US2764762A - Belts - Google Patents

Description

Filed June 14, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. AMADEO GRISAN'II Oct. 2, 1956 ms 'n 2,764,762

BELTS Filed June 14, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. AMADEO GRISANTI United StatesPatent O BELTS Amadeo Grisanti, Mount Vernon, N. Y.

Application June 14, 1954, Serial No. 436,554

1 Claim. (Cl. 2322) This invention relates to a belt used for the support of trousers, skirts, or any appropriate type of garment used by men, women and children.

Belts of the type referred to are generally made of a material such as leather, and are rarely made of cloth, in view of the fact that cloth heretofore has not provided the foundation and body that the average belt used for garment support purposes requires.

It is proposed, in accordance with the present inven- 2 tion, to provide a cloth belt which, by reason of its novel construction, will include a very strong foundation that will make feasible the formation of a belt entirely from fabric components.

Another object of importance is to provide a belt of the expansion type, having means that will automatically increase the length of the belt while it is being worn, so as to permit the belt to automatically adjust itself to the wearers girth, thereby to add materially to the comfort of the wearer.

A further object is to so design the expansion means as to cause the same to be hidden at all times.

Another object of considerable importance is to provide a slight longitudinal curvature in each end portion of the belt. such that a belt formed straight from end to end thereof does not fit about the wearers waist properly, the overlapping end portions of the belt tending to drop. downwardly out of longitudinally aligned relationship. The present invention counteracts this tendency, and as a result, the overlapping ends extend horizontally in parallelism with the floor, in longitudinally aligned re-' lation.

Still another object is to provide a loop construction for a garment support belt that will be possessed of unusual strength despite its being formed entirely of fabric material.

A further object is to provide, on a belt, a tongue formation that will be of novel design, lending itself particularly well to ease and speed of manufacture while at the same time providing a very strong tongue or point that will not fray or become worn despite heavy use over a long period of time.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawings,

and to the appended claims in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a belt formed in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view on line 22 of Fig. 1, showing the loop construction and expansion means, the dotted lines showing one position The particular construction of trousers is' 2,764,762 Fatented Oct. 2, 1956 Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 showing the lining to be connected to the body portion of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is an end elevation of the tongue during an intermediate stage of manufacture.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of the completed tongue.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view, portions being broken away, of a modified form.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged, fragmentary, longitudinal sectional view on line 1010 of Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a transverse sectional view on line 11-11 of Fig. 10.

Fig. 12 is a transverse sectional view on line 12-12 of Fig. 10. v

of fabric material.

The reference numeral 10 has been applied generally The piece 12 is reinforced, for substantially its full I The member length, by a fabric stiffener member 16. 16, in a preferred embodiment, is of heavy linen canvas, although it could be of cotton canvas-if desired.

As a first step in manufacturing the belt, the stifiener is put through a folding device, not shown, that folds the edge portions of the same inwardly as at 18 and reduces the transverse dimension of the canvas to the exact width of the belt desired. The folds meet along the longitudinal center line of the belt, as best shown in Figs. 3 and 4. On 'one end of the canvas the desired point is formed, to provide the tongue of the belt. It will be understood that the canvas stiffener would be formed to a length of waist measure plus a few inches, five inches in addition to'the-waist measure being preferred in a commercial embodiment.

Face piece 12 is cut to alength of waist measure plus six inches, and has at one end a point 20, the edges of which are spaced outwardly from the edges of the point 22 of the stiffener. The stiffener is placed on top of the wrong side of the face piece with the folds 18 thereof encased within the folds'14 of the face piece. Then, the two pieces are stitched together by two rows of stitching 24, extending longitudinally of the belt and spaced inwardly from the longitudinal edges of the belt a dis tance of perhaps three-eighths of an inch. Then, at that end of the belt remote from the tongue, the portion of the face piece that projects beyond the adjacent end of the stiffener is folded under as at 25 (Fig. 2 and stitched in its folded condition. v a A lining 26 of cloth material is formed as a flat, un-

folded member throughout its length, the length of the lining being perhaps one-half inch more than the original length of the stiffener. The lining is provided, at one end, with a short length of canvass 28 (Fig. 6), said length being positioned against the inner surface of the lining and being adapted to afford a backing for a series of female snap fastener elements 3t as well as an added reinforcement of the belt at its tongue end. The length of reinforcing material 23 is stitched to the lining lengthwise thereof as at 32.

Referring to Figs. 5, 6 and 7, the lining, after being assembled with the reinforcing member 23, is laid against the pointed portion of the body, the member 28 being face down and the folds 14, 18 being face up as shown in Fig. 7. Stitching is then extended about the pointed end, after which the seam is trimmed. The point is then turned inside out, and will have the finished appearance shown in Fig. 8.

The lining is now stitched to the pieces 12, 16 through substantially the full length of the belt, the stitching being designated 34 and extending close to the respective longitudinal edges of the belt.

This stitching is stopped about two inches from the other end of the belt, for insertion of a loop 36.

Loop 36 is formed, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, of an outer piece of cloth material 38, the edges of which are folded under as at 40. A loop lining 42 is stitched as at 44 to the piece 38, at the location of the folds.

One end of the loop is placed between lining 26 and the 'body portion of the belt, after which the stitching 34 is continued along one side of the belt to secure said end of the loop in place, said stitching 34 terminating at the folded under portion 25 of the belt.

An elastic expansion piece 46 is now inserted through the open side of the belt and at its inner end is stitched to the belt body and lining by lines of stitching 48 (Fig. 2). The other end of the loop is now inserted between said expansion piece and lining 26, and is tacked to the lining and belt body by hand.

The elastic piece 46 has its outer end projecting beyond the end fold 25 of the lining, as shown in Fig. 2, and said outer end is provided with a folded cloth covering 50 stitched to the expansion piece as at 52. A male snap fastener element 54 is secured to the expansion piece and to the folded covering and mates with any of the female elements 30.

It is important to note that when the belt is worn no part of the elastic material is visible, whether said material is contracted to its full extent or is expanded longitudinally as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. This is so because in all positions of the expansion piece, the other or tongue end, of the belt laps the same and conceals it from view.

A very important characteristic of the belt is illustrated in Fig. 1. As will be noted, the end portions of the belt are curved upwardly to a slight but distinctly noticeable extent, as shown at 58. These are the portions of the belt that would be extended across the front of the wearers body when the belt is worn. A straight cut belt around the waist of a mans trousers cannot fit properly. The reason for this is that the back of the trousers are cut one-and-a-half to two inches higher than the front, and though the loops in the back are set lower from the top edge of the garment than the front loops, this of course is not enough to balance the belt around the Waist so that all parts of the belt are parallel to the floor. It is for this reason that when the two ends of a belt lap in front of the trousers, one on top of the other, they will not lie straight across in longitudinal alignment. In order to eliminate this defect in a conventional belt, the present invention has longitudinally curved ends, the curve being formed by hand, with the worker shaping the belt with a hand iron. The shaping of the belt is done on a board shaped to the exact dimensions of the curve required on the ends of the belt, to insure that the ends will align longitudinally When lapped. The curvature is ironed in by hand, before the lining is sewed on the belt, to retain its form.

It will be understood that though separable fasteners are illustrated, the belt can also be made with a harness buckle and eyelet, or with any other type of buckle.

In Figs. 9-13, the belt has curved ends as in the first form, and includes a sliding buckle intermediate its ends, which facilitates folding of the belt upon itself into a flat condition, when the belt is not in use. In this form, the belt 10* is identical to the first form, except for being sectionally formed. Thus, each of the two sections of the belt includes a face piece 12 having inturned flanges 14 a stiffener piece 16 having inturned flanges i8, longitudinal inner rows of stitches 24 connecting the face and stiffener pieces and a lining 26 connected by longitudinal outer rows of stitches 34 to the face piece.

Each of the two sections is approximately half the overall belt length, said sections having their inner ends spaced closely apart medially between the ends of the belt. At said ends, the sections are folded upon themselves to form loops 6d, the terminal portions of the face pieces of the sections being folded under the lining as at 62. The canvas stiffener pieces 16* of the sections, it is important to note, terminate short of the loops, so as to reduce the overall thickness of each loop While adding to its flexibility.

Extending transversely of each belt section to complete formation of the loops are rows of stitching 64, the stitches of the rows passing through the terminal portions of the linings and face pieces.

Before the loops are stitched at 64, a sliding buckle 65 is engaged therein. The buckle is of the type having a pair of slots receiving the inner end portions of the respective belt sections. These slots define a middle bar 66 extending transversely of the belt in the space between the inner ends of the belt sections, and side bars 68 extending within the respective loops. The middle and side bars are connected integrally at their ends by end member 70.

In some forms of the belt, it may be desirable to make one or both of the loops adjustable in size, to increase or decrease the overall length of the belt without affecting its appearance at the front while it is in use, and without further affecting its expansibility. In this Way, it is proposed to permit one size of the belt to be manufactured, or at the most, no more than a few sizes, thereby reducing to a substantial extent the overall cost of manufacture, while still not reducing in any way the attractive and utilitarian features of the belt.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise construction herein disclosed and the right is reserved to all changes and modifications coming within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent An apparel belt comprising an elongated tubular body of inelastic fabric material, a stiffener strip in said body extending substantially the length thereof, a loop encircling said body adjacent one end thereof, said loop being stitched to one side of the body and spaced from the opposite side thereof to receive the opposite end of the body, an elastic strip insert in the loop-mounting end of the body, said elastic strip extending along the body to a point inwardly of the loop and extending outwardly of the adjacent end of the body, a fabric cover over the outwardly extending end of the elastic strip, spaced fastener elements on the end of the body opposite the looped end, and a mating fastener element secured to the fabric cover and the elastic strip outwardly of the adjacent end of the body for selective engagement with one of the spaced fastener elements, the ends of the tubular body being shaped along their longitudinal edges to rest parallel with each other when the end-s are in overlapping engagement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 6 Smith Aug. 26, 1913 Smith Apr. 6, 1915 Soar Mar. 15, 1921 Fisher Apr. 21, 1931 Dufiy Oct. 4, 1932 Prindle July 19, 1938 Luftig June 8, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Germany Oct. 13, 1931

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