Abstract:
A swimsuit garment ( 10, 42, 58, 74 ) is constructed of a single piece of knit material characterized by having high stretchability so as to fit a wide range of wearer sizes and yet remaining comfortable. In manufacture, the swimsuit is cut from a material blank and is seamless with the cut edge remaining free from hemming or other finishing.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The invention described herein pertains generally to swimwear, and, more particularly, to swimwear that can be manufactured with optimal cost effectiveness enabling disposable use.  
           [0003]    2. Description of Field of Application  
           [0004]    A not uncommon situation that has occurred at least once to most individuals, and more than once to many, has been finding on arrival at a trip destination that the bathing suit has been left home. To remedy the situation, typically a suit is bought at a resort, for example, at an exorbitant price and no doubt of a design that is at best merely acceptable, but not totally what one would have desired. Some individuals, when queried, have indicated that they have a number of swimsuits at home, and yet they still fail to bring one along, especially if the trip is quickly decided upon.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    It is a primary object and aim of the present invention to provide a swimsuit and method of making the same which accommodates a large range of body sizes and at optimal cost effectiveness.  
           [0006]    Another object is the provision of a swimsuit brought to finished usable condition without the necessity of interconnecting by such means as sewing, finishing edges, or the like.  
           [0007]    Yet another object is the cutting of a swim garment in one-piece from a stretchable fabric that can accommodate a wide range of women&#39;s sizes.  
           [0008]    Still another object is the cutting of one-piece textile items from a textile blank, which items can be utilized as clothing without need of further retention means.  
           [0009]    In accordance with the practice of the present invention an item of clothing is formed from a single piece or blank of a highly stretchable material that when maximally stretched is not uncomfortable to the wearer. The item of clothing includes not only body covering portions but also straps for being tied together or coacting with slits or other openings to effect removable securement of the clothing item about a human body. It is contemplated that the described clothing item and method of manufacture can be most advantageously employed to make a female swimsuit of either the one-piece or two-piece category. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
       [0010]    These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the attached drawings in which:  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 is a plan view of a one-piece swimsuit of the invention;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 depicts the swimsuit of FIG. 1 as worn by an individual;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIGS. 3A and 3B are respectively a plan view of the bottom half of a two-piece swimsuit of the invention and the same shown folded for wearing;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIGS. 4A and 4B respective are a plan view of the top half of a two-piece swimsuit of the invention and the same as assembled during wear;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 5 depicts the two-piece swimsuit of FIGS. 3 and 4 as worn by an individual;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIGS. 6A and 6B show an alternative embodiment of top half garment constructed in accordance with the invention; and  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 7 shows in plan view a design of a swimsuit lower half of the invention laid out on a textile blank prior to cutting removal during manufacture. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0018]    With reference now to the drawings and, particularly, FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a one-piece women&#39;s bathing suit  10  made in accordance with the present invention. The bathing suit is constructed from a single blank of homogeneous preferably knit textile material to be described in detail later having a first desired characteristic of stretchability. The suit includes a seamless bottom half unit  12  with a somewhat triangular stomach panel  14 , and a rear panel  16  integrally joined with panel  14  via a crotch panel  17 . First and second connection strips  18  and  20  extend transversely away from respective opposite sides of the stomach panel  14 . Third and fourth connection strips  22  and  24  extend transversely from respectively opposite sides of rear panel  16 . Preferably, strips  18  and  20  are located along a straight line  26  generally parallel to line  28  through the approximate center of the crotch panel  17 , lines  26  and  28  intersecting the vertical centerline  30  of the suit at 90-degrees. Similarly, strips  22  and  24  extend along a straight line generally parallel to lines  28  and  26 .  
         [0019]    On wearing assembly, the stomach, crotch and rear panels are placed against the corresponding parts of the anatomy and strips  18 - 22  and  20 - 24  being tied together and located against the upper hips as shown in FIG. 2. Optionally, strips  18  and  20  may be tied together as well as the strips  22  and  24 .  
         [0020]    With reference still to FIGS. 1 and 2, the upper half  32  of the swimsuit  10  includes a central panel  34  of such extent as to cover the upper torso region and part of the forward areas of each side. Also, first and second arm members  36  and  38  extend upwardly and slightly outwardly from the central panel  34 . First and second slits  40  and  42  are formed in the respective arm members for receiving the arms therethrough during use.  
         [0021]    Although other materials may be found useful in making the present invention, best results to date have been obtained by making the described swimsuit from a knit material constructed of 92% polyester and 8% spandex (additionally, the product sold by the Dupont Company under the registered trademark Lycra may be used instead of spandex). Swimsuits made of this material for a women&#39;s size 2 not only are stretchable without splitting or tearing to accommodate an adult size 14, and can do so without producing such reactive pressure as to make, say, a size 14 individual uncomfortable. Although the above-described combination of materials has been found to be excellent for present purposes, other suitable knit or woven materials may be found suitable such as individual or combinations of materials selected from the group:  
         [0022]    polyester, spandex, Lycra, and nylon.  
         [0023]    To wear the swimsuit garment  10 , the arms are inserted through the slits  40  and  42  and the rear panel  16  is passed between the legs from the front and pulled up into place. The strips  18 ,  20 ,  22  and  24  are then tied together as already described, one example of which is shown in FIG. 2.  
         [0024]    For a two-piece swimsuit of the invention, reference is now made to FIGS. 3A and 3B where the lower half  42  of the swimsuit is seen to be shaped similarly to the lower half  12  of the first described one-piece suit except separated from the top half. That is, the lower half  42  has a generally triangular front or stomach panel  44  integral with the crotch panel  46 , which is, in turn, unitary with a rear panel  48 . Transversely extending connection strips  50  and  52  are integral with the front panel  44  and strips  54  and  56  extend from opposite sides of rear panel  48 . Securement of the lower half  42  to the body during wearing is accomplished by tying strip  50  to strip  54 , and strip  52  to strip  56  FIG. 5, or, alternatively, tying  50  to  52  and  54  to  56  about the body.  
         [0025]    The entire upper or top half  58  of a first version of a two-piece swimsuit shown in FIG. 4A includes a unitary generally rectangular textile body member  60  having a long dimension L and a transverse shorter dimension D. Along one of the long edges, first and second strips  62  and  64 , preferably of approximately the same length, are formed by cutting into the body member  60  from each of the small ends a limited extent parallel to the long dimension L. These strips are of a length that enable the outer end portions to be tied together around the neck and the opposite fixed ends of the strips terminate adjacent each breast of the wearer (FIG. 5). Each of the small ends of D dimension additionally has a rectangular portion of textile material removed leaving a pair of spaced apart strips at each end, namely  66 , 68  and  70 , 72 . In final wearing assembly, strips  62  and  64  are tied together about the neck, whereas strips  66 ,  68 ,  70  and  72  are tied together as desired, with the tied portions being located at the back (FIG. 4B and FIG. 5).  
         [0026]    For an alternative version of and upper half garment  74  of the invention, reference is now made to FIGS. 6A and 6B. The overall garment is cut from a single piece of material and includes a generally oval center portion  76  that tapers from a maximum at approximately the garment center  77  down to integral tying strips  78  and  80  located at opposite sides and extending generally horizontally. Further strips  82  and  84  are formed by shallow cut lines  86  and  88  formed parallel to the top edge and both terminating short of the garment center  77 . By tying strips  78  and  80  together about the body and strips  82  and  84  about the neck, the garment serves its purpose as the top half of a two-piece bathing suit. Turning now to FIG. 7 for the description of the method of manufacture, a given swimsuit part (e.g., lower half  42 ) is cut out from a blank  86  of a knit textile material of desired characteristics along the dotted line and is immediately available for use without sewing, providing edges or adding such things as buttons or snaps.  
         [0027]    Accordingly, the swimsuit is optimally inexpensive because of the vast reduction in labor and materials normally encountered in other typical garment manufacturing processes. In fact, swimsuits constructed as described are sufficiently cost effective as to enable discarding after a single wearing.  
         [0028]    In the practice of the present invention there is provided a seamless swimsuit, either one-piece or two-piece, each piece or part of which consists solely of a single unitary textile material sheet cut to desired shape with the wearing integrity being provided by integral strips of the textile material being tied together. Moreover, the textile material possesses excellent stretchability characteristics so that the described swimsuit can accommodate a wide range of body sizes, and, at the same time, not make an individual of a relatively large body size be made uncomfortable by an excessively tight-fitting feeling.  
         [0029]    Illustrative of swimsuit dimensions in the unstressed or smallest size (e.g., size 2) and with reference to FIG. 1, the overall length from topmost point to the bottom edge is 36 inches; from the strips  18  and  20  to the topmost edge of the arm portions  36  and  38  is 13.5 inches; the arm slits  40  and  42  are 6 inches long; the crotch panel width is 2.5 inches; and the overall length across strips  18  and  20  (as well across  22  and  24 ) is 28 inches. The dimensions of the lower half of the two-piece swimsuit shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B the dimensions can be directly taken from those just given for FIG. 1. For the upper half garment  58  of FIG. 4A, L is 34 inches; D is 8 inches; each strip  62  and  64  14.5 inches long and 0.5 inches wide; and the strips  66 - 72  are each 1.25 inches wide.  
         [0030]    Although the present invention has been described in connection with a preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that one skilled in the appertaining arts could make modifications that come within the spirit of the invention described and within the ambit of the appended claims.