This invention pertains to the placement of drawstrings into drawstring passages in garments and other flexible articles which are constructed to enable the use of drawstrings in them. More particularly, this invention pertains to a tool useful to inserting a drawstring into a drawstring passage in such an article.
Many garments use drawstrings to enable the garments to be secured in place on the bodies of wearers of the garments. The drawstrings commonly are threaded through a passage defined by a hem of the garment. Opposite end portions of the drawstring are located outside the passage so that they can be manipulated by a wearer of the garment to form a bow knot, e.g., which secures the garment in known ways to the wearer's body. Drawstrings also are used as closures for storage bags of various things.
It often happens that a drawstring can be partially or fully withdrawn from its hem so that the drawstring cannot be used to perform its desired function. Partial withdrawal of a drawstring from its hem passage occurs when the drawstring is moved in the passage to cause one of the ends of the drawstring to be located within the passage; in such an event, that end of the drawstring is inaccessible. A solution to the problem of a partially withdrawn drawstring is to remove the drawstring from its passage in the hem and to rethread (reinsert) the drawstring into the passage so that the opposite end portions of the drawstring are again accessible outside the passage.
The solution to the problem of a fully withdrawn drawstring is to rethread (reinsert) the drawstring into the hem passage so the opposite end portions of the string are again accessible outside the passage.
Insertion of a drawstring into a hem passage of an existing article such as a garment can be a difficult and time consuming task. Many people cannot successfully perform that task, such as because they do not know how to do it or because they do not have a tool to use to perform that task.
Partial or complete withdrawal of a drawstring from a hem passage can occur in a number of ways. In the laundering of garments equipped with drawstrings, forces can be applied to drawstrings to cause them to move along their hem passages so that the drawstrings become partially or fully removed from their garments.
To address the problems described above, this invention provides simple, effective, and easily used tools for inserting a drawstring into a hem passage. Generally speaking, a preferred embodiment of a drawstring inserter tool according to this invention comprises an elongate leading body having forward and rear ends, an elongate flexible member connected at a front end thereof to the rear end of the leading body, and a trailing body connected at a front end thereof to the rear end of the flexible member. An aperture into which an end of a drawstring can be inserted, is defined at the rear end of the trailing body. A drawstring retainer member is carried by the trailing body and is movable relative to the trailing body toward and away from the rear end of the trailing body. The trailing body and the retainer member are cooperatively configured to secure a drawstring to the trailing body when a drawstring is disposed in the aperture and the retainer member is at a rearward limit of movement relative to the trailing body.
The above-mentioned and other features and aspects of the preferred embodiments according to this invention are more fully described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in which
Two preferred embodiments of drawstring inserters according to this invention are depicted in the accompanying drawings. A first inserter 10 is shown in part in
Inserters 10 and 12 each have a leading end 13 and an opposite trailing end; the structures of the trailing end body assemblies of inserters 10 and 12, while different, have the common property of being operable to hold to the trailing end of the inserter a lead end of a drawstring which is to be inserted, by use of the inserter, into and through a drawstring passage to place the opposite end portions of the drawstring outside the opposite ends of the passage. Inserters 10 and 12 have other aspects of their structure in common; each inserter has an elongated, stiff comparatively small diameter leading (head end) body 14 having a smoothly rounded front end. Inserters 10 and 12 also include a length of flexible cable 15 or cord which is secured to the rear end of the head end body 14 and which extends rearwardly along the length of the inserter to its opposite end which is secured to the front end of the drawstring-holder structure (trailing body) at the trailing end of the inserter.
A presently preferred inserter head end body 14 is about 0.165 inch in diameter and about 6.8 inches long, and can be made of aluminum or steel with an axial bore at its rear end into which an end of cable 15 can be inserted. See
A preferred cable is a braided wire cable which has been smoothly coated with a soft synthetic resin material to enable the cable to be slid easily along a garment drawstring passage without snagging or catching on the garment fabric.
Components of a trailing body drawstring-holder assembly 35 of inserter 12 are depicted in
Snare wire 40 can be defined by a length of nicinol wire about 12 inches in length. Nitinol is a shape memory metal alloy. (Wire loop 22 of inserter 10 can be defined by nicinol wire.) The snare wire length preferably is bent at its middle so that its ends become parallel and those ends of the snare wire can be inserted into the opposite openings of wire exit passage 46 in retainer 37 and then down and out of the axial bore of the retainer. The snare wire ends preferably are passed down the center of the coil compression spring 39 and into the small diameter bore of crimp adaptor 38 as the spring is compressed between the retainer 37 and the crimp adaptor. While the return bend of the snare wire is seated in end groove 48 of the retainer and the ends of the snare wire are in their proper position in the crimp adaptor, the crimp adaptor can be crimped to secure the snare wire ends within it. The subassembly so created is then inserted into body tube 36 so that the body tube is spaced a short distance (about 0.4 inch) from the shoulder 45 between the body and the stem of the retainer after the end of cable 15 has been placed into the large bore of the crimp adaptor, and then the body tube end can be crimped down onto the large bore end of the crimp adaptor to secure the body tube, the crimp adaptor and the cable together.
The drawstring retainer 37 can be retracted from the snare wire bend against the bias of the compression spring 39; such retraction is possible because of the gap between the body tube 36 and the retainer shoulder 45. When the snare wire bend is exposed, an end of a drawstring can be threaded into the loop or aperture formed by the wire. The drawstring is held to the inserter by the spring-generated force between the wire and the retainer when the retainer is released. That is, the inserter trailing body and the retainer 37 are cooperatively configured to secure a drawstring to the trailing body when a drawstring is disposed in the snare wire aperture and the retainer member is at its rearward limit of monument relative to the trailing body of the inserter. The inserter then can be used as described below with reference to inserter 10 to insert the drawstring into and through a drawstring passage.
The trailing end drawstring-holding structure 17 of inserter 10 includes an elongate comparatively small diameter rigid slider shaft 18 (
As shown in
The placement of the pin on slider shaft 18 is defined in cooperation with the geometry of slot 26 so that inserter 10 can be operated in the manner shown in
The dimensions and relations stated above concerning certain of the components of embodiments 10 and 12 are not critical, as it should be understood that the two embodiments disclosed are exemplary embodiments according to this invention. Inserters of other sizes are within the scope of the invention. It should also be noted that flexibility of an inserter is preferred, though not required, so that the inserter can be used to insert a drawstring into a passage around, for example, the waist of a pair of pants or trunks or around the perimeter of a hood of a garment such as a hooded sweatshirt or the like.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application No. 61/394,283 filed on Oct. 18, 2010.
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