(12> Ulllted States Patent
`Batra
`
`US006311333B1
`(16) Patent N6.=
`US 6,311,333 B1
`(45) Date of Patent:
`Nov. 6, 2001
`
`(54) INVISIBLE STRETCH GARMENT
`
`(75) Inventor: Sachin Batra, Stamford, CT (US)
`
`(73) Assignee: Union Underwear Company, Inc.,
`Bowling Green,
`
`( * ) Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U_S_C_ 154(k)) by 0 days_
`
`1,149,271
`1,744,695
`1,797,115
`1,812,593
`2,415,857
`3,220,017
`3,435,462
`4,843,654
`4,890,337
`5,535,451
`
`8/1915 Lazarus .
`1/1930 Fishback et al. .
`3/1931 Atkinson .
`6/1931 Karberg.
`3/1947 Trinkel .
`11/1965 MOIIOII .
`4/1969 Bank.
`7/1989 March -
`1/1990 Greengberg -
`7/1996 Tassone et al. .
`
`Primary Examiner—Gloria M. Hale
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—John F. Salazar; Middleton
`Reutlinger
`
`(21) Appl' NO‘: 09/635’020
`(22) Filed;
`Aug 4, 2000
`
`Related US. Application Data
`(60) Provisional application No. 60/147,447, ?led on Aug. 5,
`
`1999.
`
`(51) Int. Cl.7 ..................................................... .. A41D 1/00
`(52) US. Cl. ....................................... .. 2/237; 2/227; 2/221
`(58) Field Of Search .............................. .. 2/227, 228, 236,
`2/237, 238, 79, 69, DIG 4, 401, 211, 214,
`220, 221, 80, 75, 783, 122
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
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`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
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`ABSTRACT
`(57)
`e present invention is directed toWards a pant garment
`such as a standard jean Wherein the level of comfort in the
`jean is increased by incorporating a stretchable material in
`Particular Sections of the garment Construct Thus, the major
`ity of thejean or pant garment may be made of standard rigid
`denim or the like material but the yoke and the rear section
`of the Waistband may incorporate a stretchable quality. This
`material is designed to be visually indistinguishable from the
`other non-stretch material of the garment.
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`264,249
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`9/1882 David .
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`8 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets
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`US 6,311,333 B1
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`1
`INVISIBLE STRETCH GARMENT
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`This application claims priority to provisional applica
`tion number 60/147,447 ?led Aug. 5, 1999.
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`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
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`1. Technical Field of the Invention
`The present invention relates to pant garments and in
`particular pant garments Which have the ability to stretch yet
`Which provide a normal fabric appearance.
`2. Description of the Related Art
`It is Well-knoWn in the prior art to provide elastic material
`in speci?c areas of garments to provide ?exibility therein.
`Such elastic material has been placed in various areas of the
`pants to provide such ?exibility, such as in the Waistband.
`HoWever, such placement of elastic material is done in a
`manner in Which it is clearly visible and apparent that the
`garment is made of partial elastic material or elastic inter
`Woven material. Prior art elastic material utiliZed in garment
`construction oftentimes causes gathering of the material
`around the elastic construction making it apparent that
`elastic and stretchable material is being utiliZed to ease the
`?t for the Wearer. US. Pat. No. 4,890,337 discloses use of
`a stretchable and expandable Waistband of a similar nature.
`HoWever, upon actual stretching of the stretchable
`Waistband, it is visibly apparent that the garment is stretch
`ing and that extra material is required for comfort ?t of the
`Wearer.
`US. Pat. No. 3,220,017 discloses an additional construc
`tion of stretchable trouser construction Wherein the Waist
`band has areas of elastic material incorporated therein in the
`direction of its length. Additionally, the upper portion of the
`pockets are also constructed of an elastic material. HoWever,
`the elastic material is easily visible and differentiated from
`the standard material utiliZed in the remaining portion of the
`trouser and can cause gathering and other unsightly fabric
`constructions.
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`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
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`It is therefor one object of the present invention to provide
`a garment Which overcomes the above mentioned problems
`and Which provides an invisible stretch capability. It is a
`further object of the present invention to provide a pant
`garment Which has the look or appearance of a standard
`cotton or singular fabric piece but Which actually contains
`some type of stretching ability.
`It is a further object of the present invention to provide a
`pant Which has a higher level of comfort for the Wearer but
`Which has the appearance of a standard jean or other garment
`material. Further, an object of the present invention is to
`expand use of such a construction to be applicable to any
`style in any Woven fabric.
`These and other objects are met by the present invention
`Which provides for a stretch fabrication of material strate
`gically placed Within the pant to provide expansion or
`stretching in those areas but Which provides the appearance
`of a single fabric construction. The major portion of the
`garment is comprised of standard non-stretch denim or
`similar material in addition to a stretch fabric Which is
`placed in particular areas in the Waistband and in the rear
`yoke area of the pant.
`In accordance With the present invention, there is pro
`vided a pant garment Which is primarily constructed of
`standard denim or other similar fabric. In order to provide
`the garment With the ability to stretch or ?ex in speci?c
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`areas, a stretchable material is provided Which is of the same
`color and construction type as the major portion of the
`garment. This stretchable material is distinctly placed Within
`the rear portion of the Waistband and the yoke area of the
`rear end. The pant construction of the present invention
`provides a stretch function in the rear portion Without any
`visible construction change.
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`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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`A better understanding of the present invention Will be
`had upon reference to the folloWing description in conjunc
`tion With the accompanying draWings in Which like numer
`als refer to like parts, and Wherein:
`FIG. 1 is a front vieW of the garment of the present
`invention;
`FIG. 2 is a rear vieW of the garment shoWn in FIG. 1;
`FIG. 3 is a partial top perspective vieW of the pant
`garment of the present invention shoWn in FIG. 1 Wherein
`the yoke and Waistband are shoWn; and,
`FIG. 4 is a rear vieW of a short pants garment, Wherein the
`construction of the present invention may also be applied.
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`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
`PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
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`With reference to FIG. 1, the front portion of the garment
`10 of the present invention is shoWn Wherein leg portions 17
`and 19 extend beloW a Waistband 12. The garment, for
`example a jean type of garment as is shoWn, may be
`constructed out of rigid non-stretch denim, indigo or colored
`material for the full front and most of the rear portion. The
`front of the garment, as shoWn in FIG. 1, is comprised of the
`front portion 14 of the Waistband 12, left and right leg
`portions 17 and 19, Zipper or button ?y portion 18 and
`pockets 26, 27 and 28. Also shoWn in FIG. 1 are belt loops
`13 and 15 formed on the front portion 14 of Waistband 12,
`a crotch seam 38 beneath said Zipper or button ?y portion 18,
`as Well as a button type closure 37 for closing said Waist
`band. HoWever, various type closures may be used to close
`the Waistband, such as hook and clasp, draW-string, or
`snap-type closures. The garment shoWn in the ?gures is a
`standard ?ve pocket jean but of course any variation of pant
`construction is Well Within the teaching herein and the
`particular construction shoWn in the ?gures is not meant to
`limit the scope of the present invention or claims.
`As is typical in construction of jeans, a stitch seam may
`extend along the length of the left and right leg 17 and 19,
`the seams indicated by 31 and 30. These seams alloW the
`garment to be pieced together from separate elements.
`The fabric of this portion of the jean construction may
`consist of 100% cotton, for example, or any ounce denim,
`indigo or color as Well as any ounce tWill, sateen Weaves,
`broken tWills, canvas and other fabrics may be utiliZed.
`Turning to FIG. 2, the rear portion of the garment 10 of
`the present invention is shoWn Wherein pockets 24 and 25
`are also visible as Well as the rear portion of legs 17 and 19
`and the seat portion 22 and 23 of each upper leg section.
`Also shoWn in FIG. 2 is the rear section 16 of Waistband 12
`Which has af?xed thereto additional belt loops 32, 33 and 34.
`Directly beloW the rear portion 16 of Waistband 12 is the
`yoke area 21 of the pant seat Which is slightly triangular in
`shape. The border area 35 and 36 betWeen the yoke 21 and
`seat portions 22 and 23 are stitch seams connecting the yoke
`to the remaining portion of the pant 10. Thus, the yoke may
`be comprised of different material than the remaining por
`tion of the pant.
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`US 6,311,333 B1
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`3
`The present invention incorporates, as is shoWn in FIG. 2
`and in FIG. 3, a separate material in the yoke 21 and the rear
`portion of the Waistband 16. Instead of utilizing the standard
`denim or other fabric set forth above, a stretchable material
`may be used in these particular areas. The Waistband 12 of
`the present invention may thus be a dual construction
`Waistband With the front portion 14 made of a different,
`standard non-stretch rigid material as opposed to the rear
`section 16. Further, directly beloW the rear section 16 of
`Waistband 12 is found the yoke 21 Which may also be
`constructed of a stretchable material. Further, this stretch
`able material found in the yoke 21 and rear section 16 of the
`Waistband may be constructed of stretch fabrication of the
`same color and appearance as the remaining portion of the
`garment. Thus, these sections, namely yoke 21 and rear
`section 16 of the Waistband may be made of a cotton and, for
`example, elastic or some other stretchable material such as
`LYCRA, spandex, or durastan. This combination may con
`sist of an 80% to 99% cotton, polyester, nylon, rayon
`(viscose), or TENCEL (lyocel) and a 20% to 1% LYCRA, or
`other stretchable material content, or a blend content of
`stretch and non-stretch materials. Possible examples of these
`blends include 85% Cotton / 10% Polyester / 5% Spandex or
`65% TENCEL / 32% Cotton /3% LYCRA. Preferably the
`garment has a content of 97% Cotton and 3% LYCRA.
`As shoWn in FIG. 2, multiple belt loops 32, 33, and 34
`may be provided on the rear section 16 of the Waistband 12.
`These loops 32, 33 and 34 may be constructed of the
`standard rigid non-stretch material and seWn directly onto
`the stretch material described herein.
`FIG. 4 shoWs that the invention, as applied to long pants,
`may also be applied to short pants, also knoWn as “shorts”.
`By providing a stretchable material Which is visually
`indistinguishable from the remaining portion of the garment
`and Which has the stretchable material placed in the rear
`Waistband and the yoke, the garment Will have an elasticity
`in the rear portion thereof Without any visible construction
`change. The use of a stretch material in this particular area
`gives the garment a comfort level higher than a regular jean
`or pant garment yet makes it appear to be a regularly
`constructed jean or pant garment.
`As mentioned above, the pant garment 10 of the present
`invention has multiple seam areas thus requiring separate
`areas of the pant to be stitched or seWn together. In utiliZing
`the stretchable material described above, it is preferable to
`separately cut the back yoke and rear section of the Waist
`band from the stretch material and subsequently assemble
`these pieces With the remainder of the garment. Thus, seam
`area 35 and 36 delineates the normal fabric line and the
`stretch fabric line. Further, the stretch material should pref
`erably be pre-rinsed before cutting the pieces from it. One
`skilled in the art Will appreciate that failure to pre-rinse the
`stretch material, prior to attaching it to rigid denim, Will
`cause the rigid denim to create undesirable puckers When
`Washed due to the different shrink rates betWeen the mate
`rials.
`To pre-rinse the stretch material, the stretch fabric is cut
`in 5 yard cuts Which helps prevent roping. Roping is a
`situation Where the material tWists in the Washer thus leaving
`streaks of unWashed material Which have not been exposed
`to Water. Generally, one-half of the capacity of a Washer is
`?lled With fabric. For example a 400-pound capacity Washer
`may be ?lled With only 200 pounds of fabric in addition to
`enough Water for a 400-pound load, thus helping to prevent
`roping. Also during the pre-rinse, Waxes and resins, Which
`are used to Weave the fabric, are removed in a process called
`desiZing.
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`Temperature and timing variables are also maintained
`during the pre-rinse of stretch fabric. During this process the
`temperature of the Water is preferably maintained at 160° F.
`and steam may be added to the Washer When the temperature
`falls beloW this value. In order to loosen the fabric and make
`tumbler rotation easier, lubricating enZyme may be added to
`the Washer, during ?lling, for 150 seconds and softener may
`be added for 230 seconds. The Wash consists of 4 minutes of
`forWard tumbler, 4 minutes of backWard tumbler, 2 minutes
`of forWard tumbler, 8 minutes of drain, and an approximate
`running time of nearly 26 minutes.
`After assembly of the stretch material into the pant 10
`With the un-Washed rigid material, the entire garment 10 Will
`be put through the regular Washing procedures as needed
`under a Wash column.
`The foregoing detailed description is given primarily for
`clearness of understanding and no unnecessary limitations
`are to be understood therefrom for modi?cations Will
`become obvious to those skilled in the art upon reading this
`disclosure and may be made Without departing from the
`spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.
`I claim:
`1. A pants garment comprising:
`a Waistband having a front portion and a rear portion;
`left and right leg portions depending from said Waistband;
`a seat portion above said left and right leg portions and
`beloW said rear portion of said Waistband;
`a yoke area positioned beloW said rear section of said
`Waistband and above said seat portion;
`Wherein said yoke is made of a stretchable material and
`Wherein only said rear portion of said Waistband is made
`of said stretchable material.
`2. The garment of claim 1 further comprising a seam
`betWeen said yoke and said seat portion.
`3. The garment of claim 1 Wherein said stretchable
`material is comprised of betWeen 80 to 99 percent of a ?rst
`material and betWeen 1 to 20 percent stretchable material.
`4. The garment of claim 3 Wherein said ?rst material may
`be a combination of materials.
`5. The garment of claim 4 Wherein said ?rst material may
`be selected from the group of cotton, polyester, nylon, rayon
`or spandex or a combination thereof.
`6. The garment of claim 4 Wherein said stretchable
`material may be spandex.
`7. A pants garment comprising:
`a Waistband having a front portion and a rear portion;
`left and right leg portions depending from said Waistband;
`a seat portion above said left and right leg portions and
`beloW said rear portion of said Waistband;
`a yoke area positioned beloW said rear section of said
`Waistband and above said seat portion;
`Wherein said yoke and said rear portion of said Waistband
`are made of a stretchable material.
`8. A pants garment comprising:
`a Waistband having a front portion and a rear stretchable
`portion;
`left and right leg portions depending from said Waistband;
`a seat portion above said left and right leg portions and
`beloW said rear portion of said Waistband;
`a stretchable yoke area positioned beloW said rear section
`of said Waistband and above said seat portion.
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`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION
`
`PATENT NO. : 6,311,333 B1
`DATED
`: November 6, 2001
`INVENTOR(S) : Batra
`
`Page 1 of 1
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`It is certified that error appears in the above-identi?ed patent and that said Letters Patent is
`hereby corrected as shown below:
`
`Column 4
`Line 32, change “wherein said yoke is made of a stretchable material” to
`-- wherein yoke and said Waistband are made of a stretchable material --;
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`Signed and Sealed this
`
`Eighteenth Day of November, 2003
`
`JAMES E. ROGAN
`Director ofthe United States Patent and Trademark O?‘ice
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