Patent Publication Number: US-6219848-B1

Title: Waistband extender

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to waistband extenders for wearing apparel having an opening waistband secured by a fastener. The present invention is further directed to adjustable waistband extenders that can be used to accommodate changing girths, as in pregnancy or weight changes, while providing modesty to the wearer. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In the wearing apparel field, a wide variety of clothing is designed so that the portion encircling the wearer&#39;s waist fits snugly. In articles such as jeans, skirts, trousers and the like, where the article of clothing reaches up to and terminates about the waist, the waist encircling portion is generally provided with means for drawing such portion from a loose to a close fit and securing same. 
     When reasonably close waist line fit is desired in a garment, difficulties arise due to body dimension variations, both from person to person in the general population, and for a given person temporary changes in their girth. In particular, during early term pregnancies, the girth has increased so that the wearing apparel does not readily fasten, but is insufficient to justify the expenditure oh maternity clothing. One often either sacrifices close fit or comfort. 
     Various adjustable features for waist lines have been previously devised. For instance, garments have been made with permanently joined waistbands of excess girth, which are gathered to smaller dimensions by elastic material encased within the waistband. Such “continuously” adjustable waistbands, however, are often deemed unsuitable due to their gathered appearance. 
     Previous efforts to deal with this have included making permanent modifications to the garment by adding gores or extra material and thus increasing the size of the garment in the waistband area. 
     Removable waistband adjusting means have left a gap in the fly opening of the garment often exposing the skin of the wearer and thus rending the expanded garment distasteful to the observer. 
     All of these adjusting means require additional elements to be incorporated into the garment at manufacture or alterations to the garment after manufacture, and in many instances the stylish appearance of a garment as to the area around the waistband is lost due to these additional elements and/or alterations. 
     For many wearers, a means for occasionally and temporarily adjusting a “styled to fit” garment in order to loosen the waistband is desired. Such a means, if adaptable to any conventional means for closing waistbands, would permit practically unlimited choice as to purchasing jeans, skirts, trousers and the like in a size providing the desired fit, which then may occasionally be adjusted to loosen the fit for comfort when required. It is further desired that such means require no permanent alteration to the garment itself so as to retain its normal stylish appearance when the need for waistband loosening passes. 
     For some wearers, a means for loosening the waistband of ready-to-wear clothing is necessary generally due to size problems. For such wearers, it is often desired that such a loosening means be relatively inexpensive and avoid costly alterations. Again, if such means be adaptable to any conventional means for closing waistbands, the choice in clothing selection becomes almost unlimited. Further if the means is detachable, one can avoid purchasing such separate means for each and every garment requiring same. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a means for extending the waistband of a garment with normal closure means. It is an object to provide such means which can be used as a temporary measure and requires no alteration of the garment itself. It is an object to provide such means which, in use, permits security of closing. These and other objects will become apparent from the description of the invention given below. 
     It is further object of the present invention to provide a simple and convenient means for adapting a lower body garment for use during the early stages of pregnancy and, thereafter, a method permitting the garment to be returned to its original form and appearance without alteration. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to a waistband extender for wearing apparel which may be removably secured to the waistband of the wearing apparel when extra room in the abdominal area of the wearer is needed. This device is particularly useful for women during early term pregnancy when maternity clothes arc too large to be worn but yet regular wearing apparel with waistbands are too small. The waistband extender covers the opening in the garment and thus provides modesty to the wearer. 
     The waistband extender is made of a flexible fabric material in the form of a generally inverted triangular shape panel with an upper edge which, when worn, is positioned adjacent the waistband of the wearing apparel. Preferably, this upper edge is elasticized. The fabric material extends downward from the upper edge and tapers as it extends towards a bottom edge. The flexible fabric material is preferably a color and/or design complimenting the material forming the wearing apparel. 
     Several features are provided to secure the waistband extender to the wearing apparel. First, a waistband securer is used to secure the upper edge of a modesty panel to the waistband of the garment. The waistband securer comprises a button provided along the inner surface of the elasticized upper edge of the fabric material adjacent one of its side edges and a buttonhole adjacent the opposite side edge. In use, the button of the waistband securer mates with the buttonhole on the waistband of the wearing apparel while the button on the waistband of the wearing apparel cooperates with the buttonhole of the waistband securer. 
     In a further embodiment, a belt loop securer extends outwardly from each corner of the upper edge of the fabric material. The belt loop securer is defined by an elongate strip of fabric which loops through the belt loop of the slacks and folds upon itself and is fastened into place thereby further securing the waistband extender to the wearing apparel by also connecting it to the belt loops of the wearing apparel. 
     At least one zipper stop is provided on the waistband extender and is positioned beneath the elasticized upper edge. The zipper stop or zipper stops are positioned at various locations along the vertical length of the waistband extender. The zipper stops are defined by a button and an elasticized loop extending therefrom. The elasticized loop is threaded through the eye of the conventional zipper on the slacks and is folded back onto itself and secured by mating with the button of the zipper attachment. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of the zipper attachments are provided on the modesty panel to accommodate different persons and different sizes during early term pregnancies. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The above objects and further features and advantages of the invention are described in detail below in conjunction with the drawings, of which: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the waistband extender of the present invention shown in use with a pair of pants with the modesty panel covering the extended opening. 
     FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the waistband extender shown with the belt loop securer in the open position. 
     FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the waistband extender with the belt loop securer in the closed position. 
     FIG. 4 is a schematic view of an alternative embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention is directed to a waistband extender  15  that increases the size of the waistband  11  of a lower body garment  10  while still providing modesty to the wearer by covering the extended opening. 
     As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the waistband extender comprises a modesty panel  20  having a generally triangular inverted shape with an upper edge  21  and two tapered sides  25  and  26  that meet at a tapered point  27 . As depicted in FIG. 1, the upper edge  21  of modesty panel  20  is positioned adjacent to the wearer&#39;s waist and is secured so that the upper edge  21  operates to enlarge the waistband  11  of the lower body garment  10 . 
     The upper edge  21  and the tapered sides are finished in any suitable manner and will depend upon the material used in the modesty panel. For example, they can be finished with a hem, an overcast stitching, pinking, a stay seam, binding, or simply left unfinished for those materials such as felt or Ultrasuede™ that are not susceptible to unraveling. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the tapered side edges  25  and  26  are tapered so that the modesty panel  20  lies flat when secured in place to the lower body garment  10 . 
     In a preferred embodiment of the present invention the upper edge  21  has an elastic portion  22 . The elastic portion  22  may be created by any suitable means known to one of ordinary skill in the art including forming a casing to hold the elastic or stitching or adhering the elastic directly to the upper edge  21 . 
     The modesty panel  20  can be made of any suitable flexible material and in a preferred embodiment of the present invention is made of a fabric similar in appearance to or complementing the fabric used to construct the lower body garment  10 . The modesty panel  20  fabric may be similar in color, texture, design, fabric type, and the like. 
     The waistband extender  15  is secured in place in several different ways. A waistband securer  30  cooperates with the fastener on the waistband  11  of lower body garment  10 . A zipper stop  50   a  is used to secure the lower portion of the modesty panel to the zipper so that the zipper is maintained in its opened position and does not inadvertently open further. Additional security is provided in an alternate embodiment by belt loop securers  40 . 
     The waistband securer  30  is located on the inside portion of the upper edge  21  of the modesty panel  20 . The waistband securer  30  comprises a button  31  located at a first end  23  of the upper edge  21  and a buttonhole  32  located at a second end  24  of the upper edge  21 . The button  31  is buttoned into the buttonhole on waistband  11  of the lower body garment  10 . The buttonhole  32  has the button on the waistband  11  buttoned into it. This operates to extend the size of the waistband  11  of the lower body garment  10  by the distance between the button  31  and the buttonhole  32 . The waistband securer  30  is fastened so that the inside portion of the modesty panel  20  faces the inside of the lower body garment  10  and the outside of the modesty panel  20  covers the opening created and provides modesty to the wearer. 
     At least one zipper stop, and preferably a plurality of zipper stops, is located along the inside midline  28  of the modesty panel  20  between the upper edge  21  and the tapered point  27 . Each zipper stop  50  comprises a button  51  and a loop  52 . The ends of the loop  52  are secured at or under the button  51 . The loop  52  is threaded through the eye of the zipper tab and is then looped or buttoned around the button  51 . This secures the zipper in place and prevents it from opening further, thus averting possible distress to the wearer. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, there are a plurality of zipper stops, such as  50   a  and  50   b  shown in FIG. 3, so that the wearer can select the extent that the zipper will be open. With a smaller girth, the zipper can be maintained in a more closed position and thus the upper zipper stop  50   a  can be used. As the girth of the wearer increases, the zipper can be maintained in a more open position, thus providing more comfort to the wearer, and a lower zipper stop such as  50   b  can be utilized. 
     In a further embodiment of the invention, additional security is provided by the use of belt loop securers  40   a  and  40   b.  FIG. 2 depicts the belt loop securers  41   a  and  41   b  in the open position and FIG. 3 depicts them in the closed position. Each of the belt loop securers comprises a strap  41  with a fastener  44  at each end of the strap  41 . The strap  41  is attached at one end  42  to one of the ends  23  or  24  of the upper edge  21  of modesty panel  20 . As shown in FIG. 1, the free end  43  of the strap  41  is threaded through a belt loop on the lower body garment  10  and is then looped back onto the fastener  44 . Tile fastener  44  can be any suitable fastener known to one of ordinary skill in the art. In one embodiment, the fastener  44  is of the hoop and loop type, i.e. Velcro™. Other suitable fasteners include snaps, hook and eyes, and the like. 
     It should be understood that the embodiments described herein are merely exemplary and that a person skilled in the art may make variations and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the snap fasteners, button fasteners and hook and loop (i.e., Velcro™) fasteners of any described embodiment are interchangeable among the embodiments. Similarly, any other known material fastening device can be substituted. Although all described embodiments relate to pants, it should be understood that the present invention can be used with any garment, such as shorts, skirts or the like that are fastened around the waist, and the closeable seam of such garments need not be formed on the front of the garment. All such variations and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.