US2519202A - Bifurcated garment - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 15, 1950 E. SLATER BIFURCATED GARMENT Filed Sept. 27, 1947' IN V EN TOR. 5L ATE: R BY W :AITJ/Z VEY Patented Aug. 15, 1950 through theereten an-a then ir eve' the-front or the garment to and includinga-pci high sp t the n uter "waist. suchnigh p inrat the bab'k ot the waist is preferably *as hiieh as the lower limit of the belt portion'r'of'the gamennand such point at the front of thewaist'is-aiso preferablyas highas the lower limit of the belt portion of the garment; but -sa-idbeltportion is uninterruptedlycontinuous across both said points.

The means for opening and closing the gar merit along said line is preferably a single slide fastener which is not visible to the naked eye and which contains a flap madeofthesame material attached directly underneath said zipper'on one side so thatimdergarments willnot catch her 'pre vent it'i-rom closing; and accordingly, in'illustration but not in "limitation of the invention, such" means is herein shownand will below bereferred to asan invisible slide A feature :of' theinventicmanil one'abovepassingly alluded to, is thatthe beltpor tion'ofthe'garment is permanently "uninterrufitedly continuous around the waistof the wearer at the front and back regio'nsjof the waist. This 'featureis resent even when, for girthw'ise expansion of the (garment at the waist portion thereof, to facilitate donning of thegarment when such waistportion is inelastic, witlisideor front openings as provided for in existing styles.

The important concept of this invention is to provide a garment having the "seat-fullness characteristic of trousers, slacks and all bifurcated garments in the class hereinabove first mentioned, which is readily and expeditiously openable and closable all along the line aforesaid,and yet which atth'e "lower "part of the seat portion of the "gar- Inent is of uninterrupted continuity girthwis'ely of theigar'm'ent' whenelosed all along said line.

" Thereby, a more easily washable garmentisprcvided, and one which may not be accidentally severed into two parts during washing, particularly in a power driven washing machine, and also one such that its parts may not become entangled or otherwise so disposed as to make the task of placing the garment properly on the body 55 or children of the "wearer other than a Quick easy operation The purpose of lihe invention, in providing a garment openabie ever the entirety er the icing line above describedfis to allow the garment to remain securely on the body of the wearer yet to be temporarily op'enable a manner te permite sail-l ef nature to be properly and safely responletl to. the garment "is worn by a male, and the need is "for urination, thesame opening is used, but in this case, the garment need be opened only along said ii-ne at the frontal portion of the garment. With a slide fastener serving the entiretynf lengthoi said opening,

theslider oif said fastenerpwlricrl withsaid opening fiiil'y closed, woril'd desirably beat the end of the opening, at the end thereof high n-p at the front of the garment 'need be moved/for the purpose last men tioned, =o1ily *overa "fraction of its "max'i mu'rn pessible extent of travel.

Also by virtue of the fullness at the seatoi Ya garment o l thekmd towhichthe invention is'applied, easy" handling of "a lower imdergarment, as pull down pan-ties "or Fbioomers such as worn by women or children, ismad epossiblejwithont"disturbance in anywayof the 'f ullattachmen't of the garment-to the waist'o'fthe wearer.

, Among some or the further advantages of the new garment which may "be here mentioned, are

that trousers, siacks andthe like need net belowered, that rnen woiil-d not have to remove their jackets, belts for suspenders in brder to heed the call "of nature; that consequently the "cuffed or other {bottoms "of the leg 'portions'wodld not drape in folds against the hour of the comfort "station, as 'one at a beach and 'nsualty having'a wet floor, that, therefore, the bottom's of the le'g'jp'ortion's would not become dirtied orstained or absorb moisture for wrinkling and loss of one or two piece bathing'suits would not have to beremovedwhether they be'wetnr dry, causing great discomfort to the bather; thatin an emergency when a comfort station is not available, as in the countmfrelier may be had for women atjanysecluded spot, and andwithoutthe possibility of embarrassment because the garment hashad-to be bodily lowered; anditha't alnecessity' for high-speed dressing, as

on aisudden alarm to soldiers, sailbra'jpol'icemen,

crease; thaft' 3 ence will be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, and to the appended claim 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 a perspective view looking toward the front of a pair of Womens slacks pursuant to the invention,

Fig. 2 is a similar view, looking toward the rear.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing a modification.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2, further showing said modification. V

Referring to the drawing in detail, and first to Figs. 1 and 2, the pair of slacks shown is of the conventional type, having a pair of leg portions HI with cuffs II, and a waist-belt portion l2.

The long opening aforesaid has one end at a' point M at the rear of the garment and as high as the lower limit of the belt portion l2, and, thence continues uninterruptedly down along the back of the garment and through the crotch and up along the front of the garment to a point l5 also as high as the lower limit of the belt portion Such opening, which will be called the opening 15, is openable and closable by a single slide fastener Hi, the slider I! of which is at the point l5 when said opening 14-45 is fully closed as illustrated.

The full seat portion of the garment is indicated at I8. H

For easy donning of the garment to result in good fit, when the belt portion I2 is inelastic throughout its length, the embodiment now being described is illustrated as having the belt portion l2 in separable parts as a result of providing two side openings l9, to be closed in any desired way, as by means of buttons 20 and cooperant buttonholes.

The openings l9 have their bottoms, as in conventional in ordinary slacks, located at such a level, in the vicinity of the maximum side swell of the hips, that withthe slide fastener 18 fully closed as shown, the garment is girthwisely uninterruptedly continuous over the zone lying between the bottoms of the openings 19 and the joinder efiected at the upper inner ends of the leg portions H by the closed side fastener, that r is, over a zone including the seat fullness l8.

Thus, despite the provision of the side openings IS, the one part of the garment incorporating oneof the leg portions is not accidentally severable from the other part of the garment incorporating the other leg portion "1 because these parts of the garment are connected together at the top ends of the opening I l-45 by the uninterrupted formation of the belt portion l2 at those top ends of the opening I4-l5.

Furthermore, since the long crotch-traversing opening l4--l5 is opened only for the special purposesexplained, and then of course always after the garment has been donned, during such donning of the garment the operation is the same as in'the case of an ordinary pair of trousers or slacks, V

On the other hand, whenever said opening I l-l5 is opened, the belt portion I2 is in effect an ,uninterruptedly continuous one all around 4 the waist of the wearer. Washing, with the slide fastener 16 closing the opening l4l5, is as easy and safe as in the case of an ordinary pair of slacks.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, here, there is shown the same pair of slacks as in Figs. 1 and 2, except that the side openings [9 are both omitted; the belt portion 2| is illustrated as having interposed therein, as at one point along its length, an elastic insert 22 stretchable along the length of the belt portion; and the fastening means for the long crotch-traversing opening is modified.

Said long opening, corresponding to the opening hi -l5, extends all the way down to, through and upward beyond the crotch, from a point I4, to a point 24, corresponding to the point l5. Here a slide fastener 25 is shown as of such shorter length than the opening 23-24 that when the slider 26 of the fastener is at the point 2? the slide fastener 25 is fully closed. The remaining part of the opening 23-24, between the points 21 and 23, is illustrated as a fly opening attended on one side by a line of buttons 28 and on its other side by cooperant button-holes 29 on a strip 38 topped by a covering strip or fiap 3|.

While 1 have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to beunderstood that I do not limit myself to the precise constructions 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 is:

A bifurcated garment of the class described having seat fullness characteristic of trousers, slacks or the like, said garment having a waist belt portion, an opening traversing the crotch of the garment and terminating at the rear of the garment at a point below said belt portionand at the front of the garment at a point below said belt portion, said belt portion being uninterruptedly continuous across points on the garment vertically in line with the rear end of said opening and vertically in line with the front end of said opening, means for closing said opening, said belt portion being interrupted to provide the same with free ends for meeting at one side of the garment, said garment having an opening in the said one side thereof in line with the free ends of said belt portion, said last-named opening having its bottom end located at a point higher on the garment than the lowest pointof the crotch ofthegarment, means detachably coupling the ends of said belt portion, and means detachably joining the sides of said last-named opening.

' ESTELLE SLATER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

v UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,718,049 Jonas June 18, 1929 1,860,433 Roxenbaum May 31, 1932 1,868,741 Gassel July 26, 1932 Zapis July 18, 1939

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