US2310367A - Undergarment - Google Patents

Description

A. J. HARWOOD UNDERGARMENT Feb. 9, 1943.

Filed 001:. 16, 1941 Patentecl Feb. 9, 1943 UNDERGARMENT Asa J. Harwood, Richmond, In'd., assigncr to The Atlas Underwear Company, Piqua, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application October 16, 1941, Serial No. 415,278

3 Glaims. (01. 2-224) This invention relates to nether garments for men and is concerned more particularly with a novel nether garment which can be worn with greater comfort than similar garments as made heretofore. The new garment will ordinarily be worn as an undergarment and an embodiment of the invention in that form will, accordingly, be illustrated and described in detail for purposes of explanation.

At the present time, there are many forms of undergarments of the shorts type availabl on the market and these garments are ordinarily made of knitted material. They include front and back sections connected to a waistband and also connected together for a distance along the sides of the garment and in some cases, the sections are cut from a tubular piece of fabric. In either instance, the lower edges of the sections are shaped to define leg openings and each opening is commonly finished by an endless hem in which is incorporated a, strip of elastic material. The leg opening hems fit the legs closely and portions of the hems usually lie within the groins of the wearer. The snug fit of the hems against the body of the wearer gives the garment an attractive appearance but is liable to cause chafing and discomfort if the hems are too tight.

The present invention is directed to the provision of a shorts garment of the type above referred to which is so constructed that the edges of the leg openings fit snugly in place but are not held in that relation by elastic tapes or the like. The leg openings in the new garment are not defined by endless hems as in the former constructions but are closed at the top by hems on overlapping portions of the garment, these portions being separable, so that the circumference of the leg openings may be increased. The overlapping sections are normally held in such position that the garment fits snugly in place, but the openings are readily expansible and thus the garment cannot cause discomfort to the wearer or hamper his movements.

For a better understanding of the invention,

reference may be had to the accompanying drawing in which:

Figs. 1 and 2 are, respectively, front and back elevational views of one form of garment constructed in accordance with the invention, portions of the garment being broken away in each view;

Fig. 3 is a sectional View on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and

Figs. 4 and 5 are sectional views similar to Fig. 3 of modified forms of the garment.

The new garment in the form shown in Fig. 1 comprises a waistband Ii! which is extensible circumferentially of the garment. This waistband is endless and is preferably formed of a strip of elastic fabric, although it may be made of inelastic fabric with elastic inserts, if desired.

The front and back sections II and I2 of the garment are permanently connected at their upper edges to the lower edge of the waistband with the median lines of the sections intersecting the midpoints of the front and rear of the waistband, respectively. The sections are of decreasing width downwardly from the waistband and are connected to form a closed crotch. At their upper ends, the corner portions of the sections overlap and the corners I3, I3 of the back section lie inwardly from the sides of the garment greater distances than the corners it of the front section. The edges l5, it of the sections define leg openings IT and the edges are finished with hems l8.

Since the front and back sections overlap at their upper corners and the overlapping portions are not connected together xcept along the waistband, the leg openings are not defined by continuous pieces of material, such as the endless hems employed in the prior garments. Accordingly, the tops IQ of the leg openings are not fixed points, but as the overlapping portions of the front and back sections are spread apart, the tops l9 of the openings may vary in their relation to the waistband. By forming the rear section so that it is wider than the front section and its corners lie inward a greater distance from the sides of the garment than the corners of the front section, the waistband tends to hold the rear section snugly in contact with the seat of the wearer without gaping, and th tops of the leg openings lie at the desired positions.

As illustrated in the drawing, the form of the front and rear sections and the manner in which they are connected to the waistband are such that the lateral edges of the sections define leg openings which face forwardly rather than laterally, with the. centers of the openings lying inward substantial distances from the sides of the garment. This construction makes the garment comfortable to wear and, at the same time, insures full coverage at all times.

If the front and rear sections of the garment were of similar cut and connected to the waistband with their corners meeting or without substantial overlap at the sides of the garment, the leg openings would face laterally. In that case, if the front section were of such cut as to avoid bunching of the material between the crotch and waistband when the garment was worn, the rear section of similar cut would not cover the entire seat. On the other hand, if the rear section were so cut as to provide full coverage of the seat, the front section of similar cut would have excess material which would bunch together when the garment was worn. Another disadvantage of a garment in which the front and rear sections meet at the waistband at the sides of the garment without substantial overlap is that if the rear section is cut to provide full coverage when the wearer is seated, the lateral edges thereof will sag away from the body of the wearer when he is standing erect.

In the present garment, the lateral edges of the sections defining leg openings which face forwardly, cross at the front of the garment at sub stantial distances below the waistband and the edges continue diagonally upwardly from the points of crossing to the waistband. The rear section, which is correspondingly wider throughout than the front section, is wrapped around the body at the waist for a distance considerably more than half the girth of the body and the lateral edges of the section forming the rear edges of the waistband are then drawn against the body by forces applied to the waistband. In the same way, the lateral edges of the front section forming the front edge of the leg openings are also subjected to strains tending to maintain the front section laterally distended and the section is thereby kept from bunching together between the crotch and waistband.

The garment may have a closed front without a fly opening, if desired, but preferably such an opening is provided. For this purpose, the front section includes an inner flap 2|] extending downwardly from the waistband and terminating at its lower end in a free edge 2| lying at an angle to the vertical. An outer fiap 22 extends upwardly to overlap the edge 2| and the flaps are connected together at the top by a seam 23 and along one side 24. The outer flap has a free edge 25 lying in such relation to the inclined free edge 2| of the inner flap that, by separating the flaps, access may be afforded between them into the interior of the garment across edge 25 to edge 2|.

A pair of inextensible elements, such as tapes 26, are preferably applied to the front section to run from the inner edges of the leg opening hems l8 upward to the waistband. These elements lie on either side of the flaps and prevent sagging f the inner edges of the leg openings.

Various types of crotch construction may be employed in the new garment and in the form of the garment illustrated in Fig. 1, there is a crotch insert which comprises a double layer 21 of knitted material secured to the lower end of the rear section and to the lower end of the outer flap. When the garment is made of knitted material, the front and rear sections and the two flaps will ordinarily be made of material cut so that the wales extend vertically. The crotch insert material is then preferably cut so that the wales extend horizontally and, with this arrangement, the sections are expansible circumferentially of the body and the crotch insert is expansible in a direction through the crotch.

Instead of using the crotch insert, the garment may be made as illustrated in Fig. 4 in which the rear section In is shown as provided with an extension 28 which passes through the crotch and is connected to the lower end of the outer flap 22a. Still another construction is illustrated in Fig. 5 in which the rear section |2b extends through the crotch and continues upwardly so that the outer flap 22b is formed integrally therewith.

In all forms of the new garment shown, the cut is such that the leg opening hems define openings which are readily expansible and the expansibility is not limited, as in former garments, to the elasticity of the material and, in particular, of

the elastic tapes incorporated in the leg opening hems. The strains imposed by the waistband on the hems l8 of the leg openings in the new garment are such as to cause the hems to fit the legs snugly, but since the overlapping portions of the sections are readily separable, the leg openings are expansible and their hems tend to fit the wearer snugly but without liability of chafing or causing discomfort.

I claim:

1. A nether garment which comprises a waistband, and front and rear sections secured to the waistband and extending downwardly therefrom and united to form a closed crotch, the sections being of decreasing width downwardly and the back section being wider at the top than the front section, the sections being secured to the waistband with the upper corner portions of the sections overlapping and with the corners of the back section lying along the front of the waistband and at greater distances inward from the sides of the garment than the corners of the front section, the side edges of the sections crossing at the front of the garment substantial distances below the waistband and defining leg openings facing forwardly, the side edges of the sections being unattached where they cross so that the size of the leg openings may be increased.

2. A nether garment which comprises a waistband, and front and rear sections secured to the waistband and extending downwardly therefrom and united to form a closed crotch, the sections being of decreasin width downwardly and the back section being wider at the top than the front section, the sections being secured to the waistband with their median lines intersecting the midpoints of the front and rear of the waistband, respectively, and with the upper corner portions of the sections overlapping, the corners of the back section lying along the front of the waistband and at greater distances inward from the sides of the garment than the corners of the front section, the side edges of the sections crossing at the front of the garment and defining leg openings facing forwardly, the side edges of the sections being unattached where they cross so that the size of the leg openings may be increased.

3. A nether garment which comprises a waistband, and front and rear sections secured to the waistband and extending downwardly therefrom and united to form a closed crotch, the sections being of decreasing width downwardly with the rear section Wider at the top than the front section and also substantially wider than half the circumference of the waistband, the sections belng secured to the waistband with the upper corner portions of the sections overlapping and with the corners of the back section lying along the front of the waistband and at greater distances inward from the sides of the garment than the corners of the front section, the side edges of the sections crossing at the front of the garment at points substantial distances below the waistband and continuing diagonally upward from the points of crossing to the waistband, said edges defining leg openings facing forwardly, the side edges of the sections being unattached where they cross so that the size of the leg openings may be increased.

ASA J. HARWOOD.

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