US2869554A

US2869554A - Brassiere

Info

Publication number: US2869554A
Application number: US617309A
Authority: US
Inventors: John V Hollar
Original assignee: LA RESISTA CORSET CO
Current assignee: LA RESISTA CORSET CO
Priority date: 1956-10-22
Filing date: 1956-10-22
Publication date: 1959-01-20
Anticipated expiration: 1976-01-20

Description

Jan. 20, 1959 2,869,554

J. V. HOLLAR BRASSIERE Filed Oct. 22, 1956 INVENTOR.

dlglg-iN V. HULLAR AT TURNEY MMA BRASSIERE John V. Hollar, Fairfield, Conn, assignor to The La Resista Corset Company, Bridgeport, Conn, a corporation of Connecticut Application October 22, 1956, Serial No. 617,3tl9

2 Claims. (Cl. 128-498) I The present invention relates to brassieres, and has for an object to provide a garment of this type incorporating means for obtaining improved supporting and molding characteristics, while at the same time permitting free movement of the body with a minimum of restraint.

In particular, it is proposed to provide a pair of elastic side sections incorporated in the garment in the regions below the arm pits at each side of the shoulder strap supported bust-receiving pockets, and each including integrally connected horizontally and diagonally elastic portions, the pair of horizontally elastic portions providing elastic stretch in the body encircling band-like structure of the brassiere, and the pair of diagonally elastic portions providing elastic pull downwardly and outwardly upon the upper portions of the bust-receiving pockets from their points of connection with the shoulder straps. The combined action of the horizontally and diagonally elastic sections exerts tension upon the garment to retain it in place against upward and downward displacement, and to exert pull on the upper edges of the bust-receiving pockets to retain them in snug engagement with the body without gapping, while at the same time providing yieldable body engaging sections in the regions below the arm pits which mold and support the muscular structure of the body in these regions without injurious restraint or pressure.

A further object is to provide a garment in which the elastic side sections comprising integrally connected horizontally and diagonally elastic portions may each be con veniently and economically formed from a single piece of material folded along the up er edge of the section to thus provide a smoothly rounded upper edge.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein satisfactory embodiments of the invention are shown. However, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details disclosed but includes all such variations and modifications as fall within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a brassiere according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view, on an enlarged scale, of the right hand elastic side sections in unfolded flattened position;

Fig. 3 is a similar view of the left hand elastic side section; b

Fig. 4 is a plan view showing the elastic material of the right hand side section as seen in Fig. 2 folded and stitched for insertion in the garment;

Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the elastic material of the left hand side section as seen in Fig. 3 folded and stitched for insertion in the garment;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of Fig. 5;

Patented Jan. 20, 1959 Fig. 7 is a similar sectional view showing a modified form of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, the brassiere comprises a pair of bust-receiving pockets 10l0 joined at their inner edges and along a portion of their lower edges to a central panel 11 having the general shape of an inverted T, the end edges 1212 of the lower band portion of the panel extending downwardly from the lower edges of the pockets in slightly divergent relation. The elastic side sections, indicated generally as 13, are secured at the upper parts of their forward edges along the outer edges of the pockets 10 and at their lower parts along the end edges 12 of the panel 11, and are secured at their rearward edges to the forward edges of the back strap sections i l-l4. One strap section 14 is provided at its free end with hook fasteners 15 while the other is provided at its free end with a horizontally elastic band 16 provided at its end with a tab 17 having eye fasteners 18 for engagement by the hook fasteners 15. Shoulder straps 19l9 are connected between the upper edges of -the bust pockets 1t) and the back strap sections 14. The

bust pockets 10, the central panel 11 and the back strap sections 14 are formed of suitable non-elastic fabric material.

As seen in Figs. 2 and 3, each of the elastic side sections 13 comprises a single piece of one-way stretch woven elastic fabric 24 which is elastic in a horizontal direction and substantially inelastic in a vertical direction, and which consists of integral auxiliary and

main portions

21 and 22 defined by a diagonally extending fold line indicated by the dot-and-dash lines 23, the auxiliary portion being of substantially less area than the main portion. The main portion 22 is co-extensive with and has the outline shape of the elastic side section,

being provided with an upwardly and outwardly inclined rearward edge 24 for attachment to the back strap section 14, and a forward edge consisting of an upper concavely curved portion 25 for attachment to the outer edge portion of the bust pocket it and a lower straight portion 26 for attachment to the end edge 12 of the central panel ll.

The rearward edge 27 of the auxiliary portion 21 is at an angle to the fold line 23 equal to that of the rearward edge 24 of the main portion 22, and the forward edge 28 of the auxiliary portion is at an angle and curvature to the fold line equal to that of the forward edge 25 of the main portion, so that upon folding of the auxiliary portion 21 along the fold line 23 over the upper area of the main portion .22 the

edges

27 and 28 will register with the upper portions of the

edges

24 and 25.

The upper and lower edges of the piece of elastic materiai are out along horizontal lines parallel to the horizontal direction of stretch of the material, and these edges are provided with

hems

29 and 30 secured by stretchable zig-

zag stitching

31 and 32, respectively, the

hem of the auxiliary portion 21 being turned upon the forward side of the material, as seen in Fig. 2, so that upon folding it will be at the rearward side, and the hem Sil of the main portion 22 being turned upon the rearward side, so that when incorporated in the garment it is disposed at the rearward side of the garment.

The right and left hand sections are identical in outline, and as the weave and appearance of the material is preferably identical on both sides, the same blanked out pieces of material are used for both the right and left hand elastic sections, the only difference characterizing them as right and left sections being the positioning of the

hems

29 and 30, which are in reverse arrangement in the left hand section to the arrangement in the right hand section. The area of the auxiliary portion Ellis approximately one-half the area of the main portion 22, so that when folded, as seen in Figs. 4 and 5, the auxiliary portion is superimposed upon approximately one-half the area of the main portion 22, and to facilitate handling and assembly before stitching into the garment, the side edge margins of the auxiliary portion 21 superimposed upon the side edge margins of the main portion 22 are secured by rows of

stitching

33 and 34.

By virtue of the diagonal disposition of the fold line 23, the weave of the material of the auxiliary portion 21 along which it is stretchable, i, e., its stretch-weave, is disposed in a diagonal direction with respect to the i1orizontal direction of the stretch-weave or" the main portion 22, and the hem 29 of the auxiliary portion, which is parallel to the stretch-weave of the auxiliary portion, is disposed diagonally across the main portion at an intermediate point between its upper and lower edges. i is pointed out that the angle of the hem 25 and the stretcrr weave of the auxiliary portion is twice the angle of the fold line 23, for example, with a fold line at an angle of twenty-five degrees to the horizontal stretch-weave or" the main portion '22, the stretch-weave and the hem line 29 of the auxiliary portion 21; is at an angle of fifty degrees.

The action of the elastic side sections is such, due to the integral connection of the auxiliary and main'portions El and 22, that when the garment is in place upon the body the tension areas provided by the horizontal stretch portions 22 are substantially coextensive with the spaces between the pockets 1?; and the back straps 14 occupied by the side sections, while the diagonally disposed portions provide supplementary tension directed downwardly and outwardly upon the upper portions of the pockets from their points of connection with the shoulder straps 19. At the same time, the superimposing of the diagonally stretchable portion upon the horizontally stretchable portion and its integral connection at the fold line provides a complementary action between the integrally connected portions to maintain them in firm relation with the body and to prevent any tendency to wrinkle or contract in a vertical direction due to the pull between the relatively wide forward cup portion of the garment and the relatively narrow back straps securing the garment at the back. It is further pointed out that the inner ends of the diagonal hem 29 forming the lower edges or" the auxiliary portions 21 are substantially in line with the contour seams 35 defining the upper and lower parts of the bust-receiving pockets 10, so that the auxiliary diagonal tension imposed by the auxiliary elastic portions 21 is substantially directed and confined to the upper parts of the pockets, while horizontal tension is applied to the lower parts of the pockets by the main elastic portions 22.

in Fig. 7 there is shown a modification in which the zigzag stitching 31a securing the hem 29 of the auxiliary portion 21 is carried through to the main portion 22, so that the diagonally disposed lower edge of the auxiliary portion is secured along its length to the main portion 22.

What is claimed is:

l. In a brassiere, a pair of bust-receiving pockets, a pair of elastic side sections respectively connected at their forward edges to the outer edges of said pockets, and back strap sections connected to the rearward edges of said side sections, each side section comprising a single piece of one-way stretch material having a main portion, co-extensive with the side section and arranged to stretch horizontally, and an auxiliary portion, of substantially less area than said main portion, folded downwardly in superimposed relation upon the upper part of said main portion along a downwardly and outwardly inclined fold line constituting the upper edge of the side section and disposed diagonally of the stretch direction of said material, whereby the stretch direction of said auxiliary portion is diagonal relative to the horizontal stretch direction of said main portion, the side edges of said auxiliary portion being in register with the side edges of said main portion, and the lower edge of said auxiliary portion being parallel to its stretch direction and extending lagonaily across said main portion intermediate the upper lower edges of said main portion.

2. A brassierc as defined in claim 1, wherein the lower edge of said main portion is parallel to its stretch directiou.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS l,58l,74-7 Landon Apr. 20, 1926 1,979,120 Robbins Oct. 20, 1934 2,4211%) Coleman Aug. 5, 1947 2,651,040 Block Sept. 8, 3 2,695,469 Fridolph Nov. 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 453,754 Canada Jan. 4, 194-9