Belt for wearing apparel

May 13, 1952

Filed Feb. 26, 1948

J. L. BAILEN

BELT FOR WEARING APPAREL

2,596,884

SHEETS—SHEET 1

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<td> May 13, 1952</td><td> J. L. BAILEN 2,596,884 BELT FOR WEARING APPAREL</td>

<td> Filed Feb. 26, 1948</td><td> 2 SHEETS—SHEET 2</td>

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Patented May 13, 1952

2,596,884

UNITED STATES

OFFICE

2,596,884

BELT FGR, WEARING' APPAREL

Jacob L.-Baileh,^:BIoomington, III·., assignor of thirty-five per cent to Gilbert E. Meites. Chicago, III.

Application ITUrttary 26,1948; Serial No. 11,088

5Claims. 1

This invention relates to belts tai· wearing apparel, and more particularly to the problem of providing decorative or -novelty features Iri con’ nection with said belts.

According to the- present invention s belt is provided in which at least the outer face of the belt is of transparent nature, the back side of this outer face being provided- with 'pockets or other retaining rrieanS so arranged that the owner of-the belt -may -insert a plurality of closely spaced slips of paper or cardboard Tearing indicia such as letters, numerals or photographs which will be visible through’the outer face of the belt and produce d'decorative or novelty effect, as-may be desired. · Letters -inay be used to spell names or words.' Some'practical and 'relatively inexpensive constructions-' for providing these features have been devised.

Additional objects and advantages Of the'invention will be apparent from the following description and from the drawings, ih which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a belt chosen for the purpose of illustration of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view¹ taken through the structure of Fig. 1 approximately on the line 2—2 thereof.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken approximately· oh'the Tin'e 3—3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary rear view of another form of the invention,'the letters-showing as in a front view.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary horizontal 'sectional view taken along the line 5—5 of Fig. 4.

Figs. 6 to 8 show a preferred modification; Fig. 6 being a fragmeiitafy perspective, Fig; 7 a fragmentary longitudinal section; and Fig. 8 a vertical section.

Although the law; requires a full and exact description of at least one 'form Of the invention, such as that which follows, it is, of course, the purpose of a patent to cover each-new Inventive concept therein ho matter how it-may-later be disguised by variation's in form or additions of further improvements; arid' the appended claims are intehded to accoiriplishthispurpose by particularly pointing out the i5arts₍ ’iml&gt;fove’mehts or combinations in which the inventive Concepts are found.

The forms of the belt chosen for illustration in Figs. 1-5 are formed from a single sheet of transparent plastic. This-sheet is-^:foldeid^Tat⁷the bottom to provide an outer layer IT and an Inner layer 12. The two layers are joined together along a plurality of spaced vertical lines 13 to (CI. 2—338)

-- 2 form pockets 14.' Into-these pockets may be inserted -any^: desired substantially flat Items 16. Usually these items will be flat pieces of paper or cardboard bearing letters of -the alphabet, nu5 literals or photographs. In belts owned by young boys it may be assumed that the photographs will usually be baseball players. In the course of time the boys Will probably prefer photographs of girls. When letters are used they may appropri10 ately spell the name of the owner or perhaps the name of his school or sometimes a slogan. For the purpose of forming such names or words, it is highly desirable that the letters be closely spaced along the belt. Accordingly the pockets 15 should be separated as little as possible. Certainly the invention would nbt be fully utilized if they were separated more than half the width of the pockets.

The pockets may probably be formed most 20 economically by adhesion-along the selected lines separating'the pockets. This may be accomplished by heat sealing if a suitable plastic material is Used, dr by cementing along these lines if preferred, or if the material· does not lend 25 itself readily to heat sealing. The cementing may be confined to the desired lines by printing the cement or solvent upon the belt -along the selected lines.

One of the types of adhesion-referred to is 30 preferred not only for economy; but because it provides a very neat belt with little or no weakening by the formation of the pockets. Both layers of the belt will cooperate to give the belt strength. The portion of the belt which passes 35 through the buckle and that which is secured to the buckle may-be-formed into a single layer, in effect, by adhering the entire surfaces of the'two layers of these portions of the belt.

Instead of Using another sheet folded at the 40 bottom, the belt may be formed of two sheets adhered together along the bottom.

Instead of adhesion; stitches may be used wherever adhesion has been indicated. In the Case of longitudinal stitches, it is probable that either an 45 elastic thread should be Used or that the stitches should extend -diagonally sb that stitching of the plastic belt will not break-the threads.

Instead of forming separate pockets, the inserts may be positioned longitudinally of the belt 50 by plastic lugs 21 cut-from-the belt as small tongues thereon. Thus, as seen best in Fig. 5, an insert 16 may be slipped between -two successive tongues 21 extending toward one another.- The insert 16 will besufficiently^ held between these 55 tongues by the layers 22 and 23 of the belt, either

3,596,884 of which may be the outer layer. The two layers may be formed from one sheet or from two sheets, as discussed in connection with Figs. 1 to 3.

If desired, there may be more than two folds of the belt. For example, the outer layer ί i could fold down over the fold 12. This would have the advantage of closing the pocket 14 so that there would be little likelihood that dirt or dust would enter the pocket in noticeable quantities. If the plastic is heat-creased so that the flap has a decided tendency to fold in the right position and lie along the inner side of the belt, it is believed that fastening of the flap will be unnecessary. However, snap fasteners, slide fasteners or other securing means may be provided if preferred.

Figs. 6, 7 and 8 show a form of the invention which is at present preferred. In this form, two plastic strips 31 and 32 are shown, although theoretically one strip folded over could be used. The face strip 31 is of transparent plastic. The back strip 32 is preferably of similar plastic, although whether it is transparent or not is largely a matter of choice. This back strip 32 is preferably provided with apertures 33 spaced according to the spacing of the pockets. The two layers 31 and 32 are sealed together along the bottom edge, along the top edge, and along vertical lines between the apertures 33. Thus individual pockets are formed which are closed on the top, bottom and two sides but which have openings 33 adjacent to the top. Such a pocket could be regarded as open at the top thereof. There is less tendency for it to collect dirt on the front side of the insert 16 than if the pocket were completely open at the top.

A belt formed in this manner has a very attractive appearance. The heat sealing along the four edges of each insert appears to frame each insert, at least if the heat sealing is accomplished with sufficient pressure to form grooves 34. Even if the grooves are almost entirely in the back face of the rear strip 32, they will nevertheless be visible through the front of the belt, at least if both strips 31 and 32 are transparent.

The end portion of the belt which goes through the buckle may also be framed by heat sealed lines 36 along its periphery and preferably along the longitudinal center line 37. The latter is especially desirable if a tongue type of buckle is used, as heat sealing along this center line will prevent the tongue from catching between the two layers 3 ί and 32.

Although the aperture 33 has been shown as a triangular aperture, it could be formed by one or more mere slits. Thus the two lower sides of the triangular aperture could be cut, leaving a flap secured to the upper edge zone of the belt. This flap would tend to close the aperture 33 so as to minimize the accumulation of dirt in the pocket.

Although best utilization of the invention requires that the entire body of the belt, except the inserts, be formed of plastic, certain aspects of the invention can be used by forming -only the outer layer of plastic. In that event the inner layer could be fabric or leather or any other suitable belting material.

It is not necessary that the plastic be fully transparent. The translucent effect similar to that of frosted glass will have adequate transparency characteristics when the insert is pressed against the inner surface of the outer layer of the belt. Of course a clear, transparent plastic will give still greater visibility and will in other respects be more attractive to the eye.

If the belt is to be used for garment support, as in the case of men’s belts, the material used should have a fairly good tensile strength. Most men probably also desire a substantial amount of resilient stretchability. Clear plastics heretofore used for belts would be suitable. Others may be chosen by plastics experts. A material noted for ready heat sealing and sufficiently transparent for the purpose of this invention, and regarded as otherwise suitable, is rubber hydrochloride as is used in “Pliofilm.”

Another material which has been found to be quite satisfactory is Vinylite, VU-1940 clear. Information from the manufacturers indicates that this is a vinyl chloride acetate resin with dioctylphthalate as a plasticizer. The information is that the quantity of this plasticizer used is approximately 32% of the total weight and that about 95% of the remainder is vinyl chloride, the rest being vinyl acetate. It is not believed that the choice of plastics need be considered a part of the present invention, but the foregoing is stated in order to make the fullest possible disclosure. This Vinylite is a clear and fairly elastic material, easily heat sealed.