US3722001A

US3722001A - Variable length trousers construction

Info

Publication number: US3722001A
Application number: US00106401A
Authority: US
Inventors: G Bailey
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1969-06-25
Filing date: 1971-01-14
Publication date: 1973-03-27
Anticipated expiration: 1990-03-27
Also published as: US3585644A

Abstract

A trousers construction including variable length, tubular trousers legs having a reversely extending fold inside the legs and a separately formed cuff detachably secured at the bottom edge portion of each trousers leg to permit varying the length of the cuffed trousers legs by upward and downward adjustment of the cuffs with respect to the lower edges of the trousers legs and by varying the depth of the reversely extending fold inside the trousers legs.

Description

imited States Patent 91 Bailey 1 51 Mar. 27, 1973 I 1 VARIABLE LENGTH TROUSERS CONSTRUCTION [76] Inventor: George Terrell Bailey, PO. Box

4 271, Johnsonville, SC.

[22] Filed: Jan. 14, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 106,401

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 836,268, June '25, 1969, Pat. No.

52 US. Cl ..2/269 [51] Int. Cl. ..A41d 27/00 [58] Field of Search ..2/227, 232 R, 232 A, 269

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,538,513 11 1970 Hernandez, ..12 269 2,583,861 1/1952 Lewallen 1,023,864 4/1912 Miller et a]. ..2/232 1,448,455 3/ l 923 Leander ..2/232 2,677,829 5/ 1954 Rothstein et a1 ..2/269 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 678,747 9/ 1952 Great Britain .....2/232 Primary Examiner-H. Hampton Hunter Attorney-Patron, Bell, Seltzer, Park & Gibson ABSTRACT A trousers construction including variable length, tubular trousers legs having a reversely extending fold inside the legs and a separately formed cuff detachably secured at the bottom edge portion of each trousers leg to permit varying the lengthof the cuffed trousers legs by upward and downward adjustment of the cuffs with, respect to the lower edges of the trousers legs-and by varying the depth of the reversely extending fold inside the trousers legs.

.6 Claims, 13 Drawing Figures PATENTEDHARZY ma SHEET 10F 2 Geo Rae TEREE-LL BNLE-Y WW M7115, AQMW ATTORNEYS PATENUDmzmn ,7 2,001

sum 2 0r 2 INVENTORI Geezer: TEREE-LL BAlLE-Y BY W 4 1 nil ATI'OR NEY5 VARIABLE LENGTH TROUSERS CONSTRUCTION This application is a division of my co-pending application Ser. No. 836,268, filed June 25, 1969, now US. Pat. No. 3,585,644, dated June 22, 1971, and entitled VARIABLE LENGTH TROUSERS CONSTRUC- TION.

This invention relates to improvements in garments, and'more particularly to a trousers construction having separately formed cuffs detachably secured to the trousers legs thereof to permit ready adjustment and/or readjustment in the length of the trousers legs to accommodate changes in size of the wearer without involving a refolding of the cuff which would necessitate recreasing of the cuff and normally expose worn portions thereof.

For inventory and storage reasons, the great majority of the trousers made by garment manufacturers today are shipped to retailers in a straight or uncuffed condition. The retailers thereafter measure cut, and cuff the trousers to the particular appropriate length when they are sold to a customer. This permits the retailer to carry a smaller inventory based only on the waist size of the trousers to properly fit his customers.

Once trousers have been cut and cuffed by a retailer in the above manner, the trousers legs are not capable of being appreciably lengthened in cuffed form, should the height of the purchaser increase at sometime during future wear of the trousers. This problem is particularly acute in fitting young boys trousers, and, as is quite often the case, the effective life of the trousers is foreshortened by the growth rate of the boy, and not by the wear on the trousers themselves.

It is also sometimes the case that an individual purchaser of a pair of trousers will undergo a sufficiently large weight change so as to cause a change in the position at which the trousers are worn, thereby changing the position of the cuffs of the trousers on the legsof the wearer, and necessitating adjustment of the same to provide proper fit.

In the last few years, it has also been a practice to utilize resin-treated textile fabrics in the manufacture of mens and boys trousers. These textile fabrics are composed of cellulosic fibers, such as cotton, rayon, and blends thereof with other natural or synthetic fibers, which are treated with a suitable resinous composition which is heat cured on the finished trousers to impart a wrinkle resistant, permanent press finish thereto. Because of the'- necessity of employing high temperatures which require relatively expensive equipment to cure and set creases in such resin-treated trousers, it is impractical for retailers to have such equipment and to cuff such resin-treated trousers at the time of fitting. It has been therefore a practice of many garment manufacturers to pre-cuff all trousers made from resin-treated fabrics prior to shipment to the retailer. In such cases, it becomes necessary for the retailer to stock a much larger selection of these trousers in order to accommodate both the waistand leg sizes of his purchasers, thus resulting in increased expense to the retailer in inventory and storage of the permanent press-type trousers.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved trousers construction which permits the retailer and purchaser to readily vary the length of the cuffed trousers legs of untreated trousers constructions, as well as resin-treated permanent presstype trousers constructions.

It is another object to provide a trousers construction wherein the length of the cuffed trousers legs may be readily shortened or lengthened by a purchaser of the trousers to accommodate growth and/or change in size to permit varying the length of the cuffed trousers legs by upward and downward adjustment of the cuffs with respect to the lower edge of the trousers legs and by varying the depth of the reversely extending fold inside the trousers legs.

Some of the objects and advantages of the invention having been stated, others will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a trousers construction showing a first embodiment of the present invention wherein the separately formed cuff of each trousers leg is spaced from the lower edge portion of the respective trousers leg for illustrative purposes;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of one of the detachable cuffs seen in FIG. 1 together with the lower edge portion of the corresponding trousers leg to which the cuff is attached, omitting the vertical seams therein and with forward portions of the cuff and trousers leg shown in phantom lines; FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the cuff and trousers leg of FIG. 2, with the detachable cuff removably attached to the trousers leg;

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 are. longitudinal sectional views through one side of the trousers leg and cuff of FIG. 3, and illustrating sequentially the positions of the cuff and trousers leg as they are progressively adjusted to increase the efi'ective length of the trousers leg;

FIG. 7 is an exploded, perspective view similar to FIG. l,v but showing a second embodiment of trousers construction of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged, exploded perspective view of the detachable cuffs and trousers legs of FIG. 7, with the forward portions of the cuff and trousers legs shown in phantom lines;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the cuff and trousers leg of FIG. 8, with the cuff removably attached to the trousers leg; and

FIGS. 10-13 are longitudinal sectional views through one side of the trousers leg and cuff of FIG. 9, and illustrating sequentially the positions of the cuff and trousers leg as they are progressively. adjustedto increase the effective length of the trousers leg.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, FIG. 1

shows a first embodiment of the trousers construction of the present invention which includes a pair of trousers 10 having tubular trousers legs ll, 12 and separately formed tubular cuffs 14, 16 to be removably secured to the lower edge portions of the adjacent trousers legs. As is usual, each tubular trousers leg ll, 12 may be constructed of suitably formed sections of fabric joined together and forming at their junctures an outseam "and an inseam 18 (FIG. 1) along opposite sides of each trousers leg l1, 12. Also, each tubular cuff 14, 16 may be formed of a single length of material or two lengths of material joined together at their junctures and forming opposing seams 11a, 18a (FIG. 1) thereon complementing the

trousers leg seams

17, 18. The

seams

17, 18, 17a, 18a, are omitted in FIGS. 2-6 for purposes of clarity. Since the construction of trouserslegs ll, 12 and the respective cuffs 14, 16 is substantially identical, only the construction of the right leg 11 and cuff 14 will be shown and discussed in detail.

As shown in FIG. 2, the lower endof the pliable material forming the tubular trousers leg 11 has a reversely extending fold 20 on the inside of the leg. The separately formed cuff 14 is composed of-a tubularshaped material which has been twice folded upon itself to provide a double layer, upwardly extending outer fold 30 forming an outer face portion of the cuff, and a double layer, upwardly extending inner fold 32 provided with free or unattached

upper ends

33, 34 for attaching the cuff to the trousers leg.- As shown, both

folds

30, 32 of this embodiment of cuff 14 are about the same width.

As shown in FIG. 3, cuff 14 is removably attached to trousers leg 11 in straddling relation to the lower edge portion 11a of the trousers leg with the double layer outer fold 30 of the cuff outside the trousers leg and the double layer inner fold 32 of the cuff inside the trousers leg. The free

upper ends

33, 34 of inner fold 32 of cuff l4 and the upper edge 20a of the fold 20 of the trousers leg material lie in a substantially common horizontal plane locatedadjacent the upper edge 30:; of the cuff The inner fold 32 of cuff 14 and the reversely extending fold 20 of trousers leg 11 are removably secured to the inside of the trousers leg by suitable means, such as a thread'stitch construction 35 extending through and connecting the free upper ends of the

folds

32, 20 to trousers leg 11. By locating the upper edges of cuff inner fold 32 and the upper-edge of reversely extending fold 20 of trousers leg 11 adjacent the upper edge 30a of cuff outer fold'30 and positioning thread stitch construction 35 below the upper edge of cuff outer fold 30, the stitch construction securing the cuff and trousers leg fold to the leg body will at all times be hidden from view during wear behind the outer fold or face portion of the cuff. i

In order to adjust the length of each cuffed trousers leg to accommodate a size change in the individual wearer, the thread construction 35 attaching the cuff and the trousers leg folds to the inside of the trousers leg is removed and the depth of .the reversely extending fold 20 on the inside of the leg shortened to lengthen the trousers leg the desired amount. The cuff is then reattached to the trousers leg, as shown in FIG. 5, with the lower fold line 14a of cuff 14 spaced from the fold line 20b forming the'lower edge of the trousers leg.

To provide maximum lengthening of the cuffed trousers legs, cuff 14 may be repositioned ,with leg fold 20 completelylet out and the cuff attached thereto, as shown in FIG. 6.

It should be appreciated from the embodimentv of trousers construction shown in FIGS. 1-6, that the thread stitch construction 35 removably securing both the reversely extending fold 20 of trousers leg 11 and the upwardly extending inner fold 32 of cuff 14 to the inside of trousers leg 11 is at all times located behind the upwardly extending outer fold 30 of the cuff,

and inseams of the

trousers legs

60, 62 and

cuffs

64, 66

are indicated at 61, 63, 61a, 63a, respectively, in FIG. 7, but are omitted in FIGS. 8-13 for purposes of clarity. As in the first embodiment of trousers construction illustrated in FIGS. 1-6, the

cuffs

64, 66 and

trousers legs

60, 62 of the second embodiment shown in FIGS. 7-13 are substantially identical in construction; therefore, only trousers leg 60'and cuff 64 will be illustrated and discussed in detail.

Referring to FIG. 8, cuff 64 comprises a tubularshaped material which has been doubly folded upon itself to form a double layer, upwardly extending outer fold 67 which forms an outer face portion of the cuff, and a double layer, upwardly extending inner fold 68. Inner fold 68 has free

upper ends

69, 70 for attaching the cuff to trousers leg 60, and the free upper end 70 of at least one layer of cuff inner fold 68-extends upwardly for an appreciable distance D beyond the upper edge 67a of cuff outer fold 67. By'extending the free upper end 70 above the upper edge 67a of the outer fold of the cuff, the cuff may be more securely fastened to the inside of the trousers leg when the upper edge of outer fold 67 is positioned closely adjacent the lower edge of the trousers leg, as will be explained.

The lower end of the material of trousers leg 60 has a reversely extending fold 72 on the inside of the leg. By comparing FIGS. 2 and 8 of the drawings, it can be seen that the depth of trousers leg fold 72in FIG. 8 is greater than the depth of trousers leg fold 20 shown in the trousers construction of FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 9, the upper edge 72a of leg fold 72 is located substantially above the upper edge 67a of cuff outer fold 67 when ,the cuffed trousers leg 60 is in a foreshortened condition with the outer and inner folds of the cuff straddling the lower edge portion of the leg.

By providing a deeper reversely extending fold in the trousers leg, it can be appreciated that the cuffed trousers leg of FIGS. 7-13 can be lengthened to a greater extent than the form of trousers construction shown in FIGS. l-6. However, because the position of attachment of the upper edge of leg fold 72 and the free end 70 of cuff inner fold 68 necessarily will be above cuff outer fold 67 when the cuffed trousers leg is in a shortened condition (FIG. 9), it is desirable that the means securing cuff 64 and legfold 72 to the inside face of the trousers leg 60 is substantially hidden from external view. Such may be accomplished by providing, in addition to a normal thread stitch construction 73 securing cuff 64 and leg fold 72 to trousers leg 60 below the upper edge 67a of the outer fold of the cuff, whip-stitch constructions 74-78 (FIGS. 9-13) to secure the upper edges of trousers leg fold 72 and cuff inner layer end 70 to the inside face of the leg when they are located above the edge 67a of cuff outer fold 67.

FIGS. -13 show, progressively, the manner in which cuff 64 may be re-positioned with respect to the lower edge of trousers leg 60 and the depth of reversely extending leg fold 72 shortened or lengthened to vary the effective length of the cuffed trousers. As shown, when cuff 64 is positioned with the upper edge of cuff outer fold 67 closely adjacent the lower. edge of trousers leg 60 (FIGS. 11-13), the upper end 70 of cuff inner fold 68 may be whip-stitched to the inside of trousers leg 60 to provide an additional securement of the cuff to the trousers leg and facilitate its attachment thereto. In certain cuts of trousers wherein the taper of the legs is quite pronounced, it may be desirable, during the manufacture of the trousers, to reduce the taper in the lower portions of the legs to insure that there is no wrinkling or bunching of the trousers leg material or the cuff material when the cuffs are positioned and/or repositioned thereon.

It can be appreciated that, in both embodiments of the invention, the length of each trousers leg may be varied simply by adjusting the

respective cuffs

14,64 upwardly or downwardly with respect to the lower edge of the respective trousers leg, and additional variation in trousers leg length is effected by adjustment of the corresponding trousers leg

inner fold

20, 72 to increase or decrease the depth thereof, as the case may be. In all instances, the trousers construction of the present in vention permits lengthening or shortening of the cuffed trousers leg without the need for refolding and recreasing the cuff to obtain the desired adjustments, a feature. which not only appreciably shortens the time required to make an adjustment in the lengths of the trousers, but which also precludes any undesirable visual exposure of worn lower edge portions of the cuff and trousers leg material as a result of such adjustment. Also, by maintaining the lower fold line of the trousers leg within the confines of the inner and outer folds of the cuff, the bottom edges of the trousers leg are protected at all times, thus eliminating a look of wear when the trousers legs are lengthened to such extent that the previously folded bottom edges of the trousers legs will be visible above the corresponding cuff.

It should also be noted that, in both embodiments of the trousers construction shown in the drawings, each cuff portion of the trousers at all times has at least four layers of thickness of material therein irrespective of the position of the lower edge of the trousers legs. This feature ensures that the out? is of sufficient bulk and weight to maintain its proper shape, as in the more conventional cuff construction, andv it also facilitates proper drape and hang of the trousers during wear.

From the fdregoing detailed description,. it can be appreciated that the variable length trousers construction of the present invention is equally adaptable for use in both those types of trousers made from untreated textile materials and in those types of trousers made from resin-treated permanent-press type material wherein permanent creases may be cured in the trousers legs as well as in the separately formed cuffs by the garment manufacture. It is apparent that the cuffs may be removably attached to the lower edge portions of the trouser legs and thereafter variably positioned with respect to the lower edges to shorten or lengthen the trousers without having to alter the permanent creases of the latter type of trousers which permanent creases have been permanently set into the trousers.

It is also apparent that, upon either of the two forms of cuffs disclosed herein becoming worn excessively, such cuffs may be readily replaced with new cuffs, thereby contributing substantially to an extended useful life of the trousers. 1

In the drawings and specification, there have been set forth preferred embodiments of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

I claim:

1. A variable length trousers construction comprising tubular trousers legs, the lower end of the material of each trousers leg having a reversely extending fold on the inside of the leg, a separately formed cuff detachably secured at the bottom portion of each trousers leg, said cuff comprising a tubular-shaped material having a double layer, upwardly extending outer fold forming an outer face portion of the cuff and a double layer, upwardly extending inner fold having free upper ends for attaching said cuff to said trousers leg, said cuff inner fold having a width at least about as wide as said cuff outer fold, and pliable means extending annularly throughout said tubular cuff and removably securing said double layer inner fold of said cuff and said reversely extending fold of the trousers leg to the inside of said trousers leg with said cuff outer fold positioned outside the lower edge portion of said trousers leg and said cuff inner fold positioned adjacent the lower edge portion of said trousers leg to permit varying theeffective length of the cuffed trousers leg by upward and downward adjustment of said cuff and its securing means with respect to the lower edge of the trousers leg and by varying thedepth of the reversely extending fold of the trousers leg inside the trousers leg.

2. A structure according to claim I, wherein said cuff outer and inner folds are of about the same width, said cuff inner fold being positioned against the reversely extending fold of the corresponding leg, and said pliable securing means comprising a thread stitch construction extending through said cuff inner fold and the corresponding trousers leg material, but being obscured from view outside said trousers leg by said cuff outer fold.

3. A structure according to claim 1, in which that layer of said cuff inner fold nearest said cuff outer fold is substantially wider than the other layer of said cuff inner fold, and said other layer of said cuff inner fold being substantially the same width as said cuff outer fold.

4. A structure according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said free upper ends of the inner fold of the cuff extends upwardly for an appreciable distance beyond the upper edge of said outer fold to facilitate secure attachment of the inner fold of the cuff to the inside of the trousers leg when the cuff is positioned with the upper edge of said outer fold of the cuff closely adjacent the lower edge of said trousers leg.

5. A structure according to claim 4, wherein said'cuff inner fold is positioned against the inner surface of said reversely extending fold of the corresponding trousers leg, said pliable securing means comprising a first whipstitch thread construction securing the upper edge of said one free upper end of the inner fold to the inside said pliable means removably securing the reversely extending fold of the trousers and the inner fold of the I cuff to the inside of the trousers leg comprises a thread stitch construction extending through and connecting said folds and said trousers leg below the upper edge of the outer fold of the cuff to hide the thread from view beneath the cuff of the trousers.

' t 1: i t a: t

Claims

1. A variable length trousers construction comprising tubular trousers legs, the lower end of the material of each trousers leg having a reversely extending fold on the inside of the leg, a separately formed cuff detachably secured at the bottom portion of each trousers leg, said cuff comprising a tubular-shaped material having a double layer, upwardly extending outer fold forming an outer face portion of the cuff and a double layer, upwardly extending inner fold having free upper ends for attaching said cuff to said trousers leg, said cuff inner fold having a width at least about as wide as said cuff outer fold, and pliable means extending annularly throughout said tubular cuff and removably securing said double layer inner fold of said cuff and said reversely extending fold of the trousers leg to the inside of said trousers leg with said cuff outer fold positioned outside the lower edge portion of said trousers leg and said cuff inner fold positioned adjacent the lower edge portion of said trousers leg to permit varying the effective length of the cuffed trousers leg by upward and downward adjustment of saId cuff and its securing means with respect to the lower edge of the trousers leg and by varying the depth of the reversely extending fold of the trousers leg inside the trousers leg.

2. A structure according to claim 1, wherein said cuff outer and inner folds are of about the same width, said cuff inner fold being positioned against the reversely extending fold of the corresponding leg, and said pliable securing means comprising a thread stitch construction extending through said cuff inner fold and the corresponding trousers leg material, but being obscured from view outside said trousers leg by said cuff outer fold.

5. A structure according to claim 4, wherein said cuff inner fold is positioned against the inner surface of said reversely extending fold of the corresponding trousers leg, said pliable securing means comprising a first whip-stitch thread construction securing the upper edge of said one free upper end of the inner fold to the inside face of the trousers leg, and a second thread stitch construction extending through and connecting the inner fold of the cuff and the trousers leg at a position below the upper edge of the outer fold of the cuff.

6. A structure according to claim 1, wherein the upper edge of the fold of the trousers leg material and the upper edges of the free ends of the inner fold of the cuff lie in a substantially common horizontal plane adjacent the upper edge of the outer fold of the cuff, and said pliable means removably securing the reversely extending fold of the trousers and the inner fold of the cuff to the inside of the trousers leg comprises a thread stitch construction extending through and connecting said folds and said trousers leg below the upper edge of the outer fold of the cuff to hide the thread from view beneath the cuff of the trousers.