Patent Application
20080301848
The present invention relates generally to the field of collar guards and more specifically to a system for dispensing tape material to protect garment collars.
As used herein, the term “semi-visible” means a material that blends in with a background of a garment and is selected or manufactured so as not to detract from the appearance of the garment, and may include a material that is color coordinated to match the garment, a transparent material, or semi-transparent material.
As used herein, the term “garment” means any article of clothing having a collar or material which comes in contact with the neck, underarms or any portion of the body.
As used herein, the term “non-irritating” means any substance or material which comes in contact with skin, particularly the neck, without causing discomfort or irritation.
As used herein, the term “collar tape” means a substance having one adhesive side for adhering to a garment.
As used herein, the term “perforation” or “perforated” means a section or plurality of tape segments which is scored, cut, weakened or otherwise constructed so as to make separation or tearing easier.
As used herein, the term “protective component” means any plastic, paper or other substance which preserves and protects the adhesive on tape from sticking to objects until the tape is ready to be used. A protective component may be peeled, tabbed or disposable.
As used herein, the term “dispenser” means a container or apparatus for dispensing plastic, paper or other substance which preserves and protects the adhesive on tape from sticking to objects until the tape is ready to be used.
As used herein, the term “segment” or “tape segment” means one unit of collar protecting tape to be used by one user to protect a surface of a garment collar. A segment may be of any dimensions, but most commonly will be small, medium and large sizes as disclosed herein.
While there are other protective collar devices that may be suitable for the purposes for which they were designed, they are less suitable for the purpose served by the present invention and more costly to manufacture. Prior art in the field of collar guards has primarily relied upon the use of multiple layers of material for absorbing perspiration, and separate adhesive layers or means of affixation (such as snaps, buttones or holes) affixed to the absorbant layer.
Is desirable to have a device and dispensing system which does not rely on collar protection components requiring multiple layers of material which are expensive to manufacture and require machining or human labor to assemble the layers.
The instant invention is a disposable protective collar tape which may be manufactured and dispensed in varying shapes, configurations and sizes (e.g., to accommodate small, medium and large neck sizes), and system for dispensing the collar tape.
The invention disclosed herein is an inexpensively manufactured and easily dispensed protective collar tape for protecting the interior surface of a garment collar from the neck perspiration of the person wearing the garment, comprised of a layer of protective material (which may be absorbent or moisture resistant) to which an adhesive substance is affixed to one side, allowing the invention to adhere to the surface of a shirt collar. The protective collar tape is removable after the garment has been worn.
An object of the present invention is to provide a collar guard providing a barrier against soiling elements such as dirt, perspiration, makeup, hair care products and skin oils between a wearer's neck and a garment collar.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a collar guard apparatus and system that is inexpensive to manufacture and dispense in single-use, disposable segments.
Other objects of the invention include providing a collar guard that can be obscured from view, for example by being constructed of a substantially transparent or color-coordinated material which blends in with any color of garment.
For the purpose of promoting an understanding of the present invention, references are made in the text hereof to embodiments of a protective moisture-resistant collar strip, only some of which are depicted in the figures. It should nevertheless be understood that no limitations on the scope of the invention are thereby intended. One of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that modifications such as the dimensions, size, and shape of the components, alternate but functionally similar materials from which the a protective moisture-resistant collar strip and dispensing system may be made. The inclusion of additional elements are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the written description do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Some of these possible modifications are mentioned in the following description. Therefore, specific details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but rather as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one of ordinary skill in the art to employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed apparatus or manner.
It should be understood that the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. In addition, in the embodiments depicted herein, like reference numerals in the various drawings refer to identical or near indentical structural elements.
Moreover, the term “substantially” or “approximately” as used herein may be applied to modify any quantitative representation that could permissibly vary without resulting in a change in the basic function to which it is related. For example, other embodiments of the protective moisture-resistant collar strip may be made of colored, transparent, translucent or substantially translucent material, and may be stored in a specially adapted or designed dispenser.
Various embodiments of the collar tape described herein may be perforated, rolled and attached at the distal ends, to be dispensed from a central roller or from a dispenser into which a roller is inserted.
Referring now to the drawings,
The embodiment shown in
Also shown in
This Application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/942,116 filed Jun. 5, 2007.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60942116 | Jun 2007 | US |
