This application relates to trousers with integrated adjustable waistbands
Many manufacturers have attempted to make trousers that are adjustable in some way. For example, a long-used approach is to include a tab on a waistband that includes a buttonhole that may be engaged with a button from a set of buttons near the tab in order to adjust the effective size of the waistband. Another approach is to sew a buckle and a strap to the waistband. The strap may be secured within the buckle by means of holes therein or by friction between itself and the buckle. By adjusting the position of the strap within the buckle, the effective size of the waistband may be adjusted. In some instances, some, or all, of the strap may be routed within a pocket defined within the waistband, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,081,930. These prior approaches have the disadvantage of requiring bulky and rigid structures secured to the waistband thereby adding extra components and increasing manufacturing costs and providing opportunities to snag the buckles or buttons on equipment or other items. The bulky and rigid structures also clearly display that the trousers are adjustable and may diminish the aesthetic appeal of the trousers.
In view of the foregoing, it would be an advancement in the art to provide an adjustable waistband for trousers that does not have the above-noted deficiencies of prior approaches.
In one aspect of the invention, a garment is shaped to receive a portion of a wearer's body and includes a waistband configured to encircle the waist of the wearer when the portion of the wearer's body is positioned within the garment. The waistband defines an opening extending through the waistband. The garment further includes a tensioning strap anchored at a first end to the waistband. The tensioning strap extends from the first end through a tensioning member. A receiver is secured to the waistband on a second side of the opening, the second side is opposite the first side. The receiver is configured to receive the tensioning member and to selectively secure the tensioning member to the waistband on the second side of the opening. In some embodiments, no fastener or structure, other than the tensioning member and receiver, is configured to or operable to span the opening to couple the waistband on the second side of the opening to the waistband on the second side of the opening.
In some embodiments, the receiver is a buttonhole and the tensioning member has an extent in a first plane that is less than a thickness of the tensioning member perpendicular to the first plane such that the tensioning member is insertable edgewise into the button hole and resists removal when the first plane is coextensive with a portion of the waistband surrounding the buttonhole. In some embodiments, the tensioning member is a button, such as a button having a round perimeter in the first plane.
In some embodiments, an anchor strip is secured at both ends to the waistband. The tensioning strap may extend from the first end, over a first side of the anchor strip facing the waistband, then through the tensioning member, and then over a second side of the anchor strip opposite the first side of the anchor strip.
In some embodiments, the garment includes first and second sleeve layers secured at their edges to the waistband. The second sleeve layer is secured to the waistband such that it is partially overlapped by the first sleeve layer and extends circumferentially along the waistband beyond the first sleeve layer and away from the opening. The first sleeve and second sleeve layers may be secured to the waistband at upper and lower edges thereof, having the second sleeve layer positioned between the first sleeve layer and the waistband. The first end of the tensioning strap may be anchored between the second sleeve layer and the waistband. In some embodiments, the second sleeve layer extends circumferentially around substantially all of the waistband and the tensioning strap extends from the first side of the opening and between the second sleeve layer and the waistband to the second side of the opening.
In some embodiments, the tensioning strap includes a narrow portion and a wide portion, the wide portion extending between the waistband and a portion of the second sleeve layer not overlapped by the first sleeve layer and a narrow portion extending between the first and second sleeve layers and through the tensioning member.
In some embodiments, a widened portion is secured to the tensioning strap at the second end, the widened portion effective to hinder entry of the tensioning strap into the sleeve. For example, the widened portion may be one or more loops of the tensioning strap fastened to the tensioning strap. The widened portion may a first loop portion extending toward the first sleeve layer and a second loop portion extending away from the first sleeve layer, the second loop portion sized to receive a wearer's finger.
A method of use of the disclosed garment is also disclosed and claimed herein.
Preferred and alternative examples of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the following drawings:
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Although the tensioning system is described herein with respect to trousers, other garments may also advantageously be used. For example, a waistband of a skirt may include the combined tensioning and fastening system disclosed herein at the front or back thereof. Many jackets and coats have waistbands at the lower edge thereof that may be tensioned and fastened according to the apparatus and methods disclosed herein.
The trousers may include a tensioning strap 20 that extends along at least a portion of the waistband 14. The tensioning strap 20 may have a free end 22 that a wearer may pull in order to increase the tension in the waistband 14 or to decrease the effective circumference of the waistband 14. The tensioning strap 20 may be made of an elastic material or a substantially inelastic, e.g. static, material that does not significantly stretch in response to tension. For example, an elastic material may be a sheet of material that extends less than 10%, preferably less than 5% of its length, more preferably less than 2% of its length, in response to loading of 1 N per 10 cm of width. An elastic material may be defined as a material that is not an inelastic material according to any of the various definitions above.
The tensioning strap 20 may pass through a tensioning member 24 that is operable to maintain tension within the tensioning strap and enable increasing and decreasing of tension within the tensioning strap. For example, the tensioning member 24 may be embodied as a single, double, or triple bar buckle. As known in the art, in a first state or orientation such buckles may permit a strap to be tightened in response to a first amount of tension and retain the strap despite tension in the strap equal to the first amount of tension or some second amount of tension up to a failure or slippage point. Such buckles are also known in the art that may release the strap to return through the buckle responsive to lifting up on an edge of the buckle or otherwise re-orienting the buckle to a second state in which resistance to passage of a strap therethrough is reduced. The tensioning member 24 may also be a spring-loaded cord lock that allows a cord or strap to pass therethrough responsive to a first amount of tension in a first state when a button is depressed but require a much larger amount of tension to move the cord or strap therethrough in a second state when the button is not depressed.
The tensioning member 24 may be sized to engage a retainer 26 secured to the waistband 14 on an opposite side of the fly 16 from the tensioning apparatus. In particular, the tensioning member 24 may engage the retainer 26 to close the fly 16 and secure opposite sides of the fly together. The engagement of the tensioning member 24 and the retainer 26 may be the exclusive means for joining the edges of the waistband 14 on either side of the fly 16, other than the closure 18 positioned below the retainer 26 and tensioning member 24. Where the waistband 14 is a separate strip of material than the leg portions 12a, 12b, in some embodiments, the engagement of the tensioning member 24 with the retainer 26 may be the exclusive means secured directly to the waistband 14 itself for securing one edge of the waistband to an opposing edge of the waistband opposite the fly 16. However, in other embodiments, there may be an auxiliary means of joining the edges of the fly 16, including edges of the waistband 14, to one another. For example, a conventional button and buttonhole, snap fastener, hook and clasp, or any other fastening means that may be used to fasten portions of a garment or fly.
In the illustrated embodiment, the retainer 26 is a buttonhole, e.g. a vertical or horizontal slit that may be hemmed with reinforcing stitching. The tensioning member 24 may be sized to fit through the buttonhole edgewise but when positioned flat over the buttonhole requires a greater amount of force to remove due to the tensioning member 24 extending outwardly above and below the buttonhole, outwardly on both sides of the buttonhole, or both. The tensioning member 24 may be substantially flat such that in at least one plane it has an extent many times greater, e.g. 3 to 8 times greater, than the extent thereof perpendicular to that plane. The tensioning member 24 may also have a round perimeter in the plane such that it may look and operate as a conventional button. Many buckles are square or rectangular, accordingly the tensioning member 24 may likewise be square or rectangular in the plane. Cord locks may be generally cylindrical in cross section. Accordingly, a tensioning member 24 embodied as a cord lock may have a length such that, when positioned perpendicular to the long dimension of the slit defining the buttonhole, the tensioning member 24 can resist removal through the buttonhole.
In some embodiments, a portion of the tensioning strap 20 between the free end 22 and the tensioning member 24 may pass under a sleeve layer 28 that is secured above and below the tensioning strap 20, e.g. at the sleeve layer's upper and lower edges, to the waistband 14 to define a sleeve between the sleeve layer 28 and the waistband 14. In some embodiments, the outer sleeve layer 28 is omitted and the free end 22 is not restrained thereby.
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The inner sleeve layer 30 may extend circumferentially beyond the edge 32 and away from the fly 16. The inner sleeve layer 30 may, for example, extend beyond the edge 32 to an outseam of the trousers 10 or some other point. In some embodiments, the portion 20a may extend around all or substantially all of the entire circumferential extent of the waistband 14, e.g. 80%, preferably 90%, and more preferably 95%. The end of the tensioning strap portion 20a may be anchored to one or both of the waistband 14 and inner sleeve layer 30 by means of an anchor 38, which may be embodied as bar tack stitching passing through the portion 20a and one or both of the waistband 14 and inner sleeve layer 30.
A free end 22 of the tensioning strap portion 20b may include an enlarged portion or enlarging structure secured thereto in order to prevent the free end 22 from being drawn into the sleeve defined by the outer sleeve layer 28. In the illustrated embodiment, two loops 40, 42 extend from the free end 22b. One loop 40 may extend from a point of attachment to the portion 20b toward the outer sleeve layer 28 and tensioning member 24. Another loop 42 may extend from a point of attachment thereof to the portion 20b away from the outer sleeve layer 28 and tensioning member 24. The loop 40 may be have a size and stiffness effective to resist entry into the sleeve defined by the outer sleeve layer 28 and the inner sleeve layer 30. The loop 42 may include a loop sized to receive a wearer's finger to enable a wearer to pull on the tensioning strap portion 20a in order to adjust the effective waistband size of the trousers 10. In some embodiments, rather than loops of the tensioning strap portion 20b, the free end 22 may have a rigid member, such as a button, that is sized to hinder the tensioning strap portion 20b from being drawn under the outer sleeve layer 28. In some embodiments, no loops or other hardware are used and the free end 22 is left as-is, hemmed, or otherwise configured such that it is not widened such that it cannot be drawn under the outer sleeve layer 28.
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Tensioning of the tensioning strap 20 may be accomplished by pulling on the tensioning strap portion 20b. The tensioning member 24 may inherently allow tensioning of the tensioning strap portion 20a and inherently resist releasing of tension in the portion 20a. For example, a user may be required to lift up one edge of the illustrated buckle in order to allow the tensioning strap portion 20b to pass into the buckle to the tensioning strap portion 20a as known in the art. Any other buckle or cord lock having any known method of use may be used to allow for tensioning and un-tensioning of the portion 20a.
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In some embodiments, the outer sleeve layers 28, 58 may parts of a single piece of material on opposite sides of an opening, the tensioning strap portion 20b may pass under the layers 28, 58 and be exposed through the opening. The tensioning strap portion 20b may pass out of a slit in the outer sleeve layer 28 and pass back into another slit in the outer sleeve layer such that a portion of the tensioning strap portion 20b is exposed outside of the outer sleeve layer 28 between the slits. In other embodiments, a slit may be defined in the inner sleeve layer 30 offset from the edge 32 of the outer sleeve layer 28. The tensioning strap portion 20b may pass through this slit and secure to a tensioning member 62 positioned between the inner sleeve layer 30 and the waistband 14.
While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, as noted above, many changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is not limited by the disclosure of the preferred embodiments. Instead, the invention should be determined entirely by reference to the claims that follow.