US3133543A - Reinforced fabric girdle and method of producing the same - Google Patents

Description

May 19, 1964 E. BRADD 3,133,

REINFORCED FABRIC GIRDLE AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME Filed Sept. 13, 1961 INVENTOR. [RNEST BRADD FITTOR/VEY United States Patent Ofiice A 3,133,543 Patented May 19, 1964 3,133,543 REINFORCED FABRIC GIRDLE AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME Ernest Bradd, Shawanese, Pa., assignor to William Gluckin & Company, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Sept. 13, 1961, Ser. No. 137,761 3 Claims. (Cl. 128-580) This invention relates to fabric girdles of the all-way stretch-type. More particularly, the invention deals with the provision of reinforcements on predetermined areas of the girdle in providing better support of the girdle upon the body of the wearer and in maintaining position of the girdle on the body of the wearer in the use thereof.

Still more particularly, the invention deals in a novel method of applying reinforcements to the fabric girdle in a manner to simplify and economize on the production of girdles of this type and kind, particularly in eliminating cutting and stitching operations.

The novel features of the invention will be best understood from the following description, when taken together with the accompanying drawing, in which certain embodiments of the invention are disclosed and, in which, the separate parts are designated by suitable reference characters in each of the views and, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of the upper portion only of oneside of a girdle made according to my invention, the girdle being illustrated in its flat extended nonuse position, with part of the construction broken away and in section. 1

FIG. 2 is an enlarged diagrammatic section on the line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a bracketed schematic view diagrammatically illustrating the several stations in the method of producing reinforced girdles in accordance with my invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic sectional view taken through the girdle of FIG. 1 substantially on the line 4-4 and illustrating associated therewith the die or pattern parts preparatory to depositing reinforcements on the girdle, the reinforcements of FIG. 1 being omitted in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 5 is a plan view on a reduced scale of the die or pattern part shown in FIG. 4 detached, with part of the construction broken away.

In illustrating one adaptation and use of my invention, I have shown in FIG. 1 at 10 the upper portion of a knitted fabric garment of all-way stretch material and, in the present illustration, the garment is illustrated in its insideout position and is viewed at one side of the garment. It will be understood that the opposed side of the girdle, not shown, will be of similar construction.

The girdle 10 includes a waistband portion 11 which, in the inverted position of the garment, is on the inner surface thereof, but, normally, would be arranged on the outer surface of the garment when in use. The inner surface of the garment is identified by the reference character 12; whereas, the outer surface is identified by the reference character 13, note FIG. 2 of the drawing, wherein part of the fabric garment is diagrammatically illustrated in section.

For purposes of description, the side 14 of the garment, as viewed in FIG. 1, can be regarded as the front side and the side 15 can be regarded as the rear side. Deposited or attached to each of these sides, preferably beyond the center 16 of the side, are strip-like reinforcements 17 which extend from the waistband 11 to a point well below the waistband portion, as indicated by the contracted lower ends 18 of the reinforcements.

The reinforcements 17 are in the form of deposited latex, as diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 2 of the drawing, and the outer exposed surfaces of the latex reinfor cements are coated with a flock coating, as diagrammatically illustrated at 19 in FIG. 2 and represented by the stippling in FIG. 1 of the drawing. It will, thus, be apparent that the flock facing on the reinforcements will present a soft and insulated contact upon the body of the wearer, bearing in mind that, in use, the reinforcements are preferably disposed upon the inner surface of the garment. In some instances, however, the reinforcements can be applied to the outer surface of the garment.

In applying or depositing the reinforcements to the garment in accordance with the method later described, the viscosity of the latex is controlled so as to minimize penetration of the latex into the fabric, so that the latex will extend into the interstices of the braid to an extent to securely anchor and fix the reinforcements to the fabic and, yet, prevent penetration of the latex to the outer surface 13 of the fabric. These slight penetrations are diagrammatically illustrated at 20 in FIG. 2 of the drawmg.

The reinforcements, in themselves, are extensible with the extension of the all-way stretch fabric but serve to reinforce the fabric at the areas coated or covered by the reinforcements. It will, thus, be apparent that, in actual use of the girdle upon the body of the wearer, the lower portions of the reinforcements will spread further apart than the upper waistband portions thereof due to adapting the girdle to the contour of the body and, further, due to the added reinforcement of the girdle at the waistband portion 11 thereof.

Considering now FIG. 4 ofthe drawing, in carrying my invention into effect, the blank tubular body, from which the girdle is ultimately produced, in other words before the formation of the waistband portion 11, has a form 21, such as a metal plate, inserted in the tubular body portion to support the same in a fiat or smooth extended position without any appreciable tension on the body portion. The plate 21 constitutes one part of the die structure. The other part comprises a die or pattern plate 22 arranged upon one surface of the body blank, as illustrated in FIG. 4 of the drawing. A plan view of the die or pattern plate 22 or one end portion thereof is illustrated in FIG. "5 and this plate has four elongated mold apertures 23 therein of a contour controlling the length and shape of the reinforcements 17 to be deposited and fixed to the girdle blank. 7

Now turning to FIG. 3 of the drawing, in this figure I have schematically and diagrammatically illustrated at least portions of four stations, namely the forming or depositing station 24, the first drying station 25, the flock applying station 26 and the final drying station 27. In FIG. 3 of the drawing, the dot-dash lines 28 represent a belt or other conveyor for conveying the workpiece in the assemblage, as shown in section in FIG. 4 of the drawing, to and through the respective stations.

First, dealing with the depositing or forming station 24, here the workpiece, namely the assemblage as shown in FIG. 4 of the drawing and identified by the reference character 29, is passed beneath a latex depositing medium 30 passing over the surface of the die or pattern plate 22 to deposit latex in the apertures 23, the thickness of the plate 22 controlling the thickness of the lay of the latex on the workpiece. This operation is performed in the feed of the workpiece by the belt 28. In the schematic or diagrammatic showing of FIG. 3, in order to simplify this showing, the plate 21 and the die or pattern 22 are omitted and all that is illustrated is the girdle body 10, which is identified by the solid line 10' in FIG. 3, and the deposit of the latex is indicated at 17.

From the station 24, the belt feeds the workpiece to the second station 25 employing a suitable heating medium 31 for a short period of time, the mold or pattern 22 having been removed from the surface of the work piece. This station partially sets the latex to form a skin surface thereon, facilitating the application of the flock.

The belt then feeds the girdle blank with the partially set latex thereon through the third station 26, at which station the flocking is applied by known electrostatic means, partially illustrated by the showing at 32 at said station, after which, the belt 28 then passes the girdle blank beneath a longer heating station represented by the heaters 33 at the station 27 for final setting of the latex and fixing of the flock to the reinforcing latex strips or members 17. After passing through the station 27, suitable means is employed to retrieve excess flocking material; whereupon, the girdle blank is now ready for finishing operations such, for example, as the formation of the waistband portion 11, which operation will be performed after the girdle blank has been reversed to bring the side 13 thereof outermost and the side 12 innermost, so as to dispose the reinforcing members 17 upon the inner surface of the resulting garment. Prior to these last mentioned operations, it will be understood that the plate 21 has been removed from the girdle blank.

It will be understood from the foregoing that a successive series of girdle blanks can be simultaneously passed through the successive stations, diagrammatically shown in FIG. 3, and while a single die or pattern plate 22 could be used on the successive blanks, in some instances, two or more of these will be used and a number of the plates 21 employed which are inserted in the blanks prior to passage into the station 24.

In the above described operation of the girdle as shown in FIG. 1, reference is made only to application of the reinforcing members 17 to one side of the girdle. In producing the ultimate end product, each girdle blank will have two passes through the machine.

In different adaptations of my invention, it will be apparent that the deposits of latex on a garment can be of any contour and location on the garment, particularly wherein it is desirable to reinforce and strengthen predetermined areas of the garment in providing a desirable and beneficial support when the garment is used upon the body of the wearer.

It will be understood that the flocking does not interfere with the extensibility of the latex deposit and, in some cases, a stretchable fabric can be adhered to the latex instead of the flocking.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A method of reinforcing a predetermined area of one surface of a knitted tubular all-way stretch fabric girdle garment of the character described, which consists in arranging within the tubular garment a plate supporting the fabric of the garment in a smooth flat condition, positioning an apertured pattern on an exposed smooth flat surface of the garment, then fillirn the aperture of the pattern with latex to deposit on said smooth surface of the garment a latex reinforcement of predetermined area and thickness defined by the contour of the aperture in said pattern and the thickness of said pattern, then heating the latex deposit in setting and securely fixing the reinforcement on the garment, and so applying and heat setting the reinforcement as to dispose the reinforcement solely on and conforming the same with the contour of the surface of the garment to which the reinforcement is applied while 4 maintaining stretch in the reinforced area of the garment.

2. A method of reinforcing a predetermined area of one surface of a knitted tubular all-way stretch fabric girdle garment of the character described, which consists in arranging within the tubular garment a plate supporting the fabric of the garment in a smooth flat condition, positioning an apertured pattern on an exposed smooth fiat surface of the garment, then filling the aperture of the pattern with latex to deposit on said smooth surface of the garment a latex reinforcement of predetermined area and thickness defined by the contour of the aperture in said pattern and the thickness of said pattern, then partially heating the latex deposit, then applying flock to the exposed surface of the partially heated latex, then further heating the latex deposit in setting and securely fixing the reinforcement on the garment, and so applying and heat setting the reinforcement as to dispose the reinforcement solely on and conforming the same with the contour of the surface of the garment to which the reinforcement is applied while maintaining stretch in the reinforced area of the garment.

3. A method of reinforcing a predetermined area of one surface of a knitted tubular all-way stretch fabric girdle garment of the character described, which consists in first reversing a garment blank to expose the normal inner surface thereof, arranging means in the reversed garment to support the fabric of the garment blank in a smooth fiat unstretched state, then arranging an apertured pattern of predetermined thickness on one exposed smooth flat surface of the garment blank, then passing the assemblage through a series of stations to first apply a deposit of latex on the surface of the garment blank exposed to the apertured portion of said pattern to form a reinforcement of a contour defined by the aperture of the pattern and a thickness controlled by the pattern thickness, then removing the pattern and passing the reinforcement of the blank through a heating station to partially set the reinforcement, then passing the reinforcement through a flocking station for applying flock to the exposed surface of the partially heated reinforcement, then further heating the reinforcement in final setting thereof and adhesion to the garment, controlling the viscosity of the latex applied to the blank so as to conform the latex reinforcement to the contour of the surface only of the fabric of the blank to which the reinforcement is applied and in a manner to maintain stretch in that area of the fabric to which the reinforcement is adhered, then reversing the reinforced blank, and finally performing finishing operations on the blank in producing the resulting finished garment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,861,003 Foster May 31, 1932 2,077,514 Callahan Apr. 20, 1937 2,106,132 Feinbloom Jan. 18, 1938 2,120,817 Simon June 14, 1938 2,196,492 Clark et al. Apr. 9, 1940 2,334,529 Amyot Nov. 16, 1943 2,507,726 LHollier et al May 16, 1950 2,648,619 Alderfer Aug. 11, 1953 2,739,918 Illingworth Mar. 27, 1956 2,773,703 Reynolds Dec. 18, 1956 2,896,304 Peroni July 28, 1959 3,012,557 Grishman Dec. 12, 1961

Claims (1)

1. A METHOD OF REINFORCING A PREDETERMINED AREA OF ONE SURFACE OF A KNITTED TUBULAR ALL-WAY STRETCH FABRIC GIRDLE GARMENT OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED, WHICH CONSISTS IN ARRANGING WITHIN THE TUBULAR GARMENT A PLATE SUPPORTING THE FABRIC OF THE GARMENT IN A SMOOTH FLAT CONDITION, POSITIONING AN APERTURED PATTERN ON AN EXPOSED SMOOTH FLAT SURFACE OF THE GARMENT, THEN FILLING THE APERTURE OF THE PATTERN WITH LATEX TO DEPOSIT ON SAID SMOOTH SURFACE OF THE GARMENT A LATEX REINFORCEMENT OF PREDETERMINED AREA AND THICKNESS DEFINED BY THE CONTOUR OF THE APERTURE IN SAID PATTERN AND THE THICKNESS OF SAID PATTERN, THEN HEATING THE LATEX DEPOSIT IN SETTING AND SECURELY FIXING THE REINFORCEMENT ON THE GARMENT, AND SO APPLYING AND HEAT SETTING THE

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