Improved Self Supporting Trousers.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 21st July. 1896-Accepted, 12th Sept.. 1895
Improved Self Supporting Trousers.
I, WALTER HENRY MARSDEN, of Salisbury in the Province of South Australia,
Station Master, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :--
This invention consists in forming the trousers or like garments with a suspending
belt or band forming part of the garment and dispensing with an exterior or
separate belt or braces. It consists in a combination of the usual back strap with
an inner belt or band and in the formation of the waist of the trousers to correspond
therewith.
Instead of the usual back strap being fastened to the trousers, two slits are
made, one on each side, where the back strap would start.
Inside the trousers a waist band or inner suspending belt is provided which may
be made of the same material as the trousers. It is divided at the fly, and the two
ends fasten by hook and eye or other convenient. fastening. It then passes round
the waist and the back ends pass through the two slits before described to the
outside and are there attached and tightened or loosened by the usual buckle.
This band or belt is secured to the inside of the trousers either by stitching or by
passing through perpendicular loops on the inside of the trousers or partly by one
& partly by the other mode.
In order that the construction of a garment according to my invention may be
fully understood I have attached hereto a sheet of drawings illustrating the same
and to which I will now refer.
Figure 1 is a view of the trousers from the back illustrating the belt or band
secured to the trousers by stitching, while
Figure 2 is a view from the rear showing the belt or band passing through
perpendicular loops.
In the drawings A represents the belt or band made in two pieces or like a
prolongation of the usual back straps. A junction is made at their front ends by
preferably the hook and eye attachment marked B and at their back ends by a
buckle of the type generally employed for the fastening of back straps. In
order to enable this arrangement to be carried out two slits D D are made in the
trousers, and sewed or bound at their edges, to admit of the passage of the belt A,
as shown.
The belt, as previously stated, is secured to the trousers, either by stitching, by
passing through perpendicular loops, or by a combination of these two methods.
In Figure I is shown the first mentioned of these methods, which I prefer. The
belt is stitched at E F, on the hips, and at G, near to the fly. The belt is cut and
adjusted so that the portion from F to G is about half-an-inch smaller than that
part of the trousers, and the portion from E to B has a similar variation, so that
the front part of the belt is about one inch shorter than the front part of the trouser
waist. This fulness can be increased or lessened according to requirements.
In Figure 2, which illustrates the second method of attachment, I have shown
three perpendicular loops in positions corresponding with those occupied by the
stitching in Figure 1 and have marked them respectively HJ and K. If the loops
are used it is preferable to have one stitching to secure the beit to the trousers
between J and K. The variation between the size of the belt and the waist of the
trousers applies to both methods.

page_text: It will be readily seen from the drawings and specification that by combining
the trousers and suspending belt in one, a garment is produced possessing the
following advantages,-Economy in construction; convenience in forming the
suspender and garment in one; security, because of the belt fitting closer to
the body than in the case of a belt worn outside the trousers, and, owing to the
construction, the band being inside (except at the back ends), is made tighter than
the trousers, thus allowing a suitable slight space for air or ventilation and
promoting the comfort of the wearer.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
First. Trousers made with an inner belt or band attached at suitable spaces to
the trousers, as described, whereby the belt is made to fit tighter than the trousers,
substantially as and for the purposes stated.
Second. The combination in a garment, as herein described, of trousers, inner
belt stitched or attached to the trousers, fly-fastening and rear-fasteuing, as herein
described, and as illustrated in the drawings.
Dated this Sixteenth day of June 1896.
WALTER HENRY MARSDEN,