AU737872B1

AU737872B1 - Waistband arrangement

Info

Publication number: AU737872B1
Application number: AU72236/00A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Peter Glynn
Original assignee: DINA TAILORING CO Pty Ltd
Current assignee: DINA TAILORING CO Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2000-07-18
Filing date: 2000-12-13
Publication date: 2001-09-06
Anticipated expiration: 2020-12-13

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Applicant(s): DINA TAILORING CO PTY LTD Invention Title: WAISTBAND ARRANGEMENT The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: 2- WAISTBAND ARRANGEMENT Field of the Invention This invention relates to a self-adjusting waistband arrangement for an article of clothing. The invention has been developed in relation to trousers and slacks, and the invention is hereinafter described in that context.

However, it will be understood that the invention does have application to other articles of clothing that are intended to be worn by children and adults of both genders, including trousers, skirts and walkshorts.

Background of the Invention Various forms of adjustment conventionally are provided for waisted clothing articles. For a less dressy article an elastic strip is located within a gathered portion of the waistband and the waistband is expanded to meet the size of a wearer by stretching the elastic strip and, at the same time, elongating the gathered portion of the waistband. For other articles an adjustable tab or strap is provided for gathering and thereby adjusting the effective girth of the waistband. Other more elegant waistband arrangements have been devised to provide for fixed and variable adjustment of waistbands, including that disclosed in lapsed Australian patent application No. 252624 dated 26 September 1960.

However, all known approaches that have previously been adopted or proposed (including that disclosed in application No. 252624) have involved arrangements that are unsightly or, at least, show evidence of adjustment made in the girth of the waistband. The present invention is directed to an arrangement that provides for selfadjustment-of a waistband and which avoids or minimises the inadequacies of earlier approaches.

Summary of the Invention Broadly defined, the present invention provides a 40469 3 clothing article having a side pocket and a self-adjusting waistband, the waistband having a first portion connected with an inner lining of the pocket and an overlapping second portion connected with an outer lining of the pocket. The first portion of the waistband is formed over a first part of its length with a strap which is connected to the second portion of the waistband and over a second part of its length as a sleeve. The second portion of the waistband is formed over a part of its length with a tongue which locates within the sleeve of the first portion of the waistband and is connected to the first portion of the waistband. The strap and the tongue are elastically extendable in mutually opposite directions to increase the effective girth of the waistband, and provision is made within the inner lining of the pocket to accommodate changes in the girth of the waistband.

With the above defined arrangement, the girth of the waistband may be increased to accommodate different waist sizes and/or changes in waist size, within the elastic limits of the strap and tongue, and so provide for selfadjustment of its length. Any change in the girth of the waistband will not readily be apparent, because of sliding movement of the tongue of the second waistband portion in the sleeve of the first waistband portion, and the change in girth will be accommodated within the pocket structure.

This will be described in more detail later in this specification.

Preferred Features of the Invention The clothing article preferably will be provided with two pockets and, in such case, provision will preferably be made for self-adjustment of the waistband at positions adjacent both of the pockets.

Belt loops preferably are provided at spaced intervals around the waistband and the loops preferably are positioned to cover an open end of the sleeve into which the tongue 40469 4 projects, stitching that is used to connect the strap of the first waistband portion to the second waistband portion and stitching that is used to connect the tongue of the second waistband portion to the first waistband portion.

The invention will more fully understood from the following description of a preferred embodiment of a pair of trousers that incorporate a self-adjusting waistband arrangement. The description is provided with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings In the drawings: Figure 1 shows a perspective view of an upper portion of the trousers, Figure 2 shows a portion of the trousers as seen in the direction of arrow 2 as shown in Figure 1, Figure 3 shows a sectional view through a portion of the waistband of the trousers, as seen in the direction of section plane 3-3 as shown in Figure 2, Figure 4 shows a sectional view of a portion of the waistband of the trousers, as seen in the direction of section plane 4-4 as shown in Figure 3, Figure 5 shows a view of the inside of the waistband of the trousers, as seen in the direction of arrow 5 as indicated in Figure 4, and Figure 6 shows a view of a portion of the trousers, which is similar to Figure 2, but with the waistband of the trousers in an expanded condition relative to that which is shown in Figure 2.

Detailed Description of the Invention As illustrated in Figure 1, the trousers comprise an upper, body-fitting portion 10 having a waistband 11, and leg-fitting portions 12. Side-seams 13 are provided in 40469 5 the usual way for the full length of the trousers, and side pockets 14 are provided within the fabric structure of the trousers. Each of the pockets 14 has an inner lining 15 and an outer lining 16.

The waistband 11 has a first, inner portion 17 which is connected with the inner lining 15 of the pocket by way of stitching 18. Also, the waistband has an overlapping second portion 19 which is connected integrally with the outer lining 16 of the pocket.

The first portion 17 of the waistband is formed over a first part of its length with a strap 20 which includes an elasticised portion 21 and which is connected to the second portion 19 of the waistband by stitching 22. Also, the first portion 17 of the waistband is formed over a second part of its length as a sleeve 23.

The second portion 19 of the waistband is formed over part of its length with a tongue 24 which includes an elasticised portion 25 and which is connected at its end to the second portion of the waistband by stitching 26.

As best seen from Figures 3 and 4, the tongue 24 and the elasticised portion 25 of the tongue are slidably located within the sleeve 23.

As will be apparent from the drawings and the above description, the strap 20 and the tongue 24 are extendable (elastically) in mutually opposite direction. Thus, the girth of the waistband may be increased in size (within the elastic limits of the elasticised portions 21 and simply by subjecting the waistband to tensile loading.

A slit 26 and a pleat 28 (Figure 5) are provided in the inside lining 15 of the pocket to accommodate changes in the girth of the waistband. As a consequence, when the girth of the waistband is increased, the pocket 14 will tend to open from the conditions shown in Figures 1 and 2 to that which is shown in Figure 6. The change in the disposition of the pocket relative to the rest of the trousers is accommodated by the slit 27 (and pleat 28) in the inner lining 15 of the pocket.

40469 6 The above described self-adjusting waistband arrangement is provided at both sides of the trousers, that is adjacent each of two side pockets 14. Thus, changes in the girth of the waistband occur evenly and symmetrically and a wearer will not suffer any discomfort or sense of an adjustment having occurred when wearing the trousers.

Belt loops 29 are provided at spaced intervals around the waistband, in the usual way. However, one of the belt loops 29a (Figure 2) is positioned to conceal the opening to the sleeve 23 and the other belt loops 29b and 29c are positioned to conceal the stitchings 22 and 26. As a result, the fact that the trousers have a self-adjusting waistband will not be apparent to an observer, and nor will be any change in the girth size from that of the trousers as tailored.

As indicated previously in this specification, the self-adjusting waistband feature of the present invention need not be limited to trousers and may be applied to other articles of clothing. Also, other variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. Also in the appended claims that follow and in the preceding description of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise, the word "comprising" is used in the sense of "including"; i.e. the features specified may be associated with further features in various embodiments of the invention.

40469

Claims

1. A clothing article having a side pocket and a self- adjusting waistband; the waistband having a first portion connected with an inner lining of the pocket and an overlapping second portion connected with an outer lining of the pocket, the first portion of the waistband being formed over a first part of its length with a strap which is connected to the second portion of the waistband and over a second part of its length as a sleeve, the second portion of the waistband being formed over a part of its length with a tongue which locates within the sleeve of the first portion of the waistband and being connected to the first portion of the waistband, the strap and the tongue being elastically extendable in mutually opposite directions to increase the effective girth of the waistband and provision being made within the inner lining of the pocket to accommodate changes in the girth of the waistband.

2. The clothing article as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first portion of the waistband is connected to the inner lining of the pocket by stitching and the second portion of the waistband is connected to the outer lining of the pocket by stitching.

3. The clothing article as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the strap which forms a part of the first portion of the waistband is connected to the second portion of the waistband by stitching.

4. The clothing article as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the tongue which forms a part of the second portion of the waistband is connected to the first portion of the waistband by stitching.

5. The article of clothing as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein two of the pockets are provided in the article and wherein the defined components of 40469 8 the self-adjusting waistband are provided in association with each of the pockets.

6. The clothing article as claimed in claim 5 wherein the waistband is provided at intervals around its length with belt loops and wherein one of the loops is positioned to cover an open end of each of the sleeves into which the tongues project.

7. The clothing article as claimed in claim 6 when appended to claim 3 wherein others of the loops are positioned to cover the stitching that is employed to connect the straps to the respective second portions of the waistband.

8. The clothing article as claimed in claim 6 when appended to claim 4 wherein others of the loops are positioned to cover the stitching that is employed to connect the tongues to the respective first portions of the waistband.

9. The clothing article as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8 wherein a strip of elastic material is located within each of the strap(s) and the tongue(s). The clothing article as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein a slit is provided within the inner lining of the pocket (or each of the pockets) and which is arranged to open to accommodate an increase in the girth of the waistband.

11. The clothing article as claimed in claim 10 wherein a pleat also is provided within the lining of the pocket (or each of the pockets) and which cooperates with the slit to accommodate an increase in the girth of the waistband.

12. The clothing article substantially as shown in the accompanying drawings and substantially as hereinbefore described with ,reference thereto. DATED this 12th day of DECEMBER 2000 Dina Tailoring Co Pty Ltd By their Patent Attorneys GRIFFITH HACK 40469