Patent Application
20140013483
The invention disclosed herein relates generally to ties. Particularly the invention relates to a device for the easy donning and fastening of the necktie or bow tie to the shirt of a wearer.
Neckties including bow ties have been a staple fashion accessory for men for decades as well as a standard part of men's formal business attire. While a fashionable way to express one's individuality and flair, the tying of neckties can be cumbersome and annoying. Considering the sizes of neckties are not standardized, the user may have to re-tie the necktie numerous times in order to achieve proper positioning.
Further, the wearing of neckties can be dangerous in certain circumstances. For example, users that work around heavy machinery face the real risk of substantial injury should their necktie get caught in the gears or other moving parts of machines. Because neckties are often formed from multiple layers of fabric they can be very strong. A necktie caught in machinery can cause strangulation or can pull the wearer's head into the moving parts of the machinery.
Because of the shortcomings in standard necktie technology, several devices aimed at addressing these issues have been proposed. For example, the “clip-on” tie is still popular today because it fixes to the shirt of the wearer rapidly and in a consistent fashion. Unfortunately, those versed in fashion can easily spot wearers of clip-on ties because the ties lack fabric portions that extend into the wearer's collar.
As a result of the state of the art, there is an unmet need for a tie that quickly and reproducibly attaches to the shirt of a wearer and gives the appearance to a viewer of a necktie having fabric that extends into the collar of the wearer. Further, such a device should be provided to the user in a pre-tied condition so the user need not deal with the frustrating process of tying the necktie. Additionally the necktie should be fixed to the shirt of the wearer in such a fashion that it will detach rapidly should the necktie become entangled in machinery, or other scenarios that could cause harm to the wearer.
For the purposes of this invention the term “necktie” should be considered to include neckties as well as bow ties and bolo ties.
Any and all documents mentioned herein are hereby incorporated in their entirety by reference. References to items in the singular should be understood to include items in the plural, and vise versa, unless explicitly stated otherwise or clear from the text. Grammatical conjunctions are intended to express any and all disjunctive and conjunctive combinations of conjoined clauses, sentences, words, and the like, unless otherwise stated or clear from context.
With respect to the above, before explaining any of the embodiments of the necktie and method in general or in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangement of the components listed or the steps set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The various apparatus and methods of the disclosed necktie are capable of other embodiments, and of being practiced and carried out in various ways that would be readily known to those skilled in the art, given the present disclosure. Further, the terms and phrases used herein are for descriptive purposes and should not be construed as in any way limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based by be utilized as a basis for designing other models of neckties with similar properties. It is important therefore that the embodiments, objects, and claims herein, be regarded as including such equivalent construction and methodology insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
The device of the present invention comprises a tie that reversibly detaches to the shirt of a wearer via the insertion of collar stays into appropriate openings in the collar portion of the wearer's shirt. In a first embodiment, the tie of the invention is a necktie with a central portion which includes the knot portion and the area surrounding it, and a decorative portion that hangs down along the front of the wearer's shirt. Extension portions extend from the central knot portion of the necktie and further comprise terminal ends. Collar stays are rotably connected to the terminal ends of the extension portions so that the collar stays have rotational freedom about the terminal ends of the extension portions.
In a second embodiment, the tie of the invention is a bow tie with a front side and a back side, and a central portion which includes the knot portion and the area surrounding it, and two decorative portions that extend laterally from the central portion. Extension portions extend from the central portion or other appropriate location, on the back side of the bow tie and further comprise terminal ends. Collar stays are rotably connected to the terminal ends of the extension portions so that the collar stays have rotational freedom about the terminal ends of the extension portions.
The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of practicing the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.
In a first embodiment, the tie of the invention is a necktie with a central portion (2) which includes the knot portion (4) and the area surrounding it (6), and a decorative portion (8) that hangs down along the front of the wearer's shirt. Extension portions (9) extend from the central portion (2) of the necktie and further comprise terminal ends (10). The extension portions may be made of any suitable material and may be elastic or non-elastic. Collar stays (12) are rotably connected to the terminal ends (10) of the extension portions (9) such that the collar stays have rotational freedom about the terminal ends (14) of the extension portions (9). The collar stays may be made of any suitable material known to those skilled in the art including but not limited to plastics, metals, hard rubber or the like. The collar stays (12) may be connected to the terminal ends (10) of the extension portions (9) by any suitable means. Of particular interest are those connectors that allow for rotation about the connector. The invention specifically contemplates the use of rivets (16) as a connector that will allow the collar stay portion (12) to rotate freely about the terminal ends (10) of the extension portions (9).
In a second embodiment, the tie of the invention is a bow tie with a front side (18) and a back side (20), with a central portion (22) which includes the knot portion (24) and the area surrounding it (25), and two decorative portions (27) that extend laterally from the central portion (22). Extension portions (26) extend from the central portion (22) on the back side (20) of the bow tie and further comprise terminal ends (28). The extension portions may be made of any suitable material and may be elastic or non-elastic. Collar stays (30) are rotably connected to the terminal ends (28) of the extension portions (26) so that the collar stays (30) have rotational freedom about the terminal ends (28) of the extension portions (26). The collar stays may be made of any suitable material known to those skilled in the art including but not limited to plastics, metals, hard rubber or the like. The collar stays (30) may be connected to the terminal ends (28) of the extension portions (26) by any suitable means. Of particular interest are those connectors that allow for rotation about the connector. The invention specifically contemplates the use of rivets (34) as a connector that will allow the collar stay portion (30) to rotate freely (32) about the terminal ends (28) of the extension portions (26).
To use the device of the present invention, a user first puts on a dress shirt (36) comprising a shirt portion (38) and a collar portion (40) where the collar portion further comprises a space adapted to hold collar stays in place (42). The user then inserts (44) the collar stays (12) into spaces provided (42) in the collar portion of a user's shirt (36) adapted to hold collar stays (42). To remove the tie of the present invention a user may remove the collar stays (12) individually or simply pull on the tie which would result in the collar stays (12) coming out of the spaces provided (42) in the collar portion of a user's shirt (36) adapted to hold collar stays (12).
While the present disclosure includes many embodiments shown and described in detail, various modifications and improvements thereon will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the spirit and scope of the present invention is not to be limited by the foregoing examples, but is to be understood in the broadest sense allowable by law.
