US3751732A - Trouser-suspender connecting trolley means for toilet convenience - Google Patents

Abstract

For toilet purposes a novel trouser and suspender connecting trolley arrangement is provided consisting of zipper trolleys that extend along the waistline of the trousers from rear to front, and trolley followers carried by the suspender straps for operation around the hips of the wearer. Each follower includes two opposed, zipper operating slides disposed at a fixed short distance from one another, so arranged that in either direction of operation the leading slide opens the zipper and the following slide immediately closes the zipper, there being no opportunity for clothing to get caught in the open zipper and to interfere with the intended, smooth operation of the follower along the zipper trolley in closing direction.

Description

United States Patent [1 1 Mott TROUSER-SUSPENDER CONNECTING TROLLEY MEANS FOR TOILET CONVENIENCE Inventor: John L. Mott, l l 14 NW. Highlands, P. O. Box 1106. Grants Pass, Oreg.

Filed: June 19, 1972 Appl. No.: 264,344

US. Cl. 2/230, 2/310, 2/315 Int. Cl. A4ld l/06, A4ld 13/02 Field of Search 2/230, 310, 315,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 590,298 9/1897 Burke 2/328 Primary Examiner-Geo. V. Larkin Attorney-Clarence M. Crews [5 7 ABSTRACT For toilet purposes a novel trouser and suspender connecting trolley arrangement is provided consisting of zipper trolleys that extend along the waistline of the trousers from rear to front, and trolley followers carried by the suspender straps for operation around the hips of the wearer. Each follower includes two opposed, zipper operating slides disposed at a fixed short distance from one another, so arranged that in either direction of operation the leading slide opens the zipper and the following slide immediately closes the zipper, there being no opportunity for clothing to get caught in the open zipper and to interfere with the intended, smooth operation of the follower along the zipper trolley in closing direction.

5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures TROUSER-SUSPENDER CONNECTING TROLLEY MEANS FOR TOILET CONVENIENCE This invention relates to trouser support for persons who wear outer garments over suspenders, and who are required to let their trousers down behind for toilet purposes without removing outer clothing. The present invention is in the nature of an improvement upon the invention disclosed and claimed in my pending application, Ser. No. 174,341, filed Aug. 24, 1971, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,711,867, in that the basic operation is the same in principle, but a fundamental weakness of the earlier arrangement is overcome. This weakness has to do with the fact that portions of garments sometimes get into the opened zippers and interefere seriously with zipper closure.

It is the purpose of the present invention to avoid this difficulty by providing each rear suspender end with two firmly connected slides arranged nose-to-nose for operation in unison, so that as a leading slide opens the zipper trolley the following slide immediately closes the zipper trolley, thus preventing intrusion of garments which would obstruct return of the slides to their original positions.

It should be clearly understood that the purpose of a zipper when thus employed is not to permit separation of the follower connected zipper components but solely to permit shifting of a follower along the zipper trolley while retaining the follower against accidental dislodgment in any position to which it may be moved.

The union of two slides for operating in this manner in effect amounts to the formation of a single, double acting zipper follower. The net effect is to provide for operation of the composite slide in either direction without having any substantial length of the trolley unzipped at any time. As in the earlier application there may be two distinct zipper trolleys where the rear suspender ends join far above the waist, or there may be a single, continuous zipper trolley where the rear suspender ends cross close to the waist. The former arrangement is preferred and is the only one illustrated herein. At each rear suspender end a double-acting slide of the kind referred to is employed.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the drawing forming part of this specification,

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view in front elevation of a I practical and advantageous trouser and suspender combination embodying features of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view in rear elevation showing a zipper trolley combined with a duplex slide;

FIG. 3 is a view on an enlarged scale in front elevation ofthe structure shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a greatly enlarged view showing in detail a short length of a preferred form of zipper trolley;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4, looking in the direction of the arrows; and

FIG. 6 is a view in front elevation of a modified preferred form in which the follower consists of two opposed slides made integral with one another.

As shown in the drawing, a pair of trousers 10 has two zipper trolleys l2 and 14 disposed to extend within the waistband from the rear of the waistband around the right hip and the left hip, respectively. The zipper trolleys are desirably duplicates so that a description of one will suffice for both.

The trolley 14 comprises upper and lower strips 16 and 18 of suitable fabric. Each of the strips 16 and 18 is permanently connected to the inner side of the trousers waistband, as by stitching 19, from a point near the center of the back to a point at the front of the left hip.

The strips 16 and 18 have affixed to their contiguous margins a series of metallic zipper fingers 20, the fingers 20 of the two strips being arranged to be interdigitally united with one another in the familiar manner characteristic of zippers and to be separated from one another, also in the manner characteristic of zippers.

Each zipper tooth of one strip desirably includes a projecting toe portion 20: which fits within a recess 20r of the heel portion of a cooperative tooth of the opposite strip.

The confronting strips 16 and 18 form portions of a trolley along which a trolley follower 22 may be slid in opposite directions.

The normal zipper trolley follower consists of a single slide which opens the zipper trolley when slid in one direction and closes the zipper trolley when slid in the opposite direction. The opening and closing actions may be reversed simply by turning the slide around."

The present zipper, however, is of unique construction in that it includes on the rear end of each suspender strap 24 a compound or duplex follower 26 which comprises slides 28 and 30. The slides 28 and 30 are of conventional construction, and they are desirably mirror images of one another, being oppositely faced. Briefly, each slide is formed with a facing pair of spaced, converging channels, which channels in each instance merge into a single channel at the zipper closing end of the slide.

When the slide 30 of either follower 22 is moved toward the right as viewed in FIG. I, it opens the associated zipper, and at the same time the slide 28, moving in unison with the slide 30, closes the just opened zipper. Alternatively, when the slide 28 of either follower 22 is moved toward the left as viewed in FIG. I, it opens the zipper and at the same time the slide 30, moving in unison with the slide 28, closes the just opened zipper.

Put concisely, and as previously noted, the purpose in opening the zipper is only to let the follower pass, not to effect detachment of the parts 16 and 18 by which cooperating teeth 20 of the zipper trolley are carried.

The forward end of each suspender strap is desirably affixed to a portion of the waistband of the trousers 10 by any suitable means such as a conventional clamp or clasp 32. p

Each follower 22 of FIGSJZ and 3, however, desirably includes not only the two slides 28 and 30 but also a connecting square ring 34 through which the slides 28 and 30 are connected to one another. The slides 28 and 30 are pivotally mounted on the ring so that during assembly the ring and the leading slide may be turned to one side to an inactive position while the other slide is slid onto and along the zipper trolley for essentially the full length of such trolley, closing the trolley. When this has been accomplished the hitherto inactive slide is swung into the plane of the zipper trolley and the movement of the follower is reversed for operating the hitherto inactive slide upon the zipper trolley and causing such slide to close the zipper trolley from the hitherto open end.

When the follower has been thus applied the opposite ends of the zipper trolley are physically closed through the application of suitable closure means at opposite ends of the trolley member, such, for example, as staples 36.

It is feasible to make the slides 28 and 30 integral with one another, as shown in the composite slide 220 of FIG. 6. When this is done the two trolley components are first zipped together by a conventional slide and the composite slide is then applied from either end of the closed trolley.

The follower in each instance desirably includes a suitable actuator 38, illustratively shown as a leather tab.

With a trolley and follower associated and combined as described there are never more than two to four teeth of either zipper component unzipped at any given moment. Even these few teeth are protected against the intrusion of garment material by the actuator 38, and the integral composite slide or the square ring 34. The ring 34 does not, of course, have to be literally square in form. Desirably, however, it should have opposed straight legs on which the opposed slides are mounted.

If, as shown in my prior application, the suspender straps cross close to the waistband, and a single trolley is provided to extend completely across the back and around both hips, the rear ends of the suspender straps will be connected to one another by a tension member, so that pulling on either follower will move both followers in unison.

l have described what I believe'to be the best embodiments of my invention. What l desire to cover by letters patent is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

I. A device adapted for use in connecting trousers and suspenders to one another, comprising, in combination,

a. a flexible trolley consisting of upper and lower cooperating and complementary lines of fabricattached zipper hooks adapted for mounting in opposed, cooperative relation upon the waist portion of trousers, and

b. a trolley follower adapted for securement to the rear end of a suspender strap, said follower includmg b,. a pair of oppositely facing zipper operating slide members and b means securing said zipper operating members adjacent to, and in fixed relation to one another for movement in unison in either direction along the trolley, and b;. an operator for said follower; the construction and arrangement being such that the zipper trolley is opened by the leading slide member and concurrently closed by the trailing slide member when the follower is operated along the trolley in either direction.

2. A device adapted for use in connecting trousers and suspenders to one another as set forth in claim 1 in which each slide member is formed with a facing pair of spaced converging channels, which channels, in each instance, merge into a single channel at the zipper closing distal end of the slide member.

3. A device adapted for use in connecting trousers and suspenders to one another as set forth in claim I in which the means for connecting the slide members to one another consists of a rigid connecting member between the slide members upon which at least one slide member is pivotally mounted, so that, during assembly, one slide member may be applied, to close the zipper trolley for substantially the full length thereof, with the other leading slide member swung out of the way and said other slide member may then be swung into active position and applied to close the zipper by an opposite movement of the follower.

4. A device adapted for use in connecting trousers and suspenders together as set forth in claim 1 in which means is provided at each end of the trolley in the assembled structure for blocking escape of the follower from the trolley.

5. A pair of devices as set forth in claim 1 for use in connecting trousers and suspenders to one another in which the two zipper trolleys are connected to the trousers within the waistband at opposite sides thereof, and each extends from the rear to the front around opposite hip portions of the trousers, and each of the two trolley followers, cooperative with the respective trolleys, is attached to the rear end of one of a pair of suspender straps.

Claims (5)

1. A device adapted for use in connecting trousers and suspenders to one another, comprising, in combination, a. a flexible trolley consisting of upper and lower cooperating and complementary lines of fabric-attached zipper hooks adapted for mounting in opposed, cooperative relation upon the waist portion of trousers, and b. a trolley follower adapted for securement to the rear end of a suspender strap, said follower including b1. a pair of oppositely facing zipper operating slide members and b2. means securing said zipper operating members adjacent to, and in fixed relation to one another for movement in unison in either direction along the trolley, and b3. an operator for said follower; the construction and arrangement being such that the zipper trolley is opened by the leading slide member and concurrently closed by the trailing slide member when the follower is operated along the trolley in either direction.

2. A device adapted for use in connecting trousers and suspenders to one another as set forth in claim 1 in which each slide member is formed with a facing pair of spaced converging channels, which channels, in each instance, merge into a single channel at the zipper closing distal end of the slide member.

3. A device adapted for use in connecting trousers and suspenders to one another as set forth in claim 1 in which the means for connecting the slide members to one another consists of a rigid connecting member between the slide members upon which at least one slide member is pivotally mounted, so that, during assembly, one slide member may be applied, to close the zipper trolley for substantially the full length thereof, with the other leading slide member swung out of the way and said other slide member may then be swung into active position and applied to close the zipper by an opposite movement of the follower.

4. A device adapted for use in connecting trousers and suspenders together as set forth in claim 1 in which means is provided at each end of the trolley in the assembled structure for blocking escape of the follower from the trolley.

5. A pair of devices as set forth in claim 1 for use in connecting trousers and suspenders to one another in which the two zipper trolleys are connected to the trousers within the waistband at opposite sides theReof, and each extends from the rear to the front around opposite hip portions of the trousers, and each of the two trolley followers, cooperative with the respective trolleys, is attached to the rear end of one of a pair of suspender straps.

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