Patent Application
20230346057
The present disclosure generally relates to a garment with multiple configurations determined by a fastening mechanism.
In some situations, a garment cannot be easily reconfigured. For example, while a suit may be required for certain events throughout the day, the suit may not provide the versatility or comfort of other clothes that could be worn for the remainder of the day. Thus, conventionally, a wearer must either select one garment to wear for the entire day that best matches the wearers' needs and/or preferences, or bring a plurality of different garments for different needs and/or activities throughout the day. This often causes problems because the conventional strategy does not provide the functionality of the first garment while benefiting from any aspects of the additional garments. For example, a suit may provide functionality during a meeting, but it may not be needed for the entire day, and in fact may be too restrictive for some activities. Often, a suit jacket may be stored for meetings more than the suit is worn.
This brief overview is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This brief overview is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter. Nor is this brief overview intended to be used to limit the claimed subject matter's scope.
Disclosed is a configurable garment wherein a portion of the garment may be patterned to enable the plurality of configurations. The configurable garment may take the form of a washable, single-breasted blazer comprising a configurable portion that may transition between a hooded configuration and a lapel configuration by utilizing a plurality of fastening elements. Further, the blazer may include a pocket with a concealed entrance. Therefore, the disclosed garment may take the form of a traditional blazer when needed or desired by a wearer, and may take the form of a traditional sweatshirt when the functionality and/or formality of a blazer is not desirable for the wearer.
Both the foregoing brief overview and the following detailed description provide examples and are explanatory only. Accordingly, the foregoing brief overview and the following detailed description should not be considered to be restrictive. Further, features or variations may be provided in addition to those set forth herein. For example, embodiments may be directed to various feature combinations and sub-combinations described in the detailed description.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate various embodiments of the present disclosure. The drawings contain representations of various trademarks and copyrights owned by the Applicant. In addition, the drawings may contain other marks owned by third parties and are being used for illustrative purposes only. All rights to various trademarks and copyrights represented herein, except those belonging to their respective owners, are vested in and the property of the Applicant. The Applicant retains and reserves all rights in its trademarks and copyrights included herein, and grants permission to reproduce the material only in connection with reproduction of the granted patent and for no other purpose.
Furthermore, the drawings may contain text or captions that may explain certain embodiments of the present disclosure. This text is included for illustrative, non-limiting, explanatory purposes of certain embodiments detailed in the present disclosure. In the drawings:
As a preliminary matter, it will readily be understood by one having ordinary skill in the relevant art that the present disclosure has broad utility and application. As should be understood, any embodiment may incorporate only one or a plurality of the above-disclosed aspects of the disclosure and may further incorporate only one or a plurality of the features disclosed herein. Furthermore, any embodiment discussed and identified as being “preferred” is considered to be part of a best mode contemplated for carrying out the embodiments of the present disclosure. Other embodiments also may be discussed for additional illustrative purposes in providing a full and enabling disclosure. Moreover, many embodiments, such as adaptations, variations, modifications, and equivalent arrangements, will be implicitly disclosed by the embodiments described herein and fall within the scope of the present disclosure.
Accordingly, while embodiments are described herein in detail in relation to one or more embodiments, it is to be understood that this disclosure is illustrative and exemplary of the present disclosure and are made merely for the purposes of providing a full and enabling disclosure. The detailed disclosure herein of one or more embodiments is not intended, nor is to be construed, to limit the scope of patent protection afforded in any claim of a patent issuing here from, which scope is to be defined by the claims and the equivalents thereof. It is not intended that the scope of patent protection be defined by reading into any claim a limitation found herein that does not explicitly appear in the claim itself.
Thus, for example, any sequence(s) and/or temporal order of steps of various processes or methods that are described herein are illustrative and not restrictive. Accordingly, it should be understood that, although steps of various processes or methods may be shown and described as being in a sequence or temporal order, the steps of any such processes or methods are not limited to being carried out in any particular sequence or order, absent an indication otherwise. Indeed, the steps in such processes or methods generally may be carried out in various different sequences and orders while still falling within the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, it is intended that the scope of patent protection is to be defined by the issued claim(s) rather than the description set forth herein.
Additionally, it is important to note that each term used herein refers to that which an ordinary artisan would understand such term to mean based on the contextual use of such term herein. To the extent that the meaning of a term used herein—as understood by the ordinary artisan based on the contextual use of such term—differs in any way from any particular dictionary definition of such term, it is intended that the meaning of the term as understood by the ordinary artisan should prevail.
Regarding applicability of 35 U.S.C. § 112, ¶6, no claim element is intended to be read in accordance with this statutory provision unless the explicit phrase “means for” or “step for” is actually used in such claim element, whereupon this statutory provision is intended to apply in the interpretation of such claim element.
Furthermore, it is important to note that, as used herein, “a” and “an” each generally denotes “at least one,” but does not exclude a plurality unless the contextual use dictates otherwise. When used herein to join a list of items, “or” denotes “at least one of the items,” but does not exclude a plurality of items of the list. Finally, when used herein to join a list of items, “and” denotes “all of the items of the list.”
The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the following description to refer to the same or similar elements. While many embodiments of the disclosure may be described, modifications, adaptations, and other implementations are possible. For example, substitutions, additions, or modifications may be made to the elements illustrated in the drawings, and the methods described herein may be modified by substituting, reordering, or adding stages to the disclosed methods. Accordingly, the following detailed description does not limit the disclosure. Instead, the proper scope of the disclosure is defined by the appended claims. The present disclosure contains headers. It should be understood that these headers are used as references and are not to be construed as limiting upon the subjected matter disclosed under the header.
A garment may be configured such that the garment can be worn or otherwise used in a plurality of garment configurations. For example, the garment may be a hooded jacket configurable to in a variety of configurations, such that each configuration enhances different functional and/or aesthetic aspects of the garment.
This overview is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below. This overview is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter. Nor is this overview intended to be used to limit the claimed subject matter's scope.
The embodiments described herein offer a configurable garment that is operative to provide a plurality of configurations using a plurality of fastening mechanisms. One or more (e.g., each) fastening mechanism may be embedded within the material of the garment, between layers of fabric in the garment, and/or integrated into the pattern of the garment. Accordingly, the configurable garment may be designed to transition from a first configuration to a second configuration depending on how the plurality of fastening mechanisms are attached.
The configurable garment may include at least one fastening mechanism in some embodiments. The fastening mechanism may secure at least a portion of the garment in a desired configuration. The fastening mechanism may comprise a plurality of detachably connectable fastening elements. The detachably connectable fastening elements may be distributed across the garment in various locations corresponding to the plurality of configurations associated with the garment. In embodiments in which the configurable garment includes a plurality of fastening mechanisms, the plurality of fastening mechanisms may enable the garment to perform various functions. As examples, the functions may include storage (e.g., stowing of unused portions of the garment like an unused hood portion or formation of and access to a concealed pocket), protection (e.g., providing a hood to protect from the elements), and/or various other functions that can be performed based on the structure of the garment.
Though the embodiments described herein include configuration such as a hooded configuration, a lapel configuration, and a pocket configuration, various embodiments of the garment may include more and/or different garment configurations such as, for example, a standing collar, a turnover collar, a flat collar, shortened sleeves, or any other possible garment configuration.
In some embodiments, a desired configuration may be achieved by leaving one or more fastening elements 120 of the fastening mechanism 110 detached from all other fastening elements of the fastening mechanism. For example, in the hooded configuration (the right-hand side of
The present application relates to a configurable garment with an attached hood patterned as part of the collar. A fastening mechanism is embedded within the garment according to the different configurations to secure the garment in the different configurations. In a first configuration the fastening mechanism may be oriented to allow the hood portion to move freely, independent of the fastening mechanism or other portions of the configurable garment. A second configuration may comprise the fastening mechanism engaged to secure the hooded portion to the garment such that the hood appears as part of the patterned lapel.
Embodiments of the present disclosure may comprise methods, systems, and components comprising, but not limited to, at least one of the following:
Details with regards to each component is provided below. Although components are disclosed with specific functionality, it should be understood that functionality may be shared between components, with some functions split between components, while other functions duplicated by the components. Furthermore, the name of the component should not be construed as limiting upon the functionality of the component. Moreover, each stage disclosed within each component can be considered independently without the context of the other stages within the same component or different components. Each stage may contain language defined in other portions of this specifications. Each stage disclosed for one component may be mixed with the operational stages of another component. In the present disclosure, each stage can be claimed on its own and/or interchangeably with other stages of other components.
The following depicts an example of a method of a plurality of methods that may be performed by at least one of the aforementioned components. Various hardware components may be used at the various stages of operations disclosed with reference to each component. For example, although methods may be described to be performed by a single apparatus, it should be understood that, in some embodiments, different operations may be performed by different apparatuses operating in conjunction with each other. Similarly, one apparatus may be employed in the performance of some or all of the stages of the methods. As such, the apparatus may comprise at least one of the components disclosed herein.
Furthermore, although the stages of the following example method are disclosed in a particular order, it should be understood that the order is disclosed for illustrative purposes only. Stages may be combined, separated, reordered, and various intermediary stages may exist. Accordingly, it should be understood that the various stages, in various embodiments, may be performed in arrangements that differ from the ones claimed below. Moreover, various stages may be added or removed without altering or deterring from the fundamental scope of the depicted methods and systems disclosed herein.
Consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure, a method may be performed by at least one of the aforementioned components. The method may be embodied as, for example, but not limited to, computer instructions, which when executed, perform the method. The method may comprise the following stages:
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a system operative by a set of methods comprising instructions configured to operate the aforementioned components in accordance with the methods. The following depicts an example of a method of a plurality of methods that may be performed by at least one of the aforementioned components. Various hardware components may be used at the various stages of operations disclosed with reference to each component.
For example, although methods may be described to be performed by a single component, it should be understood that, in some embodiments, different operations may be performed by different components in operative relation with one another. For example, an apparatus may be employed in the performance of some or all of the stages disclosed with regard to the methods. As such, the apparatus may comprise at least one architectural component disclosed herein.
Furthermore, although the stages of the following example method are disclosed in a particular order, it should be understood that the order is disclosed for illustrative purposes only. Stages may be combined, separated, reordered, and various intermediary stages may exist. Accordingly, it should be understood that the various stages, in various embodiments, may be performed in arrangements that differ from the ones claimed below. Moreover, various stages may be added or removed without altering or deterring the fundamental scope of the depicted methods and systems disclosed herein.
The method 900 may begin at stage 910, where a plurality of fastening mechanisms associated with the garment may be detached. For example, a user may separate magnetic fastening elements using a mechanical force (e.g., by pulling on the fastening elements themselves and/or the fabric surrounding the fastening elements. Accordingly, stage 910 may correspond to reconfiguring a plurality of fastening elements.
In stage 920, the configurable garment may be rearranged into the desired configuration. For example, the wearer may raise or lower the hood and/or collar to a desired position.
In stage 930, with the garment in the desired configuration. In some embodiments, securing the garment in the desired configuration may be accomplished using one or more fastening elements associated with a fastening mechanism. For example, one or more fastening elements of the fastening mechanism may be connected to another fastening element. Additionally, or alternatively, one or more fastening elements of the fastening mechanism may be maintained in a disconnected state, disconnected from other fastening elements of the fastening mechanism.
In stage 940 the garment may be utilized in the desired configuration according to the configuration of the fastening mechanisms. In embodiments, the garment may be utilized as though it were permanently arranged in the desired configuration.
Consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure, a method may be performed by at least one of the aforementioned components. The system may be comprise the following components:
According to embodiments of the present disclosure the system may comprise a garment patterned to enable a plurality of garment configurations. A non-limiting example includes a garment that may be patterned to enable at least a hooded configuration and a lapel configuration of the configurable garment. Some embodiments of the present disclosure may enable the garment to be patterned such that it may enable the independent movement of at least a portion of the garment. Additionally, configurable elements of the garment may be patterned together as a single garment. Further, the garment may be constructed such that it may be washable. The plurality of garment configurations may enable different functional aspects of the garment in each of the plurality of garment configurations.
The first configuration of the garment may correspond to at least some fastening elements being detached from other fastening elements that may correspond to the fastening mechanism. In a first configuration the garment may enable at least a portion of the garment to move independently of the rest of the garment. For example, the garment may enable a portion of the garment to function as a head covering in the hooded configuration. The head covering may be incorporated into the original pattern that may be used when creating the garment. Additional embodiments may also enable access to a concealed pocket or other portion of the configurable garment that may be otherwise inaccessible in other configurations of the garment.
The garment may be arranged into a desired configuration and secured by a fastening mechanism comprised of a plurality of fastening elements. In a second configuration, the garment may enable at least a portion of the garment to be secured, at least in part, by the fastening mechanism. For example, the first garment configuration may comprise a lapel configuration. In the non-limiting embodiment of the lapel configuration, the garment may be configured to secure a portion of the garment with at least one fastening element corresponding to at least one fastening mechanism.
The garment may be secured in a desired garment configuration through the use of a plurality of fastening mechanisms. Embodiments of the present disclosure may integrate the fastening mechanism into the configurable garment. For example, the fastening mechanism may be integrated into the pattern of the garment, placed between layers of fabric, or otherwise become an integral portion of the garment. Other non-limiting examples of fastening mechanism placement may include the hem of the garment, such as the hem of the collar or the hem of the lapel. In some embodiments of the present application the fastening mechanism may be embedded into the material of the configurable garment such that the fastening mechanism may be undetectable from an external view of the garment. Further the fastening mechanism may be configured to be removable from the garment in embodiments of the present disclosure, enabling the garment to be washed easily without the fastening elements disrupting the washing process. Accordingly, the fastening mechanism may also be machine washable.
Some embodiments the fastening mechanism may comprise a plurality of fastening elements that together make up the fastening mechanism. In such embodiments the fastening mechanism may comprise fastening elements located throughout the garment such that the fastening elements may detachably connect to other fastening elements throughout the garment to secure the garment in the desired configuration. The fastening elements may comprise a magnet, adhesive, hook, or other passive and active elements for physically securing the garment. In some embodiments multiple fastening elements may be used for the fastening element. In such situations, the fastening elements may be configured to detachably connect to other fastening elements. Accordingly, when a connection has been made, the strength of the connection between the fastening elements that make up the fastening mechanism may be sufficient to secure at least a portion of the garment in a desired configuration according to the desired configuration of the garment.
Embodiments of the present disclosure may include a fastening mechanism comprising a first and second fastening element. The first fastening elements may be located in a hem of the garment (e.g. hem of the lapel, hem of the collar). The second fastening element may be located in a position corresponding to a location on the garment where the first fastening element may be located according to the desired configuration of the garment. Accordingly, the first fastening mechanism may be located in the garment such that as the garment is reconfigured to the plurality of desired configurations, there may be fastening elements corresponding to the location of the fastening mechanism for the desired garment configuration. As such, there may be some fastening elements that may correspond to a plurality of fastening mechanisms. For example, the first fastening element may be located at a position to enable the lapel configuration. According to such an embodiment, the second fastening element may be embedded within the garment at a location such that the second fastening element may detachably connect to the first fastening element. In some embodiments the fastening elements may be embedded within the fabric of the garment such that the fastening element may not be exposed to the environment.
Additional embodiments of the present disclosure may enable the garment and fastening mechanism to be configured to enable access to a concealed pocket entrance. The concealed pocket entrance may be designed to appear accessible from a different portion of the garment than the location of the concealed pocket entrance. In one non-limiting example the garment may be configured with a flapped pocket with the flap on the vertical edge of the pocket, the concealable fastening garment may use a passive fastening mechanism such as, but not limited to a seam or other fastening element to disguise the entrance to the concealed pocket.
Although the stages are disclosed in a particular order, it should be understood that the order is disclosed for illustrative purposes only. Stages may be combined, separated, reordered, and various intermediary stages may exist. Accordingly, it should be understood that the various stages, in various embodiments, may be performed in arrangements that differ from the ones claimed below. Moreover, various stages may be added or removed from the without altering or deterring from the fundamental scope of the depicted methods and systems disclosed herein.
The following disclose various Aspects of the present disclosure. The various Aspects are not to be construed as patent claims unless the language of the Aspect appears as a patent claim. The Aspects describe various non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure.
Aspect 1. A system comprising:
While the specification includes examples, the disclosure's scope is indicated by the following claims. Furthermore, while the specification has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, the claims are not limited to the features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as examples for embodiments of the disclosure.
Insofar as the description above and the accompanying drawing disclose any additional subject matter that is not within the scope of the claims below, the disclosures are not dedicated to the public and the right to file one or more applications to claims such additional disclosures is reserved.
