Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
GARMENT WHICH CAN ACCO~iO~ArE A LARGE
NU~IBER OF WAIST SIZES AND WHICH IS HELD BY AN
AUTOMATICALLY-ADJUSTABLE-LE~GTH DRAWSTRING
Background of the Invention: ;
~ield of the Invention:
Garments, such as pants, are provided to
encase the lower portions of the bodies of surgeons
and of other persons working in operating rooms. To
enable the surgeons and other persons to concentrate
their attention on the surgical and other operations
being performed in the operating room, the clothing
worn by those surgeons and otller persons should
require minimal attention from those surgeons and
other persons.
Description of the Prior Art:
To enable the garments, such as pants, which
encase the lower portions of the bodies of surgeons
and of other persons working in operating rooms, to
accommodate differing waist sizes, many of tllose gar-
ments are provided with drawstrings. The ends ofthose drawstrings are -tied to provide desired fric-
tional forces between the waists of the garments and
the waists of the wearers. However, if those ends are
tied as the wearer breathes in, the waist of the gar-
~2~16(31
ment may droop as -the wearer breathes out. I-E those
ends are tied as the wearer breathes out, the fric-
tional force may be uncomfortable when the wearer
breathes in. Also~ if those ends are tied as the
wearer breathes out, the tied ends may slip relative
to each other as the wearer breathes in. Any drooping
of the waist of the garment, any slipping of the tied
ends relative to each other, or any uncomfortabl~
frictional force which tended to distract, or to dis-
turb the concentration of, the surgeons or other per-
sons working in an operating room would be very objec-
tionable.
Summary of the Invention:
The present invention provides a body-en-
casing garment which has an automatically-adjustable-
length drawstring with readily-flexible ends that can
be tied to enable that garment to accommodate a large
number o~ waist sizes; and that drawstring will hold
the waist of that garment against drooping relative to
a user's waist. rhat drawstring automatically expands
as the circumEerence of the wearer's waist increases
during breathirlg in or movement o-f the wearer's body,
and thereby avoids all relative slipping of the read-
ily-flexible ends which could increase the effective
Z5 length of that drawstring -- with consequent drooping
of the waist of the garment relative to the wearer's
waist as the circulnference of the wearer's waist sub-
sequently decreased. Also, that drawstring auto~atic-
ally contracts as the circumference of the wearer's
50 waist subsequently decreases during breathing out or
movement of the wearer's body, and thereby avoids all
need of making the drawstriIlg so tight that it would
provide a desired moderate frictional force betweeIl
the waist of the garment and the wearer's waist during
breathing out but would provide an undesired higher
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frictional force between the waist of -t~le garment and
the wearer's waist during breathing in. As a result,
the drawstring provided by the present invention per-
mits a lower-than-normal Erictional force to be used
between the waist of t~e garment and the wearer's
waist, and yet will automatically and continuously
keep the waist of the garment from drooping relative
to the wearer's waist. It is, -therefore, an object of
the present invention to provide a garment which has
readily-flexible ends that can be tied to accommodate
a large number of waist sizes and which is held
against drooping relative to a user's waist by an
automatically-adjustable-length drawstring that per-
mits a lower-than-normal frictional force to be used
between the waist of the garment and the wearer's
waist.
The drawstring provided by the present in-
vention nas readily-flexible ends and an intermediate
resilient, extensible section. Those readily-flexible
ends and that resilient, extensible section enable
that garment to accommodate many different waist sizes
and to provide many different desired values of fric-
tional force between the waist of the garment and the
wearer's waist. That resilient, extensible section
will thereafter automatically and continuously main-
tain the desired value of frictional force between the
waist of the garnlellt and the ~earer's waist despite
recurring changes in the circumference of the wearer's
waist due to breathing and to body movement. It is,
3~ therefore, an object of the present invention -to pro-
vide a garment with a drawstring that has readily-
f:Lexible ends and an in~ermediate resilient, exten-
sible section.
~he drawstring provided by the present in-
vention is disposed Witiliil a tunnel at the waist of
12~6():1
the body-encasing garment; and the major portion of
the len~th of that drawstring is free to move circum-
ferentially relative to that tunnel. As a result, the
waist of the garment can be free of undue "bunching"
and "crinkling", even where it is worn by a person
whose waist size is at the lower end of the range of
waist sizes to be accommodated by that garment. It
is, therefore, an object of the present invention to
provide a garment with a drawstring which has readily-
flexible ends and an intermediate resilient, exten-
sible section, which is disposed within a tunnel at
the waist of the garment, and which has the major por-
tion of the length thereof free to move circumferenti-
ally relative to that tunnel.
The tunnel of the garment provided by the
present invention completely conceals and confines the
resilient, extensible section plus most of the rest of
the drawstring for that garment. In doing so, that
tunnel protects that resilient, extensible section,
obviates all need of belt loops, and obviates all need
of trying to make the color of that resilient~ exten-
sible section match the color of the garment. It is,
therefore, an object of the present invention to pro-
vide a garment with a tunnel which completely conceals
and confines the resilient, extensible section plus
most of the rest of the drawstring for that garment.
The resilient, extensible section, of the
drawstring provided by the present invention, has only
one area, namely, the area adjacent its midpoint,
secured to the tunnel; and hence substantially the
entire length of each half of that resilient, exten-
sible section is free to extend and re-tract. As a
result, the only limit to the extent to which the
resilient, extensible section can be extended is the
comfort level which the wearer of the garment desires
~21460~L
for his or her waist. It is, thererore, an object of
the present invention to provide a garment with a
drawstring wllich has just one area of a resilient,
extensible section thereof secured to a tunnel of that
garment.
The flexible ends and the intermediate
resilient, extensible section of the drawstring pro-
vided by the present invention coact to enable the
wearer of the garment to establish a desirable fric-
tional force between the waist of the garment and hisor her waist, whether those flexible ends are tied as
the wearer breathes in or breathes out. If those
flexible ends are tied as the wearer breathes in, the
resilient, extensible section will automatically and
immediately contract as the wearer subsequently
breathes out; and, in doing so, that resilient, exten-
sible section will maintain a desirable frictional
force between the waist of the garment and the wear-
er's waist which will prevent any drooping of the
waist of the garment relative to the wearer's waist.
If the flexible ends are tied as -the wearer breathes
out, the resilient, extensible section will automatic-
ally and immediately extend to accommoda-te the sub-
sequent breathing in of the wearer; and that ex-tension
will keep the frictional force between the waist of
the garment and the waist of the wearer from increas-
ing appreciably. As a result, the garment provided by
the present invention enables the wearer to establish
a comfortable, lower-than-normal frictional force be-
tween the waist of the garment and the wearer's waist,and thereafter that garment will automatically and
continually maintain that frictional force despite the
breathing in and breathing out of the wearer. It is,
therefore, an object of the present invention to pro-
vide a garment with a drawstring which has flexible
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ends and an intermediate resilient, extensible section
and which can provide a comfortable, lower-than-normal
Erictional force between the waist of the garment and
the wearer's waist that will prevent drooping of the
garment waist relative to the wearer's waist whether
those flexible ends are tied as the wearer breathes in
or breathes out.
Other and further objects and advantages of
the present invention should become apparent from an
examination of the drawing and accompanying descrip-
tion.
In the drawing and acompanying description,
two preferred embodiments of the presen-t invention are
shown and described but it is to be understood that
the drawing and accompanying description are for the
purpose of illustration only and do not limit the in
vention and that the invention will be defined by the
appended claims.
Brief Description of the Drawing:
In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a front elevation-
al view of a garment which is adapted to enclose the
lower portion of a wearer's body,
Fig. 2 is a broken elevational view, on a
larger scale, of the inner surface of the upper por-
tion of the rear of the garment of Fig. 1,
Fig. 3 is a sectional view, on a still
larger scale, which is ta~en along a plalle indicated
by the line 3-3 in Fig. 2,
Fig. ~ is a perspective view, on the scale
of Fig. 3, of a connection between the resilient, ex-
tensible section and an intermediate section of the
drawstring of the garment of Fig. 1,
~ ig. 5 is a view which is similar to the
broken elevational view of Fig. ~, but it shows a dif-
ferent drawstring, and
Fig. 6 is a perspective view, on the scaleof Fig. 3, of a connection between the resilient, ex-
tensible section and an intermediate section of the
drawstring of Fig. 5.
Description of the Preferred Embodiments-
Referring particularly to Figs. 1-4, tlle
numeral 20 generally denotes a pair of pants which can
be worn by a surgeon or any other person wor~ing in an
operating room. That pair of pants has leg-enclosing
portions defining the bottom thereof and has a tunnel
22 adjacent the top thereot~ As indicated particular-
ly by Figs. 2 and 3, that tunnel is formed by folding
a portion of the top of the pants inwardly and down-
wardly, making a folded lower edge, and then stitching
that folded lower edge to the adjacent portion of the
inner surface of the pants. Openings 24 and 26 are
provided in the front of the pants; and each of those
openings commurlicates with the -tunnel 22. A vertical
seam 28 is provided at the rear of the pants 20, as
shown particularly by Fig. 2. The leg-enclosing por-
tions, the tunnel 22, the openings 24 and 26, and the
rear seam 28 are standard and usual parts of pants and
are not, per se, parts of the present invention. I~
desired, the tunnel 22 could be made by securing a
facing to the upper portion of the pair of pants or in
any other way knowll to those skilled in the art.
The numeral 30 denotes a readily-flexible
end of the drawstring Eor the pants 20, and -that read-
ily-flexible end is part of an intermediate section 32
which is shown in Fig. 2. The numeral 34 denotes a
second readily-flexible end for the drawstring, and
that readily-flexible end is part of an intermediate
section 36 which is shown by Figs. 2 and 4. The num-
eral 38 denotes a resilient, extensible section of the
drawstring; and, in the embodiment of Figs. 1-4, that
~2~46(~1
section is a rubberband that is ten inches long. A
loop 40 is formed at the inller end of the intermediate
section 36 by passing the free end of that section
through the space defined by the resilient, extensible
section 38, folding that free end back on an adjacent
length of the intermediate section 36, and then
stitching that free end to that adjacent length. A
similar loop 42 is formed at the inner end of the
intermediate section 32, as indicated by Fig. 2. The
loops 40 and 42 make it possible -to provide simple and
sturdy connections between the intermediate sections
32 and ~6 and the resilient, extensible section 38
without the degrading of the strength of that resili-
ent, extensible section which would occur if a sewing
lS needle and thread were passed through any part of that
resilient, extensible section.
The numeral 44 denotes stitching which pass-
es through the inner and outer walls of the rear por-
tion of the tunnel 22; and that stitching causes those
walls to be held in tight frictional engagement with
the upper strand of the resilient, extensible section
38. The nulneral 46 denotes stitching which passes
through the inner and outer walls of the tunnel 22
below the stitcihing 44; and the stitching 46 holds
those walls in tight frictional engagement with the
lower strand of that resilient, extensible section.
The stitching 44 and 46 coact with the front and rear
walls of the tunnel 22 to effectively prevent any
shifting of the midpoint of the resilient, extensible
~0 section i8 circumferentially of -that -tunnel while
avoiding the weakening of that resilient, extensible
sec-tion wllich would occur if a sewing needle and
thread were passed through tha-t resilient, extensible
section.
:12~460~
The intermediate sections 32 and ~6 and the
readily-flexible ends 30 and ~4 are dimensioned so
they can freely move circumferentially relative to the
tunllel 2~. Similarly the resilient, extensible sec-
tion 38, and the loops 40 and 42 in the inner ends of
the intermediate sections 36 and 32, are dimensioned
to freely move circumferentially relatiYe to that
tunnel. As a result, the wearer of the pants 20 can
easily move the readily-flexible ends 34 and 30 and
the intermediate sections 36 and 32 outwardly relative
to the openings 24 and 26 to cause the resilient, ex-
tensible section 38 to stretch and thereby provide a
desired frictional force between the inner wall of
tunnel 22 and the wearer's waist. The readily-flex-
ible ends ~4 and 30 and the resilient, extensible sec-
tion 38 coact to enable the wearer of the pants to
establish an infinite number of specifically-different
frictional forces between the inner surface of tunnel
22 and his or her waist. As a result, those readily-
flexible ends and tha-t resilient, extensible section
coact to enable the pants 20 to have a standard size
and yet be able to accommodate many different waist
sizes.
In using the pants 20, the wearer will pass
his or her feet and legs downwardly through the leg
enclosing portions, and then pull the tunnel 22 up to
his or her waist. Thereupon, he or she will pull the
readily-flexible ends 30 and 34 outwardly relative to
the openings 24 and 26 until a desired frictiollal
force is established between the inner surface of
tunnel 22 and his or her ~aist. At such time, while
maintaining that desired frictional force, the wearer
will tie the readily-flexible ends 30 and 34 to-
gether. The resilient, extensible section 38 will be
in a stretched condition at this time; and the result-
~121460~
-10-
ing restorative forces therein will maintain a desir-
able frictional force between the inner surface of the
tunnel and the user's waist even if that resilient~
extensible section must contract as the circumference
of the wearer's waist decreases when the wearer
breathes out or moves his or her body. rhat resili-
ent, extensible section will additionally stretch, and
will maintain a desirable frictional force between the
inner surface of tunnel 22 and the wearer's waist,
when the circumference of the wearer's waist increases
as the wearer breathes in or moves his or her body.
The resilient, extensible section 38 will automatic-
ally and immediately contract as the circumference of
the wearer's waist decreasés, and it will automatic-
ally and immediately expand as the circumference ofthe wearer's waist increases. In doing so, that
resilient, extensible section will provide an automat-
ic and immediate compensation in the length of the
drawstring which will keep the tied readily-flexible
ends 30 and 34 from being forced to move relative to
each other -- as frequently happens with the tied ends
of standard and usual drawstrings when the circumfer-
ence of the wearer's waist increases during breathing
in or movement of the wearer's body. Also, the resil-
ient, extensi~le section keeps the waist of the pants20 from drooping, as it would do if the readily-flex-
ible ends 30 and 34 were forced to rnove relative to
each other. All of this means that the drawstring
provided by the present invention is able to keep the
pants 20 from slipping downwardly relative to the
wearer's waist, and yet does not require the wearer to
accept an uncomfortably-tight and restrictive fric-
tional force between the tunnel 22 and his or her
waist, and also does not require the readily-flexible
ends 30 ~nd 34 to be tied so tightly that it is dif-
ficult to loosen them.
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The drawstring of the present invention is
particularly useful in pants which are used by sur
geons or other persons working in operating rooms;
because that drawstring will avoid the distraction and
loss of concentration which would inevitably occur if
the waist of the pants 20 were to start drooping.
Also, the drawstring of the present invention mini-
mizes the magnitude of the frictional forces which
must be established between the tunnel 22 and the
wearer's waist, and hence permits optimum freedom of
breathing and of movement of the wearer while minimiz-
ing perspiration of the skin at the wearer's waist.
In addition, the drawstring of the present invention
completely relieves the wearer of any need to re-
tighten -the readily-flexible ends 30 and J4 while the
wearer is enclosed within a surgeon's gown, or to
remove and then replace the operating room gown so
those readily-flexible ends could be re-tightened.
The drawstring of the present invention provides -these
important results by permitting the wearer to estab-
lish any desired frictional force between the inner
surface of tunnel 2~ and the wearer's waist, and
thereafter automatically and continuously maintaining
that desired frictional force.
The readily-flexible ends 30 and 34 and the
resilient, extensible section 38 enable the pants 20
to accommodate a large number of waist sizes within
predetermined standard waist sizes. For example, if
those pants were made as "small" pants, the drawstring
could accommodate many waist circumferences which
ranged rrOM less than thirty inches to more than
thirty-three inches. If those pants were made as
"medium" pan-ts, the drawstring could accommodate many
waist circumferences which ranged from less than
thirty-four inches to more thall thirty-seven inches;
1;21g~601
and if those pants were made as "large" pants, the
drawstring could accommodate many waist circumferences
which ranged from less than thirty-eight inches -to
more than forty-one inches. In each case, the draw-
string would not only accommodate many waist circum-
ferences, but would thereafter automatically and con-
tinuously maintain a desirable frictional force be-
tween the inner surface Or tunnel 22 and the wearer's
waist -- despite recurring changes in the circumfer-
ence of the wearer's waist due to breathing in andbreathing out or the movement of the wearer's body.
Referring particularly to Figs. 5 and 6, the
numerals 50 and 52 denote intermediate portions of a
second embodiment of drawstring that is provided by
the present invention. Those intermediate portions
are very similar to the intermediate portions 36 and
32, respectively, of Figs. 2 and 4. The intermediate
portions 50 and 52 will have flexible ends, not shown,
which preferably will be identical to the ~lexible
ends 34 and 30, respectively, of Fig. 1. The numeral
54 denotes a resilient, extensible section which is
made from woven elastic material of standard and usual
form; and the numerals 56 and 58 denote stitching
which secure the inner ends of the intermediate por-
tions 50 and 52 to the ends of the resilient, exten-
sible section 54. The numeral 60 denotes stitching
which secures the midpoint of the resilient, exten-
sible section 54 to the midpoint of tlle rear of the
tunnel 22.
The function and operation of the drawstring
of Figs. 5 and 6 will be essentially similar to the
function and operation of the drawstring of Figs.
1-4. However, the resilient, extensible section 54
will not be as extensible as is the resilient, exten-
sible section j~.
o~
Whether the drawstring o Figs. 1-~ or the
drawstring of Figs. 5 and h is used, the garment will
be able to accom~odate a large number oL waist sizes.
A:lso, each of those draws-trings will avoid all rela-
tive slipping of the readily-flexible ends which could
increase the effective length of that drawstring --
with consequent drooping of the waist of tsle garment
relative to the wearer's waist as the circumference of
the wearer's waist subsequently decreased. Fur-ther,
each of those drawstrings will avoid all need of mak-
ing the drawstring so tight -that it would provide a
desired moderate frictional ~orce bet-ween the waist of
the garment and the wearer's waist during breathing
out but would provide an undesired higher frictional
force between -the waist of the garment and the wear-
er's waist during breathing in~ As a result, each of
those drawstrings will permit a lower-than-normal
trictional force to be used between the waist of the
garment and the wearer's waist, and yet will automat-
ically and continuously keep the waist of the garmentfrom drooping relative to the wearer's waist.
Whereas the drawing and accompanying des-
cription have shown and described two preferred
embodiments of the present invention, it should be
~5 apparent to those skilled in the art that various
changes may be made in the form of the inventio~ with-
out affecting tlle scope thereof.
