U.S. patent application number 12/311402 was filed with the patent office on 2012-01-19 for wear.
Invention is credited to Mamoru Omuro, Yoshikuni Takamoto, Yoshie Tsuji.
Application Number | 20120011635 12/311402 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 39268463 |
Filed Date | 2012-01-19 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120011635 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Tsuji; Yoshie ; et
al. |
January 19, 2012 |
WEAR
Abstract
The present invention aims to provide a wear that can be put on
by a wearer without feeling of looseness, tightening, or shrinkage,
and that enables smooth activities. A wear 1 according to the
present invention is wear 1 configured using a fabric having
stretchability, where a side region 4 of a back body part having a
predetermined width from a body side part 2 towards a center in a
width direction of a dorsal surface and extending along a vertical
direction across an armpit part 3 is formed with a linear site S,
whose stretchability in a predetermined direction along the width
direction is smaller than adjacent portions, along the
predetermined direction. Alternatively, with a predetermined area
of a side end edge 8 from the body side part 2 to a sleeve part 6
being designated as one end, a plurality of linear sites S whose
stretchability in a predetermined direction is smaller than
adjacent portions are arranged in the back body part along the
predetermined direction orthogonal to a tangent line of the side
end edge 8 at the predetermined area.
Inventors: |
Tsuji; Yoshie; (Hyogo,
JP) ; Takamoto; Yoshikuni; (Hyogo, JP) ;
Omuro; Mamoru; (Hyogo, JP) |
Family ID: |
39268463 |
Appl. No.: |
12/311402 |
Filed: |
September 27, 2007 |
PCT Filed: |
September 27, 2007 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/JP2007/068806 |
371 Date: |
November 30, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
2/69 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A41D 2600/10 20130101;
A41H 1/00 20130101; A41D 27/10 20130101; A41D 1/04 20130101; A41D
31/185 20190201 |
Class at
Publication: |
2/69 |
International
Class: |
A41D 13/00 20060101
A41D013/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Sep 28, 2006 |
JP |
2006-265619 |
Claims
1-8. (canceled)
9. A wear configured using a fabric having stretchability, the wear
comprising: a side region of a back body part having a
predetermined width from a body side part towards a center in a
width direction of a dorsal surface and extending along a vertical
direction across an armpit part, the side region being formed along
a predetermined direction with an upper linear site of a plurality
of linear sites and a lower linear site of the plurality of linear
sites, stretchability of the upper linear site and the lower linear
site in the predetermined direction along the width direction being
less than adjacent portions; and an upper region from a sleeve part
to a shoulder part of the back body part, the upper region being
formed with an inner linear site of the plurality of linear sites
and an outer linear site of the plurality of linear sites,
stretchability of the inner linear site and the outer linear site
in a predetermined direction along the vertical direction being
less than adjacent portions, the lower linear site and the inner
linear site being connected to each other in a continuous curved
form to form a single line, the upper linear site being connected
to the inner linear site that is continuously connected to the
lower linear site, each linear site of the plurality of linear
sites being arranged orthogonal to tension applied to a portion at
which the linear site is arranged.
10. The wear according to claim 9, wherein the outer linear site of
the upper region extends from an upper end edge to a lower end edge
of the sleeve part.
11. The wear according to claim 9, wherein the upper and lower
linear sites are formed near the armpit part in the side region, a
portion positioned between the upper and lower linear sites being
set with stretchability in the vertical direction larger than
adjacent portions.
12. The wear according to claim 9, wherein the linear sites are
configured by stitches formed by sewing the fabric.
13. A wear configured using a fabric having stretchability, the
wear comprising: an upper linear site and a lower linear site,
stretchability of the upper linear site and the lower linear site
in a predetermined direction being less than stretchability of
adjacent portions, the upper linear site and the lower linear site
being arranged in a back body part along a predetermined direction
orthogonal to a tangent line of a side end edge at a predetermined
area, the predetermined area of the side end edge from a body side
part to a sleeve part being designated as a first end; and an inner
linear site and an outer linear site, stretchability of the inner
linear site and the outer linear site in a predetermined direction
being less than stretchability of adjacent portions, the
predetermined direction being orthogonal to a tangent line of an
upper end edge at a predetermined area, the inner linear site and
the outer linear site being arranged in the back body part, the
predetermined area of the upper end edge from the sleeve part to a
shoulder part being designated as a second end, wherein the lower
linear site is connected to the inner linear site in a continuous
curved form to form a single line, and the upper linear site is
connected to the inner linear site that is continuously connected
to the lower linear site.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention relates to wears, in particular, to a
wear having an upper body part with good feeling in wearing when a
wearer carries out his or her activities.
BACKGROUND ART
[0002] Various wears that aim to alleviate or suppress the
tightening feeling or shrinkage feeling when a wearer carries out
activities such as moving the arm, and enhance the following
ability with the activities are conventionally proposed.
[0003] Specifically describing, in the wear shown in Patent
Document 1, a fabric is provided loosely in advance so that the
fabric does not lack when a wearer extends his or her body such as
stretching out his or her arm.
[0004] In the wear shown in Patent Document 2, a fabric having
stretchability is used so that the fabric follows the stretch of a
wearer's skin or the extension of his or her body.
[0005] Furthermore, in the wear shown in Patent Document 3, a
structure in which a plurality of cut fabrics are sewed such that
the stretching direction is consistent with the longitudinal
direction is adopted instead of merely using a fabric that has
stretchability in an aim of further enhancing the following ability
of the wear. [0006] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application
Laid-Open No. Hei-9-95809 [0007] Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent
Application Laid-Open No. 2004-44033 [0008] Patent Document 3:
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-307369
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
Problems to be Solved by the Invention
[0009] However, in the wear shown in Patent Document 1, the
dimension of a fabric is set in accordance with a state in which a
wearer extends his or her body such time as an arm is extended, and
thus the side end edge of the wear is long and extra fabric occurs
when the wearer assumes a normal position such as lowering the arm,
whereby the wearing feeling is unsatisfactory as loose feeling and
the like arise and the cumbersome extra fabric inhibits smooth
activities.
[0010] The wear shown in Patent Document 2 uses a fabric having
stretchability, and thus reduces the amount of extra fabric and
alleviates the loose feeling, and suitably prevents the rise of
tightening feeling or shrinkage feeling along the stretching
direction of the fabric. However, the tightening feeling or the
shrinkage feeling is not necessarily resolved only by using the
fabric having stretchability for the following reasons.
[0011] In other words, the fabric having stretchability stretches
in the tension acting direction when tension is applied on a
predetermined portion, but the middle part deforms or the fabric
loosens in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which tension
acts (see FIG. 2(A)). As the fabric configuring the wear continuing
in a tubular shape (at least at the waistline or the arm line),
secondary tension acts in a direction orthogonal to the tension
acting direction on the surrounding fabric when the fabric deforms,
thereby gathering the surrounding fabric. As a result, the skin of
the wearer is pulled by the gathered fabric, and the wearer still
feels the tightening feeling or the shrinkage feeling. The
tightening of the fabric is sometimes observed as wrinkles
occurring along the stretching direction of the fabric.
[0012] Furthermore, the wear shown in Patent Document 3 has the
stitches formed by sewing the plurality of fabrics, which are
arranged along the stretching direction of the fabric. The stitch
is the site where the stretchability is small compared to the
portion of the adjacent fabrics. Therefore, if the stitches are
arranged along the stretching direction of the fabric, the fabric
hardly stretches (see FIG. 2(B)), which causes tightening feeling
or shrinkage feeling and extra force to be required to carry out
activities, thereby inhibiting smooth activities.
[0013] Therefore, the conventional wears have problems that the
loose feeling, the tightening feeling or the shrinkage feeling
cannot be suitably resolved. The present invention aims to provide
a wear that wearers can wear without feeling looseness, tightening
or shrinkage, and that allows smooth activities to be
performed.
Means for Solving the Problems
[0014] The wear according to the present invention is a wear
configured using a fabric having stretchability, wherein a side
region of a back body part (dorsal surface portion) having a
predetermined width from a body side part towards a center in a
width direction of a dorsal surface and extending along a vertical
direction across an armpit part is formed along a predetermined
direction with a linear site whose stretchability in the
predetermined direction along the width direction is smaller than
adjacent portions.
[0015] According to the wear configured as above, the following
property of the wear when a wearer carries out the activities such
as moving the arm becomes high. In other words, when performing the
activities of moving the arm such as raising the arm or bending the
arm forward, the skin of the wearer stretches greatly in a region
along the vertical direction from the body side of the dorsal
surface to the armpit. The side region of the wear is a region
corresponding to the region where the stretch of the skin is large,
where the fabric of the side region also stretches with the stretch
of the skin of the wearer when the wearer carries out the
activities of moving the arm.
[0016] In this case, since the linear site having stretchability in
the predetermined direction along the width direction, which is
smaller than adjacent sites is arranged in the side region, the
side region where the fabric stretches is divided into a plurality
of portions by the linear site, and the side region stretches by
the plurality of portions rather as a whole. This state can also be
assumed as a state the tension is shielded at the middle by the
linear site. Therefore, the amount the fabric is gathered with the
stretch of the fabric from the orthogonal direction thereof can be
suppressed small.
[0017] The wear according to the present invention is given
consideration such that the linear site with small stretchability
is not arranged along the stretching direction of the fabric, and
thus the stretch of the fabric is not unnecessarily limited as in
the wear of Patent Document 3. If the linear site is arranged along
the predetermined direction, the fabric can be more easily
stretched in the stretching direction to the same or greater extent
as when the linear site is not arranged. Thus, extra amount of
fabric can be suppressed small, and the loose feeling can be
alleviated.
[0018] In the wear according to the present invention, a plurality
of linear sites, whose stretchability in a predetermined direction
along the vertical direction is smaller than adjacent sites, may be
arranged along the predetermined direction in an upper region from
a sleeve part to a shoulder part at the back body part.
[0019] According to the wear of the above configuration, the
following property of the wear of when the wearer carries out the
activities can be further enhanced. In other words, when the wearer
carries out the activities, the skin of the wearer stretches
greatly not only in the region along the vertical direction from
the body side in the dorsal surface to the armpit but also in the
region from the armpit to the arm. When performing the activities
of bending the arm forward, the skin of the wearer greatly
stretches even in the region from the suprascapular part of the
dorsal surface to the arm. The upper region from the sleeve part to
the shoulder part at the back body part is a region corresponding
to the region where the stretch of the skin is large. The fabric of
the wear not only stretches with the stretch of the skin but also
stretches with the pulling of the sleeve part when extending the
arm.
[0020] As one example, at least one of the linear sites of the
upper region extends from an upper end edge to a lower end edge of
the sleeve part. The sleeve part is a portion corresponding to a
wearer's arm, and as such portion is also a portion the fabric
stretches when a wearer carries out activities, the rise of
tightening feeling or shrinkage feeling can be more effectively
alleviated or suppressed by arranging the linear site at the
relevant sleeve part.
[0021] It is preferred that two linear sites are formed near the
armpit part in the side region and a portion positioned between the
two linear sites is set with stretchability in the vertical
direction larger than adjacent portions.
[0022] The portion near the armpit part formed with the two linear
sites corresponds to a region under the armpit or a region where
the stretch of the skin is particularly large among the regions
along the vertical direction from the body side of the dorsal
surface to the armpit where the skin of the wearer greatly
stretches when performing the activities of moving the arm, and
thus the fabric positioned at the portion near the armpit part
stretches greatly with the stretch of the skin. Therefore,
according to the above configuration, as the portion near the
armpit part is divided into a plurality of portions by the linear
site, the amount the fabric is gathered with the stretch of the
fabric from the orthogonal direction thereof can be suppressed
small.
[0023] Furthermore, since the portion positioned between the two
linear sites is configured to have large stretchability in the
vertical direction, the fabric can suitably follow the particularly
large stretch of the skin. Furthermore, since the two linear sites
are arranged close to a narrow region, namely the vicinity of the
armpit part, the drawback that "the amount the surrounding fabric
is gathered by the portion positioned between the two linear sites
is large by setting the stretchability in the vertical direction
large" can be suppressed small. Specifically, as the deformation of
the fabric in the direction orthogonal to the stretching direction
is large the larger the stretchability in the stretching direction,
the extent the fabric is gathered from the width direction is also
large if the portion positioned between the two linear sites is
formed to have large stretchability in the vertical direction. In
such configuration, the amount the fabric is gathered is not
unnecessarily large by setting the interval (dimension in vertical
direction) of the two linear sites small. According to such
configuration, the rise of the tightening feeling or the shrinkage
feeling can be more effectively alleviated or suppressed.
[0024] At least one of the linear site of the upper region and the
linear sites of the side region are preferably continuously formed.
According to such configuration, a plurality of linear sites can be
formed in one task. This also excels in designability.
[0025] The linear site is preferably configured by stitches formed
by sewing the fabric. According to such configuration, the linear
site of low stretchability can be easily formed by sewing the
fabric without arranging a separate member, and the like.
[0026] Alternatively, the wear according to the present invention
is a wear configured using a fabric having stretchability, wherein
with a predetermined area of a side end edge from a body side part
to a sleeve part being designated as one end, a plurality of linear
sites whose stretchability in a predetermined direction is smaller
than adjacent portions are arranged in a back body part along the
predetermined direction orthogonal to a tangent line of the side
end edge at the predetermined area.
[0027] Preferably, with a predetermined area of an upper end edge
from the sleeve part to a shoulder part being designated as one
end, a plurality of linear site whose stretchability in a
predetermined direction is smaller than adjacent portions are
arranged in the back body part along the predetermined direction
orthogonal to a tangent line of the upper end edge at the
predetermined area.
Advantages of the Invention
[0028] Therefore, the wear of the present invention can be worn by
the wearer without feeling looseness, tightening, or shrinkage and
enables smooth activities.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0029] FIG. 1 are views showing stretching modes of a skin, where
FIG. 1(A) shows a case of an activity of raising the arm and FIG.
1(B) shows a case of an activity of bending the arm forward.
[0030] FIG. 2 are views showing stretching modes of a fabric, where
FIG. 2(A) shows a case where stitches are not provided, FIG. 2(B)
shows a case where stitches are provided along a longitudinal
direction of the fabric, and FIG. 2(C) shows a case where stitches
are provided along a width direction of the fabric.
[0031] FIG. 3 show samples used in an experiment for verifying the
stretching mode of the fabric, where FIG. 3(A) shows a sample not
formed with stitches, FIG. 3(B) shows a sample formed with stitches
along the longitudinal direction of the fabric, and FIG. 3(C) to
FIG. 3(F) respectively show fabric pieces formed with one, two,
three, and five stitches along the width direction of the
fabric.
[0032] FIG. 4 are graphs showing a stretching rate in the
longitudinal direction of the fabric piece, where FIG. 4(A) shows
the case of weft knitting and FIG. 4(B) is the case of tricot.
[0033] FIG. 5 are graphs each showing a width holding rate and a
load when the fabric piece is stretched by 20% in the vertical
direction in which the stretching rate is small. FIG. 5(A) shows
the case of weft knitting and FIG. 5(B) shows the case of
tricot.
[0034] FIG. 6 are graphs each showing the width holding rate and
the load when the fabric piece is stretched by 20% in the
horizontal direction where the stretching rate is large. FIG. 6(A)
shows the case of weft knitting and FIG. 6(B) shows the case of
tricot.
[0035] FIG. 7 are views each showing a back body part of the wear
according to one embodiment of the present invention, where FIG.
7(A) shows an outer appearance view, and FIG. 7(B) shows a view in
which directions the tension mainly acts when the arm is moved are
overlapped on the wear.
[0036] FIG. 8 is a pattern diagram of the wear according to the
embodiment.
[0037] FIG. 9 each show a state of experiment for verifying the
effects of the wear according to the embodiment, where FIG. 9(A)
shows a case of the wear according to the embodiment, FIG. 9(B)
shows a case of the conventional wear, and FIG. 9(C) shows a
shirtless case.
[0038] FIG. 10 are views each showing the conventional wear used in
the verification experiment, where FIG. 10(A) shows an outer
appearance view of the back body part, and FIG. 10(B) shows a
pattern diagram.
[0039] FIG. 11 are graphs each showing the results of the
experiment for verifying the effects of the wear according to the
embodiment, where FIG. 11(A) to FIG. 11(D) indicate D2, D3, D4, D6,
respectively.
DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE CODES
[0040] 1 wear [0041] 2 body side part [0042] 3 armpit part [0043] 4
side region [0044] 5 end edge of body side part [0045] 6 sleeve
part [0046] 7 lower end edge of sleeve part [0047] 8 side end edge
[0048] 9 shoulder part [0049] 10 upper region [0050] 11 upper end
edge of sleeve part [0051] 12 end edge of shoulder part [0052] 13
upper end edge [0053] 20 front waist part fabric [0054] 21 back
waist part fabric [0055] 22 sleeve end part fabric [0056] 23 sleeve
shoulder part fabric [0057] 24 armpit part fabric [0058] A first
main stretching direction [0059] B second main stretching direction
[0060] C main tension direction [0061] D main tension direction
[0062] S linear site [0063] S1 upper linear site [0064] S2 lower
linear site [0065] S3 inner linear site [0066] S4 outer linear site
[0067] SL stitch [0068] X center line in width direction
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
[0069] Prior to the description of the embodiments of the wear
according to the present invention, the stretching mode of skin and
the stretching mode of the fabric on which designing the pattern of
the wear is based will be described.
<Stretching Mode of Skin>
[0070] First, one of the causes that cause the tightening feeling
or the shrinkage feeling is that the stretch of the wear cannot
follow the stretch of the skin of the wearer (i.e., stretch of the
wear is smaller than the stretch of the skin). Therefore, how the
skin of the wearer stretches needs to be understood in designing a
wear that can suppress the tightening feeling or the shrinkage
feeling. The inventors thus performed various activities and
examined the stretch of the skin.
[0071] Since the arm, among the sites of the human body, is coupled
with a joint of so-called ball joint type, a large stretch of the
skin (skin distortion) is seen at the periphery of the joint when
an activity of moving the arm (includes not only an activity of
moving the arm itself, but also an activity of relatively moving
the arm by moving other portions such as the waist of the body) is
performed. Thus, the activity of raising the arm (shoulder
abduction activity), an activity of bending the arm forward
(shoulder horizontal bending activity), an activity of turning the
body to the lateral side (trunk lateral-side flexion activity), an
activity of bending the body forward (trunk forward bending
activity), an activity of bending the body backward (trunk backward
bending activity), an activity of bending the elbow (elbow bending
activity), an activity of raising only one arm, an activity of
swinging the arm, and an activity of twisting the body were carried
out for activities of moving the arm. Each of such activities
ranges from the basic activity performed in daily life to an
activity performed in various sports such as running, soccer,
tennis, and golf.
[0072] The verifying content in the stretch of the skin is to
specify the region the skin greatly stretches when a human carries
out various activities and to specify the stretching direction
(this is assumed as the main stretching direction) over the entire
region the skin stretches. As a method therefor, a method, which
involves dividing the skin into a plurality of sections and
examining the stretching mode of each section, and thus finding the
overall stretching mode based on the stretching mode of every
section was adopted. Specifically, the skin was divided into
sections having a square shape of 20 to 30 mm square, a marker was
placed at the vertex position of each section, and the change in
position of the marker was analyzed with a three-dimensional
activities analyzer.
[0073] As a result of such verification, the stretch of the skin
was found to be basically summarized into two modes through each
activity described above. Such two modes appear significantly in
two activities, the activities of raising the arm and the
activities of bending the arm forward. The stretching mode in the
activities of raising the arm and the activities of bending the arm
forward are shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1(A) and FIG. 1(B), the
stretch of the skin is greater in the region of darker contrasting
density.
[0074] First, one of the two stretching modes of the skin appears,
as shown in FIG. 1(A), in the activities of raising the arm. A
region 50 where the skin greatly stretches in such activities
includes a region 51 along a vertical direction from the body side
of the dorsal surface to the armpit, and a region 52 along a
longitudinal direction from the armpit to the arm. The main
stretching direction in the activities of raising the arm lies
along the vertical direction (this is referred to as first main
stretching direction A). More specifically, the first main
stretching direction A is a direction near the waist and from a
site on the inward side in the width direction of the dorsal
surface to the armpit and a direction, continuing to the above
direction, from the armpit to the front surface of the arm.
[0075] The two stretching modes of the skin both appear, as shown
in FIG. 1(B), in the activities of bending the arm forward. A
region 60 where the skin greatly stretches in the activities of
bending the arm forward includes a region 61 along the vertical
direction from the body side of the dorsal surface to the armpit,
and a region 62 from the upper part of the shoulder to the arm. One
of the main stretching directions in the activities of bending the
arm forward is the same as the main stretching direction mentioned
above (this is referred to as main stretching direction A').
Another main stretching direction in the activities of bending the
arm forward lies along the width direction of the dorsal surface
and the longitudinal direction of the arm (this is referred to as
second main stretching direction B). More specifically, the second
main stretching direction B is a direction from the lower part of
the shoulder bone to the armpit, and a direction, continuing to the
above direction, from the armpit to the front surface of the
arm.
<Stretching Mode of Fabric>
[0076] The stretching mode of the fabric will now be described
based on FIGS. 2 to 6.
[0077] The fabric having stretchability stretches in a tension
acting direction when tension is applied to a predetermined
portion, and also deforms or loosens in a direction orthogonal to
the tension acting direction, which deformation or loosening is
more significant towards the middle part. FIG. 2(A) shows a
rectangular fabric by way of example, where the middle part of the
fabric contracts in a width direction orthogonal to the
longitudinal direction when tension is applied along the
longitudinal direction of the fabric, whereby a portion that lacks
in fabric is caused on both sides of the longitudinal direction.
With wears, the surrounding fabric gathers to compensate for such
portion, which causes the wearer to feel tightening or
shrinkage.
[0078] As shown in FIG. 2(B), if stitches SL are provided along the
longitudinal direction of the rectangular fabric, the stitches SL
function as a linear site having smaller stretchability than
adjacent portions, and thus the fabric is less likely to stretch
even if tension is applied in the longitudinal direction. In other
words, the fabric is less likely to stretch and the wearer feels
tightening with a wear in which the linear site is provided in the
stretching direction of the fabric (e.g., wear of Patent Document
2).
Experiment 1
[0079] The inventors conducted Experiment 1 to verify such aspect,
the contents and the results of which are shown below. With regards
to the sample of Experiment 1, two fabric pieces each having a size
of 50 mm.times.300 mm were prepared, where one of the fabric pieces
is provided as sample a (FIG. 3(A)), and the other is provided as
sample b with stitches in the longitudinal direction (FIG. 3(B)).
Two types, namely weft knitting and tricot, were prepared for the
raw materials of the fabric pieces. The two types of raw materials
have so-called anisotropic property in which the stretching rates
in two directions, namely horizontal and vertical directions, are
different from each other. In each sample of Experiment 1, the
vertical direction with smaller stretching rate is set as the
longitudinal direction of the fabric piece. Using a tensile tester,
four samples were held with an inter-chuck distance of 200 mm, and
stretched by 20%. The load (gf) in this case is shown in Table 1.
The other fabric piece is formed with stitches by sewing separate
fabric pieces into one.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 No stitch (gf) One in longitudinal direction
(gf) Weft knitting 347 422 Tricot 140 215
Experiment 2
[0080] The inventors then conducted Experiments 2 and 3, and
carried out the verification for the stretching mode of the fabric
when stitches are provided along the width direction. With regards
to the sample of Experiment 2, five fabric pieces each having a
size of 50 mm.times.300 mm were prepared, where one of the fabric
pieces is provided as sample a (FIG. 3(A)), and the other four are
provided as samples c, d, e, and f with one, two, three, and five
stitches SL formed at equal interval (FIGS. 3(C) to 3(F)). Two
types, namely weft knitting and tricot, which are raw materials
having anisotropic property, were prepared for the raw materials of
the fabric pieces. In each sample of Experiment 2, of the two
directions, namely horizontal and vertical directions respectively
having different stretching rates, the vertical direction having a
smaller stretching rate is set as the longitudinal direction of the
fabric piece. Using a tensile tester, ten samples were held with an
inter-chuck distance of 200 mm, and stretched by 20%. Six marks P1
to P6 used in measurement are given at an even interval of 30 mm to
each fabric piece.
[0081] First, the rate of change in each inter-mark distance L1 to
L5 was measured at five areas to examine the stretching in the
longitudinal direction of the fabric piece. The results are shown
in FIG. 4. FIG. 4(A) is for weft knitting and FIG. 4(B) is for
tricot. The sample a is indicated with a solid line, the sample c
with a broken line, the sample d with a dashed line, the sample e
with a double-dashed line, and the sample f with a triple-dashed
line. Next, so as to examine the stretching mode in the width
direction of the fabric piece, a width holding rate (fabric width
in stretching/original fabric width 50 mm) of the fabric widths W1
to W5 in five areas at a midpoint of between the marks of the
fabric piece was measured to give an average value thereof. The
load (gf) in time of stretching by 20% was also measured for each
fabric piece. The results are also shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 5(A) is
for weft knitting and FIG. 5(B) is for tricot.
Experiment 3
[0082] Furthermore, the inventors conducted Experiment 3 by
partially changing the conditions of Experiment 2 and performed the
verification for the stretching mode of the fabric piece when
stitches are provided along the width direction. Experiment 3 has
the same content as Experiment 2 other than that, of the two
directions, namely horizontal or vertical directions respectively
having different stretching rates, the horizontal direction of
larger stretching rate is set as the longitudinal direction of the
fabric piece.
[0083] In experiment 3, so as to examine the stretching in the
width direction of the fabric piece, the width holding ratio
(fabric width in stretching/original fabric width 50 mm) of the
fabric width at the midpoint of the five areas between the marks of
the fabric piece was measured to give the average value thereof.
The load (gf) in time of stretching by 20% was also measured for
each fabric piece. The results are also shown in FIG. 6. FIG. 6(A)
is for weft knitting and FIG. 6(B) is for tricot. The samples are
respectively indicated as a', c', d', e', and f' for the sake of
convenience of explanation.
[0084] From the results of Experiment 2 and Experiment 3, it was
found that by forming the stitches SL (i.e., linear site with small
stretching rate) along the width direction with respect to the
fabric piece (i.e., direction orthogonal to the stretching
direction of the fabric piece), the stretching region of the fabric
is divided into a plurality of portions by the stitch SL (see FIG.
2(C)) and the deformation in the width direction of the fabric
piece is suppressed small, and furthermore, the fabric tends to
easily stretch in the longitudinal direction (i.e., stretching
direction of the fabric piece). Furthermore, it was recognized that
the more easily the fabric piece tends to stretch in the
longitudinal direction, the greater the number of stitches SL in
the width direction is. It was also found that the stretching
amount in the stretching direction of the fabric piece is large in
the vicinity of the stitches SL.
[0085] Reviewing the optimum relationship between the stretching
direction of the fabric piece and the direction of the stitches, if
the stitches are formed in a direction tilted by a predetermined
angle with respect to the width direction of the fabric piece, the
component in the longitudinal direction along the stretching
direction of the stitches inhibits the stretch of the fabric piece.
Therefore, a state in which such component in the longitudinal
direction does not exist is most likely to allow the stretching,
and thus the tilt angle is most preferably 0.degree., that is, the
stretching direction of the fabric piece and the stitches are
orthogonal. Thus, in wears, the linear site is preferably formed in
a direction orthogonal to the tension acting direction in a region
where the tension is applied. If the component in the width
direction along the stretching direction of the stitches is greater
than the component in the longitudinal direction, the effects by
the component in the width direction are greater than the influence
by the component in the longitudinal direction, and thus the
stitches may be allowed to tilt by a predetermined angle with
respect to the width direction of the fabric piece only in such
case.
[0086] The wear according to the present embodiment is formed based
on two standpoints. Describing from the specific configuration of
the wear according to the present embodiment, the wear 1 is an
upper body wear or a so-called T-shirt, as shown in FIG. 7, that is
configured using a fabric having stretchability, the wear having a
size the same as or a size with slight margin to a wearer's body
(e.g., size of about 110%).
[0087] The characteristic configuration of the wear according to
the present embodiment will be described below, where the wear 1
has a side region 4 of a back body part having a predetermined
width from a body side part 2 towards the center in the width
direction of the dorsal surface and extending along a vertical
direction to the armpit part 3 formed with a linear site S, whose
stretchability in a predetermined direction along the width
direction is smaller than adjacent portions, along the
predetermined direction.
[0088] The body side part 2 is positioned at a boundary portion of
the front body part and the back body part of the wear, and
corresponds to the site from the rib towards the armpit of the
wearer. The side region 4 of the wear is a region along the body
side part 2, and is set in correspondence to the region 50 where
the stretching amount of the skin is large when performing the
activities of moving the arm. The width of the side region 4 is
about half (one fourth of the distance between left and right body
side parts 2, 2) of the length from an end edge 5 of the body side
part 2 linearly extending in the vertical direction to a center
line X in the width direction of the back body part. In other
words, the side region 4 is a region of about half on both sides of
the back body part. The end edge 5 of the body side part 2 and a
lower end edge 7 of a sleeve part 6 together form a side end edge 8
of the wear, which uninterruptedly continues while curving. The
armpit part 3 is the portion corresponding to the armpit of the
wearer and is positioned at the portion where the side end edge 8
changes from a linear form to a curved form.
[0089] The linear site S is the site having a length corresponding
to the width of the side region 4, where one end is positioned on
the end edge 5 of the body side part 2 and the other end is
positioned at the middle of the body side part 2 and the center
line X in the width direction of the back body part.
[0090] A plurality of linear sites S are formed in the side region
4. Specifically, in the side region 4, two linear sites S are
formed near the armpit part 3 (upper linear site S1 and lower
linear site S2), and the portion positioned between the two linear
sites S1, S2 is set to have the stretchability in the vertical
direction greater than adjacent portions. The two linear sites S1,
S2 are arranged tilted with respect to the width direction such
that the other end positioned on the inward side in the width
direction is at an upper position than the one end positioned at
the body side part 2.
[0091] More specifically, the upper linear site S1 and the lower
linear site S2 are respectively arranged tilted by about 20.degree.
with respect to the width direction. The upper linear site S1 has a
tolerable range of about -10.degree. to +5.degree., and may be
tilted by about 10.degree. to 25.degree. with respect to the width
direction in view of the stretching direction of the portion of the
skin to which the upper linear site S1 corresponds. Furthermore,
the lower linear site S2 has a tolerable range of about -10.degree.
to +20.degree. greater than the upper linear site S1, and may be
tilted by about 10.degree. to 40.degree. with respect to the width
direction in view of the stretching direction of the portion of the
skin to which the lower linear site S2 corresponds.
[0092] The wear 1 has a plurality of linear sites S, whose
stretchability in the predetermined direction along the vertical
direction is smaller than adjacent sites, arranged along the
predetermined direction in an upper region 10 from the sleeve part
6 to the shoulder part 9 of the back body part.
[0093] The sleeve part 6 and the shoulder part 9 are portions
corresponding to the arm and the shoulder of the wearer, where an
upper end edge 11 of the sleeve part 6 and an end edge 12 of the
shoulder part form a continuous linear upper end edge 13. The upper
region 10 is a region along the upper end edge 13 and is set in
correspondence to a region 60 where the stretching amount of the
skin is large when performing the activities of moving the arm. The
width (or the height) of the upper region 10 is set to a length
from the upper end edge 13 to a line in a width direction
connecting the lower parts of the right and left sleeve parts 6, 6.
In other words, the upper region 10 is a region including the
sleeve part 6 of the back body part and is on the upper side of the
sleeve part 6.
[0094] The linear site S is a site having a length corresponding to
the width of the upper region 10, where one end is positioned on
the upper end edge 13 and the other end is positioned on a line in
the width direction connecting the lower parts of the right and
left sleeve parts 6, 6.
[0095] The linear site S is formed in plurals in the upper region
10, and specifically, two linear sites are respectively arranged on
the left and the right as an inner linear site S3 and an outer
linear site S4. The inner linear site S3 is arranged tilted with
respect to the vertical direction so that the other end faces the
inner side in the width direction than the one end. The outer
linear site S4 is arranged from the upper end edge 11 of the sleeve
part 6 to the lower end edge 7. The outer linear site S4 is
arranged tilted with respect to the vertical direction so that the
other end faces the outer side in the width direction than the one
end positioned on the upper end edge 13.
[0096] More specifically, the inner linear site S3 is arranged
tilted by about 20.degree. with respect to the vertical direction.
The inner linear site S3 has a tolerable range of about -5.degree.
to +5.degree., and may be tilted by about 15.degree. to 25.degree.
with respect to the vertical direction in view of the stretching
direction of the portion of the skin to which the inner linear site
S3 corresponds. Furthermore, the outer linear site S4 is arranged
titled by about 15.degree. with respect to the vertical direction.
The outer linear site S4 has a tolerable range of about -10.degree.
to +5.degree. greater than the inner linear site S3, and may be
tilted by about 5.degree. to 20.degree. with respect to the
vertical direction in view of the stretching direction of the
portion of the skin to which the outer linear site S4 corresponds.
The sleeve part 6 is arranged titled by about 7.degree. with
respect to the width direction.
[0097] The upper linear site S1 and the lower linear site S2 of the
side region 4, and the inner linear site S3 of the upper region 10
are formed by connecting. The linear sites S1, S2, S3 are connected
to each other at a portion at which the region connecting the lower
end parts of the right and left sleeve parts 6, 6 and the region
between the end edge 5 of the body side part 2 and the center line
X in the width direction of the back body part intersect. The lower
linear site S2 and the inner linear site S3 curve and form a
smoothly continuing curved line. The upper linear site S1 and the
inner linear site S3 connect to each other in a mode the upper
linear site S1 abuts against the inner linear site S3. According to
such configuration, a plurality of linear sites can be formed with
one task, and an excellent designability is also achieved.
[0098] The linear site S1, S2, S3, and S4 each are arranged in view
of the direction of the tension that acts on the area where they
are arranged, and are preferably arranged so as to be orthogonal to
the direction of the tension. FIG. 7(B) shows a case when the
directions (referred as main tension direction) C and D, in which
tension mainly acts when performing the activities of raising the
arm and the activities of bending the arm forward, are overlapped
on the wear 1, where the linear sites S1, S2, S3, S4 each intersect
so as to be orthogonal to the main tension directions C and D. The
main tension direction C lies along the side end edge 8 configured
by the end edge 5 of the body side part 2 and the lower end edge 7
of the sleeve part 6, and the main tension direction D lies along
the upper end edge 13 configured by the upper end edge 11 of the
sleeve part 6 and the end edge 12 of the shoulder part 9.
[0099] In other words, with predetermined portions of the side end
edge 8 from the body side part 2 to the sleeve part 6 as one end,
the linear sites S1, S2, and S4 each are specified as being
arranged along a predetermined direction orthogonal to a tangent
line of the side end edge 8 at the corresponding predetermined
portion, and with predetermined portions of the upper end edge 13
from the sleeve part 6 to the shoulder part 9 as one end, the
linear sites S3, S4 each are specified as being arranged along a
predetermined direction orthogonal to a tangent line of the upper
end edge 13 at the corresponding predetermined portion.
[0100] The linear sites S1 to S4 are configured by stitches formed
by sewing the fabric. More specifically, the stitches are formed by
sewing separate cut fabrics. The linear sites each can be thus
easily formed by sewing the fabrics.
[0101] That is, the wear 1 is fabricated based on the pattern as
shown in FIG. 8 and is formed by independent separate fabric
pieces. Specifically, the wear 1 is configured by a front waist
part fabric 20 configuring the waist portion of the front body
part, a back waist part fabric 21 configuring the waist of the back
body part, a sleeve end part fabric 22 configuring the end of the
sleeve, a sleeve shoulder part fabric 23 configuring the portion
from the sleeve to the shoulder, and an armpit part fabric 24
connecting the sleeve and the waist portion and being positioned
under the armpit.
[0102] The front waist part fabric 20, the back waist part fabric
21, the sleeve end part fabric 22, and the sleeve shoulder part
fabric 23 use weft knitting for the raw material having
stretchability, and the vertical direction of the raw material
having smaller stretchability is arranged to lie along the vertical
direction. More specifically, the front waist part fabric 20 and
the back waist part fabric 21 have the longitudinal direction of
the raw material parallel to the vertical direction, and the sleeve
end part fabric 22 and the sleeve shoulder part fabric 23 have the
longitudinal direction of the raw material tilted by about
7.degree. with respect to the vertical direction. The armpit part
fabric 24 uses tricot for the raw material having larger
stretchability than the weft knitting, and the lateral direction of
the raw material having larger stretchability is arranged to lie
along the vertical direction. More specifically, the armpit part
fabric 24 has the longitudinal direction of the raw material tilted
by about 7.degree. with respect to the vertical direction.
[0103] According to the wear 1 of the present embodiment, a wearer
can wear and carry out smooth activities without feeling looseness,
tightening, or shrinkage.
[0104] In other words, as the wear 1 according to the present
embodiment has the upper linear site S1 and the lower linear site
S2 formed in the side region 4 and the inner linear site S3 and the
outer linear site S4 formed in the upper region 10, the side region
4 or the upper region 10 at which the fabric stretches is divided
to a plurality of portions by each linear site S1, S2 or S3, S4, so
that the side region 4 or the upper region 10 stretches by the
plurality of portions rather than as a whole. Therefore, the amount
the fabric is gathered with the stretch of the fabric from the
orthogonal direction thereof can be suppressed small.
[0105] Consideration is made that the wear 1 according to the
present embodiment does not have the linear site S of small
stretchability arranged along the stretching direction of the
fabric, and thus the stretch of the fabric is not unnecessarily
limited. If the linear site S is arranged along the predetermined
direction, the fabric can be easily stretched in the stretching
direction at the same or greater extent to when the linear site S
is not formed. Therefore, when the activities of moving the arm is
performed with the lower part of the wear 1 tucked in the pants,
the amount the wear 1 moves up can be suppressed small. As the
amount of extra fabric can be suppressed small, the length of the
side end edge 8 of the wear 1 can be set short and the loose
feeling can be alleviated.
[0106] Furthermore, the portion near the armpit part formed with
the upper linear site S1 and the lower linear site S2 corresponds
to the region under the armpit or the region where the stretch of
the skin is particularly large among the regions along the vertical
direction from the body side of the dorsal surface to the armpit
where the skin of a wearer greatly stretches when performing the
activities of moving the arm, and thus the fabric positioned at the
portion near the armpit part stretches greatly with the stretch of
the skin. Therefore, the portion where the stretch of the fabric is
particularly large is divided into a plurality of portions by the
linear sites S1, S2, so that the amount the fabric is gathered with
the stretch of the fabric in the orthogonal direction thereof can
be suppressed small.
[0107] Furthermore, since the armpit part fabric 24 having large
stretchability in the vertical direction is arranged at the portion
positioned between the linear sites S1 and S2, the fabric can
suitably follow the large stretch of the skin. Moreover, since the
upper linear site S1 and the lower linear site S2 are arranged
proximate to each other, the problem that "the amount the
surrounding fabric is gathered by the armpit part fabric 24
arranged at the portion positioned between two linear sites S1 and
S2 is large according to the configuration of setting the
stretchability in the vertical direction large" can be suppressed
small. According to such configuration, the rise of tightening
feeling or shrinkage feeling can be more effectively alleviated or
suppressed.
[0108] The following experiments were conducted to verify the
effects of the wear having the above configuration.
[0109] As shown in FIG. 9, in the experiment, a subject performed
the activities of moving his arm, and the change in ratio of
expansion and contraction (Measurement 1) of the fabric (skin for
shirtless case) and the amount of lift of the wear (Measurement 2)
were measured in a case where the subject wears the wear and in a
case where he is naked to the waist. In the activities, the subject
performed the activities of raising his arm to the side from the
arm dropped state to directly above (shoulder abduction
activities). Two types of wears, a conventional short-sleeved
T-shirt type wear and the wear according to the present embodiment,
were prepared. The case in which the wear according to the present
embodiment was worn is Example (FIG. 9(A)), the shirtless case or
naked to the waist is Comparative Example 1 (FIG. 9(B)), and the
case in which the conventional wear was worn is Comparative Example
2 (FIG. 9(C)). The conventional wear of Comparative Example 2 has
an outer appearance as shown in FIG. 10(A), and is fabricated based
on the pattern shown in FIG. 10(B) and is configured by a front
waist part fabric 120, a back waist part fabric 121, and a sleeve
part fabric 122.
"Measurement 1"
[0110] The change in ratio of expansion and contraction of the
fabric (skin in the Comparative Example 1) was performed targeting
on a region from the site near the hip at the dorsal surface
through the vicinity of the armpit part (armpit in the Comparative
Example 1) and to the sleeve part upper end edge (upper part of
upper arm in the Comparative Example 1), where a curve was set
within the region and eight points were provided at substantially
equal interval on the curve. The ratio of expansion and contraction
(length of line segment in time of stretching/original length) of
the seven line segments (D1 to D7) for every raising angle of the
arm was measured. (The original length is the length in the unworn
state in which the fabric is not stretched at all in the Example
and the Comparative Example 2 related to the wear). Of the results,
the relationship of the change of D2, D3, D4, D6 and the raising
angle of the arm is shown in FIG. 11(A) to FIG. 11(D). The Example
is shown with a thick solid line, the Comparative Example 1 with a
broken line, and the Comparative Example 2 with a thin solid line.
In each graph, the vertical axis is the ratio of expansion and
contraction, where the positive value indicates that the fabric
(skin in the Comparative Example 1) is stretched. The negative
value indicates that the fabric (skin in Comparative Example 1) is
contracted, but indicates that the fabric is overlapping, that is,
looseness occurred in greater than or equal to a certain value
since the contraction of the fabric is limited in the case of
wear.
[0111] First, with respect to D2, D3, D4 positioned on the upper
side of the base of the arm, when the arm is raised (raising angle
of about 150.degree.), the Example, which is the wear according to
the present embodiment, shows a value close to the Comparative
Example 1, which is the shirtless case, compared to the Comparative
Example 2, which is the conventional wear. This shows that the wear
of the Example excels in following property with respect to the
activities.
[0112] With respect to D4 corresponding to the base of the sleeve,
a large negative value is indicated when the arm is lowered
(raising angle of about 0 to 50.degree.) in the Comparative Example
2, which means that the fabric is very loose. In the Example, a
value close to the Comparative Example 1 which is the shirtless
case, which indicates that means the looseness is suppressed.
Furthermore, with respect to D6 positioned near the armpit part of
the side region corresponding to the body side, larger stretching
is seen in the Example than in the Comparative Example 2 when the
arm is raised (raising angle of about 150.degree.).
"Measurement 2"
[0113] In measuring the amount of lift of the wear, a mark M is
given to the wear as the upper end position of the pants with the
lower part of the wear tucked in the pants, and the distance
between the position of the mark M and the upper end position of
the pants after the activities was measured. As a result, the lift
was 8 cm in the Comparative Example 2, which is the conventional
wear, and the lift was 4 cm in the Example, which is the wear
according to the present embodiment, meaning that the lift is
smaller in the wear according to the present embodiment. By
reference, when the subject having a height of 172 cm performed the
activities of raising the arm, the change in distance between the
uppermost point and the lowermost point of the points was 15
cm.
[0114] The wear according to the present invention is not limited
to the above embodiments, and various modifications may be made
within the range not deviating from the scope of the present
invention.
[0115] For example, description has been made that in the wear
according to the embodiment, the linear site facing the width
direction has a length corresponding to the width of the side
region without limitation the preset invention thereto, and it may
be formed to run out from the side region (i.e., longer than the
width of the side region) as long as it does not enter the upper
region. Therefore, it may be formed over the entire width between
the left and right body sides (e.g., site near the hip) at the back
body part. As the linear site facing the width direction is not
formed in the upper region even in such a case, the wearing feeling
is not affected when performing the activities of moving the arm.
In this regard, the linear site facing the vertical direction can
be similarly recognized and may be formed over the entire length in
the vertical direction as long as it is not formed in the side
region. The linear site formed at the sleeve part may not extend
from the upper end edge to the lower end edge.
[0116] Description has been made that the linear site is formed
near the armpit part in the side region without limitation the
present invention thereto, and may be formed at positions on the
lower side of the vicinity of the armpit part. The number to be
arranged is also not limited to. The linear site formed in the
upper region can be similarly recognized.
[0117] In the above-described embodiment, the front body part and
the back body part are configured by separate fabrics and then
sewed together, but it is not limited thereto, and the front body
part and the back body part may be continued such that the stitches
do not exist at the end edge of the body side part.
[0118] Furthermore, the linear site is not limited to being formed
by stitches as long as it is configured such that the ratio of
expansion and contraction is smaller than adjacent portions, and
may be formed through a method of joining the member (fabric,
resin, etc.) that lowers the ratio of expansion and contraction
with respect to the fabric, and the like. A resin and the like may
be impregnated to the fabric. The stitches are not limited to being
formed by sewing independent separate fabrics, and may be formed by
gathering and sewing a single fabric, or the stitches may be simply
formed on the fabric instead of sewing the fabric.
[0119] The linear site is not limited to being continued from one
end to the other end, and one linear site may be configured by a
plurality of discontinuous linear site pieces lined on the same
line.
[0120] In the above-described embodiment, the wear has been
described based on the upper body wear of short-sleeved T-shirt
type, but it is not limited thereto, and may be long-sleeved, or
may have an upper body part having the above configuration and
being integrated with a pants.
* * * * *