Laminated fabric with uniform pattern of adhesive securement and garments made therefrom

An article of apparel having an additional support region over at least one portion thereof, said additional support region including a fabric laminate comprising a first stretch fabric, a second stretch fabric and an intermediate adhesive securement layer;

• said adhesive securement layer being positioned between opposed surfaces of said first and second stretch fabrics for adhesively securing said first and second stretch fabrics together along opposed surfaces thereof;
• said adhesive securement layer being in the form of a regularly repeating pattern coextensive with and uniformly presented over substantially the full extent of the fabric laminate;
• said pattern comprising an array of aligned adhesive elements arranged in successive generally horizontally and vertically extending rows;
• the array of said individual adhesive elements capable of offering resistance to elongation as the laminate is subjected to distortion, with said pattern having a differential elongation characterized as offering different magnitudes of resistance to elongation when the fabric laminate is subjected to distortion in selected different directions;
• said adhesive securement layer being predeterminedly oriented in accordance with its differential elongation and the stretch characteristics of said first and second stretch fabrics, such that the resistance to elongation offered by the fabric laminate is determined by the pattern and orientation of the individual adhesive elements in conjunction with the stretch characteristics of said first and second stretch fabrics.

A reinforcement panel for use in an article of apparel, the panel comprising a first stretch fabric, and an adhesive layer on a surface of said fabric for adhesively securing said first stretch fabric to a second stretch fabric;

• said adhesive layer being in the form of a regularly repeating definitive pattern generally coextensive with and uniformly presented over substantially the full extent of the first stretch fabric;
• said pattern comprising an array of aligned predeterminedly shaped adhesive elements repeatedly arranged in successive generally horizontally and vertically extending rows;
• each of said vertically and horizontal extending rows characterized as having a surface area of adhesive formed by their adhesive elements, the surface area of said horizontally and vertically extending rows being of different magnitudes;
• the array of said individual adhesive elements capable of offering resistance to elongation as the first stretch fabric is subjected to distortion, with said pattern having a differential elongation characterised as offering different magnitudes of resistance to elongation when the first stretch fabric is subjected to distortion in selected different directions.