US3591865A

US3591865A - Method of producing a brief-type undergarment

Info

Publication number: US3591865A
Application number: US874260A
Authority: US
Inventors: Karl E Senser
Original assignee: Sears Roebuck and Co
Current assignee: Sears Roebuck and Co
Priority date: 1969-11-05
Filing date: 1969-11-05
Publication date: 1971-07-13
Anticipated expiration: 1988-07-13

Abstract

A brief for men and boys characterized in that it is formed of substantially a single blank cut from a tubular fabric, one section of tubing disposed between two spaced transverse cuts providing two identical garments. The blank is so cut from such a section as to yield a swatch so shaped that it may form a supplemental reinforcing seat portion, although not required. The invention consists of the novel garment and also its method of fabrication.

Description

United States Patent Inventor Karl E. Senser Riverside, lll.

Appl. No. 874,260

Filed Nov. 5, 1969 Patented July 13, 1971 Assignee Sears, Roebuck and Co. Chicago, [11.

METHOD OF PRODUCING A BRIEF-TYPE UNDERGARMENT 2 Claims, 9 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 2/224, 2/243 lnt.Cl A411) 9/02 Field of Search 2/224, 238,

[56] References Cited UNl'TED STATES PATENTS 2,707,284 5/1955 Artzt 2/243 B 3,491,375 1/1970 Beard et a1 2/224A FOREIGN PATENTS 1,212,617 10/1959 France 2/224 A 1,345,649 11/1963 France 2/224 A Primary Examiner-H. Hampton Hunter Almrneys- Frank H. Marks and Nathan N. Kraus ABSTRACT: A brief for men and boys characterized in that it is formed of substantially a single blank cut from a tubular fabric, one section of tubing disposed between two spaced transverse cuts providing two identical garments. The blank is so cut from such a section as to yield a swatch so shaped that it may form a supplemental reinforcing seat portion, although not required. The invention consists of the novel garment and also its method of fabrication.

PATENTEMLHIQI: 3591.865

SHEET 1 BF 2 FIG, 5

IN VEN TO'Q PATENTEDJULISIBH 3 591 865 SHEET 2 OF 2 I Fla, 7 f H METHOD OF PRODUCING A BRIEF-TYFE UNDERGARMENT My invention has to do with an undergarment of the general character of drawers for wear by men and boys and may in a sense be considered an improvement over the invention described and claimed in my copending U.S. Pat. application Serial No. 650,833, filed July 3, 1967 and now US. Pat. No. 3,487,833 dated Jan. 6, 1970.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The aforesaid prior invention involves a brief, or snugly fitting drawers, characterized by the presence of an overlap extending upwardly from the crotch and overlapping a panel which extends downwardly from the waist over the abdomen, and including a passage with a horizontal opening, the upper edge of said overlap having means for resiliently closing said passage. That structure has certain important advantages not found in the prior art.

The usual brief, as marketed for a long time, is characterized by overlapping layers of fabric in front with an opening along a vertical line. Furthermore, such a garment is usually fabricated from a plurality of pieces or swatches of fabric, as many as six in some cases, requiring considerable hand labor in cutting and sewing and excessive waste material. Hence, the cost is high.

BRIEF OUTLINE OF THE INVENTION The present invention, in contradistinction to said pending application, is characterized by the presence of a pair of overlapping flaps of fabric covering the abdomen, groin and crotch portions of the wearer's anatomy and providing a horizontal passage through the vertical edges of said flaps. The structure of said garment is so designed and constructed that said vertical side edges of the aforesaid flaps providing said passage will permit manual access from the right side and will normally be maintained taut. Thus, the overlap which forms the support will provide the support for the genitalia desired by young males who prefer this type of gannent.

Another object is to provide a garment of the type referred to so designed that it may be cut from tubular fabric in such manner as to provide little or no wasted material, thus reducing cost.

Still another object is to provide a garment of the type referred to designed so that it may be cut from tubular material to provide a swatch which may, if desired, be attached to the garment as a seat reinforcement.

A further object is to provide a new and improved method of producing a garment of the type referred to which may be fabricated from a single blank of fabric, with a minimum of cutting and sewing operations, and thus is simple, economical, and capable of operation by relatively unskilled labor.

Other objects and advantages will doubtless suggest themselves to those skilled in the art as the description proceeds.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Referring now to the drawings forming a part of this specification and illustrating a preferred embodiment of my invention,

FIG. I is a front plan view of a brief embodying my invention, certain parts being cut away for added clearness;

FIG. 2 is a rear plan view of the same;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the overlap portion of the garment, taken substantially along the line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line 5-5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary view of a strip of tubing from which my improved garments are fabricated;

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a fabric section cut from tubing seen in FIG. 6, at a subsequent stage ofproduction;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a blank for a single garment at a still later stage of production, and

FIG.- 9 is a plan view of a supplemental seat portion for a garment embodying my invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION It is believed that my invention may be most clearly understood ifl first describe the method of production.

Referring to FIGS. 6--9, inclusive, there is utilized a tubular material of a character commonly employed in the textile industry, being an elastic knitted fabric known in the trade as Spandex or Lycra, the numeral 10 indicating such a tube as disposed on a cutting table, conveyor or the like. Such material has a one-way elasticity as indicated by arrows in FIGS. 8 and 3. Obviously, such a tube will provide a pair of overlapping sheets 12, 12' of identical width, with longitudinal edges or fold lines F and F.

A rectangular section is cut from the tubing as defined by the

transverse lines

15, 15.

A cut is made through the tube material through both tubing layers 12 and 12' of generally triangular shape, as indicated by numerals 20 and 23, said out producing a swatch 25 (seat patch) of generally triangular shape which is then removed as shown in FIG. 9. The converging sides of the triangle may, but need not necessarily, terminate a short distance inwardly of edge F'.

The tube is then cut along fold line F, and the section then opened along fold line F, resulting in a substantially rectangular swatch as seen in FIG. 7, with the triangular spaces disposed in allochiral relation. Further cutting is then done along the lines I6, l6, l8, and 13', resulting in two identical blanks B (FIGS. 7 and 8), capable of producing two garments.

The rectangular swatch defined by lines l8, 18, 20, 20 is eliminated, being the only waste resulting from the operation, which is of negligible economic importance.

Blank B is yoke-shaped and characterized by a substantially straight horizontal edge 30 which is of a length sufficient to pass around the wearers waist, with a substantial overlap, as seen in FIG. 1. Depending from edge 30 at opposite ends thereof is a pair of

flaps

32, 32 defined by vertical

outer edges

33, 33 and inner edges 35, 35 which are roughly parallel to

edges

33, 33, but slope upwardly and inwardly to rounded cor-

V ners

37, 37 and then extend diagonally downwardly and inwardly at an angle of about 45 along

straight lines

40, 40, the lower ends of which are spaced apart to define a relatively short horizontal edge 42, approximately equal in width to the wearers crotch.

It will be seen that the central portion .41 of blank B is roughly triangular, corresponding approximately to the shape and size of swatch 25 (FIG. 9).

As stated hereinabove, the fabric of which tube 10 is formed is essentially a one-way stretch material and the blanks hereinabove described are cut so that the major stretch thereof is in a horizontal direction, as indicated by the arrows in FIGS. 8 and 9.

Blank B constitutes substantially the entire fabric of the gar ment embodying my invention, except for a few accessories such as a waistband 45 (FIG. 3) and elastic edging material hereinafter described.

To complete the fabrication of the garment, Blank B is folded over upon its vertical median line, M resulting in overlapping

flap portions

32, 32, as seen in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4. The elastic waistband 45 may then be attached by stitching 47 and the lower edges of flaps 32 are then secured together by horizontal stitching at 48 (FIG. 3).

Flaps

32, 32 are likewise secured together by

vertical stitching

33, 33 at the top and 34, 34 at the bottom for stabilization. Such stitching extends only a relatively short distance from the top and bottom, respectively, leaving a free open space therebetween for convenient access. Such access may be had from the right side.

Obviously, in production, the length of the slit or opening between the top and bottom vertical stitching may be adjusted as desired by varying the length of said stitching.

Suitable tape edge binding is then stitched to the edges of overlap P provided by overlapping

flaps

32, 32, and similar binding is provided around the leg openings, an elastic strand being inserted within said binding to provide desired resilience along these various edges, so as to insure a snug fit.

Because of the double folds of

fabric

32, 32 forming overlap P, this structure provides superior support for the male genitalia, which is a feature of considerable importance in this type of garment.

Furthermore, my improved structure insures, in addition to the excellent support just mentioned, that firm and neat closure is provided atall times, the double-walled overlap providing comfortably positive coverage of the groin and abdomen, at the same time permitting ready ingress and egress through the passage between the flaps.

Although the garment is complete in all respects as hereinabove described, inasmuch as my invention provides the swatch 25 of precisely the desired shape and size to form a supplemental seat portion, it is so employed by stitching said swatch 25 to the back of the garment, as seen in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, the stitching extending around the periphery of said swatch. Thus, my invention permits reinforcement of the garment in the seat, a place of maximum wear, at substantially no added expense.

It will be seen that l have conceived a novel form of brief having a number of superior features, as well as a novel method of production thereof, resulting in nearly complete elimination of waste material and thus efi'ecting substantial economies which may be passed on to the consumer in the form of reduced cost. Fabrication in accordance with my invention is so simple and expedient that relatively unskilled personnel may be employed.

The use of only a simple blank, in lieu of a plurality up to six, effects a saving in both labor and material, while production of the supplemental seat reinforcing swatch requires no extra step of labor except for its attachment.

Various changes coming within the spirit of my invention may suggest themselves t those skilled in the art; hence, I do not wish to be limited to the specific embodiment shown and described or uses mentioned, but intend the same to be merely exemplary, the scope of myinvention being limited only by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A method of producing a garment of the character described comprising,

a. cutting a section from elongated tubing of elastic fabric, said section being flattened to form two plies and being defined by two longitudinal fold edges and two spaced transverse edges.

b. cutting out of both plies of said section a pair of identical generally truncated triangular superposed swatches having their base lines substantially parallel to a fold edge and leaving generally truncated triangular openings in said section,

c. severing said section along said last-mentioned fold edge,

d. opening the plies of said section to form a rectangular piece of fabric with said triangular openings in allochiral relation, severing said section along its median line transverse to the tube axis to form a pair of substantially identical yokeshaped blanks having depending end leg portions and a generally triangular central seat portion with a bottom edge, the bottom edges of the seat and leg portions being approximately the width of the wearer's crotch,

f. folding said blank along spaced vertical lines adjacent said triangular seat portion whereby said leg portions overlap,

g. stitching the bottom edges of said leg portions to the bottom edge of said seat portion to form a double-walled crotch portion disposed in part over the wearers abdomen, and,

h. stitchin a waistband to the top edge of said blank 2. A met od as in claim 1 wherein said leg portions are stitched together at the top and bottom thereof, along spaced substantially vertical lines, to restrict the passage thereof while still permitting convenient manual access therebetween.

Claims

1. A method of producing a garment of the character described comprising, a. cutting a section from elongated tubing of elastic fabric, said section being flattened to form two plies and being defined by two longitudinal fold edges and two spaced transverse edges. b. cutting out of both plies of said section a pair of identical generally truncated triangular superposed swatches having their base lines substantially parallel to a fold edge and leaving generally truncated triangular openings in said section, c. severing said section along said last-mentioned fold edge, d. opening the plies of said section to form a rectangular piece of fabric with said triangular openings in allochiral relation, e. severing said section along its median line transverse to the tube axis to form a pair of substantially identical yokeshaped blanks having depEnding end leg portions and a generally triangular central seat portion with a bottom edge, the bottom edges of the seat and leg portions being approximately the width of the wearer''s crotch, f. folding said blank along spaced vertical lines adjacent said triangular seat portion whereby said leg portions overlap, g. stitching the bottom edges of said leg portions to the bottom edge of said seat portion to form a double-walled crotch portion disposed in part over the wearer''s abdomen, and, h. stitching a waistband to the top edge of said blank.

2. A method as in claim 1 wherein said leg portions are stitched together at the top and bottom thereof, along spaced substantially vertical lines, to restrict the passage thereof while still permitting convenient manual access therebetween.