Europaisches Patentamt European Patent Office © Publication number: 0 572 116A1 Office europeen des brevets EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION © Application number: 93303149.4 Int. CI.5: A41D 1/06 @ Date of filing: 22.04.93 ® Priority: 27.05.92 JP 35325/92 © Applicant: Kato, Tall 301, Yoyogikoen Gardenia, @ Date of publication of application: 43-23 Tomigaya 1-chome 01.12.93 Bulletin 93/48 Shibuya-ku, Tokyo(JP) Applicant: ZIN CO., LTD. © Designated Contracting States: 9-5 Hatsudai 2-chome DE FR GB IT Shibuya-ku, Tokyo(JP) @ Inventor: Kato, Tall, 301, Yoyogikoen Gardenia 43-23, Tomigaya 1-chome, Shibuya-ku Tokyo(JP) © Representative: Linn, Samuel Jonathan et al MEWBURN ELLIS 2 Cursitor Street London EC4A 1BQ (GB) (54 Shirred pants and process for producing the same. © Shirred pants having a shirring on and along the entire length of front and rear centerlines of pant legs have a fancy appearance and an aesthetic effect improved by fine ripples in an adequate num- ber provided over the whole length of the pants by FIG. 4 the shirring. Such shirred pants are readily and ec- onomically fabricated from four longitudinally ex- tended quarters per pant leg (1,2,3,4), having an arcuate plane shape with a sideseam side (7) of a standard length of the pants or an inseam side (8) of a standard under-crotch length, as a short arc, and < with a centerline side of a length ranging 110-160% of the standard length, as a long arc. Front quarters CO and rear quarters are seamed together, respectively, at the centerline sides (5,6), to form front and rear halves of a pant leg which are then shirred along the CM entire length of the centerline to gather the long arc substantially to the standard length under a tension- less condition. With the thus shirred halves, the pants are made up according to a usual procedure. Rank Xerox (UK) Business Services (3. 10/3.6/3.3. 1) 1 EP 0 572 116 A1 2 The present invention relates to trousers, par- where slash pockets, side slits, zippers, zipper ticularly pants having excellent motional function shields or fly fronts are provided or sewn up, with a and aesthetic effect, more particularly, an improve- troublesome work taking much time and impair- ment of hitherto known shirred pants, and a pro- ment of aesthetic appearance; (b) further, in the cess for producing the same. 5 case where a shirring is provided particularly along As pants adapted for wear in skiing, riding, inseams, a delicate skill is required in adjusting a golfing, motorcycling, bicycling or the like, a num- contracting force of a shirring band, and if it is ber of those entirely or partly composed of an inadequately adjusted, the crotch portion will be- elastic fabric for improving motional function there- come slackened so that the wearer's shape looks of have so far been proposed, for example, in io awkward; (c) as a whole, one may have an impres- Japanese Utility Model Registration Publication sion that the ripples formed by shirrings are so Nos. 52-3,813, 56-1,683, 60-6,402, 62-11,923, 62- excessive in number that they are apt to tire of the 11,924, etc. Since they require a special elastic style; and (d) the necessary length of the fabric fabric and a difficult sewing technique, most of must be extremely increased for providing shirrings them have had drawbacks such as a high produc- 75 and it pushes up the cost of production. Further- tion cost and in addition an increase of wearers' more, from the above reasons, many portions fatigue due to a tight fit exerted to the body by the which make sewing operations difficult and in addi- elastic fabric, rather than a feeling of comfort. Be- tion many shirrings to be provided increase wages sides, these are mainly a kind of sportswear and for sewing and push up the cost of production. not suited for home wear, casual wear or townwear. 20 An object of the present invention is to easily Aiming to solve such hitherto posed problems and economically provide shirred pants having a and to provide inexpensive pants of free size, suit- further improved and aestheticized appearance, ed for use as home wear, townwear or leisure wear, without impairing advantages of the conventional which give a feeling of comfortable wear without shirred pants, and to eliminate the above-described preventing a free and light motion as well as an 25 difficulties entailed by the conventional shirred excellent aesthetic style and are very convenient pants. A further object of the present invention is to for handling, I, the inventor, proposed in Japanese provide fashionably and variedly designed shirred Utility Model Registration Application Laid-open No. pants which can be almost released from restric- 63-170,412 shirred pants which have at least 2, tions with respect of designing and selection of preferably 4 shirrings per a pant leg at symmetrical 30 materials, by minimizing the number of the shir- positions with respect to the cross-section of the rings. pant leg, said shirrings extending from the cuff of Namely, the present invention is shirred pants the pant leg up to the seam line of the self-belt or comprising a pair of pant legs bordered by a front the crotch of the pants. seam or front placket and a crotch seam, each of In a preferable embodiment of such conven- 35 said pant legs comprising two outside quarters tional shirred pants as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, a defined by a front or rear centerline seam and a front half cloth 21 and a rear half cloth 22 to sideseam, and two inside quarters defined by said compose a pant leg are cut out so as to have a front or rear centerline seam, an inseam and the length as much as 130-160% of a standard length front seam or front placket or the crotch seam, said of the pants and sewn together. Then, four shir- 40 four quarters having an arcuate plane shape in rings per one pant leg are provided to the sewn up expanded patterns thereof, which said arcuate pants along front and rear centerlines 23 and 24, plane shape has said sideseam of a length cor- sideseams 25 and 25 and inseams 26 and 26 to responding to a standard length of the pants or reduce by gathering the length of the pants to the said inseam of a length corresponding to a stan- standard size. Though these shirred pants achieved 45 dard under-crotch length, as an inside short arc, the aimed objects in general on the one hand, the and said centerline seams of a length ranging 110- following difficulties were encountered in the stage 160% of the length of said sideseam, as an outside of actual practices on the other hand. long arc, and which centerline seams are provided Namely, since the above-described convention- with a shirring thereon, along the entire length al shirred pants are composed of a trousering 50 thereof and gathered by said shirring to a length much longer than a normal or standard trousering substantially the same as the length of the and shirred to form uniform, horizontal ripples over sideseam under a tensionless condition. the whole pants, the function of the pants may be Further, a process for producing the shirred rather impaired according to the portion thereof. pants according to the present invention, com- For example, (a) at a fly front portion, around a 55 prises the steps of: slash pocket, or the like, a sewing operation is (a) producing two sets of pattern fabrics for a difficult to conduct due to the shirrings, so that the pair of pants, in a mirror symmetrical relation cloth has to be gathered beforehand at portions with one another, each set comprising four lon- 2 3 EP 0 572 116 A1 4 gitudinally extending quarters of a pant leg, said according to the present invention, a front half F four quarters being front and rear, outside and and a rear half R of the pant leg are divided along inside quarters, forming each into an arcuate longitudinal centerlines 5 and 6, respectively, into a plane shape in its expanded pattern with an front outside quarter 1 and a front inside quarter 2 inside short arc and an outside long arc having 5 and a rear outside quarter 3 and a rear inside a length ranging 110-160% of a standard length quarter 4. For a pair of pants, two sets of such of the pants, said short arc for the outside structural component pattern fabrics in a mirror quarters having a standard under-crotch length; symmetrical or flip-flop relation with one another (b) seaming said front outside and inside quar- are produced. ters and said rear outside and inside quarters at io These longitudinally extending quarters 1, 2, 3 said long arcs, respectively, to form front and and 4, as structural components, are formed into rear halves which are provided with a longitudi- an archwise bent shape in plane having a center- nal centerline seam along the long arc; line side 5 or 6 as an outside long arc and a (c) providing a shirring on and along the entire sideseam side 7 or inseam side 8 as an inside length of said centerline seams to gather the is short arc, in the expanded pattern thereof. centerline seams to have an apparent length The sideseam side 7 has a length correspond- substantially the same as the length of the stan- ing to a standard length of the pants, namely, an dard length of the pants under a tensionless under-belt length of the pants in accordance with a condition; wearer's size.