, the non-limiting terms longitudinal, vertical and transversal in reference to the trihedron L, V, T indicated in the figures, will be used.

In the present application, the terms "upper", "lower", "bottom", "top", "vertical" and derivatives thereof refer to the position or orientation of an 25 element or of a component, this position or orientation being considered when the wearer is standing on horizontal ground.

On all of these figures, identical or similar references represent identical or similar bodies or sets of bodies. A tricot tights 10 shown in Figure 1 is designed to be worn by a 30 person preferably next to the skin.

The tights 10 extends axially along a centra! axis A from an upper portion forming the belt 12, an intermediate portion forming the seat 14 and a lower portion forming a first leg 16a and second leg 16b which are connected on the seat 14. PCT/IB2016/050175 WO 2016/113699

The tights 10 has a first half 18a and a second half 18b which are each designed symmetrically along an axiai symmetry plane P of genera! design which extends here in a vertical direction.

To clarify the description and claims, identical or similar elements 5 have the same numerical reference followed by the letter "a” for elements referring to the first half 18a of the tights 10, and followed by the letter "b" for the elements referring to the second half of the tights 10.

As can be seen in Figures 2 to 5, the belt 12 has an axially stepped annular curvilinear shape extending about the central axis A. 10 The belt 12 includes a first side portion 20a and a second side portion 20b, which are axially higher about the central axis A, each designed to fit above the associated hip of the wearer, and a frontal portion 22 which is arranged axially lower to extend generally under the abdomen of the wearer. indeed, with reference to Figure 5, the belt 12 undulates axially 15 around the wearer to adapt to the morphology of the wearer, each side portion 20a, 20b drawing an upwardly curved convex wave designed to fit over the associated hip the wearer. in addition, each side portion 20a, 20b of the belt 12 comprises at least one frontal portion 24a, 24b which plunges axially downwards for 20 connecting the frontal portion 22 of the belt 12.

Also, the belt 12 has a dorsal portion 26 which is connected on the side portions 20a, 20b.

The dorsal portion 26 may optionally have similar characteristics to the characteristics of the frontal portion 22, such as being connected by a dorsal 25 portion which may optionally have identical characteristics to the characteristics of the frontal portion 24a, 24b, such as plunging axially downwards to connect the dorsal portion 26 of the belt 12, and be axially lower.

Of course, the dorsal portion may also not include these characteristics of the frontal portion 22 and be axially neutral or greater and/or so be directly connected to the side portions 20a, 20b. 35

According to another aspect of the invention, the different portions 20a, 20b, 22, 26 of the belt 12 have different elasticity constants so that the side portions 20a, 20b of the belt 12 exert a radial compression force on the wearer which is lower than the compressive force exerted by the frontal portion 22 of the belt 12. PCT/IB2016/050175 WO 2016/113699

For this purpose, the side portions 20a, 20b of the beit 12 have an stretchabiiity capacity which is greater than the stretchability capacity of the frontai portion 22, aiong the circumference of the belt 12.

Indeed, a belt portion 12 which has a low elasticity constant, that is 5 to say which is nervous, exerts a radial compressive force towards the body of a wearer which is greater than a belt portion having a high elasticity constant, that is to say which is little nervous and more easily stretchable.

This feature promotes the comfort and the retention of the belt 12 about the waist of the wearer. ίο Similarly, the dorsal portion 26 of the belt 12 has an elasticity constant designed to exert a radial compressive force on the wearer which is greater than the compressive force exerted by each of the side portions 20a, 20b.

The seat 14 of the tights 10 comprises a dorsal portion 28 for the is buttocks and a frontal portion 30, the dorsal portion 28 being designed to exert a radial compressive force on the wearer which is lower than the radial compressive force exerted by the frontal portion.

In other words, the dorsal portion 28 has a stretchability capacity greater than that of the frontal portion 30. 20 This feature helps promote the comfort of the wearer, the tights 10 thus adapting to different morphologies by stretching more or less.

As can be seen in Figure 2, the frontal portion draws a triangle flared towards the belt which covers generally the lower abdomen of the wearer, the dorsal portion 28 forming the remainder of the seat 14. 25 According to another aspect of the invention, the seat 14 of the tights 10 comprises a first supporting band 32a and a second supporting band 32b which are interposed axially along the central axis A, between the portion forming the seat 14 and the first leg 16a and the second leg 16b, respectively.

The supporting bands 32a and 32b are designed to be arranged 30 under the buttocks of the wearer to exert a radial tightening force substantially over the top of the wearer's thighs in order to support the legs 16a, 16b of the tights 10 to prevent them from slipping downwards.

To this end, each supporting band 32a, 32b has a stretchability capacity which is lower than that of the dorsal portion 28 of the seat 14, to 35 substantially tighten the thigh of the wearer. PCT/IB2016/050175 WO 2016/113699

As can be seen in Figure 3, each supporting band 32a, 32b generally form a half-ring which extends around the back of the thigh along a vertical axis.

This half-ring shape allows avoiding the tourniquet effect on the thigh while promoting the support of the associated leg 16a, 16b. 5 As an indication, the different elasticity constants of the portions of the tights 10 are obtained by varying the type of mesh used. in reference to Figures 1 to 3, the first half 18a and the second half 18b of the tights 10 define an assembly edge 34a and a second assembly edge 34b respectively, each edge 34a, 34b extending axially along the plane P of 10 symmetry and the central axis A, to the center of the portion forming the seat 14.

Assembly edges 34a, 34b are interconnected to form the tights 10 in its final form by a frontal seam 36 and a dorsal seam 38 of different elasticity.

Indeed, the frontal seam 36 is designed to exert a radial compressive force to the wearer's body, greater than the radial compressive force of the dorsal is seam 38.

For this purpose, the frontal seam 36 has a stitch density lower than the stitch density of the dorsal seam 38.

This feature improves the comfort and elasticity of the dorsal portion 28 of the seat 14. 20 6

Claims

1. A garment (10) for the lower body of the type comprising at least one upper belt portion (12) and portion forming a seat (14), characterized in that the belt (12) has a stepped annular curvilinear shape that extends around a central axis (A) and which comprises at least a first side portion (20a) and a second side portion (20b) axially upper, which are each designed to fit above the associated hip of the wearer, and a frontal portion (22), axially lower, which is designed to extend generally under the abdomen of the wearer.

2. A garment (10) for the lower body according to claim 1, characterized in that the portions of the belt (12) have different elasticity constants so that the side portions (20a, 20b) of the belt (12) exert a radial compressive force on the wearer which is lower than the compressive force exerted by the frontal portion (22) of the belt (12).

3. A garment (10) for the lower body according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the belt (12) has a dorsal portion (26) having an elasticity constant designed to exert a radial compressive force on the wearer which is greater than the compressive force exerted by said side portions (20a, 20b).

4. A garment (10) for the lower body according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the seat (14) has a dorsal portion (28) for the buttocks and a frontal portion (30), the dorsal portion (28) being designed to exert a radial compressive force on the wearer which is lower than the compressive force exerted by said frontal portion (30).

5. A garment (10) for the lower body according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a lower portion forming a first leg (16a) and a second leg (16b) which are connected on the seat (14), and in that the seat (14) comprises a first supporting band (32a) and a second supporting band (32b) which are interposed axiaiiy between the portion forming the seat (14) and the first leg (16a) and the second ieg (16b) respectively, and which are designed to be arranged under the buttocks of the wearer to exert a radial tightening force substantially over the upper thighs of the wearer to support the said legs of the garment (10).

6. A garment (10) for the lower body according to claim 5, characterized in that each supporting band (32a, 32b) forms overall a half-ring that is designed to be arranged under the buttocks the wearer to extend around the back of the associated leg of the wearer.

7. A garment (10) for the lower body according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is made in tricot and in that different elasticity constants are obtained by varying the type of mesh used.

8. A garment (10) for the lower body according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a first half (18a) and a second half (18b) which are each designed symmetrically along an axial plane (P) of symmetry, the first half (18a) and the second half (18b) defining a first assembly edge (34a) and a second assembly edge (34b), respectively, which each extend axially along the plane (P) of symmetry, in the center of the portion forming the seat (14), said assembly edges being connected together to form the garment (10) by a frontal seam (36) and a dorsal seam (38) of different elasticity, the frontal seam (36) being designed to exert a radial compressive force greater than the radial compressive force of the dorsal seam (38).

9. A garment (10) for the lower body according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the frontal seam (36) has a stitch density lower than the stitch density of the dorsal seam (38).

10. A garment (10) for the lower body according to any one of the preceding ciaims, characterized in that the garment (10) is tights.