US3645000A

US3645000A - Drapery-measuring device

Info

Publication number: US3645000A
Application number: US830353A
Authority: US
Inventors: Sadie Gass
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1969-06-04
Filing date: 1969-06-04
Publication date: 1972-02-29
Anticipated expiration: 1989-02-28

Abstract

A drapery-measuring device comprising an elongated member having alternate elastic and inelastic sections, each of which is respectively equal in length to the other similar sections in the device: in the preferred form, each inelastic section begins at a line extending transversely of the elongated member where one end of an inelastic section is stitched to a continuous elastic web, the piece comprising three portions across the width of the elongated member, the portions having their ends opposite the common portion terminating in stair-step fashion. Suitable markings may be provided.

Description

United States Patent Gass [ 1 Feb. 29, 1972 [54] DRAPERY-MEASURING DEVICE FOREIGN PATENTS 0R APPLICATIONS [72] Inventor: Sadie Gass, 1119 Lincoln St., Hollywood, 5,158 5/1916 (he th-1min ,,33/107 CB 33020 508,923 7/1939 Great Britain .33/137 1.

[22] Filed: June 4, 1969 Primary Examiner-Robert B. Hull [21] Appl' 830353 Attorney-Lavine, Cantor 8L Reich [52] US. Cl ..33/137, 33/192, 223/28, [57] ABSTRACT 8431/9/08 51 Int. Cl. "c0111 3/10 A p ying de ice COmPHSmg an elongated member 5 Field of Search 33/192 137 L 107 CB; 223/2 having alternate elastic and inelastic sections, each of which is respectively equal in length to the other similar sections in the [56] References Cited device: in the preferred form, each inelastic section begins at a line extending transversely of the elongated member where UNITED STATES PATENTS one end of an inelastic section is stitched to a continuous 1,148,306 7/1915 Fritz ..33/ 137 L UX elastic web, the piece comprising three portions across the 2,575,077 1 1/1951 Snyder ..33/ 137 width of the elongated member, the portions having their ends 2,929,146 1960 McNeil 33/192 UX opposite the common portion terminating in stair-step 3,166,854 1/1965 Packer et a1. ..33/i92 fa5hion Suitable markings may be provided, 3,254,414 6/1966 Puthuff ..33/l37 L UX 3,464,600 9/ 1969 McClintock et a1. ..33/ 137 L X 3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures Patented Feb. 29, 1972 mvmwons SADIE GASS BY ia/09f 345% ATTORNEYS 1 DRAPERY-MEASURING DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention pertains to a measuring device to be used in marking fabric material intended to be manufactured into pleated drapes.

Pleated drapes have pleats between which are plain, unpleated portions, the plain portions being of equal length. In addition, the material which makes up the pleats should be of equallength in each of the pleats. Typically, the spacing between pleats may be 3, 3% or 4 inches, and the pleats should have at least 3% inches of material. In order to mark a piece of fabric which is to be manufactured into a drape, it is conventional to undertake calculations to determine the number of pleats and the amount of material to be included in each pleat.

For example, a width of material to be manufactured into a panel of a drapery may be 36 inches. The finished drapery panel should have a width of, in a given instance, 17% inches. It may be decided to provide the spacing portion of the finished drapery panel of a width of 3% inches, each. Consequently, it is necessary that a so-called drapery marker" worker calculate the number of spacer portions of the finished drapery panel, and then determine the remaining amount of the width of the initial drapery fabric and to then determine from this remainder the number of pleats which it is possible to obtain, and then to determine the amount of fabric which will be utilized in each pleat. It will be understood that these calculations are not easily performed even by experienced drapery markers, and that in performing a number of calculations throughout a workday, it is not unusual for an error to be made in the calculations: further, the calculations are time consuming. In one instance, in order to provide for the manufacture of multiple drapes for a large building having a thousand windows, three drapery markers were required to mark the drapery fabric for a force of five stitchers, who stitch the pleats into the drapery fabric on automatic sewing machines. Hence, it will be seen that the drapery marking function was time consuming, subject to error, and required much manpower relative to the actual sewing operation.

A-pleating tape has been provided which requires the'insertion of a number of pins along the length of the tape and fabric. Apparently because of the time consumed in associating the tape with the fabric,,and then inserting and withdrawing the marker pins, and because of the expense of the marker pins, this proposed solution to the problem has not been generally utilized in commercial installations where a large number of draperies were to be manufactured by a significantly large work force.

Another proposal for eliminating the above-noted calculations of the pleat distribution and pleat material width was a machine which is expensiveand which requires considerable manipulation, including the setting of dials, and the positioningof fingers in order to hold the fabric at the desired points. The holding fingers, after being set in position, were moved together so as to form pleats in the fabric, and then these pleats were held by being secured by staples. After sewing of the pleats into the fabric, these staples were required to be removed. Hence, this prior art machine has not been entirely satisfactory, as being expensive, time consuming, overly difficult to use by some operators, and requiring the insertion and removal of staples.

The present invention measuring device provides a simple and economical device for measuring fabric material so that the fabric material can be marked expeditiously, and with accuracy. The present invention measuring device avoids all calculations, and avoids the requirement of an expensive and complex machine. The spacing between pleats may be readily selected for any of several standard pleat spacings utilized in drapes currently manufactured, and in addition the present invention measuring device provides for uniform distribution of the drapery material into the pleats, so that each pleat along the width of the fabric making up a particular drapery panel contains the same amount of material'as each other pleat.

2 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention drapery-measuring device comprises, in its preferred form, a length of elastic webbing'having a nominal width of approximately 3 inches, wound ona suitable reel, and having a free end with a pair of metal grommets which are used for holding the measuring device on a measuring table, on which the measuring device and material to be marked for draperies are placed. Alternate sections lying along the length of the elastic web member are rendered inelastic by the attachment thereto of a suitable inelastic element: this may comprise an inelastic fabric piece sewn to the back of the elastic web, there being as many inelastic pieces as there are inelastic sections in the measuring device. Each inelastic piece extends across the width of the elastic web, being joined thereto, as by sewing, on a first line extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the elastic web. Spaced 3 inches from the first-mentioned line of stitching is a second line of stitching which extends one-third the width of the elastic member, and superimposed on this line of stitching is a color coded indicating line, for example blue, extending entirely across theelastic web, parallel to the first-mentioned line of stitching. Between this blue line and the initial stitching line, in the upper one-third width of the elastic web is the numeral 3. One-half inch beyond the blue line and the stitching line underlying it is another transverse stitching line, over which is a red indicating line, and the numeral 3% colored red is in the space between this indicating line and the initial line of stitching: the red indicating line extends only two-thirds of the width of the elastic web. Another line of stitching extends across the final one-third of the elastic web, one-half inch beyond the last-mentioned line of stitching, and is color coded black; in the space between it and the initial line of stitching is the numeral 4, also color coded in-black. Consequently, across the back of the elastic web is an inelastic piece having one straight line of stitching extendingtransversely of the elastic web and with additional stitching sewn in stair-step fashion, thetransverse portions of which are 3, 3% and 4 inches respectively from the initial stitching line. Spaced approximately 4 inches from the last-mentioned line of stitching which extends one-third across theelastic member is the initial line of stitching of a second inelastic piece, which is identical to the first-mentioned inelastic piece, and which is the inelastic pieces will not stretch. There are thus provided alternate stretchable, elastic sections and inelastic sections.

By the above presently preferred construction, there are achieved the objects of the invention, which include the provision of a measuring device for drapery fabrics which obviates thenecessity for calculation of pleating and plain portions of the finished drapery, and which does not require either an expensive tape and pin organization, or a complex and expensive machine. Other objects of the present invention are to provide a drapery measuring device which is economical to manufacture, easily used, even by unskilled workers, and which-is virtually foolproof in operation. A further object of the present invention is to provide such a measuring device which will readily provide for the marking of fabric to be utilized in the manufacture of draperies, and which will permit the manufacture of draperies having plain unpleated portionsof uniform, selected lengths and with pleats having equal amounts of material therein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING a portion of the drapery-measuring FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but with the drapery-measuring device in stretched condition.

FIG. 5 is a view of an alternate drapery-measuring device in accordance with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a drapery-measuring device II in accordance with the present invention, which comprises an elongated elastic web member 11 having at the free end thereof a pair of grommets 12. The web member 1 1 is preferably carried by a suitable reel structure 13, on which the end opposite the free end with the grommets 12 is wound.

The elongated elastic web member 11 comprises in series an inelastic section 14, an elastic section 16, and inelastic section 17, an elastic section 18, etc., the measuring device 10 comprising as many alternate inelastic and elastic sections as are desired and convenient. In the relaxed or unstretched condition of the measuring device 10, each of the inelastic sections 14, 17, etc., has the same length and each of the elastic sections l6, 18, etc., has the same length.

Inelastic section 4 comprises a first portion 140 extending one-third across the width of the web member 11, and is bounded on one side by an initial line 14b of stitching which extends entirely across the elastic web member 11, perpendicularly to the length thereof. Parallel to the line 14b, which may preferably be colored black, is a boundary line 14c of stitching. This boundary line 140 is spaced 3 inches from the initial line 14b, and in this first portion 14a there is the numeral 3, thereby designating that the portion 140 has a length along the elongated web member 11 of 3 inches. An indicating line 14d overlies boundary line 14c and extends entirely across the web member 11, it is preferably of the same color as the numeral 3 which may be, for example, blue. A second portion Me of the inelastic section 14 occupies the middle third of the width of the elastic web member 11, and is bounded by the initial line 14b, and by a terminal line of stitching 14]; the terminal line 14f of the portion l4e lies a distance of 3% inches from the initial line 14b, and there is provided in the portion Me the numeral 3%. This numeral is preferably color coded red, and a red indicator line 14g overlies the boundary line 14f and extends two-thirds across the elongated web member 11. A final portion 14h lies across the lower one-third of the width of the elongated elastic web member 11, and is bounded by the initial line 14b, and by a boundary line of stitching 14i which extends one-third across the width of the elongated member 11, and which is 4 inches from the initial line 14b. In the final portion 14h is the indicator numeral 4, line l4i being 4 inches from line 14b. The indicator numeral 4 is preferably color coded black, as is an indicator line 14k.

From the above, it may be seen that the inelastic section 14 is bounded by an initial line 14b which extends transversely entirely across the elastic web member 11, and is also bounded by

boundary lines

14c, 14f and Hi arranged in stairstep fashion relative to the initial line 14b, these latter boundary lines being respectively 3, 3A and 4 inches from the initial line 14b. There is thereby provided an inelastic section having three portions, each of which is of a distinct length, that length being the presently used length in the drapery industry of the spacing between pleats in a finished drapery panel. It will be understood that each of the inelastic sections 14, 17 etc., are similarly constructed, except that the indicator numerals are additive to the indicator numerals of the preceding inelastic section. Hence, as shown in FIG. 1, the indicator numerals in the second section are respectively 6, 7 and 8 and the indicator numerals in the fifth inelastic section are respectively 15, 175" and "20." When tension is applied to the measuring device 10, the

elastic sections

16, 18, etc., for as many as there are between the spaced tension points, will elongate by equal amounts, whereas the inelastic sections 14, 17, etc., will not elongate, and will not change their lengths.

The boundary lines above discussed have been referred to as lines of stitching because in the preferred embodiment herein disclosed the inelastic sections are obtained by stitching spaced inelastic pieces to an elongated elastic web member. Hence, as shown in FIG. 2, the elongated elastic web member 11 has an inelastic fabric piece 20 sewn thereto by a first line of stitching 21 extending perpendicularly of the length of elongated elastic web member 11 and entirely thereacross. This provides the initial line 14b of FIG. I. A line of stitching 22 in stair-step configuration extends across the inelastic fabric piece 20 to thereby provide the

boundary lines

14c, 14f and 141. Hence, it will be seen that by the utilization of the inelastic fabric piece 20 and the straight line stitching 21, together with the stair-step stitching 22, there is readily constructed the inelastic section 14 hereinabove discussed. As many of the inelastic fabric pieces 20 with the same stitching patterns may be used as are desired in accordance with the length of the elastic web 11, being spaced uniformly therealong.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown a piece of fabric 30 from which a pleated panel for a pleated drapery is to be manufactured. The measuring device 10 is shown with the initial line 14b of inelastic section 14 overlying the right edge of fabric 30. Preferably the fabric 30 and device 10 are placed on a table having pins which pass through the grommets 12. The fabric panel 30 is, by way of example, 36 inches in width, and in the unstretched condition of the measuring device 10, the fifth inelastic section will be seen to lie just to the right of the left edge of the fabric panel 30. This fifth inelastic section is designated 27, and the boundary lines for the first portion thereof lies between the initial line 27b and the final boundary line 27c. Referring now to FIG. 4, the present invention drapery measuring device 10 is shown with the left portion thereof stretched away from the right end thereof, the right end of device 10 and the right boundary of drapery fabric 30 remaining in the same position as shown in FIG. 3. However, it having been decided in the present example to provide a finished drapery panel of 15 inches width, from the initial fabric width of 36 inches, the terminal line 27c has been moved to the left, by stretching the elastic web member 11, and in particular the

elastic portions

16, 18, etc., thereof so that the final boundary line 27c of this fifth inelastic section 27 overlies the left-hand edge of the fabric panel 30. This is readily ascertained by reading the numeral 15, color coded blue, and by placing the corresponding blue boundary line over the left edge of the fabric panel 30. Noting FIGS. 3 and 4, the first elastic section 16 has increased in length by a distance D. Thereafter, the worker marks the drapery panel 30 at each initial boundary line 14b, 17b, etc., and also at each of the selected final boundary lines 14c, 17c, etc., for each of the inelastic sections.

Following this marking, the marks made at the beginning and end of each elastic section are sewn together, thereby providing a pleat between these marks. Each of the elastic sections of the measuring device 10 will have stretched proportionately, so that each of the elastic sections in the stretched condition will be of exactly the same length: consequently, when the pleats are sewn, based on the markings at the ends of each of the elastic sections, each of the pleats will contain exactly the same amount of material of the drapery fabric 30. Further, since the spacing between pleats has been chosen, in the example given, to be 3 inches, each of the markings at the boundaries of the inelastic sections will be exactly 3 inches, it being understood that the inelastic sections have not in any way stretched or changed their lengths along the length of the measuring device 10, and consequently the markings on the fabric panel 30 corresponding to the spaced sections will be, for each pair of markings, identical. This provides exact spacing between pleats.

It will be understood that if the spacing between pleats is to be 3A inches, then the middle portions of the measuring device 10 will be used, and that if the spacing between pleats is to be 4 inches, then the bottom portions of the measuring device 10 will be used.

While the preferred embodiment hereinabove described comprises a measuring device having three portions of differing length in each inelastic section, so that a worker can use the measuring device for, at will, the marking of fabric panels for 3, 3% or 4 inch spacing between pleats, if desired the measuring device 50 shown in FIG. 5 may be used, this having an initial inelastic section 51 of generally rectangular form, adjacent which is an elastic section 52, followed by an inelastic section 53, etc. It will be understood that, as before, the

inelastic sections

51, 53 are of equal length along the measuring device 50 and that the

inelastic sections

52, 54, etc., are of equal lengths in the unstretched condition of the measuring device 50, and of equal lengths when the measuring device 50 is stretched. Hence, there may be provided a measuring device 50 in which the

inelastic sections

51, 53, etc., are 3 inches in length, or 3% inches in length, or 4 inches in length.

By the use of the present invention measuring device, it is possible for only five workers to mark and sew the same number of panels in a given time which formerly required, in addition, a force of three drapery markers.

There has been provided a measuring device for the marking of fabrics for use as panels of drapery material which is economical to manufacture and which may be readily used, without extensive instructions or directions, by the ordinary workers found in a drapery manufacturing establishment. The drapery measuring device of the present invention is relatively foolproof, avoids the necessity for calculations, and further avoids the necessity for providing elaborate and expensive equipment.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and therefore the invention is not limited to what is shown in the drawings and described in the specification but only as indicated in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A measuring device for measuring material for the manufacture of pleated draperies comprising:

a. an elongated elastic web member,

b. a plurality of inelastic elements, all of substantially equal length and each extending substantially across said web member,

c. means for securing each of said elements to said web member at longltudinally spaced locations with said elements being equally spaced along said web member,

d. whereby said web member between the spaced securing means of each said inelastic element being unstretchable to thereby provide a measuring device having alternate elastic and inelastic portions.

2. A measuring device as in claim 1, wherein said securing means comprises a first line of stitching extending in a straight line transversely across said web member, and a second line of stitching spaced therefrom.

3. A measuring device as set elements being fabric.

forth in claim 1, said inelastic m I 7.5 ()(MA

Claims

1. A measuring device for measuring material for the manufacture of pleated draperies comprising: a. an elongated elastic web member, b. a plurality of inelastic elements, all of substantially equal length and each extending substantially across said web member, c. means for securing each of said elements to said web member at long1tudinally spaced locations with said elements being equally spaced along said web member, d. whereby said web member between the spaced securing means of each said inelastic element being unstretchable to thereby provide a measuring device having alternate elastic and inelastic portions.

3. A measuring device as set forth in claim 1, said inelastic elements being fabric.