CLOTHING WITH ELASTIC CUFF CHANNEL

Abstract

Described is a long-sleeved garment with an elastic cuff channel. The sleeve includes a cuff and a channel formed within the sleeve proximate the cuff. An elastic member is positioned within the channel allowing the sleeve to be pushed up an arm of the wearer and maintain its position.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of Invention

The present invention relates to a sleeved garment and, more particularly, to a sleeved garment having sleeves that stay up on the arm of the wearer when desired.

(2) Description of Related Art

Clothing and fashion markets are a worldwide business full of energy, passion, and innovation. Various companies compete for market share by providing fashion appeal to customers as well as innovative designs that have fashion appeal as well as utility. Utility within clothing may be most desired as society expects more and more functionality from everyday items.

One such area where utility is lacking is with long sleeve tops that are business or casual wear that may be worn by a person with “sleeves rolled up.” That is, when a person desires to roll up sleeves for better comfort, such a person would scrunch the ends of sleeves up toward the upper arm and elbow and away from the cuff position at the wrist. Conventional sleeves will not stay up on their own and tend to return to the position around a person's wrists.

Thus, a continuing need exists for a garment having long sleeves that will stay up on their own.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a sleeved garment and, more particularly, to a sleeved garment having sleeves that stay up on the arm of the wearer when desired. The long-sleeved garment comprises a sleeve having a cuff. The garment further comprises a channel formed within the sleeve proximate the cuff. An elastic member is within the channel allowing the sleeve to be pushed up an arm of the wearer and maintain its position.

In another aspect, the elastic member has a first end and a second end, and wherein the first end of the elastic mechanism is secured proximate the second end of the elastic mechanism via an attachment mechanism.

In another aspect, the first end of the elastic member has a loop extending therefrom, wherein the loop is located exterior to the channel at a first side of the sleeve and connects with an attachment mechanism at a second side of the sleeve.

In another aspect, the attachment mechanism is one of a button and a hook.

In another aspect, the channel is formed in an interior of the sleeve and extends from a first side of the sleeve to a second side of the sleeve.

In another aspect, the elastic member is formed to be a continuous loop.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed descriptions of the various aspects of the invention in conjunction with reference to the following drawings, where:

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a cuff of a long sleeve of a garment having an elastic cuff channel and a continuous elastic member according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a cuff of a long sleeve of a garment having an elastic cuff channel and a connectable elastic member according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an inside-out view of the cuff and elastic member of FIG. 2 having an elastic cuff channel according to embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 4 is an illustration of a cuff of a long sleeve of a garment having an elastic cuff channel shown secured up the arm of a wearer according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a sleeved garment and, more particularly, to a sleeved garment having sleeves that stay up on the arm of the wearer when desired. The following description is presented to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention and to incorporate it in the context of particular applications. Various modifications, as well as a variety of uses, in different applications will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to a wide range of embodiments. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments presented, but is to be accorded with the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without necessarily being limited to these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form, rather than in detail, in order to avoid obscuring the present invention.

The reader's attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with this specification and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference. All the features disclosed in this specification, (including any accompanying claims, abstract, and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

Furthermore, any element in a claim that does not explicitly state “means for” performing a specified function, or “step for” performing a specific function, is not to be interpreted as a “means” or “step” clause as specified in 35 U.S.C. Section 112, Paragraph 6. In particular, the use of “step of” or “act of” in the claims herein is not intended to invoke the provisions of 35 U.S.C. 112, Paragraph 6.

Please note, if used, the labels left, right, front, back, top, bottom, forward, reverse, clockwise and counter-clockwise have been used for convenience purposes only and are not intended to imply any particular fixed direction. Instead, they are used to reflect relative locations and/or directions between various portions of an object. As such, as the present invention is changed, the above labels may change their orientation.

(1) Specific Details of Various Embodiments

The subject matter disclosed herein is related to a garment having an elastic cuff channel disposed thereon. The garment may include any manner of clothing with a specifically designed channel around the wrist area of the sleeve designed for an elastic band to provide additional comfort and fit according to various embodiments of the subject matter disclosed herein. These and other aspects are described below with respect to FIG. 1.

FIG. 1 depicts a cuff 100 of a long sleeve 102 of a garment having an elastic cuff channel within the long sleeve 102 for receiving an elastic member 104 according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein. The continuous channel within the long sleeve 102 has termination points 106 and 108 on either side of the beginning of the cuff 100, such that the elastic member 104 is exposed in a slit 110 (or cut-out) separating a first side of the cuff 112 from the second side of the cuff 114.

Current long-sleeved blouses on the market have cuffs and cuff plackets that open up with button closures, allowing a wearer to get their hands through the length of the sleeve. For various reasons, the wearer will undo the buttons to roll up the sleeve cuff. When rolled or pushed up, a sleeve will sometimes fall down causing an annoyance to the wearer and causing them to re-roll or push the sleeve up again. This is because the cuff is only held together around a wrist by the buttons. Therefore, the sleeves, when “rolled” up” tend to roll back down with movement or shifting.

One solution is to button the sleeves up using an extra piece of fabric sewn on the interior of the garment. This solution may provide the necessary functionality but is not aesthetically pleasing. Thus, this solution tends to be best suited for less formal/casual garments. To address this problem on more formal attire and dress shirts and to provide a solution that is more aesthetically pleasing, the embodiment of FIG. 1 accomplishes the goals desired of being both functional and aesthetically pleasing.

The interior of the shirt sleeve 102 proximate the cuff 100 includes a channel therein (i.e., a tubular enclosed passage) with an elastic member 104 running through it, similar to a drawstring in a waistband. The channel is formed from a piece of fabric/material sewn into the interior of the sleeve and encases the elastic member 104. Therefore, the elastic member 104 is not visible in the cuff 100 unless the cuff 100 is unbuttoned and opened, as shown in FIG. 1.

While the elastic member 104 shown in FIG. 1 is a continuous loop, it can be appreciated by one skilled in the art that the elastic member 104 may include a loop 200 on one or more ends to be secured (such as wrapped around an attachment mechanism, such as a button 202 or a hook, on the other side of the cuff 100), as depicted in FIGS. 2 and 3. In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the interior of the sleeve 102 proximate the cuff 100 includes a channel 204 (i.e., a tubular enclosed passage), depicted in dashed lines, on the top interior of the cuff seam with an elastic member 104 running through it, similar to a drawstring in a waistband. The channel 204 encases the elastic member 104; therefore, the elastic member 104 is not visible inside the sleeve 102. The elastic member 104, depicted as a solid line extending from one end of the channel 204 to the other, may include a loop 200 on one or more ends to be secured (such as wrapped around an attachment mechanism, such as a button 202 or a hook, on the other side of the sleeve 102) so that when the elastic member 104 is stretched over the wearer's forearm or upper arm, the sleeve itself cannot fall, as shown in FIG. 4. In one embodiment, the loop 200 is approximately one-fourth of an inch and is attached at one end of the elastic member 104 running through the channel 204. As shown, the loop 200 extends out of the channel 204.

The elastic member 104 may be optionally removable from the garment, or one or more portions of the elastic member 104 may be sewn into the garment. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 2, the elastic member 104 is loose at the end having the loop 106, and the other end of the elastic member 104 is sewn to the seam 200 of the cuff 100. Various properties of the fabric for the channel and the elastic member may be different than the apparel to which it is attached. As can be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the attachment mechanism connecting one side of the sleeve with the other does not necessarily need to be a loop and a button/hook. For instance, if so desired, the attachment mechanism may be a hook and loop fastener or any other suitable means for securing the elastic end at one side of the sleeve with the other side of the sleeve.

The innovation can be constructed using any suitable garment fabrication, woven or knit. The elastic member 104 and/or the channel may be made from one or more of several different materials. Non-limiting examples of such materials include, but are not limited to, cotton, polyester, rayon, tencel, linen, wool, cashmere, lambs wool, mohair, alpaca, angora, silk, nylon, lycra, flax, bamboo, hemp, modal, pima, ramie, soy, acrylic, acetate, lurex, lyocell, luminex, or any combination thereof.

It will be readily apparent to persons skilled in the relevant arts that various modifications and improvements may be made to the foregoing embodiments, in addition to those already described, without departing from the basic inventive concepts of the present invention. While the subject matter discussed herein is susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings and have been described above in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the claims to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A long-sleeved garment comprising: a sleeve having a cuff;a channel formed within the sleeve proximate the cuff; andan elastic member within the channel allowing the sleeve to be pushed up an arm of the wearer and maintain its position.

2. The sleeved garment as set forth in claim 1, wherein the elastic member has a first end and a second end, and wherein the first end of the elastic mechanism is secured proximate the second end of the elastic mechanism via an attachment mechanism.

3. The sleeved garment as set forth in claim 2, wherein the first end of the elastic member has a loop extending therefrom, wherein the loop is located exterior to the channel at a first side of the sleeve and connects with an attachment mechanism at a second side of the sleeve.

4. The sleeved garment as set forth in claim 3, wherein the attachment mechanism is one of a button and a hook.

5. The sleeved garment as set forth in claim 1, wherein the channel is formed in an interior of the sleeve and extends from a first side of the sleeve to a second side of the sleeve.

6. The sleeved garment as set forth in claim 1, wherein the elastic member is formed to be a continuous loop.