WO1998036715A1

WO1998036715A1 - Waist-born garment set

Info

Publication number: WO1998036715A1
Application number: PCT/SE1998/000312
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jens Lindgren
Original assignee: Jens Lindgren
Priority date: 1997-02-25
Filing date: 1998-02-23
Publication date: 1998-08-27
Also published as: SE9700653D0; AU6314998A; SE9700653L

Abstract

A waist-born garment set comprises a pair of trousers (1) and agirdle (6), a plurality of external straps being connected with the latter, and in the trousers are recessed a corresponding number of apertures (12), through which the straps of the girdle may from inside be passed to the outside of the trousers in order to receive a belt (5). In this way, practically all gravity acting on the belt, e.g. due to a tool holder (10) or similar hung up on it, will be transferred to the girdle (6) rather than to the trousers (1).

Description

WAIST-BORN GARMENT SET

Background of the Invention

When trousers, such as jeans, are used as work clothes for, e.g. craftsmen, it often happens that heavy objects of different sorts are hung up in the belt being provided to keep the trousers up in the correct position on the body of the wearer. These objects may be tools or signalling devices that are applied in an easily accessible way on holders fastened on the belt, or consumption components, such as nails and screws, which are kept in special boxes on the belt . Some craftsmen and other trouser wearers suffer from back problems and due to this reason also wear a special girdle provided to support or strengthen the lumbar parts of the back (see, e.g., US-A- 4 768 499 and US-A-4 794 916) . Generally, such girdles may be worn in two different ways. According to a first alternative, the back girdle is placed inside the band of the trousers, and then normally inside the underwear present, i.e., with the girdle directly adjacent to the body. However, this alternative has the drawback that the trousers - in the same way as when a pair of trousers is worn without a girdle - may easily slide down from the ideal state, in which the band is located comparatively high up along the waist and in which the upper part of the trousers is properly stretched. This tendency of slipping down becomes particularly accentuated in those cases when the wearer has a more or less pronounced slagging stomach and/or when the weight of the objects born by the belt is big, in that this weight acts directly on the trousers via the straps that keep the belt. The second alternative to use a strengthening girdle is to tighten the same outside the trousers, as shown in, e.g., US-A-5 334 134. However, this alternative has the serious disadvantage that all use of easily accessible tool holders and storage boxes outside the belt of the trousers in practice is made impossible, in that the girdle will entirely or partly cover the belt.

Objects and Characteristics of the Invention

The present invention aims at removing the above mentioned disadvantages and creating a waist -born garment set consisting of a co-operating combination of trousers and a back- strengthening girdle. A primary object of the invention is to create a garment set that manages to simultaneously meet several different necessities, viz . to, besides guaranteeing an optimal back- strengthening effect of the girdle, counteract any tendency of the trousers to slip down, also in those cases when the wearer of the garment set wishes to apply objects of considerable weight around his/her waist. Another object of the inven- tion is to create a garment set that makes flexible use possibilities possible for the trousers and the back girdle taken separately. In particular, the garment set shall permit a long life of the girdle, in spite of the fact that the trousers per se may be worn out comparatively quickly. According to the invention, at least the primary object is achieved by the characteristics defined in the characterizing clause of claim 1.

Furthermore, advantageous embodiments of the garment set of the invention are defined in the dependent claims.

Brief Description of the Appended Drawings

In the drawings : Fig 1 is a perspective view of a pair of trousers made in accordance with the invention, Fig 2 is a perspective view of a back-strengthening girdle according to the invention, Fig 3 is a partial perspective view of the garment set according to the invention, the trousers and the girdle being shown in a cooperating state, Fig 4 is an enlarged section through the girdle and the upper part or band of the trousers, Fig 5 is a perspective view of a back girdle shown from behind, in accordance with an altermative embodiment, Fig 6 is an enlarged view of a portion of the upper part of the trousers and an inside girdle according to an alternative embodiment of the invention, Fig 7 is a partial view showing only the girdle according to

Fig 6, and Fig 8 is an enlarged cross-section showing how the girdle and the trousers cooperate with each other according to Fig 6.

Detailed Descriptions of Preferred Embodiments of the Invention In Fig 1, a pair of trousers is shown, whose upper part or band is designated 2. The uppermost edge of the band is designated 3. Along the band, there is a number of straps 4 (in this case five) , which in a conventional manner are provided to receive a belt 5, as shown in Fig 3, more precisely by passing the belt through the straps.

In Fig 2, reference numeral 6 generally designates a girdle that is provided to support or strengthen the lumbar parts of the back of a wearer, in a way known per se . This girdle comprises a rear middle portion 7 of a comparatively large height, from which extend two narrower portions 8, whose free ends may be connected in a suitable manner, e.g. by velcro bands 9, of which only one may be seen in Fig 2. In practice, the girdle is made of a soft and elastic material that permits a smooth adjustment of the girdle to the body-shape of the individual wearer.

In Fig 3 it is illustrated how a tool holder 10 known per se may be applied to the belt 5. In practice, the belt may carry several such tool holders, storage boxes or similar. Characteristic for the garment set as shown in Fig 1 to

3 is on one hand that the girdle 6 comprises a number of external straps or strap-forming elements 11, and on the other hand that in the upper part of the trousers 1 are recessed a corresponding number of apertures 12, through which the straps of the girdle may, from the inside, be led out to the outside of the trousers, in order to receive the belt 5. According to the exemplified embodiment, the apertures 12 are elongated or slit- shaped and extend substantially perpendicularly to the upper edge of the trousers. More precisely, the individual slit aper- ture 12 is placed with its upper end near the edge 3, though at a certain distance from the same. In practice, the distance between the band edge 3 and the upper end of the slit aperture 12 may amount to 5 to 10 mm. Advantageously, the length of the aperture may coincide with the length of the individual girdle strap 11. It should also be noted that each one of the slitlike, vertical apertures 12 is placed opposed to and inside each individual trouser-strap 4. This implies that the individual trouser-strap will hide the slit-aperture behind it, in the cases when the trousers would be worn without a belt.

Although it is true that the individual girdle straps 11 could be fixed in predetermined positions on the outside of the girdle, it is preferred in practice to arrange at least some of them displaceably movable along the girdle. For this purpose, the individual strap 11 is sewn on or fastened in any other way on an endless bandage 13, that is threaded over and encircles the girdle. At least the four bandages 13 present on the two uniformly narrow portions 8 of the girdle advantageously lack a locking connection with the girdle, whereby they may be freely displaced along the girdle portions 8. However, the bandage 13 ' that is placed on the broad rear middle portion 7 may possibly be fixedly connected with the girdle in a predetermined, central position. The function and use of the garment set according to the invention may be most clearly seen in Fig 3 in combination with Fig 4.

When the garment set is to be applied on the body, the girdle 6 is in a first step tightened against the body, more specifically on any present underwear. Thereafter the trousers are put on to a position at which the band 2 is situated on a level with the girdle. When this is the case, each one of the girdle straps 11 is led out through the slit apertures 12, whereafter the belt 5 is passed through each one of the diffe- rent straps 11. In connection therewith, the belt is also passed through any present holder 10 for tools or storage boxes, respectively. In a final step, the belt 5 is tightened in a conventional manner by means of a buckle 14.

An important advantage of the garment set according to the invention is that the weight of the object or objects being hung up in the belt does not load the trousers, but rather the girdle 6, that bears directly against the body. Since, in practice, the girdle has large elasticity and a considerably larger area extension than conventional, comparatively narrow belts, the girdle is more securely fixed relative to the body than the belt. In other words, the girdle may be kept in a reliable way at the desired level position around the waist, also in the cases where the belt is loaded by a considerable weight. However, the trousers as such only load the girdle by their own very small weight .

In practice, the girdle and the trousers may always accompany each other by allowing them to be interconnected via the belt. Only when the trousers are worn out, the girdle in such a case is detached from the same, in order to enable the use together with new trousers .

In Fig 5 an alternative embodiment of a back-strengthening girdle is shown, which differs from the embodiment according to Fig 2 basically only by the fact that the rear part of the girdle is supplemented by two comparatively wide material portions 15 hanging down, which may be laid against the wearer's seat, inside the trousers in order to form a heat insulation for him/her. In other words, the girdle portions 15 counteract the intrusion of cold, e.g. when the wearer sits down on a cold surface .

Reference is now made to Fig 6 to 8 , which illustrate an alternative embodiment of a girdle strap and an aperture in the trousers per se cooperating therewith. Thus, in Fig 6 is shown the outside of an upper portion of the trousers 1 with an internal girdle 6' and a belt 5 on the outside. In this case, an elongated, slit-like aperture 12' in the trousers 1 is arranged substantially parallel with the waistband and at a distance from the upper edge 3 of the trousers, this distance being at least as large as the width of the belt. As shown in Fig 7, two band pieces 16 are fastened on a bandage 13, either of which band pieces at opposed ends having internal and external velcro bands 17, 18, respectively. Advantageously, central portions of the band pieces 16 are sewn or fastened in any other way to the outside of bandage 13. When the trousers and the belt 5 are to be applied on the outside of the girdle 6', the lower portion of the individual band piece 16 is passed through the slit aperture 12 J and the upper portion of the same band piece is folded down over the upper edge 3 of the trousers, so that the two velcro bands 17, 18 may be connected with each other. When this has been made, the individual band piece forms a strap through which the belt 5 may be passed in the previously described manner. By the fact that two strap- forming elements or band pieces are applied on each bandage 13, an advantageous, even distribution of forces is accomplished when the weight of the objects hung up in the belt is to be transferred to the girdle. As may be seen in Fig 6, the two band pieces 16 may be placed at such a dis- tance that there is room for a trouser strap 4 therebetween.

It is also possible to provide a slit aperture parallel with the waistband, at a short distance from the upper edge of the band or of the trousers and let it cooperate with the slit aperture 12' located further below, more precisely in such a way that the individual band piece is pulled out through both apertures. In this way, the belt is firmly held in the straps that are formed by the band pieces.

Feasible Modifications of the Invention The invention is not restricted to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings . Thus it is feasible to remove from the trousers the straps 4 that, in a conventional manner, are provided to receive a belt. Although such trouser straps per se make it possible to use the trousers with as well as without a girdle in a flexible way, it is thus feasible to use the trousers exclusively in combination with the girdle and in such cases the trouser straps may be spared. Furthermore, it is of course possible to vary the number of girdle straps and trouser apertures, respectively, that cooperate in pairs, within wide limits. However, as a minimum three girdle straps and a corresponding number of apertures in the trousers should be used. The term "strap" as used in the description as well as in the claims, should be interpreted in its widest sense. Thus, instead of textile or other flexible bands or band pieces, respectively, other arbitrary means may be used, e.g., shape- stiff or half-stiff means through which a belt may be passed. It should also be noted that the shape and the nature of the material, respectively, of the back-strengthening girdle, do not have any significance for the realization of the invention. - Instead of a pair of trousers made with specifically two leg parts, also other waist-born garments, such as kilts or skirtlike garments may be used, without departing from the gist of the invention.

Claims

1. A waist -born garment set comprising on one hand a pair of trousers or -similar, and on the other hand a back-strengthening girdle, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that a plurality of external straps (11, 16) are connected with the girdle (6, 6'), and in that in the trousers (1) are - in the region of its upper part - recessed a corresponding number of apertures (12, 12') through which the girdle straps may from inside be led out to the outside of the trousers, in order to receive a belt (5), and in this way enable a transfer of substantially all gravity acting on the belt to the girdle (6, 6'), rather than to the trousers (1) .

2. Garment set according to claim 1, the trousers (1) having a plurality of straps (4) intended for the belt (5), the straps being placed in the region of the upper part of the trousers, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the individual aperture (12, 12') intended for a girdle strap (11, 16) is placed in the immediate proximity of a trouser strap (4) .

3. Garment set according to claim 1 or 2 , c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the aperture (12) is elongated and extends substantially perpendicularly to the upper edge of the trousers.

4. Garment set according to claim 2 or 3, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the elongated aperture (12) is placed under the trouser strap (4) , in order to be hidden by the latter.

5. Garment set according to claim 1 or 2 , c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the aperture (12) is elongated and placed substantially parallel with and at a distance from the upper edge (3) of the trousers (1), and that a girdle strap consists of a band piece (16) , which at opposed ends has connection means, e.g. velcro bands (17, 18), it being possible to lead out a first portion of the band piece (16) through the trouser aperture (12'), and by means of said means connect it with an opposite portion that has been laid over the upper edge of the trousers, thereby jointly forming an assembled strap.

6. Garment set according to any of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that an individual girdle strap (11, 16) is fixed on an endless bandage (13) which in turn encircles the girdle (6, 6') and is displaceably movable along it.

7. Garment set according to claim 5 or 6, c h a r a c t e - r i z e d in that on the individual bandage (13) are fastened two mutually separate band pieces (16) .