US2865023A - Barber's cloth - Google Patents

Description

R. M. ANDERSON BARBERS CLOTH Dec. 23, 1958 Filed May 20, 1957 2,865,023 BARBERS CLOTH Russell M; Anderson, Kansas City, Mo. Application May 20, 1957, Serial No. 660,339

2 Claims. (Cl. 2-50) This invention relates to improvements in barbers cloths involving both advantages in the utility of the cloth itself and in the easeand economy with which same can 7 be manufactured in quantity.

Conventional types of barber cloths are subject to a number of important disadvantages, including a susceptibility to weakening and tearing at the neck-receiving notch thereof, a needless and wasteful provision of an excessive and inconvenient bulk of material inthe lower portion of the cloth, and a failure to provide suitable means by which the cloth is adapted for egress and movement of the hands of a customer upon whom the cloth is emplaced.

As regards the first of these disadvantages, conventional barber cloths normally are provided either with a rounded more or less semi-circular neck-receiving notch orwith what amounts essentially to just a straight slit. Both of such configurations have been found particularly liable to weakening with continued use and laundering'so that tearing of the cloth at this zone thereof is common before the remainder of the cloth has been subjected to a comparable degree of wear. Such tearing necessitates either discarding of the cloth or unsightly attempts to 'patchthe same. With cloths having neck-receiving notches of uch conventional configurations, it is also necessary that any material used for reinforcing the notch must be obtained from a source other than the bolt of material out of which the cloth is cut.

Accordingly, it is the first important object of this invention to provide barbers cloths having trapezoidal neckreceiving notches which have been'found both to possess an inherently greater resistance to tearing than conventional forms of notches and which, when cut from the cloth, provide an adequate and convenient source of generally strip-like pieces of the same material which may be conveniently used in providing a reinforcing binding for the edges of the notch. I

'As regards the second disadvantage of conventional barber cloths, same are normally provided with substan tially parallel side edges, merely by reason of the fact that same may then be cut successively from an elongated bolt of material. However, a barbers cloth properly should be of lesser width at the lower edge thereof than I the barbers cloth not only provide an excessive bulk of ice material adjacent the customers knees which is inconvenient and irritating to him, but, perhaps even more importantly, such conventional construction involves an obvious and needless waste ofmaterial which adds substantially to the cost of the cloths when same are manufactured in quantity. Accordingly, it is the second important object of this invention to provide barber cloths wherein the width of the cloth adjacent the top thereof is substantially greater than the width of same adjacent the bottom thereof, and to accomplish such end in fashion which is conveniently adaptable to the quantity manufacture of cloths from elongated bolts of material.

As regards the third disadvantage of conventional cloths, same are normally straight along the side edges thereof, so that a customer in attempting to extend his hands from under the cloth or to move the same is likely to protrude his arm from under the cloth, which tends to materially lessen the shielding effect for which the cloth is being used. Accordingly, it is a third important obi ject of this invention to provide wrist-receiving notches in each of the side edges of a barber cloth at the proper zone thereof, and particularly to provide said notches in a manner such that same may easily and conveniently be formed in the various cloths being manufactured from an elongated bolt of material at the same time that the cloth itself and the neck-receiving notch thereof are being cut from the bolt.

Other important details of the invention, including significant details of construction, will be made clear or beof cloth material, illustrating the manner in which one form of barbers cloths contemplated by the invention, may be cut therefrom without wastage;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the barbers cloths of the kind shown in Fig. 2, illustrating the same in completed form and in operative placement upon a 7 customer; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, plan view of a bolt or strip of cloth material, illustrating the manner in which a modified form of barbers cloths contemplated by the invention may be cut therefrom without wastage.

Referring first to Fig. 2, the numeral 10 illustrates an elongated bolt of cloth from which a plurality of barbers cloths 12, 14, 16, 18, etc. may be cut and manufactured without the provision of any extraneous materials other than the thread to be used in sewing. As i will be clear from Fig. 2, the cloths 12, 14, 16, 18, etc. are alternately oriented in opposite fashions :so that the bottom edges 20 and 22 of cloths 12 and 16 respectively coincide with one edge 24 of the bolt 10, While the bottom edges 26 and 28 of cloths 14 and 18 coincide with the opposite edge 36 of the bolt 10. Obviously, in similar fashion, the top edges 32 and 34 of cloths 14 and 18 re spectively are disposed along the edge 24 of bolt 10,

while the top edges 36 and 38 of cloths 12 and 16 are disposed along the edge 30 of bolt 10.

Since each of the cloths 12, 14, 16, 18, etc. is identical,

Patented Dec. 23, 1958 except for the mentioned reversal of orientation in which it is cut from the bolt 10, it will be sufficient to further describe only one of the cloths 14 in detail. The side edges of the cloth 14 are generally designated 40 and 42, and it will be seen that such edges 40 and 42 include spaced, parallel, straight, coextensive, upper stretches 44 and 46, spaced, parallel, straight, coextensive, lower stretches 48 and 50 respectively, and spaced, straight, coextensive, intermediate stretches 52 and 54 respectively which interconnect the upper and lower stretches of the corresponding side edges 40 and 42 and angularly converge toward each other as the lower stretches 48 and 50 are approached since the parallel upper stretches 44 and 46 are spaced apart at a substantially greater distance than the parallel lower stretches 48 and 50. It should be noted that by virtue of the reversal of orientation of the adjacent cloth 16, for instance, the same cut in the bolt 18 that forms the upper stretch 46 of cloth 14 Will form the lower stretch 50 of cloth 16, the cut that forms the lower stretch 50 of cloth 14 will form the upper stretch 46 of the cloth 16, etc.

A wrist-receiving notch 56 of substantially major, circular, sector configuration is formed concavely of the side edge 40 at the zone of juncture of stretches 48 and 52 by being cut with the inner section of such stretches 48 and 52 as the center of the arcuate notch 56, a similar wristreceiving notch 58 being formed in analogous fashion at the zone of juncture between the stretches 50 and 54- of the side edge 42. It is significant that the middle of the width of the bolt substantially bisects the intermediate stretches 52 and 54, so that the notches 56 and 58 are disposed below the middle of the cloth 14. The manner in which the wrist-receiving notches are similarly formed in the adjacent cloths will be clear from Fig. 2.

A trapezoidal, neck-receiving notch 60 is cut concavely into the top edge 32 of cloth 14 intermediate the side edges 40 and 42 thereof, the longer base of notch 6%) being disposed along the top edge 32 of the cloth 14 with the shorter base 62 of such notch 60 being parallel to and spaced inwardly from such top edge 32. At the same time that the notch 66 is cut from the bolt 10, the material to be removed from the notch 60 is cut along the solid lines indicated in Fig. 2 to provide a pair of elongated strips 64 and 66 and a trapezoidal piece 68 having a foldable portion 70. A triangular piece 71 is also presented and normally will be discarded. The dotted lines in the drawing illustrate lines of fold used in forming the strips 64 and 66 and the trapezoidal piece 68 for proper reinforcement of the two side edges 72 and 74 and the shorter base 62 respectively of the neck-receiving notch 68.

Referring next to Fig. 1, the cloth 14 is shown with the reinforcing pieces 64, 66 and 68 sewn in place to reinforce the neck-receiving notch 60. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the strips 64 and 66 are initially sewn to the edges 72 and 74 as at 76 and 78 in reversed facing relationship and then are bent over to hide the seams 76 and 78 and secured to the cloth 14 by longitudinal seams as at 80 and 82. If desired, seams 76 and 78 may be externally oversewn as at 84 and 86. The trapezoidal piece 68 has its bendable portion 78 bent down across the lower base 62 of the notch 66 and is sewn to the cloth 14 as by seams 88 and 911. The lower extremities of the strips 64 and 66 are doubled under and the outer corners of the piece 68 are folded under as indicated to provide a suitable fitting and overlapping relationship between the reinforcing parts. It will be noted that strips 64 and 66 are preferably folded under along their outer edges as at 2 and 94.

It will also be understood that the side edges 40 and 42 of the cloth 14 are turned and hemmed, and that the top and bottom edges 26 and 32 are selvage edges and need not be hemmed but may, if desired, be hemmed by seams as indicated at 96 and 98 for the top edge 32.

Referring next to Fig. 3, a customer generally designated 100 is seen seated in a barber chair 102 with the cloth 14 in operative placement upon him. It will be observed that the neck-receiving notch 60, by virtue of its trapezoidal configuration, neatly but snugly fits about the neck of the customer 108 so that the upper portions of the cloth 14 on the opposite sides of the notch may be neatly drawn over the shoulders of the customer and pinned or otherwise temporarily fastened together behind his back. The manner in which the configuration of the side edge 42 effectively shields the clothing of the customer 180 from hair without unduly restraining him or preventing use of his bands will also be clear from Fig. 3.

Referring next to Fig. 4, wherein a modified form of cloth is illustrated, the bolt is generally designated 110 and a number of cloths to be cut from the bolt 110 in continuous side-by-side relationship are indicated by the numerals 112, 114, 116 and 118. Each of such cloths 112, 114, 116 and 118 is provided with a neck-receiving notch 160 in the same manner as above described for the notches 60 formed in cloth 14. The difference between the cloths 112, 114, 116 and 118 and the cloths 12, 14, 16 and 18 are that the former are of trapezoidal configuration having straight side edges and 142 which substantially converge as the lower extremity of the cloth is approached. Although this form of the invention is not preferred to the extent of the one illustrated and described in connection with Figs. 2 and 3, it nevertheless possesses many advantages in common with the latter over barbers cloths as now conventionally made. It will be noted that the trapezoidal configuration of the cloth 114 provides some saving of material as compared with conventional constructions, while still permitting a plurality of cloths to be formed from a bolt 110 without wastage. Manifestly, the neck-receiving notches are formed and reinforced in the same way as the notches 60, so as to possess the advantages in that respect referred to above. Similarly, substantially semi-circular wrist-receiving notches 156 and 158 will preferably be formed in the side edges 140 and 142 respectively below the middle of the cloth 114. E

It will now be apparent that the invention is ideally adapted for eliminating all of the above discussed disadvantages of conventional barber cloths and of achieving the various advantages over the latter above enumerated. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that certain minor modifications and changes could be made from a number of the details of construction disclosed for the purpose of illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention.

Accordingly, it is to be understood that the invention shall be deemed as limited only by the scope of the claims that follow.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A barber cloth comprising a sheet of flexible material provided with a straight top edge medially interrupted by an isosceles trapezoidal, neck-receiving notch extending into the sheet and having its longer base disposed in alignment with said top edge, a pair of side edges each including a straight upper stretch perpendicular to the top edge, a straight intermediate stretch angled inwardly and downwardly at an acute angle from the lower extremity of the corresponding upper stretch and a straight lower stretch extending downwardly along a line perpendicular to said top edge from the lower extremity of the corresponding intermediate stretch, and a bottom edge parallel to and substantially shorter than said top edge, said upper and lower stretches being of substantially equal lengths, said intermediate stretches being shorter than said upper and said lower stretches, there being a substantially circularly arcuate wrist-receiving notch extending into the sheet at the zone of juncture of each intermediate stretch and its corresponding lower stretch.

2. A barber cloth comprising a sheet of flexible material provided with a straight top edge, a pair of side edges each including a straight upper stretch perpendicular to 5 the top edge, an intermediate stretch extending inwardly at an angle from the lower extremity of the corresponding upper stretch and a straight lower stretch extending downwardly along a line perpendicularv to said top edge from the lower extremity of the corresponding intermediate stretch, and a bottom edge parallel to and substantially shorter than said top edge, said intermediate stretches being shorter than said upper stretches, the top edge being medianly interrupted by an isosceles trapezoidal, neck-receiving notch extending into the sheet and having its longer base disposed in alignment with said top edge, and there being a wrist-receiving cutout extending into the sheet from a point above the juncture of said intermediate and lower stretches to a point below said juncture.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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