The invention relates to upper bodies of garments.
An upper body of a garment is known, which can cover at least a portion of the upper body of a wearer. See Patent Literature 1, for example.
Patent Literature 1: JP 2014-196587 A
When operating a mobile device such as a smartphone, a person tends to move his/her shoulder forward from a position in a good posture to put his/her arm holding the mobile device in front of his/her trunk. The term “good posture” concretely means a posture with which a person standing on a flat surface, when viewed side on, puts the root of his/her neck and his/her shoulders, elbows, and ankles in a substantially straight line. Frequent repetition or long-time maintenance of a posture in which the shoulders are placed in front of the position in the good posture can lead to deterioration of the body shape such as rounded shoulders or kyphosis. The term “rounded shoulders” means a body shape in which shoulder blades are placed far apart from each other to rotate the shoulders inward. The term “kyphosis” means a body shape in which the spine has an excessive forward curvature to put the head in a forward position. These body shapes can cause pain such as stiff shoulders.
Some types of garments have an ability to generate an enhanced stretching force between rear surfaces of both sleeves in order to make a wearer keep the good posture or correct his/her deteriorated posture. Since the enhanced stretching force prevents the wearer's shoulder blades from moving apart from each other, it is difficult for the wearer to adopt the posture in which the shoulders extend forward. This inhibits the wearer from adopting a bad posture such as rounded shoulders or kyphosis, and in addition, corrects the posture of the wearer with a deteriorated body shape. However, an excessive stretching force between rear surfaces of both sleeves can prevent the movement of not only the shoulder blades but also the arms. In particular, difficulty in rotating the arms around the shoulders and raising them forward from the sides of the trunk, i.e. difficulty in flexion of the arms can disrupt the wearer's daily life.
An object of the invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, in particular, to provide an upper body of a garment that can make it difficult for a wearer to adopt the posture in which the shoulders extend forward to put the arms in front of the trunk, and in addition that, in order not to disrupt the wearer's daily life, can make it relatively easy for the wearer to rotate the arms around the shoulders and raise them forward from the sides of the trunk.
An upper body of a garment according to one aspect of the invention includes a body including a front body and a rear body, a left sleeve, and a right sleeve. Between the rear surfaces of the left and right sleeves, a restricting portion is located and prevents left and right shoulder blades of a wearer from moving apart from each other. The left sleeve includes a first seam point that is the lowest point on a seam between a front surface of the left sleeve and the front body, and a first bottom point that is the lowest point on a seam between a rear surface of the left sleeve and the rear body. The first bottom point is positioned below the first seam point. The right sleeve includes a second seam point that is the lowest point on a seam between a front surface of the right sleeve and the front body, and a second bottom point that is the lowest point on a seam between a rear surface of the right sleeve and the rear body. The second bottom point is positioned below the second seam point.
The restricting portion, when stretched by the wearer's shoulders, exerts tensile forces as resistance to prevent the wearer's shoulder blades from moving apart from each other. This makes it difficult for the wearer to adopt the posture in which the shoulders extend forward. On the other hand, since the first bottom point of the rear surface of the left sleeve is positioned below the first seam point of the front surface of the left sleeve, the fabric of the left sleeve can have an enlarged region extending within the rear surface of the left sleeve from the height of the first bottom point to the height of the first seam point; the enlarged region enables the wearer to rotate the left arm around the left shoulder and raise it forward from the left side of the trunk. In addition, since the second bottom point of the rear surface of the right sleeve is positioned below the second seam point of the front surface of the right sleeve, the fabric of the right sleeve can have an enlarged region extending within the rear surface of the right sleeve from the height of the second bottom point to the height of the second seam point; the enlarged region enables the wearer to rotate the right arm around the right shoulder and raise it forward from the right side of the trunk. Due to the presence of these enlarged regions, the garment can, without seriously harming the effect of the tensile force by the restricting portion, make it relatively easy for the wearer to rotate the arms around the shoulders and raise them forward from the sides of the trunk.
The restricting portion consists of a hardly-, or non-stretchy fabric, for example. The hardly-stretchy fabric, when stretched by 20% in left and right direction, increases a stretching force to 45 cN or more in the same directions. The non-stretchy fabric is stretched by less than 20% in left and right direction when experiencing a stretching force of 45 cN or more in the same directions. Note that the “stretching force” is a force that a constant-rate-loading tensile machine needs to stretch a piece of fabric, which is 10 cm long and 2.5 cm wide, in its longitudinal direction at a rate of 30 cm/min under the condition of about 20 degrees Celsius, i.e. 18-22 degrees Celsius. As the constant-rate-loading tensile machine, an AGS-X manufactured by Shimadzu Corporation was used to measure values of stretching force described herein.
The restricting portion may include a region of the rear body from the boundary between the rear body and the left sleeve to the boundary between the rear body and the right sleeve. That is, this region of the rear body may be integrated with the restricting portion. The words “integrated with” may mean that the fabric of the restricting portion is sewn and connected to the fabric of one or more of other regions of the rear body, or that the restricting portion and one or more of other regions of the rear body are woven into a single fabric. Alternatively, the restricting portion may include an additional fabric attached to the rear body and different from the fabric of the rear body. This additional fabric may be sewn on the boundary between each rear surface of the left and right sleeves and the rear body, or on each rear surface of the left and right sleeves.
The left sleeve may include a left connecting portion and a hardly-stretchy region. The left connecting portion is a region connected to a left side of the body. The hardly-stretchy region is a region that, when stretched by 20% in the longitudinal direction of the left sleeve, increases a stretching force to 45 cN or more in the same direction and that may extend at least within the rear surface of the left connecting portion. The right sleeve may include a right connecting portion and a hardly-stretchy region. The right connecting portion is a region connected to a right side of the body. The hardly-stretchy region is a region that, when stretched by 20% in the longitudinal direction of the right sleeve, increases a stretching force to 45 cN or more in the same direction and that may extend at least within the rear surface of the right connecting portion. The hardly-stretchy region of the left sleeve may range from the rear surface of the left connecting portion to a front surface thereof. The hardly-stretchy region of the right sleeve may range from the rear surface of the right connecting portion to a front surface thereof. According to these structures, each of the left and right connecting portions generates a high tensile force once it is stretched, and thus it hardly or never reduces the tensile force by the restricting portion. As a result, the garment can more effectively prevent the forward motion of the wearer's shoulder blades, upper arms, and shoulders.
Instead of the hardly-stretchy region, the left and right sleeves may each include a non-stretchy region, which is stretched by less than 20% in the longitudinal direction of the left or right sleeve when experiencing a stretching force of 45 cN or more in the same direction. The non-stretchy regions of the left and right sleeves may extend at least within the rear surfaces of the left and right connecting portions, respectively. The non-stretchy region of the left sleeve may range from the rear surface of the left connecting portion to a front surface thereof. The non-stretchy region of the right sleeve may range from the rear surface of the right connecting portion to a front surface thereof. According to these structures, any of the left and right connecting portions is hardly or not substantially stretched, thus hardly or never reducing the tensile force by the restricting portion. As a result, the garment can more effectively prevent the forward motion of the wearer's shoulder blades, upper arms, and shoulders.
In the upper body of the garment according to the above-described aspect of the invention, the restricting portion prevents the wearer's shoulder blades from moving apart from each other. On the other hand, the first bottom point is positioned below the first seam point between the left sleeve and the body, and the second bottom point is positioned below the second seam point between the right sleeve and the body. Thus, below the wearer's armpits, stretching of the fabric of the front body reduces the tensile force by the restricting portion. Accordingly, the upper body of the garment can make it difficult for the wearer to adopt the posture in which the shoulders extend forward to put the arms in front of the trunk, and in addition, enables the arms to be easily flexed at the shoulders.
Embodiments of the invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.
The garment upper body 100 is configured to wrap an upper portion of the wearer's trunk and his/her upper arms. The garment upper body 100 may be used as an undergarment (innerwear) or as an intermediate or outer garment (outerwear). According to embodiment 1, the garment upper body 100 is a short-sleeved shirt.
The garment upper body 100 includes a body 110, 120, a left sleeve 130, and a right sleeve 140. The body 110, 120 has a cylindrical shape to wrap the upper portion of the wearer's trunk. The body includes a front body 110 and a rear body 120. The front body 110 is a portion of the body that faces a front surface of the upper portion of the wearer's trunk, i.e. the wearer's chest and belly and covers the almost entirety of the front surface. The rear body 120 is a portion of the body that faces a rear surface of the upper portion of the wearer's trunk, i.e. the wearer's back and covers the almost entirety of the rear surface. The front body 110 and the rear body 120 each have a bilaterally symmetrical shape. The left sleeve 130 and the right sleeve 140 are provided on left and right sides of the body, respectively. Each of the sleeves 130 and 140 has a cylindrical shape narrower than that of the body 110, 120 to wrap an upper portion of the wearer's left or right upper arm. The sleeves 130 and 140 are symmetric to a center plane CNP that bisects the body 110, 120 in left and right direction. Each size of the sleeves 130 and 140 can be freely designed in a longitudinal direction thereof (the direction of an arrow LDL or RDL shown in
Instead of the two parts, i.e. the front body 110 and the rear body 120, the body of the garment upper body 100 may consist of four parts including a front body, left and right side bodies, and a rear body. Applying the invention to the four-part body only needs consideration of the side bodies as portions of the front body.
The front body 110 and the rear body 120 are sewn on each other to form a left side seam 113, a right side seam 114, and shoulder seams 115. The body thus includes a neckline 116, a hem 117, a left armhole 118, and a right armhole 119. The neckline 116 corresponds to an upper open end of the cylindrical shape of the body, and the hem 117 corresponds to a lower open end thereof. The left armhole 118 is the rim of a hole opened at an upper left side of the body, and the right armhole 119 is the rim of a hole opened at the upper right side of the body. On the left armhole 118, a proximal end of the left sleeve 130, i.e. a sleeve cap thereof is sewn, while on the right armhole 119, a sleeve cap of the right sleeve 140 is sewn.
The fabric constituting the front body 110 may be extensible or not. The fabric constituting the rear body 120 is extensible, but at least a region 128 of the rear body 120 between the left sleeve 130 and the right sleeve 140 (cf. a densely dotted region shown in
The restricting portion is not limited to the region 128 between the rear surface 132 of the left sleeve 130 and the rear surface 142 of the right sleeve 140, but it may consist of a larger region or the entirety of the rear body 120.
Since the left sleeve 130 and the right sleeve 140 have shapes that are mirror images of each other, the following will explain the structure of the left sleeve 130 only. The structure of the right sleeve 140 could be easily understood by persons skilled in the art from the structure of the left sleeve 130.
The left sleeve 130 has a structure consisting of two pieces of fabric that are sewn on each other along an underarm line 133 and a dart 134 to form a cylinder. The dart 134 is a region where the pieces of fabric are tucked. The dart 134 extends across the rear surface 132 of the left sleeve 130 throughout the whole length thereof. As shown in
The left sleeve 130 includes a cuff 135 and a left connecting portion 136. The cuff 135 corresponds to an open distal end of the cylindrical shape of the left sleeve 130, and the left connecting portion 136 corresponds to an open proximal end thereof. The left connecting portion 136 is a portion of the left sleeve 130 that is also called as sleeve cap and covers the wearer's left shoulder, and whose entirety is sewn on the left armhole 118.
At least the rear surface of the left connecting portion 136 (cf. sparsely dotted regions shown in
As shown in
When the front body 110 and the rear body 120 are separated along the seams, the left armhole 118 is divided into a front segment 310 and a rear segment 320. The front segment 310 is located at the upper left side of the front body 110 (which is shown in
The left sleeve 130 has a structure consisting of an overarm portion 410 and an underarm portion 420 sewn on each other in a cylindrical shape. The overarm portion 410 forms the entirety of the front surface 131 of the left sleeve 130 and an upper region of the rear surface 132 thereof. The underarm portion 420 forms a lower region of the rear surface 132 of the left sleeve 130. One of seams between the overarm portion 410 and the underarm portion 420 extends as an underarm seam 133 of the left sleeve 130, and the other forms a dart 134 (cf.
The circumference of the overarm portion 410 includes a front sleeve cap line 411, a rear sleeve cap line 412, a cuff line 413, an underarm line 414, and a seam line 415. The circumference of the underarm portion 420 includes a front sleeve cap line 421, a rear sleeve cap line 422, a cuff line 423, an underarm line 424, and a seam line 425. The front sleeve cap line 411 of the overarm portion 410 is sewn on the left deeply-cut portion 311 of the front body 110, and the front sleeve cap line 421 of the underarm portion 420 is sewn on the upper-left side portion 312 of the front body 110. The rear sleeve cap line 412 of the overarm portion 410 and the rear sleeve cap line 422 of the underarm portion 420 are sewn on the left armhole's rear segment 320 of the rear body 120. The underarm line 414 of the overarm portion 410 and the underarm line 424 of the underarm portion 420 are sewn on each other to form the underarm seam 133 of the left sleeve 130 (cf.
A section MDP of the left armhole's rear segment 320 (cf.
In the garment upper body 100 according to embodiment 1 of the invention, the restricting portion 128 of the rear body 120 is woven with other regions thereof into a single fabric. However, a restricting portion according to the invention is not limited to such structure but may consist of an additional fabric attached to the rear body 120.
As shown in
In view of the explanation described above, the invention can obviously have many variations and modifications. Accordingly, it should be understood that, within the scope of the claims attached to the specification, the invention can have embodiments other than those described in the specification.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2019/020059 | 5/21/2019 | WO | 00 |