MANUFACTURING ANTI -CHAFE PANTS

The invention relates to an anti-chafe pants, in particular an anti-chafe lower undergarment.

Women who have their thighs lying somewhat against each other during walking, frequently undergo the problem of leg chafing when wearing a skirt or the like without wearing panties underneath. With each move their thighs are rubbed against one another, with the result of painful rough sores occurring at their inner thighs. In order to prevent this problem of chafing, those women keep wearing panties even when for example it actually gets too hot outside to keep wearing them.

It has already been tried to minimize this problem of chafing by designing special undergarments. For example US 4,247,959 shows an anti-chafe lower undergarment for women. This undergarment comprises two front and two back panels which at their upper edges are connected to an elastic waistband. The front left panel with an outer side edge is sewn to an outer side edge of the back left panel. Likewise the front right panel with an outer side edge is sewn to an outer side edge of the back right panel. At the position of the crotch, upper curved inner edge parts of the front left and the front right panels are sewn to each other. Likewise at the position of the buttocks, upper curved inner edge parts of the back left and the back right panels are sewn to each other. Finally, a left leg area is formed by sewing lower straight inner edge parts of the front left and back left panels to each other, and a right leg area is formed by sewing lower straight inner edge parts of the front right and back right panels to each other. The leg areas are dimensioned such that they are full flared, for which they are sufficiently larger at the bottom than at the top. The flared leg areas aim to provide wide leg openings for admission of ventilation air, and aim to give a freedom of movement to avoid a binding and thus irritating chafing of the skin. A direct contacting of the naked skin of the respective legs with each other at the position of the thighs is prevented.

A disadvantage of this known undergarment, however, is that their comfort in wearing still leaves to be desired. For example seams are present over the entire height of the leg areas at the position of the inner thighs. Those seams may add to the problem of chafing, and thus may make it less comfortable to walk with bare legs. Furthermore the design comprises at least four seams along its center, making it quite laborious to

manufacture. Also a lot of fabric is needed for providing the desired freedom of movement. This large amount of fabric makes the undergarment relative heavy and warmer to wear.

Furthermore this large amount of fabric requires a larger and/or wider skirt to be worn on top of the undergarment. This even gives a heavier and warmer feeling to the wearer. It is noted that AU-413,365 already shows a panty having seamless thigh areas. The manufacturing of this known panty starts with the making of two cylinder shaped knitted tubes which at their bottom ends are provided with a weld. In two opposite side walls of the tubes slits are made which extend downwards form the upper edges of the tubes.

Subsequently the side edges of the slits are sewn together, resulting in a center seam. Finally a waistband is sewn to the thus obtained assembly.

The disadvantage of this known panty is that is relative expensive and complex to make. First of all the manufacturing of the cylindrical tubes requires a complex knitting machine. Secondly the sewing together of the adjacent side edges of the slits of the two tubes is somewhat difficult because of the fact that the tubes already have their cylindrical shapes. Furthermore the wearing comfort of this known panty leaves to be desired, partly because of the fact that the panty during use fits tight around the user's body and thus does not leave space for the admission of ventilating air. This is in sharp contrast with the above mentioned specific desire of the user to wear a skirt or the like without wearing panties underneath.

The present invention aims to overcome the abovementioned disadvantages at least partly or to provide a usable alternative. In particular the invention aims to provide a cost-effective manufacturing method for making lightweight (under)pants with an optimal wearing comfort which further minimizes the problem of chafing while providing a maximum amount of freedom of movement to the user, as well as to provide such an advantageous lightweight (under)pants with optimal wearing comfort itself.

This aim is achieved by a method for manufacturing an anti-chafe pants according to claim 1 as well as by an anti-chafe pants according to claim 2.

The method is characterized in that comprises the steps of providing at least one piece of substantially flat fabric, followed by a cutting out of a left and right panel including cut-outs out of the piece of fabric. Subsequently the U-shaped center seam edges delimiting the cut-outs are stitched together, and the hip areas are connected at least partly to each other for forming the waistband, while at the same time forming the oppositely curved thigh areas.

This method advantageously makes it possible to work as long as possible with flat fabric panels instead of with tubes which already have been knitted into a cylindrical shape. Furthermore, the method makes it possible to stitch the center seam together quickly and neatly before the waistband has to be formed, that is to say while the panels can simply be laid on top of each other and thus still can maintain their flat shape during the stitching step. The hip areas and curved seamless thigh parts are then only to be formed after the center seam has been stitched. For this it is only necessary to temporarily or permanently connect the hip areas partly or entirely with each other. The pants, which in particular are made in accordance with this manufacturing method, comprises a left one-piece fabric panel and a right one-piece fabric panel. Each of said panels comprises a downwardly extending cut-out opening towards the upper edge of the respective panel. Left and right center seam edges are formed by respective U-shaped edges of the cut-outs in the left and right panels. Left and right front and back hip areas are formed by upper areas of the left and right panels at opposite sides of their cut-outs. The center seam edges are stitched together and form a center seam. The hip areas are at least partly connected to each other and form a waistband. The center seam follows the U-shape of the cut-outs and thus extends from a center of an upper edge of a front side of the waistband as one continuous seam to a center of an upper edge of a back side of the waistband. According to the inventive thought oppositely curved left and right thigh areas are formed by lower areas of the left and right panels beneath their cut-outs.

Those oppositely curved thigh areas advantageously are automatically formed when both the center seam is stitched and the waistband is closed. No further measures need to be taken for this. In particular no stitching needs to take place at the location of the thigh areas. The positive effect of this is that no seams have to be present in the thigh areas, in particular not at the critical location in between inner thighs of a wearer during use. The absence of seams at that position of the pants, fully prevents chafing at that same position of the thighs. This gives the user a full freedom to walk with bare legs. The pants now may only comprise two panels and one seam. This makes it possible to manufacture the pants in an economic fashion.

The anti-chafe pants can be used as undergarment under a skirt or other wide item of clothing, like harem trousers. If desired a slip can be worn under the anti-chafe pants. The anti-chafe pants can be used in combination with bare legs in order to prevent chafing of the skin at the position of the inner thighs. It can however also be worn on top of a panty, legging or the like in order to prevent chafing of the fabric thereof. This prevents the panty, legging or the like from excessively wearing out at the location of the inner thigh parts. It is also possible to manufacture other types of garments in accordance with the invention. For example culottes, trousers or shorts are possible. The invention is not limited to be used by women, but can also be advantageous for men, both of them may have their thighs rubbing against each other during walking or running, for example in the case of sports or on the beach.

In a preferred embodiment the front and back hip areas are not connected to each other along their outer side edges which extend downwardly below the waistband. The thus obtained side splits give a lot of freedom of movement to the user while at the same time a minimum amount of fabric is necessary. This use of not much fabric gives the wearer a light, airy, cool and thin feeling. If used as an undergarment the invention makes it possible to even wear a rather tight or short skirt or the like on top of it. Also the side splits make it possible to use one and the same size of anti-chafe pants for a wide variety of people at the same time. The side splits tend to automatically open up more, the thicker a persons thighs are.

In a further embodiment the front and back ones of said hip areas partially overlap each other freely below the waistband. This helps to keep the entire circumference of the thigh/hip covered when wearing the anti-chafe pants. Preferably the overlap is 2-10 centimetres.

The front and back hip areas of each panel may be fixedly connected to each other at the location of the waistband. It is also possible to releasable connect the front and back hip areas of each panel with each other at the location of the waistband, for example by means of snaps or Velcro. This may make it easier for a user to position the anti-chafe pants around his lower body, because it then is no longer necessary to step into it.

Further preferred embodiments are stated in the subclaims.

The invention shall be explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a view of a right panel to be used for manufacturing an embodiment of the anti-chafe pants according to the invention;

Fig. 2a shows the right panel of fig. 1 together with a mirror-symmetrical left panel; Fig. 2b shows the left and right panel laid on top of each other for stitching the crotch;

Fig. 2c shows an enlarged bottom view of the two panels stitched together at the crotch and connected with each other around the waistband;

Fig. 3 shows a front view of fig. 2c;

Fig. 4 shows a side view of fig. 2c; and

Fig. 5 shows a view in perspective of the anti-chafe pants worn by a user. In fig. 1 -5 the anti-chafe pants in its entirety has been indicated with the reference numeral 1 . The pants 1 comprises an elastic waistband 2, left and right thigh areas 3, 4, and front and back hip areas 5, 6 for covering the crotch and the buttocks of a wearer. The pants is built up out of two symmetrical panels, a left panel 7 and a right panel 8. The panels 7, 8 are each cut as a one-piece flat fabric, in particular made from a moisture absorbing fabric material with low friction. The panels 7, 8 are fully mirror-symmetrical.

In fig. 1 it can be seen that the unassembled panel 8 comprises a U-shaped unitary assembly of an upper front hip area 10, a lower thigh area 1 1 and an upper back hip area 12. The areas 10, 1 1 , 12 together delimit a cut-out 14. The cut-out 14 opens out between upper edges 15, 16 of the front and back hip areas 10, 12, and extends all the way downward up till the lower thigh area 1 1 . The left edge 17 of the cut-out 14 extends vertical. The right edge 18 of the cut-out 14 extends slanting upwards. At its lower part the cut-out 14 has a concavely curved edge 19. Together the edges 17, 18 and 19 form a right center seam edge.

The lower thigh area 1 1 extends over the entire width of the panel 8 and has curved lower corners 20. The upper edge 15 of the front hip area 10 extends horizontal. The upper edge 16 of the back hip area 12 extends angled downwards in the direction of outer side edge 22. With this the upper edge 16 starts at a higher position than the upper edge 15 at the side of the cut-out 14, in particular 2-6 centimetres higher.

In the assembled state of fig. 2b the U-shaped cut-out edges 17, 18, 19 of the panel 8 are stitched to the corresponding U-shaped cut-out edges 17', 18', 19' of the panel 7 and form a center seam 24. Furthermore, the outer portions 15a, 16a and 15a', 16a' of the upper edges 15, 16 and 15', 16' are connected to each other by means of the waistband 2. and/or by directly stitching them together. Outer side edges 25, 25' of the front hip and thigh areas freely overlap the outer side edges 22, 22' of the back hip and thigh areas.

Besides the embodiment shown numerous variants are possible. For example the anti-chafe pants can be made from different materials. The various areas of the panels may have other shapes and instead of the hip areas freely overlapping each other they may also be connected to each other over a larger part of their height. The thigh area preferably has a height Ht of at least 4 centimetres. The hip area preferably has a height Hw between 28-36 centimetres. The panel preferably has a width Wp of at least 80 centimetres. The cut-out preferably has a width Wco between 20-35 centimetres. Other dimensions or ratios are however also possible. Instead of using the invention for lower undergarment, it can also be used for over pants, pyjama pants, sports cloths, beach clothing, and as integrated inner pants skirt in other clothing items like skirts and dresses. Besides being connected to each other and to the waistband, the assembly of left and right one-piece panels can also be combined with one or more further elements like additional subpanels for covering further body parts of a user and/or with decorations like pieces of lace or the like. It remains important though that then also none of the connections between such further elements and the left and right one-piece main panels gets to form a chafing seam which may come to lie between the thighs of a user. In other words it stays important that the oppositely curved thigh areas remain being made seamless and automatically achieved when the left and right panel are connected with each other along the center seam edges. The hip areas of the panels may be connected to each other directly or indirectly, for example via the waistband or even via subpanels which are connected to the hip areas of the left and right one-piece panels.

Thus the invention provides a solution to the wide spread problem of chafing. Not only by offering anti-chafe pants with seamless thigh areas, but also by combining it with an open airy design. The invention excels in simplicity. It only needs to have a left and a right panel which also form the front and aft panels, connected with each other by means of a preferably low hanging center seam. Each panel only needs to be closed at one point of the waistband and because of that forms a side split. All the disadvantages of classical pants crotches with four seems are now obviated for people having chafing problems.