US2675551A - Resilient garment-supporting hoop and garment - Google Patents

Description

c. s. SER vAAs RESILIENT CARMEN-SUPPORTING HooP AND GARMENT pril 20, 1954 Filed NOV. 4. 1952 IN1/Ewan CorEn/n 5. Sep Wma,

Patented Apr. 20, 1954 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE RESILIENT GARMENT-SUPPORTING HOOP AND GARMENT Carena S. Ser Vaas, Indianapolis, Ind.

Application November 4, 1952, Serial No. 318,541

4 Claims. (Cl. 2-52) 1 2 This invention relates to an improved garthat such mid-portion is especially subjected to ment-supporting hoop and to the combination the body heat, and will be especially subjected to thereof with the supported garment. This apthe relaxing effect which occurs in the presence plication is a continuation-in-part of my prior of body heat. In addition, the initial length of copending application Serial No. 27,745, led May the loop is such that in its normal initial shape 18, 1948. its end portions overlap a substantial distance It has heretofore been proposed to support a along a flattened side of the oval hoop, so that garment, such as an apron, by inserting through a those ends are of reduced curvature or iiattened loop or casing in the garment at the waistline with respect to the rest of the hoop, and upon thereof a bent spring such as a iiat metal spring 10 initial wearing engage the wearer with progreswhich may be placed' about the waist of the sively decreasing pressure toward the ends of wearer and retains itself and the garment those portions, and so that such ends are subthereon by tightly embracing the waist of the jected to a progressively decreasing extent to wearer, tension under the iniiuence of the body heat.

It is an object of my invention to provide an l5 By plastic material I mean the generally aC- improved garment supporting hoop. It is an obcepted current meaning of that term, indicating ject of my invention to provide such a hoop which a rather broad class of synthetiathermosetting will initially fit the wearer comfortably without or thermoplastic, organic materials. The plastic cutting into the body at any point and which materials which I use have a number of advanwi11 automatically adjust itself to nt its wearer 20 tages for use as garment-supporting hoops. with a limited pressure or tension less than its Thel7 are light in Weight, highly'leslleht, preinitial pressure or tension, which will be readily sent a smooth surface having little or no abrasive insertable and removable from the garment with or wear effect on fabrics, are relatively unbreakno tendency to wear or poke through the maable, are substantially inert so that they neither terial of the garment, which may be removed or 25 rust nor corrode and produce no harmful reacleft in the garment for laundering as the user tion on the skin. They are not deformed by heat may desire and as the construction of the garin the absence of sustained deforming force and ment may require, and which will be readily adnot affected by water or by soaps or detergent, justable by the user to different sizes. so that garments containing the hoops may be In accordance with my invention, I make the f laundered by usual home laundry methods. hoop of a plastic material having predetermined They have a pleasing feel and warmth which characteristics, and in a particular shape. The especially distinguishes them from metal. In particular material used is a synthetic plastic addition, such plastic materials have certain material characterized by high resiliency or properties which are peculiarly and especially tendency to return to its normal shape after exadvantageous in a garment support. A desired treme deformation, and characterized by its high resilience and low tension is readily obability to relax under tension and moderate temtained in a strip of such material of relatively perature to take a new normal position, so that large cross section and body, i. e., the hoop can in use, in tension :about the Waist of the wearer, be made to be easily elastically deformable and and under the iniiuence of the body heat, it will 40 to have soft or loW-spring-.rate spring characterassume a shape and size to iit the wearer with a istics, which not only reduces any tendency for perfect lit while still embracing the wearers the hoop to cut into the skin but which permits waist with a limited pressure or tension suiiicient the cross section to be rounded and permits the t0 hold the garment snugly and properly in place. hoop to have bluntly rounded ends. The rela- Prior metal devices 0f this type have been hohl? 45 tively large cross section and blunt ends and 0l coiled 130 2, CllClllal Shape, Which S IlO Suited edges permits the ring t0 be inserted in a, hem to obtain my improved result. A circular spring or casing in which it fits with a tight lit, without tends to embrace the wearer w1t-h its tightest endanger of Cutting or poking through the material gagement at the sides of the waist, and to engage of the garment and which tends to hold the the wearer only llghtly or 'not at all at the front, 50 garment in place on the hoopand lts ends tend t0 Cut Into tn@ wearer at the Among the Class of plastic materials, I prefer back. In aCCOl'daDCe With my hVehtOh I form to use a cellulose acetate or cellulose acetate-buthe plastic hOOp t0 an initial Oval Shape S0 that tyrate plastic or plastic materials of correspondfirm engagement occurs at the front of the ing characteristics, and I prefer to use such ina- 4 lwearer and over the mid-portion of the hoop, so 55 terials in an H hardness grade.

The initial shape of a hoop embodying my invention is desirably oval or elliptical, with the ends of the strip of plastic material overlapping over the major portion of one of the flattened sides of the oval and extending symmetrically in opposite directions from the minor axis of the oval. I preferably use an oval in which the major axis is from about 15% to about 25% longer than the minor axis, and I overlap the ends over a length of about 25% of the circumierence of the normal shape or the hoop. The initial size of the hoop is such that on the intended wearer the hoop will be resiliently opened to bring the ends out of overlapping relation and desirably spaced an inch or two from each other.

To make such a hoop, I preferably user a strip of generally rectangular cross section having substantially greater Width than thickness, preferably with a width to thickness ratio oi about 3 to l, and of such size that it exerts a resilient pressure of about one pound between its ends when resiliently deformed to aV position, comparable to a normal rit position, in which its ends are no longer overlapping and are separated from each other, say by about 4 inches. Illustratively, for a medium size hoop, use a strip approximately 23 long, formed to an oval shape with its major axis about '7 1/2 and its minor axis about 5% and with its ends overlapping about 5 along a ilattened side, and with the material about 1/5 inch thick and 1/2" wide, so that wheny the ends are drawn apart a distance of 4" they exert a pressure toward each other oi about one pound. Other sizes are of corresponding shape and have a corresponding overlap, so that the pressure between the ends when drawn a apart remains at about one pound.

The accompanying drawing illustrates my invention. In such drawing,

Fig. l is a plan View of a hoop embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taxen on the line 2 2 o Fig. l; and

Fig. 3 is a partial View of the upper edge oi' an apron with my improved hoop in place in a hem or casing formed at such edge.

The hoop shown in the drawing is a hoop being sold commercially in large quantity. The hoop lil is made of a strip of cellulose acetate material desirably containing a minor proportion of white or other colored filler and a minor proportion of plasticizer, such material being obtained commercially under the trade-name Tenite I. Hoops may also be suitably made of cellulose acetate-butyrate plastic materials, such as that available commercially under the tradename Tenite Il. Other corresponding plastic materials may also be used. The plastic material is extruded in strip form having a rectangular cross section about .165 thick and about .500 wide, with slightly rounded corners. The strip is cut to length-about 24" for a "small size, about 28" for a medium size and about 33 for a large size. The lengths are so proportioned that the ends of a properly ntting hoop will have no overlap when worn and desirably will be spaced an inch or two from each other. The ends 23 and 25 of the strip are bluntly rounded, as by mechanical stock-removing methods. The strip is then heated, as to about 100 C., bent to shape around an oval form, with its end- portions 22 and 24 overlapping about 4 inches in a small hoop, or more, up to about 7 inches, in a large" hoop. The heated and bent hoop is then cooled, either artically or in the air, while held in the formed shape. Upon cooling it retains the formed shape, substantially without any spring-out from that formed shape. The initial formed shape is an oval as shown in Fig. l, with its major axis A 15% to 25% greater than its minor axis B and with its end portions 22 and 23 overlapping along one nattened side and over about 25% of the circumference oi the oval shape. Illustratively in the medium hoop the major axis is desirably about 'i1/2, the minor axis is about 61/2 and the overlap about 5".

The formed hoop will thus have a front portion 26 and side portions 23, with the iront portion of substantially less curvature than the side portions 2e. It will also have rear portions 22 and 2t or" substantially less curvature than the adjoining portions or" the hoop and which are relatively more attened than other portions oi the hoop.

When the hoop is placed about the waist of the wearer, it is resiliently sprung open to separate the ends 23 and 2b to permit those ends to pass around the waist, and the hoop is then allowed to move back toward its normal shape to resilientlf,7 embrace the waist. r)She ends E3 and 25, however, normally do not return to overlapping position, but are spaced apart by a distance of an inch or so. Initially, the hoop will desirably embrace the waist with a tighter pressure than is desired. With the hoop under tension, however, and influenced by body heat, the plastic material relaxes toward a new normal position, so that the pressure on the waist of the wearer is reduced to a relatively light tension. Upon removal of the hoop from the waist it resiliently recovers from its waist-embracing position, but moves to the new normal position and shape, somewhat larger than the initial size, and of a shape which will vary with the wearer. By reason of this relaxing under conditions of use, the hoop soon attains a condition in which, in subsequent use, it embraces the wearer with a limited pressure, dependent upon the character of the material, and substantially independent of the initial shape to which it was formed. This result is obtained to give good fit, however, ir the initial shape is oval as indicated, and smaller than ultimately desired.

To support a garment such as the apron 30 on the hoop, as indicated in Fig. 3, a hem or casing 32 is formed along or adjacent the upper edge of the apron 39, as with a standard hemming device on a sewing machine, with the hem of a size to iit tightly on the hoop, especially when the ap-ron material is pushed together along the hoop in a gathering. The hoop is then inserted by pushing one of its ends through the casing 32. Despite the relatively tight nt, the plastic with its large cross section and rounded ends and its relative stillness is easily inserted, without danger of cutting or poking through the material of which the casing 32 is made. Once the apron has been brought to the desired position on the hoop, with such gathering as may be desired, its tight fit on the hoop exerts a strong tendency to hold it in place, and no special provisions need be made to prevent it from slipping along the hoop or on the ends of the hoop.

If the user desires to change the shape or size of the hoop, the hoop is simply heated, as in hot Water, the heated hoop is then formed to the desired shape, and held in the desired new shape while it is cooled, and it may be artificially cooled to hasten the re-forming operation.

I claim as my invention:

1. A garment supporter adapted to resiliently embrace the waist of the wearer and to retain a garment thereon, comprising a strip of plastic material having blunt ends and being of uniform generally rectangular rounded cross section having a width to thickness relation of about three to one, said supporter being shaped to a normal closed oval shape having a major axis about to about 25% longer than its minor axis, and with the end portions of the strip parallel and overlapping along a flattened side of the oval shape for a distance of about 25% of the circumference of the oval, and with the oval of a size to fit the intended wearer when the hoop is resiliently opened to a position in which the ends are spaced from each other, whereby said supporter may be sprung around the waist of the wearer to resiliently embrace the waist and when so placed the initially overlapped end portions thereof will engage the waist of the wearer with progressively lighter tension toward the ends thereof and the side and front portions of the hoop will lie in rm heat-conducting relationship with the waist of the wearer, said strip material being characterized by the property of relaxing to a new normal shape under the tension imposed by said tight t about the waist and under the influence of body heat.

2. A garment supporter adapted to resiliently embrace the waist of the wearer and to retain a garment thereon, comprising a strip of cellulose acetate material having blunt ends and being of uniform generally rectangular rounded cross section having a width to thickness relation of about three to one, said supporter being bent and set to a normal closed oval shape having a major axis about 15% to about 25% longer than its minor axis, and with the end portions of the strip parallel and overlapping along a flattened side of the oval shape for a distance of about 25% of the circumference of the oval, and with the oval of a size to it the waist of the wearer when the hoop is resiliently opened to a position in which the ends are spaced from each other, whereby said supporter may be sprung around the waist of the wearer to resiliently embrace the waist and when so placed the initially overlapped end portions thereof will engage the waist of the wearer with progressively lighter tension toward the ends thereof and the side and front portions of the hoop will lie in rm heat-conducting relationship with the waist of the wearer, said strip material being characterized by the property of relaxing to a new normal shape under the tension imposed by said tight t about the waist and under the influence of body heat.

3. In combination, a garment having a hem adjacent one edge, a garment supporter adapted to resiliently embrace the waist of the wearer and to retain the garment thereon, said supporter comprising a strip of plastic material having blunt ends and being of uniform generally rectangular rounded cross section having a width to thickness relation of about three to one, said supported being shaped to a normal closed oval shape having a major axis about 15% to about 25% longer than its minor axis, and with the end portions of the strip parallel and overlapping along a flattened side of the oval shape for a distance of about 25% of the circumference of the oval, and with the oval of a size to t the waist of the wearer when the hoop is resiliently opened to a position in which the ends are spaced from each other, whereby said supporter may be sprung around the waist of the wearer to resiliently embrace the waist and when so placed the initially overlapped end portions thereof will engage the waist of the wearer with progressively lighter tension toward the ends thereof and the side and front portions of the hoop will lie in firm heatconducting relationship with the waist of the wearer, said strip material being characterized by the property of relaxing to a new normal shape under the tension imposed by said tight t about the waist of the wearer and under the influence of body heat, said supporter being tightly received in the hem of the garment so that in normal use it stays in place therein but can be removed therefrom by exerting sufficient pressure.

4. A garment supporter adapted to resiliently embrace the waist of the wearer and to retain a garment thereon, comprising a strip of plastic material having blunt ends and being of uniform generally rectangular rounded cross section having a width to thickness relation of about three to one, said supporter being shaped to a normal closed oval shape having a major axis longer than its minor axis, and with the end portions of the strip parallel and overlapping along a attened side of the oval shape, and with the oval of a size to t the waist of the wearer tightly and in rm heat-conducting relationship therewith when the supporter is resiliently opened, said strip material being characterized by the property of relaxing to a new normal shape under the tension imposed by said tight fit about the waist of the wearer and under the influence of body heat.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 89,879 Mayenberg May l1, 1869 770,000 Fox Sept. 13, 1904 2,430,941 Long Nov. 18, 1947 2,495,436 Westcott et al Jan. 24, 1950 2,532,161 Gomberg Nov. 28, 1950 2,569,885 Drewry Oct. 2, 1951

Images