Patent Grant
RE38853
The present invention relates to brassieres. The invention relates more particularly to substantially seamless brassieres including non-underwire and underwire brassieres, and blanks and methods for making such brassieres.
Brassieres are generally designed to provide support, lift, and separation of the wearer's breasts. Conventionally, brassieres for larger-breasted women often include underwires extending along the lower margins of the breast cups. Underwires provide a level of stability that fabric alone generally cannot provide, in part because fabric cannot support compressive forces the way underwires can. Typically, brassieres are fashioned in a cut-and-sew manner, as exemplified for instance in U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,322 issued to Stern et al. A brassiere made in this manner may consist of more than a dozen separate fabric pieces sewn together. One advantage of the cut-and-sew method is that different areas of the brassiere can be given different properties, since the various fabric pieces can be of different knits, different yarns, etc. It may be advantageous, for example, to make some portions of the brassiere resiliently stretchable to hug the wearer's body, while other portions are relatively unstretchable for greater stability.
The cut-and-sew method, however, is disadvantageous in that it entails a great number of cutting and sewing operations. Accordingly, methods of fashioning brassieres from circularly knit fabrics have been developed in an effort to improve the speed and efficiency of production. For example, commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,479,791 and 5,592,836 disclose methods for making non-underwire brassieres from circularly knit tubular blanks. The brassieres are made from single-ply tubular blanks that have a turned welt at one end to form a torso-encircling portion of the brassiere. A series of courses for defining breast cups and front and rear shoulder straps are integrally knit to the turned welt. The brassiere requires sewing only for joining the front and rear shoulder straps to each other. The '836 patent discloses modifying the knit structure along outer edges of the breast cups nearest the wearer's arms to form panels having a greater resistance to coursewise stretching than the remainder of the fabric blank. The relatively unstretchable panels provide increased lift and support.
The present invention provides a substantially seamless brassiere and a blank and method for making the same. In preferred embodiments, the brassiere has a gusset or central panel between the breast cups that has a greater resistance to stretching than the remainder of the body of the brassiere. The central panel provides stability by preventing the cups from undergoing excessive movement relative to each other, while the rest of the brassiere is resiliently stretchable for comfort and for closely hugging the body.
In other preferred embodiments, the brassiere is formed from a blank that is knit to have two pairs of breast cups that are arranged in mirror image about a fold region at which the blank is folded to place one set of breast cups in overlying relationship with the other set of breast cups. Thus, the resulting brassiere is a two-ply structure. The brassiere can be formed in either non-underwire or underwire form. When included, the underwires are attached either to an exterior side of one of the plies, or alternatively between the plies.
Preferably, the blank has a relatively thin region that defines the line about which the blank is folded. For example, the blank can be knit from a plurality of yarns of different deniers, and the heavier yarns can be dropped for a plurality of courses such that only the lighter yarns are knit for those courses. The thin region facilitates a sharp fold. The blank preferably also has a turned welt at each end to prevent raveling of the ends of the tube and to facilitate handling of the blank.
The two-ply construction of the brassiere can also be accomplished by circularly knitting both plies in overlying relation, essentially forming a fabric tube as one long turned welt. This construction enables the two turned welts at the ends of the tube to be eliminated, and the blank is already in a two-ply configuration when it comes off the knitting machine, resulting in a more-efficient manufacturing process.
The blank, whether knit as one ply and then folded or knit as a two-ply structure, preferably defines a relatively unstretchable gusset or central panel between the breast cup panels of each ply. A separate, relatively unstretchable piece of fabric can be affixed between the plies in the region of the central panels to increase the resistance to stretching of the panel, if desired. Furthermore, an adhesive can be disposed between the plies in the gusset region to provide additional stability to the fabric.
The greater resistance to stretching in the central panel can be achieved in various ways, as noted above. In a preferred embodiment, a float stitch construction is used and an additional yarn is spliced in throughout the region of the central panel.
The brassiere can be formed with integrally knit shoulder straps, or alternatively can have separate shoulder straps that are sewn to the brassiere. The torso-encircling portion of the brassiere can be formed as a single continuous panel that extends from one breast cup around the wearer's back to the other breast cup, or alternatively can be formed in two halves that have fastener members such as hooks and eyes for releasably securing the ends of the two halves together. The brassiere can also be formed as a single-ply construction if desired.
The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following description of certain preferred embodiments thereof, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.
With reference to
The breast cups 24 and torso-encircling portion 26 have a knit structure that makes them resiliently stretchable vertically and horizontally. The breast cups 24 and torso-encircling portion 26 can be knit, for example, from various types of face yarns depending on the desired properties of the fabric, and the face yarns can be of various deniers, the selection of the face yarns and the knit depending primarily on the desired characteristics of the fabric such as the hand, appearance, texture, etc. The breast cups 24 and torso-encircling portion 26 preferably also incorporate elastomeric yarns such as spandex (bare and/or covered) or the like so as to impart resiliency to the fabric.
The gusset or central panel 28 extends between the breast cups 24 and has laterally outer edges 32 that preferably are located generally beneath the breast cups 24. The central panel 28 preferably has a different knit structure from that of the breast cups and torso-encircling portion of the brassiere so as to give the central panel a greater resistance to stretching than the breast cups and torso-encircling portion. To achieve the greater resistance to stretching, the central panel 28 can be knit from different yarns and/or can have a different configuration of stitch loops from that of the breast cups and torso-encircling portion. For example, the central panel can be knit with a float stitch construction having an additional spliced-in yarn for those courses corresponding to the location of the central panel. The central panel 28 preferably has a greater resistance to stretching both vertically and horizontally compared to the stretchability of the breast cups and torso-encircling portion of the brassiere. Accordingly, the central panel provides stability by preventing excessive movement of the breast cups relative to each other.
The brassiere 20 also includes an underwire 34 (best seen in
The brassiere 20 has the torso-encircling portion 26 formed in two halves comprising one lateral panel having one end attached to one of the breast cups 24 and to one edge of the central panel 28, and another lateral panel having one end attached to the other breast cup and to the other edge of the central panel. The free end of one of the halves of the torso-encircling portion has fastener members 38, such as hooks, attached to it, and the free end of the other half of the torso-encircling portion has cooperative fastener members 40, such as eyes, attached to it for engagement with the opposite fastener members 38 so that the brassiere can be engaged about the torso of a wearer.
The brassiere 20 in accordance with the first preferred embodiment of the invention has a two-ply construction as best seen in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 7. More particularly, the breast cups 24, torso-encircling portion 26, and central panel 28 are all formed from a single continuous piece of fabric that is folded upon itself to define an inner ply 42 that faces the wearer's body and an outer ply 44 that faces outward. The two plies are affixed to each other along the peripheral edges of the breast cups and torso-encircling portion, preferably by sewing elastic banding 46 along these edges.
The brassiere 20 is fabricated from a circularly knit fabric tube 50 depicted in FIG. 2. The tube 50 preferably has a turned welt 52 formed at one end and another turned welt 54 at the other end to prevent the tube from raveling and to facilitate handling of the fabric in subsequent fabrication processes as described below. Knitting of the tube 50 begins by knitting the turned welt 52. A first series of courses is then knit to the turned welt 52 so as to form a first tubular structure 50a defining panels 24 for forming breast cups, a tubular torso-encircling portion 26, and a central panel 28 between the breast cup panels 24. The first series of courses terminates at a fold region 56 that will define the lowermost edge of the finished brassiere. Preferably, the fold region 56 is knit to be thinner than the rest of the fabric tube, which can be accomplished, for example, by dropping the heavier yarns for a few courses (e.g., for about 8 courses) such that only the lighter yarns are knit for those courses. Next, a second series of courses is knit to the end of the first series of courses so as to form a second tubular structure 50b forming an extension of the first tubular structure 50a. The second tubular structure 50b defines breast cup panels 24, a torso-encircling portion 26, and a central panel 28 arranged in mirror image to the corresponding features of the first tubular structure about the fold region 56. At the end of the second series of courses, the turned welt 54 is knit, and the fabric tube 50 is then taken off the circular knitting machine.
By folding the fabric tube 50 about the fold region 56, the second tubular structure 50b can be positioned in overlying relation to the first tubular structure 50a so that the breast cup panels, torso-encircling portions, and central panels of the two tubular structures are overlying and in registration with each other. If it is desired to fabricate a brassiere having a single continuous torso-encircling portion 26 (i.e., such that the wearer dons the brassiere by slipping it over the head and onto the torso), the folded fabric tube 50 can then be cut along sew lines defining the outlines of the breast cup panels 24 and the torso-encircling portion 26; preferably, the cutting is performed in a sewing machine that also simultaneously sews decorative and/or elastic banding along the cut edges of the inner and outer plies of the folded fabric tube so as to stitch the edges of the two plies together and create a finished edge of the brassiere.
Alternatively, the fabric tube 50 can be slit along a longitudinal line 58 located generally diametrically opposite from the central panels 28 as shown in
The flat fabric blank of
Preferably, the breast cups 24 are molded after the fabric tube 50 is slit and flattened and folded about the fold region 56, so that the breast cups are shaped with a desired contour. To this end, the fabric at least in the breast cup regions includes a heat-settable yarn. Molding can be performed on a conventional molding device, which generally includes a heated convex form and a frame that stretches the fabric over the form so that the heat-settable yarn is softened while in the stretched condition, after which the fabric is removed from the form and the heat-settable yarn cools so as to permanently retain the contoured shape of the breast cup. Preferably, the fabric blank is folded about the fold region 56 prior to molding so that both plies of each breast cup are molded simultaneously. If desired, the blank can be folded a second time to place one two-ply breast cup over the other two-ply breast cup prior to molding so that both cups are molded simultaneously.
Where the brassiere to be fabricated is to be an underwire brassiere, the underwires 34 can be sewn to the side of the inner ply 42 that faces the wearer's body, as shown in FIG. 7. Alternatively, the underwires 34 can be disposed between the inner ply 42 and the outer ply 44 and can be sewn to either or both of the plies. When the underwires are disposed between the plies, preferably the underwires are sewn to the inner ply 42 after molding of the cups, and then the blank is folded and the cutting and application of banding is performed.
It will be recognized, however, that the present invention is not limited to underwire brassieres. Non-underwire brassieres can be made using the blanks and methods of the invention, and the process is generally the same except that the step of sewing the underwires to the cups is omitted.
Furthermore, it will be recognized that while the brassiere 20 illustrated in
Another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 7. While a greater resistance to stretching of the central panel 28 can be achieved by altering the knit structure of the panel, if still greater resistance to stretching is desired, it is possible to affix a substantially unstretchable piece of fabric 66 to one or both of the plies of the central panel 28, such as by sewing or by adhesively joining the fabric piece to the ply or plies. For instance, a tricot fabric or the like can be used for the purpose.
The present invention can also be applied to the construction of single-ply brassieres. Unlike the previously described embodiments, to make a single-ply brassiere, a fabric tube (not shown) is constructed having a turned welt at the top end and a turned welt at the bottom end, but between the two turned welts the tube defines only one set of breast cup panels 24, one torso-encircling portion 26, and one central panel 28. The central panel 28, as previously described, preferably has a greater resistance to stretching than the rest of the fabric tube. The bottom welt is advantageous in that it provides a finished bottom edge for the resulting brassiere fabricated from the fabric tube. However, the bottom welt can be omitted, if desired, and the bottom edge of the brassiere can be finished by applying banding thereto just as along the other edges of the brassiere. Furthermore, the top welt can be omitted. The fabric tube can be slit along a longitudinal line prior to the step of cutting and applying banding, or alternatively the cutting and application of banding can be performed without slitting the tube where it is desired to produce a continuous tubular brassiere.
It is also possible to fabricate a two-ply brassiere by circularly knitting a two-ply fabric tube. The tube is essentially knit as one long turned welt by knitting a first series of courses that will become the outer ply of the brassiere, and knitting a second series of courses that will become the inner ply of the brassiere. For example, the tube can be knit on a circular knitting machine having cylinder needles and dial needles, the cylinder needles being used to knit the first series of courses and the dial needles being used to knit the second series of courses. The knitting of two-ply tubes is a process known to those of skill in the art, and hence is not further described herein. By knitting the tube as a two-ply structure, the tube does not require turned welts at the ends such as included with the previously described one-ply tube, and the blank comes off the knitting machine as a two-ply structure so that the step of folding the blank is eliminated.
Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which this invention pertains having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. For example, while the illustrated and described two-ply brassieres and blanks have defined breast cup panels and central panels in both plies, it is within the scope of the invention to provide only one of the plies with defined breast cup panels and/or central panel. Thus, for instance, the central panel defined in one ply may have sufficient resistance to stretching such that the other ply does not require a similarly unstretchable central panel. Therefore, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1863697 | Rutledge | Jun 1932 | A |
| 3537279 | Epley | Nov 1970 | A |
| 4372322 | Stern et al. | Feb 1983 | A |
| 4531525 | Richards | Jul 1985 | A |
| 5081854 | Lonati | Jan 1992 | A |
| 5479791 | Osborne | Jan 1996 | A |
| 5553468 | Osborne | Sep 1996 | A |
| 5592836 | Schuster et al. | Jan 1997 | A |
| 5660577 | Modena | Aug 1997 | A |
| 5946944 | Osborne | Sep 1999 | A |
| 6000994 | Salotto | Dec 1999 | A |
| 6125664 | Browder, Jr. | Oct 2000 | A |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1920 125 | Nov 1970 | DE |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 09593889 | Jun 2000 | US |
| Child | 10235048 | US |
