US2954031A - Brassiere - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 27, 1960 H. w. FROEHLICH BRASSIERE m Z; M 3 MM M/ 2% 5 W 3 r aw y. H m M Filed July 29, 1957 United States Patent 2,954,031 BRASSIERE Harry W. Froehlich 3129 Butler Ave.

Los Angeles 66, Calif.

Filed July 29, 1951, Ser. No. 674,868

3 Claims. (Cl. 128-472 The present invention relates to brassieres and other foundation garments which incorporate brassiere like breast supports-and more particularly concerns the fastener devices employed for firmly securing the garment in position on the wearer. Hitherto the brassieres, for example, have almost invariably been provided with fastener devices located at the back of the garment with the inevitable result that difficulty is experienced both in fastening and unfastening the brassiere. In one known device at least, the breast cups have been connected together at the front by lacing or by ribbon, but in such cases the conventional hook and eye fasteners have been provided at the back since the lacing is not a convenient method of fastening and is included mainly for ornamentation. I

. Having in mind the shortcomings of the hitherto known fastening devices, it is one object of the present invention to provide an improved brassiere or other foundation garment of the kind indicated which includes a new or improved type of fastener located at the front of the garment, whereby the latter may be quickly and easily fastened or unfastened in a far more convenient manner than hitherto.

The improved fastener device is of particularly simple and inexpensive design and construction, and is capable of being readily fitted to existing types of brassieres and other foundation garments with a minimum change in their method of manufacture.

Further objects of the invention will 'be brought out in the following part of the specification, wherein detailed description is for the purpose of fully disclosing the invention without placing limitations thereon.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which are for illustrative purposes only:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a brassiere embodying the features of the present invention, the brassiere being illustrated in place upon the body of the wearer;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view, partly in section, of the fastening device in its position connecting the breast cups of the brassiere;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section through one arm of the connecting device and associated parts, taken substantially on lines 3-3 of Fig. 2; a

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section taken substantially on lines 44 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a transverse section through the cross-piece of the connecting device and protective cover, taken substantia'lly on lines 5-5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view illustrating a modified construction of the invention; and a Fig. 7 is a fragmentary elevation showing a further modified construction of the bridging member.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, there. is shown in Fig. 1 for illustrative purposes a brassiere which embodies the novel features of the present invention. As shown, the brassiere includes a pair of breast cups 10--10 which are shaped and: constructed inany suitable manner, but are herein illustrated as including a reinforcing element 11 beneath each cup so as to insure the latter retaining its shape. For example, each cup may be provided with a substantially U or semicircular shaped reinforcing element composed of a suitable spring wire of appropriate gauge accommodatedin a tunnel or channel 12 extending around the bottomand sides of the cup. i

In addition, each cup is preferably provided with a flexible tension band 13 extending across the bottom of the cup and an upstanding tension distributing bar or the like 14 at the outer edge portion of each cup.

The. two cups are, connected togetherat their opposite side edge portions ,by a substantially semicircularband 15 of any suitable shape and size which is adapted to extend around the back of the wearer. This back band is preferably composed of orincorporates any suitable type of elastic or like material so that it may assist in holding the breast cups firmly in place on the wearer. Alternatively, the aforesaid band may be mainlycom posed of non-extensible material and incorporate one or more panels of elastic or like material.

Instead of being connected together as usual at the front, the pair of breast cups are separated at their adjacent inner edge portions and provided at these points with the improved fastener of the presentinvention. Complementary parts of the fastening means are secured to each breast cup. a

The fastener device of the invention includes a bridging member, as generally indicated by the numeral 16, this bridging member having a pair of upstanding arms 17 and 18, as shown in Fig. '2, united at their lower: most ends by a cross-piece 19 which may becurved between its ends'to give greaterdepth and/or to conform to body curvature, thus eliminating possible pressure. Means are provided for anchoring one of the arms to one of the breast cups, and means are also provided for detachably connectingthe other or free arm to the other breast cup, as will hereinafter be described in detail.

The bridging member 16, is thus of substantially U- shape except that the pair of upstanding arms converge upwardly with the result that their upper ends are more closely spaced than their lower ends which are united by the cross-piece. These arms are also preferably curved lengthwise or bent at an intermediate point in their length, as indicated by the numeral 20 in Fig. 4,'so as to more closely fit the wearer and avoid any undesirable pressure.

The pair of upstanding arms 17 and 18 are spring infiuenced in such a manner that their upper ends yieldingly oppose any tendency to spread them apart. For this purpose, the bridging member 16 is formed from a spring wire such as piano wire, which is rust proofed in any suitable manner. For example, the wire may be composed of stainless steel or it may be chrome plated. The upper endsof the arms 17 and 18 may be rounded or of convex formation. It is also contemplated that the ends of the arms may be provided with bulbous end me bers 21,.as shown inFig. 6.. l j

The aforesaid anchoring means and detachable means may each be formed from a strip of material having a tubular channel therein. This tubular channel may be formed in the brassiere material, or may be separately formed as a separate strip 22 of plastic or other suitable material having an integrally formed tubular channel portion 23 therein and a longitudinal flange 24 at one side so that it may be readily secured to the respective breast cups at the inner edge portions thereof. For example, such flanged tubular member may be composed of a suitable plastic, and the flange may be secured to its cup in each case either by stitching or by the use. of a suitable adhesive. The strip of plastic material is in each case preferably concealed by turning back the outer ply of the fabric forming the breast cup and stitching the back turned. portion in position around the flange and tubular portion of the plastic strip so as to close the upper end of the tubular portion thereof and to leave the lower end of each tubular channel portion open for receiving the arms of the bridging member 16.

One of the arms of the bridging member 16 is anchored in one of the tubular channel portions 23 of the strip 22 by an adhesive or any other suitable manner so that it may be prevented from being accidentally or inadvertently drawn therefrom. The other arm of the bridging member is a relatively close sliding fit in the tubular channel portion of the strip member 22 secured to the other breast cup.

In use, it will be appreciated that the brassiere of the present invention may be quickly and easily secured in position simply by placing the breast cups in position with the associated back band extending around the wearer's back, after which the free arm of the bridging member may be slipped into the tubular channel portion on the opposed breast cup. Due-to the fact that the spring arms 17 and 18' converge upwardly andare spring influenced, they function to yieldingly hold the breast cups inposition and firmly oppose any possibility of the free arm of the bridging member becoming disconnected from its associated strip 22. Tension on the band 13 across the bottom of the breast cups is effectively taken care of by the lower end portions of the upstanding arms, and their associated cross-piece without any undesirable tendency to' spread the upper end portions of the arms apart.

The bridgingmember 16 may be finished in various ways to give it an attractive appearance, and if desired, may be gold plated or otherwise colored. The cross-piece 19 extends across the opening between the breast cups, and may be provided with additional decorative matter, as shown at 25 in Fig. l, and may constitute an ornamental rosette, gem or other suitable ornamentation. This ornamentation serves an additional purpose by being provided with a sleeve portion 26 which may extend throughout and cover the cross-piece so as to form a protection between the cross-piece and the adjacent body portion of the wearer. The sleeve portion and associated ornamentation may be constructed of different materials, such as a plush or other attractively finished material.

Referring now to Fig. 6 a modified construction is shown. In general, the operation of the bridging member 16 is the same as that previously described. In this arrangement, however, instead of utilizing the strip 22 as an insert along the confronting edges of the breast cups, the material forming theconfronting edges is formed with a tubular channel portion 27 in each case by providing a spaced line of stitching 28 which is inwardly spaced from the confronting edge 29, in each case. The channel portions are open at their lowermost ends for receiving the arms 17' and 18' therein.

In the modified arrangement, instead of utilizing an adhesive to anchor one of the arms in its associated channel portion, other means may be employed. For example, in Fig. 6, the arm 18' has been provided between its ends with an offset bend 29' which permits the edge portion of the fabric along the adjacent confronting edge to deflect into the bend as indicated by the. numeral: 30

so as to act as a retaining influence for this arm of the bridging member and oppose its inadvertent or accidental withdrawal from its associated tubular channel portion.

Should it be desired to further anchor an arm of the bridging member, where the arm is fitted with an end member 21, this may be accomplished by means of retention stitching, as indicated by the numeral 31 which is placed immediately under the inner end of the end member 21. It will, of course, be apparent that with the retention stitching as shown at 31, the arm may in this case be made of straight construction without the offset bend 29' therein.

Referring now to Fig. 7,. a further modification is shown for the bridging member 16 in which the cross piece instead of being constructed as a straight member, is in this case formed with one or more zigzag bends 32 which extend above and below the points of iointure 33 and 34 of the cross-piece with the arms 17 and 18. The

, bend portionsjl-ie in the sameplane and thus act to distribute any pressure of this portion of the bridging member against the adjacent body of the wearer, when the garment is more or less tightly secured in a wearing position. Moreover, these bends will permit a slight expansion of the cross-piece, when the wearer breathes, thus making the fit of the garment more comfortable to the wearer.

Although the foregoing description has referred for convenience to the application of the invention to a brass siere, it will be appreciated that the invention is not restricted thereto but that the improved fastening device may be readily employed for a similar purpose in other foundation garments which incorporate a pair of breast cu s.

'arious modifications may suggest themselves to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention, and, hence, I do not wish to be restricted to the specific forms shown or uses mentioned, except to the extent indicated in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A brassiere, comprising: a pair of bust cups, a back band having its ends respectively attached to said cups, said cups having inner confronting edge portions; a stripof material having an integrally formed longitudinally extending tubular portion and flange therealong, saidfiange being secured by stitching along one of said con fronting edge portions; a bridging member of substan tially U-shape having spaced arms connected to a crosspieceand converging towards their free ends, one of said arms being anchored to the other of said confronting edge portions, and the other of said arms being slidable endwise into said tubular portion of said strip, so as to form a detachable connecting front link between said cups.

2. A brassiere, comprising: a pair of bust cups, a back band having its ends respectively attached to said cups, said cups having inner confronting edge portions; a strip of plastic material having an integrally formed longitudinally extending tubular portion and flange portion therealong, said flange portion being secured by stitching along one of said confronting edge portions; a bridging member of substantially U-shape having spaced arms connected to a cross-piece and converging towards their free ends, one of said arms being anchored to the other of said con fronting edge portions, and the other of said arms being slidable endwise into said tubular portion of said strip, so as to form a detachable connecting front link between said cups.

. 3. A brassiere, comprising: a pair of bust cups, a back band having its ends respectively attached to said cups, said cups having inner confronting edge portions; a strip of material on each of said confronting edge portions having an integrally formed longitudinally extending tubular portion and flange therealong, said flange being secured by stitching along the associated edge portion; a bridging member of substantially U-shape having spaced arms connected to a cross-piece and converging towards their free ends, said arms being respectively insertable endwise into said tubular portions to form a front connecting link between said cups; and means for anchoring one of said arms in its associated tubular portion against removal.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,417,687 Hunau Mar. 18, 1947

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