Patent Grant
8959665
(1) Field of the Inventions
The present inventions relate generally to apparel and, more particularly, to a bottom garment adapted to provide improved tummy support and appearance for the wearer.
(2) Related Art
Individuals diet and exercise in an attempt to shape their bodies. Most wearers find they cannot shape their bodies as desired only by diet and exercise. For many years the fashion industry has developed foundation garments for women worn underneath clothing, for example girdles and panty hosiery. Unfortunately, layers of foundation garments with other clothing can be uncomfortable and also unsightly with some styles of clothing (e.g., those using stretch fabrics).
There has been some effort to produce clothing with built-in foundation garments. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,068,871 to R. Rapp illustrates toreador pants with a built-in panty that merely squeezes and holds in portions of the stomach. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 3,127,896 to Puliafico; U.S. Pat. No. 3,234,947 to Bergstein; U.S. Pat. No. 3,246,342 to Pagano; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,448 to Thompson describes slacks with built-in girdles that also merely hold in the stomach.
Jeans composed of denim and blends with elastic fibers have been popular sellers because of their comfort and improved styling. However, due to the stretch nature of the material, foundation garments used to offset profile changes are not usually suitable because their outline typically shows through the stretched fabric creating an unappealing affect.
There also has been some effort to produce clothing having a similar function without foundation garment structures. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,535,451 to Tassone et al, describes a pants garment wherein the legs are narrowed to squeeze the thighs of a wearer in an effort to urge the buttocks upward. This construction may be uncomfortable and ill-suited for some wearers and provides only marginal benefit in enhancing the user's profile.
Thus, there remains a need for a new and improved bottom garment which provides improved tummy support and appearance to the wearer while, at the same time, provides a level of comfort similar to conventional garments.
The present inventions are directed to a bottom garment for providing improved appearance to the wearer, the garment includes a front panel; a back panel; and at least one tummy control panel formed of a low-stretch, high pre-tensioned fabric attached to the inside of the front panel beneath the waistband of the front panel. In one embodiment, the low-stretch, high pre-tension fabric is formed of a mesh construction. The front panel may further include at least one pocket assembly.
The stretch of the mesh fabric in the fill direction is less than about 200%. Preferably, the stretch of the mesh fabric in the fill direction is between about 15% and about 200%. In one embodiment, the stretch of the mesh fabric in the fill direction is about 65%.
Also, in one embodiment, the stretch of the mesh fabric in the warp direction is greater than the stretch in the fill direction of the fabric forming the front panel. For example, the stretch of the mesh fabric in the warp direction may be about 114%.
Also, in one embodiment, the pre-tension of the mesh fabric in the fill direction is greater than about 5%. Preferably, the pre-tension of the mesh fabric in the fill direction is between about 5% and 30%. For example, the pre-tension of the mesh fabric may be about 20%.
The mesh fabric may be a power knit fabric. In one embodiment, the mesh fabric is a circular knit fabric. Also, the mesh fabric may be constructed from synthetic yarn and elastane yarn. For example, the mesh fabric may be a nylon and spandex fabric. In one embodiment, the mesh fabric is an 82% nylon and 18% spandex fabric.
In one embodiment, the mesh fabric is between about 2 oz/sq yd and about 6 oz/sq yd. For example, the mesh fabric may be about 4 oz./sq yd.
Preferably, the pocket assembly includes a pocket facing and a pocket bag. Also, the front panel may further include a fly assembly. The fly assembly may be selected from the group consisting of zippers, buttons, hook and loop fasteners, hook and eye, snap and string ties. The back panel may further include a hip pocket assembly. The hip pocket assembly may be selected from the group consisting of patch pockets, welt pockets, insert pocket and hidden pockets. The bottom garment may include jeans, pants, culottes, shorts and skirts.
Accordingly, one aspect of the present inventions is to provide a bottom garment for providing improved appearance to the wearer, the garment including: (a) a front panel; (b) a back panel; and (c) at least one tummy control panel formed of a low-stretch, high pre-tensioned fabric attached to the inside of the front panel beneath the waistband of the front panel.
Another aspect of the present inventions is to provide a bottom garment for providing improved appearance to the wearer, the garment including: (a) a front panel; (b) a back panel; (c) at least one tummy control panel formed of a low-stretch, high pre-tensioned fabric attached to the inside of the front panel beneath the waistband of the front panel; and (d) wherein the low-stretch, high pre-tensioned fabric is formed of a mesh construction.
Still another aspect of the present inventions is to provide a bottom garment for providing improved appearance to the wearer, the garment including; (a) a front panel; (b) a back panel; (c) at least one tummy control panel formed of a low-stretch, high pre-tensioned fabric attached to the inside of the front panel beneath the waistband of the front panel; (d) wherein the low-stretch, high pre-tension fabric is formed of a mesh construction; and (e) wherein the front panel further includes at least one pocket assembly.
These and other aspects of the present inventions will become apparent to those skilled in the art after a reading of the following description of the preferred embodiments when considered with the drawings.
In the following description, like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views. Also in the following description, it is to be understood that such terms as “forward,” “rearward,” “left,” “right,” “upwardly,” “downwardly,” and the like are words of convenience and are not to be construed as limiting terms.
Referring now to the drawings in general and
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Accordingly, a tummy control panel needs to provide more tension than current elastic control panels are able to provide but also the right amount of tension but inelastic control panels have limited ability to conform to the body or to adapt to the different sizes. Another obstacle, even with the right tension of an elastic control panel, is that stretching the fabric in just one direction tends to cause unsightly bunching effect. This bunching effect is more obvious in jeans and similar bottom garments, which are typically less tight than other controlling body wear such as spandex exercise shorts, swim suits and foundation garments. However, if the fabric overlaying the control panel could be stretched in two directions, it might reduce this undesirable effect.
Preferably, the stretch of the mesh fabric in the fill (horizontal) direction is less than about 200%. Preferably, the stretch of the mesh fabric in the fill direction is between about 15% and about 200%. In one embodiment, the stretch of the mesh fabric in the fill direction is about 65%.
Also, in one embodiment, the stretch of the mesh fabric in the warp (vertical) direction is greater than the stretch in the fill direction of the fabric forming the front panel. For example, the stretch of the mesh fabric in the warp direction may be about 114%.
Also, in one embodiment, the pre-tension of the mesh fabric in the fill direction is greater than about 5%. Preferably, the pre-tension of the mesh fabric in the fill direction is between about 5% and 30%. For example, the pre-tension of the mesh fabric in the fill (horizontal) direction may be about 20%.
The mesh fabric may be a power knit fabric. In one embodiment, the mesh fabric is a circular knit fabric. Also, the mesh fabric may be constructed from synthetic yarn and elastane yarn. For example, the mesh fabric may be a nylon and spandex fabric. In one embodiment, the mesh fabric is an 82% nylon and 18% spandex fabric. In one embodiment, the mesh fabric is between about 2 oz/sq yd and about 6 oz/sq yd. For example, the mesh fabric may be about 4 oz/sq yd.
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However, if another panel 3 (hypothetical not shown) that was even more elastic than panel 1 but also pre-tensioned for a wearer of a predetermined design waist size (shown as vertical line), the slope of its Line would be sloped still further than Line 1. A garment constructed using panel 3 would appear significantly more deformed on a store hanger than a garment constructed using panel 1 and its appearance might not be acceptable for all buyers. Accordingly, both the amount of pre-tensioning and the stiffness of the tummy control panel fabric must be taken into account.
Certain modifications and improvements will occur to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the foregoing description. By way of example, while one embodiment shown in the above disclosure illustrates a bottom garment 10 that may include jeans, pants, culottes and shorts, it should be clear that the present inventions may be modified to further include skirts. Still other improvements might include varying the tension down the fabric control panel by cutting the panel at an angle; optimizing how far down the fabric control panel extends from the waistband; making the fabric control panel of a number of discreet elastic bands instead of a single flat panel; securing the fabric control panel at the top of the waistband but avoid compromising the horizontal stretch; and using curved elastic panels that becomes straight when they are stretched thereby also lifting the tummy. It should be understood that all such modifications and improvements have been deleted herein for the sake of conciseness and readability but are properly within the scope of the following claims.
This application claims the benefit of Provisional Application 61/494,700 filed Jun. 8, 2011.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3068871 | Rapp | Dec 1962 | A |
| 3127896 | Puliafico | Apr 1964 | A |
| 3234947 | Bergstein | Feb 1966 | A |
| 3246342 | Pagano | Apr 1966 | A |
| 3678514 | Safrit | Jul 1972 | A |
| 5182815 | Young | Feb 1993 | A |
| 5535451 | Tassone et al. | Jul 1996 | A |
| 6035448 | Thomson | Mar 2000 | A |
| 7950069 | Lee | May 2011 | B2 |
| 20070118954 | Lee | May 2007 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61494700 | Jun 2011 | US |
