This invention is in the Held of clothing and in particular garments with a waistband such as pants, shorts, skirts, swim suit bottoms, and the like.
Fashion trends in clothing often make it desirable to expose more or less of certain portions of the body, such as the lower torso, and particularly in current fashion the lower abdomen. Low-rise pants reduce the distance from the crotch of the pants to the top of the waistband, and the waistband is made somewhat larger causing the waistband of the pants to ride lower on the hips, and thereby exposing more of the lower abdomen. Similarly skirt waistbands are made somewhat larger such that the waistband rides lower on the hips.
In conventional clothing construction with standard fabric, the waistband typically includes a fly opening that is opened to put the garment on, and then closed with a zipper, buttons, snaps, ties, belts, or a combination thereof. Once closed, in order to maintain the garment in position, the waistband maintains a substantially constant circumferential measurement by exerting circumferential tension that resists expansion and thus maintains the garment in position on the wearer. In some cases the waistband may be quite loose such that the waistband slides down and rides on the hips, however the waistband must exert sufficient circumferential tension to resist expansion or else it will slide down over the hips.
Where the waistband is made from a stretch fabric instead of a standard fabric, a fly opening is often not required, however circumferential tension must be maintained to keep the garment in position. The circumferential tension is the force required to stretch the waistband, and if too little force is required, the waistband will stretch and the garment will move down out of the desired position.
To expose more of the lower abdomen, the waistband can be lowered somewhat at the front compared to the sides, however doing so creates problems in maintaining the garment in position. The line of force of the circumferential tension exerted by the waistband on the wearer generally follows the waistband with the result that lowering the waistband in one area will result in a downward force on the higher areas. Lowering the waistband in one area excessively thus results in an unsatisfactory and uncomfortable feel, and the higher areas of the garment will move downward in response to the downward force exerted by the waistband, and can lead to undesired exposure of other body areas, particularly the buttocks.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,859,944 to Kim discloses an apparatus for adjusting garment coverage of the lower abdomen. The apparatus provides a mechanism for pulling the front of the waistband downward toward the crotch and gathering the material in the front of the garment below the waistband to expose a lower portion of the abdomen when desired This mechanism causes downward tension to be exerted on the higher sides of the waistband, with the result that the higher sides of the waistband works its way downward in response to the force.
The back of the waistband in U.S. Pat. No. 4,004,297 to Polack fits around the small of the back and then side portions angle downward to the line of the juncture between the abdomen and the legs such that the front portion is very low, but the waistband there does not suspend the garment on the body of the wearer, but simply provides points of attachment for suspenders or the like.
Conventional clothing construction thus limits the ability of designers to accommodate features that a significant number of customers might desire.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a garment that overcomes problems in the prior art.
The present invention provides in one embodiment, a garment comprising a span member comprising a right upper portion, a left upper portion, and a lower middle portion, the span member thereby defining an open space between the right upper portion and the left upper portion. A waistband is connected at a right end thereof to the right upper portion of the span member and connected at a left end thereof to the left upper portion of the span member. The span member is substantially rigid such that movement of the right upper portion away from the left upper portion is resisted, and such that circumferential tension is maintained along the waistband sufficient to maintain the garment in a desired location on a wearer's body, and the fabric of the garment is attached to the span member to form a garment with an open space between the right and left upper portions of the span member.
The rigid span member allows circumferential tension to be exerted across the open space with no downward pull on the garment. The tension in the waistband is exerted on the right and left upper portions of the span member, tending to pull the right and left upper portions apart Since the span member is essentially rigid, movement of the right upper portion away from the left upper portion is resisted, and the circumferential tension is maintained in the waistband from one side of the span member around the wearer's body to the opposite side. Thus the lower middle portion of the span member can be located below the waistband to create an open space and expose the desired body area between the upper portions of the span member, while avoiding any downward tension in the waistband that would tend to move the waistband in an undesirable downward direction. This open space can vary is size totally dependant on the size and shape of the span member incorporated into the garment.
The span member can be incorporated into garments such as shorts, pants, skirts, swim suit bottoms, and the like to expose a desired area of the body below the normal waistline, such as the lower abdomen, hip, or upper buttock. In addition to allowing construction of clothing to expose body areas, it is contemplated the invention can be used to create more comfortable clothing for people with certain body configurations.
While the invention is claimed in the concluding portions hereof, preferred embodiments are provided in the accompanying detailed description which may be best understood in conjunction with the accompanying diagrams where like parts in each of the several diagrams are labeled with like numbers, and where:
The waistband 13 of the garment 1 is connected at a right end thereof to the right upper portion S of the span member 3 and is connected at a left end thereof to the left upper portion 7 of the span member 3. The span member 3 is substantially rigid such that movement of the right upper portion 5 away from the left upper portion 7 is resisted, and such that circumferential tension is maintained along the waistband 13 sufficient to maintain the garment 1 in a desired location on a wearer's body.
The fabric 11 is attached to the span member 3 to form a garment 1 with the open space 10 between the between the right and left upper portions of the span member.
The garment 3 can be configured and oriented on the body such that the lower portion of an abdomen of the wearer is exposed, as has been recently popular, or could further be oriented to expose a hip of the wearer, an upper portion of a buttock or like body areas through the open space 10.
The garment 1 illustrates in
Thus the rigid span member 3 allows circumferential tension to be exerted across the open space 10. The tension in the waistband 13 is exerted on the right and left upper portions 5, 7 of the span member 3 in the direction indicated by arrows T in
It is contemplated that a wide variety of connections could be made between the waistband and the span member. In the embodiment of
In the embodiment of
As illustrated in
The span member can be made from metal such as stainless steel which has relatively high strength such that the span member can be made as light and thin as possible. It is contemplated that certain ceramic, plastic, or nylon materials would provide satisfactory performance in some applications as well.
Thus the garment of the invention can be configured to expose desired body area below the normal waistline of a wearer. It is contemplated that the garment could also be configured to provide more comfortable clothing for persons with larger hanging abdomens that cause conventional waistbands to slide down.
Thus the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous changes and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all such suitable changes or modifications in structure or operation which may be resorted to are intended to fall within the scope of the claimed invention.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/CA2006/000439 | 3/22/2006 | WO | 00 | 3/19/2009 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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60671066 | Apr 2005 | US |