Abstract:
A clothing retainer has a body with a pair of abutments spaced apart along the body. Each of the abutments includes a hook having a mouth for engagement with a fastener on clothing. The mouths are oppositely directed toward one another and inhibit separation of the fasteners engaged by the hooks.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE 
       [0001]    This application claims priority from a U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/431,263 filed Jan. 10, 2011. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to a retainer to maintain items of clothing in a preferred disposition. 
         [0003]    Articles of clothing are designed to provide an aesthetically pleasing appearance and in order to do that they must be maintained in the intended disposition on the wearer. 
         [0004]    This is particularly relevant to the retention of a shirt within the waistband of a pair of pants, where even normal usage can result in the shirt becoming loose. This problem is aggravated if the user engages in energetic activities such as dancing or athletic events. 
       DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
       [0005]    Typically, pants have been supported by suspenders extending from the pants and over the shoulders. These, however, are relatively expensive and conspicuous. An adaptation of these is the elastic support system shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,738. Such a system, however, envisages a relatively cumbersome elastic suspender that does not lend itself to normal usage. 
         [0006]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,802,612 and U.S. Patent Applications No. 2006/0010559 and 2006/0048266 each envisage the application of adhesive patches to secure a shirt within a waistband, but this requires specific treatment of the shirt material. 
         [0007]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,175,993 shows a safety pin type of arrangement intended to lock a shirt town undergarment. This device requires the shirt to be pierced by the barb of the pin which therefore causes damage to the article of clothing. 
         [0008]    It is therefore an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate the above disadvantages. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a clothing retainer comprising a body having a pair of abutments spaced apart along the body. Each of the abutments includes a hook having a mouth for engagement with a fastener on the clothing. The mouths arc oppositely directed toward one another to inhibit separation of the fasteners engaged by the hooks. 
         [0010]    Preferably the retainer includes a bracket protruding from the body for engagement with a belt. 
         [0011]    In use, the hooks may engage respective fasteners, such as buttons, of the shirts and pants, and thereby inhibit separation of the shirt from the pants. The bracket may be used to support the belt and maintain that in a predetermined disposition. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]    An embodiment to the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0013]      FIG. 1  is a general perspective view of a clothing retainer. 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a view from the under side of the retainer of  FIG. 1  with components in ghosted outline to show the construction. 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is a series of views showing installation of the retainer with: 
           [0016]      FIG. 3   a  shows a schematic representation of the initial step in the installation of the retainer of  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
           [0017]      FIG. 3   b  shows a further step, 
           [0018]      FIG. 3   c  shows the installation of a belt, and  FIG. 3   d  shows the final installation. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0019]    Referring therefore to  FIG. 1 , a clothing retainer, generally indicated at  10 , includes a body  12  formed by a wire frame. A central portion  14  of the body  12  has a pair of curved side members  15  to define a generally oval and is subtended by a pair of hooks  16 ,  18  at diametrically opposed locations on the central portion  14 . 
         [0020]    Each of the hooks  16 ,  18  has a mouth  20  and a pair of limbs  22 ,  24  extending in spaced relationship from the mouth  20 . A bight  26  connects limbs  22 .  24  to provide an enclosed hook  16 ,  18 . 
         [0021]    A bracket indicated at  30  projects from the central portion  14  and includes a pair of arms  32 . A rail  34  extends between the arms  32  and may be of an arcuate shape, as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , or a rectilinear shape. 
         [0022]    The arms  32  are encompassed by sleeves  36  that function to retain the components of the body  12  in a unitary manner. 
         [0023]    As can best be seen in  FIG. 2 , the body  12  of retainer  10  is formed from three pieces of wire interconnected, at the sleeve  36 . Although a single length of wire could be used. for production purposes the use of three separate pieces is preferred. The body  12  is formed from top and bottom preforms  38 , that are identical, and a bracket preform  40 . The preforms  38 ,  40  are each bent outwardly, at their distal ends, as indicated at  41 , so that they may be nested within the sleeve  36 . The sleeve  36  may then be crimped in situ to hold the preforms securely to one another. 
         [0024]    As shown in  FIG. 3 , the retainer  10  is used to interconnect a shirt indicated at “S” and a waistband of pants indicated at “W”. The shirt “S” includes buttons “B” that are sewn to the shirt using a length of thread “T” in the normal matter. Similarly, a button “B” is provided on the waistband “W” secured by thread “T”. 
         [0025]    The central portion  14  is dimensioned to allow the buttons “B” to pass through and for the hook  16  to pass behind the button “B” on the waistband and engage the thread “T”. 
         [0026]    Thereafter, as shown in  FIG. 3   b , a similar procedure is completed with the button “ 13 ” associated with the shirt “S”, so that the thread that secures the shirt button “B” is engaged by the hook  18 . When installed in this manner, separation of the shirt “S” from the waistband is inhibited. 
         [0027]    The bracket  30  is used to locate the belt buckle, indicated at “BB” on  FIG. 3   c  by locating the rail  34  through the aperture of the belt buckle so that it properly supports the belt relative to the waist band “W” of the pant “P”. The opposite end of the belt may then be threaded through the buckle. The bracket  30  does not interfere with its normal use. 
         [0028]    As shown in  FIG. 3   d , with the belt fastened, the retainer is unobtrusive and largely hidden by the buckle “BB” of the belt. 
         [0029]    In use the rigidity of the wire used to form the body  12  inhibits separation of the shirt from the pant by engagement with the respective buttons. The retainer  10  may readily be removed after use by simply unhooking the retainer from the belt buckle and the two buttons. The retainer  10  is maintained in contact with the buttons by the tension applied by gravity acting on the pants P, which is resisted by the shirt S. The hooks  16 ,  18  are dimensioned to fit snugly around the thread T and so secure the retainer against inadvertent disengagement. As the bracket  30  locates the belt vertically, it has been found unnecessary to tighten the belt unduly. This facilitates engagement of the belt buckle with the bracket. 
         [0030]    The wire used to form the retainer has sufficient ductility to allow it to be bent into shape but also sufficient rigidity to maintain its shape in normal use. Typically a 304 annealed stainless steel wire having a nominal diameter of 0.0475 inches (18 gauge) has the required characteristics. 
         [0031]    It will be appreciated that the bracket  30  may be omitted if preferred where it is envisaged that a belt will not be utilized.