Patent Application
20180146717
This invention is directed to a shirt having a sleeve gusset and bi-stretch woven fabric that reduces the ride of the shirt so as to provide greater freedom of movement to the wearer compared to conventional shirts.
Shirts that stay tucked despite the movement of the garment wearer have long been sought. While various constructions and fabric have been proposed, the solutions to date have not been entirely adequate.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,973,419 discloses an underarm insert that extends down the underarm of the sleeve for a relatively short distance and down the side of the torso of a pajama coat or similar garment. The insert is said to reduce the stress the garment is exposed to during use and improve the comfort of the wearer. Other exemplary gusset designs have been proposed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,104,288, 2,179,675, 2,320,605, 2386,768, 2,860,345, 3,719,956 and 5,608,913.
A more recent attempt to reduce the ride of a shirt is described in U.S. Patent Application Publication 2016/0183600 which describes a shirt having a deformable material with a length and closure means that allows the shirt to hug the buttocks of the wearer in an attempt to anchor the shirt.
There continues to be a need, however, that allows the wearer of a shirt to enjoy significant freedom of movement without his or her shirt riding up from a tucked position and thus becoming bunched and unsightly.
This invention is directed to a shirt comprising: (a) a body portion with a front side and backside sewn together to form an armhole on each side of the shirt, the body portion having a predetermined size; (b) a pair of sleeves joined to the armholes, the sleeves having a predetermined size and each sleeve having an arm portion joined together at an underside seam extending from the wrist end of the sleeve longitudinally to a point proximate to the elbow position within the sleeve and a gusset; (c) each gusset having a shape defined by (i) a first side attached along the underarm portion of the armhole with the approximate center point of the first side intersecting a seam where the front side and backside are sewn together; and (ii) a second and third side of the gusset of substantially equivalent length extending from opposing sides of the first side of the gusset in a direction toward the wrist opening of the sleeve and joining together on the underside of the sleeve at the point proximate to the elbow position within the sleeve, and (d) the body portion and sleeves are a bi-stretch woven fabric. Generally the dimensions of each gusset will be such that the ratio of the length of the second or third side of the gusset to the longitudinal length of the sleeve is in a range of about 1:1.75 to about 1:3, preferably about 1:1.85 to about 1:2.8 and more preferably about 1:2 to about 1:2.6 and the ratio of the length of the first side of the gusset to the circumference of the armhole is about 1:3 to about 1:5, preferably about 1:3.2 to about 1:4.7, and more preferably about 1:3.4 to about 1:4.5.
The shirt of the present invention is a yokeless body portion having ergonomic sleeves made of a two-piece sleeve construction that comprises an arm portion and a gusset. Preferably the shirt of the invention is made with a bi-stretch woven fabric that provides acceptable stretch in both the warp and weft direction.
The shirt is of a predetermined size appropriate for the dimensions of the wearer. The body portion has a front side and backside that are sewn together to form an armhole on each side. As with any shirt there is also an opening for the wearer's neck. The opening maybe collarless or collared as desired. One aspect of the invention is that the backside of the body portion of the shirt is yokeless. By yokeless, it is meant that the backside body portion is a single piece of fabric that does not have a horizontal seam extending across the backside below the neckline from one arm hole to the other.
The front side of the body portion maybe a single piece of fabric or two pieces of fabric that are joined by the wearer with buttons or other conventional means of closing a shirt. The front side may also optionally include design features such as one or more pockets or design embroidering.
The front side and backside of the body portion are sewn together or joined by any other conventional means for joining fabric. The joinder of all fabric pieces in the shirt is preferably by conventional sewing methods, but any other joinder method may be used.
The shirt of this invention includes a pair of sleeves, each sleeve joined to an armhole of the body portion of the shirt. The sleeves are of a two piece construction including an arm portion and a gusset. The arm portion will be of a length that extends on its upper arm side from the armhole to proximate the wearer's wrist. The arm portion is joined together by conventional means, e.g., sewn, to form an underside seam extending from approximately the wearer's wrist (i.e., the hole in the sleeve for the wearer's hand) in a longitudinal direction to a point proximate to the elbow position of the wearer. The end point of the seam proximate to the elbow position is conventionally joined to the end of the gusset.
Each gusset has a shape defined by (i) a first side attached along the underarm portion of the armhole with the approximate center point of the first side intersecting a seam where the front side and backside are sewn together; and (ii) a second and third side of the gusset of substantially equivalent length extending from opposing sides of the first side of the gusset directionally toward the wrist opening of the sleeve and joining together on the underside of the sleeve at the point proximate to the elbow position within the sleeve. It is noted, that the arm portion and gusset will form a sleeve of a predetermined size appropriate for the dimensions of the wearer. Generally the dimensions of each gusset will be such that the ratio of the length of the second or third side of the gusset to the longitudinal length of the sleeve is in a range of about 1:1.75 to about 1:3, preferably about 1:1.85 to about 1:2.8 and more preferably about 1:2 to about 1:2.6 and the ratio of the length of the first side of the gusset to the circumference of the armhole is about 1:3 to about 1:5, preferably about 1:3.2 to about 1:4.7, and more preferably about 1:3.4 to about 1:4.5.
The gusset may be one piece two pieces or more. Preferably the gusset is one piece or two pieces. For example a two piece gusset may be formed by piecing together a sleeve armpit panel and gusset piece to form the gusset attached to the arm portion of the sleeve and the armhole. Another manner of forming a gusset is to join two pieces using a seam longitudinal to the sleeve running down the center line of the gusset.
The fabric used in the preferred embodiment of this invention is a bi-stretch woven fabric having the ability to stretch in both the warp and weft direction. The stretch properties of the shirt fabric allows the shirt to move with the wearer. Bi-stretch woven fabric is well known and readily available. Generally compared to non-stretch woven fabric, bi-stretch fabric will provide at least 20% more stretch in the warp and weft directions, preferable at least 25% more stretch in the warp and weft directions. In one embodiment the bi-stretch fabric provides about 32% more stretch in the warp direction and about 58% more stretch in the weft direction compared to non-stretch fabric. Preferably the maximum strain impact of the fabric material is about 200 gf/cm2 when the wearer raises the arms while wearing the shirt of the invention.
Reference to the figures provides a more detailed illustration of the inventive shirt have reduced ride.
A dynamic motion study was carried out to compare an embodiment of the invention with other embodiments. The study measured the movement of the shirt at the side seam 11 and center back line of the backside 10 shirt after the wearer raises and lowers their arms and after going through a standing sitting cycle. The results of the study are set forth in the Tables below.
It is apparent that the shirt of the invention has significantly improved ability to stay tucked after fairly vigorous movement by the wearer.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62427449 | Nov 2016 | US |
