US2880732A

US2880732A - Garments

Info

Publication number: US2880732A
Application number: US541706A
Authority: US
Inventors: Howard A Smith
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1955-10-20
Filing date: 1955-10-20
Publication date: 1959-04-07
Anticipated expiration: 1976-04-07

Description

H. A. SMITH April 7, 1959 GARMENTS Filed Oct. 20, 1955 INVENTOR. I-IUWARD A. SMITH ATTORNEY? United States Patent GARMENTS Howard A. Smith, Fairfield, Conn.

Application October 20, 1955, Serial No. 541,706

8 Claims. (Cl. 128-475) The present invention relates to garments, particularly ladies garments of the type having a pair of bust pockets such, as for instance, as a brassiere, foundation garment, bathing suit, evening gown, and the like, and wherein the bust pockets are supported without the use of shoulder straps. The invention is especially concerned with garments of this type wherein wires are incorporated in the garment to constitute stay means for supporting the bust pocket portions of the garment, and which in the case of garments of the brassiere type are generally referred to as wired bras.

Heretofore such garments have been provided with a substantially semi-circular wire fastened into the garment in surrounding relation to the lower portion of each of the bust pockets. Such relatively stiff wire is necessary in a garment of this type because the garment is usually held in place by elastic band portions which, together with the rest of the garment, encircle the body, these band portions being under tension to hold the garment in place. The relatively stifl wire provides sufl'icient resistance to the pulling force of the elastic bands so that the upper edges of the bust pockets are sustained against spreading laterally. However, such wires are objectionable in that they present relatively sharp hard ends which tend to dig into the flesh of the wearer, particularly at the outer edges of the bust pockets, when the wearer assumes different postures, such as bending over, sitting down, etc.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a garment having wired bust pockets, and wherein the Wire includes a relatively stilt portion adapted to outline the lower portion of the bust pocket, and a relatively flexible extension to the relatively stiff wire portion arranged to eliminate a free end of the relatively stiff wire at those portions of the garment where such free end would otherwise tend to dig into the flesh of the wearer.

It is further proposed to provide a wire including a flexible portion which functions as a substantially vertically disposed stay in those portions of the garment where resistance to lateral pull is not required, and where it is desirable that the stayed portion of the garment be relatively flexible.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings 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. l is a front elevation of strapless brassiere according to one illustrated embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken along the line 22 of Fig. 1;

"Fig. 3 is a front elevation, on an enlarged scale,

ice

showing the wire elements as employed in relation to one bust pocket;

Fig. 4 is a similar view of a modified form of the invention, showing the wire as employed in relation to one bust pocket and a portion of the wire as employed in relation to the other bust pocket;

Fig. 5 is a front elevation, on a greatly enlarged scale, of an intermediate portion of the wire and showing the connection between the relatively stifi wire portion and the relatively flexible wire portion, the latter being of flattened coil wire type especially adapted for the purposes of the invention;

Fig. 6 is a side edge view thereof:

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 5, and showing a free end of the flexible flattened coil wire; and

Fig. 8 is a side edge view thereof.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 illustrates a brassiere embodying the invention. It is pointed out that the invention may be incorporated in other types of garments having bust pockets and wherein shoulder straps are dispensed with, but inasmuch as the invention is concerned with the supporting structure of the bust pockets of such garments, the illustration of the invention in connection with a brassiere will be sufficient to indicate its applicability to other types of garments as well, so that further illustration of the latter is not deemed necessary.

The brassiere as illustrated in Fig. 1 comprises a pair of bust receiving pocket portions 10-10, preferably formed of fabric or other suitable material which is soft and pliable and is adapted to conform to the contours of the body, these bust pockets being set in openings 11 of a front panel portion 12 which are substantially U-shaped in outline, the lower edge being substantially semi-circular. The upper edges of the bust pockets 10 are convexly curved as at 13 in a conventional manner so that they conform to the contours of the body, and it is pointed out in this respect that in the absence of shoulder straps, and also in the absence of stiffening means to sustain the outline shape of the openings 11, lateral pull upon the side edges of the panel 12 would tend to spread the upper portions of the bust pocket openings 11. An elastic band 14, preferably of longitudinally stretchable fabric, is secured to one vertical side edge of the panel 12 and a substantially similar elastic band 15 is secured to the other vertical side edge, the band 14 having an end strip 16 provided with hooks 17 and the band 15 having an end strip 18 provided with eyes 19 for engagement by the hooks. Obviously, other fastening means may be employed to fasten the garment in encircling relation about the body, with the bands 14 and 15, or equivalent means, provided in the garment so as to be placed under tension to exert lateral pull upon the side edges of the front panel 12.

The supporting wire consists of a relatively stiff wire section 20 of semi-circular or how form adapted to be fitted into the garment, as will presently more fully appear, in surrounding relation to the lower semi-circular outline of the bust pocket, and connected to the end of the section 20 at its outer side in a relatively flexible wire section 21 which starts at a point substantially below the upper edge of the bust pocket and is bent into inverted U-shape as at 22 to provide an upper extremity free of any sharp or hard end, and is then extended downwardly in vertical relation, as at 23, to provide a flexible vertical stay portion, and at its lower end is bent inwardly, as at 24, to eliminate a downwardly directed free'end, the free end of the portion 24 being provided with an end fitting or tip 25. The wire employed for the wire section 20 is relatively stifi spring wire and may be of circular cross-section, as shown, or of flat, oval or other suitable cross-section.

The flexible wire employed is of the type which is adapted to normally lie fiat and which at the same time may have a desired general shape substantially permanently embodied therein. A suitable stay for this purpose may consist of coiled spring wire as shown in Figs. --8, two two helically coiled

wires

26 and 27 being interengaged and thereupon flattened under extremely high pressure, which has the effect of permanently maintaining the interengaged wires together through the set imparted to the wires by the pressure applied thereto, and by causing superimposed wires to slightly embed into each other at their points of contact. Also, the pressure sets any shape in which the length of coiled wires is placed during the pressing operation. Thus, where the interengaged coiled wires are arranged along straight or curved lines when they are subjected to the flattening pressure they will thereafter remain normally straight or normally curved, although capable of flexing from such normal shape, either forwardly or rearwardly from the normal flat plane or sideways within the flat plane. The flexible wire of this type also has longitudinal elasticity being capable by longitudinal expansive force of stretching, or by longitudinal compressive force of contracting, and in either case of returning to its original length.

The free end of the flexible wire is enclosed in a suitable metal tip in the form of a channel strip clamped into U-shape over the wire ends. The connection of the end of the flexible wire to the end of the relatively stiff wire 20 is preferably carried out by welding, swedging, or other suitable procedures, the connection 28 as shown in Fig. 5 consisting of a weld joined over the butted ends of the relatively stiff and relatively flexible wires, and preferably so finished as to eliminate any sharp edge or projection.

The supporting wire is incorporated in the garment in relation to each of the bust pockets, as shown in Fig. l, the relatively stiff wire sections 20 being disposed in surrounding relation to the lower edge portions of the bust pockets, the portions 22 of the flexible wire sections 21 being disposed at the upper edges of the garment at the outer side of the bust pockets, the portions 23 being disposed vertically along the side edges of the panel 12,

and the portions 24 being carried inwardly along the l lower edge adjacent the side edges of the panel 12, so as to eliminate sharp ends at the lower ends of the vertical portions 23. In addition a vertical stay 29, preferably of flattened coil wire, similar to the section 27 is provided in vertical relation between the bus pockets, h

the ends of the stay being provided with tips 25. Also, a relatively short vertical stay 30 also preferably formed of the flattened coil wire and provided with end tips 25, is provided in the panel 12 below the center point of each bust pocket. are secured in the garment by tapes 31 at the rearward side of the garment secured by parallel rows of

stitching

32 and 33, these tapes being preferably of felt or other suitable soft material, and being similar in their arrangement to the conventional type of tape employed in garments of this type for enclosing stays and outlining the edges of the garment.

The arrangement of the relatively stiff wire sections 20 is such that the bust pockets will be elfectually supported against spread or distortion, and their edges firmly held against the body of the wearer, under the lateral pull exerted by the tensioning of the bands id and 15 when these are secured at the back, so that the garment encircles the body. The relatively flexible rounded ends provided by the inverted U-shaped porions 22 of the flexible wire sections 21 and by the in- War'dly bent end portions 24, eliminate any sharp ends at the upper and lower edges of the garment adjacent the outer ends of the panel 12, so that there is no tendency for the wire to dig into the body upon assuming various postures, as bending, sitting, etc. Also the ability The supporting wire and the stays of the flattened coil wire section 21 to freely flex in all directions, and to longitudinally contract under longitudinal pressure, allows the garment to yield at the side edges of the panels 12, thus preventing any discomfort to the wearer while at the same time providing sufficient vertical support for the garment to prevent its distortion at the side edges of the panel under the lateral pull of the bands 1 and K5.

In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 and 3 the ends of the relatively stiff wire sections 20 at the inner edges the bust pockets are provided with free ends in the conventional manner, inasmuch as the problem of preventing digging in of the free ends of a relatively stiff stay is not present at the inner edges of the bust pockets to the same extent as it is at the outer edges of the bust pockets.

in Fig. 4 there is shown a modification of the supporting wire in which a pro-shaped flexible wire section 34 is provided for disposition between the bust pockets in place of the stay 29, as seen in Fig. 1, this section being connected to the inner end of the relatively stiff wire section 2.6 of one bust pocket by an inverted U-shaped bend 35 connected, as at 36, to the wire section 29 in similar manner to the connection 28, and provided with a vertically disposed stay portion 37, at the lower end of which the wire extends laterally inwardly along the lower edge of the garment, as at 38. From the end of the portion 35 the wire is carried vertically, as at 39, to provide a vertical stay centrally below the bust pocket in place of the stay 30, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the upper end of the portion 34 being provided with a tip 25. The supporting wire for the other bust pocket is of identical but reverse form, and in practice the vertical stay portion 37 of the supporting wire for one bust pocket may be superimposed upon the vertical stay portion 37 of the wire support for the other bust pocket, as shown clearly in Fig. 4. Also the two structures may be permanently joined, if desired, by spot welding the superimposed portions 37. Another arrangement may consist in placing the portions 37 in parallel side-by-side relation.

What is claimed is:

l. A strapless brassiere consisting of a body encircling band having a pair of bust receiving pockets, and means associated with each of said pockets for preventing the collapse thereof when the brassiere is stretched around the body of a wearer, said means each including a generally semi-circular longitudinally rigid transversely resilient wire element positioned along the bottom of said pocket and extending upward along at least one side thereof to about the midpoint of said pocket, and a laterally resilient flexible member having substantially less resistance to bending under pressure than said wire element extending upward from said one end of said wire element for a short distance to near the top edge of said pocket whereby a wearer can comfortably bend forward in said brassiere and said flexible member will conform to the body but will hold the top edge of said pocket in position against the body.

2. The combination of elements as in claim 1 wherein said flexible member includes a longitudinally resilient flattened wire coil which extends upward a short distance then reverses and extends downward for substantially the width of said band adjacent said pocket.

3. The combination of elements as in claim 2 in further combination with a second flexible member like the first and extending from the other end of said Wire member.

4. In a garment of the character described, a body encircling band having upper and lower edges and including a pair of bust pockets, each defined by a U-shaped marginal edge having its sides extending to the upper edge of said band, supporting means for said respective pockets, each comprising a resiliently flexible stiffening member consisting of a length of longitudinally rigid transversely flexible spring wire in the form of a U-shaped bow secured within said band in parallel contiguous relation to the U-shaped edge of its respective pocket, at least one end of said wire terminating in downwardly spaced relation to the upper edge of said band, and a resiliently flexible stay member secured to said end of said wire as a longitudinal extension thereof and extending upwardly therefrom in parallel contiguous relation to the side edge of said respective pocket into proximity to the upper edge of said band, said stay member having relatively greater transverse flexibility than said wire, whereby a wearer can comfortably bend forward in said garment and said stay members will yieldably conform to the body while holding the top edge of said pockets in position against the body.

5. The invention as defined in claim 4, wherein said stay member is of inverted U-shape with one leg secured to said end of said wire, its bight disposed in contiguous relation below the upper edge of said band, and its other leg extending substantially vertically downwardly.

6. The invention as defined in claim 4, wherein said stay member is of inverted U-shape with one leg secured to said end of said wire, its bight disposed in contiguous relation below the upper edge of said band, and its other leg extending substantially vertically downwardly into contiguous relation above the lower edge of said band.

7. The invention as defined in claim 6, further characterized by a lateral extension of said stay member at the lower end of said other leg disposed in parallel contiguous relation to the lower edge of said band.

8. The invention as defined in claim 4, wherein said stay member is longitudinally resilient.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,483,272 Gluckin Sept. 27, 1949 2,644,946 Menz et al. July 14, 1953 2,644,947 Schwartz July 14, 1953 2,678,445 Tagliero May 18, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 158,489 Australia Aug. 26, 1954