US2686517A - Athletic supporter - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 17, 1954 F. E. BOYD 2,686,517

ATHLETIC SUPFORTER Filed March 13, 1953 IN VEN TOR. 'F'aeoemcm E. BOYD Patented Aug. 17, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ATHLETIC SUPP ORTER Frederick E. Boyd, Montgomery, Ala.

Application March 13, 1953, Serial No. 342,160

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to athletic supporters and more particularly to an athletic supporter having an access opening therein and a slide fastener secured thereto for closing the access opening.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide an athletic supporter which may be of substantially conventional construction including a belt, a crotch piece depending from the belt and straps securing the end of the crotch piece remote from the belt to the belt at locations spaced from the crotch piece, but which has an access opening in the form of a slit extending longitudinally of the crotch piece and a slide fastener secured to the crotch piece along the opposite sides of the slit to close the slit; which has a piece of webbing secured to the inner side of the crotch piece in covering relationship to the slit therein and to the slide fastener to protect the skin of a person wearing the supporter from the slide fastener when the slide fastener is opened or closed; and which is simple and durable in construction, and convenient and comfortable to Wear.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claims in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of an athletic supporter illustrative of the invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary cross sectional view on the line 2--2 of Figure l; and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the inner side of the crotch piece of the supporter and a fragmentary portion of the associated belt.

With continued reference to the drawing, the athletic supporter is formed of elastic, fabric material, such materials usually including a mixture of cotton and rubber threads woven together, and includes a waist encircling belt Ill, a cupped crotch piece H secured at one end to the belt H], as indicated at !2, symmetrically of the mid-length location of the front portion of the belt, and straps l3 and I4 secured to the crotch piece II at the end of the latter remote from the belt and secured at their ends to the belt at locations substantially equally spaced from the opposite sides of the end of the crotch piece secured to the belt and near the opposite sides of the belt.

As athletic supporters of the character indicated are well known to the art and are readily available commercially, a more detailed illustration and description of the supporter itself is 2 considered unnecessary for the purposes of the present disclosure.

In accordance with the present invention, the crotch piece II of the supporter is provided with an access opening in the form of a slit l5 extending longitudinally of the crotch piece and medially of the width thereof from a location adjacent the edge of the belt II] from which the crotch piece extends to a location near, but spaced from the end of the crotch piece to which the straps l3 and [4 are connected. A slide fastener I6 is secured to the crotch piece along the opposite sides of the slit is by suitable means, such as stitching, and includes the usual interlocking element ll secured to tapes which extend one along each side of the slit l5 and are secured by stitching to the crotch piece, a slide l8 movable along the slide fastener to engage and disengage the element I1, and a pull tab l9 pivotally secured to the slide is for moving the slide longitudinally of the slide fastener to open and close the slide fastener. The slide fastener 16 may be of a form well known to the art and readily available commercially and may be secured to the crotch piece II of the athletic supporter in the usual manner.

A flap or cover 20 in the form of a piece of fabric or tape of elongated, rectangular shape is disposed against the inner side of the crotch piece H of the supporter and extends longitudinally of the slide fastener l6 somewhat beyond the respectively opposite ends of the slide fastener. The flap also extends outwardly of the respectively opposite sides of the slide fastener and is secured to the crotch piece It across both ends and along one longitudinal edge of the flap by suitable means, such as the stitching 2|.

When the slide fastener I6 is opened, the slit l5 and the open side of the flap 20 provide an access opening through the crotch piece II of the supporter, and the flap 2!] protects the wearer of the supporter from the slide fastener when the latter is closed.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are, therefore, intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:

1. In an athletic supporter including a belt, a crotch piece secured at one end to said belt and depending therefrom, and straps secured each at one end to said crotch piece at the end of the latter remote from said belt and secured at their other ends to said belt at locations spaced from said crotch piece and from each other, the improvement wherein said crotch piece is provided with a slit extending longitudinally thereof at a location medially of the width thereof, a slide fastener is secured to said crotch piece along the sides of said slit for closing the latter, and a piece of fabric of elongated rectangular shape is disposed against the inner side of said crotch piece in covering relationship to said slit and said slide fastener and is secured to said crotch piece along one side and across the ends of said piece of fabric.

2. An athletic supporter comprising a belt, a crotch piece secured at one end to said belt and having a slit extending longitudinally and medially of the Width thereof, a slide fastener extending along said slit and secured to said crotch piece along the opposite sides of said slit, and a flap disposed at the inner side of said crotch piece in covering relationship to said slit and said slide fastener and secured to said crotch piece across each end thereof at locations spaced from the respectively opposite ends of said slide fastener and along one side edge of said flap at a location spaced from the adjacent side of said slide fastener.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 567,343 Harden Sept. 8, 1896 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 641 Austria Nov. 25, 1899 205,120 Germany Dec. 17, 1908

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