US2898603A

US2898603A - Concealed hole waist belt

Info

Publication number: US2898603A
Application number: US601801A
Authority: US
Inventors: Epstein Max
Original assignee: Hickok Manufacturing Co Inc
Current assignee: Hickok Manufacturing Co Inc
Priority date: 1956-08-02
Filing date: 1956-08-02
Publication date: 1959-08-11
Anticipated expiration: 1976-08-11

Description

11, 1 M. EPSTEIN 2,898,603

CONCEALED HOLE WAIST BELT Filed Aug. 2, 1956 FIG.|

INVENTOR. Mox Epstein g M 7 777 max;

CONCEALED HOLE WAIST BELT Max Epstein, Rochester, N.Y., assign'or to Hickok Manufacturing Co., Inc., Rochester, N.Y., a corporation of New York Application August 2,1956, SerialNo. 601,801

9 Claims. (Cl. 2322) This invention relates generally to the class of garment supports and is directed particularly to improvements in waist belts.

Waist belts as conventionally constructed, particularly those designed for mens wear, comprise the waist encircling band,usually formed of leather, to one end of which is attached a buckle carrying a tongue member. The body of the belt for a portion of its length adjacent the other end is usually provided with openings through which the tongue of the buckle is extended when the belt is secured around the waist. These tongue receiving openings are exposed on the outer surface of the belt and, being subjected to strain from the engagement of the tongue therein, usually become stretched and sometimes torn so that as the belt is let out or taken up to accommodate an increase or decrease in the waist measurement of the wearer, the exposed tongue receiving openings present an undesirable or unsightly appearance.

. A principal object of the present invention in view of the foregoing is to provide an improved waist belt wherein the buckle tongue receiving openings are concealed and accordingly when the belt is let out or taken up for the reasons stated, the previously used holes will be concealed or hidden from View.

Another object of the invention is to provide a waist belt which is constructed in a new and novel manner whereby it presents to the view a continuous line and form design uninterrupted by visible buckle tongue holes.

.Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved waist belt having a backing portion and a facing portion and wherein the backing or lining only is perforated to receive the buckle tongue, the facing portion being constructed or designed in a novel manner to cover the perforations but to also permit the point or end of the tongue to extend through for engagement with the cross bar of the buckle in the conventional manner.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a waist belt having a back or lining perforated portion and a self closing front or facing portion through which the buckle tongue can be extended after passing through an aperture in the lining or backing portion.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a concealed hole belt which is so designed that it may be readily formed or built up of one form of material, such as leather, or of materials of contrasting character, such as leather and fabric, or of solid construction in the form of extruded plastic.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detail description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming part of the specification, with the understanding, however, that the invention is not confined to a strict conformity with the showing of the drawing but may be changed or modified so long as such changes or modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a front perspective view of a belt constructed United States Patent 2,898,603 Patented Aug. 11,

in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention showing the free end thereof engaged with the buckle and illustrating the manner in which the buckle tongue passes through the hole concealing front or facing portion;

Fig. 2 is a view in rear elevation of the connected buckle carrying end and free end of the belt showing the solid backing or lining portion'and the apertures therein.

Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal section taken substantially on the line 3--3 of Fig. l and on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view on an enlarged scale taken substantially on the line 4--4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a sectional View corresponding to Fig. 4, through a modified construction wherein the backing or lining portion has a facing of braided material through which the buckle tongue projects for engagement in one of the openings in the backing portion;

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view corresponding to Figs. 4 and 5 and showing a one-piece extruded plastic construction.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, the numeral 10 generally designates a concealed hole belt constructed in accordance with a preferred form of the invention wherein the belt may be fabricated throughout of one material, such as leather, for example.

In the construction illustrated there is shown an end portion 12 which is turned back through a conventionally illustrated type of buckle which is generally designated 14 and which comprises the hinge bar portion 16, the side bars 18 which extend from the ends of the hinge bar 16, and the forward face bar 20 which extends across the outer surface of the belt when the free end of the belt is engaged with the buckle. The turned-back portion 12 of the belt forms a loop around the hinge bar 16 in which loop is formed a slot S. In this slot is located the eye portion 21 of a conventional tongue 22 which extends forwardly and is of a length to have its forward or free end portion 23 rest against the outer side of the face bar 20, as illustrated and as is conventional.

The numeral 24 generally designates the usual loop which has one side secured between the body of the belt and turned back portion 12 to form a keeper for the free end 25 of the belt after it is passed through and secured to the buckle.

The belt 10 comprises a one-piece backingportion 26 which is initially of a width greater than the final belt width whereby longitudinal edge portions can be turned back as indicated at 27 to provide facing border bands 28 along the longitudinal edges of the finished belt.

.The backing portion is in the form of a one-piece strip or band of material and lying along the forward side or face thereof is a lining strip 29 which is of an overall width less than the over-all or original width of the backing 26. This lining strip is secured to the backing by adhesive and also by the stitching which is subsequently employed for securing the several parts of the belt together, as will be hereinafter described.

The free end portion 25 of the completed belt is preferably decreased or tapered slightly in width as illustrated, for convenience in running the end through the buckle and through the keeper loop 24 and also for aesthetic appeal.

For a portion of the length of the belt from the free end 25, the lining and backing portions are provided with aligned apertures 30 in which the buckle tongue 22 is engaged in the use of the belt.

The front side of the belt has a covering which is generally designated 31 and which provides concealment for the openings 30 and also provides a means for permitting the end of the buckle tongue to pass through for engagewent against the face bar 20 of the buckle in the manner illustrated in Fig. 1. In the preferred form of the belt this facing or front covering is made up of two bands or strips of material which are designated 32 and which are of approximately half the width of the lining 29, as shown in Fig. 4. These strips 32 of the facing material lie with their inner edges in substantially abutting relation and have their outer edges extended beyond the outer edges of the lining strip 29 and are secured by stitching 33 to the underturned edge portion 28' of the bordering band 28 '-which is integral with the backing or forms the turned-in portion of the backing as illustrated.

It will be seen that in assembling the parts the edge portions of the backing 26 are stitched by the stitching 33 to the outer edges of the facing portions 32 and the facing portions are then brought around to the opposite face of the backing and are drawn together at their free edges sufficiently to carry a portion of the backing material over to form the bordering bands 28, thus providing a concealed stitching or seam.

The free edge portions of the facing parts 32 are turned over and skived as indicated at 34 to form the rounded inner borders 35 which come together along the longitudinal center of the belt and these border portions are then stitched as indicated at 36 to the liner 29 and the backing 26. The portions of the parts 32 lying between the stitched lines 36 are separable to a sufficient extent to permit the free end of the buckle tongue to pass therebetween when it is extended through one of the openings 30.

As illustrated in Fig. 4, the liner 29 is of slightly less width than the facing 31 and the edge portions of the liner are secured in place in a suitable manner, preferably by the use of adhesive in belts of leather construction.

The belt described may be constructed of any suitable material, either leather or fabric, and it is also contemplated to use a combination of these materials, one example of such combination being illustrated in Fig. Where the facing is shown as being made of a woven or braided material. In this construction the numeral 37 designates the backing strip of material which may be made of leather and which is provided at the proper locations along the length thereof with apertures to receive the buckle tongue, one of which apertures is shown and designated 38. The facing of the belt is generally designated 39 and may be in the form of the wozen material which is conventionally used in certain belt constructions and which covers the front side of the backing 37 throughout the length and width of the same. Any suitable edge finish may be employed as, for example, the backing material of leather, or any other substance, may be of sufficient width to have a portion of its longitudinal edge turned across the longitudinal edges of the facing 39 to form the edge bands 4% corresponding to the edge bands 28.

With the construction of the character just described, that is, using leather or other solid material for .thebac'king and braided or woven material for the facing, it will be seen that the buckle tongue apertures will be effectively covered or hidden from view but that when the belt is in use the buckle tongue can be readily forced through the woven material to lie against the face of the bar portion 20 of the buckle which will extend across the front of the woven or braided face.

It is also contemplated to apply the present invention to the construction of a one-piece plastic belt which may be formed by extrusion. In Fig. 6 there is illustrated in cross section a belt of one-piece construction formed of plastic or similar material by extrusion, wherein the body of the belt is generally designated 41 and is provided with suitable buckle tongue receiving apertures which open through the rear face of the body. One of such apertures is designated 42.

In the extrusion process the material of which the body 41 is formed is shaped so as to provide the front face of the body with two longitudinally extending strips or hands 4-3 which correspond to the portions 32 of the facing 31 of the multi-ply construction illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4. These bands or strip portions 43 have free opposing longitudinal edges which meet along a line extending longitudinally of the belt midway between its edges or along the medial part thereof and which edges overlie the openings 42 as illustrated. It will be readily apparent that the strip or band portions 43 may be easily forced apart but normally they lie together and relatively flatly against the face of the belt so as to effectively conceal the apertures through one of which the belt buckle tongue extends when the belt is in use. Obviously in this construction, as well as in the other two embodiments of the invention, the apertures will at all times be fully covered and concealed from view and even when the belt buckle tongue is projected through one of the apertures at the front side of the belt, as it is shown in Fig. 1, the opposing edges of the facing portions 32 will close snugly around the buckle tongue so that the aperture through which the tongue extends will be substantially hidden.

The belt constructed according to the first described embodiment may be made of leathers, or other materials, of contrasting colors, as for example, the backing 26 may may be dark and the facing light. The turned edge portions 28 will thus provide edge bands of contrasting .color. The lining band 29 may then be of the same color as the parts 32 of the facing and thus separation of the edges 35 will not break the solid front color by showing a part of the darker backing material.

From the foregoing it will be seen that there is provided by the present invention in its several embodiments a new and novel belt which will remain at all times in an attractive condition, even after extensive use, by reason of the fact that the buckle tongue apertures will not be exposed and even though they may become stretched or even torn by continued use, this fact will be completely concealed by the facing material of the belt.

I claim:

1. A waist belt comprising an elongate backing band, a facing overlying one side of the backing band, said backing band having in one end portion a longitudinal row of spaced belt buckle tongue apertures substantially along the longitudinal center of the belt, said facing embodying two strips of material lying in edge opposed relation and having their outer longitudinal edges secured to the adjacent longitudinal edges of the backing band, and said opposed edges of the facing strips being separably joined along a line extending substantially continuously along the longitudinal center of the belt and concealing said apertures.

2. A one-piece extruded plastic waist belt comprising an elongate band of synthetic resin plastic having in one end portion a central longitudinal row of spaced belt buckle tongue apertures, and longitudinal strips of the plastic extending along one face of the band with free edges in substantially abutting opposed relation substan tially along the medial line of the band andrnerging integrally along their outer portions with the band, said strips forming movable concealing means for said -aper-' tures.

3. A waist belt comprising an elongate backing band, a facing overlying one side of the backing band, said backing band having in one portion a longitudinal row .of spaced belt buckle tongue apertures, said facing embodying longitudinal bands of material each joining along one longitudinal edge with ta longitudinal edge of the backing band and extending widthwise transversely of and toward the longitudinal center of the backing band, the other longitudinal edges of said longitudinal bands being opposed along the longitudinal center of the backing band and movably coact'ing in portions bordering said other longitudinal edges and substantially completely overlying and concealing said row of apertures, the said opposed longitudinal edges of said longitudinal hands being adapted to be forced apart by a belt buckle tongue projected from the back of the belt through one of said apertures be engaged with a coacting part of the buckle exposed across the front of the belt.

4. A waist belt having a front part forming the exposed face of the belt and a back part and having buckle tongue apertures opening through the back part, and separable means inherent in the front part and concealing said apertures from view on the front side, said separable means being so formed as to permit the penetration of a buckle tongue therethrough from and through one of said apertures of the back part of the belt and for exposure upon the said face of the front part of the belt.

5. A waist belt having a front part forming the exposed face of the belt and a back part and having a longitudinally extending series of spaced buckle tongue apertJures opening through the back part in one end portion of the belt and means extending longitudinally of the front part of the belt and overlying and concealing said apertures from view at the front of the belt, said means being formed to permit a belt buckle tongue to be projected from the back part through one of said apertures therein to and beyond the front part for exposure on the belt face.

6. The invention according to claim 5, wherein said means comprises elongate coacting elements having separable edge to edge relation along the longitudinal center of the belt.

7. The invention according to claim 5, wherein said means comprises a reticulated material forming a part of the front side of the belt.

8. The invention according to claim 5, wherein the belt is formed in one piece of one material and said means comprises longitudinal band portions of said material lying in edge opposed relation over the apertures.

9. A waist belt comprising an elongate band of synthetic resin plastic having in one end portion a central longitudinal row of spaced belt Ibuckle tongue apertures, and longitudinal strips of the plastic extending along one face of the band with free edges in substantially abutting opposed relation substantially along the medial line of the band and merging along their outer portions with the band, said strips forming moveable concealing means for said apertures.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 622,622 Harlan Apr. 4, 1899 627,864 Messick June 27, 1899 886,439 Susseles May 5, 1908 1,411,666 Kroll Apr. 4, 1922 2,266,953 Blue Dec. 23, 1941 2,671,903 Breul Mar. 16, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 578,025 Great Britain June 12, 1946